Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 2x08 - "If Memory Serves"

[Qonundrum]

Everything that happened after "The Cage", including all the various Trek series has been an illusion.

If that's the implication, it's admittedly a clever way for STD to make itself canon as well as one-upping the mindwarping that 'The Cage' as a standalone pilot was putting out. Still, let's see someone do prequels to Shakespares's stories and pull the same stunt. Get the popcorn bucket trolley ready...

 

[StarMan]

Also, I might be alone in this...

Regarding the scene with Spock on the ice planet looking up at the sky just before the Red Angel descended. Did anyone else have a flashback to ST09 (Old Spock watching Vulcan destroyed) and get excited thinking "OMG they're going to tie things together in a... universe splitting... something?". I know it makes zero sense, but it flashed thru my head for a fraction of a second.

 

[drt]

The remastered CGI effects have aged so poorly I think they'd probably look worse than the brief original model shot.

 

[Lord Garth]

In that case the usage of the old effects instead of the remastered effects for the Cage recap was an artistic decision, not a licensing one. Fascinating.

I think using the original effects shots was a much better choice than going with the Remastered. The remastered FX shots for TOS-R are in a gray area. TOS-R's lower-budget mid-'00s effects aren't up to DSC's standards and they're not the retro/vintage effects of the 1960s.

Using anything from TOS-R would've been a half-measure. If you want to go for the old look, you might as well go for the gold, and go with the Old Look. If you want it to look modern, you're better off redoing everything to match Discovery's production values.

I appreciate them not holding back.

 

[Yistaan]

I think using the original effects shots was a much better choice than going with the Remastered. For remastered FX shots for TOS-R are in a gray area. TOS-R's lower-budget mid-'00s effects aren't up to DSC's standards and they're not the retro/vintage effects of the 1960s.

Using anything from TOS-R would've been a half-measure. If you want to go for the old look, you might as well go for the gold, and go with the Old Look. If you want it to look modern, you're better off redoing everything to match Discovery's production values.

I disagree, I as a viewer would have preferred the remastered recap.

The remastered CGI effects have aged so poorly I think they'd probably look worse than the brief original model shot.

Looking at https://trekmovie.com/2009/05/02/tos-remastered-review-of-the-cage-w-video-screeenshots/ , I don't see what's wrong with it.

 

[Lord Garth]

There's nothing wrong with the Enterprise in TOS-R from a technical end. From an artistic end, they wanted the footage in the recap for this episode to look old. They did it on purpose. It's supposed to look old-fashioned.

 

[urbandefault]

"You will always be cold and distant, like a moon somewhere!"

"Vulcan has no moon."

 

[Rahul]

No mention of General Order 7 or the death penalty, even after a recap of "The Cage" and them calling the Prime Directive General Order 1. All they said was "off limits" and "restricted airspace". I'm guessing it's one of those things Disco ignores?

Or it was established in the intervening years?

its likely that this hasn't been fully implemented yet.

I'm glad they ignored the death penalty.
It was just irrelevant plot fluff to hype up the danger of what Spock was doing in The Menagerie.

It also doesn't make much sense. "Don't go there or we'll kill you"? Because in the happy future, the only need for capital punishment is for ill-conceived travel plans.

My personal head-canon has always been - the death penalty was a Talosian illusion!

That, like, of course the Federation doesn't have a death penalty in their books. But that the Talosians made sure everyone approaching their planet thinks they have such a drastic measurement to stop them from going there, as their way of avoiding any confrontation with more powerfull strangers.

 

[Lord Garth]

My personal head-canon has always been - the death penalty was a Talosian illusion!

That, like, of course the Federation doesn't have a death penalty in their books. But that the Talosians made sure everyone approaching their planet thinks they have such a drastic measurement to stop them from going there, as their way of avoiding any confrontation with more powerfull strangers.

I like this. It actually makes sense.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Also, I might be alone in this...

Regarding the scene with Spock on the ice planet looking up at the sky just before the Red Angel descended. Did anyone else have a flashback to ST09 (Old Spock watching Vulcan destroyed) and get excited thinking "OMG they're going to tie things together in a... universe splitting... something?". I know it makes zero sense, but it flashed thru my head for a fraction of a second.

I did think of Delta Vega... I know that's not the only ice planet in the galaxy, but for some reason I want it to be Delta Vega

 

[Bgt]

Can someone please explain to me why the weird camera work and the lighting?
Why we were seeing Saru and Pike walking through fish eye lenses? why all this weird lights flares whatever? Why the angles and the camera tilt? Why all the Federation starships seem so badly lit?
How you cope with this and it doesnt distract you?

Pike is so good that seems to come from a different show. As for the rest..oh well I do not care anymore. I think I will give up trying to like this show. S2 premiere fooled me, this is still the mess it was in S1.

 

[Alan Roi]

I thought she was great! I actually didn't recognize her at first inside the shuttlecraft (she was very shadowed), but later in the cavern I was like, oh wow, that's Melissa George! I've always liked her since Dark City, S3 of "Alias" and 30 Days of Night.

If you haven't seen it I highly recommend her 2012 series, Hunted.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Can someone please explain to me why the weird camera work and the lighting?
Why we were seeing Saru and Pike walking through fish eye lenses? why all this weird lights flares whatever? Why the angles and the camera tilt? Why all the Federation starships seem so badly lit?
How you cope with this and it doesnt distract you?

Ummmm... I think she show is shot beautifully.

 

[Cyrus]

My personal head-canon has always been - the death penalty was a Talosian illusion!

That, like, of course the Federation doesn't have a death penalty in their books. But that the Talosians made sure everyone approaching their planet thinks they have such a drastic measurement to stop them from going there, as their way of avoiding any confrontation with more powerfull strangers.

Makes perfect sense, especially considering that Mendez (who mentioned it) was an illusion.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Surely if General Order 7 wasn't real, Kirk and Spock would have been somewhat "lolwhut?" when it came up. Instead they were cool with it's existence.

 

[Alan Roi]

Can someone please explain to me why the weird camera work and the lighting?
Why we were seeing Saru and Pike walking through fish eye lenses? why all this weird lights flares whatever? Why the angles and the camera tilt? Why all the Federation starships seem so badly lit?
How you cope with this and it doesnt distract you?

I think they were showing us with the fish eye lenses that they were under surveillance, probably the Talosians as a sort of 'monster vision'. As for the rest of the lighting, its cinematic, so yeah, if you watch movies at all and not just old TV style filmmaking its quite enjoyable to watch a Star Trek series filmed like its Wrath of Khan/Undiscovered Country week in week out..

 

[Lonemagpie]

First 10 of the season! Melissa George as Vina! (I asked as a joke last week whod be playing her and was moderately surprised that she appeared!), all that stuff.. And Saru was totally right to allow that Gulber Tyler thing. (I'm going to have to write some analysis of the Gulber back from the dead stuff after the season finished, since some of it's kind of close to home for me) - all great... except for why the fuck is Vulcan's Forge suddenly a part-forested?!

 

[Alan Roi]

except for why the fuck is Vulcan's Forge suddenly a part-forested?!

Somebody planted some seeds? Not unheard of.

 

[urbandefault]

Anybody notice that the predatory creature thing chasing young Michael looked a lot like the one from Delta Vega in ST09?

 

[drt]

Surely if General Order 7 wasn't real, Kirk and Spock would have been somewhat "lolwhut?" when it came up. Instead they were cool with it's existence.

The weird thing about General Order 7 is that it infers there were only 6 previous General Orders when it was established - so either Starfleet is somewhat of a newish organization (which was occasionally hinted at in TOS), or they're constantly revising and renumbering them. Maybe if the latter, not being fully up-to-speed on them could be excused?

I disagree, I as a viewer would have preferred the remastered recap.

Looking at https://trekmovie.com/2009/05/02/tos-remastered-review-of-the-cage-w-video-screeenshots/ , I don't see what's wrong with it.

It looks flat and cartoony to me, but your mileage may vary i guess...

Anybody notice that the predatory creature thing chasing young Michael looked a lot like the one from Delta Vega in ST09?

I liked how it kinda sounded like the le-matya (without exactly copying the Godzilla roar).