Spoilers Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 3x07 - "What Is Starfleet?"

[Headless_Hysteria]

I don't see any better way to have executed it.

Instead of revealing classified bridge footage, it should be told from the perspective of the crew. Cover the missions, the perils, life in space.

I know I’m basically reciting verbatim something said by the reporter/intelligence operative Gannet in the ENT episode “Demons”. But the stakes should have been lower than they were. And there were more than enough threads to lean on to weave together a better story.

- Spock, Chapel and La’an about the end of Spock and Chapel’s relationship and the beginning of Spock and La’an’s relationship. Interview Korby and Chapel together. Reference T’Pring and Captain Angel.

- Ortegas’s military service and thoughts on Klingons, and how it relates to the political situation between the Lutani and Kasar. Contrast it with M’Benga’s service and thoughts.

- Pelia’s lifelong experiences, including reflecting on how Starfleet has changed from its inception to present day.

- Pike and Batel’s long distance relationship, and her medical situation. Have Batel talk about the loss of the Cayuga. Have Beto press Pike as to why Batel’s not being cared for at a Starbase, or even Dr. Sarah April (who invented a number of the medical instruments used in TOS, and therefore clearly a genius).

- Pike’s lengthy service onboard the Enterprise. Or sitting out the Klingon War. Maybe call back to Short Treks “Ask Not” and “The Trouble with Edward” about the cadets he trained or former crew that served with him.

- Interview supporting characters like Mitchell and Sam Kirk, or background alien characters.

- Spy and catch human moments. Get candid thoughts. Catch crewmembers gossiping. Ensigns playing practical jokes or Enterprise Bingo. Uncover secret (failed) romances. Secret traumas. Secret hobbies they might be embarrassed to admit they’re into (call back to the Short Trek "Q&A"). Dealing with the death of Ensign Gamble. Jokes that fall flat.

- Have Una reflect on her court martial. Or La’an being a descendant of Khan.

- Have Pike, Una, and Spock be asked about the loss of Discovery.

- Uhura interacting with other comm officers in her department.

IDK if the episode would have been better off as a Long Trek, or it simply needed to be tightened up, considering how much material they could have worked with. But I’ve seen enough mockumentary shows to know that the episode should be about the crew. And it did not feel like it was. The question as to whether Starfleet is a military should have been secondary. The situation with the Jikaru should have been tertiary.

 

[Pauln6]

Instead of revealing classified bridge footage, it should be told from the perspective of the crew. Cover the missions, the perils, life in space.

I know I’m basically reciting verbatim something said by the reporter/intelligence operative Gannet in the ENT episode “Demons”. But the stakes should have been lower than they were. And there were more than enough threads to lean on to weave together a better story.

- Spock, Chapel and La’an about the end of Spock and Chapel’s relationship and the beginning of Spock and La’an’s relationship. Interview Korby and Chapel together. Reference T’Pring and Captain Angel.

- Ortegas’s military service and thoughts on Klingons, and how it relates to the political situation between the Lutani and Kasar. Contrast it with M’Benga’s service and thoughts.

- Pelia’s lifelong experiences, including reflecting on how Starfleet has changed from its inception to present day.

- Pike and Batel’s long distance relationship, and her medical situation. Have Batel talk about the loss of the Cayuga. Have Beto press Pike as to why Batel’s not being cared for at a Starbase, or even Dr. Sarah April (who invented a number of the medical instruments used in TOS, and therefore clearly a genius).

- Pike’s lengthy service onboard the Enterprise. Or sitting out the Klingon War. Maybe call back to Short Treks “Ask Not” and “The Trouble with Edward” about the cadets he trained or former crew that served with him.

- Interview supporting characters like Mitchell and Sam Kirk, or background alien characters.

- Spy and catch human moments. Get candid thoughts. Catch crewmembers gossiping. Ensigns playing practical jokes or Enterprise Bingo. Uncover secret (failed) romances. Secret traumas. Secret hobbies they might be embarrassed to admit they’re into (call back to the Short Trek "Q&A"). Dealing with the death of Ensign Gamble. Jokes that fall flat.

- Have Una reflect on her court martial. Or La’an being a descendant of Khan.

- Have Pike, Una, and Spock be asked about the loss of Discovery.

- Uhura interacting with other comm officers in her department.

IDK if the episode would have been better off as a Long Trek, or it simply needed to be tightened up, considering how much material they could have worked with. But I’ve seen enough mockumentary shows to know that the episode should be about the crew. And it did not feel like it was. The question as to whether Starfleet is a military should have been secondary. The situation with the Jikaru should have been tertiary.

Sarah April! Yeah, you would have thought there were a couple of ways they could use her. Why does her husband get to have all the fun?

 

[Headless_Hysteria]

Sarah April! Yeah, you would have thought there were a couple of ways they could use her. Why does her husband get to have all the fun?

I was surprised no one mentioned that she invented that device that grew Gamble's eyes back.

 

[Leo Walsh]

Instead of revealing classified bridge footage, it should be told from the perspective of the crew. Cover the missions, the perils, life in space.

I know I’m basically reciting verbatim something said by the reporter/intelligence operative Gannet in the ENT episode “Demons”. But the stakes should have been lower than they were. And there were more than enough threads to lean on to weave together a better story.

- Spock, Chapel and La’an about the end of Spock and Chapel’s relationship and the beginning of Spock and La’an’s relationship. Interview Korby and Chapel together. Reference T’Pring and Captain Angel.

- Ortegas’s military service and thoughts on Klingons, and how it relates to the political situation between the Lutani and Kasar. Contrast it with M’Benga’s service and thoughts.

- Pelia’s lifelong experiences, including reflecting on how Starfleet has changed from its inception to present day.

- Pike and Batel’s long distance relationship, and her medical situation. Have Batel talk about the loss of the Cayuga. Have Beto press Pike as to why Batel’s not being cared for at a Starbase, or even Dr. Sarah April (who invented a number of the medical instruments used in TOS, and therefore clearly a genius).

- Pike’s lengthy service onboard the Enterprise. Or sitting out the Klingon War. Maybe call back to Short Treks “Ask Not” and “The Trouble with Edward” about the cadets he trained or former crew that served with him.

- Interview supporting characters like Mitchell and Sam Kirk, or background alien characters.

- Spy and catch human moments. Get candid thoughts. Catch crewmembers gossiping. Ensigns playing practical jokes or Enterprise Bingo. Uncover secret (failed) romances. Secret traumas. Secret hobbies they might be embarrassed to admit they’re into (call back to the Short Trek "Q&A"). Dealing with the death of Ensign Gamble. Jokes that fall flat.

- Have Una reflect on her court martial. Or La’an being a descendant of Khan.

- Have Pike, Una, and Spock be asked about the loss of Discovery.

- Uhura interacting with other comm officers in her department.

IDK if the episode would have been better off as a Long Trek, or it simply needed to be tightened up, considering how much material they could have worked with. But I’ve seen enough mockumentary shows to know that the episode should be about the crew. And it did not feel like it was. The question as to whether Starfleet is a military should have been secondary. The situation with the Jikaru should have been tertiary.

The point of the episode was not to give Trekkies a nice walkthrough in their favorite familiar approving cozy 23rd century setting.

It was a story about a critical mission told from the POV of one outsider who for personal reasons wanted to challenge the received wisdom about what Starfleet is, and it told that story pretty well. Even if he did fold and get on board with the program much too easily at the end.

 

[Jedman67]

I honestly barely remember what the episode is about. It was never made clear why Starfleet is supporting the use of a sentient weapon to begin with, and the documentary format just took me out.

I gave this one a 5/10 because I just couldn't care enough about any of it. My lowest SNW rating ever.

 

[Leo Walsh]

I honestly barely remember what the episode is about. It was never made clear why Starfleet is supporting the use of a sentient weapon to begin with...

Because they saw it as in their interests not to have one side wipe the other out.

 

[Smear-Gel]

I aknowledge and respect the glowing reviews it's getting here, but sadly this was a failure to me. It nominally seems like it had interesting things to say, but the execution comes across as not wanting to answer them, and in some cases maybe even being hostile to those questions. If that hostility to the question felt like the purpose of the episode it would appeal to me more, but it doesn't.

I think the problem comes from wanting to do too many things at once, and those things clashed and muddled the message. It starts out posing an interesting question, one that is a common debate within the Trek fandom, that of Starfleet being a military and colonizer. But it then filters that question through a documentarian that reveals himself to be biased and only doing it because of a personal grievance he has with his sister being there, both undermining the questions posed, and his supposed role of a journalist trying to speak truth to power. That association just makes the debate hollow. And after that reveal, it ends by a speech saying the real difference are the individuals within the system that are trying to do their best, but I dont think the episode particularly earned that.

The premise also muddles things a lot, it starts out showing this completely asymmetric war where one side has almost 9 million casualties more than the other side, and all the details outside of that are left out, essentially turning the war into an abstract backdrop of the events of this episode. When the episode is almost over and Pike is saying "You dont want to make an enemy of the Federation" all I could think of is that this is being directed at the desperate losing party with far more casualties that is close to getting wiped out. Sure they were about to do something bad with the Jikaru, but I feel like on a conceptual level the episode put itself into the wrong place where that just feels misplaced. Was that supposed to be a critisism of the Federation? Was them following orders even when they are visibly upset about what they are doing, or even when Uhura comes up with a more humane idea and they still go with what they are doing and it blows up in their face, was that a critisism? Maybe, but the entire thing is called into question because the episode decides to make him fold and be revealed as unreliable and with nefarious motivations. I could really say more, there's other issues I havent touched on, but this is long enough already.

Something that I was thinking about during the entire episode was Trusted Sources from Lower Decks, an episode that was also dealing with an outsider having a look at the Federation, and I decided to rewatch it right after and it was (not perfect but) much more successful. In that, a journalist is also present to document a Federation mission, but that difference between what is presented to the camera and reality is baked into the DNA of the episode. Freeman, in an effort to present a different reality than what is on the ship, proves that reality by publicly reassigning the only person that tried to present a balancing force in how they can be perceived. As a contrast, Buenamigo is also using the presence of the cameras to present an alternate reality, by using it to sell his project. In the end they were both more focused on presenting for the camera and getting their personal projects pushed forward than doing their jobs in Starfleet, which is an actual critisism and it isnt underminded because the story doesnt try to back out of that at the end and the journalist isnt presented as unreliable or having an agenda. Mariner tries to give the same speech that Uhura does, but it's seen as an ideal that they dont always live up to, because it is presented ironically, after nobody on the ship trusted her and she got kicked off.

I could say more about THAT episode too but yeah this is proper long. TLDR, What is Starfleet presents questions it doesnt seem interested in answering and didnt connect to me. One of my least faourite episodes of a season I found generally shakey. That being said, I respect that other people found this fantastic and it worked for them.

 

[Tallguy]

It was a good episode. For you and me. But what of Patel? What of Patel?

 

[The Salt Umpire]

It was a good episode. For you and me. But what of Patel? What of Patel?

Perhaps an alternative ending might have been a beneficial factor?

 

[No Grave Dug]

Perhaps an alternative ending might have been a beneficial factor?

Don't be Negative in this Universe.

 

[Tallguy]

It was a good episode. For you and me. But what of Patel? What of Patel?

This is entirely the wrong thread. Thank you for humoring me.