MovieChat Forums > Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022) Discussion > Glad to see a return to self-contained e...

Glad to see a return to self-contained episodes

posted 3 years ago by MikeCable (1859)
5 replies | jump to latest

I had a good feeling that this was going to happen after The Orville had done it so well.

Not so much of a long-running complicated story arc like Discovery and Picard has had but rather a return to a TOS-style writing of each episode (so far) where a new situation begins and they deal with it, and it wraps up, like with much of TNG.

I'm sure at some stage it will evolve into cliffhangers and multi-episode stories like TNG did, but so far I like the way it's going.

Remember that TOS had all the cast diversity going on at a time when that was very much a new concept in the sixties. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a kiss between females at some stage, given the groundbreaking racial stuff in TOS and what has been seen in Discovery.

Hope it keeps up the self-contained episodes and doesn't become a messy long-running arc involving political and religious aspects.

[–] unsanesarah (249) 3 years ago

I agree and I admit I keep worrying they're going to spring the trap and make it bad. But, so far, I am enjoying new trek for the first time in a very long time. It's night and day. I think most people don't mind some progressive and thought provoking ideas, so long as they aren't too ham fisted and, most importantly, not presented in a very antagonistic way. I can't describe it right, but there is a very different way that Discovery presents it's ideas in a way that says "agree or you are a horrible person, question anything and you are a horrible person, watch people get humiliated and cheer it on or you're a horrible person." It feels heavy and mean. Strange New Worlds just proves that trek can, in fact, still be done right. 3 episodes in and I am still feeling something I never felt with Discovery or Picard, wanting the next episode to hurry up and get here.

[–] MikeCable (1859) 3 years ago

Same, even though it's self-contained I want to know what will be next! Rather than find out what will happen to someone or a situation left unfinished.

[–] thingmakersback (1383) 3 years ago

I really hope they get the right balance between self contained stories and the ongoing serial. The second episodes was an example of screwing that up. There was maybe 20 minutes of "story", somewhat overloaded and interrupted by banter and distinctly unprofessional personal discussions, and the bulk of the episode was the ongoing serial of the lives of the characters. They really need to get better at the balance and not having the characters dealing with their personal business in the middle of deadly dangerous, time-critical situations.

[–] MikeCable (1859) 3 years ago

Yes, this is an important balance and may take some time to get right. If it gets too deep and pulls in higher numbers then I think it will get more arc-driven. We've had have plenty of those type of shows already and I know they are successful, but sometimes we need something different for a change. The newer BSG was wonderful but I've had enough of long, complicated stuff for a while. (Hope that franchise will go to the cinema for an all-new trilogy.)

Becoming too much about the personal lives of the characters can make a show put off a portion of the initial audience but it can also attract others, so we'll just have to see what happens.

[–] 123Guy (7387) 3 years ago

When everything went "continuing soap opera" I stopped watching TV. Happy to hear they are trying episodes (read: interesting complete stories) again