All Those Who Wander

I did not expect Star Trek to make a step into Space Horror--space is a given so...Survival Horror? This is a great example of refreshing serialized television. Most will say this is a recycled formula--they would be correct--however in a world where each episode resets a new call to adventure while still raising the stakes, this entry out of almost 900 episodes in the Trek universe is unique and fun to watch--no matter the sub-genre. If you're not happy about recycled tropes, you're watching the wrong universe. This universe has been around close to half a century--predating the ALIEN franchise by over a decade--the direct predecessors to space sci-fi, if not the authors of. I also like the direction the producers of the STU shows are taking in reducing episode counts to more precise storytelling. Modern times require modern formulas and now advertising dollars don't impact as much as paid subscribers, they have "refined" to more attention-grabbing episodes--be it original concepts, recycled tropes or nostalgia reminders.

Although weak in jump scares and a bit formulaic, the arcs and twists of the episode still surprised me. The third act resolution had emotional resonance and moved the overall story world forward, which works for a prequel developing lore. So let's stop comparing apples to apples and saying Discovery and Picard apples aren't apples anymore. You write an original science fiction series and we'll throw apples with our curse filled reviews.

That (as opposed to the typical "woke" argument) is what the dissenters are saying about this. And yes, it borrows heavily on previous works, but at this point in human society, pretty much everything does.

I always find it enlightening to read some of the people who have a different opinion on the episode (not the 'senior trekker' who obviously noone likes here and doesnt even care enough to give a proper rating, but someone who actually posits arguments). It was nice to see some horror in NuTrek (the Icheb scene from Picard wasnt horror, it was pure shock gore crap), and I dont even like horror. But this was well done (and the baby gorn offing each other was great).

Normally, Im a big continuity person, but I am willing to let the Gorn of "Arena" fall by the wayside and think they could make the Gorn the primary antagonist of SNW. After all, they retconned the Klingons in order to introduce great stories.

Again, im far too jaded by Disco and Picard to not believe they will squander this show as well, but so far its been a good ride...

This is a fairly decent episode that succeeds more from its fine direction and character development despite the obvious cribbing from the Alien franchise. We have the "Game over, man! Game over!" guy in Sam Kirk who isn't the pride of the family name in this episode, and a Newt stand-in. It's so on-the-nose it's shameful.

We also get our first "red shirt" in Lt. Duke, and a fairly impressive creature in "Buckley." Spock has his "Khan!" moment, and the Enterprise "miracle workers" who, with a small team, can manage to repair and raise a crashed star ship where the entire original crew couldn't.

There's also some budgeting in this episode, where the Enterprise sets are redressed as "damaged" to represent a vessel with only 90+ crew members. Given that last week's episode was also a set redress episode we can see that the budget is being stretched in the SNW production offices. It's franks and beans at the Craft Services wagons.

Despite all of this, the episode is extremely satisfying. The characters are easing into their roles and have toned up their performances.

This episode ushers in a lot of changes, which I cannot go into without spoilers. Since this is the penultimate episode of season 1, it will be interesting to see how the season finale plays out.

The highest praise I can give for a production is "I'm glad I watched it." And I watched this episode twice.

Yes, the story is not exactly unique. But that is both very naive and ignorant observation.

We literally produced hundreds of thousands of stories in different media since we figured out how to use radio waves for communication, and it is inevitable that we run out of truly unique stuff at some point.

Whatever the franchise is, you cant expect the same kind of unique awe from the second or third experience. Seeing a plane flying for the very first time is an unique experience, but do you expect the same reaction second time?

So, it is pointless to be too harsh, this is a good story. It fits canon, and it is believable. Don't forget, all the train wrecks we get in any franchise is due to that fixation on being unique. It doesn't work when you force it.

So embrace what you get, give them time. And if we are lucky, they will come up with something unique. Otherwise, we get nothing.

One word review: Alien(s). (Three word review of Alien(s): The Green Slime.)

I'm done with this show. Obviously, nothing is working here. The actors do not understand their characters' legacies, the writing is abysmal through and through, and the stories are pure drek. How naive I was to even have some hopes for its artistic success: Akiva Goldsman and Alex Kurtzman have the Midas Touch in reverse. They are career no-talent hacks. I'm embarrassed, because I happen to know that Goldsman's mother was a nice person, living in her brownstone in Cobble Hill.