Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - Hype Train To the Stars

[WisteriaHysteria]

SNW starts in about a month! Figured I should stop spamming the general Trek thread and make a dedicated one. Everything coming out of it looks straight up incredible. Here's a new trailer that just came out:

This is an unofficial mirror so nobody gets geolocked out of watching it, so lmk if it goes down. The original video is unlisted. Here's a complication of all the character introduction videos I've been posting in the general thread:

So far, so good! What do y'all think?

 

[chud_666]

OH YEA
I'm pretty excited. S2 Discovery I'd say is it's weakest season, but who can deny they great stuff Pike added to it. heck 3rd Spock was also great. Looking forward to this like THIS MUCH (lots)

 

[Aleryn]

Looks like a lot of fun, like Pike was in S2 of DISCO. Looks like they retained Spock's actor as well, a huge plus for me. The trailer is a little low hanging fruit in ways but whatever. minor DISCO spoilers and griping I haven't been happy with DISCOs world beginning with S3 despite enjoying the characters, so returning to a familiar time period's incredibly welcome.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

SNW starts up next Thursday. They're going hard on the advertisements. Here's the opening credit sequence:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1520047754667610113

 

[chud_666]

I'm almost not prepared for this!

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

I have many, many, many thoughts. But I probably need to think a bit more on them before typing, and also maybe to sober up.

But what I will say for now, and in the most profound way I can think of by saying as little as possible:

SNW loves its worst fans far far more than they deserve.

 

[chud_666]

So - you didn't like it?

 

[Phantoon]

What are Star Trek's "worst fans"?

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

So - you didn't like it?

Loved it.

What are Star Trek's "worst fans"?

That’s part of the layering, it’s a complicated answer.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

Season preview trailer, that played at the end of the first episode. Nothing really spoilery, because the show is episodic:

A little preview for next week's episode that ran at the end of this week's Ready Room:

I like this Hemmer fella.

 

[Aleryn]

Did anyone else notice Pike was living in Kirk's house from Star Trek Generations? In his stint after retiring and almost marrying the love of his life. Unless I'm mistaken? That sure resembles the house I remember!

Also? Nurse Chapel is AMAZING and reminds me of how healing in video games is fun, and the headspace I feel when its going well. So hope they don't mess this up!

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

I feel like it’s definitely meant to be a spiritual homage, but it’s a completely different house. Both IRL and in the show. Pike’s house is in Montana. Kirk’s is in Idaho. Pike’s house IRL is somewhere in Ontario most likely; Kirk’s was either in SoCal or Nevada.

Agreed about Chapel. I like just about every character so far. Uhura relating to the alien because she did homework on his culture and sports was fantastic. And La’an seems fun too. Though I worry they’re grooming her to take over for Mistique. I look forward to getting to know the other characters more.

 

[Aleryn]

Sure I could see them eventually try replacing the current "Number One." Considering she is just a title in the pilot, I think it was - of The Original Series? Although the current actor portraying her looks like a dead-ringer for the original. I hope they don't. I like the understated confidence the current Number One possesses. I miss Pike's hairstyle from DISCO I want so so much of his friendship with Spock while we can too.

Oh and good point on Uhura mentioning local culture to the escaped alien; I suspect she also was trying to calm him down and it sure helped. Surprised at that subtlety in something more nu-trek. Hopeful for this show in a way I haven't since around season 2 of DISCO.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

I just felt like it was odd that during the opening credits, "Number One" (she has a name now: "Una Chin-Riley") was credited at the end of the main cast. And by the looks of it, she's already got Riker-levels of clout as a character that should have their own command by now but doesn't for whatever reason. I'd love for Rebecca Romijn to stick around for years, but she's also probably the most famous actor on the show. So I can see her doing this in the short term but moving on well ahead of everyone else. But who knows! I'm just spitballing based on just on nothing but a hunch.

 

[Aleryn]

naw those are good indicators she might be around for maybe only a season or so. I'd say they wouldn't do another Riker archtype again, the forsaking command - but after the last few Trek shows I think anything is near-possible. Oh! And they totally got me with the Kirk surprise at the end. I shoulder' considered his brother? as a possibility.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

That was Kirk’s brother Sam. He died in TOS from a flying pancake.

Spoiler

George Samuel Kirk

George Samuel "Sam" Kirk was a male Human scientist and Starfleet officer in the 23rd century. He was married to Aurelan and they had three sons, including Peter. He was the son of George and Winona Kirk and the brother of famed Starfleet Captain James T. Kirk. Kirk served as a Starfleet...

memory-alpha.fandom.com

 

[Aleryn]

I thought his brother died in some inglorious and maaaybe silly way. Dang. Still that episode scared me when I saw it as a kid on syndication.

Liked this second episode more than the first. The chemistry between the characters is already building and mostly working well. Uhura's characterization is still quite the early favourite! Pike was very surprisingly charming and lets say appealing in the casual cooking attire

The whole interaction and arc between the Enterprise and the alien ship struck a chord I don't recall seeing much in Nu Trek.

 

[Lakupo]

I just felt like it was odd that during the opening credits, "Number One" (she has a name now: "Una Chin-Riley") was credited at the end of the main cast.

The "and" slot is the second most prestigious place to be in credits after the first slot, so I wouldn't assume she's short term based on that. See Michael Shanks and David Hewlett getting the "and" slot in the Stargate shows, for example.

Also, she's married to Jerry O'Connell, a.k.a. Commander Ransom, so they're like a Star Trek Power Couple now. She did that Librarians show for a few years-- in comparison this is probably a dream gig. I'm guessing she's probably in it for the long haul. (No offense to the Librarians, the episodes I saw were fine in that kind of goofy syndicated fantasy sci-fi kind of way)

 

[Aleryn]

Hope she is, already liked her character back in the 1960s show and thus grows evermore here.

New episode felt a little disjointed in pacing and scenes to me but enjoyed it lots nonetheless.
That little bit haha okay LOT-BIT regarding Una came outta nowhere but I approve!

 

[chud_666]

Another good ep!

HEY - this show is good!

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

Enjoyed this one too but there's a potentially interesting meta theme going on here. Episode 1, is all about, "Well, the Prime Directive sucks, actually." Episode 3 here equates the Earth/Federation ban on genetic engineering like a persecuted minority. Just straight up two major rejections of core Star Trek TOS/TNG themes, without a lot of grey area explored either. It's weird that the show is formally extremely Star Trek, and yet thematically in this small sample size it's probably the most subversive Star Trek thing to have been made since DS9. Will this cement into a formal trend? Is this just the show finding its identity early on?

 

[Regulus]

After watching Ep 2... I kinda hope that Sam Kirk boldly putting himself in redshirt scenarios but not quite getting killed continues to be a thing.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

Episode 4: Hey guys, this show is REALLY GOOD

Renew it for 6 more seasons and lock all the actors involved down asap

Edit: I just wanna say bravo to whoever was planning this show out, that they basically had a Memorial Day episode that premiered on IRL Memorial Day weekend. Also, shout out to Pike and Spock wearing USS Discovery pins

 

[chud_666]

Fantastic EP
They did a hell of job designing the ship!

New Character power rankings:
Hemmer - omg I love him
La'an - I was very trepiditious towards the character, but they rule!
Ortega - their vibe is awesome
M'Benga - I want a beer with this guy.

Rest of cast great too!

 

[Lakupo]

Too busy to write down actual thoughts (someday I'll write my thoughts on Picard S2!) but did note to my husband at the end of the episode, "It's nice to actually get an hour of television that focuses on a character." Sure, we've got our B and even C plots going, but this was a La'an episode, and last week was an Una episode.

Not to get into the "NuTrek comparison!!" thing, but while I do quite enjoy The Michael Burnham show™ (plus ensemble players) on Discovery, when you actually get to focus on a character, their development feels a bit more natural. (Disco needs to write more episodes around their bridge crew like they did for Airiam and Nahn, and not just insert hamfisted backstory moments along the way--and not just when they're leaving)

 

[chud_666]

YES!!!!!

 

[SpoonyBard]

Yup. This is some good Star Tracks.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

Not to get into the "NuTrek comparison!!" thing, but while I do quite enjoy The Michael Burnham show™ (plus ensemble players) on Discovery, when you actually get to focus on a character, their development feels a bit more natural. (Disco needs to write more episodes around their bridge crew like they did for Airiam and Nahn, and not just insert hamfisted backstory moments along the way--and not just when they're leaving)

Disco becomes a lot more enjoyable once you free yourself from the expectations of it being a TNG style ensemble cast centering around the 'bridge crew'. Which is an understandable yet highly illogical expectation to have. Glad people have SNW now to fill those expectations in live-action. I hope that now that people have this, we don't see a shift in the variety all these different shows bring regarding the different types of stories they tell and the structures with which they tell them with. By my mind, it's incredibly refreshing to have my favorite sci-fi franchise have such varied expressions. Part of why Star Trek experienced franchise fatigue to begin with, and why many people are beginning to feel franchise fatigue with things like say Marvel, is that all the different shows just felt the same, and it wasn't exciting to keep exploring the same ideas in the same ways over and over again for multiple decades straight. You can only watch so many Marvel movies that are exactly the same before you start to get bored by them. For me, this variety in styles, formats, settings, and character focuses have kept all these shows feeling distinct and fresh from each other. I think they'd be wise to keep this going and I hope Kurtzman & Co know that.

One small little detail about SNW that I appreciate, is that so far they're really embracing how nonsensical the stardates were for TOS. So for instance, the stardates stated (and read on displays) in the four episodes so far:

“Strange New Worlds” - Stardate 1739.12
“Strange New Worlds” - Stardate 2259.42
“Children of the Comet” - Stardate 2912.4
“Ghosts of Illyria” - Stardate 1224.3
“Memento Mori” - Stardate 3177.3
“Momento Mori” - Stardate 3177.9

This most recent one is doubly nonsense, because the the number is so large, it actually would place it squarely between “Return of the Archons” (stardate 3158.7) and “Tomorrow is Yesterday” (3192.1) in TOS.

 

[Aleryn]

I never bothered trying to make sense of stardates, especially once the typical years were revealed long ago now. Seems they're nonsense and always have been? Also I like your perspective touting the variety expressed among the NuTrek shows.

SNW I'm glad Pike finally took La'an aside and spoke to her about the attitude. I appreciate and empathize with what she has gone through, trust me - but I'd call to question if that raw trauma reaction was allowed further un-mentioned with her in a command position.

I would have preferred to highlight something positive but you've all beaten me to it! Heh ,and it IS a positive to my perspective. I don't think I've enjoyed a Star Trek property this much since maybe? the fourth season of Enterprise. Naw, I think I genuinely like this more.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

Stardates were mostly nonsense in TOS, but not completely nonsense. There was a general guideline to write whatever number, just as long as it was bigger than the previous episode's number. So in theory, the numbers could correspond vaguely to the ordering of the episodes. Of course, the network airing Star Trek aired episodes out of production order on a whim as they saw fit, so the stardates don't actually increase in order if you're going by airing order. (The official order btw.) People use the stardates in TOS to do a vague production-order watch of the series.

In the Rick Berman Era though, they were a little bit more considered. They're five digit numbers, starting with 41XXX in the first season. Each successive season corresponds to a new year in-universe, and they added another digit to the thousandths place, and that trend continued through DS9, VOY, and the feature films. So Season 2 of TNG is 42XXX, Season 7 of DS9 takes place in 52XXX, Season 7 of VOY takes place in 54XXX, etc. The 1s through 100s digit then ostensibly coincide to a year's length, divisible by 1000, but that's just a guess based on context. But I doubt the stardate numbers in the 1s through 100s digits were all that much more considered than in TOS, just as long as they were bigger than the last episode's.

So far, Prodigy and Lower Decks have all generally honored the Berman Era format, and you can tell how many years after TNG those shows are based on the stardate alone. (Prodigy so far has listed a Stardate of 61XXX; Lower Decks has listed stardates of 57XXX-58XXX) So far, Picard has eschewed using stardates all together. Discovery's stardates have been just as nonsense as SNW, I believe.