Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 1x08 - "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum"

[Cyrus]

Very good episode.

Loved the planet scenes, I hope they do more strange new worlds episodes. Saru was great.

Everybody is talking about aliens, but I thought it was the planet that was alive.

I got the impression that the admiral is dead. If so that should put an end to the silly Cornwell./Lethe theory.

But voq theory probably got a boost since it was mentioned that voq is gone (from the Klingons perspective).

Lorca put Airiam in charge, so we may see more of this character in the future. btw, the actress playing Airiam is a total babe, too bad hey are hiding her behind all the prosthetics.

 

[Mr Awe]

It felt like it. I looked at the episode length and it was somewhere around 41 minutes. When you take out the previews and credits, it’s got to be under 40. Why on earth do they limit their run times when they are on a streaming site? I’m sure they hope to sell them in syndication someday, but man it’s one of the few benefits this show has being on the very underwhelming CBS All Access. Utilize the platform you are on to let your stories breathe instead of playing some long game with rerun revenue. Or just be on regular CBS so everyone has “access” to it.

Agreed. It's a huge F up on CBS' part to cut important scenes for time on a flipping streaming service where you don't need to cut for time. Morons.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I got the impression that the admiral is dead.

I didn't. I thought the fight scene between Cornwell and L'Rell was staged in an attempt to trick Kol.

 

[plynch]

Saru should be court martialed, right? He wasn't under control of aliens. He just finally wasn't afraid and wanted to keep that?

So he lied to, and attacked, a starfleet officer and a Burnham?

Bad Saru.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Saru claimed he wasn't being controlled, but that doesn't mean he really wasn't.

 

[plynch]

Well, by his own admission then, he was acting of his own volition to keep feeling non-fear. If he was just trying to preserve a feeling he liked and attacked people, that's not good.

Bad Saru.

 

[Gonzo]

I didn't. I thought the fight scene between Cornwell and L'Rell was staged in an attempt to trick Kol.

She didn't have much choice once they were seen together.

Didn't do any good though, Kol saw right through it.

 

[donners22]

I got the impression that the admiral is dead.

I don't think so. I took it that the fight was faked to throw off the guards, and that L'Rell hid her in the room either to make or own escape or for L'Rell to come back and collect her.

They really could have been clearer about the events on the Klingon ship though; there seems to be a lot of confusion.

 

[SharkD]

The Klingons are going to get wasted, agree to all sorts of things, that are anathema to their real agenda, and reneg on all treaties as soon as they sober up... This happened in Farscape.

Sounds like the Trump administration, except with the added bit of drunkenness. (Though I suspect Trump is/was a coke head.)

I gave this episode a 7. The special effects were beautiful, but the episode was kinda boring. Not enough about the Admiral. And not enough time spent on the feelings of "peace" that Saru was experiencing. This would have been a good time for some serious psychological horror, but it lasted only a few minutes.

 

[Gonzo]

I don't think so. I took it that the fight was faked to throw off the guards, and that L'Rell hid her in the room either to make or own escape or for L'Rell to come back and collect her.

They really could have been clearer about the events on the Klingon ship though; there seems to be a lot of confusion.

It seemed pretty straight forward to me, with Kol finally admitting at the end that she never fooled him for a moment.

Voq was also unpleasantly surprised when she found all of her allies dead in the room as well.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

A few episodes back, I wondered if the spore drive was causing Stamets to turn into The Traveller from TNG. Not anymore.

After his greeting to "Captain" Tilly, I'm starting to wonder if he could be either a founding member or one of the first members to gain Q powers on his own (not granted by a Q). Obviously he can exist outside of time like a Q (being able to see what Mudd was up to last episode) and he can either see parallel universes or even the future (as per the Captain line). Interfacing with the spores could explain the instant travel Q can do... I dunno, just a thought!

 

[eschaton]

If Cornwell was dead, they would have made an attempt to make her look...dead. Big wounds without any flowing blood, ghostly pallor, open, empty eyes, etc.

They didn't. She just looked like she was knocked out cold.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I don't think so. I took it that the fight was faked to throw off the guards, and that L'Rell hid her in the room either to make or own escape or for L'Rell to come back and collect her.

Not only did Cornwell still look like she was alive, L'Rell's total confusion after finding the dead bodies in the room sealed the deal for me.

 

[Nyotarules]

I gave it a 6 just for the opening battle scene, the Klingon scenes and creepy Saru. I hope next week episode is better.

 

[CardassianAssassin]

Not only did Cornwell still look like she was alive, L'Rell's total confusion after finding the dead bodies in the room sealed the deal for me.

That was also kinda weird. She didn’t know they were dead? Her friends are missing, for days, some of them maybe for weeks. Did L’Rell just figure they went on holiday?

And HOW did the admiral escape? Doesn’t really seem like they’re running a tight ship security wise.

How the heck did Tyler manage to be imprisoned for six months, if “Sorry Jefe! I put the Admiral in the corpse-storage room, and next thing I know, she’s taking off in my spaceship!” is something that happens.

None of the Klingons even seemed particularly surprised she escaped.

 

[Vger23]

Well, by his own admission then, he was acting of his own volition to keep feeling non-fear. If he was just trying to preserve a feeling he liked and attacked people, that's not good.

Bad Saru.

My guess is is that this situation will help Saru understand and cope with his feelings regarding what Burnham did aboard the Shinzhou better. Now that he has kind of walked in her shoes, maybe it starts to heal that relationship.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

Very good episode.

Loved the planet scenes, I hope they do more strange new worlds episodes. Saru was great.

Location shooting for planetary scenes is the best thing EVER. Star Trek has always needed more of this and it's delightful to see. Soundstage planets are okay when you're trying to cut to the chase, but sometimes I want to see them exploring a place where it really LOOKS like they could have hiked 30 kilometers to get to this point and still not found what they're looking for.

Not only did Cornwell still look like she was alive, L'Rell's total confusion after finding the dead bodies in the room sealed the deal for me.

Especially since we are supposed to gather that she was shocked to find the bodies stacked there like old garbage instead of having been properly mummified and bolted to the hull. Kol is basically a complete infidel at this point and he's co-opting T'kuvma's legacy -- and Khaless' religion -- for his own political gains. This is EXACTLY the kind of shit that left the Empire in disarray for so many years.

 

[Michael]

And HOW did the admiral escape? Doesn’t really seem like they’re running a tight ship security wise.

Wait a minute, is it stated anywhere in the episode that Cornwell has escaped from the ship? Am I missing something?

 

[Crazy Eddie]

That was also kinda weird. She didn’t know they were dead? Her friends are missing, for days, some of them maybe for weeks. Did L’Rell just figure they went on holiday?

She didn't know. She was probably expecting to see some of them when she came aboard the ship and was puzzled as to why there were no familiar faces on the bridge.

And HOW did the admiral escape?

She didn't. She's still in the corpse room. She's talking about the Admiral's "escape" in the hallway, just before L'Rell "killed" her.

None of the Klingons even seemed particularly surprised she escaped.

Well, for one thing she's talking about the "Escape" that all of them actually witnessed. They're not surprised because they already know about it, but also because Kol has probably already told them that she staged the whole thing in an attempt to defect to the Federation.

 

[donners22]

Wait a minute, is it stated anywhere in the episode that Cornwell has escaped from the ship? Am I missing something?

Kol says L'Rell allowed her to escape. You can interpret that as him referring to the escape attempt (which is odd as it would have been simpler for him to say that L'Rell killed her, which is more the point), or that she actually did escape off-screen.

I found it unclear, and I'm far from the only one.