User Reviews

Hey he may not look as much like Leonard Nimoy as Zach Quinto does (except for his deep voice) but Ethan Peck is really selling it as Spock.

And in this episode, he delivers a shall we say variation on Spock (no spoilers) that is pretty amazing and makes me wish we could keep that character too, or at least revisit him (time travel/alt reality episode?) sometime.

They're also getting the hang of comedy. Last season there were some attempts that were misfires but this one delivers subtle comedy, from the officious "gas clouds" to the prissy Vulcans and their rituals.

And we get some interesting developments in the interpersonal realm that makes me wish we could just regard this as an alternate-reality Star Trek without worrying about where we know these characters will all end up.

When I saw the previews for this episode I thought it was going to be crazy. But after watching it and laughing and pausing and realizing that these characters are 100% whole, this is my absolute favorite episode so far. This may not mean much coming from a person who loves Star Trek since he was a kid, but I got to tell you the way Spock is acting human. Maybe a call back to the original series but this is so well done. Bravo to the entire crew, the writers, the actors and the staff. If there is an episode of TV in the modern era, that would explain why you should pay the writers what they're worth, as well as the actors point them to this episode of Strange New Worlds.

This episode was a much needed change of pace that focused on interpersonal relationships between every major character on the show. Having the luxury of downtime was a key factor in establishing that this cast has the chemistry and ability to create magic on set. Spending time crafting the viewer's sense of the show's spiritual emotional center.. in the moments where key characters also experience the same developments allows for some incredibly wonderful payoffs. If you have any friends or family that need to be sold on the idea of Strange New Worlds, this is the episode to show them. Although plot elements are carried through, it also serves as an effective bottle episode and brings all the charm of the best Berman era camaraderie focused episodes(ie Data's Day, Lower Decks).

This episode felt like Trek ought to be. The writing was tight, the developments natural, the humor unforced, and the story made sense.

After the episode, I had a huge Spock-like grin on my face. They really nailed this one out of the park, and that is saying a lot considering the nail-biting disappointment of more recent Trek franchises.

I'm impressed with how the storylines in this episode complimented one another and there was no pointless unresolved plot strings.

And we all love seeing our (nearly) emotionless, stoic Spock being subjected to human emotion and the "sacrifice" Chapel makes to reverse something that had happened.

A scene in which 4 of Spock's shipmates imitate his Vulcan mannerisms is legitimately funny, and the chemistry between him and Nurse Chapel is fantastic.

I believed this episode, and I hope more magnificent writing shown here beams down in future installments.

He's a grandson of Gregory Peck.

His performance in the Star Trek universe as Spock has been measured and subtlety. Here's his chance to be outlandish and explosive. He's also obviously having fun.

If there's anything missing is maybe a bit more slapstick. Not his fault, but he is so good as he struggles to kill a certain someone whose slovenly habits become unbearable after years of going along and cleaning up the other person's mess.

For those of us who quietly take care of others, it's a moment of joy and release - and spittle.

And we get the joy of seeing Mila back as his mother Amanda.

This episode is the highlight of the series, it is grounded in its approach, in that it takes simple yet intriguing plot points that focus on quality character development rather than high budget sci-fi action setpieces which have become a norm in contemporary sci-fi shows. In doing so it feels more like The Original Series, with a new direction being taken in each episode.

Chardes was such a joy to watch. It was genuinely funny, had a great sense of exploration, and an amazing character study of beloved character of star trek lore, Mr. Spock. Even with so many themes, it was so well balanced, that for me it's a masterpiece.

Excited to see the star trek lore taken into more such new directions, by the show star trek strange new worlds, whilst keeping the sense of exploration, grounded nature and episodic tales style of the original series.

Well, i will tell this again, SNW deserves it's own timeline (just like the one from Superman&Lois which differs from the one from Supergirl), because it will be a shame to see the love story between nurse Chapel and Spock being ruined, because we know they were not lovers in the original series and once again, the old fans will be revolted if this will be considered the original timeline and the new fans will be dissapointed knowing what's next for those two. I must say, this episode is way much better than i thought it will be, i liked the story, it was a pleasant episode and the fx were spectacular,this was probably one of the best episodes of this series until now.

This episdode was a delightful spock centred episode. While a lot of it was comedy, dealing with changes to spocks character, there was a romantic sub plot between Spock and Jess.

Suprising a clash between Vulcan logic and traditioan, forces spock to actually question his Vulcan side over his human side, something he rarely does. In this case, spoke realised what his mother must be going through, living in an alien culture and forced to adapt for love.

I found the scenes where spock finally related to his mother and what she had gone through very powerful - such a logical emotionless character to fincally show his feelings.

Overall, there was a lot in this, some great humour, romance and drama. Awesome episode.

So all the other reviews adressed issues I have which is fine, I won't bore you by restating them. Where my issue starts is, what the hell has happened to PIKE?

So Pike has gone from Captain of one of the most powerful ships in the fleet and space explorer to; Chef and party planner? This in and of itself it a joke.

Why is Pike busy making Vulcan hors d'oeuvres when there was clearly a first contact situation. I know someone is going to say, well the aliens broke contact, well that never stopped Kirk and company. How many buoys, and warnings did they ignore in the name of discovery and making first contact? How many times did Star Fleet Command give ORDERS to Kirk to make 'contact at all costs'? Yet here is Pike who has the opportunity to make first contact with a race that 'clearly' has much to offer both scientifically and medically and he just goes and shrugs his shoulders so he can cook bacon! They didn't even resolve the VERY reason they were in that system in the first place. Where the glowy blobs the missiong alien race? We will never know because Pike had to throw a dinner party!

Next you have your crew basically stealing a shuttle and going off into space. I seem to remember everything ANYONE on ANY show opened the shuttle bay without the Captains orders that it set off alarms at the Helm station. Since someone is constantly on the bridge and or at that station, Pike would have been fully aware of what was going on.

Next, I have come to accept that this show is NOT in the same universe as the Original Series/Next Gen etc. Even if they insist it is it is NOT. Peck is a wonderful actor and I do not want to hold this against him it is just the writing, but the way Spock acts is NOT the way Spock acts. I have a feeling they are basing this Spock of the much more emotional Spock from the Pilot "The Cage" where he was much more emotional and expressive. However, we know that Gene actually intended Number One (Majel Barret) to be the cold logical one, and that aspect of Vulcan life was not yet established. When NBC nixed her character, Gene put the logical elements into Spock and made it part of Vulcan society. SNW's Spock is just not the cold Logical being he was. Much of this was done for humor I imagine but, it doesn't work.

Otherwise the episode was fine. I liked the interaction between T'pring and her family, they were believable characters, considering they are from 'Vulcan royalty' (T'pau) I loved how T'pring would "Vulcan" roll her eyes at her mothers antics, and I liked the part with the ritual dinner. The rest left a lot to be desired. I really did not like the way the writers 'dumbed down' the writing specially for Nurse Chapel. I have never seen anyone in the medical profession give the diagnosis of "he is messed up". For heavens sake consult a Doctor for some of your dialoge please.

After a shuttle incident Spock finds himself changed in a pretty disturbing way.

The writers use a typically silly Star Trek sci-fi concept to put Spock in an awkward situation, but they make the most of it from a comedy perspective. There are several moments I think are quite funny, thanks largely to the performances of the cast, particularly Ethan Peck, who has one of his best episodes. I appreciate that humour is in the eye of the beholder, so it will depend on what you find funny as to how much you like it.

To fully appreciate it the story, you have to accept the SNW revision of the Pring/Spock/Chapel relationship. The writers attempt to construct a romantic triangle around what happened between these characters prior to episodes like 'Amok Time' and it does not connect to previous portrayals very well for me. However, I do not take fictional television seriously enough to be overly bothered by this, so I think judged on its own merit, the episode is enjoyable. If you take the original series "canon" seriously then you might struggle with it.

As always, reviews are polarised between those who love and those who hate it for various exaggerated reasons. I usually find that the truth is somewhere in the middle.

For starters it really feels like the writers of this episode did not watch a single episode of Star Trek TOS, and had have a poor understanding of Vulcan culture/biology. Logic is not a biological trait of Vulcans, Vulcans do have more control over their cognitive functions, but they are not "biologically logical."

Vulcans, however, do feel stronger emotions than humans, that's why they turned to logic, so technically it should've been easy for Spock to hide his emotions as a full human. (also the bangs part was just stupid, vulcans aren't born with bangs)

There's also a problem with the way T'Pring and her mother are written, in TOS it's stated that Spock and T'pring's marriage was arranged when they were children, so why on earth would her mother be dissatisfied with Spock, she quite literally chose him to marry her daughter.

This whole episode was disrespectful to Spock as a character, it's implied that Spock's personality and struggles do not come for years and years of mental conditioning, and ostracization from Vulcans, but from his Vulcan genome.

(also that horribly cringe scene where spock eats bacon... nimoy based a lot of Vulcan cultural traits on Jewish culture...for those of you who don't know, that's the reason why Vulcans are vegetarian.)

I guess to each their own. Some people hated it. I thought it was the best of all the episodes so far, and granted, I've been really critical of SNW. I don't like how they're claiming to be returning to Trek's roots but in reality they're showing complete disdain for canon, ignoring science and logic, and creating character life experiences that could have never been a part of the characters from TOS. Nurse Chapel is a perfect example of the latter, and yet, at least with this episode, they tried, and imo, succeeded in touching base with canon.

I don't know why the writers felt it necessary to have Nurse Chapel -- in her formative years in Starfleet -- be 1000% more skilled and educated than how she ends up in TOS. Unless they plan on having her memories erased at some point in the near future like Uhura's were in The Changeling... Actually. I do know why the writers do this. Because there are obviously too many people running this show who think empowering female viewers should be a driving theme. Unfortunately, the result is superficial and phoney, and actually an insult to the nursing profession. All the building blocks were there in Nurse Chapel to do something really great with this character and her unrequited love for Spock, but instead of using them, the writers fell back on the two-dimensional theme that all women on television must now save the day with their super intellects or MMA fighting abilities.

So. Ok. Now for the good. The Chapel/Spock arc in this episode was fun, despite it not being respectful to canon or the nursing profession. The Spock/families arc was fun, too. There were comic elements. The double-entendre of the title was fun. I laughed. The characters had a camaraderie. It "felt" like a TOS episode, like I was finally on the Enterprise, and the ending was mostly satisfying.

If only the writers would find a way to empower their viewers without smashing them over the head with blatantly transparent, two-dimensional character traits. Sheesh! You had a chance to make a statement about one of mankind's most honorable professions, and you squandered the opportunity.

If the last episode exhibited the worst of old-school Star Trek, this exhibited the best of it.

What if a Vulcan let go of their pathological restraint and fully embraced their emotions? Similar ideas have been explored previously by Star Trek with many of its Vulcan and android characters. However, it still remains... fascinating, when supported by good acting, good writing, and Star Trek blend of fantasy and plausibility.

Other than that, it is great to have speculative insight into alien cultures far removed from our own. That is what good space opera is all about. And it is always a joy to see familiar guest stars show up.

Middle-aged man here... One that is a massive fan of Star Wars and Star Trek... Just because of this one episode and the joy it created, I have logged on and created an account just to write my first ever review:

The wife and I (and Mother-In-Law) absolutely loved this episode. The writers, actors, etc. Nailed it. The episode was introduced perfectly as a fun break in the story arc.

In my opinion, ST:SNW is the best Trek thing going in years. Pike, Spock, Doctor, #1, Nurse Chapel... The characters are fantastic! Please keep this going.

We watch on CraveTV, and think the show is better than the amazing Chris Pine era movies. (Lower Decks is a guilty pleasure as well).

Just when you think it could not possibly get any worse.

This one had even less sci-fi elements and again zero wit in writing. None ST elements. It had that little intro sci-fi transformation that had more in common with dumb teenager attempt at first comedy making than Star Trek. The whole story was insultingly lame and predictable. When ST had episodes that dealt with various transformations, they story delved into exsistential questions, it dealt with questions of differences, it dealt with questions of connection between advancement and spiritual evolvement.

Here the story dealt with a ridiculously low brow semi-jokes, typical trope of generic relationship dinner melodrama, another mocking of Spock and lacked any Star Trek elements that would make it complex, intriguing or interesting to watch.

Beyond abysmal... is anyone even writing this or are they simply changing the names on various formulaic comedy stories and adding one sci-fi element or two to call it "Star Trek".

Man...this season. Had the writers ever watched more than 1 episode of star trek before they would have known that Vulcans suppress their emotions because they feel everything much more strongly than a human does. So when Spock turned into a human it would have been even easier to control his emotions. Not harder.

So because of that the entire episode makes no sense and was written around a dumb idea. Despite that the episode is still not bad, fun even.z

Why they would hire writers that really do not know much about the history or the lore of star trek is very worrysome. I wonder if an Ai wrote this episode.

I really don't understand the criticism being given here. Those who criticize don't get it at all. It makes absolutely no sense to criticize, I call that stupid criticism. Consciously seek to criticize, then do not look.

This episode is one of the best episodes, with funny moments. Star Trek as it should be, Ethan Peck has shown that Spock can be funny too.

Is everything perfect?, no, definitely not, but the writers finally understood what Gene Roddenberry meant, serious moments, but certainly also funny moments.

There is a good chemistry between the actors, and you can feel it, everyone is really attuned to each other. Like they've been doing it together for years, there's a natural connection between them. Just like Star Trek The Next Generation, you can see and feel it.