Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 2x01 - "Brother"

[Saul]

10 out of 10 for production values.
Not so interested in the story though.

 

[Jadeb]

I never viewed you as a blind hater. On the contrary, I'm not sure anyone (whether I agree or disagree with the opinions being offered) has expressed themselves in a more tempered and balanced way with regard to criticism of the ups-and-downs of S1.

Thank you. This was very kind of you to say.

I really liked this episode. It was extremely entertaining, in a "Star Trek 2009" sort of way. I do feel conflicted about the huge tonal shift, because I did find that unique and refreshing in S1...but since I don't dislike lighter tones either...it doesn't really bother me. In absolute fairness....they really nailed the TOS / JJTrek vibe of humor, wit, and character interplay. For all the action and spectacle, the scene between Tillly and Stamets in Engineering was my favorite.

I have waited until now to offer a rating, and I think I'm going with an "8."

If the plot / story had been a little more involved, and if some of the humor had stuck a better landing (most of it was great...some was trying to hard)...it would have been a "9."

10's are reserved for TOS classics, TWOK, and Berman-era episodes like "Inner Light," "Best of Both Worlds" and "The Visitor."

Solid 8. Best season opener I can remember in a LONG time for the franchise.

I think monotone is one of the big dangers of serialization. What used to be done in a single episode can now span an entire season. I like optimistic Trek, but not every ep should be like "Brother." I wouldn't even want a whole season of that. That said, we've seen that the Discovery folks can do darker stuff, and the trailer suggests some of the season one elements are returning. So hopefully they will be able to strike a good balance.

I also gave the ep an 8. Good stuff.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Her awkward borderline autistic outbursts killed the intensity of the scenes here

You could have just described her behavior as "awkward outbursts" minus the autistic remark and made pretty much the same point.

 

[Mr Awe]

I enjoyed that overall. It definitely got me intrigued about the upcoming season.

The dialog and character interactions early on seemed stiff and unnatural. I hope they can smooth that out. Seemed to get a bit better as the episode went on. I'm not completely sold on the new Pike. While I don't expect an impersonation, I'd like to get a sense of the essence of Pike. For example, Pine felt like Kirk to me even though he wasn't impersonating Shatner. It worked for me. Mount doesn't quite capture it the same way.

Was hoping to see more of the Enterprise. Maybe we will during the season.

 

[Phily B]

I'm watching it now, enjoying it so far, but the science officer death was really lame and how it was played for laughs was dumb, you could see it coming a mile off. Some of the humour is good, but other times it is just jarring Marvel quippy stuff. I like Saru making a joke about his tendril things, but then within the same few minutes you have the bridge crew acting like children and full out panicing for humour. The overall scene was great, but I could really do without all the failed attempts at humour, I'm not really sure where all this snarky humour is coming from in recent years, I remember TLJ had this problem (among a lot of other problems ofc) too.

Sometimes it seems the writers forget it is supposed to be a professional military.

 

[Jackson_Roykirk]

I like her. Also, jet is a badass name for a starship engineer

I know I already replied to this RE: Tig Notaro's name. However. the more I think about the name "Jet Reno" , the more I'm thinking a late-1960's Private Eye who like fast living, fast cars, and fast women...

Jet Reno, A Quinn Martin Production

 

[Tuskin38]

Sometimes it seems the writers forget it is supposed to be a professional military.

A very relaxed military.

 

[XCV330]

I know I already replied to this RE: Tig Notaro's name. However. the more I think about the name "Jet Reno" , the more I'm thinking a late-1960's Private Eye who like fast living, fast cars, and fast women...

Jet Reno, A Quinn Martin Production

This needs a very 1960's paperback art cover

 

[Tuskin38]

I want a Reno novel now

 

[Hythlodeus]

I have the feeling I can't add anything to the discussion other than 'I liked what I saw today'. Pike was surprisingly charming which was a relief since I hadn't any hopes in that regard only knowing the actor from his performance as Black Bolt in Inhumans, which was a very flawed show. The story so far is intriguing and I love that we will see L'Rell again soon.
Stamets finally had time to mourn, now that the imediate danger of the Klingon War and the Mirror Universe episodes is over and I really like how that process was depicted this episode.

 

[Lord Garth]

I had to get up at 3:30 in the morning, a.k.a. Annoying O'Clock, so I'm not quite all there, so these thoughts will just come out at random.

The wacky Spock/Burnham speculation isn't even something I want to humor. I happen to know siblings who are estranged, who refuse to have anything to do with each other PERIOD and you-know-what never happened. And that would seem way out of tone with this season. So I think whatever fall-out there was between Spock and Burnham is something else.

I like the engineer who kept everyone alive, Reno. I hope she's around for more episodes.

I love the roll call on the bridge when Pike wants to get to know the crew and when he points out he wants chairs in the Ready Room. I never thought about how Lorca made everyone stand until he brought it up.

I love the "Space, the final frontier" beginning. Not the way I thought they'd start the season. At first because of the style of the visuals, I thought it was an extended part of the new intro.

Sarek and Amanda's residence reminds me of Baltar's home on Capira in Battlestar Galactica. Love the dragons.

I like Spock's quarters on the Enterprise. They made it look I don't want to say earthy, so I'll say vulcany.

 

[Tuskin38]

Could Pike’s engineer be a Barzan?

http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Barzan

 

[Hythlodeus]

Could Pike’s engineer be a Barzan?

http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Barzan

Bing of the Bungle?

 

[Vger23]

Thank you. This was very kind of you to say.



I think monotone is one of the big dangers of serialization. What used to be done in a single episode can now span an entire season. I like optimistic Trek, but not every ep should be like "Brother." I wouldn't even want a whole season of that. That said, we've seen that the Discovery folks can do darker stuff, and the trailer suggests some of the season one elements are returning. So hopefully they will be able to strike a good balance.

I also gave the ep an 8. Good stuff.

Agree on the "monotone" concern 100%. One of the absolute best, most appealing things about Star Trek was always that episodes like "Trouble with Tribbles," "Balance of Terror" and "City on the Edge" (or films like TWOK and TVH) could all be considered equally as classics...but be completely different in terms of tone and approach.

I hope this season offers that kind of presentation. It's really part of what makes Trek so awesome.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Discovery got some personality in the offseason, and what a difference that makes. This episode was great. In fact, if they had started the series with this episode, I would have been really really excited. Now that cautious optimism has increased a little bit.

Detmer and Owosekun could be the dynamic duo. Loved them working together.

I'll give it a B+

By the way, I was looking at the credits and it looks like they recast Sarah Mitich. I talked to her at the convention in Las Vegas and she is no longer Airiam.

It's different than Season 1, they addressed something I was wondering about, it has me wondering about what's ahead. Pike is a great Captain. The beginning of the episode was a different way to start the season.

Don't have time to say much more. An early day ahead of me tomorrow. But I give it an 8.

I definitely get the impression that Orville's unexpected success as a viable modern-day space opera has influenced this season's cadence. It proved that Disco show-runners could do subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) comedic moments to lighten the overall tone without taking themselves too seriously and breaking the narrative. We saw the first indication of this with the first trailer, showing the sneezing Saurian. I still find Burnham a bit uninteresting and ponderous to watch, particularly her intro narration. Trying to be a little too deep and philosophical all the time. Yeah, she was raised on Vulcan and that's kind of her thing, but it's still kind of stodgy, IMO. All the other characters supremely rock, though, even the secondary ones. The Disco-era Pike may go up there as one of Trek's all-time greatest Captains. He sure is for me.

 

[Jadeb]

I'm watching it now, enjoying it so far, but the science officer death was really lame and how it was played for laughs was dumb, you could see it coming a mile off. Some of the humour is good, but other times it is just jarring Marvel quippy stuff. I like Saru making a joke about his tendril things, but then within the same few minutes you have the bridge crew acting like children and full out panicing for humour. The overall scene was great, but I could really do without all the failed attempts at humour, I'm not really sure where all this snarky humour is coming from in recent years, I remember TLJ had this problem (among a lot of other problems ofc) too.

Sometimes it seems the writers forget it is supposed to be a professional military.

The death was predictable, yeah. But I liked that he and Burnham rubbed each other the wrong way. That was an unusual dynamic for Trek, and I thought it was believable. It was also kinda meta, considering Burnham seems to rub some of the audience the wrong way. (Read into the show killing him what you will.)

I know I already replied to this RE: Tig Notaro's name. However. the more I think about the name "Jet Reno" , the more I'm thinking a late-1960's Private Eye who like fast living, fast cars, and fast women...

Jet Reno, A Quinn Martin Production

Or an attorney general?

 

[Jackson_Roykirk]

I'm watching it now, enjoying it so far, but the science officer death was really lame and how it was played for laughs was dumb, you could see it coming a mile off.

I do admit that once they got going through that asteroid field, it was obvious that Connolly wasn't going to make it back. However, before they started, I thought it would be Nhan who would die.

Having said that, in retrospect I think the show was giving us a little misdirection with Nhan, putting her in a red shirt, and even have Pike mention the red shirt when he said:

"Get your red shirt into an EV suit, Nhan. You're with us."​

Looking back, I should have seen this intentional misdirection by the writers.

 

[XCV330]

strangely one of my favorite bits this episode was just rollcall. The bridge crew gets to introduce themselves and it's not awkward, its actually nice. I thought it was a little funny that even though Pike specifically did not want ranks. Airyam gave hers anyway.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I want a Reno novel now

Written by Peter David

 

[Tuskin38]

Trek Core posted this helpful image showing where Sarah Mitch was in the episode (on the left). This shot was in the first or second S2 trailer I believe, and at least one person on this forum pointed it out back then, but no one really commented on it.