Strange New Worlds Season 2 Rewatch!

[00:00:09] Is this thing on? Hello, hello. The Open Pike Night, the Strange New Worlds Podcast, where your calls are the prime directive. I'm your host, John T. Boulds, here tonight to talk Season 2 of Strange New Worlds.

[00:00:37] That's right, we went back and re-watched, re-watched the whole series before Season 4 drops one month from today. So if you're listening on the day this drops, which is the 23rd of June, but of course joining me as always are my co-hosts. The man who absolutely would just let himself suffocate to make a point, Jesse Bailey. Winning an argument is the greatest feeling in the world. And when you don't win a lot of them, you chase that high.

[00:01:08] And the man who would absolutely steal a starship just because there might be a mystery, Cameron Harrison. Ruh-roh shaggy! I don't know. Call me instant Scooby this episode. Okay, instant Scooby. We're doing it. And yeah, we got some callers on stage joining us tonight. We are talking Strange New Worlds Season 2 re-watch. How did it feel to go back and watch this season, guys?

[00:01:39] More enlightening than I expected. I kind of figured one would be because it had been so long since I'd watched one, especially some of the episodes. Two, it felt pressure to me for some reason. But there's a lot I picked up. Yeah? I know every episode I watch is the best episode I've ever seen. And every season is my favorite season. But Season 2 might be my favorite season right now. Season 2 is a pretty damn good season, man. Yeah.

[00:02:07] And like, I love Season 3, obviously. And the Ortegas episode, unparalleled. But, like, episode to episode, I think pound for pound is how they would say it in the boxing world. Season 2 might be throwing the most knockout punches. Which is interesting because the first episode of Season 2 is maybe the least strong episode of Season 2. Not that it's bad.

[00:02:36] It's just that there are so many bangers in this season. I'm really excited to talk about it. Excellent. Excellent. Well, we do have some great callers on stage tonight. So let's hear from one of them first. Here is Val. Hey, Open Pike Night. This is Val. In re-watching Season 2, Among the Lotus Eaters remains an obvious favorite. Yes. I mean, Ortegas saves the day. But actually, I wanted to talk about the Broken Circle and Pellia. In such a cast of amazing characters, adding another would be a questionable choice.

[00:03:03] But Pellia became a favorite from the moment she walked on the bridge, helping instruct them how to steal the Enterprise. Adding her character with her sort of unstructured chaos and wisdom works surprisingly well. Plus, they managed to give her a great backstory with her work in the Academy and her knowledge of Spock's mom. Right? The episode in general is great. We get Jenna Mitchell being a critical part of the team. We get to see Spock in command.

[00:03:28] And we have the intention of wondering how Omega and Chappell would escape, though we obviously know they would. But Pellia stands out with her desire to eventually, we find out, how will Spock steal the Enterprise? Because she was bored. All right. That's it. Thanks. Val, your mind to my mind. I mean, like one, among the Lotus Eaters, yes. But two, like those were pretty much all my notes for Broken Circle. I did put specifically, Pellia is so horny to serve on this ship.

[00:03:58] Like, at the end, she is just so desperate to get with this crew. I love it so much. I wish she had had more to do that episode. Like, I forgot how good her introduction was. That was one thing where I was like, oh yeah, they introduced her in such a fun way. And once they steal the Enterprise, she's kind of gone for the episode. I'm like, she's on the ship. She is here. She wanted to go on this mission and let her do something. I think one of the things that Val brought up, which is really pertinent here, and it's the way that she meshes with the crew.

[00:04:28] I think she would only work on a ship commanded by Pike. Like, he's like exactly the right kind of leadership style to have this person there and to get the most out of her. Because I'm... Hear me out. No, you put her in a Picard ship and he's treating her like Monsana the whole time. Oh, 100%. You put her with Sisko and he's like, quarantine her. She'd get along better with Sisko. Yeah. I'd watch that.

[00:04:57] I think she'd get along great with Dax. Oh, gotcha. But if she didn't know Sisko, I think he would be like, not on the same page too frequently. I would love to see her. If Sisko can get along with Quark, he can get along with Pellia. Does he get along with Quark or does he tolerate Quark? He knows how to use Quark. Well, anyways, I think she is a perfect fit. Yes. And I disagree with Cameron. It's not for the first time.

[00:05:26] I also, I mean, well, speaking of Deep Space Nine though, also I loved, I forgot how integral Mitchell was to the ceiling of the Enterprise. That was really fun to see. It's a shame we're not going to see more of her going forward. I understand schedules and everything. But I mean, if this were a syndicated show on TV, she would wind up becoming Strangely Worlds as O'Brien. Oh, 100%. Oh, yes. Yeah. That I agree with completely. Yeah. It's, we definitely need to do a celebration of Mitchell now that we know we've seen, seen all we're going to see.

[00:05:56] So, um, I, I tried, I tried with Among the Lotus Eaters. I was like, open mind, open heart. See if this episode is as good as everybody says it is. I'm just, I'm still just meh. Besides the Ortega's part, everything on the planet is so boring to me. It's just, it's not boring. I'm sorry. Not boring. It is. What is it? It's just not that interesting. It doesn't captivate me, I suppose.

[00:06:25] It doesn't, it's like, okay, that stuff that happens, I, I just don't feel the emotional weight of it so much. I think, for me, it's, it's very 1970s sci-fi, right? Like, we're going to put the in front of something that happened and pretend that that's like a common vernacular, right? Like, the forgetting, the festival, the palace. Yeah. Like, so it feels a little Logan's run in some places.

[00:06:55] I like that. With the style. And yeah, I don't, I'm not saying that's necessarily a bad thing, but it is a little bit out of place with the modernity of the rest of the show. And I, I could see where that would bump some folks. I, I really liked it. I don't, I don't know. I like, I'm on the page of, it's not my favorite episode of the season by kind of a long shot, but I don't dislike it really.

[00:07:22] I mean, the guest actor in that episode is really good. Yeah. He's so good. And like the scene where he's talking about, like, would you rather, like, if you have pain in your life, wouldn't you rather just forget that? Like that whole scene in the tent, I'm like, yes, this is like 1960s and seven science fiction novels dropped in the space adventure episode where Pike is about to go fucking crazy and like reveal so much about his character that I think makes him a much more interesting character and ties him to the Jeffrey Hunter Pike in a way that no other episode does.

[00:07:52] It's just, I mean, I, you know, you can go back and listen to our episode on my, I love it. I just watching it. I was like, well, this hold up and look, I get it. Those old scientists is amazing. Under the Cloak of War is amazing. There's definitely splashier, but there's just something about like the confidence and the well-structured classic Trek story that is among the Lotus Eaters and a really good AB story that intertwines. I think. Those are really good ways to describe it.

[00:08:16] I think if anything, like not a failure of it, but like an, uh, it's too successful in proving that Star Trek five could have been 40 minutes long and been fine. True. Also, I forgot how pretty it is. There are some shots down on Rytos 7. The planet is very pretty. Amazing. Yeah. Yeah. And, and, and going to the broken circle, like, yes, it's, I'm never going to make the argument.

[00:08:43] It's a great ep, like the, you know, a standout episode of the season. It is a weird, it's weird that it's an odd bottle episode because it shouldn't be because it's not like a cliffhanger. It's not closing a part two, but I feel like Una's trial really resets. It's like, all right, here's this, here's this pretty good, you know, kind of fun adventure. We're introducing new characters. Like we said, Mitchell Pellia, like we, and we, and it's fun with, it's just a, it's like, there's fun, cool stuff happening.

[00:09:14] Doesn't really matter all that much. All of a sudden it was like, it's like, it's an epic story. It feels like it should be like a feature length movie. The story that they're telling it does kind of like, it's the first half is really good, but yeah, then it's like things get wrapped up quick. And we've talked about like kind of some of the fight scene stuff. Yeah. Yeah. The fight scene. Although, okay. The ship busting out of the ground and, and going to space. I, that shot, I think it has stuck in my brain since I saw it the first time. Yeah.

[00:09:42] And if nothing else, it gives you a good like hint about what's coming up with under the cloak of war. Right. Like this guy has history and he has big feelings TM about it. Yep. Well, so Spock's like performance where Ethan Peck's performance, you know, when he's captaining the ship, but worried about chapel.

[00:10:05] I mean, uh, I'm going to talk a lot about the Spock chapel relationship later, but this is, I think one of the best moments of it where you just like see the panic on his face and like how he's realizing he doesn't know how to separate, like what he should do for the ship and what he should do for his personal feelings. Yeah. There's some good stuff there. And the Klingon drinking scene is fun. Like, I think it's just, it's fun. Yeah. So have, did we talk, why is star base one so close to Jupiter? Why is it not closer to earth? Because it's the first one explosion.

[00:10:36] Wouldn't it be circling earth? I think it's just to give them a deep space base. I think it's just, just once you're out past Jupiter, you're past the Oort cloud or no, not past the Oort cloud, past the asteroid belt. The asteroid belt. Yeah. That's true. Yeah. I was wondering if like, are they handling dangerous explosives there? They don't want to blow up too close to earth? Well, that's my thing. It's before. I mean, warp cores. Yeah. It's before they adopted the deep space numbering system, right? This was just space. And back then that was really far out there. Yeah.

[00:11:05] Back then, but like, I don't think technically Jupiter or anybody would say is deep space. Right. No. You're in the solar system. That's what I'm saying. It's the first one because it's right there. I feel like the first one has been destroyed since then. But no, they said that was because they had the plants and everything on it. That's true. Okay. Yeah. My only other note for episode one was the Delithian planet. All those unconventional rock formations again, just like we're seeing on that Mars planet or not Mars planet from the trailer for season four.

[00:11:33] So Strangely Worlds loves their floating rocks. Yeah. And I do feel bad for that planet because we know that in the discovery timeline, that planet is not going to have a good time. Yeah. No joke. Actually, it's been completely picked clean and it's just like an amusement park at that point. Yeah. There's like one little and it's like, oh, I guess we're okay. All right. The burn was like a matchstick level on that planet. All right. Let's hear from our next caller. Here is Michelle. Yay.

[00:12:02] Hey, open pike night. So for me, season two is hands down my favorite season of Strange New World so far. A lot of it has to do with vibes as well as the character development and the big swings that really hit for me that season. So trying to pick a favorite is really hard for me. I adored Ad Astra Perspera, which really focused on Una, who I think is a very underutilized character.

[00:12:31] So that episode was awesome. But if I had to pick a favorite, it's a tie. It's a tie between those old scientists and Subspace Rhapsody. And I'm sure both of those episodes are getting a lot of love here because they deserve it. And, you know, seeing the Lower Deckers come to life, uh, Tony Newsom and Jack Quaid knocked it out of the park and Jonathan Frakes directing.

[00:12:55] And then to see the musical episode, I had that soundtrack on repeat in my car that whole summer. There are some bangers on there. The actors did a great job. I love the musical. Um, this kind of is leading into my crusher connection because we know Frakes has been directing in, uh, our new Star Trek shows as well as previous ones. It would have been interesting to see Gates McFadden come in and direct maybe something like

[00:13:23] Subspace Rhapsody, which has choreography, but also, you know, she did Genesis on TNG. So maybe have her direct a Gorn episode. That would have been cool, but you know, c'est la vie. Uh, I'm interested to hear your thoughts on season two. I know there are some forgotten episodes in there that are pretty good as well, but those are my thoughts for now. Live long and prosper. Sub Rosa Rhapsody. I think that's what you're looking for.

[00:13:49] Do you think a Gates McFadden directed episode would just have everybody in like black tops and black pants doing interpretive dance? Like an interpretive dance genre episode. It could happen. Man. I'm not against it. I just, it was a low hanging fruit. Um. And their clown face. I love Ad Astra.

[00:14:11] Like, it's the same thing as, um, it's the same thing as among the Lotus Eaters where you're like, we've seen this episode of Star Trek before, but there is nothing about it that you aren't grateful to have on screen. And I, I will go back to this every time. Like, yes, Una's story, very well told. Love that they included her. But Yatide Badaki as Nira.

[00:14:38] Like, and that's one more thing that fits into the history of Star Trek. You have a guest actor come in for one episode and completely take over the set. Like, that is a Nira episode as much, if not more than it is an Una episode. And, like, to step into a cast of this caliber and command the screen the entire time is absolutely an accomplishment. And I could not look away during that entire episode. And it is.

[00:15:07] I mean, it's essentially court martial, again, from TOS. But it's, or, you know, any lawyer episode from TNG. But it is so well executed. It's, it's difficult not to pick that one as a favorite. And I, I do, I mean, everybody knows my favorite episode from this season, but it was really hard for me. And if, as I'm narrowing it down, like, Ad Astra is way up there on the list. That's good. It's unique in that, like, there's just so many acting scenes in this episode.

[00:15:37] Like, Strange New Worlds is a space adventure. And there's a lot of great acting. We talk all the time about Pike's great acting. But it's usually in, like, scenes that are 30 seconds or less. Like, it's, it's a quip. It's a joke. It's maybe, like, a minute-long speech or, like, reacting to someone's dead. No, they're not. Here we have, like, five to 10 to 15-minute long scenes of just actors acting. And it is fun and refreshing in a way to watch because we don't get a lot of that here. And, yeah, all of them knock out of the park.

[00:16:05] I still, like, my, I, I, where, I have written somewhere, like, this is so good. It's a great setup. Yeah, it's just, like, the whole, at first, like, quarter, first act of it is, like, the way they set up the court drama and all the personal drama is so well done. But every time I watch it, I'm like, okay, what is Nira's plan? What was plan A? What was plan B? When did she shift? Who's having the character arc in this episode? And I'm still not sure.

[00:16:33] Like, I was watching, and I'm like, there is a reading of this episode where Nira was not going to help Una get off until Una apologized for her family moving away when she was a kid. Because she is going to sit down and rest her case. And then Una says the thing about, like, and I need to add this. And Nira turns around and goes, oh? Oh, well, in that case, let me, you know, do my big final speech moment that convinces everyone. I was like, what's going on here?

[00:16:58] So that's, that's maybe the only thing that keeps this from, like, being, yeah, my top, top episode for the season. Awesome. I'm glad Michelle brought these two up because these two, Substance Abuse Rhapsody and Ad Astra, I think are the two that I appreciate more than most on this rewatch, if that makes sense. Like, like, they both moved up a couple notches for me just personally.

[00:17:22] Ad Astra, like you said, again, the plan, the plan for the defense, it's still, like, you're still blaming a kid for what her parents did a little bit. And I, like you said, I don't know what your first thought was before Asylum. But it's still, it is a great, a solid episode. It does hold up after a couple of years. Like, yep, this is a good courtroom episode. It's going to hold up in a couple of years and more and more and more. And Substance Abuse Rhapsody I loved.

[00:17:50] And I just, I love just a little bit more. I guess knowing, knowing more of the stories as they're going to go after that episode for some reason, like that, that makes it a richer episode for me. I mean, the other interesting thing about these two episodes is they're both really the only Una episodes of the season. Maybe the series? The series? Except for the... Except for the Lone Enigma? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. To Michelle's point.

[00:18:17] And yeah, so I remember Substance Abuse going like, okay, is this her arc? Is she just loosening up as a number one? Is that what's going on? That was kind of a weird... I want to talk more about Substance Abuse when we get there, but yeah. Yeah. And callers and listeners, John knows it's called Ghosts of Elyria. He's just referring to the comic because that was also about... Thank you very much. Yeah. I think for me, it doesn't bump because it's like... I mean, you guys know what the courtroom is, right? It is a crucible.

[00:18:46] And in it, we burn away irrelevancies until we're left with the truth. And I think the irrelevancies here are ego and, you know, maybe some misstated or misguided principles. And the ego of Neera is one of the things she has to let go of to be able to win this case. And it's like, it's a nice parallel because Una never apologized. Now, to your point, probably because it wasn't her choice.

[00:19:14] Like, she didn't think like, oh, I should say sorry for that thing I was not in charge of. But it is like an exercise in humility. And even for Starfleet, like, you need to have some humility here. You need to look beyond your written word and go for the spirit of the thing rather than the letter. So I really love that a lot. And Subspace Rhapsody is an all-timer. Like, there's no way around that.

[00:19:42] Like, even if you don't like a musical in Star Trek, you cannot deny the impact that that episode had. Like, it's the first one. It's probably the, well, it's the first one that's exclusively a musical, Cam. There's some DS9 stuff coming up that I think you're really going to like. Shh, shut up. There's... Shut up, man. Yeah, good Venture Brothers reference earlier with Crucible, by the way. You thought I didn't notice that. Oh. You pick them all up. I appreciate that. Oh, yeah.

[00:20:12] But, yeah, I mean, that episode, it has an undeniable impact. And I will say, like, if you are hosting a Star Trek podcast, don't attempt to karaoke songs from that, like, eight hours after it comes out. Because there are no good videos yet. It was so bad. You've got to wait, like, at least a week. Sorry, Greatest Generation. Yeah, I know. They had to sit through that. I think they'd had enough delicious, sweet alcoholic drinks at that point to go, you know what? That was pretty early in the night.

[00:20:42] They were very forgiving in their coverage of that on their episode. So I do appreciate it. Plus, by the end of the night, the song Ben sang, it's like, and you're going to criticize our song choice? Oh, well, some other notes about Ed Astra. You know, I completely forgot about Una's super terrible lawyer at the beginning before she gets Neera. I kind of want a whole thing about that guy. So the lame Jag lawyer.

[00:21:09] One interesting thing about one of the many interesting things about Ed Astra, we need more childhood flashbacks of other characters. I want to see more of the crew as children. This is the only one we've got. I mean, we were going to get, you know, the Under the Cloak of War flashbacks, but that's not to childhood. I want to see Sam and James Kirk as kids. Oh, heck yeah. Cameron's favorite episode ever is Raspers. Oh, man. Yes. Oh, God. No, but yes.

[00:21:38] And then I want the Admiral April version of this season because last episode he's letting Spock off the hook for disobeying orders and stealing a starship because they need their best people to confront the Goran. And now here he is. Starfleet Jag is trying to jail one of his best commanders. And I don't know if I picked up the subtext in his character in this episode last time where he's just like, God fucking damn it. We need her.

[00:22:05] I can't tell everyone about the Goran right now, but just let her off. This is not what we need to be worried about right now. So, I mean, he has this whole drama going on the entire season, too, that I'd love to watch that version. And he's very good, like as a character and also obviously the performance. But like that scene, you can see the struggle on his face where he's like, absolutely, I think Una is great and that we should keep her. But I have to give this answer.

[00:22:34] Like this is, I am caught between a rock and a legal place and I have to give this answer. And you can see that he's like not wanting to do it even as he does it. And he's angry for being put in that position. It's a very human moment from him, which is not something you always get out of admirals in Star Trek. Yeah. Yeah. And then speaking of human moments, just the hug between Pike and Una at the end. It's so good. I think it's like it's those moments that Stranger Worlds really excels in. Yeah.

[00:23:04] Okay. I'll bring it up since we've started talking about two of the three episodes that she's in. Pike and Battelle. Ah. Mm-hmm. I mean, we don't see her a whole lot until the final episode of this season. Like the whole, the private conversations I love. Right. I honestly, I like that even better on this rewatch. I'm like, oh, okay. Yeah, this is good. But, you know, it, it did.

[00:23:30] I'm glad they had her more in this season because it was like, man, they're basing a lot on the little if you just watch season one and then then watch the end of season three. Sure. But there's a whole season in between that. Yeah, they do. They do start doing some of the legwork here. And I can see it. I think Subspace Rhapsody, they started to know where they were going with it. Hmm. And so that's why they put that song in there. Uh-huh. I mean, my notes among the Lotus Eaters, I think is when I really saw like the chemistry.

[00:24:00] And I think Ad Astra builds that like because it makes the relationship seem real. Like, oh, they are adversaries, but they're working through it. Like, like this would kill most relationships, but they're still trying to make it work. And then, yeah, just that the on again, off again of among the Lotus Eaters really lies. Yeah. It's like, I think this is the episode that cemented their relationship. Okay. Okay. To your point, Kim, I think Lotus Eaters is supposed to be that episode. Like, we're going to explicitly tell you she means a lot to him.

[00:24:29] I forgot all about the pendant. Yeah. She gave him the gift. But I think this is their best episode as a couple. I'm curious to see if the pendant reappears in season three now because I had totally forgotten about it when watching season three. Boy. I know Cap'n's like to keep trinkets. Exactly. I bet it's at least on his desk. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Let's hear from our next caller. Here is Melanie. I wonder who she's going to talk about. Hi, guys.

[00:24:59] Here's Melanie with my thoughts about season two. For me, Ad Astra Perispera is probably the best Star Trek episode in general. The courtroom drama is fantastic. The arguments are powerful and the whole episode really captures what Star Trek is about. Rights, identity, and standing up against prejudice and pieing. I loved seeing how far he was willing to go for Una. The whole sequence where he searches for Nira, struggling in the atmosphere, it was so intense you can really feel him suffering and pushing himself because he refuses to give up on Una.

[00:25:27] That's one of the things I love most about Pike as a captain, how deeply he cares about his people. Honestly, Ansem plays exhaustion and determination incredibly well. Then there's among the lotus eaters. Angry Pike. Amazing. Pike losing his memory even better. Watching him slowly try to understand who he is while still instinctively being a leader was just incredibly compelling to me. I also loved the inference to the original series in that episode. It really felt connected to classic Star Trek while still feeling emotional and intense.

[00:25:55] Then there's those old scientists which are loved for completely different reasons. It's just so much fun. Seeing Boimler completely fanned by our Pike was honestly one of the most relatable things ever because, well, same. I absolutely understand him. The episode balances comedy and genuine love for Star Trek perfectly. You can feel how much affection there is for the characters and the universe as a whole. And that made the crossover work so well for me. Season 2 just gave me everything I want from Star Trek. Emotional stories, incredible character moments, action, humor, references to all the track,

[00:26:24] and a cast that clearly loves what they're doing. Live long and prosper, Melanie. Okay, so my last note on Among the Lotus Eaters, maybe the most impressive part of it is that Anson Mount has to deliver this line. It's like, give us back our memories or I need our memories back or whatever it is, right? And it doesn't come across dumb. No, it doesn't. When I say it, yes, it comes across dumb.

[00:26:49] But in the moment, in the episode, there's no part of you that's like, oh, that's incredibly cheesy and very whatever. You're just like, oh, man, he really needs those memories. Like, Yom and Zach is total dick. The very, very impressive performance all the way through. Yeah. Yeah. I just, I found watching Among the Lotus Eaters that it must suck to be Mbenga. Because you have a full-time job as the chief medical officer, but also you are on call as, I need a badass on this away mission.

[00:27:19] As a side hustle, like, he's a busy, busy man. Just when he thought he was out. Yeah. And then just when he forgot he was out. Yeah. He gets pulled back in twice. Also, I forgot about the line regarding the dermal universal translators. Can we start a five-minute timer to discuss this and why people don't notice their mouths not matching the sounds coming out of them? Yeah.

[00:27:47] There has to be a holographic component to that technology. Like, otherwise, it's, at least people would be like, what? I can understand them, but why can I understand them? Yeah. Very uncanny valley. Do not appreciate this. But it's, you know, it's the, the first episode of this show, they, like, beamed DNA into Spock's eye. Eyeball, yeah. A new retinal pattern or something, right? And then keep referencing that in later episodes.

[00:28:18] So, you know, there is, I mean, there's a, there's a degree of, don't worry about it. Yeah. Like, as there would be with any Star Trek, you know. Oh, yeah. I think that's, that's true. I mean, just the universal translator, it's like, yeah, they cut out all the 30-second pauses for the translator to say it. And then the pause back as the little badge says it. Like, yeah, it'd be boring TV. And there'd be tons of, like, false cognates.

[00:28:44] And because we know how AI works now, like, the translator would give you very confident, incredibly incorrect translations. And there would be diplomatic hullabaloo's constantly. Like, that's not what I said. Yeah, it is actually. I have it here in writing. And you're right. That's not what you said. You said something completely different. And I didn't. Here's what happened. Yeah. The man was losing his memory when he was down on the planet. Wait, what? What? What's going on? So, yeah.

[00:29:14] I mean, there is that, too. And I can't, we can't not talk about those old scientists. Like, I think that's the key to this season is that it has more than one home run. Like, there's more than one episode where you could be like, that's easily the best episode of the season. And that episode, I mean, everybody has said it, you know, it's a love letter. It's this. It's that. And it is.

[00:29:42] But it is also really, really well done and very well acted. And the translation of Boimler and Mariner to live action was flawless. Like, it's absolute perfection. I love that episode. It might have more heart than any Star Trek episode I've ever seen. And DS9's got some episodes that have heart. Yeah. But those old scientists, that might be it. It's like, yeah, not just the fact that it's a love letter. It just is an episode that is all heart.

[00:30:12] And it works. I mean, I was wondering if, like, the, they put that on the poster line was going to hit me again. Because it hit me, like, the four or five times I've seen it before. Yeah. And I was watching this on my phone on the counter where I was, like, preparing dinner. So I'm kind of just watching it out of the corner of my eye. It's still tears. Yeah. Still tears when she says, like, I got so misty. And then the fucking Orion captain again when he's like, that's all I ever wanted. That, too, got me on my little phone.

[00:30:43] So, like, yeah, well done again to the writers and performers for that. It's, yeah, it's incredible. And the balance of tone in that episode is, like, because they, she's like, oh, he had a poster of you in his bunk. And it's like, okay, here's the obvious, like, Boimler thinks Una is hot joke, right? Yeah. But they turn it into, like, no, he loves the idea of Starfleet so much. Like, he is the biggest Starfleet fan in the world.

[00:31:11] And it's like, it is, to have a callback to what was that, five episodes prior when she talks about Ad Astra? Mm-hmm. It's like, that's quick. Like, in another season of a show, you'd be like, you're calling back to five episodes ago, like, for an emotional gut punch? And it absolutely works. Because it's also 200 years ago. It's also, like, the fact that it's bold. It can only work here.

[00:31:40] And, like, to have what we know and love about Lower Decks fit so perfectly in such a, like, it's, I don't want to use the word magic because I think I overused that word with this show. But, like, to have it fit so succinctly into the shoes of Strange New Worlds is very impressive. And I'm ever grateful for that episode. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Well, I mean, that line is the emotional resolution to Ad Astra to Per Spare. Right.

[00:32:10] Not what they're trying to do with her song sequence in subspace. No. Which I love, guys. I love subspace raps. But we'll get to my nuanced takes on it later. But, yeah, I mean, just listening to Melanie kind of made me think maybe that is a strength of season two in that, like, they do the we're going back to Rigel 7 episode. We're looking to the past. We're doing a classic TOS away party episode.

[00:32:34] And we're going to go have them interact with Lower Decks people who, you know, that show at the time was currently airing. And, like, they really did kind of span all the generations with this season in a way I don't know if the other seasons did. I've kind of been thinking. And I don't think they really do that in the same way. I think so. Another thing that I think we would be remiss not to mention is Babs Ellucid Mokun's comedic chops. Yes.

[00:33:02] Because, like, this season, I mean, the guy only does, like, 10-ton heavyweight emotional scenes, right? Like, that's how the character's written. He's the most tragic character in Star Trek. Like, he's got all this pain, all this suffering. But you still get, like, explode, you say? I don't want to be a bunny either. I don't want to be a bunny. Like, every doctor in Star Trek gets their funny moments, right?

[00:33:31] And he finally got his funny moments in this season. And it works really, really well. It works incredibly well. I love those little things. You know who else has good funny moments? And he has them everywhere. But I really think season two might be some of the best Spock writing. At least the funny Spock stuff. There is... I always forget about the scene in Ad Astra because you think of all the courtroom stuff.

[00:33:56] But when Mbenga, and he's being funny here too, and Erika are watching Spock have the argument, quote unquote. And then he comes up and he's like, I'm sorry you had to see that outburst of emotion. And it's so funny. And then when La'Anne is going around and she's, like, reprimanding him for playing his LARP too loud or whatever his harp is. Like, his reaction there is, like, I really think they nailed the funny Spock, the funny Vulcan in this season.

[00:34:24] I'm not talking about, like, his big scenes, his big episodes. Just, like, all the background stuff was done really, really well. And I wish they would kind of. Yeah, I wish they kind of. Like, he works best as a background character we've kind of talked about. Well, and that and then his super wry, like, I totally got you bestie moment on the stand when he's, like, yes, she has been concealing something. And everybody holds their breath. And he's, like, her love of Gilbert and Sullivan musicals.

[00:34:51] It's, like, this is Spock saying, I'm not technically lying. I've told you the truth. Like, yes, she hid something from me. Like, great callback to, like, a six-minute short that most people probably haven't seen. All right. But it's, like, that carries forward into Subspace Rhapsody. And then you get her singing in that style. Like, it's very well constructed all the way through. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. All right. Let's hear from our next caller. Here is Matt.

[00:35:21] Hey, OpenPike. It's Matt from the Prove It To Me podcast. Finally calling back in after a bit of a hiatus. But that's what happens when you have 17 different projects. Trust me. I've stayed up to date on OpenPike. Come to think of it, I don't think I actually started listening until after Season 2 aired. I started at the beginning, absolutely motored through it, and now you guys know how much I value the OpenPike community. All right.

[00:35:45] I have not had the chance to watch Season 2 lately, but I've only seen it seven times over at this point, so I feel pretty confident. First, favorite episode. The one that brings me the most joy is Those Old Scientists. I will never get tired of how well done that particular Trek crossover ended up, nor will I ever get tired of the stories about Jack Quaid and Tawny Newsom's improvised antics. But I also hold a special place in my heart for Subspace Rhapsody, probably my most played album on Apple Music right now.

[00:36:14] For a while, holding a forearm plank for the duration of Status Report was my benchmark. And just as a message for the haters that feel obligated to voice their opinion, if you've ever seen TOS, you know for damn sure if they had the budget for a musical episode back then, they absolutely would have done it. We just had to wait almost 60 years for it. Favorite moment? Has to be Neera's final court monologue in Ad Astra Purispera.

[00:36:39] Overall, Season 2 had me sold on the direction of Strange New Worlds to push boundaries, just as every great Trek series before it. It's hard to contain my love for it. Keep doing what you're doing, guys. Live long and prosper. I think I told this story when we spoke with Kay Hanley and Tom Pulche, who wrote the music and lyrics for Subspace Rhapsody. When I told my wife who we were interviewing, she was like, shut up. This is the first name she's ever recognized.

[00:37:06] And I'm like, how do you know who Kay Hanley is? And she's like, she's from Letters to Cleo. And I was like, I had not heard that band's name in my life until my wife said it to me. That's what being five years younger than John or I. So since then, I have re-familiarized myself with a lot of Letters to Cleo's history. I recently watched Josie and the Pussycats for the first time. Ah, yes.

[00:37:34] And she wrote all that music and she was... Or wait, no, I don't know that she wrote the music. She was the singing voice for Josie. And then I remembered, oh yeah, I did see that episode of Parks and Rec where Ben goes, I love you, Kay Hanley! Like, there's so much that Kay Hanley has been a part of that was already in my life. And I just didn't know at the time.

[00:38:00] And it's like, they brought in heavyweights for this episode where they knew they were gonna have to swing hard and hit the mark. And I completely agree that they did. And yeah, to Matt's point, like, the couple times we got musical moments in TOS, it was like, somebody on this staff wants to write a musical. Yeah. They were told, no, this is a sci-fi show. And they're like, well, what if there were space hippies? And somebody was like, you know, if it will get you to shut up, sure, write the scene. Like, that's fine. Go for it.

[00:38:31] Yeah. So do we want to talk about, we're more than halfway through our callers. Do we want to talk about kind of the unspoken episodes for the season that have not been mentioned yet? Those being tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. Which I'm surprised about. I bet that gets mentioned in the next half. Charades. And I think it's the episode I forget the most. I forget lost in translation every day. I mean, to the point where I don't forget about it.

[00:38:59] But for some reason, like when I go through the numbers, I'm like, okay, those old scientists, that's number five. No, no, no. It's number six. What's the other one? Oh, right. Those old scientists is seven numbers. You're right. Well, yeah. Because we haven't talked about charades yet either. Surprisingly. Let's, let's do lost in translation because that poor episode. It just, it does. It's a very solid episode. It's a super solid episode. It's standalone kind. I mean, it's, it's got fun moments for Uhura.

[00:39:29] It's a great Uhura episode, especially with development with Kirk. And it's our introduction to actual, this timeline, Kirk. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We get, we get zombie hammer in that episode. Zombie hammer. Yeah. You get Una and Pellia butting heads and it's a ton of fun. And you get like, yeah, the actual like emotional weight of Uhura. Like she's having these horrifying flashbacks and like dealing with this incredible trauma.

[00:39:56] But yeah, the episode itself just got unlucky because of where it is. Yes. In the season. Like it's, it's easy to not remember. Well, it's kind of a bottle episode. Yeah. So even no matter your feelings on among the Lotus Eaters, you're still down on like an ice planet with beautiful backdrops and ships flying through asteroids. Like, yeah, there's visuals that spring to mind. And it's especially interesting because I think one of my epiphanies this time watching

[00:40:24] it, because I was like, okay, what is season two's arc? What's the story of season two? If season one was Battelle or season three was Battelle and the Vezda, what was season two? And I was like, well, it's Spock and Chapel and I've got thoughts on that. But it's Uhura's season in a lot of ways, which is what I picked up from watching Subspace Rhapsody. And I think that's where Subspace Rhapsody works the best and telling Uhura's story. And this is a pivotal moment in it.

[00:40:53] And you're and yeah, it's just it's a really good episode. It's a really important part of her arc. And it's easily missed over all the other splashy episodes. It is. And you make some good points. And I think I realized after we watched season three and talked about a certain other sci-fi character, Kirk is Doctor Who in this episode. I'm not saying he is Doctor Who. I'm saying this is an episode of Doctor Who where Doctor Who would be in the Kirk position

[00:41:21] and it would be a story about Uhura solving this mystery and then he would be off to the next thing. Interesting. That is what this episode is. He's here to help. He's here to help. He's just it's she is the one solving the mystery. She's a she's a one episode one off character. She's getting cookies. He's getting cookies. He's getting punched. It's all mistaken stuff like she's seeing ghosts. She's there's ghosts in the gas. I mean, that is such Doctor Who fodder.

[00:41:46] Yeah, that this is I think this is a you know, you replace Kirk with Peter Capaldi or Matt Smith or any of those guys. It's just a straight up Doctor Who episode because it's horror, too. And Doctor Who is a horror show almost more than anything else. God, that Angels episode is so good. Yes. That one. There's a lot of them. That is a really good the Pandora's box episode with Rory. Like there's a lot. There's Doctor Who's pretty good show. I know.

[00:42:16] I need to watch more. I fizzled out, but I need to get back in because I never even got to Matt Smith. Wow. Kirk. One thing I noticed watching this is a this show has got to give us more Kirk brothers. Like every time I get it. You want to put Kirk with her own Spock and Scotty. I get it. But his fucking brothers on the ship and they have amazing chemistry. And we want to see that rivalry. But I want to see it differently than Lost in Translation.

[00:42:44] That was my biggest bump with this episode is their relation. They painted it like Sam's the whiny, petulant little bitch. And Kirk is here like, man, I I'm good at my job. Why are you angry? Like he. The reason I like Kirk and maybe it's because I grew up on the movies and the movies were like, well, we have to make our characters interesting and have arcs and dramatic, you know, depth is because he's a flawed character. I Kirk is a flawed character. Let them die.

[00:43:10] I mean, whether you're like that, whether you see that as a bad thing or a good thing, I feel it's inescapable. I think it's a great thing. I think it's what makes him such an iconic character. And I feel like even TOS, if he wasn't just depicted as flawed, he was depicted as like always wrestling with himself. And like it was a work for him to find his way to the right path. And here he's just like the good guy. Right. Through and through. And I'm kind of like, I don't know.

[00:43:38] I want to see Kirk kind of be the asshole brother and Sam be like the younger brother who has to deal with them. I think that's a more interesting dynamic. Yeah. Original Kirk is all about the dichotomy, right? Like, and to the point where they put two characters to personify that dichotomy with him in most scenes. Right. You're right. And he's, he's always here trying to decide, like, do I go this way? Do I go this way? And he's always telling Spock things like, oh yeah, you know, all humans have the urge to kill, man.

[00:44:07] We don't always kill people. Like that's, that's why we're good is because we can choose against that. And it's like. And I feel we get that Kirk in season three. Right. And, and, but you're right. He's, I mean, they're, they call Pike a boy scout in this season and it's like, no, Kirk is a boy scout in this season. Yeah. Pike is breaking a lot of rules kind of all the time. So like, I'm not sure where that came from, but like, it's, I think it's a really good point.

[00:44:34] And to the Sam Kirk of it all, it's like, you have a golden opportunity here. We know, and not everybody, you know, who watches this is going to watch all of Star Trek, but we know this is part of the tragedy of Jim Kirk is that Sam Kirk is not going to be in the next series. Right. Like, and when he is, he's already dead and he's left behind a family that we've heard him mention a couple of times now.

[00:44:58] So it's like, there is rich, dramatic family or there that you can mine. Like you're going to tell me Picard is going to go wrestle in the mud with a brother we've never seen before. And that's going to be super effective. But this brother that we know is going to die doesn't have any tension with his brother other than I feel like you think you're good at everything. Like, oh man, I'm just picturing a shot in the transporter room where the Kirk brothers

[00:45:25] are standing there waiting for Sam's family to visit. And like they beam in and both kids are like, uncle Jim. And just seeing the look on Sam's face. Like, I know we're not going to get that, but I would just love that shot. That'd be good. Well, and you know, if this were TOS, we'd get a scene of Jim hitting on Sam's wife. Like that would just, that would happen. Right. I mean, we might get him being like, hey, tell your wife to say that, you know. Right. I thought you were going to say his kid's B-Man and you go like, and someone on the crew

[00:45:55] goes, boy, they look a lot like Tim. I was thinking like, wow, those kids already have mustaches. Aren't they eight? Yeah. I mean, the closest we get to that three-dimensional Kirk is, and I do like this. I think it's kind of a, maybe a mistake they made, but I think it works is that Kirk, Jim is flirting with Lawn throughout this whole season. He's like, oh yeah, you owe me that drink. Oh, hey, hey. Ooh, you tell me about what you like about me.

[00:46:23] And then just like in season three, he's the dog who catches the car and it's like, oh shit, this could happen. I should probably mention my girlfriend. Sorry. I was, I know I was laying it on thick, but I didn't actually think you'd reciprocate that quick. I have a girlfriend at another school and she's totally pregnant and she's like, my bad. I just thought we were having fun. I did think that paralleled nicely with, uh, with his, his, uh, episode in three.

[00:46:50] But to your point also came about tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, super fun episode. Great episode. Yeah. You get depth from Kirk in that episode that you don't get a lot of chances at in the season so far or in the series. And his comment about his brother being alive is like the best Kirk brother moment of the series so far. And then, you know, for somebody that can be that hyper competent, like that emotionally

[00:47:15] intelligent and that incredibly wrong about how to eat hot dogs all in a single episode, it's like this guy has range. And to me, this is the episode that if you're not sold on Paul Wesley's Kirk, this is the episode where you either get sold on it or you're, you can't be sold. Right. Like his correct opinion on how to eat a hot dog moved him up in my ranking of captains. I'm just going to say that. That's literally offensive to who I am as a person.

[00:47:43] But like that episode itself is also tons of fun. Like I was saying, like the, the blood train posters in the background of that episode, you've got this great guest actor, again, great guest actors in Star Trek playing this secret Romulan. The secret Romulan. I'm like, oh, I'm way more impressed with this performer than I was the first time I was like, secret Romulan is awesome. And the fun, like Pellia, like Pellia gets to talk about the eighties and it fits canonically.

[00:48:11] Like, and then you get that little glimpse of like, you could call it mirror Spock, right? Like Spock having to be ruthless and like, we're here to whoop your ass. And like, it's, it, it's a, it's a, I think the word might be bubble gum episode, right? Like it's, it's a, like a fun episode to chew on. It doesn't end up having a ton of like lasting impact other than maybe like temporal cold war timelines sort of stuff. I was going to say, yeah, some of the biggest.

[00:48:39] But only La'an, only La'an gets to feel that impact, right? Like for everybody else, none of this ever happened. So it's a great La'an episode. You've got callbacks to DS9 in this episode. You're right. When you said earlier that this, this season really embraces all of Star Trek. Yeah. Because there's so much in it that just, if you've seen every Star Trek, you're like, oh, that's from this. Oh, that's from this. And it's not even like a member berries kind of thing.

[00:49:08] It's just like a wink out of the corner of their eye. And you, you hear that comb badge chirp when it happens. All right. Let's hear from our next caller. Here is Mishi. Hi guys. It's Mishi. The second season is a magnificent continuation of the first. At Astra Perth, Barra is an incredible, powerful episode. And one of the few truly una focused ones. Jorades is so much fun to watch. Ensign's reaction in it are cracking me up all the time.

[00:49:38] And having met Mia Kirshner and hearing her talk about how much this episode and the opportunity to play Amanda again meant to her after her battle with cancer just makes this episode so much more special for me. And then, of course, there are those two amazing episodes, Subspace Rhapsody and Those Old Scientists. I can't watch these over and over. They're so much fun. And then the season ends with that insane cliffhanger.

[00:50:05] One that probably wouldn't have stuck in our memories as quite so organizing if it hadn't taken so long to be resolved. But my absolute favorite episode is and remains among the Lotus Eaters. To me, it is simply perfect in every way. It has those fantastic costumes and those magnificent new or old world. It is packed with emotions and everyone delivers a fantastic performance. I especially love Ensign in this episode and, of course, Melissa.

[00:50:33] It is the episode where we finally get to see more of Ortega's and where it is established who is flying the ship. And just the best episode. I guess my time is up. Have a great day. Bye. Bye. I also just love Spock in Among the Lotus Eaters where he's like, I don't know what to do here. I'm just going to sit on the bridge and everyone else is leaving me. I'm just going to sit here and not know what to do. Just sit silently. Just not logical to do anything else. I can't read this. Yep.

[00:50:59] And remember, up to that point, like, Lotus Eaters is sold to us through the trailer and the marketing and everything. Like, oh, here's your Ortegas episode. And then it ends up being a nice set of Ortega's scenes. Like, it's not an Ortega's episode. I mean, just a big plot, but yeah. Every time I watch her repeat that line, it breaks me. Like, this is how you know you need to do an Ortega's episode because when you give

[00:51:26] her this much space, she absolutely shines. And it's, I mean, it is, there's so much to love about that episode. I can't say that it's my favorite of the season, but Cameron, I have a question for you specifically because I know you love episode five of every season is a funny Spock hijinks episode, right? What was episode five of? Now season three. Yeah. Three pushed it a few episodes back.

[00:51:56] That's true. But the point being, you get a Spock hijinks per season, right? Yes. A hundred percent. So between Spock and Muck, Charades, and Four and a Half Vulcans, which one is your favorite? Four and a Half Vulcans. Really? I think they get progressively better. A hundred percent. I think Charades is my favorite. Charades is my favorite. Really? Yeah. I think because of Amanda. Yes. Honestly, like because of the parents, Amanda specifically, but the parents are, they're so damn good.

[00:52:26] I, I, I, again, I was watching this episode while cooking too, but I stopped everything to watch all the parent scenes because I love, it's all like the expressions, just seeing like the, uh, the classic, like overbearing parents trope done with Vulcans was so, so good. I got a little emotional because I was like, you know what? Allora Putnayek and Michael Benyar were super cool to talk to for us. Like, like that episode means even more to me after we had such good interviews with them. We got to get Mia Kershaw on. We got to. I know.

[00:52:56] They understood the hell out of their assignments too. Like, I guess that's the theme is guest actors in season two. Like this is very, very impressive. And I think for one of the things for me that makes it very impressive is that you can argue like we had this episode, like we had the, the funny Vulcan hijinks episode in season one. Right.

[00:53:21] I mean, it was even in the same part of the season, but this elevates it. And it's like, I did not expect to be able to be really, really impressed by a second, very similar Vulcan comedy episode. But this I think is the best of the three in my heart. And I love this episode. It might be in my top three of the season. It might be in my top three. It's, it's probably the better episode. Four and a half Vulcans makes me laugh more.

[00:53:50] I, I like that there's like four different stories going on. So the energy, it like, it's got faster pacing that works better for it. But I mean, yeah, I mean, this a hundred percent is the better episode because of the parents. If you ask me, it's like, Oh, who'd you rather see Beto or all the parents? Like all the parents, obviously. Well, and, um, and to bring like, again, like I'm rooting for that relationship. Like I though, I mean, maybe it's impossible not to have chemistry with, uh, with, uh, Ethan

[00:54:19] Peck and Spock, but like, I think they paint her really well. Like she's a very three dimensional character for only, you know, minutes of screen timing the series. It's done really well. And I mean, I know there's the bio essentialism argument against this episode, but like they tell you in one episode, this is a, uh, a puberty story. This is a puberty parable. Look at it that way. And it's fucking hilarious. So seeing Spock be a teenage boy about everything.

[00:54:49] And then like the lesson he learns about his parents and like looking at, because I, I, for the past 20 years, I've been like understanding more and more about my parents in a way I didn't for my first 20 years. And I think that's, uh, that's something this, this episode communicates very well. Yeah. I, and I'm glad you mentioned the reactions, the fan reactions, some fan reactions to this episode. I know Twitter isn't real life, but I know Twitter is not real life.

[00:55:17] Neither is Facebook and people's hatred of just all new track on some of the groups I'm on there that I'm like, why am I a part of this Star Trek fan group? Why are they parts of the Star Trek fan groups? It's a fan group. And then my reaction to the people who are angry about the whole, well, you said the bio essentials. I'm like, why are you a Star Trek fan then? What can you not have fun? Is it, are you just not allowing yourself? Like, does everything have to be, it's the perfect being the enemy of the good. And I think it just reminds me of the politics side of that. Like, all right, fine.

[00:55:45] I guess we'll just, we can't ever have fun. Got it. I mean, if you look at it through that lens, yes, there's problems. But again, like watching it this time, I was like, okay, let's try to watch it. No, they straight up tell you what lens to look at this episode through. Like just. It's on, yeah. On page. It's not even some text. It's text. Also, a little bit of Spock La'An chemistry happening there. So some more cookie crumbs for what's to come. Let's go ahead. We've only got two calls left.

[00:56:13] So Cam, I think we need to hear about Spock and Chapel. Oh, oh now. Yeah. Yeah. So this is the story of the Spock Chapel romance. It starts in episode five of season one, I believe, right? It's kind of when they first start building that. Well, they won't they? Yeah. And we get it for about 10 episodes. And I'd say there's some really good kind of tension built up between them for 10 episodes. And then in charades, it's consummated at the end of the episode.

[00:56:40] And then we get to see them playing chess. It's about the only time we really see them dating. I know they're not really together and that's part of the issue. But it's three episodes, I think, that they're together before everything turns south. Subspace Rhapsody, yeah. And none of that's about them. We see a scene of them. Yeah. It's a very weird arc for their relationship.

[00:57:05] And I think that's kind of one problem of season two's big arc. It's like, what is going on with this main relationship, which seems to be the most screen time for the season of all the subplots. So I think much in the same way that Patel became a bigger character than originally intended, I feel like maybe this subplot became a bigger subplot than originally intended. And then became less of a bigger subplot, too. I think it was a bit of a roller coaster to your point.

[00:57:34] But you could have cut this off at any point. Sorry, give me one sec. My daughter's crying. I know this thought. I won't forget it. Okay. If you listen really quietly, you can hear how good a parent Jesse is. I said, shut up. I'm on my podcast. Oh, boy. Just the awkward silence when he gets there. So I think you could have cut this relationship off at any point during this season.

[00:58:04] And it would work for the dynamic we see between Spock and Chapman and TOS. Oh, yeah. You didn't need a huge breakup scene. You didn't need to get them together. Right. And you don't really need to bring in Roger Corby. Now, in retrospect, I'm very glad they did. I think they executed really well on that. But I think if they had said, all right, it's over after episode five or episode seven or whatever episode in season two, it would work. Right.

[00:58:29] But they have like putting anybody with Ethan Peck is compelling to watch. So I could see where they'd be like, do more of that. Well, I do. I mean, because I was saying everyone's got chemistry with with Ethan Peck. Maybe Chapel has the least out of the people we see have romantic relationships with. I wonder. Don't disagree with that, Cam. Part of it. And not that that's like anti-chemistry, but it's not popping the way it does with other characters. Yeah. It pops with La'Anne.

[00:58:59] It pops with. Tupring. Tupring. Kirk. Kirk, for sure. But I still feel like you get them together and then we never get to see what like a Spock-Chapel relationship is like. I guess that's where I'm like, no, let's see what boyfriend Spock is like. Let's see that. Why are we skipping over that? And it's like, yep, yep. They did it. And it's like, oh, we immediately both regret this. The chase was fun. The flirting was fun. Why did we ever try and take it more serious? All right. Right. Right. Which makes sense.

[00:59:29] And it's like, okay, that would make sense until she just guts him in subspace Rhapsody in front of the whole crew. And then I remember, I'm pretty sure we both had this issue a lot in the episode, John. But like, she's gone three months. Why is this a big deal? Yes. She's going to school for three months. It's left over from Spock. Oh, no, because that hadn't happened yet. I was going to say it's left over from him being a teenager, but that's next season. All right. Yeah.

[00:59:56] And then like his anger arc from Not Lifts Us. All Those Who Wander. All Those Who Wander. From All Those Who Wander. I kind of forgotten about that because they don't bring it up until episode three, I think, until charades? Episode five, yeah. Yeah, charades. No, there's like one scene, one episode where he like, I think he's got like shaky hand. Maybe. Some kind of like indicator. That definitely felt like a thing they had kind of set up at the end of season one.

[01:00:24] We're like, eh, you know, we're not really, we don't know what to do with this. And even the creepy Spock in TOS, which is hilarious and they use it plot wise really well. I am kind of like, where's this coming from? Where's, why is Spock suddenly telling jokes? That was not really set up. Like we don't get that scene where like, where chapel is being like, hey, by the way, if you're going to hang out with me, you should try to tell jokes more often.

[01:00:49] Like maybe it's, it's just residue from charades, but it's the only episode where it happens and it's kind of weird. Cut to Spock making the Arthur fist. Yes. Side of his uniform. Exactly. I don't get that reference. All right. Let's hear from another caller. Here is Starship. Hey, open pike night. It's Starship. I hope I'm getting this in just under the wire. So season two is probably my favorite season of Strange New World so far.

[01:01:18] I just think it's, you know, banger after banger after banger. My favorite episode is Under the Cloak of War. I think it's so strong. I love learning more about Mbenga. I love the flashbacks of him and chapel at Space Mash. It's just a really, really strong episode for me. My favorite moment. That's, oh gosh, I don't know. That's pretty tough.

[01:01:42] I think it might be when Spock and chapel fight the Gorn together in Hegemony part one. The zero gravity Gorn fight. That was, that was really fun for me. Um, so I'm, I'm hoping that season four is strong. I've got high hopes, but I don't know if they're going to beat season two. That's, it's just, it's such a great season for everybody really. Under the cloak of war guys. Like please have the four Jesse.

[01:02:11] You knew, you knew this was coming. Like Mbenga, my favorite Star Trek doctor, hands down. Like this episode does so much for him. And it's impressive because as I said it before, he has already been through so much. For this man to hold a steady job and not be constantly snapping at every single patient that he has is like a feat of superhuman strength.

[01:02:40] Oh, you've got a headache? My daughter died. Like, oh, you've got a headache? I'm the butcher of Jagal. Like, oh, you've got a headache? Like I never get to go fishing. Right? I lost my fishing hat. This guy has been through it all. Like he has an O'Brien level amount of suffering. Yes, he does. Crammed into three seasons of 10 episodes each. It's very, very intense.

[01:03:07] And this episode is where you really see it. And he shines all the way through. Babs is a master at what he does. And there's so much else in this episode. You've got another great guest actor in Dacra. You've got freaking Clint Howard in this episode. And he's like half Michael Scott in a war zone. Like, how is this working as well as it is? Right? Damien Perez. It's very impressive.

[01:03:38] And then you get this beautiful tension that we were talking about might have been missing from this version of James Kirk so far. Where it's like, this man desperately wants to help others heal as like a form of penance. Right? He's like, I must heal. Because I have caused so much pain. And have been through so much pain. It really illustrates the empathy that this character is capable of.

[01:04:06] And is acting upon all of the time. Like, this guy, he feels things people should never have to feel. And he lets those things inform how he treats others. And it is absolutely beautiful. Like, they carry this forward into the next season with his Klingon episode. And it's like, he begs Dacra not to make him do this.

[01:04:31] And then he's almost begging Dacra's daughter, like, don't make me completely own you too. Because I absolutely am capable of doing that. Like, just let me help you. Right? And it's the strongest words. Right? How can I help? And it's like, then you get this moment where he loses his surrogate son in season three.

[01:04:56] And there's moments in the finale of season three where you're reminded, this is largely an Mbenga story. And I'm on the record of saying that should have been an Mbenga episode. But like, this episode, the range you get out of Babs, the quality of the acting, getting some backstory for Chapel even. Like, hey, maybe here's why she is so confused about how to have a normal relationship. Right?

[01:05:24] Like, she's been through a lot. And up until now, we've kind of just been told like, not been told, but we've sort of seen, maybe she's indecisive? I don't know. It's like, give her this. And now it's like, this is why she doesn't want to get close to people. Right? So I'm in awe of this episode every time I watch it. And it's probably my most rewatched episode of the series. Easily the best Chapel episode. She is so good in this. I agree.

[01:05:53] I mean, she's so good. She's such a good character in this episode. It's really good. And also, like, I just, like, I don't think there's any easy answers with this episode. I know you are, Mbenga did nothing wrong. And I mean, I certainly see that point of view. But I see all the points of view. Every time I watch this episode, I'm like, okay, what's the right thing here? And I don't know. Every day I watch it, I'm like, yeah, he's a terrible person. He probably deserves to die.

[01:06:20] But like, and I love that scene where he's like, okay, I'm going to give you a chance. Tell me. What happened? Tell me what happened. Here's your chance to come clean. And you know that you see that's the moment when Mbenga's like, okay, he doesn't deserve it. And I'm like, okay, okay, maybe, maybe not. Maybe he doesn't deserve it. And then what happens at the end? Mbenga doesn't come clean. He keeps a secret too. And it's like, well, okay, if I'm going to forgive Mbenga, should I forgive that guy who's dead now? I don't know. It's really good storytelling. It is really good. Yeah. Yeah.

[01:06:49] And I mean, I will, yeah, like, Dakra is the Tuvix of Strange New Worlds. You have to kill this guy. That's the only way to fix the story. He's got to die. And after actually John found out that I had not seen the Benicio del Toro movie Sicario, and then I watched it and I was like, that's the Mbenga character.

[01:07:13] Like this is, I love this kind of story where it is a deeply flawed person who is not necessarily always doing the right thing for the right reason. But you absolutely understand and empathize with that character. Where like, I mean, at the end of Sicario, Benicio does a lot of stuff that you would think to yourself, I would never do that. But I totally get why this character is doing this. Like, it's really, really well written.

[01:07:43] I think it might be one of the most character-y episodes of Star Trek. I would love to see like... That's just how Strange New Worlds ends is Chapel standing up on a balcony with a phaser pointed at Mbenga as he walks away and then he just looks back at her and she just lowers the phaser. After having already shot her once, just to get her out of the way. Yep. Yeah. You haven't seen Sicario. Spoiler alert.

[01:08:13] Go watch Sicario. I didn't go watch Sicario. But yeah. I think John got it for me, but I still need to watch it. And like, this is one of those things where like, I wish there was an hour and a half episode of Babs, Alusin Mokun talking about this performance. Like, I would love to hear about the process. I'd love to hear, you know, how he felt when he was reading this script. Like, this is my favorite episode of the season.

[01:08:40] Thank you, Starship, for calling in with the correct opinion. That means the world to me. I mean, not only is it a good Mbenga episode and a good Chapel episode, it's a good Mbenga Chapel episode. I love their relationship. It's so deep. It kind of colors how you watch all their other previous and following relationship and interactions. And it really makes me hope we get a great scene when she is introduced to McCoy.

[01:09:07] And she now has to serve under like this drinking folksy Southern doctor who doesn't take anything too seriously compared to her relationship with Mbenga, who is everything Jesse just said. Yeah. Yeah. And Mbenga, like Mbenga is hard as nails, right? Like, no question about that. Yeah. McCoy has like two or three scenes in all of McCoydom where he is also hard as nails. And they're great scenes. Yeah. But you never, like when somebody's like-

[01:09:37] It's in a very different way. Right. And when somebody says McCoy, you're not like, oh yeah, absolute badass. Like- Oh, he could take out six Klingons. Right. Like, you're just like, oh yeah, he didn't back down at all when Khan showed up. But like, that's kind of like, you know, one moment among a lot of him really would prefer to be drinking, you know, somewhere and not having this job. Yeah. Yeah. Also, let's not forget the gold nugget of Ortega's bolstering their reaction.

[01:10:04] You know, solidarity of like, no, no, this is not right. This, I'm not comfortable with all this. Like her, I get that she doesn't have a whole lot to do in that episode besides help support their issues, but it works. It sells it more. I would have liked a little more in Benga Ortega than that. Yes. I felt like there was opportunity for that. But it does continue to kind of build up the Ortega we see in Terrarium. Yes. And I do. I am looking forward to re-watching that with like all, I had forgotten just how much

[01:10:33] like her bigotry had been set up ahead of time. Yeah. Yeah. Both seasons we've had bigotry moments for her. Yeah. I get that one was an alternate universe, but still it's there. Yeah. That and her like core of being a soldier, right? Like she is a fly boy character for a lot of what we see from her, but she is a soldier character on the inside. Right. And it's like to watch a soldier go through what she does in Terrarium. You're right. This absolutely helps prop that up.

[01:11:02] And I think, like I said earlier, it's the most character-y episode where you get little moments that matter way longer than they're on screen. I mean, even for Pike, right? Like this carries into the next season for Pike. He's like, man, like I thought we were friends. And it's like, you are, man. You just don't get it because you were not there. Like it is a simple truth. It's not that I don't trust you. It's not that I don't like you. You just weren't there.

[01:11:30] Here's my biggest problem with Under the Cloak of War, besides the stupid biobed metaphor, is this is set up. This is the episode before Subspace Rhapsody. And then Subspace Rhapsody tells us the story of Subspace Rhapsody is that all the singing is bringing stuff to light and it's pulling, it's pushing us apart. It's making us less of a gelled crew. They say these words at the end of Subspace Rhapsody. All the singing so far has pushed us apart. We need to come together.

[01:11:59] And this is not brought up at all. All the problems of Subspace Rhapsody they're talking about are three very specific couples having three very specific relationship issues, which seem to not be affecting their jobs at all because they are consummate professionals. That is all the problems, the stakes of Subspace Rhapsody. I love Subspace Rhapsody. I teared up so much when Celia sings Bring Us Together. What's the song? Keep Us Connected. We Are One. Keep Us Connected. It's a great song.

[01:12:28] It brought me to tears. It is not set up in the first half of that episode at all. And if it had, that episode would probably be my favorite of the series so far. Your problem with Under the Cloak of War is that they didn't set up Celia's arc in the next episode? That's why I transitioned to talking about Subspace Rhapsody. Oh, okay. Because I was like, I think this totally works for Mbenga in Subspace Rhapsody because it's like, he doesn't want to talk about it. Certainly does not want to sing about it.

[01:12:55] So let's make that part of the plot of him avoiding everybody because he knows he has a deep secret that would come out if he got around Pike. Make that part of the plot of Subspace Rhapsody. I think the beautiful thing though is that they're able to use it for humor. Like, you know, you don't want to get too dark. Yeah. He just went through the capital S shit and he's like, I don't want to be a bunny. I don't want to sing. Like, I don't like it's, it's, I think it's a great transition.

[01:13:21] But I do think through the whole season, like I, it just felt like Subspace Rhapsody kind of like season three, how all of a sudden Battelle is telling us the stuff that we're like, we haven't seen that. What are you talking about? You seem fine. Subspace Rhapsody is kind of like saying, remember all this stuff, all season of us getting torn apart and all these secrets and emotions coming out. No, I don't. Not really what we talked about when we talked about it the first, like it's, it's, it's a payoff for something that wasn't sold.

[01:13:50] Yeah, it wasn't set up. And because of Tom and Kay and Celia and all the performers, like it, again, I tear up. It, it gets by, but Oh, the greatness is right there. The greatness is more frustrating. Spock and engineering. That's where the great, Oh my God, that song, that song is such a banger. That song. If that song wasn't in there, I don't think the episode would be as beloved as it is. Like maybe not.

[01:14:15] I mean, to kind of, we mentioned earlier how like sometimes lost in translation gets sort of forgotten because of where it sits. I think Christina Chong's song in subspace Rhapsody has the same problem. Like, yeah, it's bookended by like these insane performances and itself is an insanely good performance. Right. And it's, you're seeing, this is one of the things that was set up earlier in the season

[01:14:42] and you know, she's having feelings about, and she's been having them all season. And it's just, but because you have the Spock scene and you have Celia killing it and you have Anson Mount's 1950s Greece moments. Right. And you have Bruce Horak's Klingon K-pop. Like there's so much good about it that like you can, it can be hard to remember.

[01:15:07] You also need to be talking about Christina Chong's performances on asking, how would that feel? Like this is a huge moment for this character. It's delivered incredibly well, just as if not more emotional than a lot of the other stakes in this episode. And I'm especially because season three, we get the payoff of her asking that question in this song. Yeah. What if I just let myself do this? And it's Spock, like talk about winning the lottery.

[01:15:36] Well, to that, because I was watching, I'm like, this is an amazing performance. I mean, this is like, yeah, the song that got her, her, her own album. Like she's amazing. It's a good song. It's bookended by two kind of mediocre songs because there are three songs in a row all about La'an because Una's song to Kirk is really about La'an. Yes, it is. And then La'an sings her song. And then Una sings a song to La'an about coming out of your shell or being honest or something. I don't know. I don't know.

[01:16:02] Like I, those three songs are kind of murky and I don't know why this episode spent so much time on La'an and Kirk when it should have been about the whole crew. When John is a hundred percent, they Kirk brothers should have had a boasting, like a song off a rap battle or something. Yeah. Something. And it's like, I hate to say it, but like, neither of Una's songs needed to be there. Right. I agree. I mean, you got to do the Gilbert and Sullivan, but like it's, it's her, just her like giving advice to Kirk about how to be a number. I don't know. Make it more interesting.

[01:16:33] Like, and it's, it's, it's a credit to the episode that despite those three songs kind of being mushy in my mind, it's still a really good episode that I love a lot. It's still a really good episode. Absolutely. I, there are days when I'm like, I've just be walking through work, doing my thing, not thinking about Star Trek. And then immediately my brain is why you always calling us when you've got your dramas and like, I have to move. I'm just like, Sam Kirk bobbing his head to that. It was so good.

[01:17:02] And that will probably be how I'm able to sell my child on Star Trek eventually. Cause she loves K-pop demon hunters. And I'll be like, oh, you know, Star Trek has a K-pop song in it. So yeah, it'll take time, but I'll get there. Having said all that about Lon, this is another moment in her arc, which I am thinking is probably the most gradual and nuanced and realistic arc of all the characters on the series.

[01:17:29] Because I remember like last season being like, I forgot she was this cold. Like she is a machine this season. And then she goes away and she has a vacation for a few months. And already in episode one of season two, I'm like, oh yeah, this is a lot more likely to Lon. I remember like, you know, she's still business. She's still bad-ass. She still says like three and six, we got them. And among the Lotus Eaters, but, uh, but she's got a, she's got a carefreeness to her that wasn't there before.

[01:17:55] And, and her arc this season, more than even about Kirk himself is like just her coming into her own. And, and I do think it, it all, it's, it's a good bridge from season one on to season three law. And I do, I do think her, her character has grown very nicely. Yeah. Which is good because she's one of very few characters that originate in this show. Yeah. Right. Like it's kind of her and Ortegas.

[01:18:22] It's like everybody else has to fit into certain things and they really don't. And I, I agree with you. I think. Well, right. But I mean, do we think Pelia. Kind of a guest star. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Exactly. Do we think Pelia will be. Always a featured, never. Yeah. She's not going to have a character arc that she's going to be there as the character she is. Which is great. We better see her and Amanda together. He's so good. I want to know that story. Yep. All right. We have one more caller.

[01:18:52] Here is our good friend, Abby. Hey, hey, open pike. Abby Summer from the first flight podcast using my 90 seconds, the broken circle. Great costumes on the planet. Better episode after you watch under the cloak of war. Under the cloak of war is a highlight for me. This is how you do a flashback character building story where you come out of it still loving the character who has made questionable decisions in the past and present. Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, pro condiments on hot dog.

[01:19:18] Love that we hear Lawn's musical theme and love that we rejiggered Khan in the timeline. At Astra Per Aspera, I love a good Trek courtroom drama. Those dress uniforms are impeccable as is everything that that lawyer wears. Hegemony. That was a way to end a season. Yay, Scotty. Boo, there's gorn eggs inside of Batel. It was worth a two and a half year wait. And don't sleep on Lost in Translation. Forget about the cookie. Watch for Uhura and Kirk and Uhura and Hemmer's relationships. All right. The fun ones, charades.

[01:19:48] Love to pring. Love her family. Love that the trio of women go out to interdimensional space to have a mission to save Spock. That's a trio I want more of. I also love those old scientists. I could talk for three hours just on that episode. Top 10 of all Trek for me, perhaps the most quotable, Subspace Rhapsody. I love this episode. Love musicals. Love Trek. Love singing it loud with my windows down in my car. Love sharing it with my girls.

[01:20:12] I also want to talk a little bit about how you cannot listen to Among the Lotus Eaters with headphones on because you will blow your eardrums out with that screech. I'm out of time. Talk to you soon. Abby, you did it. You hit them all. Wow. I'm always pumping my fists during Abby's calls, but this one, what a master class in how to use your 90 seconds on Open Pike Night.

[01:20:39] And thank you again for bringing up Under the Cloak of War. You're absolutely correct in every way. And you're correct about everything you've said, which is not new for Abby, but I think that's a perfect call to put at the end of our show because it does kind of illustrate it's difficult to talk about one episode of this season. Yeah. It's very cohesive. It's beautifully structured.

[01:21:07] Like everything that they do works on some level. And there are so many kinds of episode that it's easy to see why people have different favorites from this season and easy to see why a lot of the people are like, it's subspace and it's those old scientists. Right. Like those are the pinnacle of the season for a lot of folks. So, you know, we haven't talked much about hegemony part two. I kind of kind of feel like that's like a 2.5. Yeah.

[01:21:37] Almost season three type of episode. Because like it's a great episode. There's there's a great episode, but there's not. Besides no reintroducing Goran, introducing Scotty and introducing Battelle being in peril. Like those kind of the three most important things that happened in that episode. And the crew, half the crew getting kidnapped. Like it's a great cliffhanger. It's a great cliffhanger.

[01:22:04] And I mean, it's part of, I think one of, if not the most successful two-parter of Star Trek history. I mean, I just look, best of both worlds are both good. I still say they don't really work as two parts. It's no, it's there's a lot of setup in part one that doesn't get paid off in part two. And I just think hegemony part one and two is a really cohesive. Which is super impressive considering there were two strikes and like there were two years in between them. And like they could have very easily done bad with it.

[01:22:33] But as we talked about with our season three coverage with a lot of the writers, like, yeah, besides the Gemini part two, nothing like season three of strange new worlds is not the pre-strike season three. We would have gotten like there is a timeline split. Yeah. Once the whole series is out, I think we're going to get some maybe more honest answers about what, what went down. But I mean, I'm excited to get into season three.

[01:22:59] Obviously again, I feel like that episode for episode is the heavyweight one. Again, I think the through line gets a little mushy, but I think there's a lot of really good episodes. But rewatching season two, I was like, yeah, I don't know. I mean, there's not a bad episode amongst them. I think hegemony does kind of feel like it's part of season three, but I think that's because it is. It really feels like it was written as a whole. And then they just kind of decided where to break that episode, which I'm glad they do that now instead of let's write a cliffhanger.

[01:23:30] And then if we get renewed, we'll, we'll figure out how to get out of it because you do get those moments where it's like, oh, it's so dramatic that Riker said fire. And like the resolution to that as well, it didn't work. Like, so I, I, I can agree with that, but like, I do agree with the sentiment from earlier that the zero G Gorn fight was amazing.

[01:23:51] I actually, I think that's one of the stronger Spock and chapel scenes in the season as well, because it's like, they've had the breakup and chapel is looking out this window, like for any sign of hope. And, you know, we've been told, you know, look to the stars and stuff, but she looks out and she sees Spock in a space suit and she knows I'm, I'm going to be fine. Like he's coming to get me. It's going to be okay.

[01:24:14] And it's like their dynamic at that point is not necessarily super lovey dovey, but it just, it absolutely gives you that weight of like, this is why it's hard for them to let go because there is something there. It's not nothing. So that, and then, yeah, I mean, Martin Quinn, who doesn't love, who doesn't love Marty Quinn, right? Like, I don't think I've ever called him that face. Two time open park night guest, yeah. Probably wouldn't, but like Marty Quinn, we love you.

[01:24:44] Yeah, I, his Scotty is, it's, it's perfect, right? Like it's a character again, that people know and love. They've got a lot of history with, they know what they want, they know what to expect. And I'm, you know, I, I'm not here to like rage bait or whatever, but like, give me Martin Quinn, Scotty over Simon Pegg, Scotty literally any day of the week. And I don't know that that's a hot take, but that's, that's how I feel.

[01:25:12] So I, I was very glad to see him. I'm happy we have both of them in the world, but yeah. Yeah. Well, and like you, you, you have a moment of like, who is this character? And then he starts talking and you're like, oh my God, that's Scotty. Like there's a half second where you don't know who it is. And then it's, it's not played like the camera's not winking at you. It's not a Marvel cameo pan and then, you know, scroll up the body. Like it's just, he's here now. This is who this guy is. He completely, totally exists.

[01:25:42] And then, you know, to find about his relationship with Pellia, like hegemony part one is, you know, there's a lot of Independence Day to it, but I'm fine with that. It totally works for me. Give me a Midwest planet. That's very TOS. Happy to, happy to have that. There we go. Mm-hmm. All right. Well, it's been a long night and it's been a long two seasons heading into our rewatch of season three, which is going to be a little strange because we just watched season three, but it'll be fun.

[01:26:09] So we have one month left until season four of Strange New Worlds. And man, were we excited. I hope you guys are excited. I hope you liked the new trailer. Be sure to clean up after yourselves. Be sure to tip your servers. Be sure to make sure there are no survivors on any ships that you're going to just drop onto a planet. Because rip the remaining members of the Cayuga who did not get killed by the Gorn. And as always, you can go anywhere you want, but you can't stay here. Cam, is your autobiography titled A Puberty Parable?

[01:26:40] A Puberty Parable.