Strange New Worlds 2x01- 'The Broken Circle' ~~ { Spoilers Within }

ilovesmybrick · 15-06-2023 7:25am #1

Strange New Worlds 2x01- 'The Broken Circle' ~~ { ** Spoilers Within ** } Warning: This thread will contain spoilers

Spear · 15-06-2023 10:40am

Bit of a strange season opener in some ways, only having cameos from the two senior most crew, and with just about all of it following up various season 1 threads. They catch up quite a few of them promptly enough, though apparently not the Number One trial, but do establish in the last few seconds what the season arc is to be.

I do like the concept of M'Benga still being PTSD'd enough to constantly carry combat stims with him. It gives him far more depth and history than the kid in the transport buffer did.

There's a detail that bugs me, Mitchell calls the fake ship a Crossfield class, same as the Discovery and Glenn. And while the saucer is the same, the rest is different. I can't tell if this is a continuity error, or hinting at something more detailed, such as the fake ship being cobbled together, Disco/Glenn being heavily altered, or Mitchell just being wrong.

corkie · 15-06-2023 11:47am

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/The_Broken_Circle_%28episode%29

Strange episode indeed, pack with action and slow drawn out bits as well.

Edit:-

https://www.thedigitalfix.com/star-trek/lanthanites-explained

Brave decision to introduce a new species (never heard about again) in a prequel series?

AMKC · 15-06-2023 12:10pm

So OK am I missing something here. I vaguely remember the Klingons being mentioned in Season 1 at all but a 5 year war left the Enterprise crew stressed out? I know it was partly in Discovery but "Strange New Worlds" never mentioned it at all.

Also Stealing the Enterprise Woo hoo that did not take long lol

I must say Dr M'Benga and Nurse Chapel are some fighter's.

Also nice to finally have a first name for the Doctor. So Joseph M'Benga.

Otherwise do I must say not really gone on this first episode so far

and unfortunately the Klingons do not look great either. More like Discovery Klingons. Actually the Klingobs do look like proper Klingobs after all and act like them too.

Not a bad episode after all and interesting ending. Secobd half of the episode was better than the first.

I take it your one is the new Chief Engineer now. I thought she was wasted in this episode except for her helping them steal the Enterprose

Spear · 15-06-2023 12:13pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120717641#Comment_120717641

I think you're conflating two things there. The Enterprise was on it's 5 year mission of exploration, not that the war was 5 years. Hence the Enterprise in general didn't play much if any role in the war, though quite a few of the crew are veterans of it.

ilovesmybrick · 15-06-2023 12:59pm

Yeah, as with above it feels more like a mid season episode than an opener. I noticed the crossfield thing as well, but I'm chalking that down to the Federation realising the spore drive was a crock of shite and refitting it for warp, or something along those lines.

I'd disagree about the Klingons. I thing they're leaps and bounds ahead of the Discovery ones. Yeah, updated from the TNG/DS9 ones, but far better than we've seen from either the JJ films or in Discovery. Close enough for me tbh.

It looked great, as usual, and was a fun episode. Probably not going to leave a lasting impression, but a solidly fine one for me. The new chief engineer though is going to take some work. I'm not sure if that's the actresses real accent, but christ I found it grating.

Tribute to Nichelle Nichols at the end was quite nice I thought.

ilovesmybrick · 15-06-2023 1:06pm

Also, tangetially related to the season premiere, isn't it great to have had a full year of pretty solid Trek! While these Klingons may not be to everyones taste they're obviously moving well away from the crap ones in Discovery, and if that is some version of a Crossfield then maybe they've also accepted that Discovery looks awful! Yeah, could merely be a visual distinction for between the shows like they did with variations of Mirandas, Nebulas etc., but still. After slogging through fours seasons of Discovery and the first two of Picard the recent Trek feels like a treat!

AMKC · 15-06-2023 1:10pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120717843#Comment_120717843

Tribute to Nichelle Nichols at the end was quite nice I thought.

Nice one

I almost missed that.

Very nice of them indeed.

Ye your right about the Klingons.

Spear · 15-06-2023 1:17pm

I think the Crossfield thing may be a case of poor editing. A second sentence saying something like "that's the saucer of a crossfield, but not the rest" would have helped justify suspicions for the crew and made Spocks conclusion it was a fake seem like less of a leap in logic.

AMKC · 15-06-2023 3:02pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120717653#Comment_120717653

Yes I relooked at the beginning of it again

I took it up wrong the first time.

Makes sense.

eadrom · 15-06-2023 5:41pm

eh.. not great? Like it was fine I guess. Just very mid-tier.

Was hoping for something more fun to kick off the season.

Very dark too. Some of those scenes were annoying to watch.

fritzelly · 15-06-2023 7:21pm

Enjoyed that, as above strange opener tho

Carol Kane sounds like that in Hunters so her natural voice, rougher with age then when she was younger - think it will be an interesting character addition like Tig in DISCO

breezy1985 · 15-06-2023 7:23pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120717843#Comment_120717843

The Klingon ridges looked very Undiscovered Country. As a look it's way better than Disco but the CGI or makeup or whatever looked terrible.

The Crossfield thing could be that it was a kit bash but far more likely it's that this current team don't have a clue about ship classes and registry as we have seen before.

I enjoyed the episode and happy enough with it as the opener.

DoctorEdgeWild · 15-06-2023 7:35pm

Really enjoyed that. Great to have some flesh added to M'Benga as a character. Loads there to work with and in one episode, the actor was able to show way more than he could in the first season. Quality.

Character development of Spock feels fresh but without betraying what we already know and love about Star Trek's most enduring character.

Definitely odd to have the two 'main' characters take a back seat but it didn't feel like they were missing. I'm not sold on the Admiral yet, feels a little two dimensional but really enjoyed the episode, excited for this season.

Slydice · 15-06-2023 10:58pm

Ouch! Right in the feels, right at the end!

Ah, that was a good episode. It was fun. The klingots, the bloodwine! 🙂

Gonna need to know what that green serum stuff was that M'Benga and Chapel injected.

Oh, and the Lanthanites! Sounds like Highlanders living among us!

I liked how, at this point, that feeling against peace is so raw. Really lends to Kirks feeling later.

Big War with the ole Gorn coming up. Speaking of Highlanders.. there can only be one!

Evade · 15-06-2023 11:18pm

A decent enough opener if a little inconsequential. The crossfield thing could have been on saucer gaps alone, I don't think they ran it through the computer.

The new chief engineer is older than the Federation at this point.

The transparent screens sure are something. The writing reads correctly on both sides.

The kid should have asked her strange dogs to heal her parents.

@AMKC can we not use spoilers for episode events in case spoilers for leaks and behind the scenes spoilers are needed?

TheValeyard · 16-06-2023 12:31am

Was an alright episode.

Mix of Klingons was fine heading towards normal Klingons.

The fight scene with the drugs was just a bit awful though.

Think the Crossfield thing can be explained as an error on their part or Starfleet buried the Glenn and Discovery and created a new Crossfield class.

New Chief engineer was interesting.

Special effects for the most part we're great.

CastorTroy · 16-06-2023 9:51am

So is the one who faked the warp core breach going to have a bigger role this season or is she still going to just have an occasional speaking part. the fact she was sat in on the plan to steal the Enterprise. Though I guess she was needed to carry out the plan, being a pilot.

Think it's obvious the Klingons changed their look because they were so badly beaten by Micheal and scared of her that they didn't want to upset her by reminding her that she didn't like them on sight. 😀

squonk · 16-06-2023 10:09am

Solid opener. Not as big as I was expecting for an opener but it was grand. As said earlier it felt like a very solid ST episode in any version, TNG or TOS. The early Klingons bugged me but they righted it later. Didn’t realise Disco is a cross field class. That was a new class to me but really Disco is the only live action ST show I’ve literally walked away from. Carol Kane’s addition will be interesting. Apart from Princess Bride I’ve always found her annoying KN screen. I’m reserving judgement on this iteration for now.

Hoping for the Number 1 storyline to progress next week.

Anyone else wonder why the Enterprise was let wander off once she was ejected from the inspection facility? I can only assume they ventured out to a safe distance and played dead while actually going to the planet. I was wondering why the admiral wasn’t calling in reinforcements to get her back under control but it became obvious later.

I think my main takeaway is that the remaining crew/cast functioned quite well in the absence of Pike and Una. Plus you didn’t miss them as such because the ensemble was strong enough to pull it off. That episode could never have happened on Discovery. Michael would face single-handedly saved the family while also negotiating for Una’s release over sub space and they’d have let Una off just like that because burnham is just so great and probably apologised for wasting her valuable time. Then the episode would be interspersed with nonsense monologues about how hard it all was for her. So really, welcome back SNW!

Spear · 16-06-2023 10:53am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120721252#Comment_120721252

You mean Mitchell? They do seem to have upped her role a good bit. She barely had three sentences previously, but now has scenes focussed on her and invites to senior staff meets.

AMKC · 16-06-2023 11:24am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120720502#Comment_120720502

What strange dogs?

@AMKC can we not use spoilers for episode events in case spoilers for leaks and behind the scenes spoilers are needed?

Yes no problem. I am good with that. Was not sure as had been a while and did not want to spoil anything on anyone.

Evade · 16-06-2023 12:39pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120721660#Comment_120721660

The strange dogs are from another series the kid was in.

Johnny Storm · 16-06-2023 2:24pm

I could nitpick, but frankly, that put a big smile on my face 🖖

breezy1985 · 16-06-2023 2:26pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120722591#Comment_120722591

Ya the nitpicks are forgotten quickly in a decent episode.

ilovesmybrick · 16-06-2023 2:29pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120722598#Comment_120722598

I think that they've also built up quite a bit more goodwill since we now know they can deliver quality episodes.

DoctorEdgeWild · 16-06-2023 2:35pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120722617#Comment_120722617

Good point that. We'll always forgive the bad if the good is good enough. Once the balance is right, there's plenty of room for different tastes.

Drumpot · 16-06-2023 6:49pm

Iust checking I got the end of it, Was it simply that the Gorn are being tracked and the federation know there’s a war coming?

The first time I heard it, It played out like there was some nefarious plan by federation and Spock inadvertently stopped it. But then when I rewatched it just looked like Spock did good and prevented 2 wars on 2 fronts instead of the impending Gorn war.

Also, would that be why the federation ship was being inspected (for war)?

Spear · 16-06-2023 6:51pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120723726#Comment_120723726

Spock prevented them from having two wars on two fronts. Now they have one war on one front.

Some of those trying to start the war were ex-Fed soldiers, not the Federation itself.

breezy1985 · 16-06-2023 7:13pm

Interesting to see how they play out the Gorn thing because they are supposed to be pretty unknown until TOS.

I know it would be nowhere near the first time stuff gets changed but still an odd choice just for an Easter egg species.

Evade · 16-06-2023 8:00pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120723801#Comment_120723801

The same way Earth and Romulus had a war without ever realising Romulans and Vulcans are indistinguishable?

breezy1985 · 16-06-2023 8:05pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120723982#Comment_120723982

Being compared to the utterly useless Enterprise is not a good place to be.

AMKC · 16-06-2023 8:41pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120723801#Comment_120723801

Yes I still think the Tholians would have been a far better choice as the alien threat because at least no canon would have changed then and they could have remained slightly mysterious too. Also as they are an insect specios so them doing the things like keeping other species for there young to feed on etc would have made more sense as many insects do that.

I think the only reason they did not use them is because they would have cost more to do maybe. A pity.

breezy1985 · 16-06-2023 8:46pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120724217#Comment_120724217

I don't mind what we have seen so far but if it goes full Gorn war then that's too far.

Evade · 16-06-2023 9:13pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120724021#Comment_120724021

The Earth Romulan War originated in TOS.

Stark · 16-06-2023 9:24pm

Pelia sounds like she's been smoking 80 a day since she first arrived on Earth.

breezy1985 · 16-06-2023 9:25pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120724399#Comment_120724399

True TOS was absolutely shocking with its own continuity. Probably has as many errors as it's prequels.

They couldn't even decide on the names for the Federation/Starfleet throughout the run.

CastorTroy · 16-06-2023 9:27pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120724475#Comment_120724475

Well being the Ghost of Christmas Present is a tough job so maybe she shares Past's cigars.

Bobtheman · 16-06-2023 9:57pm

I liked it. Truly an ensemble show. It moves forward quickly unlike Discovery.

But the last ten minutes seemed to be drawn out. The drinking session.

However it's a strong start. The actress playing the laminite was great. She pitched it perfectly. Doing quirky is damn hard to get right. Over do it and you get jar jar binks or **** nelix

16-06-2023 11:52pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120717232#Comment_120717232

Or erasing Discovery from history... Please let it be that

pixelburp · 17-06-2023 8:42pm

Yeah gotta add that sense of confusion about the tone of this episode: odd to have the 2 most senior officers basically absent, with the plot itself fairly throwaway - but those are quibbles because that was, in keeping with last year, a tonne of fun. The Space Adventures continue, and continue to have that sense of exploration and the unknown.

Carol Kane was a Carol Kane character, and so a breezy bit of senior affability; and I'd forgotten how well Ethan Peck had acquitted himself playing Spock. A Spock experiencing an emotional crisis, but not overplayed as Quinto was prone to in the Abrams films. Even the glib chumminess seemed a little dialled back from before; but maybe I'm just used to it, or perhaps it was because M'Benga and Chapel's sidebar was played fairly straight.

I suspect the angle that might be threaded for the Gorn is a secret war; April hinted that the intent will be to keep the Federation and Starfleet ignorant of Gorn incursions, adhering to canon while adding threat.

Sudden Valley · 17-06-2023 9:29pm

Really enjoyed the episode. Strange how in most incarnations of Star trek they seem to be able to make the doctors/medical staff well rounded characters. I think I'm totally lost in the history of the star trek universe now with all the shows they've had.

~Rebel~ · 18-06-2023 2:22am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120724727#Comment_120724727

She played it a few too many rungs into over-quirky for me, especially in a show that already has more than enough quirkiness. It feels a bit like a hat on a hat.

Otherwise quite enjoyed though, decent episode.

ilovesmybrick · 18-06-2023 11:34am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120727996#Comment_120727996

I'd forgotten how well Ethan Peck had acquitted himself playing Spock

Yeah, strongly agree with that. While the episode itself wasn't particularly strong, I did think Peck came across very well. Maybe a small bit quick to, you know, rob a bloody starship, but he did feelm very much like he could be a far younger version of the Spock from TOS.

I won't upset myself by going back through the season 2 Discovery threads, but I think I was quite negative initially about his introduction. That may partially due to the idiocy of going down the Star Wars route of having everyone related to everyone else and making Burnham his step-sister, but I think he also is getting better material to work with here.

18-06-2023 11:51am

I'm more and more thinking of the crossfield being taken over and destroyed was intentional shade.

They dropped a few sly digs last season, as did Lower Decks

pixelburp · 18-06-2023 12:43pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120729632#Comment_120729632

Maybe a small bit quick to, you know, rob a bloody starship

Not though if one considers his emotional impulses are behaving erratically and out of his control at this point. By the episodes end they hung a hat on Spock's unconventional behaviour with the Klingon captain noting as much.

18-06-2023 3:38pm

Spock has always barely kept his emotions in check. I always hated that film Spock went through Kolinahr. His duality should be his defining feature

Sudden Valley · 18-06-2023 3:47pm

So i guess any sort of relationship Spock has with the nurse is doomed canonically speaking? They seemed ro lean heavily on it in the opener

AMKC · 18-06-2023 4:33pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120730530#Comment_120730530

I suppose he could have a short relationship with her but then after that they never say anything about it.

Stark · 18-06-2023 4:35pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120730530#Comment_120730530

No mention of it in TOS anyway. Though we do know his relationship with T'Pring is doomed.

breezy1985 · 18-06-2023 5:03pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120730694#Comment_120730694

It all comes from an episode of TOS where she does seem to have a thing for him.

It's all a bit too fan fictiony for my liking.

pixelburp · 18-06-2023 5:13pm

It also comes from the long-standing aspect that Spock has been a bit of a sex symbol. Not so much Kirk but his bestie / life partner.

Strange New Worlds 2x01- 'The Broken Circle' ~~ { ** Spoilers Within ** }

Comments

Strange New Worlds 2x01- 'The Broken Circle' ~~ { Spoilers Within }