This year a new streaming subscription has come my way, and it happens to be the one with all the rights to Star Trek here in Canada. So, I finally tried the first episode of Strange New Worlds with my morning coffee. Convenience + boredom = new experiences: the equation for the 21st century human condition. If you find yourself in a similar situation, read on for my much belated opinions!
I think it was a really strong season opener (I even liked the intro credits sequence and the score!), the plot was tidy and maybe predictable but not boring. Uhura talking down a crazy pre-warp alien in the turbolift was probably a more plot-critical role than the character got in the entire first season of TOS, and a number of the other characters got opportunities to be more than just background faces. Pike’s brazenly illegal but morally arguable command decisions raise familiar and comfortable stakes. Oh man, they really did design this show for curmudgeons like me, didn’t they.
Well, not entirely. I think this episode would have been better if I wasn’t constantly distracted by Spock, T’Pring, Pike, Chapel, Uhura, Noonien-Singh (seemingly no relation but it has the same effect!), Kirk… the name drops go on like flashing billboard signs. All my foreknowledge about these names seems to have no significance to the plot, so why are they included in the first place? How does it enhance the story? They’re played and written pretty well, but I think I’d enjoy getting to know a fresh crew a lot more than adjusting to this uncanny-valley of re-imagined characters. So far, their old histories just serve as a barrier to my engaging with the rest of this new story.
I’m not sold on Ethan Peck yet, but Zachary Quinto really set a high bar for me. I already like Celia Rose Gooding better than Zoe Saldana, but that could have more to do with how little Saldana was utilized. Jess Bush has already given a lot of personality to what was (opinion alert) a pretty boring character in TOS, and I’m all for it. At the risk of rambling, do you see part of my problem with the recasting of old characters, and how they can be distracting? I’m not surprised at all to find I’m most interested in the new characters like Erica Ortegas and M’Benga, I’d like to learn more about their personalities and histories. I’ll try, too, with La’an Noonien-Singh, but I’d wager they knew exactly what they were doing when they reused that name, and I find it weakens her as a new character.
Of course I have to acknowledge the writers seem aware of this. I might even give them the credit of saying they’re trying to use it to their advantage with Pike’s arc. Unlike his fellow recycled characters, not only do we know how his story ends, but he knows too. I liked this idea when they introduced it in Discovery, I’m interested to see how he grapples with it. Spoilers are overrated; how a story ends is almost never the best part, it’s the getting there that’s exciting. If this season is going to run with that philosophy, I’m probably on board at least until they shake me off.
Oh, and I hope Pike gets some counseling. Being a captain and running around with hallucinations is pretty irresponsible. He does not get the Lauren seal of approval.
optimistic.
