Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 2x09 - "Project Daedalus"

[Gepard]

She was built up to have an important role of some kind

We were also told she'd be wheelchair-bound, that this season would explore "science vs. faith," and that Spock would be discussed but never seen. And I'm 100% convinced, based in dialog in New Eden, that the old showrunners were setting up the rumored Devout Christian Pike before they got fired.

Plans change. Especially when the staff keep getting replaced every five episodes.

 

[Lord Garth]

That's the sort of character risk I do want, though. It's feeling like we're in the old Trek status quo, where the main characters are never really in danger.

Hmmmm.

I don't think this episode is that type of episode.

 

[Shon T'Hara]

Certainly an intentional homage? Same face and everything...

So Airiam's death scene is an obvious TWOK homage, the bit with the gravity boots and floating blood is TUC, and the flying mines Galaxy Quest. Surely there must be a Sha ka Ree and V'ger reference in here too.

 

[Jadeb]

I mean, fundamentally the emotional beats in this have the same issue as the Burnham/Saru relationship in An Obol for Charon. They're just not earned. With a bit more planning - you know, serialization - they could have laid the groundwork for this episode working better by showing Airiam socializing with the rest of the crew and the like. But they didn't, which makes it seem like Michelle Paradise essentially pulled the story out of a hat.

Yeah, all it would have taken was to work her a little more into the earlier eps this season. They could have had her go on that away mission in Brother, for example. Or show her interacting with Tilly. Instead of contrived flashbacks, use that screen time more effectively,

 

[Jadeb]

Hmmmm.

I don't think this episode is that type of episode.

I want every episode to be that type of episode. When something big happens, we shouldn't see it coming. Real characters, real consequences.

 

[eschaton]

Yeah, all it would have taken was to work her a little more into the earlier eps this season. They could have had her go on that away mission in Brother, for example. Or show her interacting with Tilly, Instead of contrived flashbacks, use that screen time more effectively,

I mean, the good news is - as I said - if you ignore the earlier lack of planning, the episode is pretty good. And it was written by Michelle Paradise, who will now be the showrunner. This makes me have hope that the show will learn to plan out its emotional beats better in the future.

 

[Gilora]

Well, that makes two episodes in a row where I teared up.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

By DS9's time no one batted an eye at using mines but in this episode it was presented as illegal. At least I don't remember anyone raising moral objections to the mining of the wormhole.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Heh... not to mention self-replicating and cloaking mines.

 

[GNDN18]

If you experience a four-part story arc please consult your script doctor.

 

[Lord Garth]

I want every episode to be that type of episode. When something big happens, we shouldn't see it coming.

If you want to kill off a main character, episode 9 out of 14 isn't the place to do it. And furthermore, they're probably not done with Tilly's story yet. If you don't like Tilly, I can see you not wanting to see more. I'm interested in seeing her grow and be someone that Burnham and Stamets can talk to.

I like the characters. Some of you don't. That's the difference. So, if they hypothetically did kill her off, I'd prefer they did it in an episode that had more weight to it than something like this one, which is somewhere in the middle where the main focus is getting us from one part of the mystery to the next. Tilly's death would've distracted from the reveal that Control has been calling all the shots.

We'll agree to disagree. Largely because I think this argument is nothing more than an argument for its own sake. Tilly is the most optimistic character in the show. That you're rooting for her to be killed off is, frankly, surprising. Anyone complaining about killing off Ariam instead of Tilly is complaining about what they would have rather have had the story be about than what it actually was. "It's not what I want" isn't the same as "It's not any good."

This episode stood on its own as a self-contained piece. We got to know a little bit more about Ariam and it served as a bookend to what happened at the end. That's being episodic within a serialized narrative and doing both.

 

[STR]

So Airiam's death scene is an obvious TWOK homage, the bit with the gravity boots and floating blood is TUC, and the flying mines Galaxy Quest. Surely there must be a Sha ka Ree and V'ger reference in here too.

Eh, yeah, the ear slap was pure Kirk homage, but everything fits with the story. The blood and bodies aren't anything you won't see on The Expanse.

 

[XCV330]

Heh... in saying that, she pretty much, at the same time, told the Disco crew that they suck. Pretty strange thing to say about a ship with the unique ability to travel anywhere in the universe instantaneously that was ostensibly the tip of the spear during the Klingon War. Enterprise couldn’t do that.

Her boyfriend was in charge of Discovery. She wanted him where she could visit now and then.

 

[Shon T'Hara]

Mechanical can just be as bad. I’ve seen enough sci fi to know so.

The problem is, if the Feds ban cybernetic enhancements, what happens when they meet the Bynars? "Sorry guys, you seem like a swell race, but your very e existence violates our laws. See ya."

 

[Jadeb]

I mean, the good news is - as I said - if you ignore the earlier lack of planning, the episode is pretty good. And it was written by Michelle Paradise, who will now be the showrunner. This makes me have hope that the show will learn to plan out its emotional beats better in the future.

I had the opposite reaction -- fear the new showrunner shares the same problems as the old ones. I would hope this is the sort of thing she would know to avoid. But maybe she had an assignment to get from point A to point B and did the best she could. Hard to tell with serialized storytelling.

In fairness, my reaction may be magnified by my hopes and expectations. There wasn't much here I'd like to see more of down the line.

 

[Vger23]

I must admit, I am definitely hoping that there is more to all this than just a Terminator/Matrix/Cylons/HAL-9000 man vs AI conflict.

 

[Tim Thomason]

With Airiam being obviously possessed (showcased in the previously), and the heavy focus on her background and friendships in the beginning of the episode, it seemed so plain to me that she wasn't going to survive the episode.

So plain that I assumed they were subverting expectations, and they would wind up saving her somehow at the very last second. I still have alot of questions.

Like:
1. Why did Airiam disable her helmet? Everyone knows you're evil half the time, they could just beam you to the brig and work on cleaning out your consciousness.
2. They said earlier they had a lock on everyone. Did I miss a line where Control messed up the transporter lock? Just transport Airiam (and Nhan when push comes to choke) out of there at the first sign of sh*tstorm.
3. Okay, you can't transport off the station for some reason. Surely you could've transported Airiam when she was jettisoned into open space after a second or a half? Transport her to sickbay or a special pressure chamber.

 

[Vger23]

I had the opposite reaction -- fear the new showrunner shares the same problems as the old ones. I would hope this is the sort of thing she would know to avoid. But maybe she had an assignment to get from point A to point B and did the best she could. Hard to tell with serialized storytelling.

In fairness, my reaction may be magnified by my hopes and expectations. There wasn't much here I'd like to see more of down the line,

I think that's really the deal. This Airiam / Control thing has been set up for several episodes now, so it was clearly part of the overall planned arc. I don't think it was Paradise's solo call by any means.

 

[JKM]

Did anyone else notice that Spock's ears were done right? Or am I just that nerdy that it only made me excited? I don't remember seeing the curve in that last episode, I think Peck's hair was covering most of them. I was so annoyed in Beyond when they got his ears wrong. It stuck out to me and made him look more like an Elf than a Vulcan, not to mention made me sad for Nimoy since he was always so particular about how they should look and you would think they'd remember that as he was so particular about it in the 09 film and in STID. I remember watching a clip with JJ talking about it.

 

[Jadeb]

If you want to kill off a main character, episode 9 out of 14 isn't the place to do it. And furthermore, they're probably not done with Tilly's story yet. If you don't like Tilly, I can see you not wanting to see more. I'm interested in seeing her grow and be someone that Burnham and Stamets can talk to.

I like the characters. Some of you don't. That's the difference. So, if they hypothetically did kill her off, I'd prefer they did it in an episode that had more weight to it than something like this one, which is somewhere in the middle.

We'll agree to disagree. Largely because I think this argument is nothing more than an argument for its own sake. Tilly is the most optimistic character in the show. That you're rooting for her to be killed off is, frankly, surprising.

Anyone complaining about killing off Ariam instead of Tilly is complaining about what they would have rather have had the story be about than what it actually was.

Sorry, I don't mean I want Tilly, in specific, to be killed off. I'm saying the death of a character as established as Tilly would have carried much more weight -- weight that could have existed for Ariam if they'd spent a little more time on her earlier.

I will disagree about your first sentence. Death shouldn't be saved for finales and redshirts of the week.