Strange New Worlds - The Best We're Going to Get
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- Опубликовано: 8 фев 2025
- Strange New Worlds, the latest Star Trek show from Paramount Plus, started streaming last week, and gave us the best Star Trek episode of the NuTrek era. It's far from perfect, but it wasn't offensively bad - which automatically makes it better than Picard and Star Trek Discovery.
Its approach at least resembles The Original Series and The Next Generation, which is encouraging. It could still get markedly worse, but for now, it's the best we're likely to get.
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One of the things that struck me as I watched it was that it had a nobility of spirit that really highlighted the meanness of spirit of the other shows. This is a show about people trying to be their best, and supporting that effort (even if, at times, it will be doomed to fail). In getting it this right, it made it even clearer the degree to which the other shows got it wrong.
Definitely. This is one of the arguments for sticking with the franchise (and flooding to a show like this, if it keeps it up) rather than writing it off- if this approach is maintained, and is so obviously more successful in terms of viewers and appreciation, there is at least a chance studios will learn the lesson.
This was very much a return to "competency porn" Trek. The crew are adults who are there to do a job, and can keep their emotional drama in check. Something it sure seemed like the crew of the Discovery struggled with. And what brain slug took control of Jean-Luc Picard in the intervening years?
How do you feel about ds9?
Not as bad as Dicovery or PIcard but this is still NOT Star Trek. The characters are a little more professional but still act and talk way too informal for starfleet officers. They handle following orders, general order 1 and classified material like it's just a suggestion.
And worse all - to resolve the main story, Pike uses threats, indimidation and violence. He brings the Enterprise into low orbit to threatened the entire planet with his big stick. He shows the aliens video/pictures of death, destruction and WW3 to indimidate the aliens. Ya, this is Star Trek.
@Robert Martin The Yeerk Council of Thirteen would like me to inform you that they completely disavow whoever it is that’s Controlling Picard. Especially if it’s Esplin.
I agree with almost everything you are saying here. The episode starts with a very interesting premise and then kind of gets jumbled and rushed once they beam down to the planet. Ultimately, this was the first time in forever where I felt, even for a moment, that I was watching a TOS episode. This didn't wow me, but it will get me to watch the next episode.
looks like CBS finally bought those "My First ... Star Trek Script" books and littered them round the writing room...
Ethan Peck has evidently been to the gym, which I quite appreciate. 😏
Also, I just realized he’s Gregory Peck’s grandson. Knowing this, I now hear the “family resemblance” in their voices.
It wasn't great, it was fine. That is better than I can say for the recent offerings in the IP. I will give it a chance. They might get it together.
Absolutely. There are plenty of flaws with the episode, but these are largely technical - pacing, weighting of action vs exploration, rushed character development, occasional cheesiness. Which makes a pleasant change from the innumerable, deeper and more destructive faults of the other NuTrek shows.
@@TheLittlePlatoon I always give a show till the third or fourth episodes, if it disappoints or just plain old doesn't grab me by then then i tend to not watch after that. I like to let a show get out of those awkward first episode phases and iron out the technical flubs etc before I pass final judgement as it were.
you judge it but admit you have not watch it yet by saying you might give it a chance?
Bitter old man here. Thanks for the great video. And I'm in camp one. FYI. (At least it has running water.....for now.)
Strange New Worlds comes across as having been written by people who comprehend Roddenberry on some level.
Discovery comes across as having been written by an AI chat bot programmed to do the following: “Create a ST series, thematically organized around every social justice movement of the last 20 years randomly intersecting with overindulgent science fiction subject matter. The main character has to be an African American female but with a male first name, and she has to be the hero of every story arc.”
This newest show is the first live action series in this run to actually feel like Trek, in terms of getting the philosophical underpinnings and structure right. Trek is a show that, from its beginnings has been a utopian look at humanity at its best. Up until now its felt like live action Trek has had more in common with Bladerunner than TOS, TNG, or even DS9, which could be dark, but never dystopian. I'm hoping Kurtzman gets kicked to the curb in favor of someone who is actually a fan of the franchise, or at least a competent storyteller that understands and appreciates the material. But I'm not holding my breath.
Ummm, season 4 of Discovery was very hopeful about the value of the Federation and Picard was about how much more hopeful the future is in the established timeline but ok?
@@foxesofautumn There is a difference between characters reading their lines on how hopeful they are about the future... and how the script's theme's carry the concept of hope for the future.
Then again, when your making a show with eyeball torture, showing a child a scene of a mother who hanged herself when the original had no basis for the idea to exist, and casually killing off people who should otherwise be alive in the future with no care or concern for the future timeline... can you blame the audience for thinking the Secret Hideout writers are saying... 'Do as we say, don't do as we do?'
I think Kurtzman and Akiva Goldsman are the two biggest hacks connected with the new shows and both of them are all over this episode, Kurtzman as producer and story, Goldsman as writer/director. The fact that this episode was pretty good despite them being involved because going forward, it looks like we have different writers and directors, gives me a lot of hope.
I've been a Star Trek fan for over 40 years. This show is the closest to the spirit of Trek, so far. Definitely te best of the new shows. I can't say I'm optimistic, given who is behind it......but at least is wasn't garbage. If the show KEEPS this same energy, I'll at least watch it.
What I liked that managed to cut thru its small missteps, was that each episode is a kind of Sci-Fi parable, no overt metaphors, no weird anachronisms, no preachy tone - yet still able to tap into a complex, socio-political, social and humanist theming. If they can keep this tone right, the small missteps can be fixed along the way.
It's crazy that this is the first time the channel had a moment to be positive about its subject matter.
Not quite the first - I did something on the ‘70s Invasion of the Bodysnatchers back when we started, and the Dune c Star Wars comparison wasn’t entirely negative.
I do mean to put out short videos praising The Boys and Stranger Things. But there are only so many hours in a week!
I am glad they gave this series a budget. Picard Season 2 looked like it was funded by returning the expensive water bottles from the writing room. Of all the aspects I enjoyed about this show the fact that it is simply 'fun' jumps out at me. For being a pilot this show feels like it knows exactly what it is and where it is going. I have bitched about Discovery/Picard but it is important to give positive feedback when they are going in the right direction.
Um, you don't think they are trolling us? We have been complaining about Star Trek not having a optimistic future from day 1. And now they give it to us. Exactly. We say that to explore our own social issues we use an alien planet and have them look to the Federation as hope. Again, exactly as we complain. And we said the tone is to serious, that they should - like the Orville - lighten up. And they did that too. No lens flares, 10 second cutting, racing cameras, stupid heads up displays. Gone. Gone. Gone. Gone. People speak in complete sentences that you can see and hear.
The whole thing makes me extremely suspicious. But, I will try to maintain my....optimism.
Minor correction: The very first scene of the episode contained massive lens flares. Ridiculously massive, seeing as it's a person walking down a dark hallway. If I were cynical, I would suspect this was a deliberate Kurtzman dig at the fans who brung him. But only if I was cynical.
@@garyvansickle745 Good point. I actually didn't care for all that so I pushed it out my mind. In fact, I ignored a lot of this - like Spock. Remember 'This side of Paradise'?
SPOCK: I have little to say about it, Captain, except that for the first time in my life I was happy.
If the rumors are true about the precarious situation that Secret Hideout is in, then the reason why SNW is good & mostly agenda-free is because this show is their last chance in Paramount’s eyes. That they finally have to give fans what they want, because at this point they literally can’t afford not to.
I love the original ( the day the earth stood still ) in fairness most classic trek shows have a balance issue that usually takes a Season or two to work out . Encouraging is what we need . One issue ww3 should be happening in Picard season two , it started in 1997 and lasted for around 50 or 60 years. ( the aftermath)
The timeline has been adjusted. In the SNW premiere Pike talks about ww3 and the genetics wars happening in the first half of the 21st century.
@@frankm.2850 well they would have to have retconed it . I mean in Picard they alread have . Without mentioning it . 2024 is a quarter through the first half of the first half of the century. ( first half )
To be fair, many of the civilizations TOS found were basically humans dressed up from our past. We can't forget an entire planet that's perpetually stuck in the 1920s or a society that's literally built itself around Nazi ideology and dress. So while it's weird that a civilization would've popped up that's virtually identical to Earth, it's not outside the realm of established Star Trek canon.
"That went well" sticks in one's craw... and linking into Khan is not required. Sorry forgot, when 'Sister' was mentioned, no, sorry!
Interesting analysis. Two points though:
- Morphologically changing his appearance seems to be quite unstable, which may push Starfleet to play on a simpler approach with prosthetics... to tie in with TNG.
- The costumes on the planet are similar to ours because they have similar events to what happens on Earth. Moreover, most of the time, the planets visited in one episode don't need to have such a level of detail: these episodes serve to make a parallel with our contemporary problems and/or point out a flaw in us.
The civilizations that are really important in the Star Trek universe are very well developed and different enough to be believed.
As I remember, TOS took some similar shortcuts in several episodes, including gangsters and Nazis.
i loved it and i think or rather hope this follows the legacy of TOS, TNG, DS9 AND VOY
I've watched it 4 times now, and I have to say..... It's actually pretty darn good. Easily the best "nu-trek". And I know some people will say "that's a low bar", and yeah, it is. But instead of comparing it to other nu-trek, compare it to the pilots of all the previous Star Trek shows. I think it holds its own in that regard pretty easily. I'm looking forward to seeing if they can keep it up.
It's actually the first NuTrek that I've been able to watch twice and enjoyed. I tried giving Disco another watch and turned it off 10 minutes into the first episode, so that bodes well.
@@TonyPaulazzo Honestly, if you're going to try and watch Discovery, just skip the entire first season. Season 2 is better, largely because of Anson Mount.
0:11 "... the only thing stopping us from saying that these people have deliberately set out to ruin them is that their ruination speaks to a level of competence these people simply do not possess."
That is not quite correct. These people are incompetent about creating good shows, but they are quite adept at desecrating classic entertainment franchises. I agree with Spock when he says, "As a matter of cosmic history, it has always been easier to destroy than to create."
(Having said that, I believe that the effectiveness of destructive forces is a short-lived thing. Two of the early influences in my life are Civilization [by Kenneth Clark, BBC, 1969] and The Ascent of Man [by Jacob Bronowski, BBC, 1973]. From these two superb documentaries, I got the feeling that the creative forces of the arts and sciences are almost irresistible in the long run. But I digress.)
The mentality of New Trek's producers is well demonstrated by a statement from Michael Chabon when he was show runner of Star Trek Picard. He said, “Sometimes you’re motivated to have things simply because it’s possibly going to piss off or provoke people …” [Variety, March 25, 2020]. Chabon's statement is anti-social, and it would not be accepted if he was an automobile manufacturer or a pharmacist or a daycare worker. However, he was a show runner of New Trek, and there ... anything goes.
Didn't even realise this was out 2 years ago.
Spock was applying Murphy's Law. It is possible to have a nuke before particle physics, but it is highly improbable. The high improbability of such an event, is what makes them suspect foreign interference. Which is good. Had they had a short meeting with an exchange of these ideas, it would've helped many new-trekkers make sense of it. I would presume old trekkers to be intelligent enough to make that connection instantly.
Actually Murphy's Law posits that If there's more than one way to do a job, and one of those ways will result in disaster, then that will be the way chosen. It is less an expression of pessimism than a mnemonic to anticipate coffin corners while designing a system.
Murphy's Law says, "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." I don't think it fits what you're trying to say. Anyway, I liked the episode enough to overlook that. Star Trek has always been wobbly about its science (just not usually as wobbly as in Discovery).
Although this show is not perfect, I enjoyed and am enjoying the storytelling. This series is the closest in feel, character investment, fun, moral ponderings, world building as the great Star Trek shows that have come before it. It is difficult to explain, but watching Strange New Worlds feels right. The process of viewing the show is comforting and I truly love it.
I hope they can sustain this. As of late, I view any halfway decent show with suspicion. What has Hollywood done time after time to good shows? Fuck things up. We will see. As for now, I will enjoy it while I can.
I agree with almost everything you said- personally enjoyed a Star Trek for the first time in decades. The point of disagreement would be expecting things not to be rushed with a complete story told in 50 minutes. Some things you have to forgive. All told, they crammed a lot into the time they had. The original series was seldom without giant plot leaps to compensate as well.
Star Trek has lost the privilege of me watching one of their shows without watching a online review of it first. Picard season 2 ruined so much for me. I could right now watch any episode of the original shows and at least get something enjoyable out of them. The current picard series transcends Star Trek; it’s actually one of the worst TV shows of any kind I have ever seen. I will never in my life re-watch another episode of picard, not for fun, not for that nostalgic feeling, certainly not for intellectual stimulation, not for anything, ever, never.
BUT, all that being said, and on your recommendation, I’m going to give strange new worlds a chance. At least the first few episodes. I really want Star Trek to be successful.
Do! I’d love to know what you make of it.
Season 1 of Picard wasn't too bad, but season 2 was excruciating. The plotline about the flashbacks just dragged on & on... Compare those 10 episodes to the 6 of Moon Knight, which also exposed a secret through flashbacks. FAR better writing & exposition. Not to mention the last few episodes of season 2 were a constant bitch fest about how terrible our world is. News flash: it's always been going to Hell in a handbasket.
TOS had Spock, TNG had Data, DS9 had Quark and Garack, VOY had 7 of 9, ENT had Phlox and Shran. Waiting to see who becomes the signature supporting act of this show. Pike, Spock, Uhura are old wines in new bottle - I hope they have that bit of imagination to create a memorable character. Even Discovery had Saru who was one of the few saving graces of the trainwreck.
I don't remember a single thing about season 1. Slogging through s.2 which will be promptly forgotten as well
This is definitely the best episode of modern Trek I've seen and it actually feels like a Star Trek episode. It's definitely much more confident than many previous Star Trek's pilot episodes, TNG's "Encounter at Farpoint" is a primary example of an episode that is not very confident in itself. When I saw the first episode of The Next Generation I wondered if it would last the year. Fortunately it did get better. For a pilot episode I felt that Strange New World's story, pacing and characterizations were very good. I just hope that I'm not so inured to the poor production values of the previous modern Trek Iterations that I now see anything with even passingly acceptable production values as superior.
I did have to try very hard to remove that “by comparison” filter in this review, since Disco and Picard have been so utterly abysmal that they could make Josef Fritzl’s basement seem attractive by comparison. But I think, as you say, parts of this episode to stand up in their own right.
Having seen every Trek series, the SNW premiere is arguably the best. DS9 is close, but I lean toward this show.
@@keith6706 Strange that we get one of the best premieres from a crew that has given us the worst excuses for Star Trek.
Yes, the first episode of TNG gave us Q, alas. On the other hand it also gave us a very well-preserved McCoy...
Created by Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman, Jenny Lumet.
I have no faith. I'm sorry.
They begrudgingly listened to the fans and made a somewhat watchable show
For those that do not know, Cochrane developed the Warp Bomb by accident on the Lunar surface that removed matter from space/time. Effectively erasing or moving matter from our universe. The idea was that close to the sun, its effects were limited and could only form a bubble around 18 meters. The same amount of Antimatter used to create the bubble could do far more damage. Thus it was not actually viable for military application. and the destructive effects were extremely limited in scale. The only benefit it had in the early stage of warp drive design was that it had no known countermeasure...
With that in mind, the Warp Bomb Secret Hideout add to the story shouldn't be a threat unless they have made it 25% more destructive... Which would make it a bubble of 22.5 meters... Hmmm... I guess they went beyond 25% in this case.
If someone wants to actually attempt to enjoy this series, then they need to either ignore the continuity issues, or they need to pretend this is part of some alternate timeline to the "main" one that was followed in the Roddenberry/Berman era, like that one episode of TNG that suggested there was an entire alternate universe for every possible point of divergence. Conveniently, thanks to JJ Abrams, everything from 2009 and on fits neatly into its own set of alternate universes which Discovery and Picard also belong to, with Picard acknowledging the destruction of Romulus by a supernova, which was the future Nero and his giant space octopus went back in time from, thus creating the nuTrek movie timeline. So they all fit together, and I can just treat them as being entirely separate from the previous shows.
People talk about star wars fans being hard to please😂. Discovery has its ups and downs sure, but it is entertaining. This episode was a Star Trek episode through and through. I saw this and thought it feels like The actual creator would have loved it.
STD was crap. YMMV. Maybe you like destroyed canon, poor writing, lousy acting, and a Mary Sue constantly mucking things up.
@@Caseytify this term “Mary sue” I had to look that up. By that logic the only difference between Discoverys captain and every other one is a vagina. TNG picard was presented as flawless “the next step” according to Q. Sisco was presented as an actual religious icon, Kirk was Kirk and Janeway was portrayed as the lone fearless leader. as far as “Cannon” its sci-fi anything can happen……Picard was mostly trash though.
I don’t trust Alex K.
Me neither... it's only a matter of time before this show starts the usual rubbish we are all sick of.
Did you know the captain’s girlfriend is Mrs. Mick Murphy on Letterkenny. Holy moly I’ll give it to her she can act. It took me a few minutes to place her as the drunken lascivious swinger wife from the outrageous Canadian comedy.
It's the same for every NuTrek pilot episode. "Hey it looks good. Seems like they finally got it". And then episode two hits the screen...
I think we should wait to dunk on it until the end of the first season.
This show has only aired the pilot, and is already facing backlas.
Like, I get despising Picard and Discovery, they failed epically, every time.
But I want to give this one a chance.
I'm sorry, but the excuse the episode gives for the way the Kileians (?) acquired warp technology makes NO sense, as does the creation of a "warp bomb" from that information. Unless I missed something by accidentally fast forwarding past it, they pieced it together by witnessing the Discovery/Enterprise vs. Section 31 battle via a TELESCOPE. Anyone who knows the basics of Trek tech should know how this would be impossible. The only part of the warp technology that the aliens could see via telescope would be the warp nacelles of the ships. From those images, the most they could put together (and this is being EXTREMELY generous) is that those are the engines. Maybe they could some internal views of a nacelle from wreckage, but for me to believe that a pre-warp civilization with could have that kind of resolution at that distance goes beyond my limit of my suspension of disbelief.
Now, assuming they even COULD have that kind of resolution in their telescopes, all they'd see is that there is something needed that generates a warp field. They would be able to see the engines, but they'd have no context on what is required to generate a warp field. The warp core is located INSIDE the secondary hull of the vessel. There's no way they could get that info from a telescope. They would have NO context on what those warp nacelles do either.
And unless I missed it, they never elaborate on what a "warp bomb" is. The only thing I could think of would be a matter/anti-matter warhead, similar to a photon torpedo, but scaled up. But in order to acquire the tech to do that, they'd need to have direct access to a warp core. And no mention was made of these aliens taking a spacecraft to the battle location and bringing back wreckage. Which leads me to my final point.....
And setting ALL that aside, Discovery and Enterprise had the luxury of choosing the location of their engagement with Section 31. Going from dialogue in SNW, the Federation was aware of the level of technology of all planets in that quadrant, including what type of surveillance tech they had. You expect me to believe that they would choose a location for that battle within telescope range of a pre-warp civilization that has the ability and technology to see the battle via telescope and has enough resolution to make out the internal parts ships? They would have had to have the battle IN ORBIT in order to get that kind of resolution from a telescope.
If you set aside the implausibility of the story of how the aliens acquired warp technology, I give this show a 6/10. But it's another example of lazy hack writers who can't even respect their OWN canon, much less the canon that came before. That being said, I have no trust in the showrunners. The first episode of season 2 of Picard felt like we were FINALLY going to get a show that felt like Star Trek, but it was a bait and switch to pull people in. They need to get better writers and prove that they respect canon. Then I'll pay for a subscription.
The Orville is a great Star Trek show!
14:40 This was literally my only point of disappointment in the entire _season:_ fir their footage of the lead-up to WW3, it was distinctly from the January 6th protests (not the riot which came later). You would only know this if you were keyed into the event in detail, so it was a small sin as sins go... but still disappointing. That said, I adore this. It feels like Trek to me, and nothing since The Next Generation has. It has soul. The people who made it made effort, actual _effort_ and you can feel it even when the effort does not land.
It was familiar comfort food. It didn't break new ground for a premier episode. It played it safe. Maybe too safe. Don't get your hopes up. This is kurtzman trek. Bait and switch.
I'm so happy with the first 75 seconds of your video here. It lays out so accurately and succinctly what I've been feeling for years that has also been vigorously denied by fans of the new stuff. I'm so tired of hearing that I'm "just close minded or bigoted or just don't like the new cast of queer people." as lame excuses for why it's my own character flaws at fault for why I don't like the modern shows. No, the writing has absolutely gone downhill, and I'm tired of that not being acknowledged.
This is an absolutely spot-on analysis. Well done!
9:26 I don’t mean for this to sound like I’m being a dick when I ask, but have you actually watched old Star Trek? The technology to disguise oneself on a foreign planet has been implemented many times. There’s an episode of TNG where Riker uses the disguise and is found out by the alien race he is observing. There’s an episode where Troi is infiltrating a Romulan ship and has been altered to look like one. Hell, one of the most famous TNG episodes of all time, Unification, (the one with Spock) has Picard altered to look like a Romulan almost the entire runtime.
Right, and Kirk was altered to look like a Romulan on TOS "The Enterprise Incident."
I'm sorry, the people of this planet somehow figured out how to make a warp device just by looking at some starships through telescopes. Really? Are they serious? Oh and the bit where they beamed Spock's booster shot right into him. FFS.
And what do you think of the breaks from Star Trek lore? Vulcans don't kiss or have recreational sex. And gorn are generally peaceful unless provoked.
I assumed you had more subs. You did a great Job so I subbed.
Welcome aboard!
@@TheLittlePlatoon Thanks Man!
If that’s their best, their best won’t do!
They was a way to change appearance in tos but it had the side effect of driving you insane. Only in one episode, but surgery was the normal way . Cosmetic temporary and reversible.
very true.
I remember in that og famous Tribbles episode, the bad guy looks human but is revealed upon being scanned to really be a Klingon. So there is some precident.
Commenting from the future, I can report that the inevitable does not happen and Strange New Worlds remains a very good Star Trek series. In my mind, THE best. (and Ethan Peck's portrayal of Spock comes to rival Leonard Nimoy - particularly in dealing with emotions.)
Also reporting from the future, Tuesday's Lotto numbers are 7-19-23-31-35-48.
(I can't use them - Temporal Protocol 107-3)
I just finished watching this.
There was a small "Star Trek" franchise identifier animation at the beginning of the episode, similar to the "Star Wars" brand animation at the beginning of The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. This tells me that they are going to run different series, which are viewed as different simultaneous product lines or "flavours." The template for said flavours may be the different pre-Discovery series. Discovery is the extra Woke flavour, and Picard is a warped callback to TNG; although one which is apparently still agreeable to the original actors, if not the original audience.
With Strange New Worlds, to use the analogy, I recognise the product that was intended for me, or what the suits view as my demographic category, at least. This is the legacy line, similar to the nostalgically focused sub-brand of World of Warcraft, which is itself actually called Classic, and which I at times am also a consumer of, having been an avid player of that during the original period.
The next logical question is, am I satisfied? Was I presented with something that met my expectations? Broadly speaking, yes; and in fact, in some ways I would even argue a little too much. There are a few too many flowery speeches and repetitions of stock slogans and phrases, although given how much Discovery and Picard have been complained about for their level of deviation, a certain amount of excessive correction can be forgiven here; and it is still much more welcome than the opposite.
I confess that I fast forwarded through his romantic scenes at the start of the episode, but other than that, I thought Ethan Peck was fine as Spock. No one will ever replace Leonard Nimoy for me, but his contemporary substitutes are also not required to. I accepted Tuvok and T'Pol, and I have also accepted numerous Spock actors from the various Star Trek fan series here on RUclips. I evaluate each actor who portrays either Spock or another Vulcan, entirely on their individual terms; and it should be recognised as indicating the true magnitude of the egregiousness of Sonequa Martin Green, that hers is the only portrayal of a Vulcan or anyone close to one, that I have definitely and completely rejected.
SNW will also give us something useful to throw in the teeth of woke Millennial and Z liars who try and claim that our dislike of Discovery means that we are just diversity hating bigots. There are black people, a Latina, and an Asian woman on Pike's bridge; it's just that none of said characters are also an amoral, narcissistic psychopath who starts wars.
There were also a couple of moderately obscure member berries as well, which I liked. I don't know if you're aware, TLP; but when Pike's first officer mentioned her family being eaten by Gorn, that was a particularly horrifying moment for me, given that I know about their introduction during TOS, when in one episode Kirk had a fight with one of them. They are around eight foot long, bipedal lizards, very reminiscent of tyrannosaurs; essentially a miniature, slightly above human scale version of Godzilla.
As a pilot, this was very solid, and I look forward to season 2.
It will be interesting to see how long it takes this show to revert to normal, terrible Kurtzman-trek.
I'm hoping that Anson Mount has a thing in his contract that says that that worthless moron (Kurtzman) can't have ANYTHING to do with the show.
Would like to say I agree, Glen, but I think (I certainly HOPE) that Kurtzman has either 1) finally listened to what the fans have been saying for years, 2) gotten out of the way and let the writers/directors/designers do what they do best, or, at the very least 3) had a "Come to Jesus Moment." lol.
I've watch all 9 episodes thus far, and am duly impressed (except for #8 - fairy tales? Really? In a hard SciFi show?)
Either way, I think they FINALLY figured out that Rodenberry had it right the FIRST time, and that literally no one is interested in a woke, preachy soap opera with gargantuan story arcs. Money will ten to make things change faster than anything, and Paramount has been losing cash pushing the latest garbage (Discovery, Picard) onto the screen.
This looks to be a complete 180. A bottom up, complete redo. And I, for one, am all in for it.
@@michaeldobson107 Everything I've seen or read about the show says the opposite -- from the terrible continuity violations that ruin classic episodes of TOS to the reimagining of Spock, to the weakening of male characters to make the female characters look better.
Kurtzman has been very consistent in making bad ST. As long as his name appears in the credits, I'm not watching.
@@dramaticwords Sorry to hear that, because they have literally hit this one out of the park (especially after the obscenities that were Discovery and Picard.)
And I have to say, I have heard (and read) nothing but great reviews, including the 98% favorable review score on Rotten Tomatoes, Memory Alpha, etc.
All my Trekkie friends agree. They are all in on this one. I can only see this getting better. A stellar cast, great writing (more SciFi, less heavy drama and preaching), and a return to an episodic format.
No one likes Kurtzman, but you can't let him live in your head, or steal the wonder than is Star Trek.
Sorry to lose you, but it's your choice, and I respect that.
Season 1 Episode 10 (the final episode of the season) hits the screens on the 7th, and by all accounts, it looks to be a home run.
I'll be there to see it, as I have been from the start. The only bomb for me was episode 8 (fairy tale book? Seriously?) Other than that, very cool stuff.
I have been waiting for an Anon Mount/Pike series ever since his appearance on Discovery.
Glad they FINALLY listened to the fan base.
Cheers.
@@michaeldobson107 Well, we agree Discovery and Picard are obscenities. However, the only way Kurtzman is going to steal the wonder that is Star Trek from me is if I watch more of his productions, which I won't. As far as I am concerned, the mantel of Roddenberry's creation has been passed to The Orville. And there are plenty of other SF dramas worth watching.
just found your channel!excited!
Pyke gets the beet line ever ' take me to your leader '
I'm don't know how others feel but personally I don't hold out much hope for the future of Star Trek.
I enjoyed the first episode of Strange New worlds, but considering who is writing this, the fact that funding is dependent upon expounding 'progressive values' such as promoting LGBT etc to excess, and this is a proven fact, and the fact that picard and Discovery have been really bad and the same teams are involved with this, don't give me much hope. I think the first episode may have been enjoyable to me, but I did see elements of degeneracy being promoted and I expect that over the next few episodes we will see more and more of this.
The old trek was progressive, it just wasn't as excessive and in-your-face as it is today where the pushing of an agenda is obvious to the point where it takes precedence over the plot.
@@sethrauldatta7456 Original Trek was hindered by the censorship of the 60's. The network didn't want an interracial kiss, they vetoed a female number one; hell, they even tried to get rid of Spock because they thought he looked too demonic.
@@sethrauldatta7456 What show have you been watching before now? Trek has always been about progressive values.
@@frankm.2850 too many people subscribe to the ideologies of the far-right today so when they look at new trek all they see is "rubbish". people tend to forget that Trek has always been about promoting progressive values like the lgbtq+ community, racial equality, etc.
@@kanton4108 Crack a history book. The executives didn't dislike Number One because she was female; they just didn't like Barrett as an actress. They were pissed when Gene snuck her back in as Chapel.
As for Spock, someone (to this day no one knows who) had Spock's ears airbrushed for early publicity photos. By the time this was noticed Spock was already popular. The ended up blaming some poor sap in the art department.
Parenthetically NBC wanted diversity on the ship from the start. Network standards (the "censors"), a separate department, was the problem. They objected to odd things like "open mouthed kisses" and navels. True story. You can see something similar on I Dream of Jeanie. The joke is when Gene wrote Genesis II (AKA Project Earth; the first time we hear of Dylan Hunt) he gave a mutant race two navels, supposedly a reflection of their twin circulatory systems.
Most of what folks "know" about TOS are myths.
As much as I like dystopian sci fi, I do NOT like dystopian trek. This series is better so far than discovery and picard but that is a low bar. I hope there are new writers that actually understand trek and actually know that science does not equal magic.
I'll rather give The Orville my precious free time instead by now. Season 3 was the most Trek since TNG
As a pilot, I find what I've seen of Strange New Worlds as a bit basic, unaware it is source material for every writer that will press ink to the page to tell a new tale.
Spock's introduction, for instance, lingers, for a long time, on romance. He's marrying T'Pring, he's seen in proposal, in consumating their relationship, and it's blissfully unaware of Spock, as a character, while doing it.
For instance, the use of the hand gesture--something that references Nimoy's work with bringing the Vulcans to life--is not used; they kiss, Spock shows passion for her without T'Pring ever addressing his vulgarity in her presence. Strange, only inasmuch that the previous work is not honored, texturised, by this show.
So, moving forward, is Spock a player?
Falling in-love outside of marriage, with Uhura, with someone else?
Does falling for someone else ever put his career at-risk?
Peck can be eye candy, but is it necessary for his character? If it is his honor of his Vulcan heritage, if it's his father or Michael in references to love, then this episode is not the meat of his experience.
Pilots take years to develop. Unpacking them, interpreting them, is the lifeblood of a great show. Often, when it's this thin, the show doesn't last. It's heavily underwritten, using filler words, dropping determiners, needlessly wasteful with its language, including word choices that seem replacements, written with a thesaurus next to the page. It can be a useful tool, but subtext, the flow of speech patterns, voices for characters, are just as important as actions, or logic, when considering plot.
Very good points. The counterargument is, I suppose, that pilots are very often clunky, shallow things, precisely because they’re figuring all these things out. The point of comparison isn’t Spock of TOS season 2 vs Spock of SNW ep1, it’s the two pilot shows. And TOS junked its lead character after its pilot.
I agree that it’s shallow and underwritten. It’s trading on a vague aesthetic similarity. But it would be fanciful to expect it to emerge as a fully-formed entity.
How sad is it that this show is good by virtue of not being s**t in comparison to the other Trek offerings. The bar has been dragged down so low that we're willing to settle for "not terrible."
...I'm so tired.
Yeah, I too am optimistic for this one but I am a 'glass half full' type man anyway, you described it perfectly so I look forward to the next episode of dare I say new new Trek !...cheers.
The episode I think lays bare the absurdity of one of Discovery's premises to preserve cannon. Nobody on earth or the federation knows what happened to discovery except those involved and few people with deep clearance, spore drive is classified, and everyone forgets about it. However the effect was so huge that it allowed even pre warp civilizations to reverse engineer warp technology to build a bomb. One would think details of such an event couldn't be kept under wraps but there you go.
Thank you for the great review. I have a nitpick about the 1st episode though. When the Enterprise arrives at Kiley where #1 was lost, they state they don't detect life signs on the other ship. When they rescue #1, she's with 3 other people. Where did the entire crew go? Did they ALL beam down to the planet? Were they ALL murdered by the Kiley people? If they were, why would Pike offer Federation membership to their planet ? That's a huge gloss over. I'll check out the season because apparently I'm a glutton for punishment and desperate for sci-fi & fantasy offerings but my hopes aren't high.
I think that they say in the show that the ship was only crewed by three people. Cant remember why they all went down to the planet.... but the thing that really got me was that the ship was really big to be only run by three people. those tiny nitpicks aside i quite enjoyed this one.
Federation membership is a process it takes years and a federation captain can get offer it only the possibility. And it takes about 7 or 8 years minimum
@@shanenolan8252 i glad someone else remembers membership isn't like a clubhouse.
@@IN-tm8mw cheers
@@haloman117fanatic This is really stupid that only 3 people and they ALL beamed down as if nothing would ever go wrong... that show writing is sheer idiocy... apart from that and a few other nitpicks it was good
I will follow your reviews closely. If they remain positive, I will again try to watch something with the title Star Trek that doesn't have a STD or a Puke Hard in the title.
Episode 1 I really liked. Especially the Uhura character. Later episodes in the first season felt very very childish to me, like the crew is high schoolers. I gave up and didn't watch season 2.
Season 2 was Harlequin Romance: The Spock and Chapel Hookup. All garbage.
And then it just nose-dived after a few episodes, because the writers just can't help themselves...
It's not Star Trek.
I've given up on it as despite some charm and good story beats, I've fallen into the 'becareful what you wish for' bracket.
Ie Discovery- nobody gets to do anything but stand around whilst Burnham takes up the screen time.
Now, given that they have a blind Andorian on board that has pin sharp senses and would be great for various situations...
Let's send not Uhura instead!
What about her post ar the ops station?
Eff that!
She can sit in on a treaty meeting.
No.1 take the helm.
No wait, not Uhura can do it!
How about we send the Andorian to beam down...
WAY AHEAD of ya!
But I'm sending gravelly voiced Not Chapel and grumpy Khan into possible danger instead. Hmmm maybe send three.... good idea.
Not Uhura, you free?!
All I can say is watch The Orville instead.
It was meant to be a love letter to Star Trek.
Now it's how new Star Trek should be
Done right!
Characters you want to embrace, not slap!
Its typical zoomer pandarisarion. Zoomers are the most insecure, pathetic generation and everything caters to them. Every show has zoomer(s) and we are always told how amazing they are
some interesting strings to pull on, however i think everyone is done with pre-kirk era star trek. ST has been fuelled by nostalgia bait since ST Enterprise. spock is terrible in this since he was emasculated in STD. How they treat the premonitions i think will either make or break this series.
Lol “emasculated.” Look, I hate Discovery too, but Spock is not a character that can be emasculated (whatever that actually means). He’s not an 80s action hero, he’s a Vulcan who would find the very idea of feeling emasculated to be illogical.
@@alexmaverick6647 maybe the character cant, but the writing/wirters did it anyway.
I actually hadn't heard of this show...but Nimoy's Spock should never be touched, expanded, anything. There's infinite options in Star Trek to actually use new characters and new species, stop trying to recapture the original magic.
I was so glad for The Orville. I found it totally delightful. Discovery was a total Drag but I felt obligated to watch it. I hate dystopia. Things are bad enough. This new show looks fine.
Pike knowing his fate parallels this Show being a Prequel.
The only thing I am curious about is how they would fit the visit of Klaatu into the Star Trek concept of the prime directive. They might put a civilization, or even a whole solar system into quarantine, but show up in a fly over? The Federation wouldn't consider it proper to do the Klaatu style of visit to a world that didn't actually have star ships... and after all, they can't stop a civilization from killing itself if that is what it wants to do, can it? (and remember that Klaatu's basic message was 'get your act together before you expand outward or we will blow your world into bite sized pieces' - not exactly a peaceful solution!
I’m definitely in camp 1. Not even willing to give this show a try.
Interesting analysis. I agree with a lot of what was said here. Part of the reason I am giving this episode a pass is it had to do character introductions.
When we already know the characters, then let’s see.
The one part of the plot I found hard to accept was this planet just observing the battle in space gave them enough data to recreate the technology.
However, the episode was more than serviceable in getting me interested in the characters. So I will see what they do going forward.
I'll take this over whatever Discovery churns out.
The more Ethan peck tries to restrain his emotions the more emotional he actually seems to be. He is a terrible Spock. Though I dare say as an actor he would be phenomenal at sub text.
Discovery was more like TOS actually, since TOS barely or ever fleshed out anyone but the main trio of Kirk, Spock and Bones. I mean we know woefully little about Sulu or Uhura. Similarly, Discovery focuses on Burnham, Saru and - varies per season whether it is Spock, Lorca or Book. Strange New Worlds instead focuses on a larger main cast periodically similar to TNG and later shows.
I must disagree with our host a few points. I think this is a good start for this Spock; I wasn't impressed by his performance in STD. We will see. One mistake actors playing Vulcans make is acting robotic. Vulcans aren't robots. I recall something I read about Nimoy, that he listened to H. Somerset Maugham read his own work out loud. The point is that Spock spoke English precisely, not robotically. Quinto, I believe, achieved that somewhat, but Kim Cattrall came closest.
One thing I liked was attention to details from TOS, such as Dr. M'Benga. Apparently the original design for the show had warp pylons at right angles to the hull, as in the original. I just wish they left them in, instead of swept back, as in the refit.
While I'm sick of being lectured on how terrible how the 21st century is, and the 2nd American Civil War (unlikely, I think) irked me a bit, they managed to work that nicely into a segue into the Eugenics Wars and WW3. To my mind the resolution was effective; Pike showed that planet what they were facing if they kept on. Parenthetically I agree with our host that possession of nuclear weapons by both sides contributed to peace, giving us a "Cold" war instead of the dynastic wars seen in Europe for several centuries.
It's a small sample space, but I am optimistic about this show, in contrast to the hideous drek known as STD. If you've caught the small clip from next week's show, they even demonstrate a sense of humor. :)
as long as kurtzman and goldsman are in charge of the franchise, im not going to watch
why should pike be wallowing in his "fate"
1. he has total plot armor....he knows that no matter what he does, he cant experience anything life threatening for 10 years
2. knowing his "fate" he can take precautions from experiencing it...just dont go on the mission
3. this becomes clear as he decides to intervene in the planet's "fate"
This is the one I like the most out of all the new iterations is the one that feels the most like Star Trek that I grew up with even though it’s not, but like you said, I think this is the best we’re gonna get it’s not that bad
I like it too... so far.
To quote Dr McCoy... It's worked so far, but we're not out yet.
well this ended badly didn't it, oooh boy should you have prefaced that 'hopeful' part with a 'but its just starting and we don't know what'll happen' because people have really soured to this series since the ending came out.
I lke this show. Entertaining. Some great character and a step in the right direction. Hoping paramount takes the hint and focuses more on interesting stories rather than "pew pew" - "I like science" trash.
It was pretty good.
I could do without the cutesy humor, especially Pike's groaner "I'm all ears" Spock joke which was already sounding dated and juvenile 50+ years ago!
The effects, sets and costumes were predictably first-rate, but the plot was nothing new and has been done multiple times before in BETTER original series episodes!
having uhura say “cool” at the end was a kurtzman cringe moment for me blah
I have to say, I agree: it was a flawed yet enjoyable episode. Thank you for putting so eloquently into voice what my general thoughts were.
However, the explanation of how the planet developed the "warp bomb" is what broke the episode for me. Because there's no mention of wreakage crashing on the planet, that would have been fine. All there is mention of is the aliens watching a space battle happening one light year away through telescopes and from that getting inspiration to build a matter/antimatter weapon.
That's just silly, a light year is almost 9.5 *trillion* kilometers. Trying to discern 100 to 200 meters long starships at that distance using mordern optical or X-ray telescopes is frankly impossible. But let's say, for the sake of the argument, that the aliens got incredibly lucky and managed to pick up little flashes of almost-imperceptible light. Somehow, from just that, they managed to figure out how to create a device that goes beyond their understanding of physics?
Your suspension of disbelief mileage may vary, but too me that was way too much.
I was surprised how good SNW was. I have seen Season 1 and Season 2, Ep 1, and 11 shows in it's clearly the best show since Kirk and the gang. It has the humor and sincerity that the rest lack, and the needed adventurism and intellectual gravitas. The lone negatives are the snaky underlings and the whole Gorn thing- too obviously an alien ripoff. They'd have been better linking the Gorn to the Voth, as a race made of criminals- sort of the Australia of Vothdom- the left behind who were too dangerous, etc. Ortegas is a bit too mouthy, but other than that I was shocked at how good SNW is, so far. TNG took 3 seasons to get good, and it was still a smug version of the future, Dystopian in that the Feds did not even realize they lived in a dystopia. DS9 was also slow off the ground, and the main crew was uniformly badly acted, although the Cardassians stole that show. Voyager started slowly, as well, but was the closest thing to original ST to that point. Enterprise was a disaster, and showed that prequels suck- move ahead. SNW is a smart prequel. Abrams Trek was horrendous and a lobotomized catastrophe.Disco started slow and showed a glimmer or 2 by going to the 3000s, and now this.
Mount's Pike is the best capt since Kirk, and even their version of Kirk was not bad- the actor looked more like Jim Carrey than Shats. Peck is the best Spock since the original, and the Sam & Diane thing w Chapel is good.
Yes, I tire of the chicks in heels trope that sees the little Trek gals cockpunch Klingons, and I'd like to see this ship look more like the Original Enterprise cuz tech gets simpler looking as it advances. All the modern glitzy tech actually looks techno retro, whereas 60s Trek tech is actually closer to what advanced tech looks like- look how simple the tech in Forbidden Planet looked.
But, all in all it is good. The African dr is good, Chapel is good, Uhura has yet to find her feet, Ortegas needs to stop channeling the tough little space marine from Aliens, and adding Carol Kane in Season 2 is risky.
Still, these are quibbles. SNW is the best trek since the original 5 year mission of Kirk, and I'm shocked and pleased.
Anson Mount may be able to act but his hair is positively Shakespearean.
I don’t know why the head of security is always looking like she is crying.
And the helmsman Ensign DykeyMcBuzzcut is just a little too much for me.
I love Rebecca Romijn but why is a executive officer 10 years older than the captain. This would’ve been a banger role for her 15 or 20 years ago. But not in her 50s.
In the whole Vulcans essentially being more emotional than have the humans I know it’s just insulting.
Having long since watch the episodes it’s still more Star Wars and Star Trek. The science is laughable and while the show had ia few moments, overall it’s sad.
fantastic review thankyou.
I feel like a lot of people are overlooking the recent animated installments of Star Trek. Although, somewhat understandably.
Lower Decks looks like another terribly made adult comedy at a glance. But actually watch it and it's a lot better than it has any right to be.
Simmilar story for Prodigy, which looks on the surface like it'd be a really cheap, uninspired kids show. But is actually really well written, surprisingly well animated, and very compelling. I found it to be a much more enjoyable show to watch than Clone Wars, as a comparison to another animated show from a popular space sci-fi franchise. One that the classic fanbase seems to genuinely love much to my confusion cus the first two seasons of Clone Wars are absolute torture and I can barely bring myself to be engaged with much of the stuff beyond that.
Both animated Star Trek shows follow a very different formula than the live action ones but I find them both incredibly enjoyable to watch.
A friend has been watching this and I’ve caught a few episodes. The writing is pretty bad. I hope the earlier runs were better written than this.
And... Blocked!
You arse, I actually checked! Anyway, given this review is complementary, I doubt they’ll take issue with it. (Famous last words…)
@@TheLittlePlatoon Don't put anything past them.
And Locked. ruclips.net/video/sSNJRQPlE60/видео.html
"Divine intervention" hahaha
I’ve heard a few sing it’s praises, but the more intellectually honest of the group called it out for being a bit try-hard and still not getting it. It’s better at emulating the real thing, and with the low quality Trek that’s been shoveled out as of late, it’s not hard to say that yes it’s better than STD and Picerd.
Still the characterization of some established characters is off and they once again rely heavily on tropes that we’ve seen done better in other shows. Really wish we’d seen what Fuller would’ve brought us. He at least was a Trek vet that understood allegory I feel.
Thanks for your thoughts, I’m finding a lot of entertainment from them and others discourses on the topic.
I genuinely enjoy Strange New Worlds for the mist part. There are enough quirky episodes to scratch that itch and enough serious episodes. I do wish the seasons were longer and I feel like the crew overall is slightly imbalanced.
The show overall has issues but overall is good. There is some world building that most won't like. The gorn being basically breeding race instead of actually showing them. The Spock/T'pring and Chapel stuff is hit or miss. The pilot is very obviously goofy lesbian stereotype. The Balance of Terror call back episode is great. This is far from perfect but it's got charm and way more likeable. Anson Mount is just so damn likeable as Pike and some of the other characters have decent moments. Uhura works as a young cadet. The engineer Hemmer has a good arc. The Khan relative is actually not a bad character. M'Benga has a solid story with his daughter going on. Overall I give it a solid 7.5/10
My only major problem with the pilot is this: How the heck did Una (aka Number 1) and two other people crew the Archer by themselves? Let alone conduct a first contact mission by themselves. If there's an explanation that I missed, please let me know. I liked the episode, but this is bugging me.
Yeah, that did seem slightly odd. You’d think, if Starfleet was full of ships that could be manned by just three people, that that would be the default model (if not, you know, a fleet comprised entirely of drones). It may be that I missed something, but I can’t recall any proper explanation of that part of the set-up.
I think their ship was supposed to be quite small and independent? More like a glorified runabout, which are frequently piloted by only 1 or 2 people.
Kirk, and a couple other members of the bridge crew fly the Enterprise in one of the movies. But that was after the whole ship had been jerry rigged to run remotely and it was done illegally, and that was more than a decade after this. Since one of Starfleet's primary mission objectives is first contact it seems weird that they'd send a ship out set up like this.
The Archer is a tiny ship. The saucer is ONE deck high, there is no secondary engineering hull. It's crew compliment might be less than a dozen max.
@@APTKC2025 Really? Okay, that makes more sense. They really should have had a shot of the two ships side by side to make the scale more obvious.
It still doesn't explain why 3 people were trying to conduct a first contact mission by themselves though.
It's a solid 6 in a franchise which us prepped us to make a 4 feel like an 8.
On politics, it presents the Septic January 6th LARP-picnic as the catalyst for WW3 - hardly a neutral position.
I enjoyed the Strange New Worlds debut episode. It felt the most like the trek i grew up watching. There are things i nitpicked while watching. Including some random cutting remark about the 21st century. But, when you've spent so long being served Kurtzman sh*t sandwiches, Anson could have read a phone book for 53 minutes and it would have been better than discovery
I'll only give it a chance after the season ends and only if people say that at least it tried to be real Star Trek, one acceptable episode is not enough to wash out the bitter aftertaste of all nuTrek.
I'm at the point where I think it would probably be better for it to fail, and perhaps in a decade, after another company tries again or the culture has shifted enough so that it is possible to hire real experienced professional writers that can actually write a decent show.
Yes
as for the gene therapy and TOS they never really say how its done all you know really is that they go into sickbay with a dr. and come out different there's really no discussion on how.
I like it!