[Petrarch]

Episode Discussion

"The Broken Circle"

US Airdate: 15/06/2023 (Paramount+)
International: 15/06/2023 (Only in countries with access to Paramount+)

This thread is for the pre and post discussion of the series premiere episode "The Broken Circle" - this will be a spoiler filled discussion so if you've found your way past the warnings in the activity stream and the spoiler tag on the thread, this is your last chance to turn back, or at least it will be at the end of this first post. You have been warned!

A distress call from Lt. Noonien-Singh compels Spock to disobey orders and take the U.S.S. Enterprise and its crew into disputed space, risking renewed hostilities with the Klingons in a bid to aid their shipmate.

You can find a preview of the episode details here.

Strange New Worlds is back for Season 2, continuing the adventures of the USS Enterprise under Captain Pike. SNW stars Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike, Rebecca Romijn as Una/Number One, Ethan Peck as Spock, Babs Olusanmokun as Doctor M'Benga, Christina Chong as La'an Noonien-Singh, Celia Rose Gooding as Uhura, Jess Bush as Christine Chapel & Melissa Navia as Erica Ortegas. In addition to the returning cast, Paul Wesley will appear as James T. Kirk, no introductions needed there and Carol Kane as Pelia, the new Chief Engineer of the Enterprise.

This episode will feature the return of the Klingons, with the make-up used reverting them back to their TMP/TNG-era appearance. International airdate is best assumption, as the UK Paramount+ mentions it streaming from today but the episode isn't available yet.

The Broken Circle is episode 1 of 10.

Written by: Henry Alonso Myers & Akiva Goldsman
Directed by: Chris Fisher

[JByb04]

Can't wait for this.

But I hope they have an explanation why the Klingons have ridges at this point in time. They were supposed to be smooth in brow with FEAR in their hearts. For those who wonder why, look to Enterprise for your answer, they offer an explanation.

[JCarrill0]

Just finished this, brilliantly done.

What was this “juice” they took? Maybe I missed something and need to rewatch season 1?
I like this new “academy teacher” as well

[merTYol]

Just finished this, brilliantly done.

What was this “juice” they took? Maybe I missed something and need to rewatch season 1?
I like this new “academy teacher” as well

i think its a new thing that M'Benga had to come up with during the war.

Also loved seeing the Original Crossfield Class before the Spore Drive refit. Same saucer but different secondary hull etc. wish we had more clearer visuals for it.

[Heyallo]

https://tenor.com/m1vrdVfw8S0.gif

[PurpleRose]

Can't wait for this.

But I hope they have an explanation why the Klingons have ridges at this point in time. They were supposed to be smooth in brow with FEAR in their hearts. For those who wonder why, look to Enterprise for your answer, they offer an explanation.

IMO, no explanation is needed. Like you said, Enterprise gave the answer. It didn't affect the whole population. But, I did affect enough of the population for the Klingons to be shameful of it.

[JByb04]

Loved the episode.

Also despite the lack of explanation (in the best Trek Tradition) I'm happy to see the Klingons look like Klingons again!

[RavenSplat]

Really loved this episode. Great character development for plenty of the cast here. There are a few things that bug me slightly like Uhura being able to hear Spock playing through what seem to be basically blast doors of his cabin. But I loved the episode and especially the expansion on Spock as a weird Vulcan. Not familiar with the race of the chief engineer but feel it will add a nice dynamic to the ship.

And the 'Crossfield' class, I can't tell if this is an original Crossfield class which was an old design and so the registration (Of Glenn and Disco) is that of the saucer and that's why its much lower than other ships of the same era, or if the rouge group somehow got a look at the Glenns Saucer section or something and just build the ship as they assumed it would be with the main nacelle style of the era. The saucer just seems weird design to make if you don't need it to spin for the drive.

Let's say that is an amalgamation of a Crossfield saucer and something else. It might still be recognised as Crossfield as the saucer is so weird and rumours will spread about a ship that weird no matter how secret you try to be. I don't remember seeing the Ops officer in Disco Season 2 finale and of course Spock will keep his vow of secrecy so I don't see it as out of the question. Also why have so much empty space when you have to shield emitter it anyway as an explosion in between them would be catastrophic. I imagine this is something I, and only I, care about but I would like an explanation as it might help to solve a few of the gaps in the whole spore drive project design stage.

[merTYol]

Really loved this episode. Great character development for plenty of the cast here. There are a few things that bug me slightly like Uhura being able to hear Spock playing through what seem to be basically blast doors of his cabin. But I loved the episode and especially the expansion on Spock as a weird Vulcan. Not familiar with the race of the chief engineer but feel it will add a nice dynamic to the ship.

And the 'Crossfield' class, I can't tell if this is an original Crossfield class which was an old design and so the registration (Of Glenn and Disco) is that of the saucer and that's why its much lower than other ships of the same era, or if the rouge group somehow got a look at the Glenns Saucer section or something and just build the ship as they assumed it would be with the main nacelle style of the era. The saucer just seems weird design to make if you don't need it to spin for the drive.

Let's say that is an amalgamation of a Crossfield saucer and something else. It might still be recognised as Crossfield as the saucer is so weird and rumours will spread about a ship that weird no matter how secret you try to be. I don't remember seeing the Ops officer in Disco Season 2 finale and of course Spock will keep his vow of secrecy so I don't see it as out of the question. Also why have so much empty space when you have to shield emitter it anyway as an explosion in between them would be catastrophic. I imagine this is something I, and only I, care about but I would like an explanation as it might help to solve a few of the gaps in the whole spore drive project design stage.

I think this is THE Crossfield class. and the Glenn and Discovery were Prototype retrofit models due to the Spore Drive. it makes more sense this way. they took 2 ships and refitted for the test bed of the tech while kept the rest of the class as the standard class model.

[Brunocsf]

Amazing episode. Really nice to see a good Star Trek series again. Since Picard only had a single good season, I'm joyful we got SNW to back up and sustain the franchise.
The things I really enjoyed are:
1. The stupid Klingon makeup of Discovery is gone and the canon Klingons are back.
2. Really nice to see Spock "human side" and seeing him in command for the first time.
3. I found the depth and development given to pretty much everyone, mainly M'Benga, Spock, Chapel really nice. I'm really curious to see how Spock and Chapel relationship will evolve, clearly we can see that they kiss each other rather passionately on the trailer for the season and they possibly get laid. However there is a certain limitation as to how their relationship will proceed since in TOS canon Spock and Chapel had feelings for each other but never acted in a romantic way.
4. Still wondering about that stuff that made M'Benga and Chapel super strong without feeling pain for several seconds. The slow camera motion in some of the punches reminded me of the "Six Million Dollar Man" effects lol.

[Stormy]

Despite glaring flaws that are obvious (to me), I still love this series and each episode endears this cast to me as well. My explanation for the Klingon ridges is that the embarrasing smooth forehead debacle occurred between now and TOS. I admit I am not 100% clear on the timeline for that so I could be wrong. I'll just finish by saying it's good to have GOOD Trek back again as opposed to the garbage Disco and Season 1&2 of Picard were to the franchise.

[AmuroRayNX01]

Really enjoyed this episode. Ortegas is one of my favorites with her dialogue especially when she asks Spock about his warp command. Mine personally would be Giddy Up!! haha. Anyways even though I knew the fate of the two doctors due to TOS I felt the way the presented everything especially toward the end made me on the edge of my seat. Part of it was due to the semi bending of canon but other was how good the scene was and how the two acted it out. Another thing I liked is how the bridge crew has a great amount of personality and even in these 10 episode seasons SNW does a great job of it and it's cool that we are seeing a decent amount of the others that are not main cast or whatnot like Helmsman Jenna Mitchell. Feels like they are not making her as just a background character but someone who has and ill have a decent role.

[RavenSplat]

I think this is THE Crossfield class. and the Glenn and Discovery were Prototype retrofit models due to the Spore Drive. it makes more sense this way. they took 2 ships and refitted for the test bed of the tech while kept the rest of the class as the standard class model.

https://twitter.com/timothypeel1/sta...81456852787201
Just seen this tweet by one of the senior Art Directors which shows that the ship is not the true Crossfield Class but instead a kit bash from the group who somehow got their hands on a Crossfield class saucer (which is very distinctive compared to most who probably promoted the line 'Crossfield Class I think' line from Mitchell) and threw a star drive section on to to confuse the Klingons enough to start a war.
The Art Director in the comments actually seems confused how there was any confusion of it being a kit bash or not so I would say definitely the intention to have it not be a Crossfield class and just using the saucer they had available to them.

[merTYol]

https://twitter.com/timothypeel1/sta...81456852787201
Just seen this tweet by one of the senior Art Directors which shows that the ship is not the true Crossfield Class but instead a kit bash from the group who somehow got their hands on a Crossfield class saucer (which is very distinctive compared to most who probably promoted the line 'Crossfield Class I think' line from Mitchell) and threw a star drive section on to to confuse the Klingons enough to start a war.
The Art Director in the comments actually seems confused how there was any confusion of it being a kit bash or not so I would say definitely the intention to have it not be a Crossfield class and just using the saucer they had available to them.

Yeah i read that. that also makes sense to be honest. but it also would've been a way to explain the odd design of the Crossfield compared to any other Starfleet standard designs. Missed opportunity I'd say xD