In the first episode of the second season of Short Treks<\/i>, Spock starts a new journey. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Star Trek<\/i>.<\/p>\n
AHHHHHH, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M SO EXCITED FOR SHORT TREKS<\/i>. After my experience with the previous season, I admit my expectations are high, and this absolutely delivered. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such a good idea to do these short stories within the world, and this one in particular was completely unexpected. The very opening scene felt like a fake-out, given that the end of season two saw Spock shaving his beard when he returned to the Enterprise<\/i>, so that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what I believed this was. BUT NO!!!! Instead, we got to see THE VERY FIRST MOMENT HE CAME TO THE SHIP WHEN HE WAS AN ENSIGN!\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Which gave a completely new context to the opening image: Spock smiling<\/i>. Number One later calls back to it, but let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sit with it a moment. I think Spock was thrilled<\/i>. I think he was excited. I think he allowed himself a moment of humanity because this<\/i> was what he wanted. He wanted to be a part of Starfleet, to become an officer, to be more than the sum of his parts. It just so happens that someone else happened to witness this moment. But I also want to examine the immediate aftermath. Up until this depiction of Spock, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d quite seen this level of social awkwardness from him. When Number One greets him, he is too loud. He overexerts. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know, trying too hard? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a very, very brief moment, one which Spock immediately corrects, but I actually loved<\/i> it. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an odd thing to witness, but once it is put into the context of the scene, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a chance for the show to give us a glimpse of Spock\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s initial integration into this role.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Throughout this, Una\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwho we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve known as Number One in the show\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s canon as well\u00e2\u20ac\u201dprovides a fascinating counter to Spock. Here, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in a position of authority, and as the new science officer, she wants to make sure that Spock is up for the momental task set before him. Number One utters words that later become almost prophetic: She wants her science officer to ask so many questions of her that she gets annoyed. What starts out as mostly an amusing back-and-forth transforms into something more serious when the turbolift malfunctions.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Q&A\u00e2\u20ac\u009d then takes a beloved trope\u00e2\u20ac\u201dtwo people are stuck in an elevator and slowly begin to bond with one another\u00e2\u20ac\u201dto a deeply emotional place. I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t initially see where this was going, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a criticism. It was a delight watching Spock throw one complicated question after another. At times, it seemed that Spock was testing Number One as much as she was testing him. His questions were rigorous and enormous in scope, too! I do want to note that he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t start out that way. There was that brilliant question of his where he asked Number One what the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153three most salient facts\u00e2\u20ac\u009d were about Captain Pike, which was something he was genuinely interested in. Pike would be his very first captain, and I believe this question ties into what he and Number One would eventually discuss.<\/p>\n Number One hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t been explored in the various shows and films of the Trek<\/i> universe, so I appreciated that here, we see how she came to affect Spock and his later temperament in the show. Despite that her life as a human is not the same as Spock\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, she was able to determine that Spock was already struggling with identity and belonging. Thus, it was Number One who nudged Spock in a specific direction, though she did so by singing a song from The Pirates of Penzance<\/i>. Again, is it the same as what Spock went through? No, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think Number One meant to equate her musical theater chops with Spock\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s internal friction with being both Vulcan and human. Rather, she advised him to keep his true \u00e2\u20ac\u0153nature\u00e2\u20ac\u009d close, not because it was wrong, but because command positions require a certain decorum. From this point on, Spock would largely avoid from behaving as he does at the start of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Q&A.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a neat episode both because of how entertaining it is and because it gives us some possible insight into who Spock would later become. Plus, Ethan Peck and Rebecca Romijn have such FANTASTIC energy with one another, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to ignore that either!!! THEY WERE SO GOOD TOGETHER.<\/p>\n What a great start, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. Who else is going to get an episode???<\/p>\n The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Q&A\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n In the second episode of the second season of Short Treks<\/i>, I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS IS REAL. But it was!!!! Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Star Trek<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n AHHHH HOLY SHIT, THIS EPISODE WAS RIDICULOUS. You know, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m realizing now that one of the main characters in this episode was just\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 not great! At all! Lieutenant Larkin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s awkwardness may have felt relatable for the briefest of moments at the start of this episode, but what he chose to do with it\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 yeah, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s indefensible, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? His project for the Cabot<\/i> to help Pragine 63\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s starvation problem was uncomfortable, to say the least. But it took me a few minutes to understand what we were seeing: the actual origin story of the tribbles that I first experienced in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Trouble with Tribbles\u00e2\u20ac\u009d all those years ago.<\/p>\n Throughout this, the writers avoid falling into a clich\u00c3\u00a9 depiction of Larkin. I think it could very well have been a lot easier to make him more sympathetic. He was awkward; his ideas were dismissed suddenly; he was moved into work that had nothing to do with his speciality. However, very suddenly after Captain Lucero rejects Lt. Larkin, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very clear how irrational Larkin is being. He complains to Noel about how no one likes the new captain, when this clearly isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the case. He is obviously jealous of the new captain bonding with another officer. And then\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 the anonymous messages. The script plays off some of the humor of the situation to the extent that I wondered if the part of Larkin was written FOR H. John Benjamin. It seemed so uniquely suited to him! Yet even amidst the chaos of the conversation, it was clear that Larkin had deeper issues at work. He trampled over the boundary Captain Lucero set like\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 ten times? At best<\/i>?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And after he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s told he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be transferred, he overreacts. I am not even sure that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a fair assessment because I feel like I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m underselling what he does. Wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t transferring allow him to stay in the field he wants to work in??? But okay, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s say he was upset that he was being forced to leave the Cabot<\/i>. The solution wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t MERGING YOUR OWN DNA WITH THE TRIBBLES. OH MY GOD. EDWARD LARKIN CREATED THE TRIBBLES PROBLEM. And what starts out as something that was pretty funny ends up treading in the horror genre. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, the way that the production team managed to animate the tribbles procreating? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so fucking funny<\/i>. And I love that the show kept the same visual cues from The Original Series<\/i>! That was such a smart choice to make, and the tribbles felt far more realistic because of it. (Also: still not getting over them reproducing. What an image<\/i>.) It also made them creepier later on because of the contrast between their cuteness and what they were capable of as they grew in number.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In the end, Larkin isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t redeemed. In fact, I was genuinely surprised that the script kept him unapologetic right to his demise. He truly thought he was besting Captain Lucero the whole time, all because he projected<\/i> an imagined insult onto the captain. We all saw what happened! She never insulted his intelligence! Yet Larkin couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t face the truth: that his poor behavior was what led him to being let go. We don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t find out why other crew members thought that the behavior we saw in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Trouble with Edward\u00e2\u20ac\u009d was typical of Larkin, but clearly, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been a toxic force on this ship for a while.<\/p>\n What a first assignment, though. In two weeks, Lucero had to abandon ship, all because Larkin couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t accept being transferred. This is possibly the most dramatic overreaction in Trek<\/i> history? Or at least one of them!!!<\/p>\n Oh, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so ready for the next episode of Short Treks<\/i>. Bring it on!<\/p>\n As a final note: I did end up watching the post-credits sequence, though it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not on camera. I did not know there was one at all! But I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m glad I did because now I will never forget, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re pregnant\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 with flavor!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d NEVER. FORGET.<\/p>\n The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Trouble With Edward\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n – My third novel (and middle grade debut) THE INSIDERS has been announced! Check out the cover reveal and pre-order links here.<\/a> In the first episode of the second season of Short Treks, Spock starts a new journey. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Star Trek.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[713,614],"tags":[615],"class_list":["post-7846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discovery","category-star-trek","tag-mark-watches-star-trek"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7846\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/strong>– If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"