Obviously we know the federation will not lose the war to the Klingons since its a prequel. At least with enterprise we knew the possibility of losing to the Xindi was there because of the time travel involved in the story. It's unfortunate to be presented with a storyline that has such a predictable conclusion.
Let's say we
do know which side will prevail. (But do we really? I don't remember offhand it being said anywhere that the UFP definitely never lost a war to the Klingons...was it? And it could be a draw, which you did allow for in "will not lose" I suppose.) Even so, we do
not know
how they will pull it off, nor do we know
who will live and who will die (and who will switch sides) by the time they do. Is that not more dramatically important? When you watch a WWII movie do you feel the story suffers from knowing that the Allies and not the Axis will win?
Makes sense for Cornwell to have taken a shuttle to the negotiation site: the episode where she went there took place right next to the negotiation place to begin with, that is, right where Sarek's runabout stalled. Why she didn't take a shuttle from her own ship is very, very unclear, though.
I interpreted that her cruiser sent her over to
Discovery in a shuttle from that ship, then it returned and the cruiser departed, with her intent being to stay aboard and "analyze" Lorca at greater length, until that was derailed. Haven't rewatched that one yet, though. Is there a flaw in that?
Has Kol always had that elaborate face paint and I'm just barely noticing it now?
Yes. Are you sure it's the only thing you haven't fully noticed?
It's nice to see that Burnham and Tyler's little love connection wasn't forgotten about as a casualty of Mudd's crazy time loop shenanigans from last week, and I find it interesting that Tyler recognizes the "needs of the many" but also can't escape the pull of what he calls the "needs of the few". Also, if the writers did truly intend to set up the "Voq is Tyler" thing, they're failing spectacularly, because the only thing this scene does is further cement him as fully human and make it harder and harder for people who buy the "Voq is Tyler" theory to justify and explain said theory
I'm not exactly sure what you mean. I saw
nothing in this episode that changed
anything on that front, whether it be true or false. Did Ward and Skye's developing romance or his jumping out of an airplane to save Simmons or his passing an unbeatable lie detector test in season one of
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. prevent him from turning out to be a HYDRA plant? Nope. (I know I've made this comparison before. I hope I haven't spoiled that surprise for anyone here. It
was four years ago, after all.)
The "obvious" Tyler-is-Voq clues—or red herrings, depending on whether the cat in the box turns out to be alive or dead—of this installment were in his scene with Saru in the wigwam. Was the "deception" Saru sensed
only in regard to his and Burnham's ploy, or could there be more that he is hiding? Was his baring-his-soul-and-wrestling-with-his-demons bit authentic or was it merely part of the deception? Or both?
What exactly did
you see here that counter-indicates him being Voq any further than in previous episodes? And if he is
not, and they
don't want us to think that he is, why do
you think we haven't seen him again since Tyler showed up? He seemed like a pretty significant character. And now we're told by the character
with whom he was last seen explicitly plotting a comeback: "Oh him? Yeah, he's definitely gone forever." Cool story, L'Rell.
I'm sorry, but I don't buy this "I wish to defect" claim from L'Rell.
I was
sure it was going to be a double bluff at first, i.e. just L'Rell's devious method of getting Cornwell to talk. But by the end she certainly seemed pretty damned sincere in her avowed opposition to Kol, even if she
seemed willing to instantly throw Cornwell under the bus when it became untenable. And...did she do that or not? I'm not sure Cornwell is actually dead. I'm also not sure now that L'Rell (and Voq too) won't
genuinely switch sides and fight with the Feds against Kol. I think it's all up in the air, and that this is quite by design. I found this strand of the episode as confusing and disorientating (without re-watching yet) as others, but I don't think it's just down to sheer sloppiness. We can make guesses at what's happening, but that's it. We won't know until next week. (Or at least, I'm
hoping they won't draw it out over the hiatus! They might though, in which case we'll have a couple months to debate about it some more.) We're
intended not to be able to tell what's false from what's true.
Admiral Cornwell's supposed death is more than bit suspicious, but because I don't buy L'Rell's sincerity, I also can't buy into the notion that it was staged, either
Well, exactly. Cat in a box. Is it dead or alive? At this point, it could still be either. If she
is sincere, then we've also just received confirmation of how convincing she can make a staged fight look. (Remember her fight with Tyler in "Choose Your Pain"?) If she is
not, why exactly did she confide so much in Cornwell only to immediately spook and abort the whole pretense when questioned, and why does she not at least
try to explain to Kol that she was merely attempting to do what he and his goons had been unable to do up to that point (make her talk) just as she'd told him she would in the first place?
Why did L'Rell assume that Kol killed her crewmates?
Because he's running this ship (and outfit) now. Who else would have done it, or had it done? And I agree with others who have said that her horror is not merely at their deaths, but additionally at the treatment (or lack thereof) that their bodies have received.
Huh; apparently I was wrong that the creatures did something to change Saru's behavior, and he went a little bit nuts on his own. Interesting twist on the usual storytelling formula typically used for these kinds of stories in Trek
They removed/suppressed the instinctive fear he had lived with constantly since birth. He liked it, and wanted to remain free of it. I agree it was an interesting twist.
The scene in sickbay between Saru and Burnham was really interesting because it gives us a lot of insight into Saru's character and why he behaves the way he does; it also makes me really want to know more about what led him to join Starfleet in the first place
Agreed there as well. I also think
@Vger23's comment above about this incident likely leading him and Burnham to have greater empathy for and understanding of each other.
* Mary Chieffo has quickly become my favorite Klingon. Aside from the fact that she's clearly much better at speaking in those prosthetics (her dialogue is much more fluid), I like that she's far more complex than many of the other Klingons. She really does believe in honor. Plus, I can't wait until L'Rell kicks Kol's ass.
L'Rell is without question the most charismatic of the Klingons. With all that make-up somehow Chieff is managing to convey much about the character, not just with her voice and words, but also with her eyes. More her, please.
Indeed. She reminds me of Mara in "The Day Of The Dove" (TOS), and it even seems
possible she
might end up playing a similar role in the resolution of the conflict here.
And yet Tyler is scanned and treated at sickbay with no issues whatsoever. No 'heartbeat's all wrong, his body temperature is...' The monitor over his bed - human organs, all where they should be and looking correct. (And what little we see of Saru's monitor shows a totally different anatomy, so they weren't just cut-and-pasting.) The blood coming out of his mouth after Saru belts him - human crimson, not Pepto Bismol pink or even semi-violet. So if he is you-know-who, he hasn't simply had his head ridges and teeth filed down; he is literally in a fully human body, to the point scanners can't pick him up.
Who ever suggested it was something so "simply" superficial? L'Rell said he would have to "sacrifice everything." That doesn't sound like merely his ridges and his teeth, to me.
Darvin's tells may have only been triggered by the tribbles' proximity in the first place. They "seem[ed] to have a tranquilizing effect on the human nervous system" according to Spock, and conversely an
antagonizing effect on the genetically-altered-with-augmented-human-DNA-Klingon nervous system. Darvin had passed as a human up to that point, and then did so again for the next century per "Trials and Tribble-ations" (DS9). Do you find it plausible that he wasn't scanned in all that time, except that once? Did he never use a transporter? Wouldn't it make more sense that this would have been anticipated and
somehow compensated for or circumvented, and the only unforeseen element in play was those troublesome tribbles?
While the particular strain(s) of the Augment virus we saw in "Affliction"/"Divergence" (ENT) did not alter Klingon bio-signs, the story revolved around
altering the virus. There the goal was to
mitigate its effects, but the spies of House Mókai may have quite different goals, and they've now had more than a hundred years to tinker with the concept further. Who knows what results they've come up with in that time? We've certainly seen other mutagenic viruses that transform the subject completely into another species at the genetic level, with the appropriate internal organs and all. It is not so farfetched as it may seem at first blush. See "Extinction" (ENT) and "Favorite Son" (VGR).
The mind-sifter/ripper that Kor had in "Errand Of Mercy" (TOS) was capable of "record[ing] every thought, every bit of knowledge in a man's mind" and leaving the body an "empty" "mental vegetable" that could be a potential vessel for someone else to inhabit. Not to mention assorted other mind/body-swap techniques seen elsewhere in
Trek. This is a long-established thing in the ST universe. The same ST universe where DSC is set.
I can't believe I forgot to mention this during my review, but this whole "Voq is Tyler" theory is officially deader than JFK, because the episode showed us Tyler's all-too-human vital signs.
Dude, I've been
expecting to see
exactly that all along. It's the most straightforward and obvious way (short of seeing Voq dead, which I still expect we
might even see) to allay everyone's suspicions after raising them. Again, mutagenic virus, mind-sifter body swap, or something else that we "never knew possible" as per "The Butcher's Knife..."
To be clear, is your position that not only is he
not Voq, but they have
never wanted us to think he might be any point? I can buy the former but not the latter.
