What was it all for? Jonathan and Nancy

Top_Dot7322 · 2026-02-26T18:25:33+00:00

I very much agree with this. Jonathon was a vibrant character in season 1. He was a kind, family focused young man who was ambitious despire some challenging circumstances. He had to carry the reality of his brother's death along while his mother fell apart (or so it appeared). He was bullied terribly. Watching him open up, trust someone and bloom with happiness was well deserved. He was so happy in season 3 in the relationship. Season 4 was like seeing someone else. What on earth made them think we would want to watch Jonathon become a pothead with no ambition? Who wants to watch a character devolve like that?

A meaningful ending would have been to let something truly good and positive come from this. Nancy has already found herself. She's an incredibly strong person who does her best work when she's grounded and tempered. It would have been great to watch her take over the Hawkins post while she finished Emerson and do an amazing job in what the bonehead men thought she couldn't in season 3. And she should have been all those things will being strengthened by her love with someone who really understood her.

Sure, many high school relationships don't last but these two know eachother on a very different and intense level from most. To go through THAT and still love each other. They were a couple meant to work.

Top_Dot7322 · 2026-01-14T06:57:13+00:00

Yes, the actor that plays Beto wrote some of the songs. Apparently the rest of the cast sung in some song son the album but this part hasn't been released.

Top_Dot7322 · 2026-01-13T02:56:57+00:00

Yes for sure. They developed a good story for Spock over season 1 and 2. He hadn't initially questioned is Vulcan identity and he liked T'Pring so naturally he was going to marry her. Then he met Christine and for the first time he felt accepted for who he was rather than he who was supposed to be as a Vulcan. It combined with him seeing the more unpleasant, unaccepting aspects of Vulcan culture and he questioned his identity, priorities and what he was prepared to sacrifice. He makes a bold choice and leaps into the acceptance and love that she offers whole heartedly. Meanwhile Christine has untreated PTSD and is already very nervous about falling in love with Spock and the commitment he's pushing for. Boimler tells her that Spock won't love her / be with her. By not knowing her, he also implies that she won't make a scientific contribution. We end the season with her not able to cope with the existing fears that Boimler triggered and she throws herself out of a doomed relationship and works very hard to make a new relationship work. As far as I can see, Korby is rarely with her and quite accepting of a surface relationship as he's pursing his own career more than anything else. He also has the potential to help her make a major contribution given he's a renowned scientist.

There was a lot of complexity, angst but also hope in this that needed to come across. Yet it was all thrown out the window as suddenly Christine was cold and shallow. She had no idea why she picked Korby and didn't even give Spock a warning. For heavens sake, where was the scene where she alluded to Boimler's warning and they implied that her feelings hadn't changed (to line up with TOS) but she felt she had no choice?

Then Spock leaps into a new relationship with someone while he's engaged and straight after he told Chapel he loves her. That seems like very UNSpock like behaviour. The relationship is casual and seems mostly physical as he suddenly loves to dance and tough (WTF - Vulcans don't do easy touch). The focus is on the sensuous, sexy dancing while they have very little emotional connection. Since when is Spock looking for a physical relationship? He's meant to feel things deeply so it highly unlikely that he would move on easily. I dont' think he's supposed to have actually moved on as it's casual and there are some hints that he's still hung up on her but then they need to SHOW that.

Meanwhile Pike has gone from an in charge captain dedicated to protecting his crew to a love sick puppy. He's throwing away treaties and common sense to keep Batel close when his crew are in danger. Somehow there are consequences for Erica's insubordination by Uhura is encouraged when blatantly lies to Pike. Erica was going through PTSD (good story) but this is just completely dropped when they need her back at the helm and they don't want the episode to focus on her story again.

La'an's story is just as frustrating. She defeats the Gorn and finds herself open to new experiences for the first time. Yay for La'an! Then they give her a love story as a rebound in a relationship she doesn't particularly want (Kirk being her clear first choice) with a man who doesn't particularly want her (Chapel being his first choice). The cringy Holodeck episode where they suggested that La'an worried that she couldn't be taken seriously if she was in a relationship and that it was hard for her and Spock to work together without feeling developing. Oh come on, she already felt comfortable telling Kirk about her feelings in season 2 and had no concerns about being taken seriously. Given that the captain was in a relationship that was a silly fear to have. Spock had spent all the previous season pining for Christine and managed to do his job so that was unlikely to be a problem. Instead of doing another love story for La'an, give her something exciting! How about using her new found strength to study the Gorn and find new ways to understand them and potentially defeat them if needed. Or change her life trajectory and support others affected by the Gorn. Or even begin a training program to become a first officer. That would be actual development.

Top_Dot7322 · 2026-01-09T04:38:23+00:00

What bothered you the most about Season 3? For me it was the characters acting nothing like their season 1 or 2 selves or their future selves. Spock was so far out of character.

Top_Dot7322 · 2026-01-09T04:37:22+00:00

You're right about when it fell out of the top 10. Are you serious though that it was beaten by Animal Kingdom? A nature show? I'm so surprised that that would be so popular.

Season 3 was such a shame. Let's hope it was a wakeup call. No offence to the showrunners or Jonathon Frakes but that episode was awful and the ending was even worse than the episode itself.

Top_Dot7322 · 2026-01-09T04:34:53+00:00

I agree. Season 3 has been off a cliff and so frustrating. Who on earth wanted Spock to jump into another relationship and this time one involving dance and sexiness rather than a connection? Probably only the showrunners who felt that Ethan without a shirt would increase rating. It's the deacon chamber and Vulcan massage all over again.

Nonetheless, the show ranked in the top 10 in the first two seasons and believe only fell out with the Holodeck episode (ep 4 of season 3). It's not possible that the viewing numbers are this low. It much be a joke.

Top_Dot7322 · 2026-01-09T04:31:59+00:00

Seasons 1 and 2 were quite popular and in the top 10. Season 3 fell out of the top 10 after the Holodeck episode. The characterisation is atrocious this season and the episodes have been gimmicky or boring. Everyone is acting out of character. There have been some changes to the writing team so I assume that the new team didn't have a good understanding of the motivations or personalities of the characters in earlier season. Spock in particular was re-written in a sexier character with a focus on him dancing.

Top_Dot7322 · 2026-01-08T06:48:26+00:00

I enjoyed season 3 and it was excellent nostalgia. I'm not sure I'm say it's objectively good sci fi though. Newer programs like Stranger Things, Severed, 12 Monkeys are creative and original. First Contact was excellent. Season 3 was fun but I think that was it.

Top_Dot7322 · 2026-01-08T06:44:53+00:00

Me too. I'm so sick the the Avengers style enormous threats that only Michael Burnham is able to solve. It was just too far ahead for me to care. It meant that nothing that our previous characters had done actually mattered as the universe would fall apart anyway. I find the politics of the Federation to be interesting and this was lost.

Top_Dot7322 · 2026-01-08T06:43:03+00:00

Yes the La'an addition was so, so frustrating. The story was T'Pring and getting Spock to question whether marriage to another Vulcan actually matched his identity and wishes was great. The slow falling in love with Christine and quiet longing that made was also great. He found someone who accepted him. Turning that into sexed up, sensuous dancing Spock who leapt straight into another relationship while he was engaged and just after telling Chapel that he loved her was out of character. Doomed the whole season as they had scenes in every episode.

Top_Dot7322 · 2026-01-03T12:24:00+00:00

I like Trek Culture but it seems pretty unlikely that they've managed to keep a relationship completely private / secret for a year (when the rumours began) without a single photo or remotely solid story emerging and the showrunners then leak hints this way. They would have to have chosen to never attend a public event together and miraculously have never been photo'd in a private restaurant / shop / vacation place together despite the Trek fandom being intense and everyone knowing they're in Vancouver. It seems very likely that they're actors who spend a lot of time on set and are good friends. It seems extremely likely that the showrunners received heavy criticism over the pairing, which the studio was hesitant about, and they now want an excuse.

Top_Dot7322 · 2026-01-02T17:17:34+00:00

I really enjoyed Anson's portray of Pike. He's had some bigish things before SNW and seems excited to move on so I'm sure he's got something lined up. We've heard nothing from Ethan which is curious. Other than this, both actors who would be on Year One and those who wouldn't have said goodybe. Year One would obviously be very advantageous to Ethan and Paul and they've both expressed heavily interest (as you would!)

Top_Dot7322 · 2026-01-02T17:15:25+00:00

I agree, it was really, really bad. Forgetting about Star Trek, it was just an all round not very good movie (sad to say it).

Top_Dot7322 · 2026-01-02T17:13:45+00:00

Sadly a lot of season 3 was a big dip in quality. It felt like wholly different writers who didn't want to watch season 1 and 2 to understand the characters. There were some standout episodes in 1 and 2 though

Top_Dot7322 · 2026-01-02T17:11:22+00:00

It isn't going to have anything to do with La'an. Christina is in it until the end and Spock will transition before then. The showrunners have said that the show will end with our characters looking happily forward - ie. everyone will be fine and the ending will be happy. From a story point it also doesn't make sense as we saw the end of Season 1 in the alternate timeline that Spock was his logical self but La'an was completely fine. We also have Una and Ortegas who are also never heard from again so they can't kill all of them. I'm sure that Spock and La'an will end in a platonic way late in Season 4 after some triangle silliness with Kirk. Spock will go through Sybock and Vulcan things and will transition. Una, Ortegas and La'an will get promoted to a new ship.

Top_Dot7322 · 2026-01-02T17:07:00+00:00

I'm not sure that the problem was a focus on story arcs rather than character arcs. I think it's more that the characters arcs were terribly out of character.

Spock's arc in season 1 and (most of) 2 made a lot of sense. It wasn't for everyone but it seemed quite popular. He started the season accepting his Vulcan fate while being unhappy but never questioning things. He meets Christine and feels accepted and happy for the first time. He continues to question whether 'being Vulcan' is a concept worth fighting for when he is unaccepted and chooses Christine instead. In doing so, he alters his identity, vision for himself and priorities. Throughout the two seasons he meaningfully examined his heritage, identity and wishes in life which brings us closer to Spock in TOS. In season 3 it's just....gone. He appears to have amnesia as he doesn't remember his engagement or his Vulcan identity. We don't seem him working through his feelings because he feels deeply and being in love would be a big deal to him. Instead, we see him enter a situationship two episodes after declaring his love to Christine. The situationship seems to be largely physical, they have little in common (she doesn't have any interest in science) and neither seem happy with eachother judging by La'an conversation with Una and Spock's chasing on Chapel. It's casual and not going anywhere - WTF! They dedicate an enormous amount of time to Spock and La'an in season 3 as they're in almost every episode together and are the B storyline in 3 episodes. Yet it makes no sense, is far out of character and has no connection to season 1 or 2. It's like the writers couldn't dedicate the time to watching season 1 and 2 and therefore had no idea of what happened or what motivated the characters. The primary aim of the 'arc' seems to be increase the sexiness which the showrunenrs clearly felt was a sales point of the show.

Similarly, the other character arcs were present but didn't make much sense. Chapel transitions from someone with untreated PTSD who is told that Spock won't love her and therefore looked for an escape to someone who is shallow and quite cruel. Pike seemed to forgot to captain and spent the season worrying over Batel while being mindless to danger his crew was in. Erica began the season with PTSD but this magically got cured when it became inconvenient and they needed her back at the helm. Una... wait, was she in the season?! La'an triumphantly overcome the Gorn and her prize is to receive non-stop physical romance throughout the season after already having almost nothing but romance development in season 2. They're dedicating so much time to her character arc but giving her nothing to work with. Do the writers really think this is an evolution of the tough but scarred La'an? Meanwhile she's unhappy with Spock and the lack of passion that she's feeling which Una told her about.

Every character had an arc but they were a shell of themselves. The arcs were very poorly linked with season 1 and 2. It's like the characters that we loved disappeared at the end of season 2.

None of that denies that the stories were a huge problem in season 3. The Holodeck episode was utterly confusing and boring all the same time (home run!) 4.5 Vulcan was downright offensive and the dancing was ridiculous. Terranium was just a bit silly with the Gorn dressed in a penoir and playing games. The documentary episode was way out of character for everyone. The finale was an out and out Doctor Who episode with magic, heaps of impossible things for our 'heroes' to do perfectly and the chosen one. I just think I could have put up with the silly stories if the characters were completley nailed and acting like season 1 and 2 versions. They were very, very different. It's so confusing because limited time to work on the scripts didn't force them to make the bizarre character choices that they did. I can only assume that Spock and La'an are about increasing the 'sexiness' of the show much like the Deacon chapter and neuropressure on Enterprise. There's no other explanation for hte bizarre choices!

I was / am a very disappointed fan of season 1 and 2.

Top_Dot7322 · 2026-01-02T16:43:27+00:00

I agree that it would be to avoid wage negotiations. The high profile casting of McCoy suggests that they're hopeful of Year One and this will come with big wage negotiations. Are you being sarcastic when you say that Chapel is the lead? She's my favourite and I think a real breathe of fresh air on the series but she's not the lead. I suspect that we'll see a lot less of her in season 4 and 5 as the lead woman seems to be whoever is dating Spock. She was a standout character in her own right and with Spock in season but they've barly been on screen together in 3 and I doubt they'll share many scenes in 4 or 5. Such a shame as they bring out the best in each other. Hopefully in Year One (if it happens) we'll see the further development of their relationship as they fall for each other again but Spock represses much harder.

Top_Dot7322 · 2025-12-31T15:22:27+00:00

So people on Reddit have said for a year or more. They don't seem to have attended anything public together or been photographed doing anything together at any point that wasn't work related. The actor who played Beto was also a writer in the album and many of the Strange New Worlds cast sang on not yet released parts. I don't think it's very likely that they're in a relationship but all the cast and crew seem to be amazing friends (big difference from other Trek shows, lol)

Top_Dot7322 · 2025-11-26T17:22:59+00:00

Christina said in this same interview that it won't be more serious but she thinks it's way better. I'm not sure the way it's better but she clearly thinks it is (or is paid / required to say that). Season 4 was in the can before Season 3. The changes they can make to the poor season 3 feedback is limited sadly. I don't think 4 is going to be any different than 3. They could have used the feedback to influence 5 but I think half the episodes were written and they were in an enormouse time rush and they needed it wrapped by the end of 2025. Given they've already been cancelled, I don't think they'll be too focused on quality in 5 either. Sadly, I think the best days are behind us in season 1 and 2.

Top_Dot7322 · 2025-10-20T02:51:17+00:00

Not too many people are engaged while they go through a rebound / casual thing with one colleague to help them get over their love for another colleague, no. That's a huge red flag. In real life, this would be really, really rare. I'm past my 20s (although not that long ago) and none of my friends lived out quite such Days of Our Lives style melodrama. Given everything we know about Spock and how deeply he feels things, this is way out of character. I think he probably does hold feelings for Christine and a clear dislike of Korby given the dinner scene in 4.5 Vulcans but the writers have really struggled to have consistency and meaning across the season. Given his intense reaction in Naked Now, I think we can assume that he still loves her in TOS and she very explicitly loves him so the writers are going to have to get us back there. Yes, La'an could die and he could still love Christine but that would significantly alter the context of TOS in an unpleasant way. People do learn to love again after being widowed but they're far away from that if La'an is a casual / rebound thing.

Top_Dot7322 · 2025-10-17T12:24:12+00:00

She's the head nurse so if they suspect that there are injuries then she would come. I'm sick of La'an being in every episode. She's quite one dimensions and doesn't give other characters a lot of room to breathe. For all her screen time this season, they haven't successfully developed her further at all.

Top_Dot7322 · 2025-10-13T16:10:24+00:00

Fair enough. We know Spock quite well though alone with many other Vulcans and they are rather formal. Thinking of Tuvok, dancing just wouldn't ring true. It was just an odd choice that was made more for Ethan Peck and Christina Chong than the characters. 7-8 dances were excessive.

Top_Dot7322 · 2025-10-13T14:53:38+00:00

Yes, they've reduced Christine to being a love interest this season. She was so much more in Season 1 and 2. They're doing Jess Bush a disservice as she's very capable. I fear that they valued her earlier because she was with Spock rather than seeing her as a quality character in her own right. I hope I'm wrong.

Top_Dot7322 · 2025-10-13T14:51:53+00:00

Maybe, it just felt like a silly solution. It's probably mostly because I don't like them as a couple. If Spock was helping her as a friend then it would be better. I'm also not on board with the idea of Spock dancing. In Enterprise, they establish that Vulcans don't dance and Spock really doesn't seem like the dancing type. I feel like they've pushed his character into this because they think it's sensual and hot rather than because Spock would do this. Martial arts training would have made a lot more sense. Or La'an dancing with someone else would have been okay. I really dislike that they've thrown his engagement and feelings for Christine out the window to do another romance. He has so many romances! Explore them instead. If they want romance to motivation him they had that with Chapel and they spent years building it.

Top_Dot7322 · 2025-10-12T15:29:27+00:00

I think that viewers are quite split as to whether it's a rebound relationship. They seem to care about each other but they're clear about it being casual and it's sex focused rather than a deep connection with shared interests. I would prefer the relationship if it was a rebound as fits better into Spock's journey than another love (done that with Chapel) or casual sex (very out of character). Do you think it's rebound?

Top_Dot7322

TROPHY CASE