STC Ep. 7: "Embrace The Winds" speculation and discussion....

[Warped9]

Chekov, here, looked to be characterized in the JJtrek version of the character. Like Wesley Crusher and NuCheckov they have made him the wiz kid solving things with technobabble.

I really liked Stomm. But the character I liked best, here, was McKennah. She really has the acting chops. And for me she came across as the most genuine.

The character of Garrett had an interesting edge to her I think could have been explored better. I found the story's resolution disappointing in certain respects.

 

[9gs]

Doubt it.

Told you so.

 

[Firebird]

Hey, the "admins" have allowed Ray to call me an "asshole" twice now in violation of the board's Terms of Service. Complain to them.

You do realize you're still the one goading Warped9 into responding every time you two get into it, right? The last time this happened, it all started because of you. Seriously, stop starting shit with other posters while the rest of us are trying to discuss the episode.

 

[Firebird]

not going to discuss it due to spoilers, but why exactly is this a bad thing? I had already taken the view that we were witnessing an example of a command situation, at the same time as the main theme of the episode (again spoilers)

Trying to deal with this in the least spoilerish way, but I felt that the way the B-plot ended sort of nullified the thrust of the A-plot, unless it was meant to be the episode's MacGuffin the whole time.

 

[FrankT]

Please voice your opinion and help get the conversation back on point.

Ok, I will! It was pretty good, but it did leave a few questions unanswered. For example:

Spoiler

What did Commander Garrettt even do in the Nimbus incident? I get the feeling that she was the one who killed the captain.

 

[Philip Guyott]

Chekov, here, looked to be characterized in the JJtrek version of the character. Like Wesley Crusher and NuCheckov they have made him the wiz kid solving things with technobabble.

In the TOS Chekov was actually pretty capable. He played an active role on the bridge and was often the only one able to take over for Spock's station.

It was only in the TOS movies that the character was portrayed as a bit silly, although still very funny.

 

[USS Intrepid]

I am not very happy about this but I agree with Warped9.

I find myself in agreement with him as well. Production standards were high as ever.

I also agree that Michelle Specht is a fine actor. I'm not a huge fan of the way her character is shoehorned into the show, but I can let that slide because she's very a likeable and natural actor. I also continue to be impressed by Todd Haberkorn.

 

[rocketdave]

It's rather fitting that John Champion from the Mission Log podcast had a role in this episode, considering the fact that he and his co-host, Ken Ray, often would address instances of sexism in TOS (to the apparent consternation of some listeners).

I've always hated that "Turnabout Intruder" gave the impression that Starfleet didn't allow women captains and chose to dismiss that claim as the ravings of a crazy person. After Enterprise's introduction of Captain Hernandez, that was even easier to do. But just as Continues basically undid Enterprise's revelation about Orion slave women, now they've undone the notion that Starfleet practices gender equality.

Frankly, I'd rather just pretend that "Turnabout Intruder" didn't happen and subtly refute it by introducing a woman captain rather than treating Dr. Lester's claim as definitive canon and devoting an entire episode to explaining it.

While I do think systemic sexism is a worthy topic for a Star Trek episode, I can't help feeling disappointed with the portrayal of Starfleet as an organization that allows it to exist.

 

[USS Intrepid]

Very well put RocketDave, I agree. I certainly appreciate what they were trying to do here, and it's an issue that remains topical, but I'm not convinced the execution here worked.

 

[mos6507]

The episode's problem is that it's dull. It takes a full half-hour before anyone is under mortal danger and the nature of that danger is left unexplained by the end of it, which is frustrating.

I don't mind the ham-fisted morality per se. The issues it raises are relevant, especially given the nature of this election season, for instance, but they didn't frame those issues into a plot that was engaging enough, instead relying on an extended socratic dialogue. They also seemed to be done to rationalize and soften TOS' social justice contradictions/anachronisms. I would have let this one slide and taken on some other topic.

It would be nice, though, if people could feel they can just express their opinions and be respectful of others and not resort to name-calling.

 

[Indysolo]

There is still STC's polished approach that cannot be denied, but as has been said by others the achilles heel is the writing.

Did someone say "Cash"?

Neil

 

[CaptainMurdock]

I really like Star Trek Continues but so far I feel this was their weakest written effort. The message of the story just feels so forced and as Kirk said, "We shouldn't even be having this conversation." Another big thing that stood out to me was

Spoiler

Garret's backstory, Whenever we saw her, She was dodging questions and being argumentative. It just went nowhere. Same with the USS Hood. What happened to it? Why did it suddenly power up? lots of questions that just go unanswered.

Aside from that, The technical aspects were up to standard as usual but I just think the story was rather weak. I hate to say. But, I'm looking forward for more and hope all goes well in for the future.

 

[BoredShipCapt'n]

Spoiler

It's rather fitting that John Champion from the Mission Log podcast had a role in this episode, considering the fact that he and his co-host, Ken Ray, often would address instances of sexism in TOS (to the apparent consternation of some listeners).

I've always hated that "Turnabout Intruder" gave the impression that Starfleet didn't allow women captains and chose to dismiss that claim as the ravings of a crazy person. After Enterprise's introduction of Captain Hernandez, that was even easier to do. But just as Continues basically undid Enterprise's revelation about Orion slave women, now they've undone the notion that Starfleet practices gender equality.

Frankly, I'd rather just pretend that "Turnabout Intruder" didn't happen and subtly refute it by introducing a woman captain rather than treating Dr. Lester's claim as definitive canon and devoting an entire episode to explaining it.

While I do think systemic sexism is a worthy topic for a Star Trek episode, I can't help feeling disappointed with the portrayal of Starfleet as an organization that allows it to exist.

I've never been comfortable with rationalizing that Janice just imagined the whole thing, so I'm glad they found a credible (if convoluted) in-universe explanation that respects the original material.

I really like Star Trek Continues but so far I feel this was their weakest written effort. The message of the story just feels so forced and as Kirk said, "We shouldn't even be having this conversation." Another big thing that stood out to me was

Spoiler

Garret's backstory, Whenever we saw her, She was dodging questions and being argumentative. It just went nowhere. Same with the USS Hood. What happened to it? Why did it suddenly power up? lots of questions that just go unanswered.

Aside from that, The technical aspects were up to standard as usual but I just think the story was rather weak. I hate to say. But, I'm looking forward for more and hope all goes well in for the future.

I think whenever they find out what went wrong on the Hood, it'll be time to give the Enterprise a major overhaul ... y'know?

As for Garrett's backstory, I thought this was something that should have been spelled out. If this had been TOS, they'd have gotten into some details of what her act or omission was supposed to have been on that ship. Yes, the exact story would be just a MacGuffin for evaluating her character, but it would have lent some interest and believability to the hearing, and it would only have added a couple minutes to the running time. Besides, if I were a kid watching this episode, I'd want to know what Garrett was supposed to have done and feel cheated by never finding out... and there's no important reason not to tell us any details; it just makes the "message" more of a sledgehammer.

All that said, I wonder if Garrett will be back. There's so much still unknown about her... not only what she did, but why she's so concerned about her family pride.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Did someone say "Cash"?

Neil

Busts me up ... every freakin' time!

 

[9gs]

Overall I liked it. The production values are outstanding. The camera work, lighting, sets, sound, and special effects are superb. Probably 3.5/5
1. Michele, Todd, Chris, and Wyatt are really hitting their stride. Chris and Todd own those roles.
2. I would have liked to have seen Spock and McKennah have that conversation face to face. They are both so good.
3. No offense to John but I would rather have seen Uhura in command. Would have driven home the whole "women in command thing".
4. Can you stand upright in the Shuttle? That kind of threw me off.
5. An officer promotion is a big thing. Nice that you gave that to Scott but it would not have been handled in that nonchalant way.
6. If Garrett had filed a formal protest based on gender discrimination it would not have been handled by the person who made the decision. It would have been handled by her superior or someone they designated (like the Vulcan Admiral). Then we could have seen the Vulcan and Commodore Gray get "into it" about her decision.
7. Garrett did not come across well. She is definitely hiding something.
8. Spock asked Kirk a straight up question and as his commander and friend he deserved a straight answer not something a diplomat would say.
9. The hearing room looked amazing!

 

[BoredShipCapt'n]

Overall I liked it. The production values are outstanding. The camera work, lighting, sets, sound, and special effects are superb. Probably 3.5/5
1. Michele, Todd, Chris, and Wyatt are really hitting their stride. Chris and Todd own those roles.
2. I would have liked to have seen Spock and McKennah have that conversation face to face. They are both so good.
3. No offense to John but I would rather have seen Uhura in command. Would have driven home the whole "women in command thing".
4. Can you stand upright in the Shuttle? That kind of threw me off.
5. An officer promotion is a big thing. Nice that you gave that to Scott but it would not have been handled in that nonchalant way.
6. If Garrett had filed a formal protest based on gender discrimination it would not have been handled by the person who made the decision. It would have been handled by her superior or someone they designated (like the Vulcan Admiral). Then we could have seen the Vulcan and Commodore Gray get "into it" about her decision.
7. Garrett did not come across well. She is definitely hiding something.
8. Spock asked Kirk a straight up question and as his commander and friend he deserved a straight answer not something a diplomat would say.
9. The hearing room looked amazing!

Yeah, the hearing room is great! Nice to see a door on hinges for a change...

 

[QuantumMechanic]

Now that it's been publicly released and details can be discussed...

As I said earlier I don't mind the callbacks (and callforwards, like the very strong hint that this Garrett is an ancestor of TNG's Garrett) in principle, though I reserve my right not to like them depending on execution and how they fit into the story, and here I thought the callback to "Court-Martial" while neat also wasted too much time. I agree with Stomm -- we didn't need to waste time hearing Spock's record read. And all the trappings of them coming out, and announcing who everyone was, etc., etc. just wasted a bunch of time and to me seemed to be done mostly to say "see how well we could replicate the "Court-Martial" hearing room and props!".

And don't get me started on how ridiculous it'd be in real life for Kirk to be on that hearing. Not with the massive conflict of interest he'd have re: Spock.

I also really didn't like the anvils raining down like cats and dogs. I didn't like them in TOS and I don't like them here. Look at "Lolani" - that got an important point across without being nearly so hamhanded as this episode was. It grated so much.

And I also agree with the person above who said it was fairly dull. I kept waiting for something to happen and then nothing did, other than the Hood's engines firing up for no reason other than to blow up the ship in order to moot the hearing so Spock could return to the Enterprise.

 

[Credit Check]

Overall, I thought this episode was excellent.

 

[dmac]

Was it just me? The tempo of some of the scenes sounded sped up to the point where Vic almost sounded like he took a breath of helium. Seems like I'm not used to lines being delivered so quickly.

 

[Nightowl1701]

I don't know about Garrett, but I (Betazed) sense we will definitely be revisiting what happened to the Hood before this series ends, as well as the increasing loss of starships. (The Constitution decommissioned already? It's only 25 years old...)

It was mentioned they're still in year four of the FYM. So are we jumping ahead a year before the series finale (possibly fitting TAS into the gap), or is the FYM coming to a premature end (again) in more ways than one?