S01.E05: Spock Amok

[Starchild]

5 hours ago, thecdn said:

Same. Grace Maternity in Halifax. I'm so old there were no hospitals in Dartmouth at the time :)

Where in Dartmouth? We lived in two different places around the Tam O'Shanter Ridge area.

Same hospital!

I lived in Woodside, could see the Imperial Oil firestack from my bedroom window.

I miss the ocean.

[Sandman]

On 6/4/2022 at 12:16 AM, Frozendiva said:

The aliens were interesting and again, it wasn't all about Pike saving the day.

I liked the fact that the aliens’ empathy was presented (their affect and behaviour shifted to match whoever else was in the room), but wasn’t hammered home or the primary plot point it might have been.

[Catfi9ht]

I'm really behind on these episodes, only having satellite Internet means I can only use streaming services about three weeks a month and even then I have to prioritize how to use the Internet I do have. 😁

The only thing I saw about on the Internet for this episode was, "OMG! WACKY HYJINX!" Wanting to be spoiler-free, I didn't read any further to see if this statement was sarcasm or not. Based on how mild the hijinks were, I'm guessing it was sarcasm.

Up until now, I thought the writing was just okay. All three plots in this episode were focused around empathy for others and seemed more mature, from a writing perspective, than the previous episodes. I really enjoyed it.

Two things I noticed about this episode.

1. I had no idea how much eyebrows influence my idea of whether or not someone is attractive. Ethan Peck with Vulcan eyebrows, no thank you. Ethan Peck with human eyebrows. Wow.
2. The cast has excellent chemistry with each other. Glad La'an got that stick out of her butt. I hope her butt continues to remain stick-free. (I recently rewatched Guardians of the Galaxy. Sorry.) The cast chemistry continues to elevate the writing on this show.

I'm really starting to like this show more. I hope it continues to surprise me!

[ouinason]

See, I don't have as much of an issue with how Chapel and Uhura are portrayed because in TOS they are dealing with entirely different work environments.  McCoy is not M'Benga and Kirk is no Pike.  Also, most of the character work with those characters is taking place outside work or with characters who aren't part of the TOS command, so we aren't seeing different so much as new.  

Spock is definitely different, but I think that is intentional.

Obviously they are getting some details wrong, and I get the frustration, but as someone who grew up watching soap operas daily, I have mostly adapted to that kind of thing.

[monakane]

I did not know that Ethan Peck was Gregory Peck's grandson.  That's some impressive lineage.  Spock has always been my favorite character and I am enjoying this younger version of Spock.  I can see him growing into Leonard Nimoy's version.  His voice reminds me very much of Nimoy.  

I love the optimism on this show.  It reminds me of TOS that I watched as kid.  I remember being awed by the possible future of mankind where we put aside our differences and work together.

[dovegrey]

We caught up with Picard and are now binging SNW. I’m really enjoying this show and feel like it’s good, solid Trek. Very enjoyable all the way around. We just got through this episode last night.

I like that it gives itself time for hijinks and to let its characters breathe. That’s huge, in my book. I could do with more formality and Trek decorum, but I also like that characters aren’t siloed and actually interact with each other in different combinations. This episode really surprised me, in a good way, and what easily could have been filler seemed to progress characters forward.

I’m also loving that both Pike and the audience knows what happens to him; I feel like we’re on borrowed time, even during the good moments and silly moments (like this episode), and even in the midst of the show’s optimism. I really don’t want to get to the end of Pike’s journey. 

My only issue is that Pike routinely reminds me of who an older, more experienced/mature Kelvin Kirk could have been (his interaction with Spock in this episode reminded me of Kelvin Kirk, and his physical relief at the end of last episode near exactly mirrored Kelvin Kirk’s relief when McCoy didn’t blow up in STiD). It doesn’t help that this Spock is more like Quinto than Nimoy, IMO, or that this Enterprise looks like the Kelvin Enterprise. I have to remind myself sometimes that this isn’t an alternate Kelvin timeline. To me, it doesn’t feel like Trek Prime or even TOS (harkening back to the discussion here of how these characters are supposed to turn into the TOS characters) - and I’m okay with that. I do think it’s going to be hard to square this show with TOS, unless the writers stall character development for the characters who rollover to TOS and also find some new aliens/strange new worlds to write around. 

But, yeah. This show makes me excited for Trek again.

 

[Quickbeam]

I just got Paramount so catching up. I loved this episode. I’m plenty old enough to have seen TOS first run and have probably watched Amok Time a dozen times over the years. I like the new sexy Spock. I enjoy that all the female characters are more layered and less repressed. I found this to be the best episode of Strange New Worlds yet. Pike deserved a better backstory and I’m glad he’s getting it. 

[Raja]

On 6/5/2022 at 9:57 PM, millennium said:

Does anyone know what the deal is with the "five year mission?"  If Talos IV was 10 years in the past, does that mean this is Pike's second/third "five year mission" aboard the Enterprise?   And if his radiation accident is still 10 years in the future, does that mean he has  yet another full five-year mission ahead, after the current one is completed?  

Likewise, does that mean that Uhura and Chapel will have been aboard the Enterprise at least 10 years before Kirk takes command -- but never advance in rank beyond Lieutenant and Nurse?

My long unused Trekstory chops are screaming wait a minute wasn't James T. the first Captain to actually finish a 5 year mission in one of the 12 starships.

On 6/5/2022 at 9:57 PM, millennium said:

Does anyone know what the deal is with the "five year mission?"  If Talos IV was 10 years in the past, does that mean this is Pike's second/third "five year mission" aboard the Enterprise?   And if his radiation accident is still 10 years in the future, does that mean he has  yet another full five-year mission ahead, after the current one is completed?  

Likewise, does that mean that Uhura and Chapel will have been aboard the Enterprise at least 10 years before Kirk takes command -- but never advance in rank beyond Lieutenant and Nurse?

My long unused Trekstory chops are screaming wait a minute wasn't James T. the first Captain to actually finish a 5 year mission in one of the 12 starships.

[Raja]

On 6/4/2022 at 6:06 AM, aemom said:

I enjoyed the Freaky Friday hijinks. 

I'm actually really enjoying this series so much.  I love the cast and Anson Mount is killing it and I loved the green jacket as a nod to Kirk wearing something very similar. 

The fight scene with the classic ST fight music had me cackling. I love how they try to hit so many nostalgic points, while at the same time giving us new things in these episodes.

They may stretch canon a bit from time to time, but I'm willing to let that go because trying to fit everything into a very well established 55 year-old franchise makes it really tough if we want them to have the freedom to explore certain things in the show.

I've only seen a handful of episodes but this portrayal of Captain Pike is moving above Avery Brooks Captain Sisko as the most realistic feeling commander. Especially since military duties are just part of the Starfleet mission and mindset.

With only a few episodes but on a cultural icon franchise this may be what Anson Mount will be remembered for passing by Cullen Bohanon in Hell on Wheels.

 

Only the helmsman really feels off as a character if we allow for young Nurse Chapel facing an emotional trauma in her future.

Edited June 27, 2023 by Raja

[John Potts]

Loads of callbacks here – the Lirpa, the Vulcan bell-harp (I’m sure it has a name) the entire concept of bodyswapping (it probably predates Turnabout Intruder, but that’s the first time I’m aware of its onscreen depiction) – even the way Spock and T’Pring were lying in sickbay were reminiscent of the bodyswap from that episode. A little disappointed we didn’t get the sash-with-a-weight-on-the-end that Spock throttles Kirk with, but we can’t have everything. Though if this is leading to “Amok Time”, it seemed T’Pring was actually closer to Spock as a result of this whole deal, so I’m wondering how that all breaks down again

Pike’s dealing with the diplomacy showed what a good Captain he is (I got the mirroring, but Pike saw beyond that – nice to know that there are Empaths who do more than “Sense something strange”). Not so sure about Una (I guess she really IS called Number One, at least in Latin) and La’an goofing around – surely it can’t be a revelation to either that they’re sticklers for duty.

Never saw Nurse Chapel as quite so sexually aggressive – I wonder if that was inspired by Majel Barrett’s portrayal of Lwaxanna Troi rather than Nurse Chapel (who was admittedly a much more minor character).

On 6/4/2022 at 6:28 AM, salaydouk said:

I am a bit disturbed that they seem to be writing T'Pring as being prejudice?

T’Pring in Amok Time was pretty awful – she forced Spock to fight his one true love best friend to the death. Don't know if giving her a more understandably personal (human, even) motivation makes that better

On 6/5/2022 at 1:36 AM, rtms77 said:

Didn't the Bajorians use Solar sails to explore the galaxy long before the Feds?

Thank you! I knew I’d seen it before somewhere