I adore this episode, especially later on when the SNW crew go fan crazy over the NX-01 crew with those Boimler and Mariner grinning in the background. That and Boim’s Section 31 fast walk
I’ve watched this episode twice and I’m about to watch it a third time since you reminded me about it
Everyone keeps saying “this episode” but I don’t know which series or which episode y’all are referring to lol
“Those Old Scientists” - Strange New Worlds S2E07. It’s a crossover with Lower Decks and it’s awesome.
Oh what! I definitely need to get caught up!
It’s just going to keep getting better, just wait and see.
Thanks!
The next few years under captain Pike will have to be very harsh on Spock to get him to Nimoy’s look
young Leonard Nemoy was a pretty handsome dude.
CGI jowls!
Is this what this show is like?
Lower Decks is an animated comedy. It’s Star Trek in a new genre. They speak very fast, very loudly, and try to make every line at least a little funny, often sliding in obscure references to Trek lore. Think Futurama or Rick and Morty.
Strange New Worlds is a modern take on classic Star Trek, which is much more buttoned-up. It’s true to the more serious tone of previous live-action Trek series.
This is from the crossover episode, where two Lower Decks characters appeared in Strange New Worlds. The contrast between them and the Enterprise crew was a riot, and IMHO they didn’t overdo it; they got it just right. It’s everything I could have hoped for as a fan of both of these two very different series.
I recommend both shows.
Lower Decks is certainly fast, loud and in-your-face funny. But what I was completely not expecting is for it to be so respectful and adoring of what came before in the franchise. I thought originally, ah yeah one of those “fast edgy animated comedies”, it surely would be derisive and treat Trek like a joke itself, but actually, no it does not. It’s a comedy set in the Trek universe, it’s not a comedy where Trek is the punchline.
Mike McMahan is a lifelong Trekkie and it shows! Whilst I do wish the references to other shows were toned down a smidge in favour of building new lore I always enjoy them hah. “Not the 'Gazer!”
I feel the same way. The writers do such a good job integrating ST lore that it just really displays their knowledge and respect for the universe.
Off the top of my head:
- random references to made up Star Trek words and concepts, like Ponfarr and Chadeetch (I’m not looking these words up)
- getting to revisit 1 off species. Everyone loves the metaphor aliens (TEMBA ARMS WIDE OPEN) so it’s fun to bring them back and poke fun. It’s basically the Airplane scene (“Excuse me miss, I speak jive.”)
- Characters are very aware of various ways to die as red shirt
It’s a fun show
Weeell, SNW is only on season 2 and we’ve already had an animated crossover, a musical episode, two characters doing Star Trek mythbusters, a double date sitcom setup with Spock and a renfair episode.
SNW isn’t a self-parody, but it’s certainly aiming for TOS’ blend of camp and speculative sci-fi more than the “serious tone” of 90s Trek, if that’s how we want to describe it.
Where did people get the idea that 90s Trek was serious?
Do people not remember Lwaxana Troi? Q being Marvel’s Loki?
I think this is because TNG had a very serious tone, and very ridiculous plots. Surface level they spent a lot of time adjusting shirts and trying to act prim and respectful with horns and orchestra in the background, then someone turns into a spider.
I think this causes people to see different things in it.
Ironically, this is pretty much how McMahan got Lower Decks. He used to write the TNG Season 8 Twitter, where he’d post fake synopses for his imagined episodes. It was almost always a fairly serious A-plot and a hilariously bananas B-plot.
Agreed. I’m using serious here to meet the previous poster halfway and… well, because yeah, if you compare it to TOS I guess it’s more serious than that.
In any case, TOS and TNG (and especially DS9 and Voyager) are on different tones and SNW is, appropriately, aiming for modern TOS, not modern TNG.
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Lol no that was a unique (but still great) episode
@xusontha @ruckblack Well, it’s very in line with LD but unique for SNW. It’s the incongruity that makes it a riot.
this is a great episode! when she comes through the portal. I always think “oh gawd, here we go”. the characters are played flawlessly and really bring the shows together in a way that few are able to achieve.
I could watch Boimler hop in the saddle and exclaim “Riker” over, and over…
Is that Bill?
I loved this crossover, but Spock’s casting was very rough. He’s a talented actor, but he’s not Spock…
TOS is unwatchable to me so Ethan Peck has become the Spock for me lol
TOS is really rough, but what about the movies? Some of those were really great. That’s the main reason Leonard Nimoy is Spock to me
Ah fair. I’ve never seen any of the Star Trek movies 😅
I started with Discovery, I liked it at the time and jumped back to TNG and went from there. I ended up skipping like half of TNG and all of Voyager though 💀
Start with “wrath of kahn”. Thank me later.
Or don’t I’m not your dad.
That sounds like something my dad would say…
He’s not Spock…
Why?
IMO he plays the Spock perfectly and i watched and love TOS in all its glory.
He’s not Leonard and doesn’t need to be.
These are all personal opinions anyway, but find me any one who didn’t feel it, when he went
“I’d like this ship to fly. Now!”
When I think of Spock in the original series (#TOS), I find more than a few things implausible.
Would, for example, Spock really know impossible odds with multiple unknown variables to several decimal places? More seriously, in TOS, Spock never satisfactorily explained the Vulcan logic for logic. They’ve addressed this since, but I had realized that the attachment to life is emotional, not logical, and therefore concluded that in denying emotion, Vulcans could have no logical reason to live.
Even Leonard Nimoy’s Spock addressed some of this in the movies, and they aren’t quoting odds to ludicrous precision anymore, so I find the more recent iterations of Spock much more believable.
As for the acting, Ethan Peck plays a younger, less experienced Spock. Given Vulcan lifespans, this probably shouldn’t make quite the difference we see. But that’s how I’ve accounted for that difference and I’ve been interested in seeing the backstory.
In addition to less experience, his human side is still very present and interfering in ways that you’ll never see again in TOS.
To me I feel like Ethan peck is actually very good at acting as Spock, but the writing is extremely unspock like and so it doesn’t feel right. Kirk’s writing also seems more like the mythos of Kirk remembered as by the 24th century than the actual buttoned up officer of the 23rd.
I know boimler’s hair is purple in lower decks, but I didn’t expect it to be purple in live action for some reason and I couldn’t stop thinking about how weird it was whenever he was on screen. Like, the Simpsons have yellow skin while animated but if they were real life people it wouldn’t be neon yellow. Am I crazy?
Turns out that’s not just an animation convention, Boimler’s hair really is purple. He dyes it.
