S01.E07: The Serene Squall

[aemom]

On 6/17/2022 at 10:33 AM, 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.  

The actor is legally blind, so perhaps filming is a big struggle for them, and their agreement with the show is that he is on more sparingly than the rest of the cast.

I agree that once Angel revealed herself that there was too much mustache twirling.

[Chit Chat]

14 hours ago, marinw said:

I called Aspen/Angel right away.

The moment that gave me pause was when Spock handed her the phaser and she said she wasn't a fighter.  She glanced over to the side and made a weird face.  I should've suspected her all along though.  The bad guys/gals are almost always wearing black!!  

[ottoDbusdriver]

I thought it was odd that it was going to take 2 days to get a response from Starfleet to proceed out of Federation space to answer the distress call since there were no nearby relay stations, yet somehow they had real-time video communications with Vulcan.

[wmdekooning]

On 6/18/2022 at 9:35 AM, ChitChat said:

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!!  ;)  

There’s no need to rig any explosives, just move the Captain’s chair closer to those panel consoles that are always exploding in random crew staffers faces…

[Sandman]

On 6/17/2022 at 9:27 AM, jah1986 said:

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

Una is becoming my favourite character. This line and “Our mutiny is still in progress” were certainly my favourite moments in the episode. I don’t disagree that the pirates had far too easy a time taking over the Enterprise. (I would have thought Starfleet had standard training on how to repel boarders.) Even so, I found the episode entertaining. Maybe I’m easy, too.

I barely remember Star Trek V. I seem to recall it as both preposterous and dull. Mostly what stands out is how thoroughly wretched Laurence Luckinbill’s performance was; just mind-bogglingly awful. That, and the fact that Spock’s half-brother was also half-human — a troublesome canon wrinkle which the episode took some pains to iron out. Not looking forward to the Sybok character here, in any case.

I was hoping to see Spock’s friendship with Chapel develop without verging into angsty unrequited Feelings with a capital Feck. Ah, well…

Edited June 20, 2022 by Sandman

[cambridgeguy]

8 hours ago, Sandman said:

That, and the fact that Spock’s half-brother was also half-human — a troublesome canon wrinkle which the episode took some pains to iron out.

Sybok was not half human, he's a full Vulcan.  His mother was a "Vulcan princess".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FYopOrkTOk

[thecdn]

On 6/18/2022 at 12:07 PM, QuantumMechanic said:

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.

Agreed, it's really jarring. I'm all for a relaxed environment, especially off duty, but this is over the top. I would have thought "Where fun goes to die" Number One would have brought this up with the Captain or started kicking junior officer butt by now.

Also, is there no equivalent of a Coxswain (I'm ex-Canadian military), or Command Master Chief as the Americans would say? I'm sure such a person would have something to say about such levels of informality.

[Colorado David]

I guess if the Captain is demonstrating this relaxedness in the banter, the crew feels 'at ease' to do the same.  It does seem like it would lessen productivity, esp if one had to ask what someone meant by what they said.

Quibble: whatever the hand phasers fire, it sure is SLOW. Way too slow for speed of light, and definitely slower than bullets as well. One would think it'd be more efficient, but maybe the producers are taking the way of the classic westerns and slowing things down for the drama.  I did love Spock just tossing people around and neck pinching - now that was effective, and non-lethal. (Well maybe the one toss was lethal, he tossed him/her like 20 feet or so.) 

Why do the panels blow up? Seems like it'd just be circuitry, worst it would do is burnout and melt.

[Sandman]

8 hours ago, cambridgeguy said:

Sybok was not half human, he's a full Vulcan.

Huh. I guess I remembered this movie even less than I thought; I was sure there was something in it about Spock's not being the first Vulcan-human hybrid (which would have been in a change to TOS canon -- which is why (I thought) I remembered it).

Edited June 20, 2022 by Sandman

[tennisgurl]

After last weeks heavy episode, I am glad that they decided to give us some classic mostly light hearted action, complete with the old Trek standard "bad guys take over the ship in three seconds and someone has to pull a Die Hard to beat them" story. Starfleet really does need to up their game when it comes to security, its shockingly easy for any pack of weirdos to take over, although at least space pirates is less embarrassing than that time Ferengis took over the ship in TNG. I cant complain too much about some of contrivances, I enjoyed this one a lot, it got some real laughs out of me. 

"I'm not a boy scout." 

"Its in your file." 

Of course Pike manages to start a mutiny just based on his cooking skills and charm, and he says he isn't a boy scout. Someone is getting his "saved the day by starting a mutiny" badge! I am also surprised at how much I like T'Pring and her and Spock's relationship, I cracked up when Spock practically did a spit take when she told him about all of the human books she's read about sex. 

It was awesome seeing Jesse James Keitel from Big Sky here, probably looking around at their alien face paint and intergalactic cat suite, guys wearing big headed alien Mad Max costumes everywhere, thinking "after my last job, I am so glad to be doing something more realistic!" I am glad that Angel got away, she could be a fun antagonist to pop up again.

I certainly did not see Sybok showing up coming, that should certainly be interesting. Sakrek and his kids, its always something, I am half expecting to find out he has yet another kid somewhere that's never been mentioned before. Never a dull moment at their family reunions, the shit Amanda puts up with. I have no idea how this will affect cannon, and I have no desire to sit through Star Trek 5 to remember the details with Sybok.

Edited June 21, 2022 by tennisgurl

[cambridgeguy]

3 hours ago, thecdn said:

Also, is there no equivalent of a Coxswain (I'm ex-Canadian military), or Command Master Chief as the Americans would say? I'm sure such a person would have something to say about such levels of informality.

If anyone is going to complain about the level of informality it'd be that other stick in the mud, La'an, and she has apparently decided to just roll with it since the Enterprise gets results.  Plus I don't think Pike is the micromanaging type, so the other senior officers can be a lot more formal with their underlings if they want to.

[Sandman]

20 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

“I'm not a boy scout." 

"It’s in your file." 

My favourite moment in that exchange was that even Spock’s expression implied “Busted, dude,” (or at very least “Such demurral is unsupported by available evidence, Captain.”)

20 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Never a dull moment at their family reunions, the shit Amanda puts up with.

“Logic, logic — I’m sick to death of logic! And also the forty-leven various kinds of assorted shit you guys come up with on the regular!”

Also, I thought Ethan Peck did a really nice job with Spock’s nonplussed moment of sip-of-wine-down-the-wrong-pipe “… wut??” I laughed out loud at that. 

Edited June 21, 2022 by Sandman

[paigow]

5 hours ago, thecdn said:

Command Master Chief as the Americans would say....

 He can capture the Enterprise by himself....

[starri]

11 hours ago, Colorado David said:

I guess if the Captain is demonstrating this relaxedness in the banter, the crew feels 'at ease' to do the same.  It does seem like it would lessen productivity, esp if one had to ask what someone meant by what they said.

Even when he was on Discovery, his approach was always something to the effect of "Call me Chris.  'Captain Pike' was my father."

I mean, I kind of get it. He's got a different style than anyone we've seen before, but then none of our prior captains have been carbon copies of each other.  But also, this is a guy who's already been through Talos IV, and who knows his fate.  I can see that leading to not caring about formality.

[North of Eden]

Say what you will about SNW but the one thing I have to give a total hats off to is this....

They remember from TOS that Vulcan women could be very feminine and have beautiful LONG hair.  Every series after TOS got it into their head that ALL Vulcan woman had to have Spock's haircut! That made no sense and I was surprised how long that went on.

Anyway this was a great episode for me...I can't believe how much I'm invested in CHRISTINE CHAPEL and her story. In TOS she was just an afterthought but she's easily my favorite character here. Cannon be damned I really want her to win over Spock. Never thought I would say that.

She's best character...Ortegas is the weak link...she's too 2022 if that makes sense. It's like she doesn't belong there being all snarky on the bridge. But I did laugh when she said, "I'm not going to say it"...but I seriously do not want an Ortegas centric episode.

Edited June 22, 2022 by North of Eden

[Tachi Rocinante]

On 6/19/2022 at 4:29 PM, ottoDbusdriver said:

I thought it was odd that it was going to take 2 days to get a response from Starfleet to proceed out of Federation space to answer the distress call since there were no nearby relay stations, yet somehow they had real-time video communications with Vulcan.

Wasn't it a prison moon?

Anyway, you'd think the Federation would set up relays close to the edge of their territory.  You know, like any half-assed military would.

[QuantumMechanic]

32 minutes ago, Tachi Rocinante said:

Wasn't it a prison moon?

Anyway, you'd think the Federation would set up relays close to the edge of their territory.  You know, like any half-assed military would.

The problem is that Starfleet is only 1/8th-assed.

[GreyBunny]

On 6/16/2022 at 5:52 AM, LydiaMoon1 said:

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.

The writing was horrible and Angel is an annoying clown. I don’t want to see that clown again, but Spock’s increasingly stupid family keeps hogging screentime.

[Catfi9ht]

Well, this episode was okay. I enjoyed the space pirates with the exception of Angel. All that overacting when their villainy was revealed was really, really bad. Whomever's choice it was to make that actor be super cartoony really needs their choices reevaluated as a decision maker.

Also, the gruel-serving space pirate looked like taser face from Guardians of the Galaxy 2 but with green body paint. It wasn't good or bad, just really similar.

This could have been a much better episode without the overacting. It's a shame because the idea of Angel as a main antagonist is promising.

So, I complimented the costumes last episode, and this episode has some of the worst costumes so far in this show. Everything Angel wore was dreadful. Their first outfit, the high-waisted jump suit with all the zippers, combined with their slick backed hair was so early 90s, I thought she was an In Living Color dancer.

The Sybok reveal was cool but the wig on the back of that actor was really bad. It looked like the back of a werewolf mask purchased at Spirit Halloween.

I'm not terribly invested in seeing old characters. The Star Trek canon is such a bowl of spaghetti that, for me, there's no point in thinking about the universe as a whole. There will always be things that don't fit.

Pike and Nurse Chapel were the standouts for me this episode. Both are completely charming in very similar ways, but it's not creepy.

This episode was worse than the previous two. I hope it's just a temporary blip.

Edited July 7, 2022 by Catfi9ht
The actor who plays Angel has she/her pronouns. Updated from they/them. Sorry!

[shrewd.buddha]

On 6/20/2022 at 6:06 PM, tennisgurl said:

Starfleet really does need to up their game when it comes to security, its shockingly easy for any pack of weirdos to take over

If an accountant loses a company's money, they would probably be replaced.  A security officer who allows their ship to be breached and overtaken would also have similar result - and a bad reputation afterwards. 
But this whole pirate episode seemed to be played for laughs.  I wondered if Pike's super chill attitude would change if the pirates had killed one of the crew members. (Maybe he will offer to cook for the Gorn when the next opportunity arises :-)

The stuff with Spock and T'Pring is heading into the territory of Star Trek: Fan Service.  Has Spock ever kissed so much?  And everything about T'Pring feels contrived: from her plot-convenient prison job to her non-logical, non-stop bridezilla behavior. 

On 6/19/2022 at 4:29 PM, ottoDbusdriver said:

I thought it was odd that it was going to take 2 days to get a response from Starfleet to proceed out of Federation space to answer the distress call since there were no nearby relay stations, yet somehow they had real-time video communications with Vulcan.

Yes, and T'Pring shows up for the prisoner exchange as if it is a quick trip to Enterprise's location. 

I really don't mind a certain degree of levity for the show ... but some of these episodes feel very unconnected to the tone and behaviors established earlier. 

Edited July 15, 2022 by shrewd.buddha
grammar

[QuantumMechanic]

7 hours ago, lora said:

I hated the actress who played Aspen/Angel. She ruined the episode for me. And I also hated the whole Spock/Chapel thing.

For me it was total "exhausted sigh and eyeroll" mode once Angel went all Snidely Whiplash moustache-twirling villain.  So boring.

[wanderingstar]

On 6/20/2022 at 6:06 PM, tennisgurl said:

I am glad that Angel got away, she could be a fun antagonist to pop up again.

Definitely want to see this character again! Pike saying "get the hell outta my chair" delighted me.

[Trini]

Me and my family recently watched Season 1 since they decided to put it out for free; and we're liking the "old school" vibe this has. And I personally don't need everything to line up exactly with the Original Series, so I don't mind most of the changes. I'm kind of looking at this as an 'alternate reality' within Star Trek lore. The only thing I'm side-eyeing a little is that they are rewriting the sex habits of Vulcans?

But about this episode specifically: Not a fan of them teasing a "love" triangle for Spock, especially when they've got me invested in Spock/T'Pring. (I don't care if they supposedly don't stay together some time in the future; I do care about their relationship now.) Also I think the way they write Nurse Chapel has been iffy at times.

Aside from relationship drama; space pirates are fun! Even though there were plot holes.

[Raja]

On 6/17/2022 at 8:01 PM, TVbitch said:

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! 

That is the only thing that I could justify Captain Pike's tone and  attitude, beyond it being a relatively comic episode. But then while Pike might know he is relatively immortal until that day comes it plays as if he really wasn't worried that  his crew could  get sold into slavery.

Was the pirate leader this show's version of an Orion, or just a green alien?

[Raja]

On 6/20/2022 at 1:45 PM, Colorado David said:

Why do the panels blow up? Seems like it'd just be circuitry, worst it would do is burnout and melt.

Any Thermian could tell you. It is because they always blew up in the historical documents.

[HouseofBeck]

A fun episode, albeit a little discordant in places. Wish we’d seen the scene where they went from “Do you really think your leader can take on the Klingons?” to the ongoing mutiny, but perhaps there was no good way to show it other than abruptly.

I am digging Pike’s relaxed-ish attitude in the bridge. He knows his crew. He knows their capabilities, that they are damn good at their jobs and able to learn and grow. He can trust them. And they trust him. The give and take is beautiful.

Ortegas doesn’t read “new” to me, but there’s tons of precedent. What always comes to mind to me is from “The Mote in God’s Eye” (Niven and Pournelle, 1974) - the present captain there recalls the words of his past captain: “I can use friends aboard my ship, but I’d sell them all for a competent sailing master,” and goes on to reflect that his sailing master was a smartass, but also competent, and that was a good bargain. :)

[marina to]

On 6/19/2022 at 9:20 AM, aemom said:

The actor is legally blind, so perhaps filming is a big struggle for them, and their agreement with the show is that he is on more sparingly than the rest of the cast.

I know this was a long time ago, trying to make sense of why he wasn't being used, but I know said actor and for years he's made a living touring one-man shows across the country. He's adapted to the little vision he has, so a lot of filming would not have been the issue. Just want it on the record. 😉

[aemom]

10 hours ago, marina to said:

I know this was a long time ago, trying to make sense of why he wasn't being used, but I know said actor and for years he's made a living touring one-man shows across the country. He's adapted to the little vision he has, so a lot of filming would not have been the issue. Just want it on the record. 😉

I read an interview with him a while back and he said that he knew going into the show that the intention was for him to just be on for the one season.

So it was always planned to be that way and was not a surprise for him.  He wasn't fired or anything.

[John Potts]

Since we’re ripping off Die Hard (again*), I was expecting Spock to say “I was unsure of your loyalties, so the phaser I gave you is non-functional” when Angel turned on them. Still, nice that we have a (presumably) reoccurring villain now.

Still puzzled by the T’Pring/Spock relationship. If we’re heading toward Amok Time, we should be seeing greater strain in their relationship, not renewed hook ups.

Sybok! Now that’s a name I haven’t heard since… [Sorry, wrong franchise!]

I do wish the writers would remember that the Enterprise has sensors that (presumably) can detect in a complete sphere around it. When that ship (which I assume is the vessel Angel escaped in) lit its engines, it should have been immediately spotted, even if it managed to escape before the Enterprise could react.

On 6/16/2022 at 8:15 PM, AmigaJoe said:

you mean they couldn't immediately tell that unauthorized people had beamed aboard?

Even for the ever-incompetent Starfleet Security, that seemed poor. Maybe have them spotted but not before they take over Engineering (which would make it more Under Siege than Die Hard) and it's more a battle for control of the ship.

On 6/17/2022 at 5:09 PM, paigow said:

Pike will dig through 20th Century archives and find Clue... He will make everyone play after the BBQ

"Captain, surely even the most cursory examination of the body would reveal whether the victim had been strangled, stabbed or bludgeoned to death?"

On 6/18/2022 at 6:01 PM, Joimiaroxeu said:

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

Or 50 Shades of Grey! (Not that I've read any of those)

* At least in Starship Mine, there was a reason the takeover was so easy for the bad guys - the crew had been evacuated so they could perform the Technobabble sweep

Edited July 21 by John Potts