Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

[Darth_Prime]

Just watched TOS Balance of Terror. Just made the finale so much better.

 

[Andrusi]

Spoiler: I will add...

that the simple solution for Pike now would be to still go through with warning everyone and preventing everyone from being involved in the accident, himself included, and simply retire or go into hiding on that day to set in motion the events that would lead to Kirk being in command of the Enterprise.

Spoiler

That's covered by Future Pike's explanation, I think--he might be able to get Balance of Terror to go properly, but Spock would still get killed some other way and without him a Federation-Romulan War always manages to happen.

 

[MrBlud]

Spoiler

Yeah, future Pike explicitly says “every way we’ve tried” which implies he’s tried a whole lot of different ways. Which is fine because all things considered Pike doesn’t wind up too badly

 

[Kalidor]

Thinking about how it seems most people aren't really enjoying the casting choice for Captain Kirk. This is one of those things that proves the point that if fans of something don't like how a character is cast, it isn't generally about racism like so many people claim. It's literally fans of the character saying "They shouldn't have used this actor for this character."

I don't know how talented the guy is because I haven't seen him in anything else. But there's not a single thing about him that makes me say "Yeah, I can see Captain Kirk here"

 

[Lobjob]

I feel its the only weak spot in the episode, besides deciding to do a diplomacy leading to the end of everything.

Like, for it to be a true success, you would need someone to rival Pike's gravitas and charisma and it just doesn't play. Anson Mount is incredible, so if you are going to have a James Kirk butt heads with his Pike, you need a little more Shatner mixed in there.

 

[TM2-Megatron]

I'm definitely not feeling the choice for Kirk, either. If this were a younger, less-seasoned pre-Captain Kirk then perhaps I could buy into it, but the Kirk we were treated to in the finale is contemporaneous with Season 1 of TOS. And he definitely didn't have the charm or confidence Shatner put into the role.

Though it might just be that beside the charm perpetually exuded by Anson Mount as Pike, even James T. Kirk may look a little less bright. I mean... it's not just me, right? Pike is like, literally, the most charming male character in modern fiction.

 

[Lobjob]

Its almost a shame he's wrapped up in a prequel series; all these actors, really. They are wonderful and Anson Mount is just the best.

 

[Dake]

I assume they made a conscious decision to not have the actor attempt to do Shatner, because it could easily come off as a caricature. The problem is, that is who Kirk was, and it was consistent through all the years (heck, even Chris Pine's Kirk incorporated Shatnerisms). To not play it that way at all just seems like a waste of the Kirk name - that captain of the Farragut could've been any generic Starfleet officer.

 

[MrBlud]

I'm definitely not feeling the choice for Kirk, either. If this were a younger, less-seasoned pre-Captain Kirk then perhaps I could buy into it, but the Kirk we were treated to in the finale is contemporaneous with Season 1 of TOS. And he definitely didn't have the charm or confidence Shatner put into the role.

Though it might just be that beside the charm perpetually exuded by Anson Mount as Pike, even James T. Kirk may look a little less bright. I mean... it's not just me, right? Pike is like, literally, the most charming male character in modern fiction.

You have to hand it to the writers too. Pike is incredibly charming but I saw Mount in “Inhumans” so I know he *absolutely* can be let down by material because he had ZERO charm there.

 

[Sean Whitmore]

It's funny, by rights I should have had the hardest time buying Paul Wesley as Kirk, since I actually watched like 5 seasons of Vampire Diaries (Let's just call it 5, I'm too embarrassed to look it up and see what season I actually stopped at). I should've been like, "What the hell you doing on a flying saucer, Stefan?"

But I thought he did a fine job in a weird circumstance (not being in command, not interacting with his own crew, etc).

 

[Darth_Prime]

that captain of the Farragut could've been any generic Starfleet officer.

Maybe that’s it. Maybe this Kirk is a nobody captain because he’s not on the Enterprise. He doesn’t get the high profile missions. Maybe we get a different, younger and cockier Kirk when he shows up.

 

[Dvandom]

So, out of ten episodes this season, two of them are Balance of Terror. The Gorn ep that plays most of the same beats (with a brown dwarf instead of a comet), and then the finale. I guess the writing room agrees with the high status of the TOS ep.

---Dave

 

[Dake]

Maybe that’s it. Maybe this Kirk is a nobody captain because he’s not on the Enterprise. He doesn’t get the high profile missions. Maybe we get a different, younger and cockier Kirk when he shows up.

That would be a very clever bit of writing if they did that on purpose...

Edit:

But it would appear my first instinct was the right one:

In Wesley’s words, that allowed him to have a bit of a looser interpretation, but not drastically so. He’s meant to be called his version “a whole new look,” sitting somewhere in the middle of Shatner and Chris Pine’s Kirk from the reboot films. “It’s an interpretation that’s different,” continued Wesley. “Doing an imitation of either Kirks would be an insult...What is most important is to pay respect to the integrity of who Kirk is — his wants, his needs, his deep desires, his morality, his spontaneity, his instinct.”

I get it, but yeah...

 

[Sean Whitmore]

I could definitely see a cockier Lieutenant Kirk show up, with Pike having to figure out how to course-correct him without stunting his growth. (I don't especially like the idea, but I can see it)

 

[Cradok]

Yeah, future Pike explicitly says “every way we’ve tried” which implies he’s tried a whole lot of different ways. Which is fine because all things considered Pike doesn’t wind up too badly

Yeah, even less of a fan of that than I am the thought that Kirk gets the Enterprise because he's 'supposed to'. Like, Kirk is important, and Spock is important. We know this because we know what the next 900 years involves. But what cosmic force is moving Spock off the board when Pike refuses to? Are the Time Crystals sentient and are purposefully doing it to keep Pike to his deal?

 

[Kup]

My first thought is that, if I was Pike, I'd simply find a way to cancel the training mission the day of, yet still step down from commanding the Enterprise so that the "right" captain can be in charge. Apparently, somehow, letting the cadets known in advance prevents his promotion to Fleet Captain. So, literally do everything up to the day of the accident that you would normally, then call in sick or something.

However, if Spock always suffers due to Pike not ending up in the chair, then we have to assume that even my above suggestion -- and the fact that the episode The Menagerie would never happen -- must put Spock on a different path. Maybe by going to Talos the Enterprise avoids a battle where Spock gets injured. Or perhaps The Menagerie shows Kirk how loyal Spock can be, but without that knowledge, Kirk instead sends Spock on a mission later that ends with his death.

I mean you really can justify it any number of ways, but apparently Pike-in-the-Chair is quite literally a critical moment in TOS canon, akin to Riker saving Earth from the Borg (see Voyager Death Wish)

 

[MrBlud]

It might not just be Pike either.

Maybe Spock winds up injured saving one of the kids who survived that weren’t supposed to when Pike isn’t directly messing with things.

 

[Axaday]

It is hard for me to accept that an alternate timeline that still got the Wrath of Khan uniforms is as bad as Pike is letting on.

 

[MrBlud]

Haute couture is all they have left.

 

[SHIELD Agent 47]

Well, Paul Wesley will return in season 2, presumably outside of time travel scenes, so perhaps that will give him a chance to grow more into the Kirk role.