A Look at The Elysian Kingdom (Strange New Worlds)

O brave new world that has such camp goofballs in it, our crew goes for a costume pantomime this week.

[@NineWorldsFromDrew]

Fun fact: The dog La’an is holding in her first scene as Princess Talia, is actually Christina Chong’s RL pet dog, Runa. She also joins Chong at conventions 😅

[@tarvoc746]

As a connoisseur and a writer of cheesy fairytale-style fantasy, I immensely enjoyed this episode. I do understand anyone who says it wasn't their thing though.

[@dm121984]

Same. I get Chucks point, the story didn't really tell us more about U'begna (sorry about the spelling) nor really the rest of the crew, but it was so fun and funny in places. I especially love how Hemer gets into the wizarding role, including the bit about "Don't look, it will make you blind" "what about you?" "I am protected by powerful magic". Fun story, sad/happy conclusion re his daughter, loved seeing all the actors get to be different to their normal selves.

[@fredrikcarlstedt393]

Love the servile and backstabbing Pijke . Also, it would be interesting to see Edmund Blackadder as a Starfleet Captain.

[@stevena488]

I really enjoyed this episode because the actors are having a ball, where it's utterly bananas and a quasi Holodeck episode WITHOUT the Holodeck malfunction episode tropes that we all know and don't particularly like. Also I kind of like that they're TRYING to get the balance of "Yes? Star Treks got its messages to it and all that, but sometimes, Star Trek can be endearingly camp and fun." They don't always succeed (No Trek show ever has a 100% batting average), but they're at least giving it their best.

[@KianaWolf]

I feel the same way. Is it SNW's best episode? No. But I am glad the "let's embrace the camp" episode exists? Certainly. Plus it serves as valuable comic relief before the season finale. Though admittedly part of that perception is because I waited until the season was over and binged the whole thing in two days.

[@SpartanSniper3]

I love how off the wall this episode was, but these things only work once in awhile. The cast having such a great time, plus their talent and the emotional ending is what really sold it to me though.

[@MaraudingManiac]

As a Hemmer fan, I take what I can get, so I enjoyed this episode.

[@sfdebrisred6555]

I am always in favor of more Hemmer.

[@ReaverLordTonus]

This episode in my opinion is exactly what NuTrek can be. It has that essence of the original series but with a modern sense of humor. You can tell the actors are enjoying themselves and giving it 100%.

[@ravenwilder4099]

Got a legit LOL out of "the plot arrived, right on schedule".

[@CT_Phipps]

La'an with a dog: If anything were to happen to Princess Runa, I would kill everyone in this room and then myself.

[@eleids]

6:11 I did not remember that the map of the kingdom is the ship; that's pretty fun.

[@Zeithri]

Not my favorite episode but I found it very fun and enjoyable. Even emotional with his daughter.

[@ztyran]

I look forward to your thoughts on Mariner from Lower Decks, especially given the crossover and this recent season.

[@Grayvorn]

Easily my favourite episode ❤

[@fourcatsandagarden]

this episode was fully my favorite episode of the entire show so far.

[@bthsr7113]

"It seems more like the sword is an idiot's weapon." depends on the exact nature of the fantasy setting..... but high level magic tends to overwhelmingly dominate martial prowess. And even if you have a fabeled sword of ancient might, it's probably a great work of magic.

[@mikegates8993]

Reminds me of Thrall's final duel with Garrosh, and how it really did go to show that the faction leaders who were just warriors were realistically bottom tier in terms of actual power, and yet they still keep trying to convince us that Saurfang or Baine are big deals in the Horde's powerscale.

[@ImperatorPenguin]

Hey, Hemmer is going to be dead by the end of the season! Let the blind telepathic alien do something goofy!

[@CaptainEnglehorn]

You know Bruce Horak (Hemmer) was hired knowing full well his character was going to die at the end of the season. It’s not like they decided to off him at the last minute for shock value. He was created to die.

[@MercuryKnight5]

So, does the Swamp Of Infinite Death have Rodents Of Unusual Size?

[@CaptainEnglehorn]

This episode was great.

[@S1nwar]

it feels like a TOS episode

[@hariman7727]

This episode looks... reasonably good. Fun and silly, but also emotional, but kind of flat.

[@Ofbricks]

8:33 - Perhaps the book is a compendium of stories, and the story he's referencing is one of the many within the book "The Kingdom of Elysian, "The Elysian Kingdom.""

[@myriadmediamusings]

Brings to mind tng era holodeck episodes but in a good way.

[@dupersuper1938]

I loved the fun out-of character bits in the storybook land, but found the ending of M'Benga's daughter's situation abrupt and unsatisfactory.

[@bthsr7113]

SNW continuing being a high budget love letter to TOS.

[@7Seraphem7]

"Just fine" sums up my thoughts on this one. The plot wasn't that great for me, but the actors were just having so much damn FUN with it it was still enjoyable to watch.

[@BronzeBoy520]

After this episode and the one in season 2, it feels like strange new worlds likes having a ‘and now this happens’ episode.

[@KnightRaymund]

and I love it. especially S2's musical (and crossover).

[@bogartoutlawclan9592]

Liked the Liv Tyler ref.

[@Redrally]

It was a fine but fun episode :)

[@BobSentell]

As a father to a daughter, this one had a slightly more emotional response for me. I agree the story was competent, otherwise.

[@ztyran]

8:36 Besides you should never judge a book by it's cover. 😂

[@bradwolf07]

I do think the people had fun with this one. Probably the actors for La'an and Pike. They got to be their normal characters and wildly different personalities for those characters. Yes I know, actors getting to act, how different. Baa What I don't like was them leaning into the Spock has so many siblings trope they made. It's annoying to me. But at least this one was acceptable because Hemmer is awesome.

[@MadSpectre47]

This was the only episode of Season 1 that I actively... I wouldn't say disliked, I didn't (and haven't) disliked any of the 20 so far, but... it, along with s2e1, are easily the two weakest episodes of SNWs first 20. Which is fine, every episode isn't going to be a smash hit, and SNW has delivered more quality new Trek than any other live action show since 2016.

[@JasonEvans-j4c]

It's a fun episode but the sudden magical resolution of the sick daughter subplot was way too sudden and convenient. Not only will she live, but M'benga gets confirmation that he made the right choice from his conveniently time-accelerated daughter. Ugh.

[@pocketheart1450]

Fine? I believe you misspelled "fun". No, it's not some amazing, show stopping be all end all story for the ages, but I really enjoyed it and I felt like the cast was clearly having a lot of fun playing their new roles.

[@ChristianTithe]

🙏

[@pforce9]

That doctor is pretty problematical. Didn't he almost get the crew killed stealing power from the transporter? And as for that experiment of his with the mortar and pestle; "why don't you get your nose right down in there?" is what I was thinking. I was beginning to think he was a character like "Dr. Smith" from lost in space. And that super power juice he and Chapel drink, why not give it to the whole crew?

[@jankostrhun8725]

Honestly his leaving his daughter with an entity he knows fuck-all about with barely even giving it a thought must be one of the dumbest things ever even by ParaTrek standards.

[@digitaljanus]

This. I otherwise enjoyed this episode, but the climax did not sit right with me at all. I didn't see the point of giving M'Benga this backstory if it's only going to feature in two episodes before being resolved, his choice lacks emotional weight and logic as a result, and it doesn't feel right to make him the sole arbiter of his daughter's fate. (Is there no one else in his daughter's life, like family members, who might want to at least be consulted?)

[@jankostrhun8725]

@@digitaljanus Yeah it very much felt like "oh we have this plot line we have no effing idea what to do with so let's just abruptly write it off the show". It's better not to think too much about because the implications of his daughter's fate can get REAL dark real fast. Especially when this episode is still kinda close to another episode including young kids that is often compared to The Ones Who Walk Away from Omela. Otherwise yes, the episode was fun but this really soured it for me both in and out of meta perspective. It's one of those "this has to happen because script says so".

[@MadSpectre47]

@@jankostrhun8725 I honestly think the writers wanted to have a few narratives weave throughout the season to build cohesion in an episodic structure, and they realized while writing the season that this one wasn't working at all, so they junked it. Which... kudos. It could've been dragged on further, but they didn't. It... the whole thing served no purpose whatsoever, but it only was in, as you said, 3 episodes total for maybe what... 15, 20 minutes then this ending? I'm fine with that.

[@jankostrhun8725]

@@MadSpectre47 I mean... yes. On one hand it's better to ditch narrative that you realized isn't working than being blindly enslaved to it and pollute other works with it. But that still means you put shit narrative line in the first place and then unceremoniously ditched it. I think that there were other ways dealing with it, sure putting it to ice for half a season before finding some way to make it all relevant (given that doctor is like tertiary character) or at least make it more impactful. I mean I don't wanna downplay the pain and inner emptiness of leaving his daughter to never see her again. But as I've said there are some uncomfortable implications with that endings that will definitely not end up with anthill+magnifying glass scenario when the entity gets a bit more or overly curious (and I just realized another possible American one with black father just dumping his daughter on someone else and riding away - which was big deal enough for Avery Brooks to insist on DS9's finale rewrite admitedly I might be reaching there) I know it tried to give him choice but as cold as it might sound I would prefer for her to rather die. Like putting him in a situation where he needs to fry ships system - including teleporters and such so it will either delete her from existence or make it that she will die before they fix it. At least that gives you something to reflect on in later episodes without highlighting how stupid this ending was. So fine idea not so fine execution.

[@pearsegallagher9832]

algorithm comment

[@maisiesummers42]

For me the episode lacked emotional punch. We barely know M'Benga's daughter. She's popped up a few times, and we see his dedication to her. Most of this episode is fun, okay. Then, at the end, his daughter leaves. Sure, this is partly her decision, partly his. But at the end of the episode, M'Benga should be an absolute wreck. He should be crying and sobbing over both losing his daughter but also knowing she is happy. You don't just say goodbye to someone that special to you and be okay five minutes later. Babs is an excellent actor, he could have pulled it off. I just don't understand why we don't see it.

[@chrisw207]

It was way to early to have the silly out of character episode. They don't work when we're still learning and adjusting to who they are. A lot of Our Man Bashir was they play against character: Kira as the femme fatale, Dax as the ditzy yet brilliant scientist, O'Brien as the killer henchman. Here, I'm stilll learning names, and don't have the knowledge of Bollywood to know if they are mocking tropes or playing it straight. I just chalk it up to a necessary episode. The preteen staying in the buffer so she can't age can't last long.

[@CaptainEnglehorn]

This episode has nothing to do with Bollywood. Like at all.

[@chrisw207]

@@CaptainEnglehorn it's what it was being marketed as at the time. I'll take your word on how well it made it.

[@jankostrhun8725]

Not sure about the Bollywood, this come more like regular European kids tale (or modern fairy tale, children focused fantasy or whatever you wanna call it) it's less Baahubali and more of a Stardust. But yes it was way too early given the relatively shallow and spread out characterizations. Also I feel a need to mention it again, leaving his daughter with entity they know nothing about and that is potentially so dangerous is pretty high on my list of "dumb things that only happen because script says so" not only I didn't knew good doctor enough to really sympathize outside of purely intellectual level in the best scenario, this was so stupid I don't think I can sympathize ever. It really felt like "uh we have this plot line introduced and no idea what to do with it, so random bullshit GO!"

[@stryke-jn3kv]

Trek often does the silly out of character ep too early. TNG had Naked Now as their very second episode and Ds9 had Dramatis Personae in their first season.

[@CaptainEnglehorn]

@@chrisw207 nowhere was this marketed as Bollywood. Bollywood has singing and dancing, this episode had neither. It was a fairy tale. That’s it.

[@WDC_OSA]

I'm gay and I'm not fond of the "The world has inexplicably changed and we have to play along until it ends" sort of episode.

[@ThePiachu]

Honestly, I didn't like the episode. The characters in their new roles are rather awkward, you could cut down the episode to half length and not lose much, and if this is the end to the child's storyline then that whole plot stretching multiple episodes felt kind of wasted. Like if you pitched the whole story from the beginning by saying "the doctor has a really sick child, she's kept in a pattern buffer, and at the end she's raptured by a god and fixed" that kind of sounds contrived...

[@EmmaOnATangent]

This was the episode that made me realize why NuTrek isn't for me. It's too much of its own thing to satisfy my nostalgia brain, and not enough of its own thing to get me invested for its own sake. It's fine. Often excellent. But it isn't for me.