Space.com poses the debate-provoking question whether SNW S2 overdid the gimmicks

An interesting, deliberately thought provoking 🤔 question for a lazy long weekend Sunday morning…

Setting aside whether specific fans like specific ‘gimmicks’ (crossovers, musicals, bringing back Kirk or Khan) or tropes (transporter malfunctions), Space.com is posing the hypothesis that the proportion was too high in Strange New Worlds second season.

There’s no arguing that the season was successful in drawing in large audiences week after week. Taking a look back though, was there too much trippy-Trek™ dessert and not enough of a meaty main course? YMMV surely.

For my part, I can both agree that trippy Trek is something I’ve been wanting more of, and that I would have welcomed 2 or 3 more episodes were more grounded or gave the opportunity to see more of Una as a leader and dug into Ortegas backstory.

The 90s shows seemed to be bit embarrassed by trippyness, although Voyager found its pretext allowed even stern Janeway to pronounce ‘Weird is our business.’ One can argue that the high proportion in SNW is a feature, not a bug.

I’d still prefer a 12-15 episode season though.

maegul,
@maegul@lemmy.ml avatar

Yea I think the season just needed more episodes to breath.

I’ve argued elsewhere that the whole Kirk thing and embracing being a TOS prequel rather than its own show is a bad thing. Whether true or not, it adds even more to what the show is trying to do, on top of musicals and cross overs, so yes it needs more episodes and hopefully they get them.

Reverendender,
@Reverendender@lemmy.world avatar

Paul Wesley Is hands down the best Kirk. I will die on this hill.

caseyweederman,

He’s a dead ringer for a younger original Pike though. I wonder if he auditioned for that role but they brought him back for Kirk instead.

He’s doing a great job as Kirk! But he looks more like Pike than Pike does.

maegul,
@maegul@lemmy.ml avatar

Oh I’ve got nothing against the portrayal or actor or even the inclusion of Kirk in the show … I just think the amount of TOS stuff (including Scotty) got distracting in S2, and that treating the show as a TOS prequel, which seems to be the case given what the showrunners have said, isn’t going to be healthy for the show in the long run.

In general, my take on season 2 is that I’ve mentally prepared myself for it to mark the point at which it went bad or stopped being actually good. We’ll have to see, and I’m obviously hoping that I’m paranoid … but I do not trust Kurtzman or paramount or the temptation some executives must be salivating over to just reboot the original series.

Poggervania,
@Poggervania@kbin.social avatar

I really hope that SNW keeps any more references to the TOS crew to either one-shot episodes or really short cameos, because I genuinely dig it when SNW does it own thing.

It’s cool to explore Spock, Uhura, and Chapel at this point in their careers, and I’m starting to warm up to including Kirk as a semi-regular on the show, but stuff like putting Scotty in an episode where it would’ve been fine if he was replace by a different character is where I can see it going in an unhealthy direction for the show. We, the viewers, don’t need a ton of these call forwards to the TOS crew because we can reasonably say “oh, they’re all in training/serving on different ships right now” and be ok with it - we don’t need to see Chekov, Sulu, Bones, or anybody else from TOS here if it’s gonna be at the expense of the show itself.

maegul,
@maegul@lemmy.ml avatar

Yep, exactly. Especially given how much the hype for SNW started with how much everyone loved Pike. He’s an alternative take on the whole Kirk thing, a modern reframing of the Star Trek positive masculinity. I also think continuing from The Cage with Number One etc was part of the excitement. Not a reboot or alternative timeline, but a lost story that could be told for todays audience.

I’m not sure how much hype was driven by TOS prequel potential. I’d bet not much at all (recall the negative reaction many had to the enterprise even showing up at the end of DISCO S1).

So, when TOS characters start turning up (Uhura counts here IMO), you have to be suspicious that it’s the studio hedging their bets over the money pot that a TOS reboot could be for them and forcing the show runners into it.

Iam,

I’m with you. I find him more fascinating than Shatner in a “what are you going to do with him” kind of way. Novelty I suppose.

I also want to use the new cast of old characters and have new Kirk-era Star Trek (post SNW Enterprise boldly going etc etc). But that’s just me being unfashionable.

Stamets,
@Stamets@startrek.website avatar

I completely agree with your line ‘One can argue that the high proportion in SNW is a feature, not a bug.’ I thought it was great.

Star Trek has always had different vibes for different shows. It also took a while for each show to find it’s own vibe. I’m really enjoying the split that SNW has come up with. They lean on all the light/trippy episodes so they can pull some incredibly dark shit out of nowhere in the next. Some of the episodes of SNW S2 are amongst the darkest things ever portrayed in Trek at all. The swinging from the Lower Decks episode to the M’Benga/Chapel episode was intense and because of it you never know what kind of ride Strange New Worlds is about to take you on. Am I going to laugh? Sing? Cry? All of the above? Or something completely new?

I would also prefer 12 episodes but we’ve also gotten some ‘big budget’ scenes and visuals due to there only being 10. Then again… bottle episodes…

PuppyOSAndCoffee,
@PuppyOSAndCoffee@lemmy.ml avatar

M’Benga has a dark dark chapter.

I love SNW; the point with more episodes would be to give more leg room for the writers and actors. No more cliffhangers though…at least not quite like that “CUT!”

Stamets,
@Stamets@startrek.website avatar

The stunning things that SNW has managed to do with established characters… Uhura was already a wonderful character but they’ve managed to give her so much more depth than she already had. Same thing with Spock. Presumably Scotty as well in the next season. But M’Benga… Holy fuck. Dark dark chapter is accurate. The writing is superb and Babs Olusanmokun is spinechilling with his performance. The bredth of that mans acting ability is incredible. Everyone on the show can act incredibly well but holy fuck Babs.

Also that’s a good point on the leg room. I can get very narrow minded and I never considered that. Huh. Definitely something for me to think about. Thanks!

Reverendender,
@Reverendender@lemmy.world avatar

Babs Olusanmokun is amazing. I would watch that guy read a cookbook. If he did an audiobook of War and Peace, I’m willing to bet I could get through it and enjoy it.

Stamets,
@Stamets@startrek.website avatar

Oh for real. Motherfucker has a voice so rich, thick and buttery you could spread it on toast.

maegul,
@maegul@lemmy.ml avatar

Some of the episodes of SNW S2 are amongst the darkest things ever portrayed in Trek at all. The swinging from the Lower Decks episode to the M’Benga/Chapel episode was intense

Ad Astra and Among the Lotus Eaters were also pretty serious episodes.

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • random
  • uselessserver093
  • Food
  • aaaaaaacccccccce
  • [email protected]
  • test
  • CafeMeta
  • testmag
  • MUD
  • RhythmGameZone
  • RSS
  • dabs
  • Socialism
  • KbinCafe
  • TheResearchGuardian
  • Ask_kbincafe
  • oklahoma
  • feritale
  • SuperSentai
  • KamenRider
  • All magazines
    •