Strange New Worlds S2-E5 "Charades" Warning Contains Spoilers.

AMKC · 12-07-2023 10:36pm #1

Can not wait to see what this one is about.

corkie · 13-07-2023 10:37am

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

An okay episode, a bit canon breaking. Spock, Chapel and T'Pring.

And as mentioned in the general thread, size of shuttles.

AMKC · 13-07-2023 11:04am

That was brilliant. Definitely a Spock and Nurse Christine Chapel episode. I loved when Spock got angry in the bathroom lol is swashbuckling and then screaming into the cushion lol. I was expecting him to break a mirror but then peopke would be in and know sonethings wrong but I would say he felt like it. Loved the scenes at the beginning too with Spock and all the crew doing there things. Spock finally getting a joke lol. Also loved Nurse Chapel saying she will not apply for the Vulcan Archaeological course again as they did not deserve her and refusing to tell the Vulcan how she had been to that other dimension saying he can read it in the next medical journal just brilliant. As for the Kharskhins I thought they were good too and something different.

Yellow and blue lol. You would have to wonder how many of them there are do if they are all named after colours. How many colours are there in the world. If I were to guess I would say somewhere between 30 and 50.

I would put this as my second favorite SNW Episode after one from season 1 or maybe even the first episode of Season 2.

breezy1985 · 13-07-2023 6:28pm

That was awfully boring. I don't care about Spock's relationship with either woman and Spock as a punchline has been milked dry at this stage.

And why was the Enterprise sent to investigate something right on Vulcans doorstep. Do the Vulcan Science Academy not own a ship.

eadrom · 13-07-2023 7:34pm

Very good, with great performance(s?) from Peck.

I wasn’t able to get a screenshot from Paramount+, came out blank, but is that the NX-01 classic on the screen in the background as Spock cleans up after Kirk around 4 minutes 10 in? 🕵️

corkie · 13-07-2023 8:09pm

Post deleted by me to remove a copyright image.

eadrom · 13-07-2023 8:14pm

Yeah @corkie, that’s the one.

Spear · 13-07-2023 8:31pm

I'm a bit conflicted on my thoughts on this one. It's fairly light weight but they held back from going too heavy handed on the comedy at least. I feared it would be a rehashing of Tuvix, but that was also avoided. It did give some good character insights into those long lacking them, such as Amanda.

They're leaning real hard into the Spock/Chapel thing, which is a little puzzling. We know it doesn't end well, but it doesn't have the same tragic sense of doom that Pike's fate has.

AMKC · 13-07-2023 8:44pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120847630#Comment_120847630

I do not know how you found the episode boring. It had everything some proper StarcTrek New Aliens and Humour too.

And why was the Enterprise sent to investigate something right on Vulcans doorstep. Do the Vulcan Science Academy not own a ship.

Yes I agree that was probably the only thing wrong with this episode that made no sense. But hey space is big they could be up from Vulcan or down. The Vulcans were never that interested in exploring anyway so maybe they just never explored there.

CastorTroy · 13-07-2023 8:45pm

At least Spock used the handle in the turbolift.

I still want to know did they still play charades, since Kirk and Spock's mum both said it was an important custom and the reveal wasn't until later.

Evade · 13-07-2023 9:38pm

Another fine episode, it had a very TOS premise, but I wish they'd kind of move on to something involving the whole crew.

@AMKC Colours are all in your head and don't really exist so aliens identifying themselves by colours is very weird. That said there are thousands if not millions of colours.

squonk · 13-07-2023 10:21pm

I thought it was good. Not overly exciting but a good story all the same. There are a lot of those types of mid season episodes in both TOS and TNG that aren’t maybe in anyone’s top 10 but are still good solid episodes all the same. Teenager Spock was pretty funny. I thought they did that well. Nice to see some Amanda backstory too. I wish there were 20’episudes per season as I wouldn’t mind a few more like that.

13-07-2023 10:50pm

T'Pring and her father confuse me.

He is massively emotional and it screams Romulan

odyssey06 · 13-07-2023 10:52pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120848658#Comment_120848658

How do *you* know what a Romulan looks like???

Evade · 13-07-2023 11:06pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120848658#Comment_120848658

And T'Pril knows and is massively overcompensating.

fritzelly · 13-07-2023 11:12pm

Thought that was a cracking episode, Spock being human was the best part, but aliens, ancient tech etc... - everything you need in a ST episode

And yes @squonk just not enough episodes in a season

14-07-2023 12:14am

Customer service sucks, no matter the race/technology

squonk · 14-07-2023 7:10am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120848658#Comment_120848658

It would have been an interesting subplot for sure. Woman dissing her future son in law for being half human while hiding her own husbands lineage.

I think he was just there to show what a bee-atch she is however.

odyssey06 · 14-07-2023 7:20am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120849088#Comment_120849088

Actually a good reason why she should want Spock as son in law... muddy the waters wrt any offsprings genetics.

breezy1985 · 14-07-2023 7:55am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120848156#Comment_120848156

Every interaction with Spock now seems to be about him wrestling with emotion. Either that or laughing at how square he is.

The SNW Vulcan scenes are also trying too hard to be like the Lower Decks Vulcans. It's tedious listening to himself and T'Pring at this stage.

Spock and Chapel is also very boring to me. She is possibly my favourite character other than that .

PhiloCypher · 14-07-2023 9:04am

Very enjoyable episode.

Things I Loved:

*it emphatically doubles down on Enterprise's canonical addition to Vulcans that humans stink.

* the montage of Spocks increasingly emotional reactions to minor things 😄

*the reactions of the crew to the situation.

* Spocks realisation at the end of how much **** his mother has had to put up with as a human on Vulcan .

* how it recontextualises her statement earlier in the episode about how she learned to ignore her own pain when she arrived on vulcan as a way to explain how she could carry a scalding hot kettle .

*they continue to make T'pring sympathetic.

Things I didn't like so much:

*while it was funny ,I thought they made the hen pecked husband a little too emotional for a Vulcan. My head canon is that while the upper crust of Vulcan society like Sarak etc are strict logicians , middle class vulcans like T'prings parents don't have quite as right a grasp on their emotions.

*as much as I've enjoyed this and Spock Amok, can we please have a Spock or Chapel episode that isn't dealing with their complicated feelings toward eachother.

TheValeyard · 14-07-2023 11:40am

I enjoyed it even if its canon bending or breaking.

Vulcans have a fleet of ships, why did they need a Starfleet vessel.

Or not notice it until now?

Other than that , grand episode.

ItHurtsWhenIP · 14-07-2023 1:47pm

I did laugh a lot during that episode.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120848830#Comment_120848830

They never stated their SLA and where was the post support call Trustpilot survey? 👀😋

corkie · 14-07-2023 5:39pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120848162#Comment_120848162

Think you meant Pike and not Kirk?

CastorTroy · 14-07-2023 10:12pm

Unless I mean they invited Sam to join them after how Spock spoke to him. 😀

But yeah I meant Pike.

Slydice · 15-07-2023 12:00pm

Enjoyed that. That's two episodes soon after each other where they delved into characters and their lives more. I felt connection to Ortegas episode and now coming away from this one with how deeply Spock and Chapel were towards each other.

Ship felt very bigger and fancier in downtime than I had in my head. Kinda felt a bit of a lower decks vibe to the recreation time.

The Kerkhovians.... hmmmmm... now that caught my attention. Felt a bit of a combo of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Borg Transwarp Conduits, Bajoran Wormhole Aliens. Closest to the Bajoran Wormhole Aliens but maybe not to their level yet. Though maybe Pah-wraiths ... hmmm.. not sure, the Pah-wraiths felt further along too.

Cool to see Mia Kirshner over from Star Trek: Discovery

~Rebel~ · 16-07-2023 8:11am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120848390#Comment_120848390

I imagined it more as something of a universal signifier - to ease communication they identify themselves as universal wavelengths that everyone will have some name for, in the same way as mathematics are often used as a universal language.

A more lightweight episode, but a fun one, and I quite enjoyed it anyway. Felt quite sorry for T'pring by the end, having been the most understanding thoughtful partner he could hope for over the 2 seasons, she's really getting the raw end of all this.

Stark · 16-07-2023 4:07pm

I'm starting to wonder if Father Dougal received training on Vulcan.

Greyjoy · 17-07-2023 8:23am

A decent episode that tip-toed up to the line of full blown sitcom but managed to avoid crossing it. The bits with Chapel and the other crew trying to interact with the aliens saved the episode from descending into pure sitcom. But I do agree that the the Vulcans would have already thoroughly researched alien archeological sites in their own system. The story needed a small bit of justification as to why Starfleet were conducting the survey and not the Vulcan science academy.

corkie · 17-07-2023 9:20pm

https://screenrant.com/star-trek-spock-define-discovery-burnham-ethan-peck/

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Ethan Peck explains how Discovery's Michael Burnham helped define Spock's human side.

At this point in his life, [Spock is] really learning how to be human. I think the journey he was really set off on [was] inspired by Michael Burnham in Discovery. She really tells him, "This is an important part of you and essential to who you are and the way you solve problems." Which is what Spock is. He's a great problem-solver.

For peat's sake, will the media sites stop trying to connect things back to the 'Goddess Burnham' :-(

Evade · 17-07-2023 9:45pm

Can Discovery get the Prodigy treatment next?

17-07-2023 10:12pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120864716#Comment_120864716

Poor Prodigy. Understood what Trek was/is 100 times more than Discovery ever did

breezy1985 · 18-07-2023 8:07am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120864791#Comment_120864791

Which is ironic because the initial reaction to press releases from the "real Trek" brigade was to rip it to sht because the aliens "didn't look Star Trek enough"

Plenty of snobbery about it being Nickelodeon too.

Stark · 18-07-2023 10:22am

Well the first few episodes while quite decent in their own right weren't very "Star Trek". Wasn't until mid way through the season where it started feeling more like a Trek show imo.

DoctorEdgeWild · 18-07-2023 12:52pm

Hopefully that's the 'comedy' episode out of the way. Plenty of good bits in there, didn't cross over too far into a sitcom but came close. Still very much on board that SNW is the Trek we've all been dying for, for many years.

breezy1985 · 18-07-2023 1:08pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120866601#Comment_120866601

"the Trek we've all been dying for"

I wouldn't go that far. Still too nostalgia heavy and set in the wrong century.

All I want is a follow up to DS9 that gives us a bit of something on how the actual timeline is going. Starting with Voyager we have a show cut off from the usual setting then we have had 4 live action shows and a movie series and only 1 wasn't a prequel (Picard). And sadly after about 5 episodes into Picard they abandoned any sort of interesting geopolitical storyline.

Stark · 18-07-2023 3:23pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120866601#Comment_120866601

Well the upcoming Lower Decks crossover is sure to be a 'comedy' episode.

DoctorEdgeWild · 18-07-2023 5:46pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120866743#Comment_120866743

Fair point, there's no 'we' in such a large fanbase, especially a cross generational one.

I totally agree that prequels are the worst way to go, but would counter that SNW has worked absolute wonders in spite of that as a starting point.

DoctorEdgeWild · 18-07-2023 5:47pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120867326#Comment_120867326

Ah, I might take that week off, had actually forgotten about that coming up.

TheValeyard · 18-07-2023 5:54pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120867326#Comment_120867326

And the rumoured singing episode.

Evade · 18-07-2023 6:24pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120868093#Comment_120868093

Oh dear god no.

AMKC · 18-07-2023 7:31pm

I think either episode 6 this week or episode 7 next week which is directed by Jonathan Frakes by the way could be the crossover episode and it looks like episode 9 is the singing episode. Could be good could be terrible.

By the way I have all the titles for the last few episodes if ye would like me to post them here but I can not hide them behind a spoiler.

corkie · 18-07-2023 7:47pm

@AMKC Their listed on IMDb (warning contains spoilers).

Episode 7 is the crossover episode.

Episode 9 by tittle alone is the musical.

Also for episode 9: -

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Christina Chong hints at the mysterious 9th episode of season 2 and her role in its creation.

List of episode names below in spoiler.

S2, Ep6 Lost in Translation

S2, Ep7 Those Old Scientists

S2, Ep8 Under the Cloak of War

S2, Ep9 Subspace Rhapsody

S2, Ep10 Hegemony

Don't you know how to spoiler? Also removed links in the list.

pixelburp · 18-07-2023 8:00pm

I really enjoyed that episode; the Vulcan stuff has been broadly well executed and has skirted the occasional past issue of Vulcans played like constipated monotone àssholes - though in this episode T'Pring's mother was very much an àsshole. I actually quite like T'Pring, which is a credit to the actor's performances - that's not something I'd have thought, given she's kinda set up as a fairly redundant character in the long run.

Yeah the Chapel and Spock stuff is debatably canon breaking, or at least canon stressing, but I can't fault the chemistry and camaraderie on show across the ensemble and it's various match ups - platonic or otherwise. The balance of drama felt right, the conflict between Spock and Chapel earned; the trick now is not to overegg this romantic pudding.

And once more, Ethan Peck excelled - this time in playing Spock being human, playing Vulcan. The emotional discovery was fun, but not as overplayed as it could have been; Peck played it like something out of control, but mostly confused.

GreeBo · 19-07-2023 10:04am

Wasn't a big fan of this one.

It seems unrealistic that this strange new life form living within an interdimensional portal didnt cause anyone to think about maybe investigating it?

Do we just accept the Kerkhovians as an alien race and move on with our lives? Considering they whole point of them being out there way to do some archeological survey on them, seems odd that no one is interested by the discovery that they are now energy based lifeforms...

breezy1985 · 19-07-2023 10:29am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120869983#Comment_120869983

They were basically just the excuse to have Spock transformed. They could have been any number of machines or anomaly. Pity really as I find that side of stuff more fun than the characters.

santana75 · 20-07-2023 10:35am

I liked this one. Ethan Peck was excellent, the chemistry between Spock and Nurse Chapel is what makes this work. Interesting side note, the actress playing Spocks Mother, Mira Kirshner is only about 10 years older than Ethan peck. She was also one of the actresses who came out and accused HARVEY Weinstein of sexual assault in a hotel room when she was 21.

GreeBo · 20-07-2023 11:19am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120870082#Comment_120870082

Yeah I would have preferred dual plots of someone investigating the Kerkhovians and then let the "Guinan episode" with Spock continue in parallel.

Just sending the girls off to chat to a new, clearly superior life form about Spock doesnt seem very realistic and didnt stroke my scientific needs.

pixelburp · 20-07-2023 12:41pm

I gotta laugh how all portrayals of Amanda since TOS have tended to hire what I'd struggle to describe beyond the crudity of a "MILF"; cos how many years are between here and TOS when we meet her "first"? All grey-haired and very much presented as an ageing, neutral mother. As opposed to the open cleavage and general glamourous appearance of SNW's Amanda? Not that from what I recall of the Kelvinverse, Winona Ryder wasn't exactly dolled up - but again they hired relatively young and attractive.

Evade · 20-07-2023 12:53pm

Amanda's actress was mid 50's in TOS and the actress in SNW is 48 so it's not a huge discrepancy besides people looking younger for longer these days.

It's like 10 years on Tattooine turning you from present day Ewan McGregor to 1977 Alec Guinness.

20-07-2023 5:41pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120875232#Comment_120875232

Add the several years until Kirk captains the ship and the ages align

Strange New Worlds S2-E5 "Charades" Warning Contains Spoilers.

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