I LOVED this episode. But really, it's fine if others don't like it. Everyone's different. And it takes nothing away from those of us who thought it was frigging amazing!
So, just let people have their opinions whatever they are.
Spoilers Strange New Worlds Episode 7 - Those Old Scientists
- Thread starter tomalak301
- Start date
So, just let people have their opinions whatever they are.
My father has been gone ten years now and his sister (my aunt), the youngest of the four is now one year older than when he passed. So yeah, that scene got to me.
Yeah, that was Berman. The writers loved TOS but were often restricted.
The Lower Deckers remind me a lot of young Piper and her colleagues in the Diane Carey novels, “Dreadnought!” and “Battlestations”. They were all intelligent but often failed, or appeared to fail, because of impetuousness, inexperience or impatience. The reader got to be a fly-on-the-wall as the cadets, then junior officers, got to admire Kirk, Spock and McCoy from a distance, but still close enough to observe their supervisors’ interactions, predict their decision-making processes, and learn from mistakes. And sometimes the young crewmembers provided new, unexpected solutions.
I loved when Piper observed McCoy winning an argument with Spock and poking his tongue out behind Spock’s back. (Seen by the cadets but not usually seen by the TV viewer.)
Well, the only thing I didn't like about the poster is that Una is holding a phaser. That shouldn't be their recruiting tactic. Instead, she should be holding a tricorder to represent discovery.
But I thought the poster was meaningful on another level. After what she went through being an augment, the shame of hiding it, and her trial, and now knowing that Starfleet will someday use her for recruitment is extremely touching!
This episode was right up at the top no doubt. But if you're talking pure humor, you have to look towards Lower Decks. Comedy is LD's foundation to a degree unmatched by other Trek series.
But surely Those Old Scientists is right up there.
This was beautiful. I'm a huge fan of Lower Decks as well as SNW and I feel like everybody involved here absolutely knocked this out of the park.
The LDS referential jokes were on point, but using the SNW crew as the straight man for most of the episode just worked. Pike's almost dismayed "Flipping it open is the best part!" had me absolutely rolling. Anson Mount is simply brilliant. And the bit at the end with Ortegas and Uhura going full Boimler over the NX-01 crew was a great touch.
But they didn't shy away from the drama either. Pike's future gets addressed in a really interesting way, and then we get some great backstory for the captain about his family situation. And the entire sequence between Boimler and Chapel is heartbreaking. And kudos to Jess Bush for absolutely nailing the emotion in that scene. You could feel the absolute gut punch that Boims was inadvertently delivering.
I like how almost every member of the SNW cast got a good moment here.
And, finally, I will never, ever again be able to watch TNG without shouting "Riker!" at my television every time Jonathan Frakes dominates a chair.
The LDS referential jokes were on point, but using the SNW crew as the straight man for most of the episode just worked. Pike's almost dismayed "Flipping it open is the best part!" had me absolutely rolling. Anson Mount is simply brilliant. And the bit at the end with Ortegas and Uhura going full Boimler over the NX-01 crew was a great touch.
But they didn't shy away from the drama either. Pike's future gets addressed in a really interesting way, and then we get some great backstory for the captain about his family situation. And the entire sequence between Boimler and Chapel is heartbreaking. And kudos to Jess Bush for absolutely nailing the emotion in that scene. You could feel the absolute gut punch that Boims was inadvertently delivering.
I like how almost every member of the SNW cast got a good moment here.
And, finally, I will never, ever again be able to watch TNG without shouting "Riker!" at my television every time Jonathan Frakes dominates a chair.
TNG, DS9, VGR, ENT, DISCO, PICARD, LDS, and now SNW. Yep, Frakes has acted or directed (or done both) in every series of the franchise except for TOS, TAS, and PRODIGY... and we have no idea if he did anything in PRODIGY's season 2. So there is still a possiblity he will be involved in 9 shows.
Taking note. Is that your professional opinion?Alcoholism: solves everything...
Heck ya! They've mastered combining goofball comedy with meaningful drama and have done it twice this season (so far)!This episode is dumber than a bag of hammers and yet works. These writing teams know what they're doing.
Considering that Frakes directed the episode, it must have been a very funny moment in the set
That knowledge just might just save his life in what seems to be an inevitable encounter with the Gorn later this season . . as seen with Spock's experience in Arena.
An easy 10.
- It might have been nice to see a live-action intro with the LD gang but the animated intro was... New. Now that's some risks. ...and it paid off. Didn't need the rotoscoped intro though.
- I was waiting to see if they'd make a connection between Tendi and Spock given that he sponsor's her in the future. In fact, when the episode was announced, I thought that Tendi should have been the one to go back. Anyway, we got nothing direct, but maybe Spock will remember that Boimler has a friend who's ancestor was there, so if you want to think about it, we did get something to pick apart and speculate on.
- It might have been nice to see a live-action intro with the LD gang but the animated intro was... New. Now that's some risks. ...and it paid off. Didn't need the rotoscoped intro though.
- I was waiting to see if they'd make a connection between Tendi and Spock given that he sponsor's her in the future. In fact, when the episode was announced, I thought that Tendi should have been the one to go back. Anyway, we got nothing direct, but maybe Spock will remember that Boimler has a friend who's ancestor was there, so if you want to think about it, we did get something to pick apart and speculate on.
I'm not always the gentlest of critics (e.g., DSC) but it's always just calling them as I see them. I want to like them because I'm a fan. But not all episodes are equally likeable. There's natural variability in everything.
So much of this is just different people liking different things. If someone hates an episode I love, it doesn't bother me in the slightest. I've also learned a lot from people who like episodes that I didn't like. They might not change my personal view of the episode, but I can at least understand what others get from it, which is actually pretty illuminating.
To bring this back to the current episode, any one who does "ride into combat" over an opinion about a TV episode needs to do it in the manner of Boimler on the saddle yelling "Riker!"
Thought I'd have a shot...
That looks good – I saw an attempt on Reddit that didn't blend the arm nearly as well.
I think the yellow around the bottom text is a stroke, rather than a glow, though. And I'd probably do the same for the "As Astra" text as well.
Holy crap! You're a great artist! Thanks for sharing!
Just reading the summary of the first book and jeez, I feel like every writer owes Carey royalties for using the "crazy Admiral building a secret fleet to take over the galaxy" trope. lol
It really does feel like a Lower Decks concept too though. Like Best and the Brightest, which is probably the only TNG novel I still remember these days.
It's not totally unheard of. The "Uncle Sam Wants You!" recruitment poster was created for WW1 but was also used for WW2.From this viewer perspective it was a cute joke but a 23rd century officer image for 24th century recruits..
Yeah, I know that's not a different century. But you can imagine that nostalgia for past glories can be an effective recruitment tactic.
ETA: Dang. Ninjad by @Kaelef !