Wow! I give this episode 11 out of 10! Can Star Trek continue to break the laws of physics at this rate? I just don’t know! But I thoroughly loved this episode and will be watching it many, many more times.
First of all I have to commend the continued high standards and quality of the costume, make up and prosthetics departments, the Delebian’s were brought to life in amazing detail. The cinematography on the planet Deleb was also impressive. Let’s hope that we continue to see some more cool location shooting throughout the series. Fresh air is good for the actors and helps them to act in more of a ‘free range’ environment away from green screens and polystyrene sets and painted backdrops. It’s good to get out of the office every now and again and also good for mental health.
Credit to the special effects team once more for imagining the beautiful comet which guest starred in this episode. Both the long range beauty shots and the surface based away team scenes were quite something to behold. Does anybody know what the comet ‘Quentin’ was named after? Quentin Blake? Quentin Tarantino? I’m sure that there was once a Q in an episode of Voyager called Quentin, and I think that episode had a comet in it too? Is this episode of Strange New World’s a reboot or reimagining of the Voyager episode Deathwish? Probably not unless Quinn is short for Quentin. The comet also reminded me of the beautifully rendered comet from the DS9 opening credits, it was animated in a very similar way and filmed from similar angles; some of the subtle musical ques also made me think of DS9 as the celestial body first flew by… maybe it was kind of a discreet DS9 Easter egg/cameo?
Uhura and Ortega seem like they are going to become really good friends, but we do not see Ortega in TOS or beyond so I am assuming that she will sadly die at some point during the Strange New World’s 5 year mission. Uhura also shows that she really wants to impress by being the only person in full Star Fleet dress uniform at an official function, was she over dressed or were the rest of the crew under dressed? I think that she looked great though regardless.
Hemmer seems like a good addition to the crew, but I am confused about the pronunciation of his Andorian sub species name. I have always pronounced it Ay-nar not E-nar? The fact that he is visually impaired, a result of his sub-species evolving underground with no sunlight, and that his other senses have evolved to compensate without the need for technological augmentation such as a visor is a cool example of representation. Hemmer doesn’t seem as passive and spiritual as the Aenar as depicted in the Enterprise prequel series though so far.
What is ‘hazing’ though? I didn’t get why Uhura was thinking that people were hazing her? Is this American slang for something?
Pike told several bad jokes in this episode which the audience in the real world might not actually laugh at, most notably during the crew gathering where Uhura over dressed, but his captive on screen audience/crew seemed to laugh along anyway as if they were humoring him. It was a bit like ‘canned’ laughter.
I am also curious who speaks the most languages now? Hoshi Sato or Nyoti Uhura?
Pike also has a problem not only speaking about his own future ten years from now, but also that of his crew mates… this could show that he is projecting his fear of his own fate on to his crew; Pike could be starting to worry about their future just as much as his own.
A common theme in these two first episodes is the prime directive, Pike and crew seem to love playing god saving planets from destruction. Is this a good thing? I think so… but something must happen to knock Pike down a peg or two with all his interfering or surely the Federation would have adapted the Prime Directive as a result of his successes? He might make a mistake at some point in the future which proves that general order number one and the PD must be adhered to? Let’s wait and see…
This brings us on to the Shepherd’s. If an event is deemed to be ‘pre ordained’, or in simpler terms ‘meant to be’, but someone in the present tries to change what is considered to be ‘set in stone’ by those insisting that they know what is to come, does this mean that the people trying to preempt destiny or those trying to preserve a perceived outcome are right or wrong? This episode shows that even if someone changes a perceived destiny, if the outcome is mutually desirable due to interference it can still be claimed that it was ‘meant to be’? In other words, whatever happens in life we can all perceive it however we want to, interpret it as we see fit and act upon it in any way that we feel best as long as it is with good intentions and we still agree with the outcome as a result the said intervention, even if we didn’t agree with the intervention in the first place? We might even conflict on how we act in any given situation… but as long as the outcome is of mutual benefit and builds stronger relationships and cooperation in the long term, then surely that is meant to be?
Cheers!
