S01.E02: Children of the Comet

[AnimeMania]

While on a survey mission, the U.S.S. Enterprise discovers a comet is going to strike an inhabited planet. They try to re-route the comet, only to find that an ancient alien relic buried on the comet’s icy surface is somehow stopping them. As the away team try to unlock the relic’s secrets, Pike and Number One deal with a group of zealots who want to prevent the U.S.S. Enterprise from interfering.
Premiere Date:  May 12, 2022

[millennium]

I liked this.  I still don't like the liberties the writers have taken with the characterizations of Uhura and Christine Chapel, nor am I a fan of Ethan Peck's Spock, but as a whole the episode worked.   What a relief not to have to deal with a laborious and constraining arc.  Ditto for anvil-like agendas.  This was pure Star Trek problem-solving reached through the attempt to understand an alien race even as the characters come to a better understanding of themselves.

The sword hanging over Pike's head is considerable, especially as he knows not only that it will fall, but when and where.   I don't mind being reminded of his dilemma from time to time but I hope the show won't dwell on it every episode.

Anson Mount/Christopher Pike seems to make everyone around him feel comfortable, including the viewers.   It's an element that has long been absent in the Star Trek universe.

Perhaps the best part of this episode was the return of the Enterprise as a character.   This episode was very generous with exterior shots, something I missed in the premiere.

[paigow]

Star Trek: Minority Report 

So Pike will go on anti-recruiting home visits? Offer to teach these kids ranching and cattle roping as a career? 

ETA: Or send Spock to wipe their brains of any Starfleet ambition

Who is this engineer??? Daredevil? With bonus mind reading skills Matt Murdock never had??

Edited May 12, 2022 by paigow

[paigow]

Kirk must have read the log reports to devise the Corbomite bluff... How did Pike miss the opportunity to embed a crew member [unlike Kirk] with the Sheperds as an emissary / observer. Superior weapons,  Cloaking Device, Sentient AI Comet... Seek out new life and civilizations is literally your job...

[dwmarch]

This show feels like honest to goodness Star Trek and as an added bonus it is absolutely gorgeous.

I like all of the characters so far. Well, jury is still out on Hemer but he had about two lines of dialog in this episode.

The story worked well for me, especially considering that Discovery did a similar plot not too long ago and achieved much less.

La'an will not sing to literally save her life, that was a nice way to establish her character.

8 hours ago, millennium said:

The sword hanging over Pike's head is considerable, especially as he knows not only that it will fall, but when and where.   I don't mind being reminded of his dilemma from time to time but I hope the show won't dwell on it every episode.

I wonder how this is going to be resolved. Given the slight differences in characters from TOS I feel like we are one or two universes over from where we started. And Star Trek 2009 already gave us an alternate take on Pike where he was still in a wheelchair but only for a couple of minutes. Perhaps I am thinking of something from Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (mild spoilers if you haven't seen it yet):

Spoiler

In MoM, Dr. Strange has a vivid dream which is later explained to him as being an alternate universe. So what happens to his character in that dream is only one possible fate among infinite possibilities. Wouldn't it be funny if Pike's vision from Boreth was the same thing? He's just looking in on some poor Alt-Pike who is going to get messed up in the future but the fact that he has seen this means he actually does have some agency to avoid that fate himself. But it would also be classic Star Trek to have Pike intentionally choose the noble sacrifice so they could go either way with it.

We might have our first Lower Decks reference as well. Spock talks about the shuttle having a heat shield, Mariner was excited about a shuttle having a blast shield in an early episode.

The egg on the comet looked like the egg from Alien and I'm glad it didn't turn out to be something similar. One would think that Starfleet training would include stern warnings about not touching alien eggs. Well, George Samuel Kirk is eventually going to be done in by a flying fried egg so I guess he missed that day at the Academy.

[paigow]

Who is actually Number One- i.e. XO - of the ship??? Is Pike going to make them fight for it with Lirpa?

[Sandman]

:: secretly wonders how a culture as logical and pragmatic as Vulcan society, even in its most savage era, could have come up with a weapon as ungainly as the Lirpa, surely the most unwieldy, victory-proof weapon in the known universe ::

[paigow]

9 minutes ago, Sandman said:

:: secretly wonders how a culture as logical and pragmatic as Vulcan society, even in its most savage era, could have come up with a weapon as ungainly as the Lirpa, surely the most unwieldy, victory-proof weapon in the known universe ::

The first Vulcan tailors loved it because it cuts fabric quickly...

[MissLucas]

3 hours ago, dwmarch said:

La'an will not sing to literally save her life, that was a nice way to establish her character.

If she's as good at carrying a tune as I am she did not sing to save all their lives 😁 And in the same vein: I have no idea how Uhura's humming managed to convince the comet to lower its shields. I also never understood musical theory no matter how often it was explained to me 🤷‍♂️ But I liked all the character establishing work they did on this episode.

Bit of snark: flash floods in the desert are not fun, so I hope the climate change progresses at a moderate rate.

[paigow]

9 minutes ago, MissLucas said:

Bit of snark: flash floods in the desert are not fun, so I hope the climate change progresses at a moderate rate.

Also, turning sand to mud does not make it topsoil. And the village crazy guy that built an ark in the desert 20 years ago is laughing...  

[thuganomics85]

Looks like they really are going to continue on with a more episodic style of Trek with them wrapping up the current mission by the end of the episode.  I can dig it.  While there are clearly some long term arcs going on (mainly Pike and the visions of his future), it really does fall more in line with original Trek and Next Generation and that's actually become kind of refreshing now.

Liked having a more Uhura-centric episode out of the gate.  The actress is very likable in the role.  While I know it will likely all work out, I actually enjoyed the idea of seeing a character who isn't all ride or die, "Starfleet for life!" and mainly just joined up because she felt she had no other options at the time.  I know Starfleet is completely the same as military in real life, it kind of reminds me of it in that for those who probably join up because they really want to make a difference, there are others who just use it as a stepping stone to do whatever they really want to do, get a scholarship to college, etc.

I guess it doesn't matter what universe he's in or who is playing him: Spock is always getting hit on.  Those ears and logical aloofness make them go wild!

Anson Mount is still making Pike one of my favorite captains in the Stark Trek universe.

Agree that the design of the ship and its interiors has probably been the best one yet out of the "NuTreks."

[paigow]

Where is the replicator technology? TOS!Kirk ate colourful cubes or chicken soup. Pike roasts a side of beef in his quarters. 

[marinw]

Who else was remnded of Close Encounters of the Third Kind? I am very old. At least they didn't take a whole season like STD

Spock's hair and sideburns are driving me nuts. I am not feeling this Spock at all.

Of cource, Hemmer isn't the only blind engineer in Star Trek lore. Geordi La Forge!

I like Number One calling Pike out on the whole "My destiny is cast in stone" thing. Pike has a huge savior complex. Perhaps he worries that if he doesn't save the cadets, someone else will and suffer as a result. Or that cancelling the training mission will result in something else that's bad.

No M'Benga! 

 

11 hours ago, paigow said:

Where is the replicator technology? TOS!Kirk ate colourful cubes or chicken soup. Pike roasts a side of beef in his quarters. 

And Pike and Una were washing dishes!!! 

Edited May 13, 2022 by marinw

[millennium]

23 minutes ago, marinw said:

At least they didn't take a whole season like STD

STD, lol.  (yes, I have a juvenile sense of humor)

[MissLucas]

35 minutes ago, paigow said:

Where is the replicator technology? TOS!Kirk ate colourful cubes or chicken soup. Pike roasts a side of beef in his quarters. 

Pike is a foodie like Sisko? 

That said one thing they could have carried over from DISCO were the snarky replicators. Alas, they disappeared from DISCO, probably because they were hurting feelings 🙄

[jcin617]

In the TNG episode “Pen Pals” Picard wasn’t going to save a civilization from potential destruction because it violated the Prime Directive… so did the rule get changed between Pike and Picard, because no one batted an eye about interfering.

[Starchild]

8 hours ago, dwmarch said:

Well, George Samuel Kirk is eventually going to be done in by a flying fried egg so I guess he missed that day at the Academy.

I wonder why Spock and Uhura don't mention having known him when that does happen.

OK I don't really wonder, but it is one of the larger continuity holes.

Unless this Sam Kirk is NOT actually Jim's brother at all. I mean he hasn't mentioned his brother Jim yet. Mega coincidence though.

[Frozendiva]

I enjoyed the episode.

The egg in the comet did remind me a bit of Close Encounters. I expected to hear the familiar five notes.

Captain Pike is pretty impressive. Quite dateable. Cooking a meal for the folks on the ship with what looked like real food, having brandy or whatever with Number 1, showing an interest in the lives of the folks who work on the ship. Understanding Cadet Uhura, who is not sure what she wants, has a tragic backstory, is looking for some sort of family connection.  Is there a greenhouse on the ship, along with some animals, or a freezer filled with frozen meat or do they pick up supplies from Starbase or a planet that has cattle and other forms of agriculture? A really good replicator? Pike is likeable, funny, has a wit and charm that has been missing from most of the new series.

The Shepherds were interesting. The end with the comet maybe knowing that Spock or someone would help it correct course (maybe it had a flaw in its design), and bring water to the desert planet and create a new age for the inhabitants to be more agricultural than desert - although where they got the straw to build the huts would be interesting. Are there more rogue comets like it with the Shepherds being a sort of guardian? Now that there is water, there can be straw with the sand to make bricks (wasn't that in The Ten Commandments to make Ramses' city?)

I didn't get the sense that Spock is flirty or even notices that Nurse Chapel finds him attractive. He did seem to show some humor that no one had a perfect, well thought out plan to deal with the comet or the planet.

[millennium]

5 minutes ago, Frozendiva said:

I didn't get the sense that Spock is flirty or even notices that Nurse Chapel finds him attractive. He did seem to show some humor that no one had a perfect, well thought out plan to deal with the comet or the planet.

IMO Ethan Peck was not a good choice for Spock, however I do believe the writers are doing a capable job when it comes to Spock's dialogue.   His remarks seem plausibly characteristic of TOS Spock as a younger man, especially the dry humor.

[CattyK]

Nice episode.  I’m finding it a relief to have standalone episodes that wrap up a specific story.  Really glad the producers decided to go this way.  

[millennium]

2 hours ago, CattyK said:

Nice episode.  I’m finding it a relief to have standalone episodes that wrap up a specific story.  Really glad the producers decided to go this way.  

I wish the producers of Star Trek Picard had taken that route.   We might have gotten 30 new stories, 30 new chances to see new and familiar sides of Picard and his crew.   Instead, when all's said and done, we'll walk away with a mere three.

I hope Strange New Worlds sticks with this format.

[marinw]

11 hours ago, MissLucas said:

Alas, they disappeared from DISCO, probably because they were hurting feelings 🙄

IIRC, in one TNG episode a replicator noted that Troi's request for a "real" choclate sundae "Exceeding nutritional guidelines" or words to that effect.

Edited May 13, 2022 by marinw

[paigow]

10 hours ago, Frozendiva said:

The egg in the comet did remind me a bit of Close Encounters. I expected to hear the familiar five notes.

Uhura: I heard this lullaby a lot growing up in Kenya...

Spock: This cave is reacting to your lullaby... continue... I believe that I know the lyrics...

Edited May 13, 2022 by paigow

[Chicago Redshirt]

10 hours ago, jcin617 said:

In the TNG episode “Pen Pals” Picard wasn’t going to save a civilization from potential destruction because it violated the Prime Directive… so did the rule get changed between Pike and Picard, because no one batted an eye about interfering.

A. I'd bet every single series where the Prime Directive applies has had captains and other Starfleet characters basically go "Screw the Prime Directive" eventually. IIRC, During Picard's court-martial episode "The Drumhead" in S4, he was said to have violated the Prime Directive nine times.

B. Part of the rationale used is "it's not a violation of the Prime Directive if the primitive species doesn't know about it." You can go amongst the primitive species in disguise and observe them, for instance. Which strikes me as bogus rationalization. But anyway, interfering by beaming up members of the primitive species and transporting them to safety would be considered a violation. But interfering by altering the course of the comet surreptitiously is not, which is what Pike and crew tried to do. 

[Llywela]

20 hours ago, paigow said:

Who is actually Number One- i.e. XO - of the ship??? Is Pike going to make them fight for it with Lirpa?

Una is the XO. Spock is science officer.

14 hours ago, paigow said:

Where is the replicator technology? TOS!Kirk ate colourful cubes or chicken soup. Pike roasts a side of beef in his quarters. 

Just because they can replicate food doesn't mean they always have to. It feels like good characterisation to show that Pike is a man who enjoys the preparation of food, especially when hosting a communal dinner party like this. It made a good group activity for his guests, fostered a convivial atmosphere, helped them relax.

12 hours ago, jcin617 said:

In the TNG episode “Pen Pals” Picard wasn’t going to save a civilization from potential destruction because it violated the Prime Directive… so did the rule get changed between Pike and Picard, because no one batted an eye about interfering.

It happens in life that rules and organisations become more hidebound, less flexible, as time goes by. It doesn't surprise me that Starfleet would go that same way over the Prime Directive over time.

5 hours ago, millennium said:

I wish the producers of Star Trek Picard had taken that route.   We might have gotten 30 new stories, 30 new chances to see new and familiar sides of Picard and his crew.   Instead, when all's said and done, we'll walk away with a mere three.

I hope Strange New Worlds sticks with this format.

I agree 100%. I am really enjoying SNW so far - and feel a bit annoyed about it, in fact. I didn't want to fall for another Star Trek while still feeling burned by the last! So far, it really is the show I'd hoped PIC was going to be, back when it was first announced, when it wasn't called anything as specific as Star Trek: Picard, it was just 'a new Star Trek project featuring Patrick Stewart and a brand new cast, including one or two actors I knew slightly and another that I knew really well and was excited about', and the possibilities seemed boundless. I still regret the show PIC wasn't, the show it could have been - that period after the TNG-VOY era is wide open for exploration. So why are we getting that exciting new classic-style Trek as yet another prequel? Why couldn't we have had both?

Bah.

So anyway. I like Strange New Worlds just as much as I knew I would, I love how much it respects every single one of its characters, and I am cross about it, because I wanted that strength of writing for the PIC characters too. I can only dream of the show PIC might have been, if it had been structured differently, if it had not been focused so intensely on a single character while also being cast as an ensemble the writers weren't interested in properly developing. That cast desperately needed episodic storytelling, and they could have been great.

So I really hope SNW can keep it up and doesn't fall apart after a strong beginning the way PIC did.

Edited May 13, 2022 by Llywela
stupid typos!

[historylover820]

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. 

[Sandman]

19 hours ago, paigow said:

Also, turning sand to mud does not make it topsoil.

Hee. Tell that to David Lynch’s Dune.

1 hour ago, historylover820 said:

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  

Welcome, @historylover820!

For whatever it’s worth, I’m right where you are in both my excitement and my wariness about this show — as well as my growing disappointment with ST: Picard.

Your point about the implausibility of often sending two thirds of the senior staff on away missions is well taken — I mean, of course the script demands of genre tv that make the commanding officer also Chief Adventurer in Charge work against realistic depiction of protocol to some degree, but at least we know it’s possible to assemble an away team whose loss wouldn’t imperil the ship’s command structure. 

I’m still working out why and how the captain has a full bar in his quarters. “Number One, please report to my Rumpus Roo — er, Ready Room.”

Edited May 13, 2022 by Sandman

[Affogato]

Making Pike a rancher made me roll my eyes. At this particular time, in television, so many rich ranchers out there on the range. So many more than actually exist. I'd imagine he brought the food with him from his ranch and is using it as a way to connect with his crew? . Not vegetarian, I guess.  I don't want the predestination/free will thing to be dropped, but I hope it doesn't get constantly dragged out without going anywhere.

I didn't mind the dinner party, or the stuff on the bridge. Pike's solution was obvious, but not stupid, too. I found the golden singing egg dull.

1 hour ago, historylover820 said:

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. 

I think they will come out to play, and it even makes a kind of sense. The mission is exploration. The ships do have a backup command structure. Also, I can't imagine Pike putting up with sitting for the last ten years of his life, knowing what is going to happen. But sending Uhura and Kirk made sense in this case. I think it is generally implied on Star Trek that there are a lot of away missions. We just see the exciting ones involving the characters we are following and dammit there are some perks to being Captain.

So the comet actually is god? Or a computer? Was it created by the race that is following it or did they just start to follow it after it 'blessed' their world? How will the lizardy people survive sudden climate change? Speaking of arcs it might be interesting if some of those questions were answered over time. I hope they are keeping an eye on weird comet, at the least.

 This show seems watchable, but it needs something to say. At this point I'm leaning to liking Discovery better, but it really is too early to decide.

 

[MissLucas]

I wonder if Pike will ever go on an absolute suicide mission in order to tempt fate / screw with predestination. 

[dwmarch]

17 minutes ago, MissLucas said:

I wonder if Pike will ever go on an absolute suicide mission in order to tempt fate / screw with predestination. 

Hopefully he will realize that just because he cannot die does not mean that he cannot suffer but having said that it might be entertaining to see him learn that lesson the hard way.

[Ottis]

On 5/12/2022 at 2:53 AM, millennium said:

The sword hanging over Pike's head is considerable, especially as he knows not only that it will fall, but when and where.   I don't mind being reminded of his dilemma from time to time but I hope the show won't dwell on it every episode.

Exactly. Making this into a fate vs. free will debate serves no purpose ... we already know what happens to Pike (not only from his glimpse of his future, but from ST canon). The part I was interested in was more philosophical - once you know when you will die, what do you choose to do until then? But the show is still focusing on the death itself, not the events before it. If he chooses to make the sacrifice to save others, and in the meantime does a lot of exciting and meaningful things as captain of the Enterprise - awesome. Let's resolve that and move on.

9 hours ago, millennium said:

I wish the producers of Star Trek Picard had taken that route.   We might have gotten 30 new stories, 30 new chances to see new and familiar sides of Picard and his crew.  

I'm in synch with you today! I wish Picard had taken pretty much any path besides the one they did. What a waste of a season.

2 hours ago, historylover820 said:

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.

He was the same way in Discovery, and IMO Discovery was at its best when Pike was on it. Telling a nervous Kyle "don't forget my socks" when Kyle is beaming them down is both a way to show humor and a way to show confidence. Pike hits all the right notes as a leader. 

49 minutes ago, MissLucas said:

I wonder if Pike will ever go on an absolute suicide mission in order to tempt fate / screw with predestination. 

That's the advantage I mention in the episode 1 thread. Knowing when he dies actually gives Pike leverage to take some risks, and become the legend he was to Jim Kirk.

BTW, I think Sam Kirk's moustache is utterly ridiculous. He looks like Crewman Guy on Galaxy Quest.

The episode was poorly titled, IMO. I don't know who the "children of the comet" were. The alien race were protectors, not children, or even related as far as we could tell. The people on the planet were complete strangers. "Mercy of the Comet" would have been better, or any number of choices.

Also, why bother putting colors on the exo suits that match the colors of the uniforms? That seems like an excessive detail. Can you not wear an exo suit just because it is the wrong color?

The overall plots of both eps were unremarkable. At least until the very end of the comet ep when Uhura noted the comet knew what would happen. I'd like more thought-provoking ideas, but it's early. I do like the show.

Edited May 13, 2022 by Ottis

[salaydouk]

2 hours ago, historylover820 said:

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.

Go back to TNG "Encounter at Farpoint", this exact point was covered during Picard/Riker's first meeting. Riker _effectively_ told Picard that Away Missions were off-limits to him for safety reasons.  And you will notice that in the 7 years the show ran, Picard was almost never off the Enterprise and when he did want to be on the Away Team there was always a "discussion" about it between the two of them. 

For ST TOS, because of the show's star billing, etc, that was the reason way Kirk, Spock, and McCoy were nearly always on the landing party.  But that was a function of Hollywood and not reality. In reality a ship's captain will rarely leave the ship if she is at sea. (Side note, this was also done on DS9 with Sisko going out on the Defiant - as the Captain of DS9 he should have remained on DS9 and the original plan to have Worf captain the Defiant would have been more accurate. )

So for me I have always wondered if TPTB would ever make it official that Starfleet policies changed between the 23rd Century when officers were allowed to be more like "space cowboys"  and the 24th Century when officers had to run the ship in a more disciplined manner.   

[Chicago Redshirt]

14 minutes ago, Ottis said:

The episode was poorly titled, IMO. I don't know who the "children of the comet" were. The alien race were protectors, not children, or even related as far as we could tell. The people on the planet were complete strangers. "Mercy of the Comet" would have been better, or any number of choices.

The Shepherds were simultaneously protectors and quasi-religious followers of the comet. In a religious/Christian context, followers are often referred to as children of the god they follow. You might remember in TOS's Bread And Circuses, the pacifists were called "Children of the Son/Sun." 

Or it could refer to the fact that the comet brought new life to the planet, and the new life would be its children.

[Affogato]

1 hour ago, Ottis said:

 

The episode was poorly titled, IMO. I don't know who the "children of the comet" were. The alien race were protectors, not children, or even related as far as we could tell. The people on the planet were complete strangers. "Mercy of the Comet" would have been better, or any number of choices.

 

I’d think the children of the comet are the races the comet saves.
 

But there is a book by that name and I haven’t read it.so maybe that would provide insight. 

[Stardancer Supreme]

This is a fun show! It keeps close to canon and also striking out to make SNW more distinctive than TOS.

I'm digging Speck so far (his voice is dreamy!).  Uhura's dress uniform is quite nice, command crew hazing aside.  I wonder which lauguage did she tell Hemer and Speck about themselves in?

Again, I want to live in Pike's quarters.

[paigow]

How many crew members are on board? 100?? Looks like housing the expansion to 400+ during TOS!Kirk required downsizing some cabins...

19 minutes ago, Stardancer Supreme said:

Again, I want to live in Pike's quarters.

 

[salaydouk]

1 hour ago, Stardancer Supreme said:

Again, I want to live in Pike's quarters.

Me too!  Love the fireplace and that grill! 

[Sandman]

On 5/12/2022 at 5:05 PM, paigow said:

The first Vulcan tailors loved it because it cuts fabric quickly...

I think I read somewhere that the name "Lirpa" derives from a dialect of Old Vulcan, localized around the ancient traditional capital, from a word which can be translated, roughly, as "cleavage revealer."

[cdnalor]

6 hours ago, Sandman said:

I’m still working out why and how the captain has a full bar in his quarters. “Number One, please report to my Rumpus Roo — er, Ready Room

Pike is like the Don Draper of space with a bar in his office.  Star Trek: Mad Men.  I'd watch it.

[millennium]

4 hours ago, Ottis said:

Knowing when he dies actually gives Pike leverage to take some risks, and become the legend he was to Jim Kirk.

The time crystals that showed Pike his future didn't exactly play fair.   He was shown a preview of the accident and the outcome (confined to an automated chair with bad prosthetics) but that really wasn't his final fate.   He is granted something of a reprieve courtesy of Spock and the Talosians.  It doesn't change the fact that his body will be laid to waste, but his consciousness will enjoy untold years of life with Vina ("umm, would you mind being the green Orion dancing girl tonight?").   Not a perfect future, but certainly better than the horror show he's walking around with right now.

 

[j5cochran]

5 hours ago, Stardancer Supreme said:

I'm digging Speck so far (his voice is dreamy!).  Uhura's dress uniform is quite nice, command crew hazing aside.  I wonder which lauguage did she tell Hemer and Speck about themselves in?

According to the CC, she spoke in to Hemmer in Aenar and to Spock in Vulcan.

[rtms77]

Nice ep. I think this is the first time, barring DS9 stuff, that I’ve seen a starship perform evasive maneuvers. They always give the order than nothing, or they are hit, lol. Great visuals from this show. 
 

5 hours ago, salaydouk said:

Me too!  Love the fireplace and that grill! 

 

6 hours ago, paigow said:

How many crew members are on board? 100?? Looks like housing the expansion to 400+ during TOS!Kirk required downsizing some cabins...

 

Pikes quarters are HUGE! Neither Picards Enterprise nor Voyager had crew quarters that big. Which begs the question, did something happen for Kirk to inherit a bigger but more compact ship? Kirks quarters are bunker size compared to this version and even DISCO. 

The whole music is communicating has been done so many times. Still it gave us a nice Uhura centric ep. She already has the markings of the older version . 
 

Chief engineer is interesting. Given that in his society I doubt he would have been allowed to live given his blindness, I’m curious about his eventual story. 
 

So Pike is honestly struggling with his fate. Such mental issues would be flagged immediately by any competent doctor. The guy needs to fess up and talk to a counselor. 
 

We finally see a big starship being maneuvered in a comet field. Again great visuals. 

[starri]

On 5/12/2022 at 8:15 PM, marinw said:

Spock's hair and sideburns are driving me nuts. I am not feeling this Spock at all.

I'm having the opposite reaction.  During his talks with Uhura, I was gobsmacked by how much Ethan Peck sounds like Leonard Nimoy.  It was ridiculously impressive.

[MissLucas]

1 hour ago, starri said:

I'm having the opposite reaction.  During his talks with Uhura, I was gobsmacked by how much Ethan Peck sounds like Leonard Nimoy.  It was ridiculously impressive.

Yeah, I thought so too. I'm pretty sure one of the main reasons Peck was cast is his voice/timbre while Quinto was visually the better match. I remember how Peck's voice stood out in the short-lived tv version of '10 Things I Hate About You' coming out of a 'teenager' (Peck was 23). The writers even had other characters crack jokes about it.

Edited May 14, 2022 by MissLucas

[Chit Chat]

This show is a nice change of pace.  It's good to be exploring and solving problems rather than focusing the entire season on one evil alien race or individual.  As long as they don't wander off into the land of "my feelings, your feelings" all of the damn time, I look forward to where they'll go next.  

[WildPlum]

Another reasonably good episode, nothing particularly deep - although the underlying assumption that western music is the basis for ALL music and alien technology would respond to music in a 12 tone system was pretty amusing. I just pass it off as some hand waving (like the other semi-sciency hand waving) and let it go. Star Trek is an action-adventure-"problem of the week" show that happens to use scifi props and settings but doesn't rely on heavy science for explanations or even, really, facts.

[cambridgeguy]

13 hours ago, rtms77 said:

Chief engineer is interesting. Given that in his society I doubt he would have been allowed to live given his blindness, I’m curious about his eventual story. 

According to canon all Aenar are blind.  Andoria would never be allowed in the Federation if the made it a policy to execute an entire subspecies solely because of a disability.

[starri]

Heck, we saw eventually on Enterprise that Shran had a half-Aenar daughter.

[TV Anonymous]

On 5/12/2022 at 1:46 PM, dwmarch said:

This show feels like honest to goodness Star Trek and as an added bonus it is absolutely gorgeous.

Agree. Particularly with the "...five years mission..." narrative this feels like ST:TOS with much better set, wardrobe, and SFX.

On 5/12/2022 at 8:09 PM, paigow said:

Where is the replicator technology? TOS!Kirk ate colourful cubes or chicken soup. Pike roasts a side of beef in his quarters. 

The beef itself could be replicated and Pike just like to serve it his way.

On 5/12/2022 at 8:15 PM, marinw said:

Who else was remnded of Close Encounters of the Third Kind? I am very old. At least they didn't take a whole season like STD

Me. I kept on whistling Close Encounter's tune all the time Uhura was trying to communicate with the egg.

15 hours ago, rtms77 said:

Pikes quarters are HUGE! Neither Picards Enterprise nor Voyager had crew quarters that big. Which begs the question, did something happen for Kirk to inherit a bigger but more compact ship? Kirks quarters are bunker size compared to this version and even DISCO. 

Since Discovery I think Starfleet got ahold of TARDIS technology that they could fit big interior into a tiny frame.

It is amazing that this far in the future the Enterprise does not have any kind of countermeasure, counterbattery or anti-torpedo weapons. Whenever she gets shot, she either evades or absorb the hit with her shield. No measure to destroy the torpedoes, which are material weapons. Even the Rocinante had rail guns to intercept the missiles.

So Ortegas is the best pilot out of the Academy? I thought Detmer was the best pilot out of the Academy, and they were in the same timeline.

So how did putting heat shield close to M'hanit nudge him off collision course, even before he came with the premonition?

[j5cochran]

9 hours ago, starri said:

I'm having the opposite reaction.  During his talks with Uhura, I was gobsmacked by how much Ethan Peck sounds like Leonard Nimoy.  It was ridiculously impressive.

I think Ethan Peck sounds like his grandfather. And looks a bit like him, too.