Was kind of hoping we'd get a name drop of the Xyrillians and how this holotech was descended from the logs and scans of an Earth ship that once encountered them, but the callbacks we did get were interesting.
Spoilers Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 3x04 - "A Space Adventure Hour"
- Thread starter Commander Richard
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Nick Meyer said in a recent interview that was the intent.
Does this count as a Kirk episode?
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This one felt like they had an idea for a story but not an actual story to attach to the idea. I do like it when they connect things to the animated series, but this felt forced and unnecessary (see also: Klingon head ridges and Trelane is a Q). And I have to say that while I was very invested in Spock / Chapel, I'm already tuning out on Spock / La'An.
Anyway, for some reason the episode seems to have dropped on YouTube at about midnight. Interesting. I wonder how long it'll be up?
Anyway, for some reason the episode seems to have dropped on YouTube at about midnight. Interesting. I wonder how long it'll be up?
I guess I'm going to buck the establishing consensus here and say I found this - far and away - the best of the first four episodes. I was suitably entertained throughout, and even mildly amused at the within-simulation version of TOS, and only figured out the twist regarding holo-Spock a few minutes before it was revealed.
The starting premise for the episode was admittedly ridiculous. The writers clearly attempted to square away several conflicting things we've seen across the Trek series (the holodeck being new in TNG, but TAS having a "rec room" and Discovery showing a combat simulator that looked a lot like a holodeck). I'm not sure this level of continuity fixing was needed, but some fans may appreciate it.
We've obviously seen holodeck episodes done to death at this point, but the episode makes the choice, similar to DS9's Our Man Bashir (a fantastic romp), to have the main cast play the alternate roles. It's not the first time SNW did this (The Elysian Kingdom was much the same, albeit under different circumstances), but it was interesting hearing Jess Bush use her native Australian accent, or Babs try and fake a London accent. I'm less sure why La'an herself began talking in a pretty good American accent when "in character" - the character herself has no acting background, after all, so I'd expect a bad accent or none at all. Regardless, I loved the insider mid-20th century Hollywood references, and the TOS spoof was in small enough doses I thought it worked fine. In general though, I'm a big fan of these sort of "work against type" Trek episodes, so I can understand why some would find it frustrating.
At first I was confused why we kept cutting back to Scotty, but they did eventually work this B-plot into the episode. Still, it was far less engaging than the A-plot, partially because we're treading ground we already saw in the previous episode, with a slightly bumbling, inexperienced Scotty.
The one aspect I'm not happy about at all is the Spock-La'an romance. We got a little hint of romantic tension in Episode 2, and they're already smooching? Maybe they felt they did the slow burn thing with Spock and Chapel, and wanted this to cut against type, but I'm sick of Spock's character arcs revolving around his love life. I'd very much prefer if he learns how to deal with solitude and become the reticent character we see by TOS already.
On the whole, though, more like this, please.
The starting premise for the episode was admittedly ridiculous. The writers clearly attempted to square away several conflicting things we've seen across the Trek series (the holodeck being new in TNG, but TAS having a "rec room" and Discovery showing a combat simulator that looked a lot like a holodeck). I'm not sure this level of continuity fixing was needed, but some fans may appreciate it.
We've obviously seen holodeck episodes done to death at this point, but the episode makes the choice, similar to DS9's Our Man Bashir (a fantastic romp), to have the main cast play the alternate roles. It's not the first time SNW did this (The Elysian Kingdom was much the same, albeit under different circumstances), but it was interesting hearing Jess Bush use her native Australian accent, or Babs try and fake a London accent. I'm less sure why La'an herself began talking in a pretty good American accent when "in character" - the character herself has no acting background, after all, so I'd expect a bad accent or none at all. Regardless, I loved the insider mid-20th century Hollywood references, and the TOS spoof was in small enough doses I thought it worked fine. In general though, I'm a big fan of these sort of "work against type" Trek episodes, so I can understand why some would find it frustrating.
At first I was confused why we kept cutting back to Scotty, but they did eventually work this B-plot into the episode. Still, it was far less engaging than the A-plot, partially because we're treading ground we already saw in the previous episode, with a slightly bumbling, inexperienced Scotty.
The one aspect I'm not happy about at all is the Spock-La'an romance. We got a little hint of romantic tension in Episode 2, and they're already smooching? Maybe they felt they did the slow burn thing with Spock and Chapel, and wanted this to cut against type, but I'm sick of Spock's character arcs revolving around his love life. I'd very much prefer if he learns how to deal with solitude and become the reticent character we see by TOS already.
On the whole, though, more like this, please.
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Only if the S1 finale and the time travel episode with Khan in Toronto also count as Kirk episodes.
I gave this an 8, its not the best of the holodecks gone wrong Trek episodes but I can't give a 7.5.
In hindsight the Spock/La'An is a better fit than the Spock/Chapel pairing. I guess she dies in the future or Spock gets dumped again, and he swears off human romances and decides to stick with T'Pring by the time TOS comes around.
As for the twist in the plot, good one, did not see that coming!
In hindsight the Spock/La'An is a better fit than the Spock/Chapel pairing. I guess she dies in the future or Spock gets dumped again, and he swears off human romances and decides to stick with T'Pring by the time TOS comes around.
As for the twist in the plot, good one, did not see that coming!
I NCC what you did there.*stretching* Bellows looked pregnant...
The holodeck was just the sci-fi, Trekkie icing to really advance a Spock-La'An romance. La'An sure knows how to pick 'em, crushing on Kirk last season and now having feelings for Spock. What is a bit more surprising and rushed is Spock reciprocating those feelings so soon after we just saw how he reacted to Chapel and Korby. I'm more okay with a Spock-La'An romance (Sp'An?) than him and Chapel because I never got a vibe in the Original Series that Spock and Chapel had had some great romance in the past. There is a lot more freedom to explore that romance. It's like the SNW creatives are more interested in making Spock a stud than exploring his brilliant mind or other aspects of emotion or his humanity beyond hooking up. I suppose it does allow Peck his own lane when it comes to Spock.
I also liked that Scotty hasn't quite acclimated to being on the Enterprise yet and has trust issues. I also like that he reached out to Uhura, but I'm iffy on her keeping what he told her between them, and I also didn't like Pike not asking Scotty why he was on the bridge-at that moment-and what did he want with Uhura.
It felt like the holodeck mystery ran out of steam and that the ending was anticlimactic. The costuming was nice, and Uhura's speech was the best thing about it. If Wesley toned down the Shatner impersonation and integrated more of that into his performance, I might buy him as Kirk more than I do now.
If you have only ten episodes a season, I don't get why this one made the cut. For now, it felt a bit superfluous. The creatives and cast are having fun, so there's that, but SNW often feels like its warping in place and is more interested in amusing itself than in saying anything profound. SNW is bright, colorful, but often is empty calories. When is the last time exploration was in the forefront and not just more icing?
And where was real Spock while the ship was in danger? I get that he was kept off the bridge to preserve the surprise twist, but it made no sense in-story. I wish they had come up with an explanation for him not being there.
I also liked that Scotty hasn't quite acclimated to being on the Enterprise yet and has trust issues. I also like that he reached out to Uhura, but I'm iffy on her keeping what he told her between them, and I also didn't like Pike not asking Scotty why he was on the bridge-at that moment-and what did he want with Uhura.
It felt like the holodeck mystery ran out of steam and that the ending was anticlimactic. The costuming was nice, and Uhura's speech was the best thing about it. If Wesley toned down the Shatner impersonation and integrated more of that into his performance, I might buy him as Kirk more than I do now.
If you have only ten episodes a season, I don't get why this one made the cut. For now, it felt a bit superfluous. The creatives and cast are having fun, so there's that, but SNW often feels like its warping in place and is more interested in amusing itself than in saying anything profound. SNW is bright, colorful, but often is empty calories. When is the last time exploration was in the forefront and not just more icing?
And where was real Spock while the ship was in danger? I get that he was kept off the bridge to preserve the surprise twist, but it made no sense in-story. I wish they had come up with an explanation for him not being there.
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I really enjoyed this one! I can see how certain elements could be annoying to many, but overall it worked for me. I enjoy Mount's overacting on episodes like this, and Wesley's captain character was pretty good too. Various parts in the episode got a chuckle from me, and the failed Riker maneuver made me laugh!
I'm not thrilled about the La'an and Spock romance that I had already guessed they were going to do, but I'll see what happens! I would like to seem them focus on more close friendships on the show instead of nearly everything being a romance, but maybe we'll still get some of that.
I'm not thrilled about the La'an and Spock romance that I had already guessed they were going to do, but I'll see what happens! I would like to seem them focus on more close friendships on the show instead of nearly everything being a romance, but maybe we'll still get some of that.
Oh damn, I totally missed that!
They certainly count in terms of building the SNW version of Kirk into a living character, establishing motivations and behaviors that parallel TOS Kirk while providing some much-needed grounding.
IMO they've introduced Kirk cleverly, a bit at a time and working in from the edges, as it were, by incrementally bringing in versions of him that share some core characteristics while not being the "real" Kirk.
Neither the captain of the Farragut nor the captain of the time-looped variant Enterprise have had the experiences and relationships that defined him in the original series.
When the Prime timeline Kirk finally comes on stage in "Lost In Translation," La'An's curiosity about him has been set up so as to provide an entry point to finding out about his chilldhood as a Navy brat and how his need to process his father's absence led him to exalt Starfleet service as a sacrificial ideal.
I think this nails it for me. The twist didn't have any weight for me.
The episode was ok, I guess. It had the same good production value and good acting that we've come to expect from SNW. The TOS spoof was fun. And holo-Uhura speech about how science fiction can do social commentaty and inspire generations was very good. But there was absolutely nothing interesting from the story whatsoever. It was woefully derivative and unoriginal.
It was a paint-by-numbers holodeck malfunction episode ripped from TNG or VOY. They use the same grid for the holodeck as TNG. They even call it a holodeck. They also re-use the same plot point of asking the computer for a challenge like Data did in TNG's Elementary Dear Data. It all seemed very lazy creatively to me. They tried to explain the use of holodeck so early that it was experimental and Scotty says at the end that his report will not recommend the holodeck, to explain why we don't see the holodeck again until the TNG era. But I don't think that explanation works. If the tech was not ready then why would Starfleet resurrect the same tech, with the same grid pattern, same name, 75 years later? Tech improves over time. We would expect TNG to use an upgraded version of the holodeck we see in SNW. So I think it would have worked better if they had used a different name and also made the "holodeck" look more primitive, for ex: using blinking TOS style lights instead of a grid. Then, we could believe that the TNG holodeck is a future version of what we saw in SNW.
And I think "Elementary, Dear Data" did the plot better. For one, the audience knows Sherlock Holmes so we can appreciate the fantasy better. We enjoy seeing Data pretend to be the famous Sherlock Holmes or Geordi playing the role of the well known sidekick, Watson. We don't know this 60s murder mystery that La'an was into. So, we have no real point of reference. It was basically just some generic 60's hollywood setting. Also, the idea of Moriarty who we know to be Holmes' intellectual equal to be the main rival is more interesting. And Moriarty becoming self-aware introduced interesting ideas of AI becoming sentient. This SNW did nothing like that. There was no interesting scifi concept. It was just the computer created a holo-Spock to challenge La'an. I guess, the audience was supposed to be impressed by the plot twist that Spock was really a hologram all this time. The plot twist felt weak to me. IMO, a holo character becoming self-aware was a better plot twist.
Yeah, we also got lessons like engineers should not work alone. Not sure if that was a TOS nod because Scotty was considered a one man miracle worker. But saying that the crew on a starship should collaborate and ask for help, seems like a very simplistic and basic lesson. Any organization instills the need for team work.
It was a paint-by-numbers holodeck malfunction episode ripped from TNG or VOY. They use the same grid for the holodeck as TNG. They even call it a holodeck. They also re-use the same plot point of asking the computer for a challenge like Data did in TNG's Elementary Dear Data. It all seemed very lazy creatively to me. They tried to explain the use of holodeck so early that it was experimental and Scotty says at the end that his report will not recommend the holodeck, to explain why we don't see the holodeck again until the TNG era. But I don't think that explanation works. If the tech was not ready then why would Starfleet resurrect the same tech, with the same grid pattern, same name, 75 years later? Tech improves over time. We would expect TNG to use an upgraded version of the holodeck we see in SNW. So I think it would have worked better if they had used a different name and also made the "holodeck" look more primitive, for ex: using blinking TOS style lights instead of a grid. Then, we could believe that the TNG holodeck is a future version of what we saw in SNW.
And I think "Elementary, Dear Data" did the plot better. For one, the audience knows Sherlock Holmes so we can appreciate the fantasy better. We enjoy seeing Data pretend to be the famous Sherlock Holmes or Geordi playing the role of the well known sidekick, Watson. We don't know this 60s murder mystery that La'an was into. So, we have no real point of reference. It was basically just some generic 60's hollywood setting. Also, the idea of Moriarty who we know to be Holmes' intellectual equal to be the main rival is more interesting. And Moriarty becoming self-aware introduced interesting ideas of AI becoming sentient. This SNW did nothing like that. There was no interesting scifi concept. It was just the computer created a holo-Spock to challenge La'an. I guess, the audience was supposed to be impressed by the plot twist that Spock was really a hologram all this time. The plot twist felt weak to me. IMO, a holo character becoming self-aware was a better plot twist.
Yeah, we also got lessons like engineers should not work alone. Not sure if that was a TOS nod because Scotty was considered a one man miracle worker. But saying that the crew on a starship should collaborate and ask for help, seems like a very simplistic and basic lesson. Any organization instills the need for team work.
Nimoy even states that Spock was very much a heart throb character for female fans from some of the fan mail he got. He found it unexpected and yet it persisted despite how he played Spock.
I do like that mid-23rd century holotechnology uses "holo diodes" instead of holoprojectors, so while it's basically saying "photonic torpedo" instead of photon torpedo or "polarize the hull plating" rather than raise shields it still allows the experiemental holodeck on Pike's Enterprise feel more primitive.
The Processing Power seems to be ravenous and will consume whatever processing power is available on the network.
The Power Consumption is crazy that it is sapping so much power that other critical systems on board the vessel is at risk of shutting down.
I can understand why they shelved the technology until all the power & computing needs gets isolated, seperated, & not able to be re-integrated into the main EPS grid.
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