That, and the other most common note: the death of the creature. How many times in ST have we seen something that 'couldn't be saved' BE saved? And 'they respected she wanted to die.' IMO, no, they needed a shortcut, and shortened it into M'Benga's answer. This ep suffered from the runtime. 3/3
You think it would have worked better as a two-parter? Like the reveal of creature wanting to die could be the end of part one?
A two parter, no i dont think so, but a standard episode length i think would have helped:)
So you’re taking issue with the fact that they _didn’t_ reuse the same plot beat again?
I agree that they could have used those extra 15-20 minutes to flesh things out. Or just cut that last happy family dinner scene in the end which I disliked.
To me it felt like the episode was long as it is. There wasn't that much to tell. I almost got bored in the middle, where they could've cut a few minutes.
I liked the episode, I do have issues with it. However the look of the doc wasn´t one of them. I do understand your point of the creatures death. I saw it as a sad reminder that sometimes things *can´t* be saved. And that is another part of the job.
Agreed on runtime. Since Beto already showed up in previous episodes (shooting footage that was not used), they could have planted the seeds of disagreement with his project (other than too brief complaints about the drone cams). Then they could've done the "previously on..." to reference it.
I completely agree here - while I really liked the story about the creature (the death wish was a new take on Mission Farpoint) and think it made it stronger that eventually there was no "turning back" from the genetical alterations and death the only solution, they did not even look for another one
I thought about tin-man, where a similar outcome was achieved with better lead up. I think the runtime and the number of story threads is a major problem, they are cramming 20 episodes worth of character/story development into half as much screen time and stuff is being lost in that truncation
I think the runtime really hurt this episode overall - as you say, Trek CAN do this and it can do it very well, the balance of all of the different threads was just off this week
Personally I think the documentary should have used a different camera for footage, maybe even used an iPhone 16 Pro (since it would have looked completely different for footage) and also maybe a two parter, that would made it a lot better of an episode
Full disclosure, I haven’t listened to the ups and downs yet, but this episode just felt off to me for so many reasons, not least of which was this. I also really saw a disconnect with Pike compared with every other episode. His characterization has felt uneven to me all this season.
I have to agree here. Now I absolutely forgive this particular episode featuring a cagey version of him, that makes sense to me. Im just hoping between now and the end we get some good character moments with him
Let’s hope! This episode also may have fared better if a) they’d had more runtime, which I think you’ve mentioned, and b) if they’d maintained the conceit of the documentary throughout, instead of switching back and forth between documentary and standard framing. (You may have mentioned that too.)
I had less of an issue with the cameras than you, although it certainly accentuated that it wasn't really a documentary. The annoying framing got in the way of the more interesting story going on in the background that ended up unsatisfying and rushed. And I usually love documentary episodes!
For the Documentary episode I love that the show tried something different, but Stargate and BSG did it better in my opinion. I have issues with the plot and how it was filmed. I'm with you on this one.
Dr Fraiser 💔