Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 1x10 - "Despite Yourself"

[Amaris]

The blocks cannot fight back.

That's what they want you to think.
Seriously, though, I'm not a fan of the MU either, because it is so far fetched, so campy, and feels so silly to me. This episode, though, felt more like the Terran Empire was the Roman Empire on a galactic scale, except when the Goths attacked, Rome won.

 

[cultcross]

Based on ENT mirror humanity was corrupt from the get go , however they would never make a Terran empire from such a position of physical and technological inferiority, especially after a World War. If they are that evil they should be no one left on the planet except Cochrane and his gang of thugs. It seems only humans are evil and Vulcans are the same but a Mirror Solkar should have come off a ship or blasted the whole planet from orbit for Vulcans to colonise.

This is the problem with putting 'mirror universe' and 'should' in the same sentence.

 

[CRM-114]

I didn't watch last night's episode, but having heard about the new uniforms, I had to Google them.

My first thought was, "Oh. come on!" Then, I had to laugh.

 

[Nyotarules]

This was quite possibly the best episode yet and I really enjoyed it. There had been some foreshadowing, a few things were quite predictable and it was far from perfect (as @Nyotarules writes, the premise for the Terran Empire is silly, but Enterprise is to blame for that), but as I've been quite harsh, I rate this episode a 10.

I liked it so much I am going home to watch it again! Despite DISC taking the serious route for me this is my version of Carry on Star Trek

 

[mattyhugh]

I could be wrong, but I get the idea that Mirror Kira was a vamp initially because Nana Visitor wanted to play her that way to contrast her with the uptight, abrasive Prime Kira.

Perhaps, which in a vacuum makes sense.
The MU became an excuse to show the casts range.
But whatever the genesis, the way it’s coded in retrospect isn’t awesome.

 

[Nyotarules]

That's what they want you to think.
Seriously, though, I'm not a fan of the MU either, because it is so far fetched, so campy, and feels so silly to me. This episode, though, felt more like the Terran Empire was the Roman Empire on a galactic scale, except when the Goths attacked, Rome won.

Nah this is the case of the Arawaks in Jamaica beat Columbus and his crew and colonised Europe and eventually the whole world...Yeah that concept is completely believable right????

 

[eschaton]

Perhaps, which in a vacuum makes sense.
The MU became an excuse to show the casts range.
But whatever the genesis, the way it’s coded in retrospect isn’t awesome.

It was also heavily implied in one episode that Mirror Garak is more openly bisexual than his Prime counterpart (and Mirror Worf is apparently very homophobic).

 

[Amaris]

Nah this is the case of the Arawaks in Jamaica beat Columbus and his crew and colonised Europe and eventually the whole world...Yeah that concept is completely believable right????

Well, theoretically speaking, there must be a universe out there where the natives won, whether it be due to plague, probability, or providence. That's what we get to see here, and the end result of that possibility playing out.

 

[GeekUSACarl]

Explain how Solkar's ship gets boarded and how the humans figure out how to fly it to Vulcan and read Vulcan in the first place? And get past Vulcan defenses with the one ship?

Well shit you got me there.

 

[Blooded]

Yet the Kelvin timeline of the same decade has TOS-style miniskirts. Go figure.

Different universe, innit

 

[guyute03]

I'm amazed images of the Mirror uniforms didn't leak months and months ago.
Bravo for that.

 

[Long Syntax]

If you're going to make shallow remarks about an actress's appearance then you should be prepared to get some pushback on it and just take it without getting indignant. The fact that you keep arguing with anyone who calls you on it makes me think that you crave the conflict and deliberately set out to provoke those reactions in the first place, which is trolling. Knock it off. Or, better yet, don't make the shallow remarks at all!

Just itching to boot me, huh. Anyway, Happy New Year LOB!

 

[Fateor]

It's now part of an agenda and redefining beauty standards (as if there's one objective standard to uphold) to show normal looking people with normal flaws or differences in appearance in Trek? Good grief.

That's a bit amusing given when normal people have warts they go to a dermatologist and have the things removed.

 

[shapeshifter]

To live again!

I gave ITFIG a ten thinking that was probably as good as it was ever gonna get but I was dead wrong! 30 minutes in the Agony Booth for me.

10!

 

[Balok's Decoy]

That's a bit amusing given when normal people have warts they go to a dermatologist and have the things removed.

It's a mole. And it doesn't matter either way. Enough already.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I'm amazed images of the Mirror uniforms didn't leak months and months ago.
Bravo for that.

Without the blingy armour, they're black versions of the regular uniforms. There were pics of a black uniform (with regular badge) doing the rounds months ago. Everyone was sure it was poor colour correction on the photos.

 

[Burning Hearts of Qo'nos]

What a fun episode! I didn't expect to find about about Ash so succinctly in such a short time, but I guess crazy theories for the win this round. I'm really, really curious to see where they go with his character. I'm guessing there's going to be quite a bit of drama in that area. Maybe it'll come down to Ash wanting to preserve himself over Voq, and we get to keep him? Maybe?

Wasn't prepared for the Dr. Culber scene. I was dreading what was about to happen as soon as Ash was speaking to him. I kept yelling, 'Raise a forcefield, fool!' during that scene. Like, how could you not prepare for that? And he was being so menacing about delivering the news to Ash. But I figured Ash would just knock him out. I was shocked and a bit outraged when he was killed. Really hoping all that stuff they said about him not being 100% gone on After Trek is true. At this point, I don't think I'd be satisfied with how it turns out unless Staments himself reaches his arm through time and pulls Culber out to safety. I didn't wait a lifetime for a healthy gay couple on Star Trek just to have it taken away in 10 episodes!

LOVED Captain Tilly. Also, "Killy" got a laugh out of me, and probably anyone that has read the manga BLAM! I had been hoping since Stamets called her captain a few episodes back that she would in fact be ISS DIscovery's captain. But I wasn't expecting Badass Captain Burnham at the end!

And I agree with the posters that have mentioned what a nice twist on the evil-alternate-universe trope Discovery is using by having our prime characters masquerading as their evil counterparts rather than interacting with their actual evil counterparts. A lot of feelings of danger and tension.

But most of all, I love how over the top the evil of the mirror universe is depicted. Especially in the current political climate as far as how... certain groups... are doing their thing, this episode had very much an awesome "DON'T BE LIKE THESE ASSSHOLES" message.

Jonathan Frakes and Discovery delivered this week. Unfortunately the TV I was watching it on had reduced motion blur on it so everything was hyper crisp. I don't know how many people watch the show like this, but it makes it look DAMN campy and silly looking. I'm going to rewatch it on a TV with that turned off later tonight.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Explain how Solkar's ship gets boarded and how the humans figure out how to fly it to Vulcan and read Vulcan in the first place? And get past Vulcan defenses with the one ship?

My bullshit off the top of my head answer:

Humans had secretly been expecting the Vulcan return ever since the Carbon Creek incident of 1957, which resulted in the United Nations of Terra capturing a Vulcan spy named Mestral and interrogating him until they could extract as much information about Vulcan as possible, including details about their language, technology, and society. The next time they returned, they vowed to be prepared.

That chance came in 2063, when Terran military scientist Zefram Cochrane, knowing that the Vulcans made contact with fledgling warp capable cultures, built the ISS Phoenix with the help of that reverse engineered Vulcan knowledge, and launched during one of the rare sweeps the Vulcans made through Sector 001 according to Mestral. The Vulcans, detecting the launch, landed at the site in the spirit of peace and exploration, and were quickly overwhelmed by a force of Terran commandos posing as disheveled refugees. Even with their advanced technology, the small Vulcan crew was no match for the Terran element of surprise and foreknowledge of what to expect.

Using the Vulcan ship to further refine their warp technology, the United Terran Space Probe Agency launches the Friendship One Probe in 2067 to Vulcan with a message of peace, saying that they have their missing crew alive and well. Little did the Vulcans know that the probe actually housed a genetically targeted biological weapon reverse engineered from those prisoners that would spread among the Vulcan population and kill them en masse. The virus was slow acting so its source was not immediately apparent and it was able to spread across the entire planet before becoming symptomatic. Some Vulcans suspected the Terrans but there was no proof until it was too late.

What remaining survivors there were among the Vulcans were subjugated by the follow-on ISS Conestoga troop transport landing Terran Marines and ground vehicles on Vulcan. Some Vulcan ships got away and formed a rebel force, but the Terrans now had a small fleet of their own vessels outfitted with Vulcan derived warp drives and weapons to hold them off while the Empire gained strength and conquered more territory.

 

[marsh8472]

They didn't show tummys for the female officers

 

[Nyotarules]

My bullshit off the top of my head answer:

Humans had secretly been expecting the Vulcan return ever since the Carbon Creek incident of 1957, which resulted in the United Nations of Terra capturing a Vulcan spy named Mestral and interrogating him until they could extract as much information about Vulcan as possible, including details about their language, technology, and society. The next time they returned, they vowed to be prepared.

That chance came in 2063, when Terran military scientist Zefram Cochrane, knowing that the Vulcans made contact with fledgling warp capable cultures, built the ISS Phoenix with the help of that reverse engineered Vulcan knowledge, and launched during one of the rare sweeps the Vulcans made through Sector 001 according to Mestral. The Vulcans, detecting the launch, landed at the site in the spirit of peace and exploration, and were quickly overwhelmed by a force of Terran commandos posing as disheveled refugees. Even with their advanced technology, the small Vulcan crew was no match for the Terran element of surprise and foreknowledge of what to expect.

Using the Vulcan ship to further refine their warp technology, the United Terran Space Probe Agency launches the Friendship One Probe in 2067 to Vulcan with a message of peace, saying that they have their missing crew alive and well. Little did the Vulcans know that the probe actually housed a genetically targeted biological weapon reverse engineered from those prisoners that would spread among the Vulcan population and kill them en masse. The virus was slow acting so its source was not immediately apparent and it was able to spread across the entire planet before becoming symptomatic. Some Vulcans suspected the Terrans but there was no proof until it was too late.

What remaining survivors there were among the Vulcans were subjugated by the follow-on ISS Conestoga troop transport landing Terran Marines and ground vehicles on Vulcan. Some Vulcan ships got away and formed a rebel force, but the Terrans now had a small fleet of their own vessels outfitted with Vulcan derived warp drives and weapons to hold them off while the Empire gained strength and conquered more territory.

And the Terrans were augmented so were as Strong as the Vulcans. OK I like it!