Starship Coyote
The Merchant of Menace
No. She did not.
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Shat reacts.
So, I dunno... I think he picked up on that PDQ when it started talking about his daughter; he turned around and asked who he was talking to now.Mbenga is a genius doctor but can't work out that his brain dead patient has been taken over by an evil demon who talks to dead people.
Nice touch, that. I like how the show respects its own history here, but doesn't dwell on it too much. Just little callbacks like that are important.So, I dunno... I think he picked up on that PDQ when it started talking about his daughter; he turned around and asked who he was talking to now.
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.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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