My remarks here are limited to episode 4, not the conclusion in episode 5.
As with most of the preceding New Voyages episodes (the notable exception being World Enough and Time), the emphasis on the special effects work has been matched by a corresponding lack in the acting department. Of special note, I BEG Captain Kirk to stop scrunching his nose for every sentence. Even Shatner knew the difference between overacting and bad acting. But it did provide for a moment of humour when nephew Kirk imitated him. I should point out that the new Spock is more believable than the previous Spock, which was a nice surprise.
As to believability, I do not believe that this particular Captain Kirk is old enough to have a nephew. We should have been reminded that the Captain's brother was older, because the Captain seems barely out of the academy himself. And I don't believe that having met his love match in the academy, nephew Kirk would have waited until joining the Enterprise to ask about his boyfriend's family, even waiting until after agreeing to marry him. That didn't ring true to me. And when the Ensign was watching a fellow crewman die, he didn't seem particularly horrified by it, and yet a few seconds later he's putting on this act for the rest of the away team. If this is really the intention, it seriously weakens the character. I'm not sure why I'm supposed to care about someone who lets time pass by to the point where the only option is to kill the crewman.
I think a lot of the problem is in the pacing and editing. I don't know what's coming in the concluding episode, but there simply isn't enough material in this one to justify the length of time. As a result, the story is slow and drawn out, and really takes away from the emotion and urgency of the situation. I mean, my god, you have a starship being sucked into the exchange of gases in a binary star system, you have the passion of young love, and you have the discovery that the ship contains a super-dangerous infestation. How can you make that boring? It's not all bad. I did like the effects, particularly of the suicide. And the story is intriguing enough that I'd like to see someone else tackle it. And last, it was refreshing to finally see someone in the Star Trek universe acknowledge that gay people are a normal part of the future. For a show that pioneered diversity on television, it's shocking that it took this long. So I do congratulate the New Voyages team on the attempt.
As with most of the preceding New Voyages episodes (the notable exception being World Enough and Time), the emphasis on the special effects work has been matched by a corresponding lack in the acting department. Of special note, I BEG Captain Kirk to stop scrunching his nose for every sentence. Even Shatner knew the difference between overacting and bad acting. But it did provide for a moment of humour when nephew Kirk imitated him. I should point out that the new Spock is more believable than the previous Spock, which was a nice surprise.
As to believability, I do not believe that this particular Captain Kirk is old enough to have a nephew. We should have been reminded that the Captain's brother was older, because the Captain seems barely out of the academy himself. And I don't believe that having met his love match in the academy, nephew Kirk would have waited until joining the Enterprise to ask about his boyfriend's family, even waiting until after agreeing to marry him. That didn't ring true to me. And when the Ensign was watching a fellow crewman die, he didn't seem particularly horrified by it, and yet a few seconds later he's putting on this act for the rest of the away team. If this is really the intention, it seriously weakens the character. I'm not sure why I'm supposed to care about someone who lets time pass by to the point where the only option is to kill the crewman.
I think a lot of the problem is in the pacing and editing. I don't know what's coming in the concluding episode, but there simply isn't enough material in this one to justify the length of time. As a result, the story is slow and drawn out, and really takes away from the emotion and urgency of the situation. I mean, my god, you have a starship being sucked into the exchange of gases in a binary star system, you have the passion of young love, and you have the discovery that the ship contains a super-dangerous infestation. How can you make that boring? It's not all bad. I did like the effects, particularly of the suicide. And the story is intriguing enough that I'd like to see someone else tackle it. And last, it was refreshing to finally see someone in the Star Trek universe acknowledge that gay people are a normal part of the future. For a show that pioneered diversity on television, it's shocking that it took this long. So I do congratulate the New Voyages team on the attempt.
