09-10-2022, 11:00 PM
E8 was a flight of fantasy ep, akin to some of the more whimsical TOS eps, or way too many of the TNG eps. After surveying a space cloud, the crew hallucinates that they are in a children's bedtime story that Dr. M'Benga reads to his daughter, who is dying of an uncurable disease so he kepts her stored in transporter memory until he can find a cure. It allows the actors some range because they all play against type in a pseudo renn-faire fantasy. It was feeling a tad dumb but then it turns into a father/daughter tale about M'Benga and his sick daughter, which has been a background story arc for much of the series. Then it drops the hammer, and becomes a heartfelt closure to that arc, replete with all the feels.
E9 is another Gorn ep. The Gorn are like the new evil race, but here, they're cgi lizards that use other species to incubate their eggs, then pop out of chests like xenomorph cubs. Yes, this is an alien poach. Like the previous ep, it felt a tad dumb as it was such an obvious poach, complete with a little girl like Newt in the sequel. But then again, it drops a hammer, or maybe I should say the Hemmer. A major character dies (and that hurt because i liked how that character was progressing) and another leaves. And it's very sad. There's another inconsistency because Uhura in TOS seemed unfamiliar with the Gorn, like the rest of the crew. But according to SNW, she encountered them as a cadet.
E10 - the season finale. And does it stick the landing? Yes and then some. Pike has had this fatalistic view because back in ST: Disco, he visited a Klingon monastery and saw his future in time crystal. He knows he's going to be horribly scarred and confined to a weird space wheelchair box as he appears in TOS. And in this ep, he grapples with that. He meets his future self, clad in a Wrath of Khan style uniform, who sent him on another time crystal journey that lands in the TOS ep, Balance of Terror - the first encounter with Romulans. It's well played - in this alternative timeline, because Pine averted his fate, he's still captain of the Enterprise. We hear Scotty is now the engineer. He meets Jim Kirk, Captain of the Farragut. Note that Jim's brother Sam serves on the Enterprise. He's been a character since the beginning. The SNW Jim doesn't come anywhere near Pine's take, just as the SNW Spock isn't as good as Quinto, but at least he's growing on me. Anyway, the replay of Balance of Terror was clever, even repeating some of the same lines in an altered context. It's a grand nod to TOS, well played on many levels. And once that is all resolved, it leaves with a nice cliffhanger for next season.
I enjoyed SNW immensily. It's the most like TOS in tone and composition. It's episodic, with only a few overarching story lines, unlike Disco or Picard, which is a front to back saga so you have to watch those beginning to end to get it. I look forward to season 2.
E9 is another Gorn ep. The Gorn are like the new evil race, but here, they're cgi lizards that use other species to incubate their eggs, then pop out of chests like xenomorph cubs. Yes, this is an alien poach. Like the previous ep, it felt a tad dumb as it was such an obvious poach, complete with a little girl like Newt in the sequel. But then again, it drops a hammer, or maybe I should say the Hemmer. A major character dies (and that hurt because i liked how that character was progressing) and another leaves. And it's very sad. There's another inconsistency because Uhura in TOS seemed unfamiliar with the Gorn, like the rest of the crew. But according to SNW, she encountered them as a cadet.
E10 - the season finale. And does it stick the landing? Yes and then some. Pike has had this fatalistic view because back in ST: Disco, he visited a Klingon monastery and saw his future in time crystal. He knows he's going to be horribly scarred and confined to a weird space wheelchair box as he appears in TOS. And in this ep, he grapples with that. He meets his future self, clad in a Wrath of Khan style uniform, who sent him on another time crystal journey that lands in the TOS ep, Balance of Terror - the first encounter with Romulans. It's well played - in this alternative timeline, because Pine averted his fate, he's still captain of the Enterprise. We hear Scotty is now the engineer. He meets Jim Kirk, Captain of the Farragut. Note that Jim's brother Sam serves on the Enterprise. He's been a character since the beginning. The SNW Jim doesn't come anywhere near Pine's take, just as the SNW Spock isn't as good as Quinto, but at least he's growing on me. Anyway, the replay of Balance of Terror was clever, even repeating some of the same lines in an altered context. It's a grand nod to TOS, well played on many levels. And once that is all resolved, it leaves with a nice cliffhanger for next season.
I enjoyed SNW immensily. It's the most like TOS in tone and composition. It's episodic, with only a few overarching story lines, unlike Disco or Picard, which is a front to back saga so you have to watch those beginning to end to get it. I look forward to season 2.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse