Series Rewatch Leading Up to Season 3

[tomalak301]

Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad

I think this was the first episode of Discovery I really really liked. I'm always a sucker for the Groundhog day type episodes (Cause and Effect), even though I think a recent episode of Agents of Shield has it beat. I think one of the things I'm focusing on more during this rewatch is if the show is done through Burnham's eyes, then I'm trying to imagine the show as Burnham, if that makes any sense. We're seeing her relationships, specifically with Tyler and Phillipa, and her chemistry with Stamets was actually pleasantly surprising. However, the star of this episode was Stamets and Harry Mudd. I hated Mudd in the original series, but I really liked what Discovery did with him here. In fact, I think it's a missed opportunity that we didn't see Mudd in Season 2 (I plan to see Escape artist again after I finish season 1, so it's been a while) because he could easily become Discovery's Q character. His scenes with Lorca were great, especially the scene where he's Killing Lorca over and over. As for the Groundhog day plot, the only thing that might have been a little out of place is the music used for the rave, but again, I go back to Burnham's interpersonal relationships and the Rave was pretty nicely used to tell that side of the story.

 

[ananta]

I left it too late to rewatch the whole series, but I have enough time to rewatch season two. First time I’ve seen it since it aired, and I felt “Brother” and “New Eden” were both excellent and beautifully executed, displaying a newfound confidence and assuredness. I forgot how fond I am of the cast, easily my favourite Trek cast since DS9. And I also forgot how much I love Anson Mount as Pike. And heck, he is so utterly gorgeous and charismatic. if I wasn’t gay already I probably would be now

 

[tomalak301]

I watched Into the Forest I go and Despite Yourself last night. One of the things I think Star Trek fans tend to forget is these shows should be entertaining. You hear podcasts or go to conventions and everything gets bogged down by the whole social commentary aspect of the franchise and how it's "supposed to reflect modern times". That's true to a point, but sometimes I just want to be entertained and the Jump sequence from Into the Forest I go still might be the best scene in the Kurtsman era. I loved how unrelenting that scene was and like the spore drive or not, that was probably the best use of that entire storyline. Also, what it did to Stamets and how Lorca used Stamets curiosity to carry out that plan. The more I pay attention to Lorca during this rewatch, the more I do see the hints of him being from the Mirror Universe. Ok, so that was all planned from the get go and that's fine (Personally, when I'm watching things for the first time I don't really go seek out interviews for fear of spoilers) but I just wish they carried this kind of development all the way through rather than just making him the mustache twirling villain.

Despite Yourself is an episode I've gained a lot more love for over the three years. Every storyline here is pretty good, with Tyler realizing who he is and I loved Tilly's transformation. However, I still question the writers motives of killing off Culber, when they were so in favor of having a healthy same sex relationship in Star Trek. Considering when I watched Orphan Black and had to deal with the whole Bury your Gays troupe when a girlfriend of a main character was thought to have been killed off and we spend the whole season wondering, I do find this trope to be bordering on Cliche. Maybe I should blame Buffy for starting it with Tara. It seems to happen a lot. I'm not saying it shouldn't happen because the danger should be real to everyone, but if you say things like having pride in having a same sex relationship and really boasting about it, then make it happen and give the audience a few seasons to enjoy it. Despite the Culber stuff though, this episode was great. I'm even starting to really understand Burnham more during this watch as well. They really did a nice job tackling the psychology of having to play an evil version of yourself. In fact, even with Ash's PTSD, they are tackling the human condition really well, and that's one of the things that sold me on Trek to begin with, Not the social commentary, but the human condition.

 

[DigificWriter]

Two things:
1) The creative decision that was made re: Culber's fate in Season 1 was not motivated in a negative way by the character's sexual orientation

2) We know that Wilson Cruz knew exactly what Culber's Season 1 fate was going to be when he signed on to portray the character and was also fully aware that it wasn't the end of the "Culmets" storyline in any way

 

[tomalak301]

Two things:
1) The creative decision that was made re: Culber's fate in Season 1 was not motivated in a negative way by the character's sexual orientation

2) We know that Wilson Cruz knew exactly what Culber's Season 1 fate was going to be when he signed on to portray the character and was also fully aware that it wasn't the end of the "Culmets" storyline in any way

Maybe not, but the message it sent, especially coming off the heals of other TV "gay" deaths, left me wondering what the motivation was.

 

[DigificWriter]

CBS anticipated the negative reaction and quickly addressed it via Cruz himself, though.

Having said that, I've just found evidence that Cruz might not have in fact known that the character's death was pre-planned when he signed on for the role, but he had ultimately been told that it was part of a larger story by the time Despite Yourself aired.

 

[Campe]

Yeah, the Culber arc, regardless if his death was preplanned or not, didn't work for me. I'm glad he ultimately lives because I really do like the Stamets/Culber relationship, but the whole death/rebirth thing just didn't work for me personally. Loved the aftermath of "Am I still the same guy?" though.

 

[fireproof78]

I personally found it incredibly interesting because it allowed more exploration of the spores themselves.

 

[DigificWriter]

I just rewatched If Memory Serves, and it's a tremendous testament to the talent of the DSC writing staff that they were able to craft an episode that is a direct sequel to The Cage and yet still works for any viewer - such as myself - who's never seen that episode.

 

[ananta]

I just rewatched If Memory Serves, and it's a tremendous testament to the talent of the DSC writing staff that they were able to craft an episode that is a direct sequel to The Cage and yet still works for any viewer - such as myself - who's never seen that episode.

That episode was utterly beautiful, can’t wait to rewatch it.

 

[Isaac Lawrence]

I just rewatched If Memory Serves, and it's a tremendous testament to the talent of the DSC writing staff that they were able to craft an episode that is a direct sequel to The Cage and yet still works for any viewer - such as myself - who's never seen that episode.

My fourth favorite Star Trek episode ever (in all of Star Trek because the Discovery episodes top my list)

"The Vulcan Hello"
"Battle at the Binary Stars"
"Light and Shadows"
"If Memory Serves"
"Calypso"

The "Light and Shadows" and "If Memory Serves" combo is just so good to me.

 

[tomalak301]

That episode was utterly beautiful, can’t wait to rewatch it.

Same here. That was the perfect sequel to The Cage and I didn't think The Cage needed one.

 

[tomalak301]

I watched up to where Lorca dies and they get back to the prime universe. On a review site I follow, there was a comment that really made me think, and it was was Lorca always a good guy. The show doesn’t portray him as a good guy, but who would you rather be loyal to:

Lorca was an opportunist and a bit xenophobic. He had mental issues, but he was winning the Klingon War, thus keeping the Federation afloat. Also the crew was loyal to him.

Contrast that with Phillipa who wiped out a planet, ate Kelpian, almost killed Burnham a few times, and was a ruthless dictator. Also, when they return to the prime universe, the Federation is on the brink of losing the War. Personally if it was a choice of the two, I might want to take my chances with Lorca.

I am finding I am liking the show more this time around. I still feel like season 1 is a little disjointed, but there are more things I’m noticing this time around I like than before.

 

[fireproof78]

Personally if it was a choice of the two, I might want to take my chances with Lorca.

And that's the point is that Burnham ends up siding with a ghost from her past which is ultimately a mistake.

 

[Lord Garth]

I watched up to where Lorca dies and they get back to the prime universe. On a review site I follow, there was a comment that really made me think, and it was was Lorca always a good guy. The show doesn’t portray him as a good guy, but who would you rather be loyal to:

Lorca was an opportunist and a bit xenophobic. He had mental issues, but he was winning the Klingon War, thus keeping the Federation afloat. Also the crew was loyal to him.

Contrast that with Phillipa who wiped out a planet, ate Kelpian, almost killed Burnham a few times, and was a ruthless dictator. Also, when they return to the prime universe, the Federation is on the brink of losing the War. Personally if it was a choice of the two, I might want to take my chances with Lorca.

I am finding I am liking the show more this time around. I still feel like season 1 is a little disjointed, but there are more things I’m noticing this time around I like than before.

Glad you like DSC more this time around.

On the point of Lorca: if Lorca was married to Mirror Georgiou (or at least with her) and helped raise Mirror Burnham, it's fair to say he probably ate Kelpian too and was also ruthless.

I think Lorca is a chameleon. He knew how to act when he was in the Prime Universe. Discovery was a means to an end to get back to the Mirror Universe. He knew the Spore Drive had the potential to travel through universes. He says everything he thinks the Spore Drive can do when he tells Burnham toward the end of "Context Is for Kings". That's the real reason he was so desperate to hold on to the ship in "Lethe".

Overall, I really liked the idea of Lorca not really being who he said he was and pretending to be someone else. The only person who wasn't fooled, once she got up close, was the one person who actually knew Lorca from before: Admiral Cornwell.

 

[tomalak301]

I think Lorca is a chameleon. He knew how to act when he was in the Prime Universe. Discovery was a means to an end to get back to the Mirror Universe. He knew the Spore Drive had the potential to travel through universes. He says everything he thinks the Spore Drive can do when he tells Burnham toward the end of "Context Is for Kings". That's the real reason he was so desperate to hold on to the ship in "Lethe".

Overall, I really liked the idea of Lorca not really being who he said he was and pretending to be someone else. The only person who wasn't fooled, once she got up close, was the one person who actually knew Lorca from before: Admiral Cornwell.

I wonder what Prime Lorca was like, and what the Discovery was like before the War. I understand what you are saying about Lorca probably being as ruthless, but I'm still hung up on the fact that he and Discovery was getting positive results, even with his more aggressive methods, during the Klingon war, to the point where 9 months after Discovery had disappeared the Federation was on the brink of losing the war. Would Georgiou have had the same kind of result if the roles had been switched? Like I said, before Lorca's final episode, where I feel like they kinda dropped the ball with the character, he was really interesting, almost kind of like Dukat before the episode "Waltz".

I would love a Short trek (or two) showing the origins of Discovery and the Spore Drive. Heck, if Jason Issacs wants to come back, I would love to see Prime Lorca as well (I don't recall if they said he had died, but then I still have two more episodes to rewatch before I'm at the end of the season).

 

[tomalak301]

I finished Season 1 last night and I wanted to incorporate the Short Treks into my rewatch so I'm rewatching Calypso right now. I really hope Season 3 brings some kind of Connection to the Calypso story, maybe the origin of Zora or the guy who plays Craft makes an appearance. Heck, maybe even go to Alcor four. If the season ended with Discovery going to the far future to connect to the Calypso short trek, I hope they actually do it. They did a pretty good job connecting at least three of the original short treks, namely Runaway (Poe) and Suru's story (Sound of Thunder and The Brightest Star).

 

[Cyrus]

They did a pretty good job connecting at least three of the original short treks, namely Runaway (Poe) and Suru's story (Sound of Thunder and The Brightest Star).

Sound of Thunder and Brightest star were written and directed by the same people and were filmed at the same time.

 

[Uhura's Song]

Rewatching S2 now. On the finale. Really enjoyed every episode thru the return to Talos IV. Save maybe the mycelial network episode.

Some things about the Ariam episode really bugged me, but I do not want to rehash those. 2nd half generally weaker.

Some things I still don't get avout the finale.

1) Why do they accept that "subspace relays are all out" & they cannot contact Starfleet. I mean, FFS, take a shuttle & do what Tyler did. Go directly. Inly the fate of all life in the galaxy, no biggie.

2) Saru's message gets to Siranna (and she's a pilot now!), but nothing to Starfleet.

3) Speaking of Klingons, I guess no more worries abourlt Ash being alive or sedition anymore? And still no message to Starfleet?

4) How does a photon torpedo get into the hull with the Shields up? And how does that puny blast shield stop it taking the ship out. Tough door!

5) Speaking of the missile, that seems so contrived. What, one of those robot things couldn't have pulled that lever? They could build a time travelling suit in an hour but not something that could pull a lever? No one has a rope?

6) Finally, most importantly, how is she able to make all those jumps when I thought the whole point was the crystal only had enough juice for a one way trip?

Look, I am sure I missed something, but that seems like a lot of silly/confusing stuff for one episode.

When logic & common sense get thrown out, because plot, you start to lose me. Someone talk me out of thinking the finale was poor.

 

[fireproof78]

When logic & common sense get thrown out, because plot, you start to lose me. Someone talk me out of thinking the finale was poor.

Why? You watched it and that is your opinion. In my opinion, yeah, there was a lot of contrivance as part of it. The time crystal was pretty much a MacGuffin and doing what a lot of Trek does-based upon the needs of the plot. Same with the torpedo.

As for Ash, I think him being on that ship surrounded by L'Rell's loyal followers would be different than her speaking to the whole assembly, so I saw that as little issue.

I could offer counter point to a lot the comments, but ultimately, if you were lost before I doubt my explanation is going to make that big of difference.