@ValueSubtracted second best episode of S2 so far, after Ad Astra Per Aspera. The type of setup has already been done many times but there are enough new ideas to keep it interesting. The old man is a great single-episode character.
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Did anyone else just despise the noise though, loved the episode but for me that noise will make the episode un-rewatchable..
I've only managed to see this episode once, but something I didn't understand was Spock's decision to try and hide in the debris field. At this point they believed the planet was the source of the problem, but it seemed mostly a guess that the debris field might shield them.
Wouldn't the most logical action have been to get as far away from the planet as reasonably possible until the effects appeared to subside? I know Una made a point that they had crew down there, but it's not as if they can't return more cautiously and with a clearer understanding of what's happening. You're also helpless to help your landing party if you're completely incapacitated yourself.
Have I missed something important?
That's what I expected them to do as well, but I'm no science officer.
I kept yelling at my TV. Leave orbit! Get out and regroup!
I wrote this as I was watching:
- Since when have Batel and Pike have a history? Was she in season 1?
- I wish they had a tone warning at the beginning of the episode, also I thought the tones went for a little too long each time.
- Lol this is the anti-Spock world. "Your emotions are your truth." Maybe Spock should have been on the planet surface as well.
- Did Spock forget how to read?
- Did the Enterprise not feel the effects in the previous mission? Did they forget to record it or make personal logs?
Good Lord they established that Pike and Batel have a relationship in the first episode.
The first scene of the first episode, even.
If I remember right, she’s in the very first scene of SNW. A bearded Pike in Alaska riding a horse to a cabin where they’re staying together. She’s gently needling him about whether he should go back to a command. I think she’s about to leave to go back to her ship after a vacation together. Something like that.
If I remember correctly, the very first scene of S1E1 was Batel waking up in Pike's bed, so.. yeah :D
@cyberic @ValueSubtracted She was in S1E1, scene 1. She was trying to get him to leave his cabin and get back to work.
I'm a bit undecided about this episode.
Stuff that I liked:
- a strange new(-ish) world
- everyone got something to do, unlike last week
- once again some funny Spock moments
- the visuals on this show are stunning once again. The planet looked nice, the external VFX in the debris field of two celestial bodies that orbited Rigel VII several centuries ago looked nice, the Enterprise interiors look so nice.
Stuff that I didn't like:
- I'm not a fan of forced relationship dramas. Plus, from the pilot episode I got the feeling that Pike and Batel (does she even have a first name yet?) are only friends with benefits, but now Batel storms off after Pike says he wants to take it easy? Weird.
- how can a society or any sort of structure be maintained if you can't remember anything? The whole premise felt a bit off.
- the writing for Ortegas was weak. Her personal log at the beginning of the episode sounded like it was written by ChatGPT. And the stuff towards the end of the episode wasn't great either. The actor did the best she could with what she was given but the writing really didn't do her any favors.
I like the Pike/Batel relationship dynamic. I like that they're both captains with their own responsibilities, which is new and different from what we've seen in previous iterations of Trek where one is an officer and the other is left at home or something. It doesn't feel forced to me, although the question of weren't they just FWB's is an interesting one, I'd have to go back and look at the pilot. But I'm ok with buying that they're closer than that but just can't make it work because they both have ships to captain.
I would like to see more of her being a captain. Hopefully there's an episode in the future where we get to see her on her bridge doing her thing.
I'm also in the camp that liked it, Pike since his reintroduction in Disco S2 has been one of the franchises' most emotionally open captains. Most of the time we see this as this self-assured dad energy he uses when talking to his subordinates, but I think it was good to see how he can be vulnerable but still that genuine, emotionally mature guy with someone who's on the same level as him.
I mean, we had Ben Sisko and Kassidy Yates who both were captains. But I agree with you that Pike and Batel really seem to be equals, and I really like that relationship dynamic.
As I said, from the pilot episode I got the impression that they are friends with benefits who like to hook up when they happen to be in the same sector – no strings attached. (underlined by the fact that Pike had a fling with that lady from the child-killing planet) I think that could be an interesting relationship dynamic to explore because unlike Kirk who had a chick on every planet (with rather unequal dynamics), Pike and Batel both have found someone equal with all the limitations that the jobs brings with it.
I just hope the writing for Batel was an exception in this week's episode because it didn't make her look good – being overly emotional and storming off after Pike just stated some facts. I don't think that's the type of female character they should be aiming for nowadays.
OK, can someone help me out? I had major deja-vu with the scene where Spock tells Ortegas she can't go on the ~~field trip~~ away mission. Wasn't there another episode where Ortegas was about to get to go on an away mission and got told she couldn't at the last minute? Or did I maybe see that scene in a preview or something?
That scene was shown at one of the major conventions last year, so you may have seen it then.
Damn I love this show. I can't help but wonder if Hemmer would have been affected differently by the radiation if he wasn't a gorn egg popsicle.
That’s probably one of my favorite episodes of the series as a viewing experience, it was pretty entertaining. I don’t think I quite track…the message, though? In the span of about three minutes we get explicitly told that for Pike and Ortegas the memory loss could be revealing experience that identified the core of the self, while for their friend on the planet it was an obscuring experience that robbed him of things he didn’t know were important. You can explain away the difference with plot logic pretty easily, but thematically it’s a bit weird to juxtapose them right next to each other
I think it makes sense that a brief bout of amnesia like that could be revealing of your underlying traits and feelings, but that in the normal course of things it's very important to have your memories.
Enjoyed this very much, the tone was very creepy. Reminded me of the psychological horror episodes only TNG really did.
It's a common trope that the away teams really shouldn't be landing in these planets without any idea what's down there without an alien style hazmat suit and here we go, another example :) I GUESS they get a pass because they were here before and the effects didn't happen because they were not here long enough
also really strange they don't confirm that people were dead? Or try and go back and get their bodies which might have equipment/ com badges /might even be alien (Spock was there and he bleeds green), maybe starfleet shouldn't be so careless about what they leave behind...
No EV suit would have protected them, either - the Enterprise was affected as well.
They handled that subtly - I was wondering why they didn't raise shields against the radiation, but the shimmering impact of the debris field seen when Ortegas was in her quarters showed that shields were indeed up, so that mean the radiation could get through shields. Then it was mentioned that Spock tweaked the shield harmonics at the end - I guess he didn't earlier because he was already affected.
I think at the time they lacked sufficient information to modulate the shields, which is why moving the ship into the astroids seemed logical.
I'm primarily curious about Batel's job responsibilities. Her main job seems to be as a JAG officer but she also has a field command on the Cayuga?
She was in command of the Cayuga in "A Quality of Mercy" as well - it seems that's her regular gig, and she was assigned Una's prosecution because...well, that's how Starfleet rolls, I guess.
I've been waiting for the crew explore a new planet. Hoping there's more of these episodes than less