Spoilers Strange New Worlds 1x02 - "Children of The Comet"

[Trekker4747]

"Screw General Order One" was about my favorite moment in the pilot.

"They're doubling down on renaming it The Prime Directive."
"Well, that'll never stick."

 

[Romulan_spy]

They saved a species from a natural disaster, who 50 years later became pure assholes and did something so horrible, that the Federation thinks that saving them was a bad idea and the cost to the universe to keep these assholes around is too much.

I think it is more than just becoming a**holes. Maybe someone on that planet eventually becomes the next galactic Hitler? Maybe that planet eventually becomes the homeworld of the next Dominion or the next Borg? So I think it is possible that the Federation decided that since they can't know in advance how their actions will affect the galaxy in the future, that it is better to just let nature takes it course.

 

[KennyB]

Loved it. That shuttle redesign inside and out is glorious.

 

[Gov Kodos]

They need a show where the Federation is dying and they find an alien species who could save them but won't, not because they would let nature take its course but because the federation is a bunch of sanctimonious pricks.

 

[Mudd]

I agree, but that one little prison cell scene in episode 1 raised a million red flags for me. Pike and Una talk professionally, then La'an comes in and says something like "I hate to interrupt but..." A throwaway joke on the surface, but it felt like a wink-wink from the writers.


Wrong franchise. (Although I'd argue that's not what the author of the other franchise meant, either.)
Trek is largely about the opposite of that motto.

Well, I have no idea what the reference is. It just sounded like natural conversation to me.

 

[Belz...]

I think it is more than just becoming a**holes. Maybe someone on that planet eventually becomes the next galactic Hitler? Maybe that planet eventually becomes the homeworld of the next Dominion or the next Borg? So I think it is possible that the Federation decided that since they can't know in advance how their actions will affect the galaxy in the future, that it is better to just let nature takes it course.

Sure... but then that raises the question of when exactly is it OK to intervene. Warp development? They could still be centuries behind you in many ways. I think a more reasonable, case-by-case evaluation is warranted.

 

[Tuskin38]

Nausicaans are already known...

They appeared in two episodes of Enterprise

 

[ThreeEdgedSword]

Well, I have no idea what the reference is. It just sounded like natural conversation to me.

I hope you're right and my radar is just badly calibrated.

As for this episode, I loved how the preview suggested Hemmer was prickly and gruff and, at least in this instance, it was simply hazing Uhura.

 

[Tuskin38]

At one point the alien Shepard said ‘Before our sun burned hot in the sky’

I wonder if that was meant to be a nod to the guardian of forever. He did say ‘long before your sun burned hot in the sky’

 

[TheMadCloner]

The prime directive is a living document.

The endless articles are possibly amendments?

Regardless General Order One is constantly being Challenged in Court Martials, and the results of those trials can go either way depending on circumstances, and the document is rewritten.

In the 23rd century, they are allowed to discretely stop natural disasters on prewarp worlds.

In the Kelvin 23rd century they were still allowed to discretely stop natural disasters on prewarp worlds.

In the 24th century they are not allowed to stop natural disasters on prewarp worlds.

Why the change in policy?

2 possible reasons are opportunity and responsibility.

1. If there's a class M world that loses all it's people, that's a world the Federation can take and colonize or mine for resources.

2. They saved a species from a natural disaster, who 50 years later became pure assholes and did something so horrible, that the Federation thinks that saving them was a bad idea and the cost to the universe to keep these assholes around is too much.

Living documents are susceptible to the flavour of the day, or century, as it were. It could be as simple as prevailing opinion of those in charge/the majority at different points in time.

 

[Romulan_spy]

Sure... but then that raises the question of when exactly is it OK to intervene. Warp development? They could still be centuries behind you in many ways. I think a more reasonable, case-by-case evaluation is warranted.

I think it is ok to save a primitive planet from a natural disaster because it is still early in their development. They still have hundreds of years before they could become a spacefaring threat if they ever do. Even when they develop warp drive, they could still be decades away from actually becoming a serious threat if they ever do. They might become a peaceful civ. You have time. You can always intervene later if they do show signs of becoming the next Dominion or the next Borg. So there is no risk in saving a pre-warp civ from extinction.

 

[cooleddie74]

The shuttlecraft is almost perfect TOS.

 

[TheMadCloner]

Jess Bush plays an extremely likeable and charismatic Chapel. Hope she gets good screen time.

 

[Lonemagpie]

Spoilery review time... https://warpfactortrek.com/strange-new-worlds-children-of-the-comet-in-review/

 

[cooleddie74]

There's not a single lead cast member I don't like and find engaging.

 

[Gov Kodos]

They need one that the crew all refuse to fly in because it keeps getting into crashes and troubles. Old #7, everyone hates that shuttle.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Sure... but then that raises the question of when exactly is it OK to intervene. Warp development? They could still be centuries behind you in many ways. I think a more reasonable, case-by-case evaluation is warranted.

It's not just one line between us and them.

Transwarp/slipstream is another line.

Time travel is another line.

And transubstantiating into non corporeal life is another line.

Don't interfere with lower life forms and don't be such a dick a higher life form has to step in.

They need a show where the Federation is dying and they find an alien species who could save them but won't, not because they would let nature take its course but because the federation is a bunch of sanctimonious pricks.

In Who Mourns for Adonis a god offers to help mankind, and Kirk tells him to suck it.

In Prime Factors Janeway asks for a shortcut from friendly aliens who tell her to suck it.

 

[Mudd]

Screw the Prime Directive.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Living documents are susceptible to the flavour of the day, or century, as it were. It could be as simple as prevailing opinion of those in charge/the majority at different points in time.

I am aware of what is happening in the US Supreme Court today.

 

[cooleddie74]

The Prime Directive should always be a guide observed through common sense, not a suicide pact.