A dramatic rumination on the scars of war which questions whether someone can ever be absolved of their most heinous sins. At least that's what the episode is aiming for. It gets there better than I would ever have expected the SNW writers to be capable of but there's still much to be desired. The ultimate note this ends on isn't one of hope or optimism but pessimism. Mbenga just gets away with premeditated murder for reasons the episode wants us to believe were, if not noble, then at least acceptable.
MBenga's victim was a war criminal, one seeking to reform himself in the aftermath of his crimes by becoming a respected ambassador for peace. Mbenga, a field medic during the war directly effected by the former's actions, left mentally scarred by acts he did in response. It's all good set up. However the ending is ultimately anti-Trek in nature. This is an ending Gene Rodenberry would have cut and replaced with an aspirational note showing MBenga struggling but ultimately rising above his petty desire for "justice" in the form of vengeance. Maybe he does still stab him but then he'd follow that by using every medical trick in his arsenal to save the Klingon's life. He'd throw himself on the mercy of his captain and plead forgiveness for his transgression and be given punishment but still a second chance for fixing his grievous mistake. The episode could have ended with Mbenga and the Klingon having some deep, bedside conversation in the med bay that left it ambivalent as to the moral quandary but hopeful that this is a world where even these mortal enemies can resolve their differences.
Instead Mbenga shanks the dude and gets away with it, with Nurse Chapel strait up lying to Pike that she saw the whole thing when all she saw were blurry silhouettes through frosted glass. Even worse we have an epilogue where Mbenga presents his vigilante style reasoning as if he was morally right to kill the ambassador. If this were some other IP this would have been a good episode however it fails as a Star Trek episode because it doesn't even try to present an attempt at aspirational resolution. The message is killing someone you believe to be evil is acceptable, due process and redemption be damned. That's just not what Star Trek is supposed to be about.
All in all a competent episode but it's DNA is just not Star Trek.
Angus ain't so bad. He trolls for the lulz tho and sometimes gets on people's nerves but I don't think he's ever trying to be mean, just comes off that way sometimes. Once in a while he gets in a laugh out loud funny remark that makes the rest more worth it.
If you're into 50s-70s stuff and haven't heard of them already maybe check out 3 Hür-El, a Turkish band with a 60s-70s Psychedelic sound (a track, another track).
Ok, just finished it. IMO the only people who will like this episode are people who love musicals or shows like American Idol.
I'm someone with the potential to like a musical, I loved the Buffy The Vampire Slayer musical episode and still revisit some of those songs some 22 years later (I'm not adverse to belting out a mean rendition of "Sweet's Song" in the shower). This episode though very rarely escaped the cringe zone IMO, Nurse Chapel's song was the only standout as it had a melody that wasn't derived from the stale template of modern pop music. Overall though the biggest emotions I felt through this episode were boredom and cringe. It really dragged at certain points.
As far as the story of the episode the musical-ness is explained by the excitation of an "improbability field" near the ship then Uhura and Spock tried transmitting music at it. A bit of nomenclature that continues NuTrek's tradition of ripping things off by ripping of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy's "Infinite Improbability Drive". Really the explanation of this whole thing was just some bullshit to make singing, dancing Spock and Kirk happen. I know I'll never rewatch or re-listen to any part of this cringefest ever again. This one was strait up painful to sit through.
LK-99 is the supposed room temperature ambient pressure super conductor that's Nobel-Prize-worthy big if true. The race is on to replicate the original experiment and fully verify the claims that LK-99 is a true room temperature superconductor. If LK-99 holds up, expect some futuristic tech to emerge afterwards along with lossless power grids, levitating trains that put current maglev to shame, faster, smaller and more efficient computers and more accurate medical imaging tech. Could even be the key to fully unlock fusion energy. So y'know, no biggie.
A dramatic rumination on the scars of war which questions whether someone can ever be absolved of their most heinous sins. At least that's what the episode is aiming for. It gets there better than I would ever have expected the SNW writers to be capable of but there's still much to be desired. The ultimate note this ends on isn't one of hope or optimism but pessimism. Mbenga just gets away with premeditated murder for reasons the episode wants us to believe were, if not noble, then at least acceptable.
MBenga's victim was a war criminal, one seeking to reform himself in the aftermath of his crimes by becoming a respected ambassador for peace. Mbenga, a field medic during the war directly effected by the former's actions, left mentally scarred by acts he did in response. It's all good set up. However the ending is ultimately anti-Trek in nature. This is an ending Gene Rodenberry would have cut and replaced with an aspirational note showing MBenga struggling but ultimately rising above his petty desire for "justice" in the form of vengeance. Maybe he does still stab him but then he'd follow that by using every medical trick in his arsenal to save the Klingon's life. He'd throw himself on the mercy of his captain and plead forgiveness for his transgression and be given punishment but still a second chance for fixing his grievous mistake. The episode could have ended with Mbenga and the Klingon having some deep, bedside conversation in the med bay that left it ambivalent as to the moral quandary but hopeful that this is a world where even these mortal enemies can resolve their differences.
Instead Mbenga shanks the dude and gets away with it, with Nurse Chapel strait up lying to Pike that she saw the whole thing when all she saw were blurry silhouettes through frosted glass. Even worse we have an epilogue where Mbenga presents his vigilante style reasoning as if he was morally right to kill the ambassador. If this were some other IP this would have been a good episode however it fails as a Star Trek episode because it doesn't even try to present an attempt at aspirational resolution. The message is killing someone you believe to be evil is acceptable, due process and redemption be damned. That's just not what Star Trek is supposed to be about.
All in all a competent episode but it's DNA is just not Star Trek.
$FUJ to 100k by end of year. Can't go tits up.
American song about the same topic.
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Geeeeeeeeeeez Edit: In light of everyone else being all supportive maybe not the best first reaction. I do hope things improve for ya mate.
Angus ain't so bad. He trolls for the lulz tho and sometimes gets on people's nerves but I don't think he's ever trying to be mean, just comes off that way sometimes. Once in a while he gets in a laugh out loud funny remark that makes the rest more worth it.
Hint hint, Odysee embed fix, hint hint anvil.
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OK, was trying to broker some peace, nevermind
C'mon man, I made a whole /s/featurerequest sub for these posts.
Good luck attracting investment mate.
Wouldn't that have the effect of unmasking anon users?
If you're into 50s-70s stuff and haven't heard of them already maybe check out 3 Hür-El, a Turkish band with a 60s-70s Psychedelic sound (a track, another track).
According to the last time my doctor gave me grief I'm about 743 years old.
Gratz mate. Glad to hear it.
Gonna watch it when I eat lunch in a few, I expect it to be bad too. Will report back.
Ok, just finished it. IMO the only people who will like this episode are people who love musicals or shows like American Idol.
I'm someone with the potential to like a musical, I loved the Buffy The Vampire Slayer musical episode and still revisit some of those songs some 22 years later (I'm not adverse to belting out a mean rendition of "Sweet's Song" in the shower). This episode though very rarely escaped the cringe zone IMO, Nurse Chapel's song was the only standout as it had a melody that wasn't derived from the stale template of modern pop music. Overall though the biggest emotions I felt through this episode were boredom and cringe. It really dragged at certain points.
As far as the story of the episode the musical-ness is explained by the excitation of an "improbability field" near the ship then Uhura and Spock tried transmitting music at it. A bit of nomenclature that continues NuTrek's tradition of ripping things off by ripping of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy's "Infinite Improbability Drive". Really the explanation of this whole thing was just some bullshit to make singing, dancing Spock and Kirk happen. I know I'll never rewatch or re-listen to any part of this cringefest ever again. This one was strait up painful to sit through.
The front page is missing both a link to the Discord and a link to the list of subchans. Bet a lot of folks don't know either exist.
Lady that's not a "drawer" that's an arsenal. But hey, you must be fun to date.
LK-99 is the supposed room temperature ambient pressure super conductor that's Nobel-Prize-worthy big if true. The race is on to replicate the original experiment and fully verify the claims that LK-99 is a true room temperature superconductor. If LK-99 holds up, expect some futuristic tech to emerge afterwards along with lossless power grids, levitating trains that put current maglev to shame, faster, smaller and more efficient computers and more accurate medical imaging tech. Could even be the key to fully unlock fusion energy. So y'know, no biggie.
The study above is one of the first to successfully reproduce a portion of the original findings and they expect more to come. A great article on LK-99 here: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/scramble-to-validate-superconductor-breakthrough-confirms-zero-resistance-with-a-catch