Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 2.03
Jun. 30th, 2023 09:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakIn which an old trope which I thought we'd seen enough of for a while manages to pleasantly surprise me. I had "yes, but" reactions to elements of the first two episodes this season, but not to this one.
Okay, (nearly) last things first, but blaming the ever changing date of the Eugenic Wars (which the TOS writers had placed along with WWIII about thirty years into their future, with the result that their exact date got moved around ever after as the future kept catching up with the shows and movies) and Khan's life time on the "Temporal Wars" from Enterprise plus all the other time travelling was inspired and also a hilarious moment in Sera's villain monologue. (I was reminded of the first time UNIT showed up in New Who which had the Doctor make a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Unit Dating Controversy ("the 70s, or was it the 80s?".)
On to the episode proper. Now if you'd asked me whether I wanted an episode which mainly consists of La'an being stuck in the past with James T. Kirk, of all the people, having to fix the timeline, I'd have said no. Both because we've had an overabundance of "stuck in our present" time travel episodes right now (time travelling to the much further back past and the far future is still cool, though), and because I wasn't that keen on Kirk showing up on SNW in the last season finale to begin with, let alone this season. But lo, I would have been wrong. And not just because the episode delivered excellent fanservice re: La'an's stoic woobieness and her various issues.
Now, Kirk (any version) was never my fave, nor did I dislike him. I do understand why many a TOS fan is upset about AOS!Kirk coming straight from the pop culture image of Kirk (hits on all the girls, shooting first, questions later, troublemaker, breaks all the rules) rather than the more thoughtful character presented on the actual show (who no, doesn't get all the female guest stars, is first seen (and not for the last time) beating Spock at chess, was a nerd rather than a hell raiser at the academy according ot his bff at the time and is a good strategist choosing his battles. Still, I thought that train had left the station, so to speak, and future takes on Kirk would draw on the pop culture image as well. Enter Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, episode 2.03, which manages to do a couple of unprecedented things with Kirk (yes, despite all those decades of stories with Kirk unprecedented), starting with the fact he's La'an's sidekick in this episode, and does not, repeat, does not take over the leading role or the narrative spotlight. (To be fair, I don't think a story where Kirk is the sidekick would have been possible in the William Shatner days for all the obvious reasons.) But also because this Kirk - who is from another timeline, granted, but still - actually is that more thoughtful character who is good at improvising (and bad at driving), and whose big contribution to the quest du jour isn't seducing an Earth girl or beating up a bad guy but making some cash for himself and La'an to use via chess games. (This was funny, ic and quickly making a point about this Kirk all at the same time. Kirk the chess hustler = win.) That this Kirk has never heard of the Eugenic Wars or Khan Noonien Singh is both a plot point (it's key to the big question of the episode about which changes lead to Kirk's timeline and temporarily wiped out La'ans) and an important character point for La'an, as it allows her for the first time to interact with someone who doesn't have that knowledge about her family background. (It's not that every person so far has projected Khan into La'an, far from it, but that La'an herself automatically assumed they would, and she can't here.) And lastly on the use of Kirk note, I thought the writers did here come up with something that felt far less forced than last season's finale did with Pike on a similar question. Last season's finale put Pike in a position where he finds out that while he could escape his fate, the Federation would be the worse for it, not least because Spock would then die or suffer Pike's original fate and/or Kirk would not become Captain (the implication being that only Kirk could save the 'verse correctly), and so of course Pike chose his fate (and the original timeline). This, like I said, felt forced and very Doylian (naturally Pike has to, otherwise ST as we know it could not have happened) over Watsonian. Whereas here, what really brings Alt!Kirk on board with La'an's goal of restoring her timeline over his is the discovery that in addition to all those larger factors (there is no Federation, Earth is an uninhabitable mess in his timeline), his brother is alive in her universe. That stunned "Sam? Sam is still alive?" was when the actor really clicked for me as Kirk, and you could see on his face that this is when he changes his mind for good.
So much for James T. Now, La'an. I'm actually glad the episode prevented itself from making this a classic "Would you kill Hitler?" type of story for her not by the good old fashioned time paradox solution (hence the MacGuffin allowing La'an herself to be immune from changes in the timeline, i.e. she would survive wiping out her own ancestor due to the device) but by establishing that the timeline where there was no Khan had even more deaths as a result and a worse status quo in the present. So La'an doesn't have to decide between the lives of millions and her own (that's a no brainer, of course La'an being La'an, she'd sacrifice herself by killing her ancestor), and she realises only in the last part of the episode where this is all going and why she and not another crew member was brought here. Instead, she's given a chance to let go of her self-loathing and issues both by being on a mission with someone who can't possibly have any preconceived notions about her and by in the end when she does see him being able to respond to child!Khan as a child. I was reminded of Ace in Doctor Who encountering her mother as a baby. Now, Ace had mother issues and for good reason, and she didn't suddenly see her adult mother in a new light because of this. Nor does La'an think of adult Khan as less of a war criminal/dictator, and when she later encounters the time agent, she is still upset about them having placed her in a position where she had to save a future mass murderer. But that moment with the child definitely came across as one her making peace with a painful bit of her background.
Every time travel story - even the very serious Past Tense two parter on DS'9 - also has humor, and Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow had as well. I already mentioned Kirk the chess hustler; but most of the comic relief hails from new character Pelia, who due to her near-immortality is already around in the past La'an has ended up in. So far, they seem to go in the Methos direction with Pelia; for anyone who hasn't watched Highlander: The Series: after s1 and s2 had a traditionally old and wise mentor figure for our hero McLeod in Darius and killed Darius off, s3 debuted Methos, 50000 years old but a deliberate subversion of the (until then) trope not just by his youthful looks but casual "just a guy" facade and constant snark. Along that line, flippant (though decidely not youthful looking, thank you, casting team, for a female near immortal, the subversion is in her actually being played by an older actress) Pelia is casual about people's property along with most other things so far, and I liked the subversion/time loop thing of her not being an engineer yet in the past (but evidently getting the idea of becoming one from La'an) because sure, at her age and with her life expectancy, she has the time to try out all sorts of existences and profession. Also, Pelia in La'an's present referring to the Federation as a socialist utopia (as in mentioning she still has a stash of things in Vermont "in case this socialist utopia doesn't stick around") is bound to annoy some of the more, shall we say, rightwing watchers and that's fine with me.
Toronto being allowed to be actually Toronto, not NYC: LOL. Even this European got that reference.
In conclusion: loved the episode. Now give one to Erica Ortega next!
Okay, (nearly) last things first, but blaming the ever changing date of the Eugenic Wars (which the TOS writers had placed along with WWIII about thirty years into their future, with the result that their exact date got moved around ever after as the future kept catching up with the shows and movies) and Khan's life time on the "Temporal Wars" from Enterprise plus all the other time travelling was inspired and also a hilarious moment in Sera's villain monologue. (I was reminded of the first time UNIT showed up in New Who which had the Doctor make a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Unit Dating Controversy ("the 70s, or was it the 80s?".)
On to the episode proper. Now if you'd asked me whether I wanted an episode which mainly consists of La'an being stuck in the past with James T. Kirk, of all the people, having to fix the timeline, I'd have said no. Both because we've had an overabundance of "stuck in our present" time travel episodes right now (time travelling to the much further back past and the far future is still cool, though), and because I wasn't that keen on Kirk showing up on SNW in the last season finale to begin with, let alone this season. But lo, I would have been wrong. And not just because the episode delivered excellent fanservice re: La'an's stoic woobieness and her various issues.
Now, Kirk (any version) was never my fave, nor did I dislike him. I do understand why many a TOS fan is upset about AOS!Kirk coming straight from the pop culture image of Kirk (hits on all the girls, shooting first, questions later, troublemaker, breaks all the rules) rather than the more thoughtful character presented on the actual show (who no, doesn't get all the female guest stars, is first seen (and not for the last time) beating Spock at chess, was a nerd rather than a hell raiser at the academy according ot his bff at the time and is a good strategist choosing his battles. Still, I thought that train had left the station, so to speak, and future takes on Kirk would draw on the pop culture image as well. Enter Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, episode 2.03, which manages to do a couple of unprecedented things with Kirk (yes, despite all those decades of stories with Kirk unprecedented), starting with the fact he's La'an's sidekick in this episode, and does not, repeat, does not take over the leading role or the narrative spotlight. (To be fair, I don't think a story where Kirk is the sidekick would have been possible in the William Shatner days for all the obvious reasons.) But also because this Kirk - who is from another timeline, granted, but still - actually is that more thoughtful character who is good at improvising (and bad at driving), and whose big contribution to the quest du jour isn't seducing an Earth girl or beating up a bad guy but making some cash for himself and La'an to use via chess games. (This was funny, ic and quickly making a point about this Kirk all at the same time. Kirk the chess hustler = win.) That this Kirk has never heard of the Eugenic Wars or Khan Noonien Singh is both a plot point (it's key to the big question of the episode about which changes lead to Kirk's timeline and temporarily wiped out La'ans) and an important character point for La'an, as it allows her for the first time to interact with someone who doesn't have that knowledge about her family background. (It's not that every person so far has projected Khan into La'an, far from it, but that La'an herself automatically assumed they would, and she can't here.) And lastly on the use of Kirk note, I thought the writers did here come up with something that felt far less forced than last season's finale did with Pike on a similar question. Last season's finale put Pike in a position where he finds out that while he could escape his fate, the Federation would be the worse for it, not least because Spock would then die or suffer Pike's original fate and/or Kirk would not become Captain (the implication being that only Kirk could save the 'verse correctly), and so of course Pike chose his fate (and the original timeline). This, like I said, felt forced and very Doylian (naturally Pike has to, otherwise ST as we know it could not have happened) over Watsonian. Whereas here, what really brings Alt!Kirk on board with La'an's goal of restoring her timeline over his is the discovery that in addition to all those larger factors (there is no Federation, Earth is an uninhabitable mess in his timeline), his brother is alive in her universe. That stunned "Sam? Sam is still alive?" was when the actor really clicked for me as Kirk, and you could see on his face that this is when he changes his mind for good.
So much for James T. Now, La'an. I'm actually glad the episode prevented itself from making this a classic "Would you kill Hitler?" type of story for her not by the good old fashioned time paradox solution (hence the MacGuffin allowing La'an herself to be immune from changes in the timeline, i.e. she would survive wiping out her own ancestor due to the device) but by establishing that the timeline where there was no Khan had even more deaths as a result and a worse status quo in the present. So La'an doesn't have to decide between the lives of millions and her own (that's a no brainer, of course La'an being La'an, she'd sacrifice herself by killing her ancestor), and she realises only in the last part of the episode where this is all going and why she and not another crew member was brought here. Instead, she's given a chance to let go of her self-loathing and issues both by being on a mission with someone who can't possibly have any preconceived notions about her and by in the end when she does see him being able to respond to child!Khan as a child. I was reminded of Ace in Doctor Who encountering her mother as a baby. Now, Ace had mother issues and for good reason, and she didn't suddenly see her adult mother in a new light because of this. Nor does La'an think of adult Khan as less of a war criminal/dictator, and when she later encounters the time agent, she is still upset about them having placed her in a position where she had to save a future mass murderer. But that moment with the child definitely came across as one her making peace with a painful bit of her background.
Every time travel story - even the very serious Past Tense two parter on DS'9 - also has humor, and Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow had as well. I already mentioned Kirk the chess hustler; but most of the comic relief hails from new character Pelia, who due to her near-immortality is already around in the past La'an has ended up in. So far, they seem to go in the Methos direction with Pelia; for anyone who hasn't watched Highlander: The Series: after s1 and s2 had a traditionally old and wise mentor figure for our hero McLeod in Darius and killed Darius off, s3 debuted Methos, 50000 years old but a deliberate subversion of the (until then) trope not just by his youthful looks but casual "just a guy" facade and constant snark. Along that line, flippant (though decidely not youthful looking, thank you, casting team, for a female near immortal, the subversion is in her actually being played by an older actress) Pelia is casual about people's property along with most other things so far, and I liked the subversion/time loop thing of her not being an engineer yet in the past (but evidently getting the idea of becoming one from La'an) because sure, at her age and with her life expectancy, she has the time to try out all sorts of existences and profession. Also, Pelia in La'an's present referring to the Federation as a socialist utopia (as in mentioning she still has a stash of things in Vermont "in case this socialist utopia doesn't stick around") is bound to annoy some of the more, shall we say, rightwing watchers and that's fine with me.
Toronto being allowed to be actually Toronto, not NYC: LOL. Even this European got that reference.
In conclusion: loved the episode. Now give one to Erica Ortega next!
no subject
Date: 2023-06-30 12:24 pm (UTC)And yes I was worried about Kirk appearing again but it's another Alt Timeline Kirk (for the most part), it didn't have to be Kirk apart from the link to Sam being the clincher to causing him to help out rather than enjoy himself.
In conclusion: loved the episode. Now give one to Erica Ortega next!,/i> Hear! Hear!
no subject
Date: 2023-07-01 12:22 am (UTC)I don't particularly buy Paul Wesley as Kirk and I really don't buy anything romantic between Kirk and La'an (they should have just been friends--that's just as meaningful), but other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed the episode and just thought of the Kirk character as a new character altogether.
Both the timeline jokes and the Toronto jokes were such well done meta jokes. Most of the time I don't like meta jokes--they're too winky--but both of those were perfect and I adored them.
More Pelia! I would watch Carol Kane do anything!
no subject
Date: 2023-07-01 10:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-07-02 04:46 pm (UTC)