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Why have they marginalised Captain Pike and turned him into a weakling?

Nerys Myk said:
It's called a cliffhanger.
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That's what's so odd about it - the final shot of the second season, and the impression they want to leave you with for a year, is the captain of the Enterprise on the brink of crying while Una tries to force him into action.

Similarly, they could have written the BoBW cliffhanger as Riker looking horrified with the sound of his bowels emptying in terror playing over the end credits sequence, but instead they end with him giving the order to fire, because they want to demonstrate that he's prepared for command. I'm not sure what similar message we're meant to take from Pike's petrified look as the crew yell at him.
 
Starflight said:
That's what's so odd about it - the final shot of the second season, and the impression they want to leave you with for a year, is the captain of the Enterprise on the brink of crying while Una tries to force him into action.

Similarly, they could have written the BoBW cliffhanger as Riker looking horrified with the sound of his bowels emptying in terror playing over the end credits sequence, but instead they end with him giving the order to fire, because they want to demonstrate that he's prepared for command. I'm not sure what similar message we're meant to take from Pike's petrified look as the crew yell at him.
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I guess that's one interpretation.
 
Starflight said:
That's what's so odd about it - the final shot of the second season, and the impression they want to leave you with for a year, is the captain of the Enterprise on the brink of crying while Una tries to force him into action.
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The shot implies nothing of the sort. The editing is purposely slowing down and emphasizing the overwhelming chaos of the crisis situation and how that insurmountable task can feel like an eternity, even in the briefest of seconds.
 
Firebird said:
The shot implies nothing of the sort. The editing is purposely slowing down and emphasizing the overwhelming chaos of the crisis situation and how that insurmountable task can feel like an eternity, even in the briefest of seconds.
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Una presses him for orders (twice?), so he presumably is stood there looking around like a spooked meerkat in-universe. Spock looks at him expectantly too, and the battle continues at normal speed on the viewscreen behind him.

It probably wouldn't stand out as much as it does if it didn't echo previous instances - it comes a couple episodes after Ortegas started ranting during the dinner with the Klingon and it again fell to Una to step in while Pike sat there looking awkward (iirc, Una tries to urge Pike to do something there too, and he gives her a sort of sheepish look and says nothing). I genuinely thought they were setting something up where Una would take command in the latter half of the Gorn two-parter, but it didn't seem to go anywhere.
 
DarrenTR1970 said:
Something to consider is that Anson is the father to two young children, a four and a two year old.
He's probably gone to the producers with a request to spend more time with his family, and they've obliged him; thus, fewer appearances and the shift in emphasis to an ensemble piece.
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IIRC, he just had his first kid either right before or during production on season 2, which ramped down his availability.
 
Starflight said:
That's what's so odd about it - the final shot of the second season, and the impression they want to leave you with for a year, is the captain of the Enterprise on the brink of crying while Una tries to force him into action.

Similarly, they could have written the BoBW cliffhanger as Riker looking horrified with the sound of his bowels emptying in terror playing over the end credits sequence, but instead they end with him giving the order to fire, because they want to demonstrate that he's prepared for command. I'm not sure what similar message we're meant to take from Pike's petrified look as the crew yell at him.
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They want to amp up the drama. It's a TV show.

I mean hell, I thought it was hilarious in BOBW II that after the tense "Mr. Worf FIRE!" ending in B0BW I, we don't get an immediate blast - you have Geordie standing at his Console going 'Warp Power building..." for like 15 seconds - and THEN you get the discharge? :guffaw: With a foe like the Borg, that's an eternity for then to do something. Riker was lucky all Picard decided to do was give a smug answer and then Warp out to Earth.

But yeah, it's ALL in attempt to ramp up the drama.
 
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Actually, they're kind of hoping the audience will pay attention to the fact that all the options are bad ones.

Some folks just want to see the characters fire phasers at something.
 
This is what we call a "True Ensemble" show.

One w/o a Big 3 characters hogging the majority of screen time.

Where most of the cast gets equal shares of screen time on a over-all basis.
 
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