Episode was super fun. When they were hailing the Klingons I was fully expecting Klingon opera on the other end, then we got that boy band thing and it was awesome!
I liked it, but it wasn't something that I would call super memorable. It had some scenes that were outright played for laughs. Like the Klingon boy band song.
But the episode lacked real impact. I mean even though the songs made the singer reveal some emotional truths. It didn't feel like anything was in true jeopardy until of course the destroying the galaxy thing.
The cast was certainly earnest and it was fun to watch them singing their hearts out. I was surprised at Ortega's singing chops but Uhura stole the show with her number.
I wish they would have established some more issues in Chapels relationship with Spock or built it up more before they basically broke them up or teased that she's leaving.
As far as musical episodes go, this was pale imitation to Once More with Feelings. Where the musical numbers that forced people to expose their darkest emotions and secrets lead to the Scooby Gang having serious problems. Buffy revealed that her friends had ripped her out of heaven. Willow had mind wiped her girl friend. That Buffy was getting spiked by spiked.
As it was there were a few nice little Buffy Easter eggs. When they were discussing the problems and you heard "I have a theory" that links it to the song in Once more with feelings. Also the reality where everyone is bunnies links to Anya blaming Bunnies for the musical curse. I was waiting for someone to explain alternate realities by talking about the nightmare of a world without shrimp.
Anyways, I'd call this a 6/10 episode, that when fans of SNW talk about the overall show this one won't really be talked about all that fondly.
And I give you Bunnies
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I loved the musical episode, although I went in without knowing it was coming, so it was super impactful. The opening credits blew my mind, and I loved every song and how they handled it.
I watched the last three episodes in a row tonight, and what a roller coaster - especially when it comes to M'Benga - from hunter killer to "I don't sing" (it didn't sound like his singing voice?)
I'm not entirely sure how I feel about "Subspace Rhapsody". I generally do not like musicals, but I earnestly wanted to watch and like the episode. And I... sort of did. It was okay. It didn't hold my attention; I goofed off on my phone for about 80% of it, which I'm embarrassed to admit.
I suppose there is a lot of crossover in Star Trek and Buffy fandom and this episode inevitably begs comparisons to "Once More with Feeling", but I couldn't be arsed to watch Buffy anyway. It was never my thing. So, CaptainCrunch, as much as you put together a very well-thought and well-written post... *shrug*
I do however strongly agree that it's likely not going to be very memorable long-term. The goings-on in the episode weren't very memorable; 'stuff' happens and it moves a few of the crew's personal story lines forward, but it does so in a kind of quick, flippant way. I'm actually perfectly okay with that, as we know that all of the Pike-Batel, Spock-Chapel and La'an-Kirk relationships ultimately go nowhere anyway.
This does betray the real great downside to setting this show in the past relative to TOS—as was Enterprise and Discovery's great weakness—in that we know where it ends. I wrote in a couple earlier posts that I love that SNW is doing new and interesting things with characters we already know, but at the end of it all we know how things turn out, and that robs us the audience of any real... feeling about things. Never ever do we wonder what will happen: we know what's going to happen, it's just a question of how they get there. I did chuckle at the way La'an's unrequited/unresolved feelings for Kirk were so abruptly rebuffed—"I'm not that other reality's Kirk, I have this thing going on with this scientist at Starbase 1 and I knocked her up..."
"Oh."
I think I have to leave my phone in another room and rewatch this one.
I just saw the Klingon general was played by Bruce Horak, who played Hemmer in the first season.
Haha, I noticed his name in the credits, and went "Hmm, wait a minute... was he the Klingon captain with the eyepatch?" Very cool that they're still finding ways to include him.
That said it raises a nitpicky thing I've been thinking this season... I like that they went back to a TNG/DS9/VOY look for the Klingons. It was the best interpretation of them, and there's no reason to mess with that success. However, the quality of the make-up and costumes seems a lot cheaper than it was back in the day. I keep noticing that the make-up is much more uniformly applied across the actors' faces and it makes them look less real.
'New' vs. 'old':
Spoiler!
vs.
Ultimately we know they're just guys with some rubber #### on their foreheads, but the Gowron makeup has a bit of a sheen on it that makes it look more like real skin, with real skin oils.
The Klingon costumes also looked a lot more like plastic pieces with shiny paint on them. They didn't look substantial:
Spoiler!
Maybe just a concession to make them lighter, so that the actors could dance in them...? I'd like to think that.
Haha, I noticed his name in the credits, and went "Hmm, wait a minute... was he the Klingon captain with the eyepatch?" Very cool that they're still finding ways to include him.
That said it raises a nitpicky thing I've been thinking this season... I like that they went back to a TNG/DS9/VOY look for the Klingons. It was the best interpretation of them, and there's no reason to mess with that success. However, the quality of the make-up and costumes seems a lot cheaper than it was back in the day. I keep noticing that the make-up is much more uniformly applied across the actors' faces and it makes them look less real.
'New' vs. 'old':
Spoiler!
vs.
Ultimately we know they're just guys with some rubber #### on their foreheads, but the Gowron makeup has a bit of a sheen on it that makes it look more like real skin, with real skin oils.
The Klingon costumes also looked a lot more like plastic pieces with shiny paint on them. They didn't look substantial:
Spoiler!
Maybe just a concession to make them lighter, so that the actors could dance in them...? I'd like to think that.
I do wonder how much of the difference is in pigmentation and how the SNW makeup applications are a little more robust, and less just turtle heads. I'm willing to guess too that the lighter pigmentation of the applications is to match closer to the actor's natural skin tone for reasons I don't think we need to litigate here.
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Originally Posted by Locke
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Ehhhhhhhhh I though about that too, that maybe that's what they were going for, but I don't think so. It'd be one thing if it was just the forehead appliance being blended in with the actor's real skin tone, but I think the overarching problem is that the actors look like their entire faces are absolutely smothered with makeup. Like, this guy:
Spoiler!
It does not look like they blended the colour to match his skin. It's not that the prosthetic on his head looks fake: his entire face looks fake. To me it looks like they just shotgun-blasted a crapload of make-up all over rather than attempting to blend it in.
Ehhhhhhhhh I though about that too, that maybe that's what they were going for, but I don't think so. It'd be one thing if it was just the forehead appliance being blended in with the actor's real skin tone, but I think the overarching problem is that the actors look like their entire faces are absolutely smothered with makeup. Like, this guy:
Spoiler!
It does not look like they blended the colour to match his skin. It's not that the prosthetic on his head looks fake: his entire face looks fake. To me it looks like they just shotgun-blasted a crapload of make-up all over rather than attempting to blend it in.
Yeah, I don't think it's a blending of makeup with the prosthetic application. I think the whole thing is a prosthetic mask. Like the Narn on B5 or Odo even.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by Locke
Thats why Flames fans make ideal Star Trek fans. We've really been taught to embrace the self-loathing and extreme criticism.
Episode was super fun. When they were hailing the Klingons I was fully expecting Klingon opera on the other end, then we got that boy band thing and it was awesome!
K-pop.
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