Lost in Translation

I don't get the obsession already with James Kirk. The reason this series got made was the groundswell of enthusiasm for the character of Captain Pike and the desire to see more of his time and that of the rest of the current crew on the Enterprise.

Why are the writers so desperate to give so much time to the young Kirk at this point.

I also agree that the Enterprise doesn't seem to be doing a lot of exploring of strange new worlds. They never seem to be out of reach of other federation ships!

I hope that this turns out to be symptomatic of that "difficult second season" affliction and that when the properly rewarded series writers return to work on season three they can get the series back to its best.

Uhura experiences a series of dangerous hallucinations.

I like very much how SNW focuses different characters and this one has more good material for Uhura, who gets some solid development alongside the opportunity to lead the story. Additionally, it has great positive messages about coping with bereavement, the value of communicating and a plot that is resolved with intelligence as opposed to violence. It also features the Kirk brothers. To be fair, all the ingredients are there for a Trek style nerdgasm.

Celia Rose Gooding gives a strong performance and is supported well by Paul Wesley and Dan Jeannotte.

Visually it is excellent, with a number of great creepy atmospheric sequences and sci-fi action moments.

This rather minor episode puts Uhura at center stage: not only is she the only crew member to be aware of an alien species making first contact but ultimately she is the only one who can save the day.

It's one of those cheapie segments, so important in keeping a season under budget, with very little action. Instead, we have several fan-pleasing (in a nearly condescending/pandering fashion) peeks at the iconic figures of Star Trek history interacting, notably Uhura with Kirk assisting rather than commanding, as well as Spock meeting Kirk for apparently the first time. For me, such cuteness doesn't register because new actors are playing the roles. For Roddenberry's legacy, the main theme expressed here is putting the welfare of an alien culture, even one we know nothing about, ahead of greed (in this case, Starfleet's "gas station" for deuterium mining) is rather obvious.

This is one of the best episodes of the series, second only to "A Quality of Mercy" from season one. It features the first meetings of Kirk and Uhura as well as Kirk and Spock. Uhura and another Starfleet officer are hearing strange noises and seeing strange things that may or may not be real. The Strange New Worlds characters are just supporting characters as this episode focuses mainly on our favorites from TOS. While the main characters are TOS, the story is very much straight out of TNG. In fact, this is a perfect example of a TNG-style story played out by TOS characters. I'm liking this Kirk more and more.

This episode exemplifies the complete mixed bag of season 2. Bottom line there's way too much exploration of feelings and character history versus...exploration of Strange New Worlds. I think we all want character development but the writers need to ease up! And no whispering of lines please. This season also suffers from tonal problems. The episodes were all over the map of light, serious, whimsical, musical etc Lighter episodes and whimsy are great, but they lose impact when there's too much. They have to be earned out of the serious stories. This is a fantastic, likable cast but the writers are beginning to undermine them. The reason this show exists is because fans responded to a fantastic, likable performance by Anson Mount as Captain Pike. The writers have lost sight of that too as his character has been sidelined much of the season and the writing for him one dimensional. Please return to exploration, dial back the emotion, all the back stories, and rapid character development, and remember this an adventure show with a great cast of characters that we want to get to know authentically, not through overwrought artificial writing.