I think the modern writers have forgotten that some of those gimmick episodes of TOS happened because they had a shoestring budget and had to reuse whatever cowboy or city set was available.
this post was submitted on 20 Sep 2026
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I like this season. Star trek always has this premise of "crazy ass shit happens in space all the time," but instead of leaning into the science mumbo jumbo to fix the crazy shit like most series do, the crazy is a narrative tool to tell these like genre bender stories. SNW was becoming way too serial. The two seasons of Gorning became so sucky, like I am so sick of the "endless waves of un-human enemies that have to be killed in order to be survived" trope. And then the final episode of season 3 where Batel like transcends no real good reason, with no explanation or basis, was such a weird cop out.
I was also so fucking over all the lovey dovey eyes and kissy faces in the first 3 seasons, trying to shoehorn in all this romance that just never felt natural. The whole hot Spock/Nurse Chapel epoch felt so fake and lame. Both characters are more believable without the goopy romance forced into every episode.
This season IMO feels really fresh. The horror episode was really good and legit scary, Star Trek noir was fucking badass, even the soap opera episode landed on a really excellent emotional note despite being so cheesy at first blush.
I am liking the gimmick episodes, I just wish they were a bit spaced out. I'd like some normal philosophical dilemma or alien drama episodes in-between. If this season's episodes had been portioned out between all the seasons it would be great, but having all of them in a row is a bit fatiguing.
I'm frustrated that for a moment it seemed like Spock couldn't stand to be single. La'an ends their casual thing and he soon after calls his ex. It's a bit of a bad look. Like he got with La'an to forget Chapel, then called T'Pring to help forget La'an.
It just hit me the wrong way.
Though I rationalized it by remembering that Spock was hinted to have been a ladies man in ToS before he became all about the science and logic.
TOS hinted Spock had been a ladies man? Having seen all those many times I'm baffled. Could you explain more?
There are at least three episodes where a female character either shows interest in Spock romantically or discusses a romantic history. The episode with the sky city and the episode with the farm spores come to mind. I can't do a deep dive at the moment. I suppose you could include Chapel. It was never outright said mind you, but there was enough implied to draw conclusions, which SNW has done.
Sex appeal and being a "ladies man" or "playa" are completely different things. Lots of women IRL were attracted to Spock, believing they could break down his barriers and reach him emotionally. He was like a brooding loner character. But the only memory I have of Spock having any prior relationships with women is a character named Leila who had been in love with him a few years earlier, and that was clearly described as a one-way thing. Obviously his childhood betrothal to T'Pring doesn't count.
That's fair. My definition of lady's man may not be as derogatory as it is generally perceived. I meant only that he was popular with the ladies in the show and with audiences of the time. Not that he chased women. Though that interpretation does seem to be how SNW leans at times. Less in a sexist way and more like he just needs to be in a relationship for some reason.