Okay. So, I thought that most of this episode was pretty good. However, that was completely overshadowed by the fact that we finally get our explanation for the Burn... and BOY is it ever stupid.
So let's get the bad out of the way first. What caused the Burn? Some random Kelpien kid. Yup. So the Kelpien woman in the transmission a couple episodes ago was pregnant. She gives birth after crashing on this planet practically made of dilithium. The kid develops some kind of bond with the planet. The kid got upset enough (presumably when his mom died) more than 100 years ago that he set off the Burn. Yup, the Burn shares the same motivation as Dragonball Z's Broly: A screaming infant. At least the Dragonball writers had the good sense to retcon that with Broly's recent reboot. (Or so I heard, I haven't actually watched any of the recent Dragonball stuff.) Also, this Kelpien is looking awfully good for being over 100. How long do Kelpiens live naturally?
Now for what I considered good:
Book continues to make himself useful. Also, Grudge is such a good boy. Yes, he is! Yes, he is! (Yes, I'm a cat person.)
Tilly gets the chair for the first time and does a pretty good job with it, despite the episode's ending. She manages to match Osyraa snark for snark.
Not entirely sure why the holoprogram felt the need to overlay new identities onto Burnham, Culber, and Saru. Yes, we're told it did so to make Su'Kal's first contact with other people easier. But I fail to see how a Trill, Bajoran, and human would be easier for Su'Kal to process than two humans and a Kelpien, given what else we've seen of the program. Maybe the program can't actually detect the species of new people? I suspect the real reason for this is to give Doug Jones a chance to act without makeup. Given how awesome Doug Jones is, I'd give this a pass. (Although, did Adira get an overlay?)
Kudos on the holoprogram special effects. Very MC Escher.
Osyraa wants Discovery, and manages to capture it at the end of the episode. I have no problem with Osyraa finding the ship, since it was established last episode that Emerald Chain tech has pretty long range. I can even buy that she used a transwarp conduit to catch up. (Transwarp conduits seem to be brought up a good bit this season. Are the Borg not patrolling the network? Or are these transwarp conduits Federation built?) But Osyraa seems awfully prepped to take this ship once she gets there, right down to some mind control doodad she sticks on Stamets to make him use the drive.
We are left with Discovery captured, Culber, Saru, and Adira stuck on the planet, and Burnham and Book on his ship.
-------------------- "Kirito? I killed a thing and now it says I have XPs! Is that bad? Am I dying?"
-Asuna, Episode 2, Sword Art Online Abridged
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Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
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posted
Burn caused by Kelpien man-child tantrum. That's A-fuckin'-plus plotting right there, Walter.
The amount of hokery being laid out makes me want to find the writers & cut off their hands.
-------------------- "The French have a saying: 'mise en place'—keep everything in its fucking place!"
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I don’t have anything to say. I just want it to be over. Then I can watch, I dunno, the new season of The Expanse..? I think For All Mankind is back in March; various of the SW and MCU shows might be worthwhile... new Better Call Saul maybe? Just nothing new Trek, especially if it’s PIC or S31. SNW or LDS maybe. No idea what’s next, after the much hyped 23 Weeks Of Trek, followed as it probably will be by Just A Many Weeks Of No Trek.
posted
I like most of the characters, but this plot twist really bugs me. Who in the staff actually thinks that “a grief-stricken radioactive mutant Kelpien child caused The Burn” is a good idea?
Also, did the Wicked Witch’s henchpeople just beam through Discovery’s shields like it was Voyager? How did she know where they were, anyway? If that piece of tech that Book hooked into the ship turns out to be responsible, that’s going to be really stupid since someone already pointed out in dialogue that it was a bad idea.
Stupid plot twists notwithstanding, the part of the story on the crashed holodeck was an interesting puzzle, and I liked Michael’s approach. Is she finally learning subtlety? And though Tilly is still XO only because she’s the only suitable main character, I loved the bit about the spot on the captain’s chair and building confidence. And Tilly did a pretty good job of facing down what’s-her-face... at first. Too bad Tilly has a lousy poker face.
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
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Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
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I agree with all of the above.
-------------------- "The French have a saying: 'mise en place'—keep everything in its fucking place!"
Registered: Jun 2000
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I did like Burnham pretending to be a hologram, that was really well done and showcased her acting skills nicely.
I’m actually gradually working my way through Justified, it’s nicely episodic which is what I need right now. Well, I say now, I find that as much as I like having long-haul storytelling in modern TV, I have increasingly less headspace for full-on bingeing. I need to pause and assimilate what I’ve seen. Apparently The Sopranos has been a big lockdown hit with a whole new generation - I don’t think I could watch that at pace. Seeing it first time around, once a week for a couple of months each year, was perfectly fine.
posted
They should have just made the cause of the Burn a giant mutant space shark that they could only get to by making a spore jump, but then they overshot the target jumping right over it. After all, the payoff we got did something almost identical to that anyway.
Registered: Jul 2006
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So Dilithium is now the equivalent to Smallville's Kryptonite granting meta-Kelpien powers.
-------------------- "Never give up. And never, under any circumstances, no matter what - never face the facts." - Ruth Gordon
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