It'd be hilarious if the Vulcan-gimmick ep turns out to be great despite my months-long trepidation.
Now
that would be a surprise, wouldn’t it?
With everything we’ve seen so far from what this season has to offer I kinda suspect I’ll hate it with a passion, though. I’d love to be wrong in thinking that, of course.
3) So when N'Jal speaks, he/she speaks in his language and Uhura translates, but when the landing party speak, he/she is able to understand them? I don't see Uhura translating to him. So I take it he either knows Standard, or the UT is translating one way. Okay... just checking here. I am not quite up on how the UT is supposed to work at this point in the Prime Timeline.
The first time N’Jal speaks it’s in English and he says “On N'Kroon our ancestors would sacrifice to stand before the deities of time” and then later he says “We’re all gonna die” right before he’s killed. As with many things in this episode it’s kinda left open why he seems to be able to speak English in some instances while in others Uhura has to translate for him.
The native was vaporized because the defenses were tuned to accept Chapel because of the blood sample and it allowed people to leave if only they left with her at the same time - possibly in the same order as they entered, as Spock suggested as a precaution, but it may not have been a requirement.
That part was actually explained.
Hm, I don’t know. That’s kind of what they hypothesize, sure, but it’s not really what is explained in the episode. At no point does the episode answer whether their theory that they would have to leave the ruin in the same order as they entered was correct. For all we know N’Jal was running too fast and that’s why he was vaporized.
One thing that seemed to be completely glossed over: La'an recognized Chinese on that panel. How did that get there? Or more to the point, have the Vezda been to Earth or maybe influenced some of our myths? THAT is a story worth telling there.
Yeah, that’s another thing that didn’t get an answer. I do suspect, though, that some parts of this episode were merely setup for a later episode, where some of it might be explained after all.
The truth of someone's identity, and the potential loss of identity seem to be a recurring themes this season so far, outside of Hegemony Part 2.
Interesting. Where do you see that theme play out in say “Wedding Bell Blues”?
I rewatched the episode tonight and liked it a little more on that second viewing. Putting all the unanswered questions and weird logical leaps aside, they really got the atmosphere, tone and horror of the whole situation down perfectly. Set design, art direction and effects on the planet are awesome and I thought the performances by both Babs Olusanmokun and Chris Myers as Gamble were incredibly strong. Babs always plays M’Benga with so much raw emotion, it’s a joy to witness. The responsibility and care he felt for Gamble seemed very genuine and I half expected him to angrily go off on Pelia in that scene at the end where she basically says “He was already gone”.
I haven’t seen this pointed out by someone else, but this episode did in fact
not contain that moment from the trailer were we saw those same ruins collapse all
Doctor Strange-like. So that must be from a later episode in the season where they either revisit the planet or are finding a place that looks identical. Upon closer inspection I also noticed that in one shot from the trailer Pike and Batel are actually standing in front of one of the portals seen in “Through The Lens(e) of Time”. While that other shot of them features one of those lit pillars and some of the same alien symbols.
Funny thing about the alien script is that it’s apparently veeery limited. Take that shot of the tablet they found; it only seems to consist of three distinct symbols that are only rotated and oriented differently.
