I confess that I'm not so big a Star Trek fan that I can honestly remember many pertinent character traits of someone who appeared in two episodes of TOS. So Pike being a bit different to how we was in those episodes doesn't really worry me. But I honestly think you have to consider a very long running series like Trek (or Doctor Who for that matter) in a different way. Shows are obviously a product of their times. TOS might have been set in a far future, but it was also "set" in 1966. While warp drives or whatever aren't close to being invented, something as simple as screen technology has moved on vastly from what they could even imagine in 1966.
So TOS becomes a kind of retro-future from today's vantage point. So you either adopt that static 1966-view of the future in every Trek, or you adjust accordingly. I'm happy that they've done that. Things won't match up perfectly, but they never have, and never will. As for characterisation? To me it's a little like watching a really good production of Julius Caesar and enjoying the performance of the actor who played Mark Antony. Then later seeing an entirely separate performance of Antony and Cleopatra, with a different actor playing Mark Antony. They are the same character both from the same Shakespeare "universe," but interpreted by different actors and directors. There's a continuity of character, and yet differences. How dark or light this season of Discovery will be is still too early to say. I'm not a total fan of Tilly being ditzy one moment, and a gifted scientific genius the next, but even the darkest of dramas do need some light just to show how dark the shade is. And at least she's not an annoying child prodigy on the bridge... Adam On Sun, Jan 27, 2019 at 5:36 PM Steve Timko <[email protected]> wrote: > I watched it. Too soap operaish for me. I hate those moments where the > plot grinds to a halt because a character is going to emote. That happened > too much with Billie Piper on "Dr. Who." > Tig Notaro was wooden. Ironically, the comedian's worst lines were the > jokes her character cracked. I can't believe they couldn't get someone > better for that role. > > On Sat, Jan 26, 2019 at 9:06 PM 'David Bruggeman' via TVorNotTV < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> FWIW, I think having the Enterprise show up at the end of last season >> hemmed in the show at least as much as setting it a decide prior to the >> first series. I suspect the new propulsion system will get ignored like >> the Warp 5 restriction on space travel was in during the 24th century >> spinoffs. >> >> That said, I think it's tricky to presume that Captain Pike was always >> the way he was in The Cage/The Menagerie (which happened roughly 3 years >> before the events currently unfolding on Discovery). He started that first >> pilot as a burned out captain wondering if he should hang it up (Dr. Boyce >> had suggested a rest leave) and ended the episode ready to get back to >> exploring. >> >> What I expect might give me agita is young(er) Spock. Yes, he wasn't as >> buttoned up serving under Captain Pike, but I'm concerned they will go to >> far in that direction to seem consistent with Quinto's or Nimoy's >> portrayals. >> >> David >> >> >> On Saturday, January 26, 2019, 11:23:43 PM EST, Kevin M. < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >> >> >> >> On Sat, Jan 26, 2019 at 6:24 PM Adam Bowie <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> I think we've been here before about Discovery being in an impossible >> situation being an immediate prequel of TOS. Frankly, Pike extolling >> something that might have sounded likely in 1966 but sounds old-fashioned >> in 2019, is the least of anyone's worries. They're still going to have to >> get rid of new propulsion system at some point and explain away why no >> other subsequent Treks was able to use it. >> >> >> I can’t agree with you. It is a worry. Either the original series is >> canonical or it isn’t. I’m not the one who decided a second prequel series >> was a good idea; it opens them up to exactly this sort of criticism and >> more. But more than just the chauvinistic comment (which from a >> storytelling standpoint was a horrible thing for them to abandon... imagine >> the sort of stories that could emerge from a character who basically feels >> like Archie Bunker helming a starship, especially a starship with so many >> strong female and alien characters), Pike wasn’t a fun guy. He was somber, >> serious, contemplative. It was easier to make the character more jovial >> because they seem to be embarking on another very dark story arc and needed >> a lighter character in command, so they just changed it. They control what >> is canon, so they have the right to do whatever they want with the >> character, but it opens them up to criticism from Trekkies. >> >> >> I think you just have to park all that and enjoy the new series... or >> not. >> >> >> I’ll take “or not”... if it was on free media I’d probably hate-watch it >> the way Dave S hate-watches all things Sorkin, but I don’t need to pay CBS >> to do that. I’m in Nebraska... lots of things here I can dislike for free. >> >> I will try to hold out hope for the Picard series, despite the same >> “creative” team being behind it, it has a chance to expand the universe of >> Trek instead of sinking inward into its past. And while Michelle Yeoh is a >> favorite, a series about Section 31 sounds even less Trek-like than >> Discovery. >> >> >> Personally, I'm still enjoying this more than most. Episode 2 feels very >> old-Trek with an away party going down to a planet in disguise. Yes, >> there's an ongoing story arc, but that's to be expected. Of course, this >> side of the pond we're lucky that we don't need a whole other TV >> subscription to essentially watch just this one show. It's on Netflix here >> thankfully. >> >> >> Adam >> >> On Sat, Jan 26, 2019 at 5:44 AM Kevin M. <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >> It was free on the CBS All Access YouTube channel so I watched. It is >> better than it was when I stopped watching last season, but that's not >> saying much. There wasn't much to the Pike character in the original Trek >> pilot, but this Pike character was nothing like what little there was in >> the pilot (i.e.- in the pilot, Pike remarked he wasn't used to having women >> on the bridge, but didn't balk at Discovery's nearly all female bridge >> crew, supposedly 9 or 10 years earlier). Frankly, Discovery Pike is closer >> to early Kirk, but whatever. Still not paying for All Access to watch more >> episodes. >> >> Free on YouTube (limited time only) >> >> https://youtu.be/8rvMqRrtmkY >> >> -- >> Kevin M. (RPCV) >> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "TVorNotTV" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
