Fone Bone
Matt Zimmer
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds "The Serene Squall"
This is going to be an overwhelmingly positive review with a couple of major negative notes. I think I won't either start with them, or save them for last. I'll try to talk about them as organically as possible.
I have to say I love Captain Pike more than Captain Kirk. By like a lot. It's genius that he offers to cook the Pirates a good meal. He's not just a good Federation captain, he's a shrewd diplomat in being instantly able to size up what a person needs or would value. Him being a good cook isn't outside of Star Trek Captains either (Sisko was bit of a gourmand).
I am very happy with that Sybok ending. And I give Eugene Roddenberry a LOT of credit for overriding his father about that. By the end of his life, Roddenberry was making things as uncomfortable and complicated for the franchise as possible. One of the ways he did that is declare parts of Star Trek V, specifically Sybok's lineage. "apocryphal", which is undermining the entire franchise. It was such a dirtbag thing to do, so of course Brannon Braga, the worst thing to ever happen to Star Trek, attempted to say Voyager's "Threshold" wasn't canon either, but out of embarrassment, rather than spite. I love Star Trek: Lower Decks for having the courage to make a liar out of Braga years later, and I similarly punch the air for this episode reiterating, "Everything we saw back then actually happened." Does the series and the Kurtzman era play fast and loose with canon? Absolutely. And it pisses me off. What I like about acknowledging the hot messes of Sybok and "Threshold" is the Kurtzman and Roddenberry Jr. era is not dismissing people who worked hard on a previous Star Trek project, simply because the producer didn't like it. If Braga was truly ashamed of that "Threshold" script, he shouldn't have submitted it, much less brought it to air. Since he did, he has an obligation to stand by it (as stupid as the story was) and not basically tell the director and actors on the show they don't matter. A canon exists as to what is on-screen (for good or ill). If Discovery or Picard (or this show) does a retcon, I like that the Sybok thing is suggesting that is a failing (or conscious decision) of the current stuff. As far as the producers are concerned, all of the original stuff happened, even if some of the writers haven't seen everything, and their work lazily contradicts stuff. I much prefer knowing the Kurtzman era is wrong, and Star Trek V and Voyager are now official parts of the canon, no matter what those whiny producers said at the time. That's a win for honest storytelling.
Memo to show: Whatever Sybok stuff you show, keep Uhura out of it. That will be a tall order, but it will be a necessity.
Stonn appears, which is great, although if the show does it right, they won't really show an evolution or love story between him and T'Pring. I think that probably only happened once Spock roundly ignored her during Kirk's tenure. He's still quite an attentive fiance here, which if you think about it, makes Amok Time Spock's treatment of T'Pring even more horrible in hindsight. You kind of got the idea that Vulcans kept their love lives and professional lives SO separate they only had sex every seven years, and never saw their loved ones in between, which is a ridiculous notion. Nerdy fans are gonna complain that it's out of character that Spock is not ashamed of sex here, but being so is actually illogical. Yeah, it involves emotions and attachments, and it's hella messy. But it's also a part of the biological experience, and a truly logical species would understand that. The Star Trek novels (which are admittedly hit or miss) have shown Vulcan romances and sex encounters that weren't Pon Farr before, so I won't hear people saying this is outside of the franchise. And even if it were, I think that was a franchise weakness that should be ignored, if I'm being honest.
One of the two things I didn't like was the reveal that Aspen was actually the head pirate Angel. Tell me if my anger is unjustified there. But my logic goes, I don't like feeling shammed. It's one thing to show characters being taken in by a con, but to have a character so fully fool the audience doesn't feel like a clever twist. I feel as embarrassed and betrayed as Spock does. I don't actually believe it is out of line for writers and producers to take a viewer's feelings into account about things like that. She was TOO good of a therapist and TOO healthy for Spock, so I'm way more pissed than if the betrayal had occurred during more standard non-personal interactions with the crew. There is a difference between a surprise twist you don't see coming, and being deliberately made to feel stupid. And I did. I was going to comment in my review how dumb it was for a counselor to wear a face tattoo, an ear full of rings, and a belly-shirt, but truthfully Troi's boobs hanging out every week made that plausible. I don't like being made the fool in such a bald way. And yeah, I argue that writers SHOULD take the audience's feelings, (and even pride) into account about things like this. I will never thank or praise the show for making me feel stupid. And I feel that that's what a lot of praise for similar unexpected twists is for. A series making you feel dumb doesn't make the series smart and clever. It makes it less enjoyable. You can feel free to disagree about this, but I'm not going to change my mind.
The other thing I didn't like was the kiss between Chapel and Spock. I half-appreciated that they cooled it at the end, and that Chapel was much more, well SANE, about the subject than she ever was on The Original Series. But really, that's also my problem with it. This level of emotional maturity should not be occurring ten years before the hot mess Majel Barrett played. Basically, in this episode Spock gave Christine everything she ever wanted for Christmas, so if I keep this episode in mind when I rewatch the old show (and I will) I'll have to think TOS Chapel is crazy. And I will. Because the Sybok stuff says everything we saw back in the day actually happened. It simply appears Chapel is going to devolve and go bonkers, which as bad a message as the character already sent on the first show, somehow makes it even worse.
Yeah, Pike, no pirate impressions at the end. You have become my third favorite captain after Picard and Sisko (in remarkably short order, no less) but that's painful.
I'm loving and enjoying this show. And one of the things I love most about it is it's imperfect and gives me controversies worth talking about. It's great. ****1/2.
This is going to be an overwhelmingly positive review with a couple of major negative notes. I think I won't either start with them, or save them for last. I'll try to talk about them as organically as possible.
I have to say I love Captain Pike more than Captain Kirk. By like a lot. It's genius that he offers to cook the Pirates a good meal. He's not just a good Federation captain, he's a shrewd diplomat in being instantly able to size up what a person needs or would value. Him being a good cook isn't outside of Star Trek Captains either (Sisko was bit of a gourmand).
I am very happy with that Sybok ending. And I give Eugene Roddenberry a LOT of credit for overriding his father about that. By the end of his life, Roddenberry was making things as uncomfortable and complicated for the franchise as possible. One of the ways he did that is declare parts of Star Trek V, specifically Sybok's lineage. "apocryphal", which is undermining the entire franchise. It was such a dirtbag thing to do, so of course Brannon Braga, the worst thing to ever happen to Star Trek, attempted to say Voyager's "Threshold" wasn't canon either, but out of embarrassment, rather than spite. I love Star Trek: Lower Decks for having the courage to make a liar out of Braga years later, and I similarly punch the air for this episode reiterating, "Everything we saw back then actually happened." Does the series and the Kurtzman era play fast and loose with canon? Absolutely. And it pisses me off. What I like about acknowledging the hot messes of Sybok and "Threshold" is the Kurtzman and Roddenberry Jr. era is not dismissing people who worked hard on a previous Star Trek project, simply because the producer didn't like it. If Braga was truly ashamed of that "Threshold" script, he shouldn't have submitted it, much less brought it to air. Since he did, he has an obligation to stand by it (as stupid as the story was) and not basically tell the director and actors on the show they don't matter. A canon exists as to what is on-screen (for good or ill). If Discovery or Picard (or this show) does a retcon, I like that the Sybok thing is suggesting that is a failing (or conscious decision) of the current stuff. As far as the producers are concerned, all of the original stuff happened, even if some of the writers haven't seen everything, and their work lazily contradicts stuff. I much prefer knowing the Kurtzman era is wrong, and Star Trek V and Voyager are now official parts of the canon, no matter what those whiny producers said at the time. That's a win for honest storytelling.
Memo to show: Whatever Sybok stuff you show, keep Uhura out of it. That will be a tall order, but it will be a necessity.
Stonn appears, which is great, although if the show does it right, they won't really show an evolution or love story between him and T'Pring. I think that probably only happened once Spock roundly ignored her during Kirk's tenure. He's still quite an attentive fiance here, which if you think about it, makes Amok Time Spock's treatment of T'Pring even more horrible in hindsight. You kind of got the idea that Vulcans kept their love lives and professional lives SO separate they only had sex every seven years, and never saw their loved ones in between, which is a ridiculous notion. Nerdy fans are gonna complain that it's out of character that Spock is not ashamed of sex here, but being so is actually illogical. Yeah, it involves emotions and attachments, and it's hella messy. But it's also a part of the biological experience, and a truly logical species would understand that. The Star Trek novels (which are admittedly hit or miss) have shown Vulcan romances and sex encounters that weren't Pon Farr before, so I won't hear people saying this is outside of the franchise. And even if it were, I think that was a franchise weakness that should be ignored, if I'm being honest.
One of the two things I didn't like was the reveal that Aspen was actually the head pirate Angel. Tell me if my anger is unjustified there. But my logic goes, I don't like feeling shammed. It's one thing to show characters being taken in by a con, but to have a character so fully fool the audience doesn't feel like a clever twist. I feel as embarrassed and betrayed as Spock does. I don't actually believe it is out of line for writers and producers to take a viewer's feelings into account about things like that. She was TOO good of a therapist and TOO healthy for Spock, so I'm way more pissed than if the betrayal had occurred during more standard non-personal interactions with the crew. There is a difference between a surprise twist you don't see coming, and being deliberately made to feel stupid. And I did. I was going to comment in my review how dumb it was for a counselor to wear a face tattoo, an ear full of rings, and a belly-shirt, but truthfully Troi's boobs hanging out every week made that plausible. I don't like being made the fool in such a bald way. And yeah, I argue that writers SHOULD take the audience's feelings, (and even pride) into account about things like this. I will never thank or praise the show for making me feel stupid. And I feel that that's what a lot of praise for similar unexpected twists is for. A series making you feel dumb doesn't make the series smart and clever. It makes it less enjoyable. You can feel free to disagree about this, but I'm not going to change my mind.
The other thing I didn't like was the kiss between Chapel and Spock. I half-appreciated that they cooled it at the end, and that Chapel was much more, well SANE, about the subject than she ever was on The Original Series. But really, that's also my problem with it. This level of emotional maturity should not be occurring ten years before the hot mess Majel Barrett played. Basically, in this episode Spock gave Christine everything she ever wanted for Christmas, so if I keep this episode in mind when I rewatch the old show (and I will) I'll have to think TOS Chapel is crazy. And I will. Because the Sybok stuff says everything we saw back in the day actually happened. It simply appears Chapel is going to devolve and go bonkers, which as bad a message as the character already sent on the first show, somehow makes it even worse.
Yeah, Pike, no pirate impressions at the end. You have become my third favorite captain after Picard and Sisko (in remarkably short order, no less) but that's painful.
I'm loving and enjoying this show. And one of the things I love most about it is it's imperfect and gives me controversies worth talking about. It's great. ****1/2.
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What a soul crushing death scene. Part of what makes it so sad is just how well this show does at portraying this crew as a family and seeing them grieve as the audience grieves. This has been a very good show even if some people think last week's fairy tale episode went to far into the Voyager-esque camp direction.
