Not all Ilyrians have the same augmentations, is the impression I get. So no, it’s not a given, but unless Spock knows specifically what kinds of augmentations Una has - and I don’t see that being a given either - the logical (pardon the expression) person all eyes turn to in the face of a high-gravity problem would be him. Even if it’s a, “Commander, let me - I was raised on a high-gravity planet,” remark met by a “No, I’m XO and I’m Illyrian,” retort, that would have been settled.

And as someone on reddit pointed out, even if Spock hadn’t been the one to go in, he could have melded with anyone who had been injured in the pod. Nothing in the story need have changed at all except the person involved.

Here’s another one for you (I don’t know what’s up with the story editing this season).

Spock doesn’t go for the grav plating controls because the script demands that he be later placed in jeopardy in the ion pod and have a dramatic complication that has to be solved by his mind meld.

But of course it strikes one as a bit odd in-universe why he didn’t try for the grav plating controls when Vulcans are hardier - obviously nobody would have known he’d be needed later for the ion pod.

But, if he and Una had swapped, and Spock was the one with the broken foot, not only would have made more sense initially, but also actually lucky. Una may have made it out unscathed, or at least less injured, because she’s shown an ability to cure lethal radiation exposure in the past due to her Illyrian heritage (SNW: “Ghosts of Illyria”). Every story beat would be the same except for the mind meld bits.

But then you sacrifice the mind meld scene for story logic.

I did note that you could get a lethal dose of neutrinos given a supernova. It’s the “strong force neutrino” thing that gets me.

It was okay, except I don’t understand (a) why they had to use neutrinos of all things, when it’s a particle we know stuff about and that we know cannot possibly do any of these things and (b) draw attention to the implausibility by having Pike question it and © then try to justify it by saying that these are magic neutrinos that can do all sorts of stuff ordinary neutrinos can’t do. Completely unnecessary. Just make up some new particle!

And of all the characters to choose to put in jeopardy, they had to choose two of those that we know survive to the future.

But the neutrinos bit really threw my suspension of disbelief for a loop. This was worse than “red matter”.

Annotations for 4x06 are up at: https://startrek.website/post/43916537

My biggest problem with this episode isn’t the puppetry, or even the fact that it turned out to be all a dream. As people have pointed out, this hoary old plot has been used in Trek before.

In fact, I suspect that it originally wasn’t supposed to be a dream, but they had to pull that one out because the plot itself had holes that couldn’t be papered over without using that trope, not least of which was how Pike could get back into the ship after being spaced or why Ch’Rol was so nonchalant and literally immobile as the puppets were storming the bridge and beating up on her crew.

My biggest problem is that it just wasn’t even funny. It elicited a few chuckles but most of it produced crickets in my household. I’d have forgiven it if it were otherwise. I’m not sure it’s the absolute worst SNW ever, but I’m hard pressed to think of another one worse. As an example of SNW taking the big swings, this one was a miss.

Annotations for 4x05 up at: https://startrek.website/post/43631682

The events being TNG’s portrayal of Klingon culture being at odds with the way it was depicted in the novel, with its language, klingonaase, customs, ranks, social structure and so on.

But until that came along, a lot of it was taken as if not official canon, then fan headcanon, like the existence of human-Klingon fusions to explain the ridgeless Klingons, the history of Klingon-Federation relations and so forth. Ford wrote material expanding on the novel for the FASA role playing game and it became part of the fan lore for quite a while.

It was okay, but no great shakes for me.

Aside from the B&W gimmick, this was probably the least SF Trek has been for a while - it’s basically someone wanting to do a WW2 Nazi/Resistance movie and selling it with the film noir scheme. I wish it had leaned more into the noir idea of having doubles.

I did wonder about the obvious plot holes: why the D7 never detected the shuttle, how they managed to get an ID card for Uhura despite her making up her alias apparently on the spot, or how the EMP didn’t fry the shuttle’s systems, too. Also, why Kor’s makeup reminded me of Tuvix, and why he didn’t press harder knowing she was lying about not knowing about colour or not recognising the Starfleet symbol. He had pretty much all he needed to know. Some of these you can handwave away, some of these you can squint it through, some ask for at least some explanation.

I’ve never liked the idea of Hodgkin’s Law of Parallel Planetary Development, and I like the doppelgänger equivalent less. The coincidence of Una looking like Nevette is bad enough, but that Nevette happens to be the head of the resistance and the collaborators and a double agent best placed to move the plot along? Too much for the “you should get the audience to only buy into one implausible thing” plot rule.

Annotations for 4x04 up at: https://startrek.website/post/43372189

Annotations for 4x03 up at: https://startrek.website/post/43096604

Uhura’s doing what Pike recognised her ability for in SNW: “Subspace Rhapsody” - a sort of soothing presence that helps the crew communicate together and holds it together. The character’s always been a naturally empathetic person. Kirk’s realising that more clearly now.

Annotations for 4x02 are up at: https://startrek.website/post/42835945

Annotations for 4x01 up at: https://startrek.website/post/42540204

Don’t get me wrong - I’m glad SNW is back, but the opener was a little meh - not least because it was predictable in the extreme.

The moment Spock reveals that they’ve travelled back to the Sol system 65 million years ago it becomes all very convenient and the predestination paradox possibility immediately rears its head.

Because, why would a solar storm light years away throw them back to Sol? And 65 million years ago is immediately obvious to any kid with a passing fancy for dinosaurs as the Cretaceous, which probably means there’s going to be a link to the extinction event. The need for and presence of iridium in the plot reinforces that, because one of the things we know about the KT boundary is the unusual presence of iridium.

(I won’t go into nitpicking the science in this one because Trek’s hold on science has been tenuous at best and this episode was more tenuous than most)

But even if you don’t pick up on that bit, what clinches it in the end is when Spock reveals there is a fifth planet between Mars and Jupiter. Although this detail really should have been made known earlier when he initially scanned the system since it’s a pretty unusual feature for Sol and the only reason it wasn’t is because it would give away the game too soon.

Because the moment you have that bit of info, you know how the rest of the episode has to play out - and it should be obvious to every officer on the bridge, not just Pike. Hell, every Earth officer at least should know what’s going on since they should have more than a passing familiarity with their home system. So Pike’s pronouncement that there is no fifth planet in their time lands as less of a dun-dun-dun reveal than it is a “No shit, Sherlock.”

Also, the pile-on consequences were a bit much, I think. Being involved in the creation of the Asteroid Belt is one thing, and sure, I can even buy the distress buoy paradox, but to put the creation of the solar storm and the extinction of the dinosaurs on top of that is over egging it.

There are cute character bits I enjoyed. Seeing dinosaurs is always a joy. The three-woman landing party was fun, and Saffron Burrows’ performance as a complex antagonist was superb.

Cade S’sha’s presence was a bit superfluous, since she had absolutely nothing to do except be an asshole to Uhura, and one wonders if her introduction would have been better served in an episode where she was more of a focus, or she should at least have been given some role in the plot.

It wasn’t a bad episode, but it wasn’t a great one to roll out the new season.

Thanks!

Tamza. Supposed to be a dead language by the 32nd century.

Sam was using it to say hi to people on her first day (SFA: “Kids These Days”) and Genesis was the only one who knew the language, so that’s how they became friends.

Annotations for 1x10 are up at: https://startrek.website/post/36717083

Correct, but the messages go back 2 years as also stated, so he may be 21 at the outside (nearly 22).

You may be right! Thanks!