Strange New Worlds 2×06 – Lost in Translation

[solarbird]

Naturally we skipped ahead to the Lower Decks crossover episode last week when it dropped early, so this week we watched “Lost in Translation” (2×06) and the main thing I want to say about this one is…

…a little complicated.

Okay. Captain Kirk. James {R|T} Kirk, right? Kirk the jerk, the myth, the legend.

I’ve never really been into him.

I mean, he’s fine. I guess. But even within that little bit of opinion, there’re two opinions, one about TV series Kirk and one about movie Kirk, and they’re rather different people in my mind. A few series ago of Discovery I was making people a little mad by saying “discovery!Pike >>> movies!Kirk” and “discovery!Pike maybe > tos!Kirk” and meaning it, and the only reason for the “maybe” in that second one was because I knew that shit needed to be slide in there gracefully. But you’ll note the difference in the number of greater-than signs – and the lack of a “maybe” in the first half – because that shit is intentional.

They’re different, much like tng!Picard and movies!Picard are different, and one of the problems for me with picard!Picard that particularly after series one, that was movies!Picard, not tng!Picard, and everything was much the worse for it.

And on top of that, complicating all this (waves hands vaguely upwards) is that it’s hard for me to separate Bill Shatner and his smarmy assholery from tos!Kirk. Maybe it’d be different if I’d seen it before Shatner (and his Shatholery) were really famous, but that’s not what happened, so.

so. so so so.

Then last night – or last week, technically, but for me it was last night – we got a big chunk of stw!Kirk and there was a moment when…

…something clicked. And I could see tos!Kirk without the Shatner baggage.

I mean not all of it, but some of it. That talk he has with Uhura is very TOS-style monologue writing but having the Shatner removed from it kind of opened a window to the actual character that I don’t know I’ve ever had.

And it’s clear to me now that as-written!Kirk is a better character than shatner!Kirk in all forms…

…and in fact…

…I kinda like that guy.

So maybe I sorta get it now.

I mean, maybe the stw!Kirk actor is also a dick and maybe that’ll come out eventually and who knows, right? And one shouldn’t conflate actors and characters regardless, obviously. But Bill makes it really difficult, since that particular asshole is extra stanky, and in public.

And it feels… deliberate, on the part of the showrunners. They got someone who looks a lot less like Shatner than they probably could’ve, but could be a younger Kirk even if he looks a lot like Jim Carey, but they’re writing him like he was written in TOS, minus … eight years or whatever it is, I’ve lost track. I didn’t understand why what they were doing, going with this actor, but… maybe I do now.

It further reads to me like Strange New Worlds is ditching more Shatner-like movies!Kirk entirely in favour of less Shatner-like tos!Kirk, and frankly I’m here for that on general principles. movies!Kirk couldn’t’ve given that monologue to Uhura, not with sincerity. And I read it as more sincere than not.

So either snw!Kirk is really good at faking sincerity… or movies!Kirk need not apply.

It’s the de-Shatnering of James {R.|T.} Kirk, and honestly, I think it’s changed my mind about having the character show up in Strange New Worlds at all. Now, I’m kind of fine with it… when I definitely was not fine with it, before.

Posted via Solarbird{y|z|yz}, Collected.

Comments

[dewline]

Yeah, this is supposed to be Jim Kirk, half a decade before he gets Pike's job. And we're seeing the SNW writing filling in the gaps in the backstory...and I like the way this is working out so far.

[solarbird]

Mind you, I don't want to see him on the regular. His brother is there, I imagine, as an excuse to bring him in - but mostly I don't want to see that. We have enough TOS people already, we don't need him around that much.

[dewline]

I was surprised to see Sam included at all. There are several TOS-linked people I would have put ahead of him on the priority list for "what were they doing back in the day?" inclusions. I'll likely discuss that on my own Dreamwidth account.

[gwydion]

I admit, I don't like sam at all and I agree. Way more interesting characters could fill that slot or they could give Ortega more to do.

[solarbird]

Kirk seems pretty unfazed by losing his brother in TOS. Maybe being on real bad terms would help with that? I mean, in a better show, that wouldn't be enough, but you can't go back and un-do 1960s television choices.

[gwydion]

Well, technically you can, but I find the kelvinverse movies unwatchable despite a talented cast.

[solarbird]

"We showed this director a lot of Star Trek with the sound turned off. Let's see what happens!"

[gwydion]

*snerk*

[gwydion]

I grew up watching Tos over and over with my dad, before all the rest of it was made. I feel like you do about Shatner. Having that be all there was didn't really make a difference. I was okay with him as a little kid, but I was all about Spock, Uhura, and Sulu as a little kid. I was way more tolerant of Kirk and McCoy than I was later on, but I'd mostly jumped ship on Kirk by the time TNG came out. (Nothing against D. Forrest Kelley. It's just his character was a racist asshole on the show. I think the movies softened him a bit).

When Discovery Pike turned up I said something like: This is the man James Kirk was trying to be and could never live up to. I mean it, though I think this Kirk has the potential to be so much closer and he's definitely washing all the Shatner goo away.