This is the Daystrom Institute Episode Analysis thread for Strange New Worlds 2x05 Charades.
Now that weāve had a few days to digest the content of the latest episode, this thread is a place to dig a little deeper.
The spatial geography on this one seems a little wonky. Itās all āin the Vulcanā system but then the moon is āat the edge of the sectorā. I mean, that could make sense but just seemed a little weird to me. Also weird: if this moon is in the Vulcan system, then you would think the Vulcans would have already surveyed it themselves, seeing as they have been spacefaring for hundreds (thousands?) of years. I just canāt see them leaving it alone when it seems to be common knowledge that there are the remains of an advanced civilization on it.
This also struck me as being pretty strange, but I think everything here can be weaseled around:
āat the edge of the sectorā: The Vulcan system happens to be at the edge of the sector it is contained within, sectors being vaguely defined chunks of space laid out fairly arbitrarily.
Surveying the moon: The ruins are well known and well explored (our heroes seem familiar with them already, for instance) but this weird energy vortex is new, strange, and merits a starship crew to investigate it. Itās not the first time theyāve sent Pike specifically to investigate a weird energy source popping up somewhere.
Yeah that is what I thought regarding the first point.
For the second one, I love this explanation and I think it makes perfect sense!
A point of contention in this one is why Spock would struggle with his human emotions, when Vulcan emotions are supposed to be āstronger.ā I donāt think thereās been any suggestion in the past that emotional control is a Vulcan genetic trait.
This is given some cover within the episode, when Spock vaguely says that the human emotions are ādifferent,ā but he doesnāt elaborate.
I wonder if, in keeping with Spockās character in the franchise as a whole and in this series in particular, Spockās predicament allowed him to subconsciously give himself āpermissionā to embrace and explore his emotional side, with the genetic alteration as an excuse.
I kind of like the idea that Vulcansā control of their emotions is a genetic trait. It doesnāt seem too far-fetched, since Vulcans already have mental abilities humans donāt, and it gives a bit of an in-universe reason for why Star Trek writers seem really inconsistent on whether Vulcans have emotions or not.
Iāve always thought the Romulans werenāt just the Vulcans who rejected Surakās teachings, but also any who didnāt have the physical ability to follow them.
Originally it was just based on Romulans not expressing any psychic abilities, but Picard also established that sharing personal details publicly as a major taboo. That would track with them being a mix of former enemies who are concerned with suppressing the rivalries that lead to nuclear war.
I think Vulcan brains are fundamentally different in their ability to (almost) completely block out emotional reactions, but with those barriers lowered they have significantly more difficulty keeping themselves together than humans do. I am told that a human who tried to go āfull Vulcanā with their emotions would mess themselves up pretty badly, but Vulcans manage a functional society of mostly decent people doing that.
Spock, therefore, would have found himself experiencing less overwhelming emotional urges than he experienced in his occasional moments of lost control, but with none of the vulcan-specific mental barriers he was accustomed to leaning on he had little choice but to roll with them anyway.
If those Vulcan mental barriers are variable in effectiveness between different individuals and different emotions, that would also present a needlessly technical explanation for why various Vulcan characters fall into obviously emotional patterns while maintaining very Vulcan outward behavior in other facets. Captain Solok and his racist vendeta as an obvious example.
I went back and watch Amock Time and the Spock Amok last night. I was intrigued that his current relationship with his wife seemed consistent (SNWs didnāt break any of the Spock canon really). What did impress me was nurse Chapel. When watched AK after the recent SNW episodes it appears that Spock had forgotten his love for Chapel but she still loves him. It actually was very moving when you realize Chapelās secret. When she breaks down when he doesnāt even remember her first name. Anyway something to watch for.
