@lefthandedguitarist LOVING Pike's hair!!!
@lefthandedguitarist I came here to say what you mentioned in your first sentence (although in a far less amusing way). This could have easily passed by as a TNG episode, the only difference being the amount of hair, regarding the captain. Pike's hair is turning into its own character, always there, always watching, maybe one episode it'll decide to take things into its own hands (it will most definitely develop hands, by then).
@lefthandedguitarist Except that they didn't explain anything, and it ended being a mystery box in the end. It was a half-baked thought experiment with a decent drama encircling it.
I've also heard and seen the same story twice before— both decades old. Once in a short story, which this is just a straight copy of, and later on a S3 episode of SG-1, which I'm sure you're familiar with. They actually bother to write out a plausible explanation in the SG-1 episode. Here, it's just "because the ancestors", without explaining the why, where, or the how.
We're still far from progressing past where TNG set the bar. This episode is still crawling its way up the hill to get there, but people are just pleased it's not as bad as the writing on Discovery.
Shout by LeftHandedGuitaristBlockedParent2022-06-09T19:44:40Z
That was surely one of the Star Trekkiest episodes that ever Star Trekked. I could easily picture this being a TNG story. Hard hitting, tough, highly watchable. Pike's hair continues to impress.