Strange New Worlds Season 3 Rewatch!

[00:00:08] Is this thing on? Hello? Hello? Welcome to Open Pike Night, the Strange New Worlds podcast where your personal logs are the prime direction. I'm your host, John T. Boulds, here tonight to talk with my great co-hosts and some fantastic callers about Season 3 of Strange New Worlds in one last look back before Season 4 of Strange New Worlds comes out. And man, it's gonna be a heck of a season.

[00:00:48] But first, as always, let me introduce my co-hosts, the man who has decided to unfreeze himself as a light-filled statue just for today's recording, Jesse Bailey. You know, the benefit of being frozen as a light-filled statue? No acne, no skincare routine at all. I mean, as it stands, I gotta put these Hello Kitty patches on my face, but I like being a statue, that's all I'm saying.

[00:01:11] And the man who decided to unpack himself from an orb containing his evil, evil essence, just for this recording, Cameron Harrison. Balls. Yeah. Something's like a ball pit, I don't know. Yep. Jesse is the good guy of the podcast, Cam is the villain. Hey! I think that's accurate.

[00:01:33] And before we go any further, yeah, I do have to say, like, I am so jacked for Season 4. Like, we've seen a little bit of it. I cannot wait to be able to talk about it with everyone. I don't know why the writers keep saying in interviews, like, yeah, there are fewer big swings this season because I gotta tell ya, I think there are still swings and I think they're still hitting dingers. I mean, I came back from the set visit being like, I don't know what they're talking about. The swings are coming. We can't say more than that, but.

[00:02:03] No, but let's give our listeners a little bit of a rundown of what to expect for Season 4 before we get into our Season 3 coverage. Mm-hmm. Because we are, as we record this, 18 days from the premiere of Season 4 of Strange New Worlds. And we have seen our screeners and we've already started recording some of our Season 4 coverage. Cam, why don't you do the honors and tell our listeners about the newest Open Pike Night series?

[00:02:28] Yes. Well, as you all know, the episodes for Season 4 will be dropping on Thursday. So you can watch and enjoy your Strange New Worlds Season 4. And then the next day you can watch our Strange New Worlds series. So just like we did last year, we're talking to all the writers for each episode and, you know, what inspired them for that episode, what the original ideas were, the fun making of stories.

[00:02:53] But what we didn't do last year, more than a couple times, I think we talked to two directors last season. This season we were talking to all the directors for all the episodes, theoretically is the plan. And you can tune into that the following Saturday. So Thursdays you'll hear from writers, Saturday you'll hear from the directors.

[00:03:13] And I mean, let me tell you, we've already talked to a couple, one returning, one new. And I don't know why every time we were getting ready to talk to a new person, I'm like, I don't know how this is going to go. Because every time it's the best conversation ever. They are all such amazing people. I can't wait for you to hear from these people and the stories they've got to tell. Yeah. And a big shout out to all the callers and listeners, because you are right at the top of the list of reasons that people will talk to us.

[00:03:42] The cast members, the writers, everybody who's been on the show, they go back to set and they tell folks, here's the experience I had. It was a lot of fun. You get to hear all these positive voices and you really feel connected to the community. And we think that's a big reason why folks are interested in coming back again and again and coming on for their first time. 90% of first time guests we talk to say, oh, I heard about you guys from this cast member or from this writer or from this behind the scenes person.

[00:04:10] And that is an amazing feeling. And I think it really does speak to the impact that you, the listener and caller have on the show. Because if we were at five downloads a month and nobody had ever heard the show, it might look a little different. Yeah. Yeah. And with that, of course, we will still be recording our regular episode coverage for each episode as they drop.

[00:04:33] So once you have seen the episode of the week and heard the strange new words with a writer of the episode and heard the prime direction recording, get your 90 seconds or less audio clip sent in to openpike at gmail.com or go to openpike.com and record your voice message there to be included on our recording that happens on each Sunday.

[00:04:57] Those calls each week will be due by noon Eastern. That's 9 a.m. Pacific, the Sunday after each episode drops. You know, we're not really a big beef having podcast. We're not beef farmers here. But like Greatest Trek and Greatest Gen just went fully independent. And like, they're a great show. You know, everybody likes them. I like them. But we've been independent the whole time.

[00:05:25] Like what? They're they're horning in on the independent market of Star Trek podcast. You guys really need to do that? Anyway, it's it's not beef. It's just a feeling. It's like it's like Disney trying to show Toy Story for Sundance or something. Come on. Yeah. Like it's going to find distribution. Relax. No, really, we do love Ben and Adam and Wendy and Bill and the whole crew there. We cannot wait to see them at STLV, which we will be there.

[00:05:55] And during that time, episode three of Strange New World season four will be dropping. So there'll be there might be some fun with that. There will be some fun. Yeah. If you're going to Star Trek Las Vegas this year, get ready to have a mic put in front of your face by the Open Bike Night crew. We are going to try and go big this year. We want to have lots of live calls for the show. And there's going to be maybe some extra stuff going on that you can help us out with.

[00:06:23] So definitely if you're not in our discord or in our social media feed somewhere, get there and let us know that you're going to be at STLV because we'd love to hang out with you. We've we've all committed to this year at STLV. We will be going big and going home. So we'll be safe, I guess. I don't know. Yeah, we all signed a pledge. It was very weird. There was there was secret oaths involved. I was like, that's strange. But hey, Cameron loves a form letter. Yeah.

[00:06:51] I'm also trying to convince these guys to get a tattoo together, an Open Bike Night tattoo. So stay tuned to see if that happens. Oh, man. Okay. So before we jump in really quick, let's just say of the first three episodes of season four, Cameron, what's your favorite? Well, Jesse, after much thought, I think that would have to be episode. John, I definitely need to pay more attention to episode, but I think overall it would be episode.

[00:07:20] Yeah, I think I think we have a triad here because I'm also going to come in on episode. I loved episode. A ton of fun episode. I have feelings. It's not a bad episode, but I have feelings. But yeah, I think I think we're all in episode. So for our final episode of Open Pike Night season three, I guess, we'll talk about Strange New Worlds season three once again.

[00:07:48] And first up, as always, we're going to listen to a caller. Here is our good friend, Abby. Hey, hey, Open Pike. Abby Summer from the First Flight Podcast. Season three just finished my rewatch as well. I will say this is definitely the most up and down and uneven season for me of all three. But there's still some gems. Salat and Terrarium are top tier and could be some of my favorite episodes of the entire series.

[00:08:13] However, what is Starfleet could possibly know not could possibly is my least favorite episode of the series thus far. So lots of stuff going on in here. Want to call out the soundtrack for this season, which is absolutely stellar. Go download it if you haven't. My favorite cut is the Sky Gowans. The Limit from episode 10. Absolutely perfect. And Bernadette Croft deserves every single award for all of the costumes of every type that she made for this season.

[00:08:41] And I will die on that hill because they are stunning and out of the box and inventive and gorgeous. Everyone looks better when her team dresses them. So could keep going at a time. Hope this finds you well. What do you guys think of the overall sentiment that Abby expressed there? This is an up and down more more of an up and down season than the first two. I mean, that's the sentiment I've been struggling with all along. I mean, so I went back and rewatched season three and about halfway through was like this all feels very familiar.

[00:09:10] Oh, yeah, we did this episode less than a year ago with our retrospective. But of course, I hadn't freshly watched one and two. So it was fun watching it through that lens of the other two seasons, especially since so many people were comparing this to those ones. And yeah, a lot of people say that. And I still I was wondering how I'd feel because I reminded myself how good season two was. I still think episode per episode. This is the best season. I love the episodes of season three. They don't mesh that well together.

[00:09:36] As again, we've talked before, like because of the writer's strike, it sounds like a lot of through lines kind of got misshapen. So even though it starts off like episode two sets up stuff so well that gets carried through the rest of the season. But then I think it was Dana Oregon was saying like, yeah, there's the first half of the season and then there's the second half of the season. So it sounds like the writer's strike really kind of broke things from that point on. And it's I mean, you can you can tell you can tell.

[00:10:06] But yeah, I don't know. I still I think I think there's some really good strong episodes this season. I do agree with the sentiment and I do agree with the canvas like it's absolutely the writer's strike that messed everything up, but not in a bad way. I think I think it's not the season anybody expected they were going to have in 2023.

[00:10:58] Mm hmm. I don't know if I'm going to go back to that very much. Yeah. And that's one where I feel like the episode itself. I love that episode. I also don't feel like that episode was set up this season or this series. I don't think we've like that Starfleet tarred itself enough in the series to have that episode. Yeah, I could definitely to me. It feels kind of like a DS9 episode. Yeah.

[00:11:23] Like this this would definitely fit into a DS9 season somewhere, especially with Jake being a reporter or wanting to be a reporter, that kind of a thing. But like. I actually I like that episode. It's it's not, you know, among my top ten episodes ever, but I like it. And I the thing that I think surprised me was that a lot of folks and I'm not saying, Abby, specifically that this was you, but a lot of folks were saying like they ask this big question and then they don't really answer it.

[00:11:51] And I'm like, yeah, it's Star Trek. Like they want you to answer it for yourself. Like, how do you feel about this? And, you know, you're supposed to have strong emotional reactions to this exact setup. And I think in that way it completely succeeds. It's nobody walked out of that going, I could take or leave that episode. You either like it or you do not like it. But you also. There is very little. You also don't walk out of it saying I've got nothing to say about it. Like you said, but I mean, it invites discussion. So whether. Yeah.

[00:12:19] Whether you like the episode or not, you probably enjoyed having some discussions about it afterwards. And I've got to give it. I mean, that's part of my reason for enjoying it. Yeah. Yeah. And Abby's also right about the soundtrack, especially, you know, any Star Trek soundtrack that has Wham in it. Like you can't go wrong. Yeah. But yeah, to my earlier point, like watching season two, I was like, okay, yeah.

[00:12:45] This season, season two also felt like it had some through lines that didn't quite. But weren't a full natural arc. We kind of talked about Spock like, oh, we're going to do this stuff with Spock suddenly having emotions. But it kind of just pops up here and there where they need it. And the Spock Chapel romance was kind of like, not that it was, it was kind of on fast forward a little bit. Yep. So it's, it's not that season three was the only season to have these kind of wonky through lines, but I think they just went bigger.

[00:13:13] They were more ambitious with their through lines. And so they're a little more noticeable. Yeah. I think, I think Spock Chapel is a really great example because they're like, hey, what's interesting about relations and on relationships on TV and movies, the buildup or the breakup. Right. A happy relationship as they've seen, you know, is not necessarily an enjoyable thing to watch. A comfortable relationship, unless everything else is just going absolutely crazy. And that's the place where people can find their calm.

[00:13:43] So, you know, it, it, I, for me, it was, it's, it's watching Pike and Battelle be comfortable together. I'm like, this is kind of boring. But I can see why I love this. So yeah, that's interesting. Well, and an interesting note on that is like the Spock and La'on relationship, it's arguable that it feels like it kind of comes out of nowhere. Like in this season. I still remember like. But it works. The shock on my face.

[00:14:13] I wish I'd been recording myself when they kiss at the end of four, I think. Yeah. I, I would like, that was one of those, like, oh, I, I could tell they were building something up. I did not think it would manifest this way. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Well, let's go ahead and hear from another caller. Here is our buddy Grayson. Haven't heard from him in a while. Hey guys, it's Grayson from the Prime Detective podcast. Thanks for having me back. Poor season three. Y'all, that strike as, as necessary and as important as it was.

[00:14:41] It really did a number on this season. And it's not that it was bad. It just felt off to me somehow. It also had a kind of supernatural or charmed feel to it, which those shows are great at being what they are, but not so great at being Star Trek, in my opinion. Couple of highlights. There were lots of amazing ideas, like in the Salat Who Ate Its Tale. I love the idea of the story, but even the big Twilight Zone twist at the end felt a little forced. Thank you, Brice.

[00:15:11] It did give us a TARDIS in Trek, so that is something. Four and a half Vulcans, I know, but for all its flaws, without it, we never would have had Doug the Vulcan and his lessons in humanity with Spock, which for me makes it worth the price of admission. Also problematic, but what is Starfleet? It used a novel storytelling device, which I haven't seen in Trek, and I appreciated that. And then in A Space Adventure Hour, man, I love this episode from Jump. I still do.

[00:15:40] It might be too on the nose, but it really made me feel seen as a fan. All right, season four, bring it on. I want to be surprised by something that's not been in a trailer or a teaser or anything. Take my breath away, Star Trek. Pull the rug out from under me. Take my breath away. Yay. Grayson, I promise that will happen to you. Yeah, season four. Yeah, I will. Well, speaking of season four, we have confirmation now that Doug is coming back for season four. He'll be back. That's cool.

[00:16:09] Well, good to know, and congrats to all of the Doug stans out there. And I do want to say congratulations to Grayson on wrapping up the first season of Prime Detective. Heck yeah. I have had a blast listening to that show. I loved hearing your ad on Greatest Trek. It's a really cool show. So speaking of novelty formats you don't always get on a Star Trek, you don't always get Grayson's podcast format when talking about Star Trek. So I think it's a really cool angle to look at things through.

[00:16:38] And yeah, both callers now have mentioned the sailor who ate its tail. I think the magic trick of that episode is for three or four years, everybody's like, why is Kirk here? Get Kirk off the ship. That's a show about Pike. And then you get a Kirk-centric episode with him in command and everyone loves it, which I think is a testament to the strength of the episode. Like, this is a moment people had known must have happened, right? But we never really saw it. We never saw Kirk's first instance of command.

[00:17:08] And I think they did it really well. And I, with the twist, I would say it felt maybe predictable, but that's not always a bad thing. Cameron, I know that you feel very strongly about that twist. Yeah. I mean, I, when watching it, I was like, that was a great episode. I'd probably cut the twist. I didn't really feel how it added to the episode. And then we talked to the writers and like, the twist is why we did the episode. And I was like, oh shit, did I miss something? Every time I watch it, I'm like, okay, I'm going to, I'm going to understand this time.

[00:17:38] Every time I'm like, see, they were from earth. I don't know. I feel like the episode ends 10 minutes before it ends. And so it's just, it's just nice to hear Grayson. Someone else agree with me. It's always nice to find comradeship that way. That, and to Grayson's point about the space adventure hour, maybe being on the nose. I think that's kind of a similar feeling there with the say lot twist, but it's like, I mean, anymore, you gotta be on the nose with your messaging, right?

[00:18:06] Like I'm with Grayson on that sentiment as far as that episode goes, but I just want to commend Grayson for not being a huge fan of the season overall and not being a dick about it. Like, like, like, way to be a great fan of, of Star Trek and, and like express your feelings. Like, I really appreciate hearing somebody who's not like, this is the best thing ever. It's, it's nice to have this because it is kind of a up and down season for a lot of people.

[00:18:34] So, Hey, it is what it is. And man, we're all looking forward to season four too.

[00:19:08] Yeah. Hmm. We waited such a long time for it. And for me, it has been worth the wait. Although it's more like a Corolla coaster ride than the other seasons were. Maybe because the strike disrupted everything. Well, I don't know. Still, I love it. And I have to start with Hegemony part two. It was an amazing conclusion to the cliffhanger and exactly the kind of tense, emotional, high-stakes Star Trek story I was hoping for.

[00:19:34] It felt like the season started at full speed and then went up and down and up and down again. But my favorite episode overall was a space adventure hour. It was fantastic. The quotes, the costumes, Anson in his wig, the glasses and the belly. Oh my gosh. I love every time I see it. Honestly, I love all the scenes with Anson. That's probably not a surprise coming from me, but it's true.

[00:20:03] Whether he's being a captain, a friend, a Vulcan or just Pike, I always find myself looking forward to his scenes the most. So, I really enjoyed the season, but is it my favorite one? I don't know. But I know that Una's hair in Shuttle to Confori is still a no-go. I'm sorry, but I have to say it. I love Joseph and Chris on the planet though, so it's a good episode, but the hair people? So, overall, season three has given me everything I love about strange new worlds, great characters, emotional stories, memorable visuals,

[00:20:33] and so many moments that have stayed with me long after the credits rolled. I can't wait to see what comes next. Live long and prosper. Rewatching it, I mean, her hair was all I could watch in that episode. After all this discourse, I tried to go in fresh, but no, the discourse was with me.

[00:20:52] I love Shuttle to Confori because it's very close to the top of my list in episodes that I cite while making the argument that Strange New Worlds is actually about Mbenga. This is the Mbenga story. All the way through every season, it's his story. And, you know, the rest of the crew is amazing, and I love Ortegas, obviously favorite character ever.

[00:21:17] But Shuttle to Confori, I think for me, it was a great continuation of the Doc Ross storyline. Mm-hmm. And just another reinforcing moment of Mbenga being somebody that you, A, want on your side, and conversely do not want to mess with. Like, he has such compassion, but also has this capability for violence. It is a wonderfully drawn character. I love the way that they explore him.

[00:21:43] And I was convinced this is going to be the episode 10 for this season. I'm so excited for it. And that's definitely part of why episode 10 doesn't quite land for me. And then my favorite thing, honestly, like, I love A Space Adventure Hour. I rewatch it a lot. Maybe my favorite thing about it was all of the people on the internet who completely misunderstood what they were doing. Like, how could you roast Gene Roddenberry like this? Where's the respect?

[00:22:10] And, uh, Frakes should know better and all this stuff. I'm like, he does. Like, this is what you do with things you love. You gently criticize some of the pieces around them, but ultimately you coalesce around the vision if you believe in it. And I think that's what that episode shows. Like, all television and all art is made by flawed people. All people are flawed, right? These are very easy statements to make. I don't think they're controversial.

[00:22:40] Well, especially these creators. A whole section of people that are like, this wasn't perfect and they were rude. It's like, come on, man. And I think that goes back to what I was saying. You've got to be on the nose with your messaging these days because subtext is not a flavor everybody likes. Well, not only are all people flawed, but, like, these have been public personas for 60 years. Like, what are you going to... They're caricatures now beyond anything, and you've got to play with that. Absolutely.

[00:23:08] And, I mean, it's not my favorite episode, but Space Adventure Hour, yeah. They are trying to do something new, and they do have to acknowledge the six decades of this coming before. Like, it's... Look in your phone, people. The only emoji... They have the Spock emoji in your phone. It's built into the literal operating system of our day-to-day lives. Star Trek is. So, what other show has that?

[00:23:38] None. Also, and I've come around on Paul Wesley's Kirk. I'm a Kirk fan now, a Strange New World's Kirk fan. But Space Adventure Hour is still my favorite Paul Wesley. Oh, he's so good at that, yeah. He is so good in this episode. I have my issues with the episode, but not with the presentation of The Final Frontier. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. And it's the first time you get to see and hear Jess Bush use her Australian accent on the show.

[00:24:07] It's like, there are so many little treats sprinkled throughout the episode. It really is a ton of fun. And, I mean, the last point I'll make is, you know Gene Roddenberry's son is a producer on the show, right? Like, if he had any problems with it, they probably wouldn't have been shown on screen. Now, we just listened to Melanie, so I feel like we should talk about the Pike of it all, which Pike's evolution through the series is fun.

[00:24:33] And I remember asking Akiva and Henry, like, yeah, so you've got this character who in season one comes to terms with his death. That's his arc in season one. What do you do with the character after that? Is it hard to write for that character? And I believe Akiva's response was like, yeah, it's fucking hard. And so it is interesting seeing what they've done with him through the seasons. This one, obviously, he was playing support to Battelle and kind of had his own arc there. So that worked.

[00:25:01] But I'm also kind of, you can kind of see them recognizing like, oh, Anson Mount can do anything and loves doing anything. And they have like really leaned into like, what can we make this guy do next? And so we see that through season three. I'll let people make their own decisions if they continue that into season four, because I can't say anything. But I think that is a lot of Pike's journey in this series now.

[00:25:26] Like, well, his character has come to terms with like the biggest existential thing a character can come to terms with. Let's just have the actor have fun. Yeah. And they, for better or worse, I love watching Anson do anything. And Cam, I think it was you that said he is a character actor in a leading man's body. And it like, that rings true for me every time I see it, because he, you can see that he loves this process, right?

[00:25:52] Like he wants to get into these weird versions of his character and like the unexplored aspects of what that would be like. And I just, I think we are very lucky to have somebody like that as our captain in a show like this. Because, I mean, you can boil 90% of Star Trek captains down to two traits, right? Like, oh, he's a mystery nerd and he likes archaeology.

[00:26:19] Or, oh, he's defiant almost to a fault, but loves the people that he loves more than anything in the universe. Or, oh, she's addicted to coffee. Obviously, there's a lot more to Janeway than that. But like, my point being, if somebody asked you, so what are the defining traits of Pike? You'd be like, he's supportive and fun and good at being a captain. Like, there's so many things to pick from here.

[00:26:47] But he's also like, he's just got all these aspects to him. And I think for me, that's part of why episode 10 didn't hit me correctly. Because it's like, I think you guys were right when you talked about how maybe there wasn't enough time spent with Patel. Because for that story to be like the ultimate thing for her and just kind of have her offhandedly say, oh, all these things I've been through. And it's like, have you been through? Have we seen you go through all those things?

[00:27:17] Like, I think I saw you go through two of those things. And I guess they apply here. But I almost wish there were more Patel so that that would feel more tied up and less like a, this was an Mbenga story and we gave it to Patel. Yeah. And I think another 46 episodes, if we had doubled the length of the series, I think you're right.

[00:27:43] We would have had some fun things with Pike exploring that and Anson exploring that. Like, we've seen body swap episodes. Like, great. Give us a Clint Howard villain and a Pike, you know, versus him. And then they body swap. And then we've got Clint Howard as the captain and Pike as the villain playing Clint Howard. I'm like, you know Anson would love to do something like that. I would watch that so hard. It's like, all right, Clint, you're playing Anson. Anson, you're playing Clint. Go. It's like, awesome. Here's 60 minutes of just pure fun. Oh my gosh. Greenlight it.

[00:28:12] So, all right. Well, let's go ahead and hear from our next caller. Here is Michelle. Hey, OpenPike Night. Looking forward to revisiting season three of Strange New Worlds, especially coming off the Trek Long Island convention where I got to meet up and hang out with so many amazing Star Trek fans, including fans from Strange New Pod, the Sci-Fi Sisters, and our very own Engineer Mark from the OpenPike Discord. It was a great time.

[00:28:38] And I had the unexpected and awesome experience of watching the New York Knicks win a championship in New York with a whole bunch of Star Trek actors, including Strange New Worlds actors, Sully Rose Gooding, Dan Janot, Chris Myers, just to name a few. So, my friend from North Carolina, who was a Trekkie, we've known each other since childhood, she came up for the convention, but her flight was five hours delayed. She missed most of it, but we decided to have dinner at the hotel restaurant.

[00:29:06] And all of a sudden, all these Star Trek actors started showing up and they turned on the TV we didn't know was there. And they turned on the Knicks game and the rest is history. So, it was a great moment for me and my childhood best friend, and it just was a great experience overall. But getting to season three kind of leads in because Chris Myers, who played Ensign Gamble, is one of my highlights of season three. It's also my crusher connection because I love the people of Sick Bay in Star Trek.

[00:29:35] And we lost Ensign Gamble far too soon, but it was a great role that season and a nice arc, even if it ended tragically. My main highlights, though, are, of course, Terrarium, hashtag Morteigus, and everything they did with the Gorn special effects-wise this season. Hegemony Part 2 was amazing. I thought it was a great season opener, and the effects and the Gorn arc bookended nicely with Terrarium.

[00:30:02] I ultimately see season three as the season where I really not just appreciated, but loved Paul Wesley's performance as Jim Kirk. As a TOS fan, I kind of struggled with it a little bit, but it really came together in The Selot Who Ate Its Tail. That is probably my favorite episode of season three with the TOS crew. And big props to everybody who's been working on Strange New Worlds. I look forward to the season four premiere and your thoughts on season three.

[00:30:32] Until then, live long and prosper. You got your Terrarium call out, Jesse. You guys, I could talk about Terrarium for this entire episode. To me, Terrarium is season three. Season three is the season where we got our Ortegus episode. It absolutely delivered. Loved all the connections that I had to TOS. I have no problem with the Metrons at the end of the episode because that is what the Metrons are and what they do.

[00:30:57] And that episode, more than Space Adventure Hour for me, felt like, oh, I'm putting this together moments before things are being revealed. And I am loving this journey. I love being led just enough to get there right before the characters do. And like that little blinking light on the horizon, I was like, oh, I just figured out what that is. And then Ortegus gets to it like maybe five, 10 minutes later.

[00:31:26] I think that episode for me is a standout in the series, obviously. But it's an example of when the character arc makes sense all three seasons, like straight through, right? Like we've had our ups and downs with maybe the Spock and Chapel relationship. We've had our ups and downs with some of the other character arcs. And like, what are they doing with this? For me, Ortegus and Mbenga. But Ortegus definitely has, you can see the entire arc, right?

[00:31:55] And I think I landed on she is a soldier and she is a pilot who is also a soldier, right? But that mentality fits her so well that you can use it to tell these stories that otherwise you could look at Terrarium and go, oh, they wanted to do Arena, right? But I think the addition of the Ortegus character, especially the way she interacts and then the way that she has her interaction with La'an at the end of the episode really elevates it

[00:32:23] into, no, this is an Ortegus story and it takes place now. It's not a TOS story. So for me, that's an absolute highlight. And I think, you know, a lot of folks listening are going to expect that from me, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to do it. I think Terrarium, and I think I predicted this last episode of season two, is one that really benefited from watching season one and two freshly before it.

[00:32:50] I've always liked Terrarium, but I've been on record saying like, I don't know if it had to be Ortegus. It could have been anyone. Should it not have been La'an? But watching one and two, I was reminded like how much this bigotry towards the enemy Ortegus has carried as a character since the beginning. And yeah, enemy just made everything pop even a little bit more. Yeah, it was. I think it was the most change for me in my viewing, reviewing of season three after watching those two seasons. Like, oh, okay.

[00:33:19] Like, obviously we love Ortegus on this podcast, but it was nice to go back and spend all that time with her again and watch Terrarium with much more fresh eyes. I feel like a terrible Star Trek fan sometimes when I admit how little I watch Star Trek, but I'm in my final semester of college, people. I'm doing 37 college credits right now over six months. I will watch more Star Trek more regularly at some point in my life when the world is less insane.

[00:33:49] You've watched more than me. You've seen all of DS9. I'm sure a less insane world is right around the corner. Yeah. But we will push, John. The last thing I'll say about Terrarium is that for a season one and season two that leaned so heavily into the Gorn is our season long thing, right? To kind of use hegemony part two to close that off.

[00:34:19] For the most part. And then we still get this episode out of it toward the end of the season. I think is brilliant because you tell people like, look, season three is going to be different. Okay. It's not a Gorn season long thing. Don't worry about it. There's this whole other Vesda stuff going on. Everything's fine. But as trauma often does, it just kind of pops up and it is not universal stakes. It's not the Federation being invaded. It's one person's story.

[00:34:46] And I think that's a great way to tie what Ortega's character has been through and what the Gorn has meant to Strange New Worlds up to that point off into a nice little bow. All right. Let's go ahead and hear from our buddy Platy. Hey, open pike night. This is Platy M3 calling in from the road where the Platy family and little Moopsie got to visit 14 national parks in 13 days.

[00:35:11] Plus, we got to make some iconic stops by seeing the Alamo and having dinner with OPN's Jesse. All right. Well, that's this summer's hits. Last summer's hits on season three. I was more of a fan of the second half of season three. Loved Mortagus in Terrarium. That was a great episode. Absolutely loved the Salat Who Ate Its Tail. That blended cool space myth with cautionary future human tails.

[00:35:38] And I really love Pike's lifetime lived in a moment during the season finale. Now, shits. While the season felt kind of just disjointed and was a definite third place in my mind, I really can only point to What is Starfleet as my shit episode. That was way to take Mortagus and ruin a good Star Trek episode with it. Hashtag other Tagus. All right. And now giggles.

[00:36:05] I laughed a ton at all of the portrayals everybody did in a space adventure hour. And some people thought it was problematic, but I just couldn't stop laughing at four and a half Vulcans. That is going to go down as like a top three episode for me for, I think, all of this show. Romulan! Glad to be on three. Signing off. All right. I'm going to make a producer call here.

[00:36:33] I'm going to play Trev's call right after that. And then we can talk about four and a half Vulcans. Here we go. Hey, it's Trev beaming in from the Fairlighter Franchise podcast to offer my report on season three, a call I debated making because I'm guessing we want this to be a positive discussion. But honesty is the best policy. So I'll just say that after what I considered two perfect seasons, this was the first season that I did at the time and I still do find overall disappointing. Not to say there weren't still things I enjoyed. I adored episodes like Through the Lens of Time and Terrarium.

[00:37:02] But there were also a handful of episodes like Shuttle to Canfori, What is Starfleet, and unfortunately the finale that I just found kind of meh. And one episode, Four and a Half Vulcans, that is the only SNW episode that I absolutely despise. Not going to relitigate that. We've talked about it a lot. I'm glad others enjoyed it. It just didn't. It really bothered me. I do think this season was a little too gimmick episode forward, as if they heard the positive reaction to the previous ones and thought that should become the show's main identity, rather than just focusing on telling singular great Trek stories and doing gimmicks every once in a while.

[00:37:31] I also felt the nostalgia baiting creeping in a little too heavily this season, almost as if it was a trial run for year one more than it was Strange New Worlds. Although my favorite episode of the season was the Salat Who Ate Its Tail, the Kirk Origin episode. So maybe I'm a hypocrite. Take me with a grain of salt. Hey, at the end of the day, every live action Trek show has had a lackluster season or two. So this did not dampen my enthusiasm for the series moving forward. I know they've talked about how there were some, you know, outside issues that maybe affected this season. And I take them at their word.

[00:38:00] I hope this is just a little aberration for me. You know, it's a really high standard to believe that they're going to give me 30 perfect Star Trek episodes. So I'm not bothered the season didn't fully connect. I wish it had. But there were still things to love. The cast was still doing a great job. All the departments were still doing a great job. It was still a fun show to watch week to week. And I am still very, very excited about season four. I think the trailer rocks. And I'm excited to see what all you have to say about season three now. All right. Thanks. To echo your sentiment from before John DeGrayson.

[00:38:27] Like, I mean, it's just so refreshing and amazing to hear people give honest reaction, critical reaction and criticism to something in a positive way. I'm like, yeah, I'm not mad. Like, I would have liked episodes I enjoy more. We all would. But yeah. Yeah. Thank you, Trev. I definitely send in your honest reactions every time, please. Yeah. Yeah. And thank you to Platty, too, for like, for always running down. You know, like he has shits for everything, too.

[00:38:54] Like, the two, like, we have great qualities of I'm glad people don't like every single episode 100%. And I'm glad they're willing to share that with us. We've always invited, you know, discourse and dislike on our calls. And the people who call with dislikes are great about it. And I just really appreciate all of our callers for that.

[00:39:20] I don't appreciate Platty saying he went to 14 national parks in 13 days and not listing them. If off the top of my head I had to guess, basing on Texas and Colorado, I'm going to say Rocky Mountain, Mesa Verde, Black Canyon, or the Gunnison, possibly White Sands. I'm going to say Carlsbad Caverns, maybe Guadalupe Peak. Did you get down to Big Bend? Anyway, I'm going to stop there. But I'm glad you had such a good trip, Platty, and got that out of your system before season four of Strange New Worlds. It sounds like you scheduled that with the perfect timing.

[00:39:50] Also, meeting with Jesse, being spoken in the same breath as the Alamo. Well done, Jesse. Yes. Oh, yes. Thank you. Jesse Bailey. Perhaps unsurprising. I think everybody who listens thought I was the nerd, but I think it's very clear that John and Cameron have their own avenues by which they could be the capital N nerd of this show. And yeah, it was a great time. Platty and I ran into that problem where we're like, yeah, let's grab dinner. And then two and a half hours later, our families are like, where are you?

[00:40:19] What is going on? Because we finished our dinner in probably 20 minutes, and then we just sat and talked and hung out. And I don't know if I showed you guys this yet, but Platty made us open Pike Knight keychains with his 3D printer, and he gave me a whole sack of these to hand out to folks at STLV. So if you want a keychain, you have to go to Vegas. I know. Thanks, Platty.

[00:40:42] I appreciate Trev's caveat at the start of his call, but to echo what John and Cameron said, it doesn't have to be a glazing of the show. It doesn't have to be a positive only discussion. We want it to be a discussion, right? And I think having calls like Trev's really helped. Yeah. Now, my question would be, and I can't ask Trev directly, obviously, because he's not here, but what do you guys think about the gimmick aspect of season three?

[00:41:11] Because as I'm looking through episodes, I can maybe pick out two gimmick episodes, which would be the holodeck episode and maybe what is Starfleet? But beyond that, I think they're all kind of standard format Star Trek episodes, right? Like they're dealing with specific things, but I wouldn't necessarily, like there's no musical, there's no animated crossover.

[00:41:38] There's not a huge swing that I can see outside of those two episodes. Am I misreading that? My guess would be people would include a zombie episode, maybe a romantic comedy episode. Certainly the mockumentary and the, not mockumentary, but faux documentary and the holodeck. Four and a half Vulcans people probably throw in as gimmick.

[00:42:01] You know, there's a lot of gray area between like, a lot of people complain about too many comedy episodes and then people also complain about gimmick episodes. And I think they get kind of muddled at times. But I've been thinking the same thing, wondering like, again, rewatching the previous seasons. I was like, two, does two have less gimmick episodes than three? I don't know. I wouldn't say it does. Does it have less comedy episodes? I don't think so. I think both have three comedy episodes.

[00:42:27] I've been wondering, because we talk a lot about how like the biggest, most of our complaints can be boiled down to, we don't get 20 episodes. If we don't like this big swing, we wouldn't care if we had, you know, four other standard adventure episodes because Strange New Worlds does the standard adventure episodes so well. So a lot of these complaints are really kind of double-edged compliments.

[00:42:49] I've been kind of wondering if you could view Strange New Worlds as someone took a 20 episode season of a Star Trek show and pulled out the 10 fan favorite episodes and that's all we got. And unlike in some other dimension, there's 10 more episodes and they're fine. There's probably a couple bad ones. Most of them are pretty good. But these are the ones people always talk about. These are the 10 shining examples from that season, each of the Strange New Worlds seasons. And I've kind of, I don't know, I've been enjoying that mental exercise.

[00:43:19] What do you guys think? I like that. And I think I'm on the record as saying like, at this point, I consider a Vulcan comedy episode a feature of Strange New Worlds. Yeah. You know, like there will be one. Yeah. Like, and I'm grateful for that because Ethan Peck is really good at funny Spock. Like, Spock is not necessarily always written as a funny character.

[00:43:45] But I mean, even in TOS and the movies, he has moments where it's like, the funny thing is it's Spock saying this, you know? So it's like, I don't know that I would call that one a gimmick episode. But now I think I much better understand where Trev is coming from after your explanation there, Cam. So thank you for that. But I do wonder, Jon, did you have that kind of up and down with the season?

[00:44:09] Because for me, it was like, I loved every episode and then felt a slight dip for what is Starfleet. And then I had a ton of fun with the rest of the season and then a slight dip for episode 10. So like, there were ups and downs, but it was like one down, one down toward the end. It wasn't like up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down sort of a thing for me. Yeah. I think that's about right for me is two rises, two falls.

[00:44:37] I mean, I've been on record a lot as saying the Battelle storyline just didn't feel earned. I don't mean it. I'm not saying it's a bad storyline or it's not done well. I just don't think it was earned. And four and a half Vulcans, I don't know. I'm not, I think I'm just like, okay, that's an episode. There's fun moments in it. And there's moments where I'm like, I mean, it's what you had to do, but it's how you had to tell that story. Right.

[00:45:05] Like personally, the Celia Vulcan storyline in that episode to me is the strangest one. I'm like, I don't know how I feel about this one. But then we get Doug. So like we get Doug and, and I, I, I love, uh, the Romulan lawn. Like there are gems. Yes. Yeah, exactly. And so, um, I, I would say, yeah, that, that those are my two downs and ups and it is, it's a strange finale.

[00:45:34] It's a, it's a weird finale. And I do hope season four, you know, I hope it feels fresher. And I do, I think season three, it is, it is just, it is an unfortunate victim of circumstance of the world that it was created in. Um, but at the same time that unfortunate is tiny because it's a great episode. It's a great season of strange new worlds. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:46:00] And I, I think I mentioned this before, but for me, the height of the Vulcan comedy episode is charades. Like four and a half Vulcans was fine, but charades is where it is for me. Like that is to me, that's the Vulcan episode bar for, if you're going to do Vulcan comedy, you can't do better than charades. I mean, I think you can do four and a half Vulcans. I genuinely like that. You like that one the best. I do too. Yeah. I like that. We don't agree on it.

[00:46:29] No one yet. And maybe I should wait to listen to starship and Val who are coming up, but no one yet has mentioned my favorite episode of the season, perhaps the series wedding bell blues. And I don't know why it's my favorite. I'm kind of shocked that nobody has mentioned. I don't know why, but every time I watch it, I just screen the whole way. And so that was going to be one of my points about season three is I feel like, you know, like season one really struggled with comedy.

[00:46:51] I think season two had some very strong comedy parts, but three, I feel like where they've really nailed that the comedy aspect of strange new worlds. Again, I think like season two Spock, they knew how to do the spot comedy. So, so well in season two, but everything else here. I mean, between four and a half Vulcans and wedding bell blues, this season makes me laugh the most. Well, let's see what starship has to say. And then we will definitely talk about wedding bell blues. Here we go.

[00:47:20] Hey, open pike night. It's starship calling in about season three. I think my favorite episode, and I'm kind of embarrassed to say this because it's gotten a lot of hate this year is what is starfleet? But I heard one podcast where the guy said, this is probably the worst episode of Trek ever. Not just strange new world, all of Trek. So I'm like, oh, okay. My bad.

[00:47:47] I really liked the story with the Jakaru, and I loved the insight into all the characters and their interviews that they gave. I thought all that was very interesting. So I guess I'm a bad Trek fan for that. I have found that I watch through the lens of time, the Salat that ate its tail and where is Starfleet. I can watch those as like a trio over and over again.

[00:48:15] My favorite moments are probably, oh gosh, probably the stuff with Una and Doug. A lot of the scenes with Pike and Battelle and a lot of the scenes with Spock and Law. And I'm a big shipper this season. I've enjoyed a lot of that. Overall, I do think season three has been the weakest so far, but I still enjoy the hell out of it. And I can't wait for season four. Okay.

[00:48:43] So the ship in the name Starship, we now know where that comes from. Like you're just a big shipper and you can't help yourself. There you go. I really love that call. I think it's important to remember every episode is somebody's favorite episode. Right.

[00:49:02] And I think it's a great illustration that some Star Trek podcasts will say whatever they think will get the most clicks or, you know, they can put on their thumbnail and have people be like, oh, I got to watch that. Like, I don't know. To call what is Starfleet the worst episode of Trek ever made is incredibly short-sighted. I would love to hear the defense of that. Yes. Right. Like there are some stinkers. It's like, all right, let's take that at face value. We're going to give you a list of 10 episodes.

[00:49:31] Tell me why they're bad. Right. Yeah. And to me, it's just clearly a sensationalist reading of it, you know? And it's like, arguably, four and a half Vulcans is much more problematic than what is Starfleet in every way. But you still have people that love both of them. And I think that that's the thing about Star Trek is like, John has said before, like, you can't let perfect be the enemy of good.

[00:49:59] John didn't coin that phrase, but he does remind us of it. And I think that that's a really good thing to think about. I mean, it's what we were saying earlier, right? It's all made by flawed people. Every person is flawed. They're just trying to tell the story that they want to tell. And I think those two episodes in particular did. They caught a ton of flack, especially when they first aired.

[00:50:19] And to hear that there is at least one person out there, maybe one and a half, because I'm with you, Starship, is really kind of standing their ground with what is Starfleet. It means a lot to me because I don't think it's a bad episode. Like, it makes you feel things. Like Cameron said, it makes you want to have discussions. And I think that's kind of the essence of what Star Trek is as, you know, illustrated in a space adventure hour. Like, it is about metaphor.

[00:50:46] It is about discussion and progress and moving things forward. So I'm really glad to hear that. And yeah, I mean, the Una and Doug stuff might be the thing about Four and a Half Vulcans that doesn't work great for me. Like, I liked it, but it raised a lot of questions for me where I was like, okay, so he knows this much about humans but doesn't understand these things about humans?

[00:51:15] He's studied us extensively but doesn't understand the high-five thing? Like, which thing is it? Oh, come on. Is Una's not high-fiving? But that's my point is like, there's enough in there for me to love. I still liked the episode. It was fun. But it does raise a lot of questions where I'm like, does that actually fit? And it's not all just Una and Doug, but I can see why people had their issues with it.

[00:51:42] And it surprised me that folks felt so negatively about what is Starfleet when Four and a Half Vulcans is right there. Well, they're very different. Yeah. I mean, they are. They're very different. I mean, I don't bemoan anyone. I don't dismiss anyone who doesn't like it. Like, it's a format for sure. And if you don't dig that format, you're not going to like it. If you don't, there's lots of reasons you might not.

[00:52:08] I would say to anyone who either loves or doesn't enjoy that episode, check out our interview with the director, Sharon Lewis. I definitely like the first time I watched it, I was like, I like it, but I have I'm conflicted after that conversation. Still like conflicted, but in the right way about the episode, like understanding that there aren't easy answers to it. Understanding that the ambiguity of it is intentional. And that made me appreciate it a lot more. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:52:38] All right. It's an episode about internal conflict. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That makes sense. Exactly. Let's talk wedding bell blues because I don't know if anybody's going to mention it from our call. I just want to say wedding bell blues is wedding bell blues. The lost in translation of season three. Like it might be just honestly it was there. I'm going to say that or hegemony part two, because we haven't mentioned that at all. There's been mentioned a couple of times. We have. Well, and it's, yeah, it's part two.

[00:53:07] It is the second half of the episode. Well, I mean talking about, you know, Jesse asked about the ups and downs. Like that was for me, like the first two episodes, I was like perfect episodes. This is going to be an amazing season. And then there's a few episodes where I was like, I don't know how I feel about those episodes. And then there's some amazing episodes. And then it ended. So that was, I mean, that was my right. I think hegemony part two is a near perfect. I think it's one of the best part twos of Star Trek history. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Fully.

[00:53:31] And I mean, Wedding Bell Blues isn't a deep episode, but for me, it's like Tremors and that it's, there's not a bad beat. I can just watch it and grin the whole way. They did what they wanted to do perfectly. And we got John Delancey at the end. So I'm, I, and also, I mean, now that we've gotten our Terrarium Mortegas episode, I want to coin hashtag Morby. More Corby. Corby. I need more Corby in my life. Love the character. Loved what they did with them. I knew they were going to bring him in.

[00:54:01] I was like, what are they going to do with this guy? Love him. Love him. So let's, let's get Morby going. And if you want to go back for interviews, Killian O'Sullivan was a delight to speak with. Not all of our interviews take off their shirts in the middle of the interview, but. Also Melanie Scrifano was a super funny interview. Holy cow. Yeah. Yeah. And this goes to something we said about season two, like the guest actors on this show, they understand their assignments.

[00:54:29] Like, and they are turning in A plus papers, like 99% of the time. Like I was, the thing about Wedding Bell Blues is like, you know, going into it, what it's going to be because they tease the heck out of it. You saw the Trillane coat. Like, you know, this is going to be a whimsical, fun episode. Right. And it still delivers. You're not going like, oh, called that or, oh, saw this coming or, and then the things you did see coming. You're like, they had to do that.

[00:54:59] I'm glad they landed. So it's like, it is a very impressive thing. Might I recommend the Reese Darby interview we did? We interviewed a lot of the guest stars. Reese. Reese. Yeah. I mean, and that's kind of the thing with, with the big swing discourse too, is like, one of the reasons I love Wedding Bell Blues is I recognize the classic Star Trek plot here. Like, oh, reality is distorted. What's happening. It's just the stakes are different. One character knows. The stakes are different. A little bit of a moral quandary and go. Yeah.

[00:55:28] It's just in a different genre. I mean, the zombie episode, one of my problems with the zombie episode is that it wasn't really a zombie episode. The zombies could have just been any alien or mutant or anything. It's a classic Star Trek episode. I think that goes for most of them. I mean, maybe not the holodeck, but in the, in the end, getting stuck in the holodeck, what's more Star Trek than that? So like, they always find the kernel of, of, of the Star Trek. What is Starfleet? Classic Star Trek episode. Every series has done that episode.

[00:55:57] It's just structured differently. And again, if you don't like the structure, that's completely fine, but I love you. You can't say the writers aren't trying to do Star Trek. They're just trying to do it in different ways. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Is the parallel to what is Starfleet, the drum head for TNG? Like analyzing the, the, you know, the working machinery of the Federation and the Starfleet.

[00:56:26] I mean, yeah, there's some, definitely some later season eight stuff. Uh, the way I was tying in with DS9 with the whole McKee and everything too. I mean, what, that, that last, uh, episode with Roe Laren is definitely. Yeah. That's a good point. Yeah. And I can't wait to play the video game that's coming out. Like, we're not, we're not a video game podcast, but we may be for like, we might need to be. Cause that's all the Star Trek that's coming out next. It's like they just stopped TV production and now have like what?

[00:56:55] Five different games coming out. Right. All right. Let's hear from our final caller tonight. Here is Val. Hey, open Pike night. This is Val. Looking back on season three, my favorite episode with the Salad who ate its tail. It wasn't necessarily my favorite the first time I watched it, but I've come to love it because it does what strange new worlds does best, which is to mix in some humor with a more serious situation. We have the tension of Pike and Law and trying to disconnect the ship while fighting off the bad guys.

[00:57:24] We get the difficulties facing our TOS crew, but we also get the humorous side with the rest of the main cast on the bridge and they lean into it. Even with the decision to play around with the shots a bit and include the one with Erica in the middle and Mbenga and Una's frames moving in on the side. And then we get my favorite silly moment of the season, which is Una's footsteps receding over the phone. And then we get the news together in an episode. The thing I like about Val is she's a hundred percent right.

[00:57:55] No notes. No notes. Best episode of the season. Hands down. And I like, I kind of forgot that that is the episode with the phone. I know. I know. At first I was like, is she talking about the right? Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We haven't even talked about Pellia this episode. So yeah, it was a, it's a great episode. It's a great, I mean, watching it again, I was like, I, this is definitely in my top three of the series. It may end up being my favorite one.

[00:58:23] Obviously we have 16 more to watch to be sure, but man, it's such a good episode. It's a good, right. I remember watching it and, and, uh, on the, like the computer in the Las Vegas hotel room while Jesse and Mark were watching something else. And just like, I kept looking at, but just be like, this episode's so good. Yeah. And I just, I do love that episode. And I think it's interesting to have kind of the mid season be the part of the season

[00:58:51] that a lot of folks point to as like, this was my high. Right. Um, because so frequently it is the finale or it is, you know, episode three or episode four kind of a thing. So having that, you know, just past the middle of the episode and you get this all timer, where it was, it was really great. And I think it probably pushed a lot of folks into the rest of the season. You know, if you were hesitant, but then you saw Selah, you're like, okay, I'll watch the rest.

[00:59:19] Now it sounds like some folks may have fallen off immediately after with Starfleet, but I think that it's, it's a testament to the strength of the show and the cast and, you know, everybody involved that you can have that episode, not be the episode you lead with. And it wasn't really teased very much. Like we knew Kirk was going to be here, but we always know Kirk is going to be here. So I mean, it is a very, very strong episode and I understand the love for it.

[00:59:45] It's definitely not Terrarium, but I understand why everybody loves this episode. It is a very good episode. And I got to say, I cannot wait until we have all of strange new worlds and we have to do the ranking draft of these episodes. Like it'd be cutthroat. I think we did it after season two and that was hard, but like, man, after we have the next two seasons of this show, it is going to be basically impossible. I'm going to just be sweating bullets for that entire. That might be our most entertaining episode ever. The ranking up. Yeah. Yeah.

[01:00:15] When we choose what is the best episode of strange new worlds and cam is furious about it. It's going to be really fun. It's going to have to be like a two part episode because it's going to take four hours. All my voice on wedding bell blues and among the Lotus eaters. It's going to be fun. Cam loves a memory loss episode. Let's just say it that way. There were two things I wanted to point out real quick. I mean, one, we kind of touched on this a couple of places, but one thing I've noticed

[01:00:42] again, like the difference between season three and other seasons as I really feel season three is when the show started. It's, it's when the show went to college and became its own thing in some ways. It's when like we started getting more organic character arcs. What was mentioned a lot was Lon and Spock and how we're like, we're both surprised, but also it worked. And I think that was, I think seasons one and two were all writers and showrunners being like, this is the show we want it to be. We want to do Spock and chapel.

[01:01:09] We want to do Mbenga, the complicated war hero. We want to do all this. We want to give Una the Illyrian arc. And so seasons three, I think is where like all those ideas started kind of ran out and they started coming up with stuff based on the show they were making. So we get Spock and Leon were like, they had no intentions to do that. They didn't know those two people would have that much chemistry, but through the course of season one and two, they saw it and we got it. I think that's where we start getting Pike, the character actor where they're like, this guy can and will do anything.

[01:01:39] Let's let him run. Uh, so I, I think that is one, one of the, uh, differentiations of season three that works in its favor. Uh, we like, they realize, oh, this Spock and chapel not working so much. Let's get rid of that and do something else. And, uh, and yeah, I hope we see more of that organic growth of the show and into season four. And then the one other thing I want to bring up, uh, just, it was more of last season, but, uh, I, I forgot to, and since it doesn't happen in season three, what's with the M'Bingala on?

[01:02:09] I think, will we ever get an answer to the M'Bingala on? I think it doesn't happen in season three. I'm pretty sure unless I missed it. Right. Not everything has to be explained. This is the problem that the Star Wars prequels have. This is how you get to midichlorians. Okay. I will. I think I have to say the finale of this season did not hit me. Right. But I know that it hit a lot of people and a lot of people really liked the finale for this season.

[01:02:38] And I want to acknowledge that because it is a really good episode. I had problems with some of the character choices, most notably the M'Benga piece of it, but it is a very well-written, very well-acted episode. And it's maybe the episode where you feel the most for Pike and Battelle. Right. So like, I think it did achieve that at least. And I know that it meant a lot to a lot of folks out there. And I don't want to pretend like it's just a bad episode because I don't think it is.

[01:03:08] I love the flashbacks. And we have talked. Right. Yeah. And we have talked a lot about how, you know, maybe this season isn't anybody's favorite season or maybe it was full of ups and downs. But I will point out like on IMDB, which is rated by regular people, this season has an 8.2 out of 10 and it has a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes.

[01:03:30] So like this, if this is the downfall, like if you go from nine and a half out of 10 and 97% to 8.2 at 94, like that is, that is still eating good. Right. So like, I'm, I'm really grateful to have the discussion about how everybody felt about the season as a whole. But I do think it's important to remember, like I said earlier, every episode is somebody's favorite and there will always be very loud detractor voices for things.

[01:03:59] But that doesn't mean that that's how most people feel. Yeah. Any, any asshole can buy a microphone. So thanks for listening to Open Pike Night. But it, it has been fun to look back at. It's been strange to look back at a season we just looked back at, like Cam said, it was been less than a year since we've recorded pretty much this same episode, but it has been nice

[01:04:24] to do it after having rewatched seasons one and two and in preparation for season four of Strange New Worlds, which we are so, so freaking excited about. So I will just say it now, your first call in date is Sunday, July 26th, 2026 at noon Eastern time. Yep. We will repeat that date on our, the episodes you hear before that, but your first call in get ready, get your voice, voice warmups going.

[01:04:54] There's some great playlists on Spotify. Get, get really sonorous, really, really hit us with that audio quality. And we'll, uh, we'll love to hear your thoughts as every episode of season four of Strange New Worlds is released. And I do have to say, if you have been rewatching the seasons along with us, you will absolutely benefit from having just rewatched season three when you start watching season four.

[01:05:19] That's all I will say, but I think it is really, really going to be a benefit to you. Now, having said that, that you've, you've seen some of season four, you haven't seen that much yet, Jesse. So would you like to make one final guess prediction at season four that John and her and that John and I can rate on a interesting scale? I have been living in bliss just watching screeners. I forgot you guys do this. Oh man.

[01:05:48] It is, it's tough. I think, I don't know. It's, what do you think? What do you think the last episode of season four will be? Cause none of us have gotten even close to that. Yeah. I did. I'm, let's see what happened in season one of episode four. No, what do you, what do you think the finale will hinge on?

[01:06:17] I will say, I'll put it this way. I know we talked in our trailer discussion and I said, that is a shot of time travel. I think there will be multiple instances of time travel in season four in different episodes. And that's based on, again, not having seen all of them. Interesting. Yeah. Interesting. That's the worst.

[01:06:49] Uh, but I am excited to let people know we are already working on stickers based on episodes from season four. I can't wait to show you some of these designs and I'm very excited to watch this with everyone. Absolutely. So from the day you're listening to this, if you're listening to it on drop day, you have 16 days. Until the first episode of season four of strange new worlds drops. We are as excited as you are.

[01:07:17] You will not hear from us again until 16 days from now when we release our first strange new words writers episode for season four of strange new worlds. And man, I got to tell you, this is going to be a super fun season of open pike night. So stay tuned. Keep that pod feed updating. Don't worry. It'll always be at the top of your feed because we're doing 30 episodes for 10 episodes of TV. At least. In 10 weeks. At least. That's not counting any interviews we happen to get in between all those. So we are crazy.

[01:07:48] And until then, we really appreciate you being here. We're going to go ahead and have to clean up the theater and probably put up some new decorations for next season. So be sure to clean up after yourselves. Be sure to tip your servers. You can go anywhere you want, but you can't stay here.