Just finished watching Season 2 episode 4. During the shootout near the end of the episode, Captain Pike blocks at least a couple of shots with a random platter.
What was the platter made of that it could dissipate so much energy?
Strange New Worlds has really grown on me overall, but that scene seemed really silly.
The phaser rifles weren’t set on kill or disintegrate, since M’Benga was grazed and was still ambulatory. The suggestion is that they were kept at a lower setting to conserve energy, since Zac probably didn’t have access to charging sources for them.
In addition, the plate might have been made of the same ore that permeated the castle, which could protect from radiation and probably from a phase blast of lower intensity as well.
The helmets protected the soldiers from the radiation so I assumed they were made of lead? But they could have all been made from whatever ore the castle was made of and made of sterner stuff.
The phasers did dent the platter.
Like any Cowboy worth his salt, of course pike has innate ability to deflect shots fired—regardless of material—with a platter.
Is it a common trope in Westerns? Maybe it was there as an homage.
It could also an homage to a character that he played, since I don’t think that it is that common in Westerns. Maybe Western Comedies, but that’s about it.
I also thought, “Wow, what a platter!” when I saw that scene.
