Sfdebris.net

https://sfdebris.com/videos/startrek/w104.php

After S3 of Picard, I'm starting to think that none of the NuTrek writers is capable of writing a tense ship story that's not inspired by The Hunt for Red October/Das Boot. But hey, rendering space fart clouds is cheaper than showing an actual battle with clever tactics, which is funny, given that the show has like 5 times the budget TNG had, yet it doesn't show. It's like the show is run by beancounters.

I really don't like what they did to the Gorn. It's like the Klingorcs, only worse. Now they're just a bunch of Magog-Xenomorphs that somehow developed warp. Even though they can only reproduce by killing other living beings, with their offsprings killing each other until only one remains, which would not allow them to develop anything resembling a civilization, since evolution would select the individuals that are more aggressive and anti-social, and you cannot build a civilization out of such individuals. And this type of reproduction is not sustainable in the long run, since they'll eventually run out of hosts on their home planet. Hell, the two examples I mentioned, are also not sustainable: the Magog only exist because the Spirit of the Abyss manipulates their entire existence, while the Xenomorphs, regardless if they were developed as bioweapons or some very kinky sex toys (or both), well, there was never any indication they were meant to be part of a balanced ecosystem.

Also, since when the hell do Gorn make clicking noises? They always growled, never clicked. Now they're velociraptors too?

I can't quite call the episode bad, since there are a couple of good scenes, but dammit, the way they reintroduced the Gorn is probably the second worst thing in this series.

I do think they should have just called the Gorn in SNW something else. The Gork (or Mork) maybe, and now you've got a lot less baggage to get in the way of enjoying your neat legit scary lizard like space murder machines. Sure there'd still be some logical problems with how they actually function but it's not like that a new thing to Trek, nu- or otherwise, and you can easily excuse that if they're used well in the stories being told.

Personally I don't any emotional attachment to the Gorn at all as a thing so it's fine for me either way, but I certainly do get why those who do have stronger ties to the concept are having a problem with them.

What I don't like is this flies in the face of the thesis of the Gorn. The whole point was these monstrous-looking creatures are not monsters but sentient beings who have the same faults and virtues as Kirk and his crew and thus have the right to live.

Now, they're complete monsters through and through who embrace every trope of barbarism possible. Also, Kirk and Spock acted like they never heard of a Gorn before "Arena." It feels like they took a race that had been mentioned but had little done with it and said "That's our villain race" without considering why that race existed in TOS's comment on the human condition.

The episode is good, but Strange New World's worst decision was their use of the Gorn. Really, they should've gone with the Kzinti as the bad guys.

Those are the cat people, right? Now I want to see an episode where Captain Kirk is trapped on a planet with a Kzinti and has to build an improvised laser pointer to distract it so he can run away.

Durandal_1707 wrote: ↑Sun May 14, 2023 5:13 pm Those are the cat people, right? Now I want to see an episode where Captain Kirk is trapped on a planet with a Kzinti and has to build an improvised laser pointer to distract it so he can run away.

He finds a chunk of silver with a relatively flat surface to reflect the sun.

I wonder if the only thing the writers know about "Arena" is "the episode where Kirk awkwardly fights a man in lizard costume" and they didn't bother to learn the episode's theme. Instead they decided to "improve" the Gorn, by turning them into Xenos. It's like we're back in the early 00s, when X-Men writers thought that the motormouth Deadpool character was stupid, so they decided to "improve" him by turning him into a mute that shoots lasers through his eyes and grows swords from his arm.

It's also kind of amusing that NuTrek adores to brag itself about its inclusiveness and diversity, but I guess the idea of ugly aliens not being complete monsters is blasphemy.

The really bad thing is that now the Gorn are boring. You see them or their ships there are only a few things you can do. Run, hide, or fight are the only options. How many times can that be done before it's boring?

Counting two-parters separately, I'd say, oh, about six episodes and a motion picture.

Mabus wrote: ↑Sun May 14, 2023 11:05 am which is funny, given that the show has like 5 times the budget TNG had, yet it doesn't show. It's like the show is run by beancounters.

No.

stryke wrote: ↑Sun May 14, 2023 1:37 pm I do think they should have just called the Gorn in SNW something else. The Gork (or Mork) maybe, and now you've got a lot less baggage to get in the way of enjoying your neat legit scary lizard like space murder machines. Sure there'd still be some logical problems with how they actually function but it's not like that a new thing to Trek, nu- or otherwise, and you can easily excuse that if they're used well in the stories being told.

Personally I don't any emotional attachment to the Gorn at all as a thing so it's fine for me either way, but I certainly do get why those who do have stronger ties to the concept are having a problem with them.

Yeah I have no attachment to the Gorn so I don't really care about the changes. It's not like the Klingons, but I get why it upsets some. Still, baggage and possible biological issues aside, I generally do like how they were used in SNW. Well, except the later death thing.

Durandal_1707 wrote: ↑Sun May 14, 2023 5:13 pm Those are the cat people, right? Now I want to see an episode where Captain Kirk is trapped on a planet with a Kzinti and has to build an improvised laser pointer to distract it so he can run away.

Durandal_1707 wrote: ↑Mon May 15, 2023 4:20 am Counting two-parters separately, I'd say, oh, about six episodes and a motion picture.

lol.

hypocratus wrote: ↑Mon May 15, 2023 12:49 am The really bad thing is that now the Gorn are boring. You see them or their ships there are only a few things you can do. Run, hide, or fight are the only options. How many times can that be done before it's boring?

I'm sure they can get a couple more ideas out of them but they do have to be careful with them, yes.

One thing I like about the Gorn in "The Arena" was they owned the fact the suit actor was going to have a hard time moving by making the Gorn hulking, cumbersome beings and it factors into their thinking. As we see in the Gorn captain's initial engagement with Kirk; their hunting strategy is set a trap, herd the prey into the trap, and with its mobility taken away moving in to use their brute strength to overpower and kill it. And this hunting strategy was adapted to their military doctrine: set a trap, lure the enemy into the trap by pinning them against a planet in space or held down by artillery on the ground, move in for the kill when the time is right.

Really, instead of trying to "improve" the Gorn by making them more mobile, they should own that they are slow and cumbersome but have the intelligence to overcome it.