1y ago

Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | 2x04 "Among the Lotus Eaters"

Written by Kirsten Beyer & Davy Perez

Directed by Eduardo Sanchez

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163 comments

I'm a bit undecided about this episode.
Stuff that I liked:
a strange new(-ish) world
everyone got something to do, unlike last week
once again some funny Spock moments
the visuals on this show are stunning once again. The planet looked nice, the external VFX in the debris field of two celestial bodies that orbited Rigel VII several centuries ago looked nice, the Enterprise interiors look so nice.
Stuff that I didn't like:
I'm not a fan of forced relationship dramas. Plus, from the pilot episode I got the feeling that Pike and Batel (does she even have a first name yet?) are only friends with benefits, but now Batel storms off after Pike says he wants to take it easy? Weird.
how can a society or any sort of structure be maintained if you can't remember anything? The whole premise felt a bit off.
the writing for Ortegas was weak. Her personal log at the beginning of the episode sounded like it was written by ChatGPT. And the stuff towards the end of the episode wasn't great either. The actor did the best she could with what she was given but the writing really didn't do her any favors.
- how can a society or any sort of structure be maintained if you can’t remember anything? The whole premise felt a bit off.
  The rulers in the palace could remember, though (because of the shielding provided by some metal). And the workers/slaves remembered enough to perform their tasks.
  
  @exscape @ValueSubtracted @UESPASputnik Spoiler alert, please!
  This is one of the earliest Sci-Fi themes. See: Nightfall by Asimov (1941).
  I thought they covered it well in the ep. (Write things down, write things on YOURSELF, etc).
  
  Hm, considering your instance name, are you reading this on Mastodon? I've not gotten the hang of how federation with Mastodon works, but I'm reading/writing this on Kbin, and the post is on Lemmy, in the discussion thread for the latest episode, where spoilers for that episode are assumed to exist without warning.
  In any case I apologize if you were spoiled by my post, but I'm not sure how to improve things in the future TBH.
  
  @exscape @ValueSubtracted @UESPASputnik Yes, I'm reading on Mastodon. Interesting, I may have to stop following the lemmy hashtag. Federation is a fun idea but apparently doesn't work quite right.
  
  Trying to avoid particular pieces of information is a tough problem for a federated network to solve.
  
  Just among the ‘field Kalar’, how are there relationships enough to maintain a population? Unless they’re just used to reading a piece of paper “this is my spouse, this is my child” and I guess the deep emotions they talked about as persisting fill in the rest. Still, I think it would be hard to build the relationships without those deep emotions in place. Sorta sounds like “50 First Date” (never saw it but the premise).
- I like the Pike/Batel relationship dynamic. I like that they're both captains with their own responsibilities, which is new and different from what we've seen in previous iterations of Trek where one is an officer and the other is left at home or something. It doesn't feel forced to me, although the question of weren't they just FWB's is an interesting one, I'd have to go back and look at the pilot. But I'm ok with buying that they're closer than that but just can't make it work because they both have ships to captain.
  I would like to see more of her being a captain. Hopefully there's an episode in the future where we get to see her on her bridge doing her thing.
  
  I'm also in the camp that liked it, Pike since his reintroduction in Disco S2 has been one of the franchises' most emotionally open captains. Most of the time we see this as this self-assured dad energy he uses when talking to his subordinates, but I think it was good to see how he can be vulnerable but still that genuine, emotionally mature guy with someone who's on the same level as him.
  
  I mean, we had Ben Sisko and Kassidy Yates who both were captains. But I agree with you that Pike and Batel really seem to be equals, and I really like that relationship dynamic.
  As I said, from the pilot episode I got the impression that they are friends with benefits who like to hook up when they happen to be in the same sector – no strings attached. (underlined by the fact that Pike had a fling with that lady from the child-killing planet) I think that could be an interesting relationship dynamic to explore because unlike Kirk who had a chick on every planet (with rather unequal dynamics), Pike and Batel both have found someone equal with all the limitations that the jobs brings with it.
  I just hope the writing for Batel was an exception in this week's episode because it didn't make her look good – being overly emotional and storming off after Pike just stated some facts. I don't think that's the type of female character they should be aiming for nowadays.
- Only the workers outside the castle lost their memories. The guards had helmets made of a material that protected them from the worst effects, and the palace shielded those inside.
  The end result is a caste system, where you have people who remember and give orders and people who forget and have no choice but to follow.
- Hey fellow Jammer reader!
  
  👋

163 comments