Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

[Anthony W]

As I kept watching this I couldn't stop thinking about The Orville court episode "About A Girl" which was so much better and managed to not be saccharine unlike this episode of Strange New Worlds.

It feels like this show has subverted our expectations. Usually Trek shows have a rough first season and a better second season. Strange New Worlds had a good first season and what so far feels like a rough second season.

[Pascal]

I don't think Uhura ever "thirsted" after Spock in TOS, she was probably just being friendly. TOS was not the Abrams Star Trek movies, where it seemed like Uhura's second purpose was to be Spock's girlfriend.

There is more to Uhura's background than this. While uhura was seen as a big progress and step forward to representing black people, black women in particular, she was still limited within the times in comparison to her white counterpart. she did not have a first name. she did show some interest in spock though very subtle due to the times unlike Chapel who was defined by her unrequited love for spock and was more opened about it, Chapel was allowed more to show interest in the unattainable guy compared to the black girl. it is what it was in the 1960s.

Chapel was also what I will call a secondary character. she was not part of the main 7. I don't know why this show is pushing her so much and she in SNW is more defined here by love for spock, which has now reached the point of retcon since in TOS. Spock was not even aware she had feelings for him, until the end when she confessed her love and he rejected her.

The JJ Films are a parallel reality. I will not say uhura there was defined by been spock's girlfriend anymore than other female heroine in sci-fiction movies. At least the Abrams films treated it more subtle and mature unlike strange new worlds where spock is stuck in a full blown CW inspired romantic triangle with Chapel and Tpring, two women he confessed he bearley really knew or cared about in TOS. SNW prides itself as a true prequel to TOS? right?

Jokerz79 is right, Strange New Worlds Chapel is Chapel but in name only. it would have been better if she was the girl from The Side of Paradise or a new character. That will have fitted canon better.

As I kept watching this I couldn't stop thinking about The Orville court episode "About A Girl" which was so much better and managed to not be saccharine unlike this episode of Strange New Worlds.

It feels like this show has subverted our expectations. Usually Trek shows have a rough first season and a better second season. Strange New Worlds had a good first season and what so far feels like a rough second season.

Trek needs new writers, they always give us hollow version of other shows and movies. This episode tried to be The Measure of a man but failed at it. Something I noticed with today's trek is that when you watch them, it makes you remember other shows or movies that did it better.

I tried watching the second to the last episode of season 1 that had to do with the Gorn, still wondering why James Cameron had not sued them for ripping of his Aliens films. I also fear for next week episodes as I am against Jim Kirk been on the show and Paul Wesley came of as a weak Kirk.

[Pascal]

Clip from the next episode. Looks like once again we're not getting "real" Kirk but another alternate timeline version, maybe in part to avoid any canon issues until Pike becomes Fleet Captain? Or why his older self doesn't think about La'an when he meets Khan later?

I'm guessing maybe the transporter scene from the trailers might come later in the season finale perhaps. Also looks like Pike patches things up with Batel , but I got the feeling that might end in tragedy at some point (Not Pike's disfigurement but perhaps Batel dying)

Kirk should never have been on this show. Season 2 has built itself up as a must watch because it will reveal when Kirk and Spock met for the first time. I feel they have set themselves up to fail. The casting also does not help. Peck seem to be doing okay as Spock but he lacks the subtleness of Quinto. Wesley has not impressed as Kirk. he does not have the charisma of Shatner or Pine. Pine and Quinto was an alternate reality, so there is less pressure. this is meant to be the real deal. the prime timeline, a lot is bound to go wrong if they don't get it right.

[MoneySpider]

There is more to Uhura's background than this. While uhura was seen as a big progress and step forward to representing black people, black women in particular, she was still limited within the times in comparison to her white counterpart. she did not have a first name. she did show some interest in spock though very subtle due to the times unlike Chapel who was defined by her unrequited love for spock and was more opened about it, Chapel was allowed more to show interest in the unattainable guy compared to the black girl. it is what it was in the 1960s.

Exactly what times did Uhura ever show romantic interest in Spock in TOS?

I'm beginning to wonder if some Star Trek fans saw the Uhura-Spock relationship in the Abrams movies and then went back to TOS and tried to find some similarities, even "subtle" ones which may have just been Uhura being friendly toward her commanding officer. Also, you speak of "very subtle due to the times", but that did not stop TOS from showing KIRK and Uhura "kissing" (although to me it didn't look like they really kissed at all, just merely touched lips).

Now, what I suspect is that the writers of Strange New Worlds WILL have Uhura be romantically interested in Spock, because of what was portrayed in Abrams' Star Trek movies.

Also, speaking of Uhura's role in the Abrams Star Trek movies, what exactly did she do in all 3 movies besides communicating with alien races and being Spock's girlfriend? It's been a while since I've watched all 3 of the Abrams Star Trek movies, but I don't recall her doing anything of great significance or having any plots or arcs that were uniquely hers and not tied to Spock.

[Pascal]

Exactly what times did Uhura ever show romantic interest in Spock in TOS?

I'm beginning to wonder if some Star Trek fans saw the Uhura-Spock relationship in the Abrams movies and then went back to TOS and tried to find some similarities, even "subtle" ones which may have just been Uhura being friendly toward her commanding officer. Also, you speak of "very subtle due to the times", but that did not stop TOS from showing KIRK and Uhura "kissing" (although to me it didn't look like they really kissed at all, just merely touched lips).

Now, what I suspect is that the writers of Strange New Worlds WILL have Uhura be romantically interested in Spock, because of what was portrayed in Abrams' Star Trek movies.

Also, speaking of Uhura's role in the Abrams Star Trek movies, what exactly did she do in all 3 movies besides communicating with alien races and being Spock's girlfriend? It's been a while since I've watched all 3 of the Abrams Star Trek movies, but I don't recall her doing anything of great significance or having any plots or arcs that were uniquely hers and not tied to Spock.

You seem to ignoring a very import thing. Racism. There is no way in the 60s on tv, any movie or tv would have an interracial couple that was treated as ''normal'' without any commentary to why it is normal. A lot of women on the show, including uhura all found Spock fascinating and intriguing that is the point I am trying to make. Spock did reject them all though apart from one. Zarabeth was her name? If it was to be revised in the 60s, I don't think anything will be subtle anymore.

Of all the girls who found Spock intriguing, Chapel was the weakest and least interesting female of the bunch. Between the two girls, Uhura would have been a potentially stronger romantic lead to Spock than Chapel in TOS. She was just the better well rounded female character. I think this is why Uhura rose to prominence as the series went on and Chapel faded away. how many of the TOS movies was Chapel in? Uhura was in all 6 films and was part of the core 7 by The Undiscovered Country.

The JJ Abrams films are not relevant here because that is an alternate reality. SNW is prime. The retcon here is much. Spock should never have been in a love triangle with Chapel or Tpring. why did the show cram so much TOS characters. Kirk, Uhura, Tpring, Chapel?

If you are going to give young TOS Spock a romance. create a new character.

Also, speaking of Uhura's role in the Abrams Star Trek movies, what exactly did she do in all 3 movies besides communicating with alien races and being Spock's girlfriend? It's been a while since I've watched all 3 of the Abrams Star Trek movies, but I don't recall her doing anything of great significance or having any plots or arcs that were uniquely hers and not tied to Spock

SNW has set up the spock/tpring/chapel romance as a gigantic train wreck waiting to happen and from the trailer/poster, Chapel may end up having a mental breakdown and leaving the enterprise. Chapel is more defined here by her romance.

The whole of chapel first arc in season 1 is how she fails in romance and how she wants spock to give her a chance even if he is engaged. I don't recall Abrams Uhura focusing on her personal life that much. I am still wondering why Tpring is here again? Spock said in Amok Time he had not seen her since he was 7 year olds?

JJ Abrams Uhura at least felt more realistic dating a vulcan and she was part of the shared crew with her boyfriend. she was not defined by the romance anymore than spock was in that film. the females in SNW are written in a much was ways because it feels as if the writers of this show are tying to apologise and over compensate for the sexism of 1960s to the point they are now changing canon and have overplayed and created a romantic triangle story line that never was in TOS that is technically worse than Abrams Uhura. Abrams Uhura was not defined enough that it is retconning canon or seem far fetched. Chapel in SNW is a far-fetched character compared to what she was in TOS. That is worse.

[Pascal]

Exactly what times did Uhura ever show romantic interest in Spock in TOS?

I'm beginning to wonder if some Star Trek fans saw the Uhura-Spock relationship in the Abrams movies and then went back to TOS and tried to find some similarities, even "subtle" ones which may have just been Uhura being friendly toward her commanding officer. Also, you speak of "very subtle due to the times", but that did not stop TOS from showing KIRK and Uhura "kissing" (although to me it didn't look like they really kissed at all, just merely touched lips).

.

I don't care much about the abramsverse here, I wish you would stop bringing it up. what I care about is what was in TOS.

The uhura and kirk kiss was kind of subtle in writing and has not aged well in 2023. they were brainwashed to kiss. they could not just show a white man kissing a black woman with no brainwashing. did you also know some other states in the south did not want to air the episode.

Also did you know the kiss was meant to be with Spock and not Kirk until William Shatner told them to change it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato%...ldren#The_kiss

Nichelle wrote about it in the book Beyond Uhura. Nimoy and Nichelle were meant to kiss but Shatner's sweet ego got in the way. Did you also know there was a deleted scene in Charlie X that needed to be cut out probably because uhura was coming onto spock that felt too suggestive for the 60s.

It seems you don't know what seem to have gone on behind the scenes in the 60s that nearly made Nichelle want to quit the show until MLK told her to stay. Thank goodness she did since she was a more enjoyable female character to watch on screen and ate up all her scenes with Kirk, Spock, Sulu. Chapel was no where that on the show. Not even Janice Rand who was meant to be Kirk's P.A.

[Pascal]

Anyone know the audience viewership for this series?

Star Trek Prodigy getting cancelled says a lot because Paramount+ was always comparing strange new worlds to prodigy in terms of rating, calling it their most watched trek content after prodigy and that got cancelled.

Paramount+ has also released all of season 1 on youtube for free. episode 1 of season 2 is also free on youtube. ratings must be bad if Paramount is giving away free episode of that amount. I don't see the series getting more than 3 seasons.

This is what happens when you don't care about the lore. they did not learn from discovery that I won't be surprised gets better ratings than this .

[Anthony W]

Kirk should never have been on this show. Season 2 has built itself up as a must watch because it will reveal when Kirk and Spock met for the first time. I feel they have set themselves up to fail. The casting also does not help. Peck seem to be doing okay as Spock but he lacks the subtleness of Quinto. Wesley has not impressed as Kirk. he does not have the charisma of Shatner or Pine. Pine and Quinto was an alternate reality, so there is less pressure. this is meant to be the real deal. the prime timeline, a lot is bound to go wrong if they don't get it right.

I think Peck is a much better Spock than Qunito, it's just that the writers have chosen to write Peck's Spock like...a YA protagonist.

He is written socially awkward but still manages to end up in a triangle straight out of a YA novel (Chapel and T'Pring) and also the writers keep trying to play him up for cringe comedy like having him shout something stupid before he goes to warp. If he turns into a vampire it wouldn't shock me.

[Jokerz79]

Ok I was critical in my review of this last episode while maintaining it was very good. I'm a very known DISCO hater and I was critical of the 1st 2 seasons of PIC so I think I've got a record of being honest in my opinions of Trek.

As I've stated before I don't consider SNW canon to TOS as of, yet they could change my mind by the series finale. But I also acknowledge that the show with its costume and set designs does make an effort to add those little touches to make it feel like the TOS era that were completely lost in DISCO. The Data Disk, the Triangle Monitors, the black clipboard looking tablet on the desk last episode. The round side control on the shuttle crafts. The small touches added to the bridge stations like Pike's Chair, the Alert Light Up in the middle of the navigation/helm station, Spock viewfinder on his station.

As for quality I consider it on par with ENT at the moment meaning no standout "Classic" episode like Duet from DS9 or The Drumhead from TNG yet also no god-awful episodes also like TNG's Code of Honor or DS9's If Wishes Were Horses.

That's the flipside to nostalgia it's not just "Memberries" it's pretending everything was Wrath of Khan and forgetting Final Frontier and Insurrection. When it comes to nostalgia people fall into the trap of the "Good Old Days" well news flash there was never a "Good Old Days". I grew up in the 80s I think it had the best music, tv shows, movies, and cartoons. It also had a crack epidemic, rising crime, rising homelessness due to the closing of mental facilities without replacements and vets with PTSD from Vietnam and the prementioned drug problems. Then there was AIDS not only a disease killing millions but one where people showed little simply for those inflicted even children (Look 80s Schools and kids with HIV/AIDS). & Why? Because most victims were seen as being "Sinners/Immoral" and thus it was their own fault. & Lastly there was the idea the bomb was going to kill us all. Don't let Strange Things fool you there was a dark side to the 80's.

Star Trek had many great episodes some bad and a decent amount of just OK episodes like TNG's Haven, Angel One, The Child, the Royale, the Samaritan Snare, Up the Long Latter, A Matter of Perspective, Ménage Troi, QPid, Imaginary Friend, Rascals, A Fist Full of Datas, and more and this is just from TNG an entry into the franchise many consider it's best my personal best is DS9.

As for it being put on YouTube Paramount+ isn't Disney+, Hulu, Netflix, Max, Amazon, or Apple Paramount+ and Peacock are fighting for scraps, and you put your best product on display to entice people. Been to a farmer's market? They don't offer free samples thinking you'll taste it and be like "What the hell is that?" they think you'll be like "Damn that's good, how do I get more?".

Characters acting different and continuity errors there hasn't been many continuity errors outside of visual cues quite frankly The Cage and Where No Man Has Gone Before have more continuity errors to TOS than SNW. As for the Characters again, the show has to the finale to explain or take it for what it is chalk it up to a different timeline and enjoy it.

[ChrisIII]

Spock-wise I think Quinto resembles Nimoy better, but Peck has a deeper voice much like Nimoy (Or at least before Nimoy's voice became a bit scratchier in the movies due to his smoking habit).

Regarding Chapel in the movies, she was supposed to have a slightly larger role in TVH with Sarek but it was cut.

The TWOK novel has her on Enterprise but Vonda's adaptations drifted kind of far from the films (SFS has a subplot about the surviving crew of the ship Kruge blows up, for example) so I wouldn't take that as 'canon'.

Gene (Or Alan Dean Foster?) TMP novel does make a note of the Spock/Chapel relationship when she and McCoy comes to the bridge to welcome him back. Basically that Spock doesn't have time for that kind of thing if I remember.

[Anthony W]

Spock-wise I think Quinto resembles Nimoy better, but Peck has a deeper voice much like Nimoy (Or at least before Nimoy's voice became a bit scratchier in the movies due to his smoking habit).

Bingo! Quinto resembles Nimoy and has had better writing. Peck has a stronger presence but weaker writing. I really do think Peck is the better Spock.

[G. Boney]

T of season 1 that had to do with the Gorn, still wondering why James Cameron had not sued them for ripping of his Aliens films.

Cameron only made one Aliens film, and he doesn't own the property. Not sure where you are getting they are "his" films.

[Pascal]

I think Peck is a much better Spock than Qunito, it's just that the writers have chosen to write Peck's Spock like...a YA protagonist.

He is written socially awkward but still manages to end up in a triangle straight out of a YA novel (Chapel and T'Pring) and also the writers keep trying to play him up for cringe comedy like having him shout something stupid before he goes to warp. If he turns into a vampire it wouldn't shock me.

I find Quinto better since he is overall the better actor. Peck sometimes tries too hard and comes off a little stiff. he does not have the easiness of Nimoy or Quinto. I can tell Peck is acting.

He is indeed written like a YA Potoganist. Reason I called the love triangle very CW like. They did this to maybe capture a younger audience for star trek, The only issue is, it should never have existed...at least not with Tpring or Chapel. We should not have gotten any love triangle. I will rather have had the show established Spock been in a relationship Leila Kalomi before the show began.

If you are worried about cringe comedy. you may want to skip episode 5. its seems to be all about cringe comedy with Spock.

[Jokerz79]

I find Quinto better since he is overall the better actor. Peck sometimes tries too hard and comes off a little stiff. he does not have the easiness of Nimoy or Quinto. I can tell Peck is acting.

He is indeed written like a YA Potoganist. Reason I called the love triangle very CW like. They did this to maybe capture a younger audience for star trek, The only issue is, it should never have existed...at least not with Tpring or Chapel. We should not have gotten any love triangle. I will rather have had the show established Spock been in a relationship Leila Kalomi before the show began.

If you are worried about cringe comedy. you may want to skip episode 5. its seems to be all about cringe comedy with Spock.

Spock Amok is no more cringe than I, Mudd & I like both.

[thwhtGuardian]

Spock Amok is no more cringe than I, Mudd & I like both.

Yeah, it was actually one of my favorite episodes of Season One. I thought the comedy of the situation was really well done, and there is definitely room for that in Star Trek