strange new worlds is getting on my nerves fr.
I'm going to drag this show right now, i'll get to better things at the end.
Absolutely loathe the "serious logical woman" NEEDS to let her hair down, be "hot", and FEEL like a girl~ to be a fully developed human being and not Traumatized.
I think there is a billion other ways La'an couldve been developed and explored life while she gently rediscovered the world, but recently there is a trend in TV where this "stoic woman matures into a REAL woman" is the 2020s version of "nerd girl takes off her glasses and is a HOT Real woman finally" of the 1990s. It just leaves a bad taste in the mouth. It's okay for women to have a personality that isn't silly or sweet, sexy or in love.
She was already those things in her own way - and they're developing her away from her core recognizable personality to make her a love interest which is just predictable at this point. I actually don't believe recently healing La'an would be doing the tango with Spock (a character who has no chemistry or conversations with her). That shot of their crotches will forever be burned in my memory as one of the top most cringe het things I ever had to watch. Makes me like and relate to her a lot less as a character and i find her stock boring now.
Ethan Peck as Spock on the holodeck was pitch perfect for Nimoy - no wonder they casted him. It's a tragedy they waste it on every other thing in the world including a frankly repellent jump to spock/la'an immediately after the equally as grating spock/chapel, and spock/t'pring (which was never resolved and is his only canon relationship). Spock is quite literally never doing science - he's dancing tango (just bizarre sorry, i don't believe spock would. they could've found something else to occupy his creativity) or in sickbay replacing M'Benga so he and Christine can stare at each other awkwardly.
I think Paul Wesley's TOS!Kirk impression was corny, sorry. Kirk on TOS was emphatically genuine and endearing. Although I did like Wesley in the holodeck scenes! He was funny. But I am getting tired of seeing 1 million alter-Kirks. Just put the real one in and make him have conversations with Sam. If you're never going to give us Spock and Kirk content, which is why the biggest part of your audience watches your show (speaking of cancellations) then give us some Kirk and Sam.
Things I liked: Una always, Pike was so funny on the holodeck, Uhura's monologue about Trek, Scotty and Uhura friendship is so natural and cute, Erica back on the bridge, M'benga's monologue on the holodeck.
Rolling my eyes into the sea that La'an who is somehow related to Khan (still dont get that) is going to be in a Vampire Diaries love triangle with Spock and Kirk, who are going to start out their dynamic jealous of one another (??) with La'an either dying or eventually being like "you know im out but you two should stay friends!!"
Just like, dull.
I think i'm done with strange new worlds for now. I can't handle the Spock assassination (as a prequel it is unconvincing). His constant female (implied het) love interests (aka every woman on the crew) are yes, disrespectful to the audience which has embraced Spock as some manner of queer icon for over 60 years.
You dont get to call yourself Trek if you don't include queer Spock. And it isn't fan-canon, it's canon-canon which has kept Trek relevant for over half a century and made CEOs money off those starry-eye kids, who are waxed poetic about in the episode, who just want to see a future where they are included...
but apparently that's still too much to ask for in 2025.
