Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Discussion: Through the Lens of Time & The Sehlat That Ate Its Tail

Through the Lens of Time

Nurse Chapel and Dr. Korby’s quest to uncover the next step in human evolution leads the Enterprise to a planet where ancient ruins hide a deeper mystery and a terrifying secret.

(Note: Paramount+ spells it “Lense”, but everywhere else has it spelled correctly)

The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail

Kirk’s first day as captain turns disastrous when a scavenger ship seizes the Enterprise.

 

8 replies on “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Discussion: Through the Lens of Time & The Sehlat That Ate Its Tail”

  1. Spoilers ahead because I don’t trust the tags and I am, in fact, lazy.

    I liked the concept of “Lens” but the execution was lacking. The dimensional displacement could have been played up to dramatic and comic effect (kind of felt like a Zelda puzzle). I don’t object to horror in Star Trek, but what happened to Gamble felt excessive. Does offing a character after six episodes count as “fridging”? Because, it felt like it. I love Carol Kane, but the “evil” monologue felt a bit too much. And the bathos moment of “want another take for the camera” really deflated it.

    “Sehlat” on the other hand, was stronger all around. Giving us the first command outing for Kirk was a treat. It was a nice touch when the only Enterprise crew stuck aboard the Farragut were the ones who would still be there under his command. Was it me or were the “scavengers” suits in the old pics meant to look like a Telsa logo? If so, maybe they weren’t, in fact, Earth’s best an brightest.

    Finally, a shout out to Nami Melumad. Her scores on these episodes are fantastic. Pay attention to the musical cues. She’s using vibes from the movies (especially Horner’s Star Trek II & III scores) as well as playing with the main theme in creative ways (the main theme is played quietly when Kirk rises to the occasion in “Sehlat”). She also used the original music from TOS for the retro “The Last Frontier” scene. Long story short, she’s knocking these out of the park, IMO.

    • Sehlat was phenomenal. I’ve generally been weary on Kirk episodes because I feel like SNW should be Pike’s show, but that episode was great on so many levels.

      As for logos, Tesla would be an improvement. I see what you are saying, but it looked like someone saw the Tesla logo and said “Can we make this look more like a 🍆?”

      After the comment about Elon being a genius in DIS, maybe that’s the idea? Maybe the ‘History’ gets it wrong, and remembers Elon as a good guy, despite everything horrible we (in the present) see now. The same way the Founding Fathers are seen through a pretty good light, despite the things various injustices they regularly foisted off to anyone who wasn’t a straight, white man.

      • I retconned that mention of Musk in DIS as the first “tell” that Lorca was from the Mirror Universe.

        But the current spate of revisionist history going on RIGHT NOW at the Smithsonian has me on board with your theory.

        • I went and got a shot of the logo, it’s here. I can see the Tesla of it all, but that slight fold that makes them all have a slightly different colored head at the bottom makes it look like a horrible design choice. (Which also is an argument to continue dunking on Tesla.)

  2. For the record, “Lense” was the accepted spelling a few centuries ago, matching the timeline for when the vault was sealed on the show, so I think that was deliberate.

    I have to say, on the whole, I’m enjoying season 3 more than I did season 2.

  3. My wife and I have been a little uncertain about this season, but we both really liked “The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail.” It felt like what we wanted from this show, old Trek with a budget and a more contemporary sensibility.

    As for the Smithsonian, what is history, after all? Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.

    Or, well, close enough.

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