historylover820

M'Benga is on McCoy's staff. He's in a couple of TOS episodes. McCoy introduces him as an expert in Vulcan physiology.

I have mixed reactions to this. OK, for the most part, I was loving this episode. Anson Mount was killing me. There were several times when I laughed out loud at him, and I don't usually laugh out loud when I'm alone. But I loved every single moment when he was on screen, acting this completely different character. And Christina Chong also had me rolling, with her dog and then her singing. (And Anson's little double thumbs up after that.) But, except for things like The Princess Bride (one of my favorite movies), I'm not the biggest fan of fantasies. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is epic and gorgeous, and I have the expanded trilogy, but I haven't watched them in years. Fantasy and fairy tales just really don't do it for me, for some reason. And while I love the humor, we've now had a fantasy, out-of-character episode almost back to back with a body-swapping episode (I know there's an episode in between, but that's not really my point.) This episode probably would have been better placed next season. Don't get me wrong--I love the light tone of SNW. It kind of feels like we've got too many comedy episodes. I was also really surprised at the wrapping up of M'Benga's daughter's subplot as well, and that is also why this episode may have not landed quite right for me. Here's the thing--I hate the idea of having sick children just for drama. And it really didn't articulate this in my feelings until this episode. I hate it. At least they didn't kill her off, but it's kind of the same idea for M'Benga. He lost his daughter. I'm a Christian, and I believe in life after death in a better place where there's no more sickness, no more death. I'm going through my own health issues right now, and while I believe there's a better place after death, I'm not ready to go there. So, this ending where M'Benga has to essentially let his daughter die because she'll be in a better place--that didn't exactly sit well. And if this is the reason why SNW decided to introduce this subplot in the first place, what was the real point? But, as I said, I was cracking up throughout 99% of the episode. It's so much fun to see a cast having so much fun.

I don't think they did. Pike and La'an and a couple of redshirts beamed down. Number One was on the Enterprise when it was taken over. Captain Angel's underlings beamed all hostages to their ship, which included Number One and M'Benga. At least that was my understanding. But that has always been my beef, even in TOS. But, it's the joke, right? Kirk: OK, we're beaming down to this potentially hostile situation. I'm going, Spock, Bones, Chekhov, Lt. Nameless Redshirt, you're with us too. Nameless Redshirt: Oh, s**t

Yeah, we only see the missions that something special happens or things go south. So, yeah, most routine missions, Pike probably does get bored and has to come up with ways to amuse himself. It amused me too.

And this is why I've so missed seeing episodic, stand alone episodes. The show can find its way, seeing if this episode works or if this other style works. The series driven by story arcs, like Discovery, can't have these "Let's see if this single stand-alone episode works!" because it's so focused on the overarching plot. Now, since Captain Angel escaped, I can see her becoming a recurring villain. But, if she never comes back, oh well. She was a blip, a log entry on this particular stardate. We learned our lesson, found out Sybok exists in this continuity, and can happily go off to the next adventure. Man, too bad there's only three more episodes left this season!

OK, I was so entertained by this episode. So, on some other Star Trek boards, although I still hate Michael Burnham, I was going "Well, this wasn't the first pseudo-sibling that Spock has failed to mention," and then I'd laugh that Discovery was bringing Star Trek V into canon. Well, guess what? And here's the thing--I love Star Trek V. It's one of the best comedies I've ever seen. If I need a laugh, I have a few choices. I can either go with really good comedies, such as Bringing Up Baby or Some Like It Hot, or absolutely hilarious movies due to sheer incompetence, such as Plan 9 From Outer Space, Reefer Madness, or Star Trek V. More often than not, I go with Star Trek V. But, I don't know I'm entirely on board with the Star Trek franchise bringing it into the fold. But, as Stardancer Supreme said, SNW has a way of bringing bad canon into good canon. I'll go along with that. But, yeah, I echo the question above--if Spock is so willing to say "Yep, Sybok is my half brother. My brother from another mother" to Chapel, why didn't Kirk and McCoy know anything about him? I think this might be easier to be on board if he said that he recognized the description of a criminal called Sybok and he knew him as a kid and leave it at that. I know, I know--honesty. I loved Pike's "Get the hell out of my chair." I also loved the exchange between him and Ortegas: Are we talking first date or third date? Blind date? Proceed with caution

Yeah, I think this was the first episode that I really didn't care much for. I figured there was something sinister going on about the woman, but when we got to the machine, I wasn't sure what it was doing. Killing the kid, obviously, But, how often do they need a child to "ascend"? What was the machine actually doing? I figured that the sacrifice would be for a myth and legend, not actually to keep the planet floating on a bed of lava. And how would a child do that anyways? You'd think there'd be more dissenters than that few guards who protested. I didn't know if I wasn't paying attention to it, but questions kept springing up. Oh, well. At least I can splash around in the shallow end and say that I enjoyed shirtless Pike a lot. My eyes were happy, even if my brain was going "Huh?" throughout the entire episode.

I don't know.... I was so excited to see Pike on Discovery and then finding out that a spinoff featuring Pike's Enterprise was happening, because here is a character that could be mined. (Also, the casting of Anson Mount as Pike is genius and not a lot of genius things have been happening with these new Star Trek shows). I'm not into the Star Trek novels or anything like that--I just kind of know TOS and the movies (also TNG). So, outside of The Menagerie and The Cage, I didn't know a lot about Pike. And, the same with Chapel and Uhura. Chapel and Uhura, even though they are recurring roles (well, Uhura is a main character), they weren't give a lot of focus in TOS. (Although they received more in TAS, but I haven't gotten around to watching all of TAS on Paramount+, and the cartoon ended a few years before I was born). So, while I'd like to see Korby show up and Chapel become engaged to him, I'm OK with both of these characters getting more development. I mean, we didn't even know Uhura's first name! (Nyota was just a fan theory until 2009). We know Chapel ultimately became a doctor. But that's pretty much it. So, yeah, even if these two characters don't quite fit into the '60s series, I'm glad they're on this show, getting character development, which was sadly lacking

I've heard that story before, but I think the friend's name was Clingon, and that's why the Klingons are named after this. I got that from a book called Star Trek FAQ, but it may not be very accurate.

From what I gathered, it's not casting a force field that's breaking the rules, it's signing the scorch that's breaking the rules. That is a completely stupid, dangerous thing to do. They were even concerned of the force field not holding.

My thing is that I hate Michael Burnham. I don't hate the actress, I hate the character. I have since the pilot of Discovery and it's why I don't watch Discovery anymore. She's such a Mary Sue. It got to be where there wasn't enough characters that I liked that would make me enjoy an episode of Discovery. And if I hate a main character of a show so much I can't justify watching it. And this was before the reveal that she's Spock's adopted sister. But I watched season 1 because I loved Jason Isaacs as Lorca, even though he became a mustache-twirling villain. And then they struck gold with Anson Mount--I was going "If they made a show featuring Pike, I would be all over that." (And I am). And then I stuck with it one more season, because I was intrigued by the mystery. I ran from Discovery when Tilly left, because I loved her character. So, while I do like the other supporting characters, there's just too much of "Michael is the most wonderful person ever to have existed!" on Discovery. So, it's not the reminder that Michael is Spock's adopted sister that I could have done without. It's the mention of Michael herself that I could do without. And Balance of Terror is my second favorite TOS episode. So, I'm always happy to have a reference to it.

There are some of you that I'm wondering why you watch this show. You seem to hate it so much. I really liked this episode, and that surprised me. When I read on Facebook that it involved Spock and T'Pring doing a Freaky Friday with each other, I thought this show had lost its mind. It was doing so well up to now! But, I think they handled it well. It wasn't just "Oh look, a teenager in an adult body and vice versa. Hijinks ensue!" It was a light-hearted, funny episode that didn't take itself seriously but didn't descend into farce. I loved Pike's reaction to Spock and T'Pring confessing this. It was "OK, weird, but moving on. Got a job to do." I'm going to say that I didn't really love the La'an and Una Enterprise Bingo subplot as much. I guess I just wasn't quite as entertained. I was arguing with someone on another Star Trek forum I'm a part of that I love this show--it gives me happy, nostalgic vibes, but it is either part of the Kelvin universe or it's own universe, because it's not part of the TOS universe. Oh, I offended this person--of course it's part of the TOS universe! I can go "This isn't a part of TOS, it's its own thing. But as long as I can relate to the characters--and I love Anson Mount so much as Pike, I'm OK with it not being a part of TOS, even if they are using canonical names." As long as I'm relating to the characters and I'm having fun, I'm happy just to be entertained. (I stopped being entertained by Discovery. I always hated Michael, even from the pilot. Stupid Mary Sue.) Finally, I don't remember the name of the documentary I was watching on YouTube shortly after the world closed down two years ago--and it's been since the beginning of 2020 when I saw this documentary, but it was breaking down why the new Star Trek shows doesn't really match up 100% with the old Trek shows. And it's due to different owners of the different shows and different movies. I think the Star Trek franchise is starting to get under one umbrella--one owner--but it's still a little bit of mess. Because new Trek is owned by CBS, I believe, they have to be some sort of percentage different than the old Trek shows. And I'm sure there's a stupid formula some bureaucrat made up, like "Changing a uniform is 1% of the equation." Due to knowing a tiny bit about this mess, and the fact that episodic writing on series seems to be out of fashion any more now--and this is all across TV (even sitcoms seem to have arcs), I'm just impressed that SNW feels like Star Trek, even with all its inconsistencies.

On a CinemaSins podcast, when they were reviewing the pilot episode, one of the contributors (I think Ian) suggested that the Gorn would be this show's Big Bad, even with its episodic nature, and he said that during this time, the Federation and the Gorn were at war. .... I think I need to watch Arena again. I think (?) I remember a offhand mention about that, although then why did no one ever see them. Anyway.... I didn't mind the nods to Arena, Wrath of Khan, Balance of Terror. As long this show feels like Star Trek, I'm going along for the ride. And, honestly, I had to remind myself that Uhura would be just fine. So, when you have to remind yourself that a legacy character would be just fine, it's doing something right. I really could have done without the reminder of Discovery and especially of Michael Burnham. And I was watching it going "Is Star Trek doing Memorial Day because this is Memorial Day Weekend?" Answer is probably yes. Was it needed? Definitely not. But, that's probably the reason why Spock was thinking of Michael. I'm pretty sure both he and Pike was wearing a Discovery pin. But, yeah, pretty sure it was written in due to Memorial Day weekend. While this one had good things about it, overall, it's the weakest of the episodes so far, in my opinion. Probably because I do think the Gorn was just a one-off villain in TOS. Even if McCoy helped a Gorn give birth to triplets in the Kelvin timeline (and he says that those suckers bite). But, again, that's the Kelvin timeline.

Virtual hugs going out to you! It made me tear up as well. And that Michael Keaton movie mentioned above.... I remember loving it when I saw it. I think it was called My Life. Nicole Kidman played his wife. I thought that was a really sweet movie. My dad, thankfully beat his non-Hodgkins lymphoma that he was on chemo for last year. He still has prostate cancer to deal with. But, I was thinking how much I would love seeing a video with my Dad, giving me advice, even though he's not the kind to do that. And, like I said, luckily he beat his aggressive cancer (so far. Knock on wood).

In Theo's defense, there was a couple things that I chuckled at. As stated above, the "Grandma wants to talk to you" tickled me. And, also, even though they were playing Connect 4, which I never would have as a 12 year old, I was amused at him laughing at Grandma's cluelessness that Greta and Katherine were just friends. I mean, yeah, Katherine not only spelled it out for her mother but also performed a song and dance and kissed Greta in front of her mother. How clueless can you get?

My Dad went through chemo last year, and while a lot of his hair fell out (according to my Mom), when I saw him in December after my bout of Covid (which, for obvious reasons, I didn't want to expose him to) and shortly before he ended his chemo therapy, I was surprised at how much hair my Dad still had. It was thin, but the majority of people who would have met him, I doubt whether they would know he was fighting lymphoma on the basis of his hair. I saw him again a couple months ago, and his hair had completely grown back in. I inherited Dad's hair. Both of our manes are really, really thick (well, obviously, Dad's wasn't when he was having chemo). I felt reassured because my long hair (which I never had before a couple years ago--I always had short hair)--I shed so much. But if Dad was able to keep so much of his hair when he was having chemo, I felt comforted that if I ever have to have chemo, I won't completely lose my hair. Now, Dad didn't have metastatic breast cancer or anything. So, I don't know.

I agree. No disrespect to him. I've posted here that I wonder what he thinks about the writing for his character, if he doesn't get the scripts and wonder why the writers hate him.

Oh, well, duh! That's obvious! (I'm so stupid for questioning the stupidity! 😄)

I'm completely cool with Gary using a good camera for this journey, better than the phones, due to the ending. I just thought Rome had given Gary the camera, at least while on the journey, and I was confused as to why Rome had the camera back.

Yeah, Anna confronted them at the restaurant.

Great song choice at the end. Can someone explain how Rome got Gary's memory card? I know he gave Gary the camera with the memory card, but how did Rome get it back? (I'm camera illiterate). I think I called most, if not all, of the "twists." I called Gary getting cancer again--which I didn't like how this show dropped that bomb. Anna did technically kill Peter--the push was an accident, but she did leave him to die. Rome was not fired. I was thinking--it is possible that Eddie won't be in trouble for lying and saying that Anna was with him at the music convention. She pushed Peter the night before. They both can still say that she showed up to the convention the next day. Gary's cancer coming back definitely explains the want to get pregnant now. Which I was rolling my eyes at them being pregnant after just a couple months trying--many couples wait years. But with the reveal at the end, that definitely explains why. I still want to be on record that Gary and Maggie are much better apart than with each other.

Oh no! No getting a flat tire! Anything but that! Actually, I wouldn't mind if there's an episode where the worse thing that happens is that the food truck gets a flat. At least that would be a lot more grounded.

Wow. Just.... wow. That just shows that writers really don't understand. I can't quite get my thoughts organized, but I'm wondering-- Sophie decided not to go to Harvard (which we laughed at because when did she show any interest in it in the first place?) Now Tyrell isn't going to Harvard. At least Sophie had a reason for not going. She wanted to go into music. There's no reason for Tyrell not to go, although, boy, do I not think he's qualified to go in the first place. Could the writers and producers be saying that an Ivy League isn't for everyone? Especially in the wake of the college entrance scandals? However, if they are saying that but not having the characters go to a "lesser" school, the writers and producers are still showing that these characters are still "special/gifted/unique" (they were able to turn down Harvard, and you, audience member, were not able to even get in.) I guess what I'm saying is that I just want to see a character on a TV show who is about ready to go to college be dreaming of going to a public state school.

TV Tropes has a trope about prestigious colleges and how easy it seems to get into those: Ivy League for Everyone. The description of the trope follows: Despite being considered among the most selective colleges in the United States, with admission rates from 6% to 16%, Ivy League schools show up frequently in fiction. In teen dramas, a main character (or two) will always get accepted into an Ivy League school. Expect this to become a key part of high school senior year stress, whether the character is trying to get into a certain Ivy League school, or deciding between an Ivy League college far away from home and a local college that keeps the show in the same setting. In a particularly extreme version of this trope, there will be an "Ivy League or nothing!" mentality implying that if a character doesn't get into an Ivy League school, then their only other option is going to community college and hopefully learning how to tell when their pimp is cutting their crack with baking soda. If they get in, don't expect the characters to actually discuss their coursework or major, the name is enough to convince the audience that it's prestigious and important and that's all that matters. In the case that we're past the high school setting, this information will commonly show up in a character's educational background. Usually this will be done as a shorthand to show that a character is either smart, ambitious, or filthy rich. The rule about not discussing coursework also holds at this stage, so expect characters to somehow get stellar grades even when they're never actually seen studying at any point. This has been popularized in part by Author Appeal—if a writer went to the Ivy Leagues, they might enjoy name-dropping the institution to show off how cool they are. Beyond that, it's just plain convenient - saying that a character came from or is going to a prestigious university is a quick way to show the audience they're well-educated, hardworking or intelligent, and beyond that more prestigious colleges simply have national or even international name recognition less prestigious schools won't. A few institutions that aren't actually in the Ivy League but have strong reputations in certain contexts also count for this trope. Engineering hopefuls always go to MIT or Caltech. Elite students on the West Coast go to Stanford. Juilliard is this for the performing arts. Before the Ivies went co-ed, the Seven Sisters schools were this for women. In Japanese stories, the college of choice is typically Tokyo University, or "Todai". "To show a character is either smart, ambitious, or filthy rich." and it shows the audience the character is "well-educated, hardworking or intelligent." Tyrell is none of those things, no matter how entitled or intelligent he thinks he is. Yeah, I agree with izabella above. I have my bachelors degree from a small state university (Emporia State University. Ever heard of it? I doubt it, unless you're from Kansas), and I have my masters degree from Oklahoma State University (which I bet most of you have heard of, but it's hardly this kind of prestigious institution). And while, in my experience, employers around here are impressed to learn that I've got a masters degree, because I've proven that I have the intelligence and the determination to see things through, if I'm competing against an Ivy Leaguer, it's game over. Ivy Leaguers have access to renowned professors and job opportunities I never had. Granted, I didn't have nearly the student loans most Ivy Leaguers get, even with an advanced degree, because I went to state institutions. (I'm seeing light at the end of the tunnel with my student loans!) But there is an unfair disadvantage here. Luckily, I'm not looking for a new job at this time, and there's not an overwhelming job market here in Kansas City for Ivy Leaguers. Even in spite of the description above, I just don't understand why every single character in shows and movies dreams of the Ivy League. It never even occurred to me in high school to apply for the Ivy League. Oh, I mused about it "What if I applied?" but the registration fee was a lot more than I was making being a part-time grocery checker, and I never even submitted an application to any of them. Plus, what chance would a small-town Kansas farm girl have at Yale? I would have been eaten alive! So I stuck with my "safety schools" (didn't even have one that wasn't a "safety school.") And, I'm pleased with my education.

Hi guys. I've never posted on these Star Trek shows before--in fact, truth be told--I gave up watching STD (apt abbreviation) when Tilly left because I lost interest in it. I stopped watching Picard halfway through the first season because it bore so little resemblance to TNG that I know and love. So, I entered SNW both with excitement--I loved, loved, loved Anson Mount as Pike on STD, and I actually didn't mind Ethan Peck as Spock. And the little bit I saw of Rebecca Romijn was Number One on STD, I enjoyed--and with trepidation (I mean, look at my first paragraph). So far, I love this show. To me, it feels like old school Star Trek, a prequel to TOS, but with much better special effects. I was worried about season long story arcs that drag on and on, giving its viewers a little piece of the puzzle but then raising more questions than it answers until the season finale. But I'm digging the episodic feel, because that's one of the reasons why it feels like old school Star Trek. And I don't mind the stable through line of Pike worried about the vision of the future he saw, because that's relatable and feels real. And, frankly, even feels like Jeffrey Hunter's take on Pike--he's first introduced brooding about a mission than went wrong and some of his crew was killed, and he's brooding about having the power to determine who lives and who dies. But Anson Mount's version of Pike, for me, puts Pike just under Kirk as my favorite Captain. I love his warmth and his humor. I'm not a fan of the take on the Prime Directive that seems to say "No inference at all if a pre-warp culture is doomed." So, I loved at the "Let's save a civilization before breakfast!" take on it. And they accomplished it without the culture knowing. Here's also something I thought was amazingly smart--the Captain and XO were not on the Away Team. It never made sense to me to have the Captain, XO, Chief Medical Officer, go on the Away Teams, because those guys really are not replaceable. If Sam Kirk died from him stupidly touching the egg, the Enterprise can get another xenobiologist (after all, there's only a couple mentions of him in TOS. One's kind of a throwaway line, and the other is Operation Annilation, which is not a good episode!). If Uhura died, it would completely alter the timeline for TOS, but right now, she's replaceable. They may not be able to find another cadet who can speak 37 languages, but they would be able to find someone multilingual.