Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

I have a theory about what's happening next week, I'll put it in spoilers just in case

Pike decides to try and change the future he saw, then we get a flash forward (another vision?) that turns out to be the events of Balance of Terror but Pike is still Captain of the Enterprise. It ends poorly (everyone dies?). Pike, now back in the present again, realizes the original future is the best outcome overall.
 
A friend on FB just saw my Strange New Hair post and said he’d see me and raise me Obi-Wan Kenobi. I said I was almost afraid to fire it up. On the other hand, it can’t be as bad as Ms. Marvel. Can it?

Finally watched The Batman, though. To be fair, though, at this point it’s really just A Batman, right? Anyway, I thought the first two acts were so-so, I hated Pattinson’s anime hair, but the third act was quite good. I still like Nolan’s films better, but this iteration impressed me. I think the biggest surprise was it kept me engaged for the whole three hours. I didn’t much care for the Barracuda Batmobile, but that’s a quibble. My other quibble is Gotham looked a lot like Los Angeles 2019. In fact, you could say the whole film was sort of Bladerunner meets Se7en. But in a good way. I’ll watch the next one, but they really need to give Pattinson a haircut.
I hear good things about the The Enterprise’
 
What’s the general opinion on the SNW reimagined gadgetry from a technical/ prop standpoint, separately from the show? I see a lot of projects out there so there’s interest. For example the phaser is growing on me but then abnormal “Strange New Hair” imagery pops into my head. Suppose time will tell
 
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Finally got around to watching this weeks episode. Really enjoyed it!
Thought the tension and buildup aspects of a horror story were executed well here in certain spots. The character stuff on top of a solid setup put it up there as a favorite of the season for me. Although,
I really don't get why Gorn eggs/developing life forms don't show up on their medical scanners, I guess they develop that rapidly?? Definitely thought it weird.
but I still liked it overall.

Surprised this wasn't the season finale, I think it would have worked really well as one.

As usual the cast, fx, sets, and cinematography were great, but that's nothing new. I think this might be at least the best looking Star Trek show if that's worth anything (but as pointed out... Pike's hair... Ship needs a better barber.)

I immediately spotted Duke as the red shirt with the emphasis on this character we've never met before— which is sorta funny, considering the promotion and emphasis on it. But I was surprised that Hemmer died in the end. Thought that was well done.

Totally an homage to 2013's Doctor Who's "Cold War" (just kidding guys.)
Definitely smacked of Aliens, with a sprinkle of Predator, in some ways but not bad ones imo. Same sort of ways the Borg are just Cybermen, or how Jurassic Park smacks of Westworld (is it worse if its the same author rehashing old ideas?). It's just a different take on an old trope/story structure and I think it pulled it off well and it was different where it counted— At least that's why I liked it/ didn't mind it, I can understand if people are put off by that sort of thing if it wasn't done in a way they enjoyed.

Only thing I thought was a step too far was having
multiple chest bursters
but I didn't mind that too much.

Can't wait for next week's.
 
What’s the general opinion on the SNW reimagined gadgetry from a technical/ prop standpoint, separately from the show? I see a lot of projects out there so there’s interest. For example the phaser is growing on me but then abnormal “Strange New Hair” imagery pops into my head. Suppose time will tell

The design philosophy matches the writing--they take existing material and overdesign it to make it clunky and nonsensical instead of sleek and form-follows-function. This is just an outgrowth of the Abrams' movies aesthetic, which mixed and matched existing elements to create a lot of stuff that made no sense. For example, the Abramsprise is a mishmash of TOS/TMP, with the registry spotlight housings on the Bridge nonsensically reworked into windows.

I would not want to live and work in the STD/SNW world of excessively shiny floors and bright lights everywhere.
 
It's nice to watch thanks to the execution, but at some point you have to wonder when they'll stop rehashing someone else's adventures and start doing their own.
I don't even think the execution is that good. The biggest problem with the show, other than it's complete lack of originality, is the fact that it is entirely forgettable. I just watched the last episode last night and I honestly would be hard pressed to remember any of the details. The only thing I remember is it was a half-assed Aliens ripoff.
 
The design philosophy matches the writing--they take existing material and overdesign it to make it clunky and nonsensical instead of sleek and form-follows-function. This is just an outgrowth of the Abrams' movies aesthetic, which mixed and matched existing elements to create a lot of stuff that made no sense. For example, the Abramsprise is a mishmash of TOS/TMP, with the registry spotlight housings on the Bridge nonsensically reworked into windows.

I would not want to live and work in the STD/SNW world of excessively shiny floors and bright lights everywhere.
The SNW phaser is exactly the color scheme of my ‘61 E-Type Jag model. weird
 
What’s the general opinion on the SNW reimagined gadgetry from a technical/ prop standpoint, separately from the show? I see a lot of projects out there so there’s interest. For example the phaser is growing on me but then abnormal “Strange New Hair” imagery pops into my head. Suppose time will tell
Personally, I don’t like the ”reimagined” props (or sets) at all. They’re kind of a metaphor for what’s wrong with the whole series. The original props had lines that were very soft and sleek; Wah’s props in particular were very rounded and graceful. The new props happen to throw out the most distinctive aesthetic feature—they’re boxy and sharp-edged instead of smoothly rounded. They’re really ugly.

That’s why I see them as a metaphor for the whole show: they try to create some sort of attenuated visual echo that’s not as faithful as it seems at first blush, in the same way that the writing has all the character names and Trek jargon, but none of the story substance that made the original (and the early spinoffs) so memorable and engrossing. As robn1 said a few pages back, it’s like Trelane’s food.

What Drinker says about the new Marvel and Star Wars movies and shows applies to the NuTrek shows too. They’re just disposable content, not meant to last in our hearts and minds beyond the time it takes to watch them. We’re meant to consume Star Trek, not internalize it. And then we’re supposed to open our pie holes and swallow the next batch of content. And the next, and the next…

EDIT—obviously I wrote this while you guys were posting, and we’ve all said much the same thing. I just said it slower. I’m turning into a ****ing ent.
 
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...and how insulting is it that the STD title sequence literally took schematics of the TOS props and redesigned them onscreen? As if to say, "Remember these old things? Well, here are our improved versions.".

Yeah, like Zira says right before she kisses Taylor, “You’re so damn ugly…”

But while we’re on the new aesthetic, funny enough, I find the new duds the least objectionable part of the show. I don’t like the sports-jersey collars much (my favorite unis from NuTrek were the Beyond ones), but overall they’re not horrible. Now that I think about it, I’m still kinda damning with faint praise, but it’s really hard to get excited about Strange New Hair…

 
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...and how insulting is it that the STD title sequence literally took schematics of the TOS props and redesigned them onscreen? As if to say, "Remember these old things? Well, here are our improved versions.".

Whoa, wait sec there. What? I’ve never watched the show (just looked silly) and that is really shocking. No humor intended. Double-take
 
You
Whoa, wait sec there. What? I’ve never watched the show (just looked silly) and that is really shocking. No humor intended. Double-take
You haven’t missed anything. To use Critical Drinker’s (very accurate) formulation, Diverse Female Space ***** becomes the origin point for everything that ever happens in later timelines. The End. There, you’re all caught up on STD.

And my formulation (yes, I’m going to say it yet again, it’s my best joke, get over it) is that STD is the perfect acronym for that show. Because it’s both painful to experience and embarrassing to talk about.
 
I don't even think the execution is that good. The biggest problem with the show, other than it's complete lack of originality, is the fact that it is entirely forgettable. I just watched the last episode last night and I honestly would be hard pressed to remember any of the details. The only thing I remember is it was a half-assed Aliens ripoff.
I was just trying today to recall the earlier episodes and all I could remember was the body swap and fairy tale. I had to google the list of episodes to remind myself of them. Then I was like “comet? Oh yeah…comet.”
 
You

You haven’t missed anything. To use Critical Drinker’s (very accurate) formulation, Diverse Female Space ***** becomes the origin point for everything that ever happens in later timelines. The End. There, you’re all caught up on STD.

And my formulation (yes, I’m going to say it yet again, it’s my best joke, get over it) is that STD is the perfect acronym for that show. Because it’s both painful to experience and embarrassing to talk about.
Unless said “space-*****” eventually turns into a Sandworm, I’m out
 
I have a theory about what's happening next week, I'll put it in spoilers just in case

Pike decides to try and change the future he saw, then we get a flash forward (another vision?) that turns out to be the events of Balance of Terror but Pike is still Captain of the Enterprise. It ends poorly (everyone dies?). Pike, now back in the present again, realizes the original future is the best outcome overall.
That wouldn’t be half bad… which is why I think they won’t do that.

EDIT— Now that I think of it, Pike’s future accident (this is clearly not a spoiler, it’s in TOS) and his knowledge of it is the single most compelling element of his character, and could have been mined for some great drama. Which is probably why they’ve spent damn near zero time developing it.

Just like the colossal missed opportunity in Episode 9 with M’Benga. The only dramatic moment in the episode (and damn near the whole season) that actually lands, that has some impact, and they treat it like a throwaway. I’m talking about that moment when M’Benga warns Dollar Store Drummer to back away “from my daughter.” If they’d built the rest of the episode around M’Benga trying to keep Ariana safe because she reminds him of his lost daughter, they might’ve had something. If they’d killed his daughter off instead of magic-pixie-dusting her into fairyland, they’d have something even stronger, because now there’s no ****ing way he’s gonna let Ariana die. Even at the end, when three of the green chicken xengornomorphs are creeping closer to them, and he’s the only thing between her and gory, gorny death…

But who am I kidding? That might have been compelling, so of course they’d never do something that good.
 
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I don't even think the execution is that good. The biggest problem with the show, other than it's complete lack of originality, is the fact that it is entirely forgettable.
It's more a matter or how after Discovery and the JJprise dregs, even something "generic" (but at least in the ballpark) feels like a massive improvement.
 

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