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Strange New Worlds season 3

There was a "Tonight Show" bit where Jay Leno took William Shatner and a Burt Reynolds lookalike out on Hollywood Boulevard to interview people to see if they recognized anyone and who they thought they were supposed to be and who was the most authentic lookalike. Shatner insisted on wearing a ridiculous prosthetic nose because (I assume) he thought otherwise everyone would immediately recognize him.
 
Yeah, I was going to make a longer poster about the state of the show at the mid point of the season (and 25 episdoes into the whole show's 46 episode run.) This episode did address a lot of the complaints I would have had. They actually visited a strange new world, for one! An away team (or landing party)! My main issue with this season is that it's felt more like a show about Star Trek than a Star Trek show. Like they'll just say "we're doing Trelane/zombies/the holodeck!" this week because they seem like things to do rather than having having a compelling story reason. And then they'll just keep referencing previous Treks that you enjoyed and say "see, this is fun!" and because the show is so well acted it does feel "fun" but always leaves me a bit unsatisfied. This was an actual story, not just them saying "let's do Trek thing, WOOO, STAR TREK!"

Gamble's actor was very good when he was possessed and M'Benga is always excellent. I did vaguely think maybe we were supposed to think the evil aliens were Pah-wraiths, but it wasn't beating us over the head with it.
 
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I’ve got issues with Strange New Worlds that have been building for a while now. Before I get into them, I’ll start with a positive. This is a gorgeous show to look at. The production is fantastic, the CGI is high quality, and everything from set design to costuming to lighting is top-notch. It’s just a very good-looking show and I enjoy watching it on my big TV with a massive mug of coffee.

I like all the cast with one exception I’ll get to later, and I do like the show overall, but it also bothers me a lot as a Star Trek fan. I care a great deal about the integrity of the in-universe worldbuilding and I haven’t been eating well on that front for over twenty years. I’m running out of patience with the constant winks and nods to the audience. It feels like they don’t take the source material as seriously as they should.

These are just my opinions, and I know people enjoy Star Trek in different ways. What’s important to me might not even register for someone else. I’m no gatekeeper. That said, Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers have flat-out confirmed the Buffy influence, and Anson Mount has said they treat each episode as a different genre pastiche. We didn’t need them to tell us, but they did. I’m obviously not pulling this out of my ass.

I love Buffy. You won’t find a bigger fan. Literally not possible. But I still don’t want it bleeding into Star Trek. Yes, Trek has always done the odd genre riff, but in SNW it’s the main driving force. For me, that’s just too much.

Take Shuttle to Kenfori. The cold open’s already weak, sending them after a “magic flower,” and then halfway through we suddenly get zombies because they wanted to do a zombie pastiche. They even directly quote Shaun of the Dead. I’m just over it. I want to watch Star Trek. Once or twice, fine. But it’s becoming the default mode, and it’s starting to really grate.

Everything else about that episode looked great. I really like M’Benga, I like Pike, I like them having an adventure together. Zombies aside, it was gorgeous. But the writing and the overall philosophy behind it are making it a struggle.

I’m also over “I fly the ship” Ortegas. She’s not compelling, and the constant reminders of how great a pilot she is have worn out their welcome. Sulu never had to announce it every five minutes.

Then there’s the holodeck episode. I’m not going to knock it for the malfunctioning-holodeck-with-safeties-off trope because that’s Trek bread and butter. I actually liked the angle of it being an experimental system, it made it more believable as a dangerous, unstable situation than it ever was in TNG where it should be mature tech!

But the TOS parody? Just no. These have been done to death. Paul Wesley’s Shatner impression was fun, Jess Bush is cute, but this should’ve been on a blooper reel or SNL. Not in an actual mainline Trek episode. It’s another example of this show sending up Star Trek instead of just making it.

The pastiches themselves aren’t awful, but they’re never better than “fine.” I honestly don’t get why the writers are so averse to doing straight Trek. The murder mystery was fine, but, and this might be blasphemy, I didn’t think Anson Mount was very good in it. Maybe that was the point, but it pulled me out of it. Celia Rose Gooding was excellent in her limited time though. Nailed it.

Through the Lens was my favourite of the three. Not much fourth-wall nonsense except the Ancient Aliens line, which wasn’t too bad. I’d guessed in my last post they were bringing in Ortegas’ brother and the ensign to use as red shirt fodder because the main cast is too small to do serious damage to, and yep, I was right. Didn’t expect it so soon, but we’re running out of episodes fast.

There were some genuine horror moments here that worked, and I was intrigued by the Gorn being mortal enemies of whatever the Vezda are. Might never be mentioned again, but still, worldbuilding!

Yes, this is a generally negative post, but I do like Strange New Worlds. Honest. I just can’t get past the constant fourth wall (if not breaks then serious nudges) and what feels like an active aversion from the producers to making actual Star Trek instead of using it as a playground for their favourite genre riffs.

Remember in First Contact when Cochrane says “So you're just a bunch of astronauts…on some sort of… Star Trek?” That was after a seven-year series and a movie. We didn’t get stuff like that in the show. In SNW you get that kind of thing every other scene it feels. Buffy’s musical episode (I’ll drop it after this, honest) came after six years and used the format to pay off huge plot and character beats. SNW did theirs because they thought it’d be a neat idea. It didn’t feel earned. Which is why the teaser for next season’s Smile Time-style episode already annoys me. Take the Trek universe you’re in seriously. It’s not the Buffyverse. Fun and weird is fine now and then, but it shouldn’t be what drives a mainline Trek show.

Anyway, that’s my somewhat harsh take on a show I like, but wish I liked a bit more.
 
Mentalist said:
I’ve got issues with Strange New Worlds that have been building for a while now. Before I get into them, I’ll start with a positive. This is a gorgeous show to look at. The production is fantastic, the CGI is high quality, and everything from set design to costuming to lighting is top-notch. It’s just a very good-looking show and I enjoy watching it on my big TV with a massive mug of coffee.

I like all the cast with one exception I’ll get to later, and I do like the show overall, but it also bothers me a lot as a Star Trek fan. I care a great deal about the integrity of the in-universe worldbuilding and I haven’t been eating well on that front for over twenty years. I’m running out of patience with the constant winks and nods to the audience. It feels like they don’t take the source material as seriously as they should.

These are just my opinions, and I know people enjoy Star Trek in different ways. What’s important to me might not even register for someone else. I’m no gatekeeper. That said, Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers have flat-out confirmed the Buffy influence, and Anson Mount has said they treat each episode as a different genre pastiche. We didn’t need them to tell us, but they did. I’m obviously not pulling this out of my ass.

I love Buffy. You won’t find a bigger fan. Literally not possible. But I still don’t want it bleeding into Star Trek. Yes, Trek has always done the odd genre riff, but in SNW it’s the main driving force. For me, that’s just too much.

Take Shuttle to Kenfori. The cold open’s already weak, sending them after a “magic flower,” and then halfway through we suddenly get zombies because they wanted to do a zombie pastiche. They even directly quote Shaun of the Dead. I’m just over it. I want to watch Star Trek. Once or twice, fine. But it’s becoming the default mode, and it’s starting to really grate.

Everything else about that episode looked great. I really like M’Benga, I like Pike, I like them having an adventure together. Zombies aside, it was gorgeous. But the writing and the overall philosophy behind it are making it a struggle.

I’m also over “I fly the ship” Ortegas. She’s not compelling, and the constant reminders of how great a pilot she is have worn out their welcome. Sulu never had to announce it every five minutes.

Then there’s the holodeck episode. I’m not going to knock it for the malfunctioning-holodeck-with-safeties-off trope because that’s Trek bread and butter. I actually liked the angle of it being an experimental system, it made it more believable as a dangerous, unstable situation than it ever was in TNG where it should be mature tech!

But the TOS parody? Just no. These have been done to death. Paul Wesley’s Shatner impression was fun, Jess Bush is cute, but this should’ve been on a blooper reel or SNL. Not in an actual mainline Trek episode. It’s another example of this show sending up Star Trek instead of just making it.

The pastiches themselves aren’t awful, but they’re never better than “fine.” I honestly don’t get why the writers are so averse to doing straight Trek. The murder mystery was fine, but, and this might be blasphemy, I didn’t think Anson Mount was very good in it. Maybe that was the point, but it pulled me out of it. Celia Rose Gooding was excellent in her limited time though. Nailed it.

Through the Lens was my favourite of the three. Not much fourth-wall nonsense except the Ancient Aliens line, which wasn’t too bad. I’d guessed in my last post they were bringing in Ortegas’ brother and the ensign to use as red shirt fodder because the main cast is too small to do serious damage to, and yep, I was right. Didn’t expect it so soon, but we’re running out of episodes fast.

There were some genuine horror moments here that worked, and I was intrigued by the Gorn being mortal enemies of whatever the Vezda are. Might never be mentioned again, but still, worldbuilding!

Yes, this is a generally negative post, but I do like Strange New Worlds. Honest. I just can’t get past the constant fourth wall (if not breaks then serious nudges) and what feels like an active aversion from the producers to making actual Star Trek instead of using it as a playground for their favourite genre riffs.

Remember in First Contact when Cochrane says “So you're just a bunch of astronauts…on some sort of… Star Trek?” That was after a seven-year series and a movie. We didn’t get stuff like that in the show. In SNW you get that kind of thing every other scene it feels. Buffy’s musical episode (I’ll drop it after this, honest) came after six years and used the format to pay off huge plot and character beats. SNW did theirs because they thought it’d be a neat idea. It didn’t feel earned. Which is why the teaser for next season’s Smile Time-style episode already annoys me. Take the Trek universe you’re in seriously. It’s not the Buffyverse. Fun and weird is fine now and then, but it shouldn’t be what drives a mainline Trek show.

Anyway, that’s my somewhat harsh take on a show I like, but wish I liked a bit more.
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No argument at all, I fully get what you're saying here. I love it anyway, it's the best thing to come out of the "franchise" in decades, so I cut it a whole lot of slack.
 
Yeah, SNW is driving me up the wall in many ways... mainly canon... but I like all the characters. I just like them. They're people I'd want to spend time around, just like the TOS, TNG, and VOY characters. They engage me and make me care what happens to them.

So, the show is getting a solid pass with me so far. So far.
 
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