If it wasn't for the last sixty seconds or so, this might have been an okay episode. Not great. Maybe not even good. But okay. However, at the last possible moment, the agency of every other character in the show is eliminated when Discovery is unable to break free of the ice despite everything. How do they escape? Burnham ex Machina. Yes, Michael shows up at the last second, tractors the ship free, and congratulates herself at having found the Discovery. Ugh. Just... ugh.
Look, show. I've enjoyed you so far. You've not been the greatest Trek show, but you haven't been terrible either. I honestly haven't seen why folks have been calling Burnham a Mary Sue... until now. The Discovery crew could literally have sat around the whole episode twiddling their thumbs and the outcome would have been the same. Would it REALLY have killed you to let them save THEMSELVES, and THEN reveal the incoming ship was Michael?
Rachel Ancheril got added to the main cast? Don't get me wrong, I like Nhan. I'm glad she's sticking around. But if I recall correctly, Nhan mysteriously disappeared during the fight with Leland/Control, leaving us all to wonder if she was still alive. No explanation is given, she just shows up all okay.
The term "V'draysh" gets thrown around a few times, as a reference to the Short Trek "Calypso".
Reno continues to be my spirit animal.
Oh, and something is up with Detmer.
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
I figure either PTSD or remnants of Control.
A year, huh? Well, that's one way to make an expert on things.
Georgiou is beibg called Commander instead of Captain? And she seems to be an admiral in the trailer? I saw shots of Burnham in gold; is she gonna be execing again or captain?
Zareh is like a low-rent Ian McShane as Al Swearengen clone. That gun seems to work really bad if it takes that long to kill someone.
Posted by Dukhat (Member # 341) on :
I can make out nine different designs. Going from left to right:
1. Spiky ship with four orange lights 2. Twirly ship that's taller than it is long 3. Triangle ship with four nacelles similar to Section 31 ship, nacelles possibly unattached 4. Flat oval ring ship, possibly Romulan? 5. Starfleet ship that we've previously seen as wreckage near the listening outpost 6. Donut ship reminiscent of the "V" mothership 7. Halo sword ship 8. Horseshoe shaped ship 9. Another tall ship, possibly the same one as #2
There are also two or three ships that are really far away; not sure if they're also some of the above or yet more new designs.
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
I’m really curious as to how Discovery manages to hold up in future episodes after crash-landing on a glacier like that. The Enterprise-D saucer made a softer landing than that and was declared a total loss. (I know, production reasons... but in-universe? It makes very little sense.)
Of course, with “programmable matter” it seems like repairs could be relatively easy, at least on a micro scale.
One thing about the story that I appreciate is that the natives that our crew have encountered are no fools; twice in two episodes, we’ve seen people figure out pretty quickly that Burnham, Saru, and Tilly are time travelers.
On the other hand, the half-height swinging doors in the bar were not a very subtle visual hint as to what kind of setting we’re in at the moment. And yeah, the Burnham-ex-machina was really poorly timed from a story standpoint.
Posted by Spike (Member # 322) on :
Meh. This episode bored the hell out of me but I'm not exactly a fan of Western films. And the "Stamets in the tube" plot wasn't exactly thrilling either.
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
Oh, and I almost forgot the blatant foreshadowing for a future series: Mirror Georgiou joined the Discovery to go to the future because she’s convinced she’d be running Section 31 and didn’t want a desk job. What an ego...
The plot was pretty lame, but I loved all the characters. “My name lacks authority” Tilly, Saru’s calm leadership, even Georgiou’s antics were for someone other than herself this time.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
I mean, there were elements I liked. Even the “friendly alien who’s obviously going to get killed of the week.” And it was genuinely concerning what was going to happen to Saru & Tilly even though it was blatantly predictable right from the start that they’d be totally out of their depth, meet people who’d eat them for breakfast, and Georgiou would defy orders and turn up to save the day.
Nhan or Detmers. One of them has some residual Control, er, in control.
Reno is growing on me. I think they’ve upped the quality of her wisecracks, before it was like JMS was writing her gags. One liners were never his forte.
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
Well, Tig Notaro IS a comedian. They should just let her do her own stuff.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
Maybe they are!
About that field of starships.. I’ve a horrible feeling at least four of them are Inquiry-class. And I haven’t found the Magee-class yet. And I have no confidence that neither of these only-half-lighthearted suppositions will turn out to be unfounded.
And, I know what Burnham reminds me of. Ever read Scalzi’s “Redshirts?” The box the crew press the button on to provide 99% of the answer, and then take it to the Spock analogue to provide the final vital element? Only the real Spock was never like that. But Burnham is like that.
Posted by Starship Freak (Member # 293) on :
That field of starships, when in the episode was that?
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
I think it’s from the next episode preview. Not sure if we get them outside the US. We’re not allowed, you see.
Posted by Dukhat (Member # 341) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lee: Maybe they are!
About that field of starships.. I’ve a horrible feeling at least four of them are Inquiry-class. And I haven’t found the Magee-class yet. And I have no confidence that neither of these only-half-lighthearted suppositions will turn out to be unfounded.
And, I know what Burnham reminds me of. Ever read Scalzi’s “Redshirts?” The box the crew press the button on to provide 99% of the answer, and then take it to the Spock analogue to provide the final vital element? Only the real Spock was never like that. But Burnham is like that.
If you’re referring to the pic I posted of the starships, none of them are the Inquiry class, or DSC ships. They’re all new.
Posted by Starship Freak (Member # 293) on :
Thanks Lee! I live in Sweden so I'm starved of basically everything. No Lower Decks for instance.
Posted by o2 (Member # 907) on :
To my knowledge, Lower Decks is not available outside US & Canada. Still hoping for Neflix or Prime anytime soon, but I'm afraid Lower Decks will only be available when when this new Paramount+ streaming service will go online in Europe. By the way, I got luck to watch this first episode of Lower Decks 3 month ago when it was online for just a few hours...
Posted by o2 (Member # 907) on :
quote:Originally posted by Dukhat: If you’re referring to the pic I posted of the starships, none of them are the Inquiry class, or DSC ships. They’re all new.
Do we have some context to this picture? I guess that only the one design we know from the first episode is a Starfleet vessel, the others are alien, right?
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
double post
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
quote:Originally posted by Dukhat: If you’re referring to the pic I posted of the starships, none of them are the Inquiry class, or DSC ships. They’re all new.
How do you know? No, really. How can you POSSIBLY know from one blurry screenshot? And no, if the answer is “They just can’t be, they wouldn’t” then you’ve not been paying attention for the last year.
Posted by Dukhat (Member # 341) on :
Er, because I know what the DSC and PIC ships look like, and I don’t see anything that resembles them in that pic. Point out which ships look like Inquiries and Magees to you.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
You’re missing my point here. Several times. I said I hadn’t found the Magee yet, but wouldn’t be surprised if there was one given their recent track record in the use of anachronistic FX elements. And there are several ships plainly visible which from what we can see adhere to the “primary hull, possibly secondary too, shallow-angled pylons, and nacelles” model which could easily be Inquiries given our limited sight of them - and that aforementioned track record in inappropriate recycling.
Posted by Dukhat (Member # 341) on :
Well, we know that at some point we’re going to see a Hiawatha and a Hoover crash, so they definitely are reusing season 1 & 2 DSC production assets. We just don’t know what the context is of the scene where they crash. I thought it was going to be a flashback to the Burn, but we just got that with the scene I posted a pic of.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
Good call on the flashback to the Burn. there. 8)
Posted by Austin Powers (Member # 250) on :
quote:Originally posted by Dukhat: Shitloads of new 30th century ships:
I can make out nine different designs. Going from left to right:
1. Spiky ship with four orange lights 2. Twirly ship that's taller than it is long 3. Triangle ship with four nacelles similar to Section 31 ship, nacelles possibly unattached 4. Flat oval ring ship, possibly Romulan? 5. Starfleet ship that we've previously seen as wreckage near the listening outpost 6. Donut ship reminiscent of the "V" mothership 7. Halo sword ship 8. Horseshoe shaped ship 9. Another tall ship, possibly the same one as #2
There are also two or three ships that are really far away; not sure if they're also some of the above or yet more new designs.
I can make out quite a few of the well known Copy-and-Paste class...