Right off the bat we get an unexpected cameo by Tim Russ as not-actually-Tuvok. The Titan crew has been looking for allies, but it seems the Changelings have either gotten to them all or placed them out of reach.
No Raffi or Worf again this week.
Data and Lore are fighting for control over the new android body, and Lore is mostly in control this episode. And well, Lore being Lore, he decides to start wreaking havoc.
The Titan plays dead and lets the Shrike find them to lure Vadic over to get answers. She and the Changelings with her get temporarily captured in forcefields.
We get Vadic's backstory. Vadic and her ilk were prisoners of war on Daystrom Station during the Dominion War. They were experimented on by the original Vadic until they escaped, which is why they have upgraded abilities. The Changeling Vadic is so messed up that she wears the face of her former torturer. It's also revealed that these modified Changelings can pass this condition on to others. On the upside, an isotope used in the experiments means that they can be detected.
Jack is having bouts of telepathy now. Combined with a comment from Data/Lore about how the Changelings intend to extract something from Picard's corpse, and it's looking more and more like something to do with the Borg.
Vadic and the other Changelings break out and take the Titan's bridge.
This episode was... okay. Good seeing Tim Russ again. We get an explanation for Vadic's motivations. We get a little bit more on what's going on with Jack. But other than that, not a whole lot of forward movement.
Posted by Spike (Member # 322) on :
Just terrible. A tedious chore to watch from beginning to start. Vadic was getting on my nerve from day 1 and this episode is all about her. There's just too much of her in it.
Everyone else is just dumb and incompetent. Sure, let's hook up a sophisticated AI that is part Lore to the ship. No way that's gonna backfire.
What was that trap even all about? How did that Vulcan ship figure into it?
Were Picard and Crusher really going to murder Vadic in cold blood before the force field failed?
Why is everyone shooting at Stormtrooper-level?
Why is their working theory that it's all about a Picard doppelganger? With Picard being a fugitive nobody will let him or a doppelganger near the festivities.
I said it before and I say it again. The whole fleet assembling at once is the dumbest plot point ever. It's not credible that the changelings' level of infiltration is so great that they can override common sense. You just don't leave everything unprotected for a parade.
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
↑↑↑↑↑ all of this
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
I’m sure Shik, Spike and even G2K will say it’s a low bar but this was easily the worst episode of the season. Their plan didn't make sense (and yes where did the supposedly derelict Vulcan ship come from?). Some force fields? That’s it?
And yes to then have the plan fail because they decide to network DataLore with no firewalls or airgapping or some sort of sandbox, that’s just contrived in the extreme. Great acting from Levar though. It reminds me of… well actually I can barely remember it now which says a lot, but when in the last season of DSC the (eventually) evil scientist decided to tie up all the ship’s resources to research the anomaly while they were supposedly in the middle of a rescue mission. I mean, WHY??
I get that JL & Bev wanted to try reason first, hence no immediate beam-the-Changelings-into-space option, but still. And, can they decide whether phasers either vapourise people or don’t do bugger all, or at least have characters know the difference between the settings?
Finn: HE READS MINDS NOW?? Poe: He reads minds now.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
Also, why were Seven and Shaw now in civilian clothes all of a sudden? Though - because it was SO DARK you couldn’t tell - Shaw was actually in some leathery presumably combat gear, as BTS pics show, so maybe she was too. But still, why?
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
Because FUGITIVES
Posted by Spike (Member # 322) on :
They were wearing the awayteam jackets.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
Yes, but it’s weird how invisible the red elements are on it.
Collider article which mentions the jackets: https://t.co/Fk7Yzwz2uq Posted by Guardian 2000 (Member # 743) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lee: even G2K will say it’s a low bar
Nah, that'd require I watch. Other than Nuseum scale problems, which I can't not mention here of all places, I've made nary a peep this season.
Posted by Spike (Member # 322) on :
quote:Yes, but it’s weird how invisible the red elements are on it.
Yes, it was the same with Riker last episode. I couldn't tell either if it was black or a really dark red.
Lighting issues aside, I do like it very much. I hope I can score a decent replica at one point.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
They all loved those jackets. Some of them tried to nick them. Don’t know if any of them got away with it!