Comment Stream

Re: SNW S2: Subspace Rhapsody

Am I the only one who finds laughable that so many oh so cultured despisers of DISCO lamented endlessly on this forum and elsewhere that the show was TOO FOCUSED on Burnham, to the point of not telling us much of anything about the rest of the DISCObridge crew; and now many of these same voices are complaining that SNW is TOO FOCUSED on the ensemble, to the point of not giving Pike and Chin-Riley enough to do? Do you want an ensemble or not? There were PLENTY of TNG episodes where Picard barely appeared, and plenty of DS9 episodes where Sisco barely appeared. Of course, there were more episodes overall, but you can't have modern Trek production values (which I effin LOVE) whole making 22 episodes a season.

Re: SNW S2: Subspace Rhapsody

@Bryan

Also when have a Grammy winner in the cast, and you are doing a musical episode, making her the centerpiece is a fait accompli. It would have been dumb not to focus on her in that genre of episode.

Re: SNW S2: Subspace Rhapsody

@Cody B.

"I do think another interesting angle would have been if Spock was unable to sing because his emotions weren’t strong enough."

I don't if you've ever watched ST:Enterprise all the way through, but one thing that series did exceedingly well was it's exploration of Vulcan culture, character, and philosophy. And one very clear recurring motor in speeches by Soval, Surak, and T'pol is that Vulcan emotions are far deeper and more destructive than human emotions.

Re: SNW S2: Subspace Rhapsody

@Chase

It only sounds like a Tennesse (Appalachian) accent to us in the 21st Century, by the late 22nd/early 23rd century that is what folks from Montana (like Chris Pike) will sound like.

Re: SNW S2: Subspace Rhapsody

@DogFace

"Does the breakup cause Spock to reject his human side?"

But Spock NEVER fully rejects his human side. Think of his dying words in WoK, he first says to Kirk "Ship out of danger?" And then Kirk asks him WHY he did it and he gives the very logical consequentialist justification "the needs of the many..." but then a beat goes by (about the Kobayashi Mary) and he reaches out to Kirk emotionally, a human response, "I have been and always shall be...YOUR friend." And this shows his humanity and genuine feeling for his best friend. It's a moment in the movies that shaped my entire life, seeing that men could genuinely love each other and openly express that love and not ashamed or afraid of it (whether it is a platonic love or romantic). Spock's human side is always just under check and sometimes gets through the cracks. It is what made Nimoy's iconic performance so wonderfully powerful.

Re: SNW S2: Under the Cloak of War

This one gets 3.5/4 from me. Babs Olusanmokun is just riveting. I would put it right up there with the great Harris Ulin in DS9's "Duet." Could not take my eyes off that performance. This was also a great showcase for Chapel. The stark depiction of the pointless brutality of the Klingon War was something that conflict, which happened largely off screen in DISCO season 1, really needed. But like others here, I must admit that I think Robert Wisdom's portrayal of Rah is not quite pitch perfect. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Robert Wisdom, his performance as Bunny Colvin in HBO's "The Wire" is one of the best things about that series, and that was a series PACKED with great performances. Just not sure he was the right person to cast here. Although if the writer's brief was for Rah to be the most atypical Klingon male in the Quadrant, then maybe this works...I don't know. But it seemed to me M'Benga's speech to the soldier about never giving up even when all hope is lost, was the MOST Klingon thing said in the whole episode. Certainly Kor, the Dahar Master, would have agreed.

The producers do get bonus points for including a fiersome, badass. Andorian commando here. It makes sense that folks trained by the Imperial Guard would be valued Federation soldiers. Wish they'd given him a nitpre to do.

Re: SNW S2: Those Old Scientists

@Mark B.

Lighten up Francis.

Re: SNW S2: Those Old Scientists

@The River Temarc

"Who the eff are you to gatekeep."

Quis custodiat ipsos custodes.

Not "gatekeeping" ...just a guy with a little time and a bone to pick with entitled reactionary toxic dudebro trolls who think that art made by other people owes them something. It doesn't. And NY the, hilarious that you throw "gatekeeping" at me, when it is the dudebros who act like self appointed guardians of the Canon and shit all over things that weren't even made for them.

Re: SNW S2: Those Old Scientists

@Lynos

"It’s a couple of grating characters who speak and act like modern teenagers. Is this considered canon now? God help us."

You know teenagers who get sucked through time portals and have to techobabble their way back without corrupting their timeline?

Also, instead of dropping in to shit on something you admit don't like, shouldn't you be out chasing someone off your lawn?

Re: SNW S2: Those Old Scientists

Crybaby entitled dudebros sure love their blessed "canon". Here's an idea, keep your pointless fundamentalist dithering in Church where it belongs.

Re: SNW S2: Those Old Scientists

@Black Trek Fan

Nobody cares about your misogynist bs. If you long for the days of female characters in sci-fi being relegated to sex-objects and galactic secretaries, that is a YOU problem. Celia Rose Gooding is one of my favorite actors in any current Trek series, she's gorgeous, talented. And she cares about presenting the role of Uhura with intelligence class and capability. You know who else loved her? Nichelle Nichols. So stfu and go away troll. BTW, don't bother watching episode 9. It's a Musical, and CRG has BY FAR the best voice in the cast, and judging by the trailer they really allow to cut loose. Might hurt your petty, entitled, toxic little dudebro feelings to confront that kind of talent.

Re: ANDR S2: Tunnel at the End of the Light

If you think SNW is "horrible" you may not be a Trek/sci-fi at all. Stick to Westerns, and your cassette recording of old Rush Limbaugh radio shows. You'll be happier.

Re: SNW S2: Those Old Scientists

@The Queen

"I am eagerly awaiting someone else's pick of a favorite scene."

Not really a scene, but on a second viewing, when Boimler gets sucked into the portal, when he is just out of sight before the live action kicks in he yells "Remember Me!" ...Just golden. P

Also, what a great friend Mariner is, she follows him God knows where into a space Portal with know clue what is on the other side.

Also I really wish, given the look of the portal, that they could've gotten RDA, Amanda Tapping, or Micheal Shanks, to voice an animated character in this one. Would have been hilarious.

Great episode!

Re: SNW S2: Lost in Translation

@Cody B

Disagreement is fine. De gustibus.... But trolling is another matter.

Re: SNW S2: Lost in Translation

@Sputnik

"What irked me: everyone and their mother immediately started calling the First Officer of another Starfleet ship by his first name. That was weird."

1. He's not quite the Farragut's XO yet. 2. Uhura is the only non-Lieutenant who interacts with JK in the episode, everyone else (Sam, Spock, L'an, Pike, Una, M'Benga) either equal his rank or outrank him. 3. JK has never been big on formality, Bones and Spock call him "Jim" through his entire career on the Enterprise. 4. Starfleet is not a military organization. 5. Starfleet officers have NEVER been depicted as overly formal, how many seasons of DS9 did we get with O'Brien calling Bashir "lieutenant" and not "Julian?"

Re: SNW S2: Lost in Translation

@ Cody B.

"...filler...Forgettable."

Project much?

Re: SNW S2: Lost in Translation

@Karl Z.

"Pike's a mench and all, but he's destroying a major bit of Starfleet infrastructure on the word of an ensign that it's all been figured out, with no corroborating evidence."

Except that is NOT at all how that scene went. First of all two dead, and one critically affected crewman. Second, Uhura convinced Sam K (the ship's xenoanthropology expert) and Spock (2nd officer, and chief scientist, who Pike trusts implicitly) AND Jim Kirk (visiting 1st officer who Pike knows to be a level headed badass and all around terrific officer), and they ALL supported Uhura's position. He made a quick decision to rely on 3 Lieutenants AND an Ensign. That's a lot of pips.

Re: SNW S2: Lost in Translation

"And no, deu­te­rium can’t be very toxic be­cause ever human has a couple of grams inside their body; in fact, one would have to in­­cor­­por­ate ridi­cu­lous amounts be­fore toxicity kicks in"

You mean, like a literal NEBULA full of the stuff in high concentration? Are you familiar with the concept of a critical mass? We also have trace amounts of arsenic in our bodies. But it is fatal in greater amounts/concentrations.

Re: SNW S2: Lost in Translation

Fantastic episode top to bottom. Kirk's speech about facing death was iconic. It was glimpse under the hood of what makes the trickster archetype tick. Always fighting. Like Hawkeye Pierce once famously yelled at a dying patient "don't let the bastard win". And Pelia, what a kick in the pants. And Uhura, during Kirk's speech all I could think of was all the harrowing shit those to would face together. And here we see both a lot about her psychology AND the genesis of her trust in him. And Zombie Hemmer...horrifying. Four stars, a classic.

Re: SNW S2: Among the Lotus Eaters

@Sintek

Until I saw the credits and googled it, I could have sworn it was an older David Constabile (who played Gale B. On Breaking Bad). Those guys could easily play brothers!

Re: SNW S2: Among the Lotus Eaters

This episode, better than almost any other non-VOY episode, demonstrates the critical need for the EMH, particularly one with a mobile emmiter. Though I hate to think what would happen to an Intrepid-class ship with Neural Circuitry in orbit of that planet!

Re: SNW S2: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

@Trek Fan...

You're clearly not. Try another franchise. Listen to yourself. You dislike SNW, a s Disco, and Picard, and Lower Decks, and the vast majority of TNG, and you don't even MENTION VOY or ENT. You say you enjoyed the Dominion War Arc on DS9, and you liked TOS. Okay. That's less than 10% of the Franchise. It's like calling your self Law & Order fan and then saying you liked the first 3 seasons of the first series, and few episodes of Criminal Intent, and disliked everything else. Ugh.... the entitlement.

Re: SNW S2: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

@Tim C

"I still am drawn to Mount whenever he's on screen. He definitely has that air of natural leadership you need for the role, and he also uses charm to disarm his opponents in much the same way."

Intentionally or not, as played by Anson Mount, Pike is the Steve Rogers of Starfleet. A natural leader, who embodies all the is best, most noble, most inspiring, and most endearing about his culture. A guy you'd follow into the mouth of Hell, but for completely DIFFERENT reasons than you would follow Kirk (a ballsy tactical genius) or Sisko (a ruthless warrior). Think about it, Starfleet's highest award is the Pike Medal. He's supposed to exemplify the best of the best in the fleet. The crazy thing is that like Chris Evans, something about Mount's personal charisma makes the viewer truly believe in his character. I was always afraid you could never do Cap (a notoriously preachy guy with a long history of cringe inducing episode in print) unironocally in film, until I saw CA: The First Avenger and Evans won me over. Mount has done the same with his iteration of Pike.

Re: SNW S2: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

@Dogface

"There was no good reason to tell this story and certainly no good reason to throw James Kirk into the mix. Clearly, the writers want to build a connection between La’an and Kirk. Unfortunately, the actors have no chemistry."

1. The writers wanted to tell the story. That's all the reason they need. Did we require Van Gohh to have a good reason to paint "Starry Night"? Did we require Bach to have a good reason to write his 5th Symphony? Art owes you NOTHING, get over it.

2. If you think they had no chemistry, I totally disagree. They were a great double act. It was very compelling.

Re: SNW S2: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

@artymiss

"Would Pelia remember the earlier encounter with La'an?"

Nothing suggests the Lanthanites share the El-Aurian or Q capacity to recognize and/or manipulate various timelines. Maybe because none of them have encountered the Nexus? They are functionally immortal, but not omniscient or especially temporally aware. So the question then is how long and how detailed their memories are. By comparison, I am 48 and at my age I remember virtually none of my life when I was 5-10 years old. Extrapolating from this, if I was 4800, I remember nothing of being 500-1000 years old. Of the last 5 years, I also remember few details, only the ones important to my self narrative. I could easily see Pelia not recalling a brief, seemingly random, interaction 300 years earlier if it meant very little to her.