I'm a bit behind on Strange New Worlds because I'm waiting for my spouse to catch up, but it's interesting that the Balance of Terror episodes ends up making this case more than Picard did. That said, the case loses some of its power as because as much as I love Pike, it's easy to accept that it makes sense to step back with grace when I already love his successors.
I'll add one other self-indulgent bit of popular culture contemplation. In the Shogun version of the 2024 election, it was Biden's plan to wait until Trump appointed JD Vance before stepping back. But while I'm enjoying Shogun, and we did see the brilliant Inflation Reduction Act senatorial maneuvering, any shows where clever cards close to the chest maneuvering that doesn't fail like at least a third of time risks leading to a seriously distorted view of politics.
I think the post-Vance selection was a happy accident rather than shrewd planning--what if Trump had chosen someone like Burgum?--but if you WERE going to choose someone then doing so after the GOP ticket was set would have been the best choice (the real wildcard was the assassination attempt, to be blunt).
Pike is interesting because everything he does is in the shadow of the eventual knowledge of his own sacrifice, which both frees him from personal worries but also means that he has already made his own choice. I do think the BoT episode was quite strong _but_ ... is Kirk the right choice for _all time_ or for _that time_? I think we can read it both ways?
I'm a bit behind on Strange New Worlds because I'm waiting for my spouse to catch up, but it's interesting that the Balance of Terror episodes ends up making this case more than Picard did. That said, the case loses some of its power as because as much as I love Pike, it's easy to accept that it makes sense to step back with grace when I already love his successors.
I'll add one other self-indulgent bit of popular culture contemplation. In the Shogun version of the 2024 election, it was Biden's plan to wait until Trump appointed JD Vance before stepping back. But while I'm enjoying Shogun, and we did see the brilliant Inflation Reduction Act senatorial maneuvering, any shows where clever cards close to the chest maneuvering that doesn't fail like at least a third of time risks leading to a seriously distorted view of politics.
I think the post-Vance selection was a happy accident rather than shrewd planning--what if Trump had chosen someone like Burgum?--but if you WERE going to choose someone then doing so after the GOP ticket was set would have been the best choice (the real wildcard was the assassination attempt, to be blunt).
Pike is interesting because everything he does is in the shadow of the eventual knowledge of his own sacrifice, which both frees him from personal worries but also means that he has already made his own choice. I do think the BoT episode was quite strong _but_ ... is Kirk the right choice for _all time_ or for _that time_? I think we can read it both ways?