Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 1x04 - "The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry"

[JD]

Yeah, I've gotten that feeling too. Burnham and Stamets both seem to have the values that we usually associate with our Star Trek characters, it's just Lorca and his people who go against it right now.
I enjoyed this one.
I am disappointed they killed Landray, I like Rekha Sharma.
The stuff with Ripper was pretty good, his connection to the spores was interesting. According to the preview article on StarTrek.com he was actually going to be a crew member originally, and I actually have to admit I think I would have liked that better. What we got here was pretty good, but I think it would have been really cool to get a totally alien crew member like him. I got a bit of a Horta/Devil in the Dark vibe from this one, with the creature that appeared to be a violent monster, but was actually just a peaceful being that was provoked.
I liked the stuff with the Klingons. Them eating Georgiou is nasty, but I don't think it goes against canon. I'm pretty sure I remember them referencing eating the hearts of their enemies, and so this is just a step up from that.
I just skipped to this page, so I don't know what people have said this week, but last week I saw quite a few people complaining about Stamets, but I actually like him. I think his attitude is completely understandable given the situation he's found himself in.
The rings on the saucer spinning is a cool little effect.

 

[eschaton]

Yeah, I've gotten that feeling too. Burnham and Stamets both seem to have the values that we usually associate with our Star Trek characters, it's just Lorca and his people who go against it right now..

Now that Landry is dead, who are "Lorca's people?"

Stamets loathes him
Burnham has normal Starfleet instincts
Saru serves him loyally, but doesn't seem to agree with his values (notice his comment to Burnham that she'd "fit right in on this ship")
Tilly is way too green/idealistic given what has been portrayed so far.
Finally, the random bridge officers we don't get to see much of seem to chafe under his command.

Lorca doesn't seem to have a "faction" left. Which, given he's going to be kidnapped in the next episode by Klingons, won't really come to a head for awhile, if ever.

 

[dahj]

Another fine episode, I'm really enjoying how the show is shaping up so far.

 

[Lior .B.]

gave it 7. The Klingon stuff took it down. Not really grabbing me.

 

[Long Syntax]

As I've said before, I'm in for the season no matter what. Having said that, I do have minor issues with the series so far. The biggest one is that I haven't started caring for any of the characters. The closest is Burnham and probably Capt. Georgiou. Quite honestly that relationship drew me in at first, but I find my self questioning the season long story arc for a group of folks I haven't come to care about. I know season long arcs are the norm now, but STDISC has so far failed to make me care. I am being patient and will continue to be though.

 

[Mr Awe]

Wow, that was a fantastic episode! Stammets is definitely becoming more approachable. Lorca maybe less so but still interesting. Michael Burnham is a great character. The story was nicely intense. This show is excellent at drawing you into it and wondering what will happen next. Nice new developments with the spores and the creature. Really setting up an excellent Trek theme with communication and understanding between drastically different species, although there is a war getting in the way of that!

The only part I couldn't get into was the Klingon house politics stuff.

 

[MvRojo]

To not seem like such a party pooper, I should note that the visuals, imho, are 9/10, every episode does feel like a blockbuster motion picture. The look of the water bear, some fun tech's like the holo mirror, are great. But the poorly thought through stories are just boring. In retrospect, I might give the 4th episode a 3/10. The visuals are totally carrying it so far and might be the reason I'll continue to watch it. Maybe if they had spent more time explaining the science of the spores and the cosmic tardigrade and cut out 95% of the Klingon scenes, I'd give it 5/10.

In After Trek, the producers said that the next episode will explain in detail how the drive works.

 

[Mr Awe]

This episode, at least for me, also felt like an action movie. Next week looks the same way. I like the cerebral & action mix.

Me too! And, we're slowly getting inside the various characters.

 

[Tesophius]

Wow, that was a fantastic episode! Stammets is definitely becoming more approachable. Lorca maybe less so but still interesting. Michael Burnham is a great character. The story was nicely intense. This show is excellent at drawing you into it and wondering what will happen next. Nice new developments with the spores and the creature. Really setting up an excellent Trek theme with communication and understanding between drastically different species, although there is a war getting in the way of that!

The only part I couldn't get into was the Klingon house politics stuff.

I do agree that Stammets is slowly becoming a more interesting character. He was supposed to be in charge of this big project, then this unpleasant boss shows up and takes over. I can relate to this, haha. He's probably the only character I mildly care about at this point.

 

[Mr Awe]

The Klingons still aren't quite doing it for me. I think a big issue is the subtitling, as the font is hard to read. And since I'm focused on reading the text, I miss a lot of subtleties in the physical performance (since the makeup stops the actors from being super expressive.

Agreed. I get that they want to establish Klingons as true aliens, but the subtitles aren't doing it for me. And, I love foreign films so it's not a general disposition against subtitles. However, I think it has to do with that we can't see the actors faces emote, etc that it just makes these scenes drag a bit.

Loving the series as a whole though!

 

[Romulan_spy]

gave it 7. The Klingon stuff took it down. Not really grabbing me.

Same here. I hate the Klingon make up. Plus, all the scenes are just the Klingons standing there and talking very slowly with subtitles. The way the actors have trouble talking through the heavy make up is a problem.

 

[GeekUSACarl]

The show didn't suggest the Klingons go around eating humans, just in a starvation scenario that they would do so to survive.

I liked the stuff with the tartagrade. I like that Michael is being set up as the lone voice of normal Starfleet morals against a crew of warmongers. Though I think I might star referring to the show as Star Trek: Cerberus.

The other host of our podcast LOVES tartagrades. I had no idea, my best friend my whole life and is practically an expert on them. He laid it all on me during the cast, it was great, I felt like such a knucklehead cause I thought they made it up.

 

[Tesophius]

People even keep tardigrades as pets, though you need a microscope to watch them. They've become pretty well known in the last decade as considerable amount of theoretical astrobiologists have used them as an example of a hypothetical life form we might encounter as we continue to explore the solar system.

 

[GeekUSACarl]

I apparently must've been living under a rock,

just not with Tardigrades.

 

[Mr Awe]

I do agree that Stammets is slowly becoming a more interesting character. He was supposed to be in charge of this big project, then this unpleasant boss shows up and takes over. I can relate to this, haha. He's probably the only character I mildly care about at this point.

Agreed. I think they set a lot of that up earlier but now we're seeing how Michael is breaking down the barriers. Before she was just another one of Lorca's impositions on him!

I care about Lily and Saru too in addition to Stammets. I'm really starting to feel for Michael. Lorca I guess I don't care about but I think he's an interesting character. He is sort of like Avon from the old Blake's 7 but meaner! Avon was the most interesting character on B7 so I'm wondering if Lorca also becomes a favorite. Time will tell.

 

[GeekUSACarl]

Now that Landry is dead, who are "Lorca's people?"

Stamets loathes him
Burnham has normal Starfleet instincts
Saru serves him loyally, but doesn't seem to agree with his values (notice his comment to Burnham that she'd "fit right in on this ship")
Tilly is way too green/idealistic given what has been portrayed so far.
Finally, the random bridge officers we don't get to see much of seem to chafe under his command.

Lorca doesn't seem to have a "faction" left. Which, given he's going to be kidnapped in the next episode by Klingons, won't really come to a head for awhile, if ever.

Lorca is the square peg and he is determined to hammer himself into the round hole that is his ship.

I was wondering this too, who the heck is Lorca's people?

Interesting where they will go with this soon.

 

[Mr Awe]

I can understand both sides of the dilemma. On one side you have a Federation that is trying to avoid extinction at the hands of the Klingons, and are willing to bend, or even outright cast aside their values to survive. On the other, you have the moral costs of such a decision. How far is too far when self preservation is on the line. In real life we know that line can stretch a long ways.

That's exactly it and it means that the Discovery writers are doing a good job! They're effectively conveying the drama of the situation to us.

 

[eschaton]

Agreed. I get that they want to establish Klingons as true aliens, but the subtitles are doing it for me. And, I love foreign films so it's not a general disposition against subtitles. However, I think it has to do with that we can't see the actors faces emote, etc that it just makes these scenes drag a bit./QUOTE]

I think changing to a sans serif font would help with reading the subtitles quickly.

I also think the actors have been purposefully told to speak slowly and deliberately so there is time for the average reader to finish the subttiles. For the same reason we're never going to see a scene with an "argument" involving one Klingon talking over another one.

 

[eschaton]

Agreed. I get that they want to establish Klingons as true aliens, but the subtitles are doing it for me. And, I love foreign films so it's not a general disposition against subtitles. However, I think it has to do with that we can't see the actors faces emote, etc that it just makes these scenes drag a bit./QUOTE]
Ack, let me try that again, since I accidentally wrote my response within the quotes. How do you edit on this forum anyway?

I think changing to a sans serif font would help with reading the subtitles quickly.

I also think the actors have been purposefully told to speak slowly and deliberately so there is time for the average reader to finish the subttiles. For the same reason we're never going to see a scene with an "argument" involving one Klingon talking over another one.

 

[eschaton]

I give up. I can't believe I can't change typos.