Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 1x05 - "Choose Your Pain"

[Kor]

I like the part where Tilly actually recited a prayer (or what sounded a lot like one) as Ripper was being released into space.

On other sites, some have speculated that it's a paraphrased version of Psalm 121:8, edited to remove overtly religious aspects.

Perhaps a succession of crewmembers will, in turn, volunteer to serve as "animate copilots" (they'd have to have a lot of them do it, so as to minimize the possible harm to any one person) for the shroom vroom drive.

I think they clearly established that a human could hook up with the spore drive, though as we saw with Stammets, there are some side effects you probably wouldn't want to repeat too often.

Stamets had to do the horizontal gene transfer first, to even make it possible. He went ahead and did this to himself of his own volition even though it was already said that eugenics experiments are forbidden (nice nod to continuity with DS9 there). So they're already in violation of regulations (or maybe he would be considered to have sole responsibility). I think having more people volunteer to rotate as living navigational computers, and having to get the gene transfer, would just compound this.

Kor

 

[gblews]

I'm a bit annoyed at how straight-forward, without any kind of twists or turns, or really any kind of development the "plot-of-the-week's" are:


A) The crew needs to retrieve the spore device from the wreck of the Glenn. They beam aboard. Find the device. Run away from a monster. Get to their shuttle and fly back. Plot solved.

B) They need to bring the spore drive to work, to save a mining colony from a klingon attack. They use the stuff and the monster from the Glenn, and it works. They fly to the colony. They battle the klingons. Plot solved.

C) Cpt. Lorca get's ambushed while flying a shuttle. He meets other prisoners in a cell. He punches the klingons once they walk into the cell. They run through the corridors guns-blazing, steal a shuttle and fly back to the Discovery. Plot solved.

So, for all of you who have been posting that the DSC episodes aren't complete and don't stand on their own (in light of the serialized format), here is the opposite end of the spectrum.

Another example of how difficult it is to please everyone, or some, or hell, anyone.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

It would get pretty boring around here if we all thought in lockstep.

 

[BillJ]

I'll allow it because it was the best scene in the episode. They actually made me connect on an emotional level with those ugly little bastards.

The Tardigarde has been the most lively part of Discovery so far.

 

[Longinus]

So, for all of you who have been posting that the DSC episodes aren't complete and don't stand on their own (in light of the serialized format), here is the opposite end of the spectrum.

Another example of how difficult it is to please everyone, or some, or hell, anyone.

These views are not opposed as it may first seem. Due the serialised nature of the show a chunk of each episode is spent on stuff that is not directly related to the plot of the said episode, but may be relevant to the overall narrative. The Klingon bits are obviously the most obvious example. Without those, there would be more time to devote to the main topic of each episode.

 

[Noname Given]

It would get pretty TNG era around here if we all thought in lockstep.

^^^
FTFY

 

[Rahul]

So, for all of you who have been posting that the DSC episodes aren't complete and don't stand on their own (in light of the serialized format), here is the opposite end of the spectrum.

Another example of how difficult it is to please everyone, or some, or hell, anyone.

There is an over-arching season long plot. And a plot-of-the-week. Both need to come to a satisfying conclusion when they end. That means we want a good over-arching storyline, but also a good conclusion to the problems-of-the-week of said arc. You can call them the "sub-plots", or "B-plots" if you want, the DIS creators call them "chapters".

Even a show like Game of Thrones, with it's huge swath of characters, usually tries to have narrative climax each episode. Either by focussing on a single event. Or, when they are switching between different storylines with different characters, each story has a narrative climax, either at the end of multiple scenes, or even only one, singular pointed scene, with the biggest twist or turn usually being the climax of the episode.

DIS is far less serialized than GoT in this regard, simply by virtue of following a lot less characters. That means each episode is it's own "chapter" in the greater scheme of things. The critique was, that each of their sub-plots, aka the "episode" plots, is very clichéd and by-the-numbers. Which is kind of important, because the over-arching season long narrative arc hasn't gained any steam currently either, so we kinda' depend on the little steps in the story. It's comparable to season 3 of Enterprise, with the overarching Xindi-plot, but every week tells a small story as part of that. Only that the plots of DIS are -as of yet- a less imaginative or unexpected, and need to be expanded upon and enriched.

 

[gblews]

I think only a few people would claim Burnham is responsible for Geogiou's death in a planned-a-deadly-and-poorly-thought-out mission. I think most people's charge (including Burnham and Saru's) is that she got Georgiou killed "as her first officer". A first officer's duties include protecting the captain from: bad decisions, mistakes, disharmony with the crew, and - certainly -death on away missions. Starfleet wouldn't and didn't charge Burnham with that, but everyone in the fleet knows she didn't protect her captain, and thus "got her killed".

Agree with your overall sentiment, that it was unlikely that Burnham was responsible for Geogiou's death. But disagree with the notion that Burnham bore any responsibility to protect the captain. Burnham had been relieved of duty as first officer when Georgiou made the decision to accompany Michael to the Klingon ship. Saru had been promoted to that position after Burnham had been relieved.

So in reality, Saru has only himself to blame for not protecting Georgiou. As first officer, it was his responsibility. He didn't raise a single objection to Georgiou beaming to the ship. He did object to Georgiou's suicide mission with the shuttle, but that sounded more like an expression of his personal feelings about the captain rather than him acting as first officer.

I think this is what has been sticking in my craw about Saru and his attitude toward Burnham. He should take a lesson from boldness in his current position.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Not such a big deal if you are month-to-month. But if you happened to get the annual plan, then you're along for the ride for the whole season.

Kor

Refund

 

[Agony_Boothb]

Stamets had to do the horizontal gene transfer first,

Kor

Pretty sure he and culber did that after brushing their teeth

 

[Mudd]

"To the audience Tyler is so obviously a spy that Lorca’s not just callous, he’s a fucking moron."

 

[Tuskin38]

io9 is such a dumb site

 

[Mudd]

io9 is such a dumb site

Everything she says in the article is true, though, including that quote. Calling it a "dumb site" is not a rebuttal.

 

[Gil T.Azell]

"Fucking cool!"

That had to be a Star Trek First.

 

[Tuskin38]

Everything she says in the article is true, though, including that quote. Calling it a "dumb site" is not a rebuttal.

No but they went in wanting to hate it

 

[Mudd]

No but they went in wanting to hate it

So you say. She's still right.

 

[Tuskin38]

So you say. She's still right.

That doesn’t change the fact there is possible bias

 

[The Librarian]

Given that i09 keeps making up things about the show while ignoring things that happen in the episodes in order to justify their hate, I don't see why I should take it seriously.

 

[Borgminister]

Best thing to do is not take any outside review seriously, because opinions are like ... well, navels--everybody has one.

 

[Noname Given]

So you say. She's still right.

You're assuming Lorca has zero idea Tyler is a spy. That may the the case, or it may not. Lorca may in fact think Tyler is a spy, but since he's masquerading as a Star Fleet officer, Lorca feels it' a better ploy top see if he is a spy and if so, learn both how to detect is (since it there is one spy, there might be others, etc. Lorca might also believe Mudd was also a Klingon plant; BUT if it's a setup it's better to only bring one. That probably also explains why he just wounded teh Klingon Captain because she may be Tyler's contact.

As for Star Trek 'loosing it's soul' because Lorca left Mudd behind to be tortured...please, if that's the case Kirk already sacrificed Star Trek's 'soul' i a number of episodes and situations. Like ordering Scotty to enact General Order 24 on the surface of Organia in TOS - "A Taste of Armageddon". No the situation turned out so that Mr. Scott didn't do it - but it's obvious if Kirk and the others had been killed Mr. Scott WOULD have followed orders.

And the fact there IS a General Order 24 means that it was probably carried out by someone at some point, or at best that Star Fleet Command thought this would and should be an available option.

The article is one fan's view looking at the TOS era through 24th century TNG fan eyes because he probably didn't pay much attention to TOS.