Strange New Worlds 1x09 - 'All Those Who Wander' ~~ { ** Spoilers Within ** }

ilovesmybrick

Strange New Worlds 1x09 - 'All Those Who Wander' ~~ { ** Spoilers Within ** } Warning: This thread will contain spoilers 

odyssey06

Hmm... is the title a riff on "Not all who wander are lost..." by Tolkien?

ilovesmybrick

Dunno, just started watching. All I know is that Mr. newly promoted lieutenant better be careful for the next 50 minutes or so. A promotion in Old style trek for a background character is generally a death sentence!

ilovesmybrick

Star Trek: Alien!

Not bad, even if completely ripping off Alien. I liked the Gorn design, though I think it will probably age as well as the ENT Gorn effects. Thing is the episode is completely overshadowed by Hemmers death, and I think that was a waste of a great character. Also sucks to be the two random crew members whose deaths were overshadowed by that. Same with the Spock emotions (that scream had to be a call back to Quinto's ridiculous Spock scream), could be interesting but wasn't feeling it. But I think it might be setting up something with Sam Kirk, and of course Chapel, that could be interesting.

Overall not bad, but I do think the death of Hemmer kind of spoiled it for me as he could have been a great character going forward. On the flip side though it does show that despite Pike having some degree of safety from death (at least for a decade or so.....), the same isn't guaranteed for the rest of the characters (obviously we know which ones definitely survive, I mean in the shows context).

Doodah7

Interesting that two main characters are dropped for Episode 10 and beyond. La'an's leave of absence might last 0, 1 or 5 episodes. Who knows? I assume she will be reintroduced coming over the hill cavalry style when needed!!

As for Hemmer's replacement, is it too early in the timeline to introduce Montgomery Scott as an engineer?

ilovesmybrick

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119270624#Comment_119270624

Has to be Scotty in some form, no? Unless they go the route of having a new engineer every season until they find the right one.

corkie

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/All_Those_Who_Wander_%28episode%29

Sorry to see hemmer going out of it. He didn't have enough screen time to make it matter?

Christine Chapel confesses her love for Spock (Star Trek TOS)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH02doRdCrc

Johnny Storm

I thought that was an excellent episode and suprisingly scary considering (as mentioned above) none of the TOS cast can be killed.

Ridley Scott should sue in fairness.

La'an is one of the best characters so lets get her back asap (despite the occasional over-acting) and I was just getting used to Hemmer.

I was sort of impressed that there wasnt a last-minute reprieve for Hemmer.

Plus whats going on with George/Sam Kirk? He seems to be a bit of an asshole - is he about get thrown out of star fleet to that he can appear as a colonist in TOS?

Only one episode to go?????

Sonics2k

Jesus that was a great episode, I know it was basically just Alien 2 but that was so well done. SNW really has been such a saving grace for new Star Trek.

PhiloCypher

Loved all the character centric stuff , the dinner, the Uhura Hemmer bonding/goodbye, the fact they didn't just forget about Rukyia, Spock struggling to get his emotions back in check , his scenes with Chapel, La'an thanking Pike for letting her take leave to reunite the child with her family and her calling him Chris.

The things I was less a fan of was killing off Hemmer so early, between this and Rukyia , that's now two storylines/characters they've culled somewhat prematurely . I'm hoping its not the start of a trend. With a character dying, a character going on leave , and a cadet completing her rotation it definitely feels like a reshuffling of the pack. With kirk set to be introduced in season 2 they maybe felt they needed to make storytelling room for him by sending La'an on leave rather then her just becoming a shields up/ phasers locked background character. I hope she's back soon as she's one of my favourite characters .

I also wasn't a fan of the Aliens vibe they were pushing . By all means go down the horror route of having them hunted by an unknown alien. Just don't take me out of the episode and into another scifi franchise by zeroxing the story beats of Aliens 3 right down to Hemmer Ripleying it backwards off the edge of shuttlebay to kill the Alien inside him.

Lastly the Gorn. Would have preferred to have seen a lot less of them or for them to have chosen another Alien entirely to hunt them. The final scene of ,what looked like a flash frozen Gex from the PlayStation game enter the gecko , being smashed by La'an nearly had me in stitches , which I don't think was their intention.

A 7/10 for me .

Spear

It almost feels like a series finale with them clearing the decks.

The basic story is pretty much Alien, as others have mentioned. There's a few parts that could have done with being fleshed out, such as more of the kids back story, e.g. how'd the three of them end up there, why didn't she warn anyone of the two infected aliens.

I'm baffled that they offed Hemmer at all. He had seemed underused sure, but I don't see the point in making him so short lived. His Uhura arc is completed, so by the characters own words it was time for him to meet his fate, but it still seem wasteful.

On La'an:

Spoiler Warning

We know she's back next season already, so her departure doesn't mean much.

There's a few other nice touches sprinkled about, such as the Docs reference to Rukiya helping to give that arc a little more consequence, and Pikes crappy choice of command code.

I wonder if there's a longer plan to transition into more TOS characters. We'll see when Hemmers replaced I guess.

eadrom

Incredible episode. Loved it. They were lifting directly from 80s sci-fi movies but I think they were lifting the right stuff in the right amounts and, with the cast and crew and Star Trek magic I love, I thought it was great. It was Alien most obviously but I also saw some Predator and The Thing in there, at least. Very enjoyable.

Can't believe Hemmer is gone. In the too-little we saw of him he had become one of my favourite characters. Great final scenes but really wish he'd stuck around.

And that just totally overshadows La'An apparently taking an extended leave, again I character I was growing to really like, and I'm not sure did Uhura say she was staying in the end? Like, there is another episode next week, right?! Some of the beats here felt a bit like end-of-season stuff. Maybe just getting the emotional out of the way before an exciting conclusion next week.

Although, speaking of emotion, Ethan Peck continues to impress as Spock. Thought he handled the outburst and the aftermath here really well. It's an engrossing performance.

AMKC

Well that was a bit of a weird episode. I thought there were parts in it that could have been done better like when there out of the shuttle walking and all of a sudden they are on the ship. I would have liked to see them getting on and into the ship and I also thought that it was a bit dark and hard to see in places too.

It was kind of like a mixture of Alien and Pretator but in Star Trek

I can not believe the Hemmler is gone already so sad. We barely knew him. I wonder who the new engineer will be. I have still to watch the last few minutes of it. Needed a break to cry.

That was a very bittersweet episode and I cried again during the funeral scenes but it's also good that they are not afraid to kill off characters. I wonder will we see a new engineer next episode or not till next season and La'an going too. I hope she is not gone too long.

Slydice

Me: Ah look.. it's Newt! 🙂 .. [a few moments later...] 😲

Daammnnnn!! Another damn fine episode! Damn like.. there was so much scenes there! So many moments.

Someone must have done a count to all the nods to 80s/90s scifi films. Alien, Aliens, Predator, Terminator 2 at least.

I don't know why but an early scene packed a punch. The one with MBenga calling the girl his daughter. At first I connected it up in my head but then it felt a bit like a gut punch. I was like.. why does that hurt so much.. but it made sense.. and it's good to show he's not okay after what happened.

I can't believe Hemmer is dead. The Team Hemura line had me just reconfirming he's solid main cast.

Obviously the question is now open .. who's going to be the next chief engineer. (not really open.. I mean maybe open)

I kinda did see the other cadet and Duke being highly likely to have something bad happen.

All that aside though. Spock. Oh Spock. Flowing with rage, forming a deep moment inside himself. Watching Hemmer. Thinking.. it's logical. The needs of the many

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqpcmQhnl48

I guess if I'm curious about anything now.. it's how the Gorn get along with each other in one of the bigger ships.

GSPfan

Yeah that was great. Another episode totally different from the last or even any of the others.

Some thoughts…

• Hemmer dying was a really bold move. To make us really like a character to then kill him off is impressive.

• The Gorn are a fascinating enemy.

• Chapel was desperate to steal a kiss from Spock at the end.

• La’an must be gone now for the last episode. Hope she’s back early in season 2.

• Bring me Scotty in season 2.

CastorTroy

Noooooo! Not Chia and Duke!

Oh and Hemmer as well I suppose.

Surprised they killed him off, which I suppose was the point. When they killed the other 2 I was thinking it may have had more impact if we had seen them before now and that they should probably kill off one of the regulars as a way to show anyone can die. So basically a Tasha Yar role.

Was half expecting the wee girl to say how they "mostly come out at night. Mostly."

Was wondering how Chapel was examining the alien, saying how he had an elevated heart rate, even though they apparently didn't know the species.

It did feel like the season finale so not sure what way next week will be. Maybe a more easy going episode or maybe something big happens to end on a cliffhanger.

TheValeyard

I enjoyed the episode. Was definitely a Star Trek / Alien hybrid. But it worked.

Annoyed they killed off Hemmer, he was an interesting and unique character. Could have done so much more when him and develop the friendships between him and Spock and Uhura.

I liked the mini constitution class. (nice way to save money on sets)

Glad Hemmer had a meaningful death, but still annoyed he died.

I thought nobody knew what the Gorn looked like until TOS? I suppose... No one has still seen an adult Gorn. But they did a good job on them and kept the reptile look. It's nice to have no biped non humanlike intelligent badguys.

spookwoman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119271951#Comment_119271951

Alien 3 on the prison planet, where they chases it into the furnace only this time it was cold. Was expecting Hemmer to be clutching the baby gorn as the end as he fell. 😃

Forgot to mention the nod to Predator with the vison and clicking

Johnny Storm

Since we know which characters will still be around for TOS and since Hemmer has already met his fate: Ortega, MBenga and Laan would really want to watch themselves in upcoming episodes

Spear

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119274633#Comment_119274633

M'Benga is in TOS, so he's safe. Number One is on the list of potential corpses though.

TheIrishGrover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119274734#Comment_119274734

Is M'Benga in TOS? Can't remember.

Johnny Storm

Thanks for the info! I didnt realise MBenga was in TOS!

Spear

He appears in two episodes, with no explanation given as to why McCoy disappears and reappears afterwards.

TheIrishGrover

What an episode. What a shift in tone. And to do it so seamlessly

My (Overvalued) tuppence worth:

• What a shame to lose Hemmer. What a great character. Especially given his limited screen-time. His scenes with Uhura in this and previous episodes and especially his scenes last episode were amazing. He WILL be a loss. It does seem strange to lose him. Typically each Trek series has an "Other" type alien character. Someone to be different from the rest of the human crew: Spock, Worf/Data, Odo, Nelix, T'Pol. Of course, Spock is the "Other" in this series but we are so accustomed to Vulcans (And especially Spock) that I thought they would have kept another "Other" if you know what I mean.
• The other ensign/LT? Yeah, had Redshirt written all over them. They may as well have shown pictures of their family to Pike/Spock. lol
• Ridley Scott/Alien writer should DEFFO sue. Hah
• It was so close I was almost expecting not-Newt to go: "They mostly stay away from the cold... Mostly"
• I was sure Kirk was going to get it too (I have never read any expanded Universe stuff so don't know if Kirk has a longer history. I VAGUELY think I remember he died? I could be wrong)
• While I thought Kirk was going to get it I did like the conflict between him and Spock. Would like to see them butt heads a bit more in future
• "Blue Meanie". lol
• As for the title, good spot above. I take it as a reference to Hemmer in that the rest of that quote is something like "Not all those who wander are lost" (Referring to Aragorn to those who have not read the book as it's not mentioned in the films) meaning that Hemmer always believed he had a mission to help to the end. It is also clever in that it could ALSO refer to Uhura "Not all that wander are lost"

ANOTHER fantastic episode of a fantastic series with fantastic writing and acting.... Did I say fantastic? If it can stick the landing then I would consider this a pretty damn near perfect season. Bravo to all involved ('Cos you know they read Boards.ie)

Spear

About Sam Kirk, I don't know if it's spoiler for a half century old show, but:

Spoiler Warning

He leaves Starfleet for a research post and is killed in the episode Operation Annihilation.

corkie

In a recent interview with THR, Horak speaks about his reaction to his character's end:

Well, we shot it a year ago, but I’m really happy with how the episode turned out. When I was approached to play the part, they told me right off the bat that this was going to be the character arc of Hemmer. So, I knew it going in. There was a bit of trepidation off the top about how the death was going to happen, how the grand finale was going to play out. When I read the script, I was so happy — well, happy is not the right word. I was relieved. It’s a pretty great death for a red shirt. (Laughs.) ~~ Link

Maybe he had more scenes in earlier episodes that end up on the 'cutting room floor' (or erased from the episodes).

Varik

Not a fan of that, they bigged up the Gorn too much.

Whatever about killing the host, the new born gorn were a bit much.

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119273733#Comment_119273733

Bring me Scotty in season 2.

I don't think it will be Scotty at least not yet anyway. If it was you would think they would be shouting about it just like they did about Kirk being in the show but that was very cleverly done or there would be leaks about it.

Maybe they are just waiting for the right time or seeing what viewers think first.

PhiloCypher

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119276756#Comment_119276756

Yeh they were ridiculousy lethal. The scenes were so dark at times it was impossible to tell what was happening. Bursting out of the alien killed him needless to say but how did they kill the other medic . Likewise with Duke, he was attacked not long after and yanked right out of spocks hands , had they exited fetus stage and into juvenile that quickly ?

Varik

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119277702#Comment_119277702

The one that attack him first was the tiny baby as you can see that drop on his shoulder and go into the neck, but you can't see what dragged him off but it's not dark enough to hide the larger ones so it looked like the tiny one that dropped on him did that which makes it even dumber.

ixoy

I recall in 'Discovery' that some crew member died, in the second season, and all the other crew stood around mourning and we, the audience, were supposed to care when I struggled to even know who it was (and certainly can't recall now). Yet Hemmer, with far fewer episodes, felt like an actual loss because he was rounded, actually interacted at a personal level with other characters. Shows the massive difference in the quality of writing.

CastorTroy

Think the only death I remember a service for in Discovery was cyborg lady. The one they replaced the actress for in the second season so they could use that actress as a new part time character instead.

PhiloCypher

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119277924#Comment_119277924

Yeh, its the little things, like paying off Hemmer and Spocks bond that we saw in them playfully teasing Uhura in the comet episode, by having him give him the Vulcan salute .

Where are people watching these.? Paramount only has to ep 4

corkie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119282460#Comment_119282460

👺!!!!????

Post edited!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119283701#Comment_119283701

I take it you're looking at the US site and a living in the US. 😁

breezy1985

As everyone said it's full of alien references but also the Predator vision and the Event Horizon "save yourself" log.

Wasn't fond of them going with the ENT Gorn look (maybe it's just the kids)

Was sure we were getting a last minute miracle cure for Hemmer. He will be sadly missed and it was the saddest death since

Spoiler Warning

Shaks

breezy1985

Hopefully La'an comes back and I really hope we don't get Scotty in for Hemmer. No need to boh it down with more legacy crew.

Greyjoy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119274031#Comment_119274031

Even with the limited knowledge that they have of the Gorn in SNW it's difficult to reconcile that with Kirk knowing nothing at all about the Gorn in the "Arena" episode. The writers can try to handwave it aside by not showing the adult Gorn but Starfleet would surely be able to recognise their starships and have some idea of where Gorn territory exists. Overall it was a good episode even if a lazy retread of Alien. It felt more like a season finale than a penultimate episode with characters dying/leaving/promoted. I'd also echo the sentiment that it was bit premature to resolve Hemmer & M'benga's storylines in the same season.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119297566#Comment_119297566

Maybe Hemmer is just in the Nexus or his katra is stored in Urura.

corkie

I can officially say that the Star Trek career of Bruce Horak is not over. I can’t share much beyond that, but I can at least say that I’m absolutely thrilled and honestly I’m so happy with how this season turned out.

https://trekmovie.com/2022/07/03/bruce-horak-talks-hemmers-pivotal-strange-new-worlds-episode-and-his-star-trek-future/

That leaves possibility of him playing a twin? Or a totally new character in Season 2. Doubt they would introduce a new character in the final.

TheValeyard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119297747#Comment_119297747

Hemmer and his species love the cold. Maybe the Gorn eggs that infected him, survived.... And love the cold.

That's if each Gorn absorbs the genetic markers of its host or something.

opus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119274242#Comment_119274242

Great references to two of my favourite movies for sure. Must say I'm really enjoying this series after struggling with Picard.

Hope La'an manages to find Newt's parents 🙂

pixelburp

God damn this show is my jam. If you are gonna nod to Alien and Predator then don't be coy, and it's a testament to the flexibility and imagination of this series that we can have episodes as wildly divergent as Spock Amok - and this -yet both feeling totally in sync with eachother. The key has been consistent characterisation and always remembering to start with the people.

Maybe the obvious Newt stand-in made it tip from homage to rip-off but the execution was solid throughout; I find TV that tries for a horror episode rarely nails the atmosphere - but repurposing the Enterprise set into something dark and foreboding was done well, the scenes and body horror handled with confidence.

The Gorn have come a long way since the daft rubber costume of TOS and I like the idea of a species utterly laser focused on dominance through hunting. Where Federation ideals mean nothing to them and they exist as a constant, vicious threat. Not a dumb animal, but a focused apex predator. I suspect they might be a constant enemy in the absence of The Borg.

Very sad to see Hemmer go; like all the new arrivals to the canon he made a distinct impression on limited time and his pairing with Uhura worked well. More adventures with him would have been nice - loved his moments as the "sorcerer" in Episode 8; glad to see the actor will come back somehow and someway.

corkie

https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/a40702381/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-plot-hole-lower-decks-mike-mcmahan/

During a panel at San Diego Comic-Con, where Digital Spy was present, Mike responded to a fan question about a recent reference to a Gorn wedding in Lower Decks. So far, so tame, until you remember how monstrous the Gorn in the Strange New Worlds spin-off have been.

"Let me tell you something about Gorn weddings, everybody," Mike told the audience, before promptly explaining the multiplicity of Gorn.

"Now, [in] Strange New Worlds, there's a couple centuries' difference, and you know, you go to where Gorn live, there's – not every planet has to be this mono-culture, alright?"

Introducing the example of Orions, he continued: "Just like... not all Orions are controlling people with their pheromones. You've also got Orions joining Starfleet.

"You know, maybe not all Gorn are gonna be treated like this extremely scary thing that bursts out of you."

Proving that not all Gorn are scary – and that there's someone out there for everyone – Mike added: "And sometimes they fall in love and get married!"

So multiple and different breeds of Gorn are possible.