A fantastic little short to kick of this new batch. This managed to conjure up an almost warm and cosy atmosphere, and it filled the itch I had during Discovery season 2 to see Rebecca Romijn be given more to do. Ethan Peck continues to grow into the role of Spock and here he perhaps did more to warm me to him than he did during the main show. I really want to see more of the adventures of this Pike's Enterprise.
My geeky observations:
* If this is Spock's first day on board the Enterprise, then this should fit chronologically a short while before 'The Cage', and is set in 2254.
* Confirmation that Number One's name is actually Una.
* The Pirates of Penzance song appeared previously in an episode of Star Trek: TNG which also involved characters stuck in a turbolift ('Disaster').
* I don't quite understand the crazy turbolift system still.
* A Futurama reference by having the engineer on the com be "WELSHYYYYY!"? Probably not, but ha.
* Once again, the Enterprise bridge is a stunning set.
* Spock's laugh filled me with joy.
[6.1/10] This was...weird? I don’t know what they were really going for here, and it’s a little disconcerting considering that this was future Picard showrunner Chabon’s work. (Though he’s still playing with house money after “Calypso” as far as I’m concerned.)
As premises go, this isn’t a bad one. Trapping Spock and Number One in an elevator together is a nice play on an old trope, and making it Spock’s first day adds a touch of intrigue (and an excuse to explain his early smile in “The Menagerie”).
But the actual interactions feel odd. The show goes for a certain amount of sexual tension between Spock and Number One that feels ill-calibrated. The Tracy & Hepburn routine doesn't map well onto those characters. And while the question and answer setup is a good one, their shared responses moments are a bit too cute by half.
There’s also some overwriting, which is what’s especially concerning. Both Number One and Spock have speeches or exchanges that feel like statements of purpose or bits of verbiage plainly meant for the audience rather than each other. That gave their conversations a certain inauthentic quality. And while I appreciate the big swing of the pair singing “Modern Major General” together, it just felt tonally strange.
I don’t know. In my heart of hearts, I just wish Discovery and its offshoots didn’t mess around with characters from The Original Series, especially main characters. It was a problem in Season 2, where really only Pike felt fully-formed, and Ethan Peck’s Spock felt out of step with both Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto’s. This is a TOS setting and setup, but it just feels so disconnected from the characters or feel of that era as seen on the original show that it’s jarring to a longtime fan. Discovery has the fig leaf of being a different ship filled with different people, but setting one of these shorts on the Enterprise, and with Spock no less, just lends itself to more dissonance.
Overall, this is a good idea done in a disappointing way, showing that this creative crew’s efforts to redo pieces of The Original Series are dicey at best.
I didn't know there was so much space inside the Enterprise. And what the hell happened to Scotty's voice???
There's so much wrong with these 15 minutes I don't even know where to start.
For me it already started at the title sequence which immediately showed this would be humoristic. It didn't get any better after that.
It's quite infuriating that the legacy of this show and it's iconic character has been trampled and shat on by the bunch of incompetent hacks who now run and write for it. Nothing in this episode except the names and general look is Star Trek, not even the characters they "rebooted".
I don't think I've ever been this sad and angry at a tv-show since... ever (season 8 of GoT not included but that's DONE and finished and already ruined, Star Trek -among others- isn't) and this is only the first 15 minutes of the new season.
Someone close just told me I maybe should just stop watching this show... Stop watching Star Trek... I can't imagine it. It's coming... but should I allow it?
Should I allow these hacks to destroy the legacy of this show and many others. This modern age iconoclasm.
Excellent short, though a little long in the mid-section.
why not just transport them out of the turbolift?
It was OK IMO, and as mentioned, the shots of the turbolift's inner workings, added some interesting perspective. The interaction between "new boot" Spock, and Number One, was fun, although at time a bit cringey, as Numero Uno either seemed to be doing a reverse JTK impression, on (of all the unlikely candidates) Spock, had no notion of personal space, or was badly attempting to flirt perhaps? IDK, but the kicker was the "Glee" break-out that just left me scratching my head.
Shout by Erik ÖhmanVIP 6BlockedParent2023-07-06T21:18:22Z
Romijn and Peck as Una and Spock respectively is just amazing casting and I’m so happy that these characters got their own shows.
Also, any episode with spontaneous Gilbert and Sullivan singing is great.