My thoughts on the first two episodes of Star Trek Strange New Worlds season 3 as well as implications for the rest of the season.
Warning: (obviously) spoilers of the above episodes under the cut
(minor edits made in different colors since original posting)
3x01 Hegemony Part II:
at last, the long awaited conclusion to the cliffhanger from the Season 2 finale
Honestly, I like how they wrapped up the Gorn storyline while still keeping an opening for Kirk to eventually deal with in TOS. The trick with the light signals to put the Gorn into hibernation was a great way to end the conflict with minimal casualties. Do I think it was a little rushed? Sure. This arc had enough going on that it could have been stretched to at least one more episode to fully flesh it out, but I think that they did pretty well for mushing it all into one
Watching Pike struggle between warning the Federation of the impending invasion and risk never saving his crew/the colonists again was definitely another defining "captain moment" for his characterization. I think they handled that okay (though they did give him a cop-out with La'an making contact, giving him the excuse to force a confrontation where they were)
I was actually surprised at how much blood (and gore. ish) they had with Erica's injuries. I mean, I knew none of them were going to die (thanks to the trailer), but I didn't think they would actually go through with such severe injuries. I also can't wait to see how they deal with Erica's PTSD. They did a good job with her Klingon War ptsd in 2x08, so hopefully they keep that up.
It was also nice to see Sam finally put his xenobiology skills to use. We got a small glimpse of that in "All Those Who Wander", but this was the first time we really got to see him put his skills to use.
I loved seeing Lt Mitchell get more screen time. She's like, the only other main bridge officer that doesn't get the same main character treatment the rest of the cast has. Hopefully, this continues with the rest of the season.
Pelia and Scotty are definitely going to bring a fun dynamic to the show. I mean, it was entertaining enough to see her drive Una up the wall. Now she's got Scotty to mess with too. Though I do have some concerns with them bringing even more of the TOS crew into the main lineup. I'm mainly worried that they're now going to just use the new characters to prop up the TOS crew, rather than further develop their own stories.
(looking at other posts) I am definitely not the only one disappointed that they didn't bring back M'Benga's transporter buffer trick to buy more time to save Batel. Also, wasn't there a whole thing with that medical bed she was on being the one that had some weird flickering and potential malfunctioning hinted at in both 2x08 and 2x10?
One thing that I was very disappointed we didn't get was a focus on La'an and Una. Getting a closer look at that would have been so good for the plot and character development. I mean, think about it. Una is the one who brought La'an back to herself when she rescued her as a child after the Gorn left her adrift in space. Then, in the last (2? 3? years? I'm pretty sure the show started in 2259, and 3x02 has them in the "centennial" of the federation, making it 2261), they've encountered the Gorn three times (Finnibus III, Valeo Beta V, and now Parnassus Beta), and all three of these times she hasn't been able to be there with La'an. Now, La'an is in the hands of her childhood monsters again and Una isn't there to protect her, again. Whether you ship it as romantic, platonic, or familial, there is no denying that the bond and relationship between the two is strong, and we didn't even get a reunion scene? It feels like such a disservice to their characters that we didn't get Una crashing out over losing La'an again, or La'an desperately wanting the security of Una's presence with her. This episode focused so much on Christine/Spock and Pike/Batel that pretty much all the other relationships/dynamics got pushed to the side.
3x02 Wedding Bell Blues:
I'm sorry, but this episode made me lose a lot of respect towards Chapel. I mean, 3x01 has her telling Spock that they were taking a break "as people, not as us", and yet three months later she comes back with her new boyfriend in tow? So what if she decided that she no longer wanted to pursue a romantic relationship with Spock. That is totally valid. But bringing her new boyfriend to the Enterprise the first time they're going to see each other after 3 months of no contact? That was cold. And a dick move. She could have at least told Spock she no longer wished to pursue a relationship in private and then wait a while before parading her new boyfriend in front of him and the Enterprise Family. I mean, I personally was never a fan of the Spock/Christine relationship, mainly because it felt like it was only there for them to be the messy, dramatic relationship of the show. But I think the writers did a horrible job handling the relationship and its ending.
EDIT 7/23: I would like to clarify that my interpretation of that conversation between Spock and Christine at the end of 3x01 was that Christine saying that they are taking a break as "separate people" and with "no commitments" was her saying that they should take this time to focus on their careers and personal developments, and then reassess the state of their relationship as a pair after the three months are over.
Also, now I have concerns of La'an. While I have no problems with her gaining a new appreciation of life now that she has finally defeated her literal childhood monsters, I am worried with where it looks like the writers are taking her character. I'm worried that they're going to take all the things that made La'an, well, La'an, and turn her into someone completely different. Instead of smoothing some of her edges and growing as a stronger character, it feels like they're taking them all away, softening her up, and calling it character development. Also, it feels like their using this "new outlook on life" to completely skip over the trauma of the events of Hegemony. And don't get me started on the La'an/Spock implications. While, on it's own, I don't have a problem with the ship, if they go through with it, it's like they're reducing La'an's character to be that her only purpose is to be a messy romantic option for the main TOS boys.
I'm kind of ambivalent on the whole "Q showing up in the 23rd century before TNG". On one hand, it further establishes non-linearity of the Q. On the other, it kind of felt forced that they so directly brought it in this early in the timeline.
I will admit I'm a bit confused over Trelane now. Are they implying that he is Q Junior (from Voyager)? Or just that Trelane was raised/taught by Q?
I love the Marie-Chris-Una dynamics. Like, there is no jealousy or resentment between any of them (specifically looking at Marie and Una). I am so grateful they didn't turn them into some bitter love triangle filled with resentment and divided loyalties (which I was worried was going to happen after Ad Astra). Marie and Chris have a great romantic relationship, while Una and Chris have a great working relationship, and Una and Marie have great respect towards each other.
Edit 7/23: I am also curious to see whether they are going to bring up the Una/Chapel/Batel "Illyrian blood treatment" issue again, or if that's just going to be glossed over and forgotten about, especially since by 3x02 it's been 3 months and Una's still giving blood while Christine has been (presumably) undisturbed during her fellowship and Marie is about to go back to captaining a starship again.
Nyota and Beto teaming up and teasing Erica was definitely some light-hearted fun. It will be fun to see how he (and the new Medical Ensign, and the four-armed bartender) will mic with the crew as the season goes on.
Again, I can't wait to see how they develop Erica's character this season with her new trauma. Hopefully they handle it well and don't just gloss over it (like they often do).
One thing in SNW that kind of irks me is that the writers appear to only treat M'Benga, Erica, and Christine as veterans of the Klingon War. I know the USS Enterprise didn't participate in the War, but they had a lot of change-over in the crew between the end of the War and the beginning of S1. I mean, George Kirk, La'an, Hemmer, Pelia, Jenna Mitchell, all of them joined the crew after 2258. Unless they all were on the other Constitution-class ships, they all would have also been part of the war effort, yet the writers seem to not acknowledge that.
