Month: October 2017

Star Trek Discovery: S1 Ep5 Choose Your Pain

Description:  While on a mission, Lorca is captured by the Klingons and unexpectedly finds himself in the company of prisoner of war Starfleet Lieutenant Ash Tyler and notorious criminal Harry Mudd.

Logical
So much good in this episode; it’s really starting to find its stride. Michael is a unique character and I do like that we get to see her showing empathy for creature within a dream sequence. It wasn’t a plot device or a gimmick. It was a way to show that she was processing an ethical dilemma.
Lorca and his decision to keep Michael on the ship; he’s honest and is able to quote Sarfleet regulations at Admiral Cornwell. I like that his reprimand was done in private and not with the others in their meeting.

“The more you hurt someone, the less helpful they become.”

Never have truer words been spoken. It’s such a weighted line for me, for so many reasons. It’s just a shame that Michael and Dr Hugh Colber are ignored; sending the creature into a catatonic state when Lorca is abducted and Saru takes command.
Speaking of Lorca’s abduction, we a given such a wonderful treat in this episode, in the form of Rainn Wilson. He’s a lovely, joyous nod to the Original Series in the form of rogue trader, Harry Mudd. I geeked out and I can’t tell you what pleased me more; Harry Mudd making an appearance or him being played by the Office’s Dwight!! It is genius casting and I have a sense that he’s good on his threat ‘You haven’t seen the last of me’

Now, Lt Paul Stamets had yet another impeccable episode and has projected this franchise beyond its usual parameters. Firstly, he’s involved in the shows first F-bomb. It’s done, no massive deal is made of it, but there’s something there with its declaration. Something I love and adore beyond comprehension. It’s language after all and is showing it in its true anthropological state. Swearing is not a thing that is attributed to class or intelligence but more an expression of passion, anger and wonder.
Secondly, this dude is bad ass. We already know that he is a man of ethical standing; he didn’t sign up for this. So of course, having it brought to his attention that they are exploiting the creature, he uses himself to generate power for the spore drive. Insanely stupid, I’ll give you that, but it’s also incredibly brave.
Finally, he’s broken my heart. It turns out he’s a taken man. However, I’m going to forgive him because of what this relationship means for Star Trek.

It turns out Paul is married to the Doctor. So not only do we have our very first same sex couple within Trek, we have our first Starfleet established couple from the very start. While obviously having the will they, won’t they tension is good for a show; it means more to me to have this. Right at the end, without much fanfare, we see the couple getting ready for bed. It’s intimate, comfortable and boy, do I love them together. I can’t wait to see this develop further… especially with that final scene bombshell.

Added bonus, the Klingons didn’t bug me so much in this episode.

Illogical

The spore drive technology; we know it’s not going to be successful. It’s a shame that we’re going into this storyline without any hope. I don’t like watching something unfold when I know the ending.

Again, I’m still not feeling the time frame. Yes, I’m super excited to get my geek on with Harry Mudd. But name dropping old characters is not going to be enough to win me over; especially when you have holograms standing on deck to talk to an on-board crew. It’s not going to align with the existing franchise and it will have a shelf life. Again, it would have had more freedom had they have set it in another time. Sigh.

Star Trek Discovery
S1 ep2: Battle at the Binary Stars
From IMDB:
Escaping from the brig while the ship is under attack, Burnham joins the captain in an audacious plan to end a battle rapidly escalating into war.

The Logical

There’s a wonderful use of flashbacks that allow us to see how Michael has changed in the 7 years since entering Starfleet. It gives us a good idea of how much impact the Vulcan training had on the human psyche.

The battle scenes throughout this episode are absolutely incredible and quite possibly some of the best I’ve seen on TV. It’s a violent episode, filled with sacrifice.

All I’ve placed in my notes is the ethics of martyrdom and prisoners of war. I’m pretty certain it was in reference to the Captain wanting to destroy the Klingon ship instead of capturing the leader. It was an incredible scene and something as a teacher who looks at moral and ethical decisions, it’s good to see that it’s still as relevant as ever.

The gathering of the Klingon dead was deep and beautiful; it seemed to hark back to the Viking mythological roots the Klingons have.

Having the episode end with Michael imprisoned for life for treason is an interesting and bold move. I’m curious to see where this goes.

The Illogical

Having Michell Yeo as ‘special guest star’ on the opening credits is a big spoiler. I really wish they’d made a creative decision on that one.

I’m sure I’m going to be bitching about this one all series, but this world that has been created is far too advanced for where it takes place in the timeline. I’m not just talking about the style of the show; the technology used is too advanced. For example; the containment field in which Michael is held in. While I was geeking out about how it remained intake during the firefight, it just isn’t believable that this would exist in a time before Jayneway, let alone Kirk.

It’s not just the believability though; it’s the decision of the writers. You want all this fancy technology? great. You want a timeline unpolluted? Sure. You know the easy way to ensure you get all this without pissing people off? Put it outside of the cannon timeline. Maybe there’s more to it than this, I HOPE there’s more to it than this, because I will struggle as a fan if there’s not.

I’m curious as to whether they reused sets from the 2009 film; the Klingon ship looked awfully familiar to Nero’s ship.

So, Michael is heading to prison. Will it be the same one Kirk spent time in during one of the silver screen outings? Is the series going to spend a chunk of time in the prison like one of the poorer series of Red Dwarf? Aren’t all the Star Treks (excluding OS and … oh, never mind) named after their primary vessels?
It seems a little, I don’t know… anti-climactic, knowing that she’s the protagonist.

Star Trek Discovery
S1 ep4: The Butcher’s Knife Cares Not for the Lamb’s Cry
From IMDB:
With tensions and stakes high as Starfleet continues in their efforts to end the war with Klingons, Burnham begins to settle in to her new position aboard the U.S.S. Discovery.

Firstly, how amazing is Netflix letting you skip the intro?! It’s not that I don’t like the intro, at all, it’s just that it’s nice to get into the meat of the show. Especially when there is an extensive ‘previously on…’ that I would rather skip instead.

This is my favourite episode so far, but it also has my least favourite bits in it too.

The Logical

From the very start of this episode, the effects are incredible. I’m blown away by the quality and consistency of them; they’re of the standard I’m used to in the movies; seen when the ship goes into warp.

I’m loving the gender and species diversity at play on board Discovery. While it’s something I would then delve into a be moan about, I’m just going to bask in the female presence for now.

Michael gets a shout out for the Spock’s trademark “fascinating.” It was such a joy to hear, and I may have replayed it more than a few times. I loved her storyline and I loved the morality that was being set up; seeing the pain and emotion on Michael’s face as she realises the consequence of the solution to the spore drive. It’s heart breaking, and I’m curious to see how Michael responds over the next few episodes.

Now, I need to talk about my favourite part of the show. Lt Paul Stamets, Discovery’s engineer. He’s played by Anthony Rapp. While undeniably beautiful, it is his comic timing and his passion for doing the right thing that has won my heart. I’ve said it, so now I need to renounce the Tudyk. My notes while watching episode four was littered with ‘I love this man’
It started from the moment he attempted to stand up to the Captain and expressed his concerns about using the spore drive. Stamets is not going to be someone who takes orders blindly (and I predict that this is going to come back into play throughout the series).
Then he goes and gets his nose smashed, in what was one of the boldest scenes of realism I’ve ever seen in a Trek; too many times has the franchise gone big and it’s lost me in the prosthetics. I bloody felt Stamets’ pain.
My favourite scene comes after Discovery is saved from a gravitational pull and we get our first glimpse inside the medical bay. I got my second biggest chuckle of the episode:

The frontal lobe is overrated.

Before the Captain comes in to tear a strip out of him for an unsuccessful spore warp (I’m never going to get used to saying that). In unison both myself and Stamets utter ‘I/he did warn you.’
He is so passionate about the mission they are currently on not being the one he signed up for, that his technology was not intended for this use. Damn, this thread is going to analyse advancements we’ve already seen and help us question if it’s okay to pervert the course of intent?! The biggest question is; if this isn’t what he signed up for, is this vessel going rogue or are the crew patsies?

Of course, I can’t leave it there. I have to tell you what gained my top chuckle of the episode;

“That hardly seems fair; I always wanted to converse with my mushrooms.”

We see the frost between Michael and Stamets thaw as we see them work together to solve both of their problems; her big beast and his engine. It turns out one’s the lock, the other the key. I wonder what side of the fence Stamets will be on when Michael shares her findings. For a Vulcan trained human, Michael is quite the empath and while Stamets joked about losing his feelings; I don’t think his ethics will allow Ripper to be exploited.

The Illogical

One of the Klingons, Voq, looks too much like the engineers from Prometheus. They’re losing their identity and uniqueness with all the mythology that is being woven into the back story.

On that note, I’m so bored of the Klingons as a whole; it’s great that they can show the Klingon language, but it’s distracting from the grander story. It’s also too religious for my liking; the story is fast becoming a Abrahamic/Muhammad allegorical story and I really don’t like it.

I’m not sure I like the Captain. I’m sure I’m meant to feel on edge about him and I’m starting to have ‘bad leader’ vibes, but I really don’t want that. I’m used to trusting my Captains; yes they waver and sometimes show bad judgement, but there’s something more at play here.

Final thoughts
My illogical list is getting shorter each week; that must be something. However, the Klingons are a fundamental flaw that I do expect to see a big payoff for sticking with.
I still take issue with the timeline, but I am intrigued with theories online that suggest Lorca (or the timeline itself) is from the Mirror Universe. I think that would be a cheap trick, and I do like the idea that Starfleet is not the prefect of the universe; that there are some people who dance in the shades of grey. I just hope when the time comes, it’s a gamble for the greater good.