This was my first episode of this show that I happened to catch. Some good dialog and acting, some not so much, and some of both that was unnecessarily difficult to understand due to a combination of speed-slurring accents, mumble acting, and very wide dynamic range audio mastering. It really wants to be a film, despite not quite knowing what to do with its own cameras or aspect ratio. I like the style it's going for, but it's not quite there. Really, quite uneven in ways that it doesn't have an excuse to be. Still, it's definitely better than anything "Trek" branded that we've had in over a decade.
This plot was executed better in Stargate SG-1. There, it didn't seem like an arbitrary hand wave to set up the moral conflict. Here, they explain nothing. Absolutely nothing. It's all a straight copy of the short story The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas, which, incidentally, was read by DS9's Nana Visitor in one short story audiobook release. In SG-1, they gave a reason why it was necessary, whereas here it's just "we don't know, ~the ancestors~ made it". They also don't show (the writers didn't bother to come up with the inside of the mystery box) how or why "the machine" needed a child's brain, or—more importantly—what it even fucking does, and how that enables their quantum gobbledygook tech, which I am now convinced was nothing but headline-gleaning buzzword injection. That's almost JJ Abrams tier writing. Either they knew what they were ripping off, and didn't want to come up with the exact same explanation, or they read the short story and didn't bother coming up with one because they're incompetent writers.
The surrounding drama was nice, though, and it was cute seeing Lindy Booth, unexpectedly, in Star Trek.
Also, no, I can't let it go. She stupidly gets too close to the insurgent traitor, then gets grabbed and nearly gets her throat slit, but then the middle-aged dignitary chick maneuvers her way and out-Judos her palace guard. Looks like, not only is she a bad judge of loyalty, but also didn't bother training any of them how to fight (remember, he did just win a fight with every other guard along the way). This is heavy handed and perfunctory writing, and it makes it difficult to take it seriously, or to feel any real sense of tension when the writers just do whatever they want, anyway, and you can see their will in every action. It's the same shit every time, now. Everyone is an action hero, because other skills don't matter and make the character worthless and weak if they can't wrestle a trained guard or win a contest of strength against the bad guy. Thank, MCU.
@lnero If you're curious about what SG-1 episode I'm referring to, I'd suggest you just watch season 3 if you haven't. If you have, the title is "Learning Curve", with Heather E. Ash credited as the episode's writer.
Review by LNeroBlockedParent2023-07-02T03:22:10Z
This was my first episode of this show that I happened to catch. Some good dialog and acting, some not so much, and some of both that was unnecessarily difficult to understand due to a combination of speed-slurring accents, mumble acting, and very wide dynamic range audio mastering. It really wants to be a film, despite not quite knowing what to do with its own cameras or aspect ratio. I like the style it's going for, but it's not quite there. Really, quite uneven in ways that it doesn't have an excuse to be. Still, it's definitely better than anything "Trek" branded that we've had in over a decade.
This plot was executed better in Stargate SG-1. There, it didn't seem like an arbitrary hand wave to set up the moral conflict. Here, they explain nothing. Absolutely nothing. It's all a straight copy of the short story The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas, which, incidentally, was read by DS9's Nana Visitor in one short story audiobook release. In SG-1, they gave a reason why it was necessary, whereas here it's just "we don't know, ~the ancestors~ made it". They also don't show (the writers didn't bother to come up with the inside of the mystery box) how or why "the machine" needed a child's brain, or—more importantly—what it even fucking does, and how that enables their quantum gobbledygook tech, which I am now convinced was nothing but headline-gleaning buzzword injection. That's almost JJ Abrams tier writing. Either they knew what they were ripping off, and didn't want to come up with the exact same explanation, or they read the short story and didn't bother coming up with one because they're incompetent writers.
The surrounding drama was nice, though, and it was cute seeing Lindy Booth, unexpectedly, in Star Trek.
Also, no, I can't let it go. She stupidly gets too close to the insurgent traitor, then gets grabbed and nearly gets her throat slit, but then the middle-aged dignitary chick maneuvers her way and out-Judos her palace guard. Looks like, not only is she a bad judge of loyalty, but also didn't bother training any of them how to fight (remember, he did just win a fight with every other guard along the way). This is heavy handed and perfunctory writing, and it makes it difficult to take it seriously, or to feel any real sense of tension when the writers just do whatever they want, anyway, and you can see their will in every action. It's the same shit every time, now. Everyone is an action hero, because other skills don't matter and make the character worthless and weak if they can't wrestle a trained guard or win a contest of strength against the bad guy. Thank, MCU.