Spoilers Star Trek: Short Treks 1x03 - "The Brightest Star"

I'm wondering if the black goo-y aliens in the season 2-trailer are actually the Ba'ul, or if these are another entity (like the anti-red angels) and the Ba'ul a more familiar/more "regular" humanoid alien species?

 

Since Saru is forbidden to return to his home planet, I'm guessing whatever ship Saru is on runs into the B'aul pickup ship and finds his sister on there. He rescues her but she wants to return home, as opposed to Saru leaving his home planet.

 

She was spotted on an alien ship in the newest trailer, so I think you might be right.

 

Might be Georgiou masquerades as a Ba'ul and performs a rescue mission in order to win the hearts and minds of the heroes (and to have fun slaughtering Ba'ul with her trusty gun drone)?

Timo Saloniemi

 

Just now watched this.

The production and setting was very cool. The problem is this story deserves an entire episode, not a 15 minute short.

They had to tie things up too quickly at the end. I also dislike that it was Georgiou that showed up. It makes the universe feel too small. Michelle Yeoh's stiff acting didn't help either.

It was still decent overall. Better than Runaway, not as good as Calypso.

 

That seems pretty likely, my big question is whether it all somehow ties into the Red Angel story, or if that's a side story that splits off at some point.

 

I think we learned early on in Season 1 that Georgiou and Saru have a lengthy history already.
I see no problem with her being the one to find and help him.
It certainly explains why the only Kelpian in StarFleet is on her ship.

 

Does Saru on the ship eat synthesized Kelp in Starfleet, or does he still grow his own in an unused swimming pool on Discovery?

 

One would imagine since Discovery is a rather Large Science Ship, that there is probably an extensive Botany/Hydroponics Lab in which he could grow enough kelp to be satiated.
And perhaps he's developed a taste for other leafy veggies.

 

Depending on how advanced the Ba'ul are, if you want to enslave a large enough group, you control their food, or get their food to control them.

 

I always thought he eats what the rest of the crew eats. There's no reason Kelpiens couldn't eat human food, is there? On Kaminar, they eat it because it's readily available and easy to harvest. On a ship, of course that wouldn't apply.

In fact, aren't there a few scenes where we see Saru drinking tea or coffee?

The Ba'ul don't enslave the Kelpiens, they eat them. So it would be in the Ba'ul's best interests to ensure the Kelpiens get all the food they need or want.

 

Yes. He salts his tea, which suggests that either for biological or cultural reasons he has a high-salt diet.

He also munches blueberries.

 

Michael Garibaldi criminally grew coffee in the air-filtration garden on Babylon 5. It's a question of like vs. need. If he likes it, then he's probably shit out of luck, but if he needs it because of addiction or genetic dependence... The computer can probably still synthesize Kelp easlier the Saru can grow kelp.

You don't think delicious cows and chickens are slaves?

The Kelpiens seem to be free range, but if they walk far enough, they'll find a barbed wire electric fence around their village.

Hey?

What if the Baul are really-really damn small?

Like 3 inches tall small.

So small that one Kelpien could keep a hundred Baul nourished, and probably engorged for a month.

 

It kind of reminded me of "The Island" except the Kelpians here know exactly what was going to happen to them. As i said re Calypso in that thread, I really enjoyed the emotion and "feeling" this episode brought in the same vein as some of the better Trek episodes. Those are always the episodes that stand out the most for me whether there is a lot of action or not.

 

So the Kelpien language was created by Mark Okrand.

Some of you may know that name, but for those who don't, he created the Klingon language.

https://twitter.com/extspace/status/1082358448916844544?s=21

 

Am I the only one that doesn't consider the Kelpians as a food source? Why would any oppressor eat a race capable of work?
Why eat a perfect slave labor force?

I liked the episode but disagree with the interpretation of the Prime Directive. Saru made first contact and asked for help.

The species was contaminated already by alien technology and horrendously exploited at that. The Federation by not intervening is complicit in slavery at best and in mass murder at worst.

Saru should literally take a Discovery shuttle, go home and just joyride though every village with loudspeakers blaring,

"The balance is horseshit! The Ba'ul are little players in the stars! Rise up and fight, ask the Romulans for help!"

Wonder what the Federation Prime Directive lawyers would say about the natural development of the species then.

 

They taste good?

 

Slavery doesn't work so well if you have to hire almost as many workers as slaves to keep the slaves orderly.

 

We have seen that slavery is fine for smallish schemes, conducted under the radar at unlikely locations. Most of our examples of that have ended in the perishing of the schemers, though - but that may be observer bias, as successful abductors of slave labor might leave no traces once their operation concludes.

Brief time windows might be the key to success there, and Kaminar isn't that kind of an operation. Also, getting the slaves in compact little batches may be superior to trying to organize an ongoing slave trade. But the risking-getting-caught disadvantages of constant harvesting ought to be present in the Kelpian/Ba'ul case as well - except who'd do the catching? Slavers may face generic competition, but possibly Kelpians are an acquired taste and few would wish to partake.

Timo Saloniemi

 

Maybe Saru is a fan of Japanese seaweed salads.