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It is suspicious if there isn't a trailer.
They may not want to give anything away just yet, we could get trailers/teasers later on this week though.
Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 1x05 - "Choose Your Pain"
- Thread starter Commander Richard
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They may not want to give anything away just yet, we could get trailers/teasers later on this week though.
WAIT.
Is it possible the injecting the tardigrade DNA made Stamets switch with, well, mirror-Stamets? Hence the, erm, mirror scene at the end of the episode? Will this be the mechanism that gets us into the promised upcoming mirror universe episode? Apologies if this has already been mentioned - this thread moves like its got its own spore drive, tbh.
Anyway, look. This episode was stunning. Classic Star Trek, in my book. The ensemble finally got some good material to chew on, even pushing Burnham to the background for most of the episode.
I will admit the list of Starfleet's most decorated captains did unspeakable (but pleasant) things to my body.
Ash Tyler is also rather hot. He, too, did unspeakable-but-pleasant things to my body.
Mary Chieffo was engaging at L'Rell - I think she's inhibited a lot by having to speak Klingon under those heavy prosthetics.
Mary Wiseman makes Tilly watchable, even likeable at times. A lesser performer (oh, let's say Garrett Wang or Aron Eisenberg or Wil Wheaton) couldn't do half as good with similar material.
Is it possible the injecting the tardigrade DNA made Stamets switch with, well, mirror-Stamets? Hence the, erm, mirror scene at the end of the episode? Will this be the mechanism that gets us into the promised upcoming mirror universe episode? Apologies if this has already been mentioned - this thread moves like its got its own spore drive, tbh.
Anyway, look. This episode was stunning. Classic Star Trek, in my book. The ensemble finally got some good material to chew on, even pushing Burnham to the background for most of the episode.
I will admit the list of Starfleet's most decorated captains did unspeakable (but pleasant) things to my body.
Ash Tyler is also rather hot. He, too, did unspeakable-but-pleasant things to my body.
Mary Chieffo was engaging at L'Rell - I think she's inhibited a lot by having to speak Klingon under those heavy prosthetics.
Mary Wiseman makes Tilly watchable, even likeable at times. A lesser performer (oh, let's say Garrett Wang or Aron Eisenberg or Wil Wheaton) couldn't do half as good with similar material.
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Can't agree at all, last episode and especially this one have been classic Trek plots. Captured by Alien, just escape, meanwhile the crew face a moral dilemma in order to save the day - dunno what that is if it isn't Trek.
Finally got round to skimming the thread since seeing episode on Netflix. I gave it a solid 8. (previous 2 got a shaky 8).
One thing that sticks with me so far is why is Mudd familiar with Lorca's service record? Is there a reason he knows this, or was the event well publicised in the Federation...
I was only born in 82, but I have similar experiences with the film. Since about 15 I've tried to watch it, and still keep feeling... why is this considered so great.
One thing that sticks with me so far is why is Mudd familiar with Lorca's service record? Is there a reason he knows this, or was the event well publicised in the Federation...
I was only born in 82, but I have similar experiences with the film. Since about 15 I've tried to watch it, and still keep feeling... why is this considered so great.
I know man, I wanna be one of the cool kids, but it seems I'm just not cut out to be cool..........
9 for me.
A solid Ep, and the best yet (imo).
Enjoyed very much!
A solid Ep, and the best yet (imo).
Enjoyed very much!
I see a bunch of people mentioning L'Rell being in this episode. Are we sure it was her? I was under the impression it was a different female Klingon. She didn't quite look the same as L'Rell.
Yep it's L'rell. The actor who plays L'rell was on After Trek and they talked about her role in this episode.
Ah okay thanks. The Tyler being Voq theory is much more plausible.
"Choose Your Pain" will go down as the Star Trek where the f-word was used for the first time and also, potentially, one where we've had prison rape alluded to. It's interesting, actually, because the first one is actually less exploitative than the second one as it may well be part of a character's cover identity but more on that later.
Overall, this episode is one which feels the most like classic Trek as "The Captain is captured by aliens while the crew thinks about ways to rescue him before he escapes himself" is identical to a staggering number of plots. Indeed, I just watched "The Andorian Incident", "Day of Armageddon", "Judgement", and "Star Trek: The Final Frontier" in a row which all contain the plot in some fashion.
The premise is, after attending a meeting of Starfleet Command where Captain Lorca is told to stop endangering their highly experimental teleporting ship, said captain is captured by the Klingons who intend to torture him into revealing the secrets of the Discovery. WIth Commander Saru left in charge, he makes several controversial choices to try to get the captain back. This includes putting "Ripper" in danger and potentially costing them their biological navicomputer. While in prison, Captain Lorca encounters Star Trek: The Original series villain Harry Mudd as well as a POW named Tyler who has been held by the Klingons for months.
I think the episode benefited from taking a break from Michael Burnham's character development. Which is, unfortunately, one of the big issues in the show. Michael is a workaholic idealistic Trek character but one who doens't make the decisions so she's not that dynamic of a character. Also, her guilt for her misguided mutiny and execution of T'Kuvma is somewhat crushing at times. Here, we get more information on Chief Engineer Stamets (he's gay and in a relationship with the ship's doctor) as well as Lorca himself.
It turns out Lorca is insane or at least his understanding of the Klingons is so mindlessly prejudicial, he might as well be so. Lorca killed his (previous) crew out of the belief he was saving them from being tortured to death in a Klingon prison. Which, given the conditions on the prison he's transported on may or may not have been true. Certainly, Harry Mudd seems no worse for wear after a few months in their home but he's a prison snitch. With the current depiction of Klingons, it may seem justifiable but if the Klingons actually are just people with only a small number of fanatics being beyond redemption then he's actually about as well-adjusted as Garth of Izzar (Star Trek: The Original series reference).
Speaking of Star Trek: The Original Series references, there's a lot of good ones in this episode from Robert April (actually from the Animated Series), Mudd, Decker, and a few other bits which definitely state "This is set in the timeline of the television shows." At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if a time traveling Scott Bakula or William Shatner showed up. Certainly, it would fit with the world they're constructing here.
My one complaint about the episode is the fact the Klingons have been reduced to being generic bad guys from other sci-fi programs. We've got no mention of honor or displays of their more humanizing qualities. "Errand of Mercy" made it clear that Kor is a BAD person who is a ruthless, nasty, puppy kicking Imperialist but he's a person. A charismatic distinctly "human" person while these Klingons seem much more like orcs. It's actually notable when they mention one of them was having sex with a prisoner as you have to wonder how the physics of that would work. That's obviously not something we had to think about with Worf or B'Elanna.
In conclusion, this was a decent episode and everything continues to build to what I assume will be the season finale with episode 9. However, I wasn't entirely blown away either so I'll give it an 8 out of 10.
Overall, this episode is one which feels the most like classic Trek as "The Captain is captured by aliens while the crew thinks about ways to rescue him before he escapes himself" is identical to a staggering number of plots. Indeed, I just watched "The Andorian Incident", "Day of Armageddon", "Judgement", and "Star Trek: The Final Frontier" in a row which all contain the plot in some fashion.
The premise is, after attending a meeting of Starfleet Command where Captain Lorca is told to stop endangering their highly experimental teleporting ship, said captain is captured by the Klingons who intend to torture him into revealing the secrets of the Discovery. WIth Commander Saru left in charge, he makes several controversial choices to try to get the captain back. This includes putting "Ripper" in danger and potentially costing them their biological navicomputer. While in prison, Captain Lorca encounters Star Trek: The Original series villain Harry Mudd as well as a POW named Tyler who has been held by the Klingons for months.
I think the episode benefited from taking a break from Michael Burnham's character development. Which is, unfortunately, one of the big issues in the show. Michael is a workaholic idealistic Trek character but one who doens't make the decisions so she's not that dynamic of a character. Also, her guilt for her misguided mutiny and execution of T'Kuvma is somewhat crushing at times. Here, we get more information on Chief Engineer Stamets (he's gay and in a relationship with the ship's doctor) as well as Lorca himself.
It turns out Lorca is insane or at least his understanding of the Klingons is so mindlessly prejudicial, he might as well be so. Lorca killed his (previous) crew out of the belief he was saving them from being tortured to death in a Klingon prison. Which, given the conditions on the prison he's transported on may or may not have been true. Certainly, Harry Mudd seems no worse for wear after a few months in their home but he's a prison snitch. With the current depiction of Klingons, it may seem justifiable but if the Klingons actually are just people with only a small number of fanatics being beyond redemption then he's actually about as well-adjusted as Garth of Izzar (Star Trek: The Original series reference).
Speaking of Star Trek: The Original Series references, there's a lot of good ones in this episode from Robert April (actually from the Animated Series), Mudd, Decker, and a few other bits which definitely state "This is set in the timeline of the television shows." At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if a time traveling Scott Bakula or William Shatner showed up. Certainly, it would fit with the world they're constructing here.
My one complaint about the episode is the fact the Klingons have been reduced to being generic bad guys from other sci-fi programs. We've got no mention of honor or displays of their more humanizing qualities. "Errand of Mercy" made it clear that Kor is a BAD person who is a ruthless, nasty, puppy kicking Imperialist but he's a person. A charismatic distinctly "human" person while these Klingons seem much more like orcs. It's actually notable when they mention one of them was having sex with a prisoner as you have to wonder how the physics of that would work. That's obviously not something we had to think about with Worf or B'Elanna.
In conclusion, this was a decent episode and everything continues to build to what I assume will be the season finale with episode 9. However, I wasn't entirely blown away either so I'll give it an 8 out of 10.
They've accomplished a lot in three weeks then (timeline is provided at the start of the episode).
Voq took his raider, got control of a D7, went back for L'rell, picked her up, went through fleet intelligence, figured out Lorca and the Discovery had some super propulsion, Voq altered himself to be human and imprisoned himself, L'rell picked up at least two other prisoners, tortured and starved them, tracked down Lorca, then planned and executed a daring invasion into Federation space to capture him all so Lorca could escape, bringing Voq with him onto the discovery.
I'm not saying this theory is wrong - I'm expecting it to be true - but damn those are some efficient Klingons.
Voq took his raider, got control of a D7, went back for L'rell, picked her up, went through fleet intelligence, figured out Lorca and the Discovery had some super propulsion, Voq altered himself to be human and imprisoned himself, L'rell picked up at least two other prisoners, tortured and starved them, tracked down Lorca, then planned and executed a daring invasion into Federation space to capture him all so Lorca could escape, bringing Voq with him onto the discovery.
I'm not saying this theory is wrong - I'm expecting it to be true - but damn those are some efficient Klingons.
It has been one month since last episode and Voq is ready to be spy. I think it happened in a short time.
Damn good episode. Want to see more Mudd. Like Rainn's performance a lot.
I think it's interesting Saru may resent Michael not just because he didn't get to learn from a great captain (one of the greatest) but that he also is learning his style of captaincy from a man he clearly does not respect. He hates Lorca but when he stepped into the captaincy, he might as well have BEEN Lorca.
The fact that's it's been so telegraphed might be a huge misdirect and Tyler is actually who he says he is.
I think we should take a moment to step back and realize it's actually not a bad thing we're rewarded for paying attention.
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