Not bad, but definitely not as good as last week. I blame the lack of David Cronenberg.
The A-plot is pretty standard, which I think is what drags it to merely okay. Everything else was pretty good.
Discovery has gotten a refit. Detached nacelles, programmable matter, new badges that double as communicators, tricorders, transporters, etc. Great running gag with poor Linus beaming into all these random places.
Booker has found a black box from the Burn, but got captured before he could get out. His ship (with Grudge in tow) is programmed to seek out Burnham in that case, so Burnham disobeys orders to go rescue him with Georgiou. Booker gets rescued, and we now have the means to triangulate the origin of the Burn.
So we do still have the original Georgiou, but she's been zoning out because of some memory. Seems to be something from her Terran Empire days. Maybe her killing her predecessor?
Tilly + Grudge = comedy gold. "Did you eat her?"
Good scenes with a friendship forming between Stamets and Adira.
Saru demotes Burnham for going rogue. She's still science officer, but is no longer first officer. That now begs the question of who will now fill the position.
I don't know about you guys, but I've really been looking forward to next week's episode. I'm guessing we'll see how the Vulcans and Romulans have been doing the last few centuries, plus maybe Burnham looking back to see what happened to Spock after she left.
Posted by Spike (Member # 322) on :
Ugh, I don't know why the writers insist on making the main character so unlikeable. I'm so annoyed by her constant solo-stunts. It feels like Saru is giving her the "Talk" every episode and the next minute she's off again doing whatever she thinks is necesssary.
Posted by Dukhat (Member # 341) on :
Any information about those derelict ships crashing to the planet surface?
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
Yeah, Burnham does not seem to learn, does she? Do you think there's something there, that both Burnham & Mariner are both outspoken black female characters who have a penchant for flouting rules & doing whatever the fuck they feel like? It feels dangerously close to stereotyping. From the preview, I have this feeling she's leaving the ship & going off with Book after the mission is over.
I'm liking the Stamets/Adira bonding. It makes a lot of sense. Also, still loving Admiraleth Bey. The new tech scene with the rest of the bridge crew was just how it should've been, & I hope they keep the Linus gag running. I love how Tilly was so smoothly running things in Spore Central; it's a good subtle development. Also I'm surprised she isn't a cat person. You'd think she'd relate.
As an aside, I keep seeing people elsewhere talking about Tilly's shape & weight; it amounts to "fat people don't belong in Starfleet". It bothers me because Mary Wiseman is thicc (SO thicc...Jesus...) but she's not fat, & a person can be larger, curvier, & still be in excellent shape & weight. I really like her as an actress & the character has grown on me over the years, so it's an annoying thing to see.
The refit. Why were the nacelles detached? How does that help maneuverability? Detmer's apprehension at her new console is interesting, & that line about how it'll adapt to your style probably means it's gonna read her fucked-up mind & get fucked up at a critical moment later. Also, HOLY FUCKING SHIT STOP WITH THE FUCKING REGISTRY LETTERS ALREADY JESUS FUCKING CHRIST.
Called it on the plot/title connection for next week. I bet somehow this still ties into the Burn. On a personal level, I would like to see more going on with the other bridge crew rather than using them as incidental background filler.
Posted by Krenim (Member # 22) on :
quote:Originally posted by Shik: As an aside, I keep seeing people elsewhere talking about Tilly's shape & weight; it amounts to "fat people don't belong in Starfleet". It bothers me because Mary Wiseman is thicc (SO thicc...Jesus...) but she's not fat, & a person can be larger, curvier, & still be in excellent shape & weight. I really like her as an actress & the character has grown on me over the years, so it's an annoying thing to see.
Amen.
Posted by Spike (Member # 322) on :
quote:Originally posted by Dukhat: Any information about those derelict ships crashing to the planet surface?
The planet is a salvage yard for ships damaged by the Burn. No idea why they weren't outright pulverized by it. Of course TPTB were too cheap to use ships that would make more sense in that context.
Speaking of cheap, the Discovery crew gets new badges but not new uniforms. Well, at least they got an (in my opinion totally unwarranted) A-suffix and the term "Intrepid class" is used for Voyager-J on a display.
We get to see a couple of high ranking Starfleet officers. Based on their rank insignia I would've thought they were 4 star Admirals but Vance called them all "Captain". Go figure. So far 32nd Starfleet seems to me like a real mess. There's no rhyme or reason to their uniforms, registries, ship designs, and class designations.
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
That letter makes no frakking sense. There was no letter in TMP. At least Braxton had the excuse of running out of paint when he renamed the Relativity-E.
Seconded concerning Tilly. She, more than anyone, is the soul of the show, and she's a beautiful personality and person. Also, her scene with Grudge was perfect. As a cat lover, I can relate... I once had a cat who climbed over my shoulder and then decided to walk down my back while I was leaning over.
Now, I suppose resources and supplies are scarce, but if Georgiou can assemble a holdout phaser out of scrap parts, I can only imagine there were plenty of opportunities to make stuff that would help them escape. No one else could MacGyver some tools to get them out of there, even with the glow-discs on their necks?
I feel weird admitting I think I like Admiral Vance. He's not a pushover, but he's also reasonable and clearly a bit overwhelmed trying to balance all the issues with limited resources. Two episodes in a row, Michael has undercut (or tried to undercut) his authority without even giving him a chance to consider the needs, or to explain things that are happening in the Federation that she knows nothing about. The show is on the edge of actually saying as much, and I'm really starting to not like Michael again because of it.
Posted by Capt. Kaiser (Member # 10511) on :
wait Federation Universe Georgiou still alive?
Posted by Dukhat (Member # 341) on :
quote:Originally posted by Spike:
The planet is a salvage yard for ships damaged by the Burn. No idea why they weren't outright pulverized by it. Of course TPTB were too cheap to use ships that would make more sense in that context.
Thanks, I eventually saw the episode. 90% of the ships were the Hiawatha-type, with some Hoover and Cardenas classes thrown in, plus a 'new' design that resembles a Miranda but isn't. I'm also confused as to why they used those designs rather than the more contemporary ships we've already seen. I get that the ships were supposed to be old (as in at least 140 years before the Burn), but 900? That stretches credibility to the extreme.
quote:Well, at least they got an (in my opinion totally unwarranted) A-suffix and the term "Intrepid class" is used for Voyager-J on a display...So far 32nd Starfleet seems to me like a real mess. There's no rhyme or reason to their uniforms, registries, ship designs, and class designations.
It is very confusing and annoying. Based on what we saw with the Discovery, are we expected to believe that that Voyager-J is the exact same ship as Janeway's, being refit 10 times over an 800 year period? That's just silly. Unless 32nd century Starfleet uses the letter suffix for both new builds and refits.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
You find yourself increasingly having to try to explain (or seemingly defend) the absurd with this show, or at least play devil’s advocate...
Maybe because Discovery was struck from the register, the only way to reinstate it was as a new version? But then it seems to have been erased from history to begin with, something that may have happened more than once if the USS ibn Majid is anything to go by.
Or they wanted to conceal its true nature as a ship that time travelled (verboten, remember) from the past, so they’re making it out to be a new version of an old ship - by design as well as name, much like the Intrepid II-class Voyager-J.
Or, yes, at some point refits did start getting recorded with incremental registry updates. With not many ships left it would make sense to keep whatever they have in service. But this would have needed to start long before the Burn...
New ship name: USS Le Guin. Jörg on Twitter has a screencap which appears to say “Constitution-class” under the USS Armstrong (and presumed USS Reliant-M). Another Tweeter has a screencap with a ship name that to me looks like USS Kathmandu...
I also go some stick for questioning whether Voyager deserved to be honoured with a permanent registry. Apparently it does, because feminism (first Star Trek captain, you know). Yet to see anyone justify why the disgraced Reliant should be so honoured...
Posted by Krenim (Member # 22) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lee: Or they wanted to conceal its true nature as a ship that time travelled (verboten, remember) from the past, so they’re making it out to be a new version of an old ship - by design as well as name, much like the Intrepid II-class Voyager-J.
While I can imagine this being the case, I'd think they'd get the crew in 32nd Century uniforms as well if they were trying to hide it's true 23rd Century nature.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
Yeah. Frankly I really don’t think they put a lot of thought into any of it anymore. There’s no Mike Okuda to gatekeep canon anymore.
Posted by Dukhat (Member # 341) on :
I don’t think they were trying to hide from anyone. They simply named the ship the Discovery-A because it was upgraded. Apparently in the 32nd century, ships get a letter after an upgrade, not a newbuild. Which implies that the Voyager-J is eleven upgrades to the same ship. Patently silly, I know, but that’s what was implied, especially with the Tikhov.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
Let’s not lose sight of what we’re doing here, D. We’re not trying to solve the mysteries of the universe. It’s more of a “the most likely explanation that fits is actually a bit stupid, can we come up with anything better?” deal.
And, the ship with the indistinct name is probably USS Hansando.
Posted by Dukhat (Member # 341) on :
Well, putting it that way, in my headcanon the writers and producers of this show are just morons and the Tikhov, the Voyager, the Constitution, etc. are all brand new ships (or at least new as of the Burn) and the Discovery getting an "A" was just a one-off thing that applies only to it.
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
Someone find Jonah & tell him to come back so he can tell us all how registry letter suffixes after refits was Matt Jeffries' original plan again.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
quote:Originally posted by Dukhat: Well, putting it that way, in my headcanon the writers and producers of this show are just morons and the Tikhov, the Voyager, the Constitution, etc. are all brand new ships (or at least new as of the Burn) and the Discovery getting an "A" was just a one-off thing that applies only to it.
That’s the spirit!
On social media I just seem to be snarking on the technology depicted in this show so much. Time was there were only a handful of really insurmountable inconsistencies in Star Trek canon. Now we seem to get a new one each episode. It doesn’t necessarily affect my personal enjoyment of the show - it obviously doesn’t for many others. Most Trekkies do not dissect the show the way we do - and on which the very existence of this forum is based on. Maybe our way of doing things isn’t relevant anymore. It’s to be expected, nothing lasts forever. Most of our compatriots grew up, grew out of it, moved on to other things, got on with their lives (as we all have really - in my case, the way my brain operates makes it easy to devote some headspace to it). TL;DR maybe we need to stop trying to rationalise the irrational...
Posted by Spike (Member # 322) on :
I'm still baffled how shitty the Andorian and Orion make-ups look.
Posted by Guardian 2000 (Member # 743) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lee: Maybe our way of doing things isn’t relevant anymore.
Our way is the correct way. Roddenberry made Star Trek with folks like us in mind, explicitly, and there are memos to that effect where he references folks like us alongside the concept of believability. The difference between then and now is only that now the choice is to make Star Trek without such concern and care for the product or the fans.
Or, put another way, the current Hollywood view is that dumbass money spends just as well as the money from the intelligent.
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