S01.E07: The Serene Squall

[AnimeMania]

While on a dangerous humanitarian mission, the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise stumbles into a harrowing game of leverage with the quadrant’s deadliest space pirate.

Premiere Date:  Jun 16, 2022
Jesse James Keitel as Dr. Aspen
Michael Hough as Remy
Lawerence Libor as Weapons Pirate

[LydiaMoon1]

Wow. This show had been 6 out of 6 for me.....then along came episode 7. *sigh* That was trash.

Why was the Enterprise so empty? Nobody was in the corridors?

Wouldn't the crew work in shifts? Shouldn't it be bustling 24/7?

How does a handful of pirates capture an entire starship and all of it's presumably 300-500 people in a few minutes?

How did the pirates reach the bridge so quickly?

Did no one try to stop them?

Where was security? La'an's security protocols are trash.

Whose job was it to vet that irritating human walking stick? Again, La'an's security protocols are trash.

Why was Una so ineffectual on the bridge?

Why was Pike so lackadaisical about the Enterprise being raided and his crew being captured?

Why did Pike seem so dumb this whole episode?

Sooo, apparently it's incredibly easy to incite a mutiny? Who knew?

Do we really need to shoehorn Spock's relationship problems into every situation?

Do they really need to shoehorn Nurse Chapel into every situation with Spock and T'Pring? I mean, I realize that they're trying to explain the dynamic felt later on in TOS, but all that felt really forced to me.

The human walking stick's ultimatum to T'Pring should have never worked. The logical thing for T'Pring to say was, "Girl, I can always get another Vulcan", but maybe that's just the way I think.

I could go on, but I'll stop. Still love this show, just not this episode. The writing, the characterization, the direction, the costuming, the surprise twist at the end...everything fell flat with me. The only thing I liked was when Spock threw that dude halfway across the room. Otherwise? This was all contrivance and convenience.

I'm looking forward to better next week.

Edited June 17, 2022 by LydiaMoon1

[AnimeMania]

The Enterprise can only shoot it's Phasers at one target at a time?

[rtms77]

1 hour ago, LydiaMoon1 said:

Why was the Enterprise so empty? Nobody was in the corridors?

Wouldn't the crew work in shifts? Shouldn't it be bustling 24/7?

How does a handful of pirates capture an entire starship and all of it's presumably 300-500 people in a few minutes?

This was so contrived. I never understand how these take overs happen. Unlike future Enterpises everyone besides the some of the medical staff should be starfleet trained and have access to a weapon. Heck even the medical bay should have weapons.  It should be the duty of every crew member to take back the ship, yet other than the bridge crew, no one was even trying? 
 

So apparently Starfleet has no visual ID ? Because this plot would have died if they had actually looked up the record of the humanitarian. Second these are the nicest pirates ever it seems as they don’t seem eager to kill. Not to mention the alien guy wasn’t even the captain, so why was Pike even bothering? Was he that much of a jerk first mate they wanted him gone?

The problem with pirate eps is that in order to work , serious compromise must happen. Pirates today only go after very small ships with very limited crew. They don’t bother with say military ships because of the crew size. Same here. 
So we get Sybok , who Spock is once again happy to divulge. What happened to him , for him to clam up so much that Kirk etc didn’t know a thing about him? At this point Spock is an open book.

What kind of protocol gives a civilian permission to mess with a ships security etc? Spock should have told them to sit tight but instead involves them? Yet another contrived situation. 

Edited June 16, 2022 by rtms77

[Sharpie66]

I thought this was the best episode yet! I loves me a great space pirate villain, and Aspen/Angel was perfect, so much so that I was cheering when they beamed away to crime again another day. Loved their chemistry with Spock. The Pike stuff with the pirate crew was equally fun. Btw, I cannot wait for the Ortegas episode, because she is rapidly becoming one of my favorite regulars, even before we learn more about her.

[Stardancer Supreme]

I was thoroughly entertained! I guess I am easy, because I loved it from Speck's spit take at T'Pring's reading material to the reveal of Sybok.  I feel that SNW is taking "bad canon" and morphing it into good canon, as I read somewhere else.  The bantering among the crew is awesome! Anson Mount is awesome, period. 

So this is where poor Nurse Chapel gets a bit of the Speck vapors and silently suffers through her unrequited feelings for the rest of the series?  I also thought that this would be last we see of Gia Sandhu's excellent portrayal of T'Pring.  To go from one appearance in TOS to a fully fleshed out one here in SNW, *chef's kiss*.  I actually like T'Pring here!  So are they going to "re-bond" only to split for good later?  Should I be prepared to have my heart ripped out?

I also liked Captain Angel's catsuit, so slinky! 

Edited June 16, 2022 by Stardancer Supreme

[AmigaJoe]

Battle Stations! Prepare to repel Boarders!

-you mean they couldn't immediately tell that unauthorized people had beamed aboard? Took 'em a few minutes?!

[AmigaJoe]

BRO!!!

[MissLucas]

They should have aired that on 19 September. 

It was a bit of mindless fun with plenty of plot holes. But I likeed Angel/Aspen - I was suspicious of the character but then I've watched more tv shows than Spock & Co - good take on a (hopefully) recurring villain. I also enjoyed Pike's outrage at being called 'Boy Scout'. 'Chris, it's in your file', he!

They can't all be winners - and I rather have the not so good episodes being tongue in cheek than pretending to be dead serious about some lofty principles.

[Stardancer Supreme]

Almost forgot my favorite part:  Pike telling Captain Angel to get out of his chair!   Slight quibble: the mutiny going on in full progress behind Pike, Una, and Ortegas. I probably would have beamed them back to the ship first!  But then, where was M'Benga, La'an, and the other officers in that melee? Heh. 

[starri]

There's something in me that really liked the Sybok reveal.  I never really cared for Trek's occasional desire to ignore its own. canon (the sidelining of TAS for so many years, as a start), because you should love something warts and all.  TFF is a terrible movie, but the concept of Sybok isn't.

Although it surprises me that someone as rigid as Sarek would have a physical relationship outside of a marriage/bonding.

[historylover820]

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

[Ottis]

9 hours ago, Sharpie66 said:

I thought this was the best episode yet!

Most importantly, SNW seems to be finding its groove. Two true Trek episodes in a row now. You can nitpick aspects of them (and yes, I agree, no way the Enterprise should have been taken over that easily), but the plot was interesting and the ep managed to introduce a few pieces to the puzzle (Sybock, and more Spock/Chapel development).

I wasn't a fan of Captain Angel's moustache twirling. I *think* the ep was going for levity, what with that and the easily duped pirates and the fact both Pike and Una seemed way too confident and unperturbed at their predicament. I would have been horribly embarrassed that I let the ship be taken over by that group.

And that is why the show didn't quite work. It didn't go far enough to humor, or it went too serious in other parts. It was a strange mix. Still, it told an enjoyable story and fleshed out much of the crew a bit more. The show is finding its way.

[historylover820]

3 minutes ago, Ottis said:

And that is why the show didn't quite work. It didn't go far enough to humor, or it went too serious in other parts. It was a strange mix. Still, it told an enjoyable story and fleshed out much of the crew a bit more. The show is finding its way.

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!

[Starchild]

Observations:

• Was Spock drinking wine in the beginning? I thought Vulcans didn't drink alcohol
• Was that Stonn working with T'Pring in the rehab centre?
• As soon as Spock handed Aspen the phaser I knew there'd be a betrayal
• Angel could be a cool character if they just twirled a little less mustache

[Orbert]

Yeah, that was Stonn.  It seems we're going all-in on the Spock backstory.  I do like that thus far, they've mostly augmented canon, rather than outright contradicting it, but I wish that they'd do a bit less of it.  Apparently T'Pring and Spock have had issues for a long time.  I mentioned in an earlier episode thread that they can do this, make up, etc., and none of it contradicts  what we see "later" in TOS: Amok Time.  At that point, T'Pring has waited long enough for Spock to decide he's not worth waiting for.  And obviously she must have met Stonn at some point, so ta-da! here he is. The recurring "problem" she has with Spock being half-human was never even hinted at in Amok Time (that I remember) but it seems to be a huge deal here.  Again, not really contradicting what we knew already, but not really necessary detail either.

And Sybok... sure, okay.  I actually liked Sybok in The Final Frontier, and liked The Final Frontier more than most, but couldn't they have waited another episode or two before bringing out Sybok?  Is every episode going to have at least a few things that the writers just couldn't resist throwing in, to show how clever and well-read they are?

[853fisher]

I haven't posted much but am continuing to look forward to the show every week.  I don't know half as much about canon beyond TOS as many others seem to, so I'm fascinated to read perspectives on that.  I am enjoying getting a different perspective on characters and situations we already know, even when I have to make up my mind to get past what seem like inconsistencies.

I appreciated the matter-of-fact use of "they" pronouns for Dr. Aspen / Capt. Angel.  No big drama over it - in the future, we'll use people's preferred pronouns.  I think that's great.

[thuganomics85]

Enjoyed the episode, but I did think the Enterprise kind of got taken over way too easily.  One would think that the flagship of the Federation would have better safety measures in case a takeover like this ever went down.  At least they did have a way to prevent someone from accessing the ship's computers, but coms getting cut off that easily and the entire crew getting captured with a quickness did seem too convenient.  Eh, it's a minor quibble all things considering.  Usually these situations tend to require ignoring plot holes and be willing stretching ones willingness to just roll with it.

Certainly helped that I enjoyed getting to see Jesse James Keitel as Aspen/Angel.  I liked how they played both the innocent, helpful ally for the first half and then the smug, arrogant asshole the next.  Also cool with Angel escaping for now, so hoping we've got ourselves a recurring villain going forward.  No matter what happens, it certainly would be more realistic than anything Jesse had to deal with over on Big Sky!

Certainly ramping up Chapel's obvious one-sided (for now?) crush on Spock and even finding a way to have them kiss via a ruse.  I do hope this won't be the character's main trait going forward, but it makes sense that she would feel that way.  And while I do think Spock's heart truly belongs to T'Pring, I do think an attraction is there within him when it comes to Chapel.

Pike getting him and the crew out of a tight spot thanks to his cooking and finding a way to cause a mutiny is so on point for the character.  And he says he's not a boy scout!

Unless I missed her, Uhura was not in this episode, right?  Kind of odd.

Pike doing the pirate accent had me cracking up.  He's certainly the funniest captain out there which I appreciate.  Almost wonder if that was ad-libbed by Anson Mount.

So, it looks like this show's version of Sybok will be entering the picture soon!

[CarpeFelis]

1 hour ago, thuganomics85 said:

Certainly helped that I enjoyed getting to see Jesse James Keitel as Aspen/Angel.  I liked how they played both the innocent, helpful ally for the first half and then the smug, arrogant asshole the next.  Also cool with Angel escaping for now, so hoping we've got ourselves a recurring villain going forward.  No matter what happens, it certainly would be more realistic than anything Jesse had to deal with over on Big Sky!

Took me a couple seconds to recognize them at first and then: “JERRIE!!!” Love them on Big Sky and here too, so I also hope we see Angel again.

[Affogato]

11 hours ago, starri said:

Although it surprises me that someone as rigid as Sarek would have a physical relationship outside of a marriage/bonding.

That does seem OOC for TOS Sarek. 

[Zaffy]

It is amusing how these starships get so conveniently empty when needed!
The Orville the other day, now Enterprise, crew -> puff! -> gone!
And La'an must the worst security officer ever!

It was quite entertaining, especial the Pike parts of it.
But somehow I think I am suffering from Spock fatigue. I am not sure what it is, is it the actor? is the script ? is it that I could not care less about him and T'Pring cause we know how this will end up?  Dunno,  but I kind of even felt like Fast forwarding him, there I said it!
And how many kids Sarek has, biological or adopted? He is the Blake Carrington of Star Trek universe!

[Affogato]

The enterprise has a crew of 15, considering the size of their rooms. Maybe 20. 
 

Uhura was in the background in one shot. 
 

i think Angel was supposed to have joined the crew before this mission and was able to disable enough security systems to let the pirates in the ship. Enough time to give the guy on her ship some personal illusions of power. I’d have to watch again yo be sure. 

Edited June 17, 2022 by Affogato

[jah1986]

8 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Pike doing the pirate accent had me cracking up.  He's certainly the funniest captain out there which I appreciate.  Almost wonder if that was ad-libbed by Anson Mount.

This part cracked me up too, as did #1's "Please stop". All in the delivery.

I'm also eagerly awaiting the Erica Ortegas episode!

[cambridgeguy]

59 minutes ago, jah1986 said:

I'm also eagerly awaiting the Erica Ortegas episode!

I'd rather see the Hemmer episode.  Whatever happened to him anyway?  I wonder if they realized the makeup is too expensive/time consuming, or if the actor was just unavailable.

9 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Pike doing the pirate accent had me cracking up.  He's certainly the funniest captain out there which I appreciate.

Pike probably gets really bored and comes up with ways to amuse himself.  It seems like a lot of the time the Enterprise is just traveling between various locations and his department heads are capable enough to handle all of the routine operations.  The captain really doesn't have much to do other than just sit in his chair.

[sugarbaker design]

10 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Certainly helped that I enjoyed getting to see Jesse James Keitel as Aspen/Angel.  I liked how they played both the innocent, helpful ally for the first half and then the smug, arrogant asshole the next.

I thought they did a great job, I love an old-fashioned mustache-twirling, scenery chomping Star Trek villain.  

If I never see a Spock/T'Pring scene again, I'll be a happy little Romulan.

On 6/16/2022 at 8:52 AM, LydiaMoon1 said:

The only thing I liked was when Spock threw that dude halfway across the room.

That was awesome!

[historylover820]

1 hour ago, cambridgeguy said:

I'd rather see the Hemmer episode.  Whatever happened to him anyway?  I wonder if they realized the makeup is too expensive/time consuming, or if the actor was just unavailable.

Pike probably gets really bored and comes up with ways to amuse himself.  It seems like a lot of the time the Enterprise is just traveling between various locations and his department heads are capable enough to handle all of the routine operations.  The captain really doesn't have much to do other than just sit in his chair.

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.

[paigow]

7 minutes ago, historylover820 said:

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.

Pike will dig through 20th Century archives and find Clue... He will make everyone play after the BBQ... Spock will argue that choosing a candlestick is illogical given obviously more lethal options in-game.

[millennium]

You would think that by the 23rd century Starfleet training manuals would have devoted a whole section to "when aliens gain easy entry to your ship, it's usually the newest passenger or guest star who's working with them."   Didn't that just happen in the last episode, too, when the transporter beams were intercepted, it was the kid's guardian who was the culprit?

I'm liking T'Pring more each episode.  Such a shame those two can't work it out in the end.

Didn't care for Captain Angel at all.  Remy was a more entertaining character and fit into Star Trek's long tradition of easily duped aliens.  Fizzbin anyone?   The slightly comic approach and Pike and Number One's amused attitude towards their predicament undercut any sense that our heroes were ever in danger.

A generic, not very memorable tale overall.  It made me wonder, if I were to watch all the original Star Trek episodes today for the first time, how many of them would strike me as very good or memorable?   Probably only a handful.   I think I liked the characters more than the stories.  Perhaps I remember the stories so well simply because I have seen them so many times

Edited June 17, 2022 by millennium

[Starchild]

These days, we'd probably think they were too obviously preachy.

[Ottis]

7 hours ago, Affogato said:

The enterprise has a crew of 15, considering the size of their rooms. Maybe 20. 

LOL. So true. And look at the engine room! 

3 hours ago, millennium said:

It made me wonder, if I were to watch all the original Star Trek episodes today for the first time, how many of them would strike me as very good or memorable?   Probably only a handful.   I think I liked the characters more than the stories.  Perhaps I remember the stories so well simply because I have seen them so many times

Maybe. But TOS pulled stories from actual sci-fi writers. Many of those eps had a philosophical or moral question at stake. And, at that time (mid 1960s), many of them were new to television, or at least fairly new. Do you go back in time to change a terrible event in the past? Isn't discrimination based on whose side of the face is black or white silly and dangerous? Is real life conflict, with all its messiness, preferable to mindlessly continuing an ancient war with willing sacrifices? Are the needs of the many, or the few, more important than the needs of the one (yes, that was STII but some version of it existed in TOS)? 

That was the best part of ST to me - and then on top of that, there were characters I grew to like. And ST-made implications, like what happens when you accidently leave a book about the mob on a developing planet? That's why we have the Prime Directive, etc.

Discovery, and Picard, both set aside that whole point of ST to instead tell "hero stories" about the main characters instead of make us think about difficult choices. Discovery dipped its toe in it, but then pulled back. The less said about Picard, the better.

2 hours ago, Starchild said:

These days, we'd probably think they were too obviously preachy.

For sure, parts of them were. Kirk concludes many an episode with an impassioned speech about freedom, or free will, or whatever. Different time in America. Still, the overall point is still worth thinking about, even if we snicker at the goofy passion or cheesy sets.

Edited June 17, 2022 by Ottis

[paigow]

Finding a cult of space hippies would be silly... But is there some other current fringe group that suffers real or imaginary oppression?

[millennium]

1 hour ago, Ottis said:

For sure, parts of them were. Kirk concludes many an episode with an impassioned speech about freedom, or free will, or whatever.

My favorite begins, "No blah blah blah!"

1 hour ago, Ottis said:

But TOS pulled stories from actual sci-fi writers. Many of those eps had a philosophical or moral question at stake.

Quite true, and the episodes written by them largely account for the most memorable.

[millennium]

8 minutes ago, paigow said:

Finding a cult of space hippies would be silly... But is there some other current fringe group that suffers real or imaginary oppression?

Is this a trick question?  😉   I don't think modern Star Trek wants to take a stand on controversial matters, for fear of alienating large portions of the audience.   The franchise boasts diversity and inclusivity but that goes only as far as casting.   They'll cast a trans/non-binary actor/actress but not explore the hardships of being trans/non-binary in a world where half the people hate you just for who you are.   Why can't they do a story about migration, people fleeing Planet A to seek asylum on Planet B, but Planet B wants to send them all back?   Or religious extremism?   And so on?   We have a world full of potential stories.  Unfortunately I haven't seen Star Trek tackling real social issues in a long time.

[paigow]

2 hours ago, millennium said:

Is this a trick question?  😉   

Vague so nobody can call it partisan... 😎

[millennium]

13 minutes ago, paigow said:

Vague so nobody can call it partisan... 😎

Safer that way. 

[dwmarch]

4 hours ago, paigow said:

Finding a cult of space hippies would be silly... But is there some other current fringe group that suffers real or imaginary oppression?

Space Juggalos?

[TVbitch]

Why are the Captain and First Officer both beaming into a risky situation? Especially when they are outside of Federation space?! Is Pike cavalier about his predicament because he has seen his death mission, and he knows this ain't it? Still, that doesn't mean that this particular situation might not be death for a bunch of the crew! 

It really doesn't matter. I LOVE this Captain. LOVE. I laugh every episode. There is a lot of space soap opera going on. It is not taking itself too seriously, and (sadly) I am enjoying it so much more than Picard.  

[paigow]

6 minutes ago, dwmarch said:

Space Juggalos?

[Frozendiva]

9 minutes ago, paigow said:

It's just not that black and white.

[Frozendiva]

So, number one ongoing gripe with the show - the sound mix. For a few bits in this ep, I wanted to turn on my closed captioning to make out some of the mumbled dialogue.

Of course the newest person on the ship may have ulterior motives. D'uh.

I laughed when T'Pring was talking to Spock about human intimacy in such a clinical, Vulcan manner - plus his reaction.

There were some good moments and some so-so moments, but the episode held together. Pike's humour and plans on the fly make him work as a Captain. So easygoing at times, but with a sharp mind and the ability to persuade people from the oldest plans in the book. You would think that the space pirates would not have had such an easy time capturing Starfleet's flagship.

So we see the first real hint of Chapel's infatuation with Spock. T'Pring not being jealous of the trick that Spock played. And the reveal of a not to be mentioned family member that is not Burnham.

[historylover820]

38 minutes ago, TVbitch said:

Why are the Captain and First Officer both beaming into a risky situation? Especially when they are outside of Federation space?! Is Pike cavalier about his predicament because he has seen his death mission, and he knows this ain't it? Still, that doesn't mean that this particular situation might not be death for a bunch of the crew! 

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

[LittleIggy]

I really enjoyed this episode after the seriousness of last week’s episode. It was fun. BTW, I think they have toned down Pike’s pompadour. Now they need to tone down T’Pring’s eye make-up. What is the logic in putting all that eye shadow on such a beautiful woman?

On 6/16/2022 at 7:35 PM, Stardancer Supreme said:

Almost forgot my favorite part:  Pike telling Captain Angel to get out of his chair! 

Yeah, that was great! 😆

[Chicago Redshirt]

On 6/16/2022 at 7:18 PM, starri said:

Although it surprises me that someone as rigid as Sarek would have a physical relationship outside of a marriage/bonding.

It's because he was so rigid that he had that physical relationship....hey-o!

On 6/16/2022 at 9:04 AM, rtms77 said:

This was so contrived. I never understand how these take overs happen. Unlike future Enterpises everyone besides the some of the medical staff should be starfleet trained and have access to a weapon. Heck even the medical bay should have weapons.  It should be the duty of every crew member to take back the ship, yet other than the bridge crew, no one was even trying? 
 

So apparently Starfleet has no visual ID ? Because this plot would have died if they had actually looked up the record of the humanitarian. Second these are the nicest pirates ever it seems as they don’t seem eager to kill. Not to mention the alien guy wasn’t even the captain, so why was Pike even bothering? Was he that much of a jerk first mate they wanted him gone?

The problem with pirate eps is that in order to work , serious compromise must happen. Pirates today only go after very small ships with very limited crew. They don’t bother with say military ships because of the crew size. Same here. 
So we get Sybok , who Spock is once again happy to divulge. What happened to him , for him to clam up so much that Kirk etc didn’t know a thing about him? At this point Spock is an open book.

What kind of protocol gives a civilian permission to mess with a ships security etc? Spock should have told them to sit tight but instead involves them? Yet another contrived situation. 

IIRC, Spock and Angel were in Sick Bay when Spock retrieved the two phasers. 

The plot still could  have continued. It would have just required another step of hacking computer records as to what the humanitarian looked like.

We were led to believe that the pirates didn't want to kill anyone because they wanted to sell the crew into slavery.. It could be that,, or it could be that they were under orders to not kill because why get in more trouble with the Federation than they had to.

Kirk and co. didn't know Spock's dad is a famous Vulcan diplomat, and they didn't know he was engaged, and they didn't know that he was from a prominent enough family to for T'Pau to be at the wedding.

On 6/16/2022 at 8:16 AM, AnimeMania said:

The Enterprise can only shoot it's Phasers at one target at a time?

They showed that the Enterprise could shoot four phasers simultaneously in this very episode after Angel was taking it out for a test drive. Why Spock didn't fire lasers at both the possible targets simultaneously is a plot hole that they should have tried to cover up with some technobabble.

On 6/16/2022 at 7:52 AM, LydiaMoon1 said:

The human walking stick's ultimatum to T'Pring should have never worked. The logical thing for T'Pring to say was, "Girl, I can always get another Vulcan", but maybe that's just the way I think.

The thing about T'Pring (and all Vulcans, really) is that no matter how much they go on about logic, they still are driven by emotion in at least part. I long for a day when more characters are presented with these sorts of supposed dilemmas just go "No problem at all, I choose the option that's doesn't involve trusting an immoral person to keep up their end of the bargain."

But she loves Spock and so values him more than all the negative consequences that would come with allowing Sybok to go free.

On 6/16/2022 at 9:42 PM, Orbert said:

Yeah, that was Stonn.  It seems we're going all-in on the Spock backstory.  I do like that thus far, they've mostly augmented canon, rather than outright contradicting it, but I wish that they'd do a bit less of it.  Apparently T'Pring and Spock have had issues for a long time.  I mentioned in an earlier episode thread that they can do this, make up, etc., and none of it contradicts  what we see "later" in TOS: Amok Time.  At that point, T'Pring has waited long enough for Spock to decide he's not worth waiting for.  And obviously she must have met Stonn at some point, so ta-da! here he is. The recurring "problem" she has with Spock being half-human was never even hinted at in Amok Time (that I remember) but it seems to be a huge deal here.  Again, not really contradicting what we knew already, but not really necessary detail either.

Well, the problem as T'Pring articulates it in Amok Time is that Spock wanted to go adventuring with Starfleet and refused to remain on Vulcan. Here it is slightly recast to be that the reason he wants to go adventuring with Starfleet is because he's half-human. Although it was not T'Pring expressing the sentiment, I think T'Pau did enough questioning of Spock as a half-breed. 

T'PAU: Spock, are our ceremonies for outworlders?

...

T'PAU: It is said thy Vulcan blood is thin. Are thee Vulcan or are thee human?

[Chit Chat]

9 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Now they need to tone down T’Pring’s eye make-up.

I would think that makeup would be "illogical" to the Vulcan mindset!

On 6/16/2022 at 6:35 PM, Stardancer Supreme said:

Pike telling Captain Angel to get out of his chair!   

They need to rig the captain's chair with explosives and have it detonate if someone sits it in and is barking out orders that doesn't match the programmed authorized voices!!  Problem solved!!  ;)  

[QuantumMechanic]

This was my least favorite episode so far, though still enjoyable in spots (“get out of my chair!”). But it was a total idiot ball show, and that’s never good.

It didn’t know if it wanted to be comedy or drama; it would have been a better episode if it had committed to one or the other.

On a tangent, I really don’t like the level of informality Pike allows on his bridge. Some of the stuff — especially from Ortegas — would be unprofessional in a regular office job, let alone a military/quasi-military setting.

Also, at this rate there had better be an episode where the crew members who stay on when Kirk takes over get a mindwipe as that’s the only way to explain their total lack of knowledge of all the things they’ve already seen and would have been idiotic/illogical to not have mentioned during TOS.

[whiporee]

I thought the two things that stood out as bad were the lack of crewmembers -- my old nerd days reminded me the Enterprise had something like "dere's over 400 guys up dere" when Kirk was talking to Mel, and how over-the-top stupid the acting/acting choices were of Angel once she revealed herself. Like unpleasant to watch bad.

Still something I look forward to every week, though. 

I think over the 60 or so years of Star Trek, what they've shown is that Vulcans aren't unemotional. They're just repressed. They should have evolved to have wild Vulcan orgies -- have their own version of Bacannalles.

Edited June 18, 2022 by whiporee

[Joimiaroxeu]

Tropic of Cancer as a primer on human sexuality? Yikes. Good thing T'Pring didn't read Ann Rice's Sleeping Beauty series.

Was it me or did this episode need an unusual amount of exposition? That's usually not a good sign.

When the call is coming from inside the house Enterprise.

"You are failing to communicate effectively." T'Pring is great at deflecting blame. You can tell it bugs Spock but he won't call her on it because she always shames him for being half human..

Poor Nurse Chapel. She has definitely caught feelings for Spock and the fake kiss didn't help matters. I really don't like how passive-aggressive Spock is being about it. To me it's almost like he wants to provoke her into making a definite move on him.

Quote

So apparently Starfleet has no visual ID ?

Yeah, this problem seems to be going around. The latest The Orville storyline depended on pretty much the same issue. One wouldn't think that in the future security protocols would become more lax, or at least easily evaded.

[marinw]

On 6/17/2022 at 2:45 PM, millennium said:

when aliens gain easy entry to your ship, it's usually the newest passenger or guest star who's working with them."

I called Aspen/Angel right away.

I really don't think T'Pring is in love with Spock. She is trying way too hard to accept him. 

[sugarbaker design]

On 6/17/2022 at 6:44 PM, millennium said:

 😉They'll cast a trans/non-binary actor/actress but not explore the hardships of being trans/non-binary in a world where half the people hate you just for who you are.

But isn't there potential for a story just like that with Una's secret status as an Illyrian who is most likely genetically enhanced?   Star Fleet has sanctioned discrimination and prejudice against a whole species that attempt to better themselves through modifications. There are so many themes and parallels to explore here.  Trans issues, the closet and passing are just a few.

Edited June 19, 2022 by sugarbaker design

[Llywela]

7 hours ago, marinw said:

I called Aspen/Angel right away. 

The catsuit did it, for me. That was an evil catsuit!