Some observations:
Overall, I enjoyed the episode a lot. I felt there was a middle third to the episode which was basically a fun action-adventure and not too much else, but that's what Star Trek is supposed to be under Roddenberry's very first description of the series bible in 1966. I think we lost a little of that in the latter Berman years, and we have some of that back now, so Discovery continues to be a strong spiritual cousin to TOS. It also shared some features of the Mandalorian, which is an entertaining but simple story of adventure.
As usual, Star Trek has to have a little bit more...
My main impression of Book was "Han Solo", and that's pretty common I think...and then it was revealed he was more like an onion, with a few more interesting layers. He's not Starfleet or ex-Starfleet but he does have ethics! He hated seeing the environmental destruction of his world and has become a conservationist! You really can't get much more "Star Trek" than that. It was a good moment, and nicely filmed.
Along the way, the buddy adventure does get us a bit more deeply into the two-main characters, and Burnham and Book (Sonequa and Ajala) developed chemistry very quickly. Sonequa showed some range in the latter half of season 1 and moreso in season 2, but here we are getting to see a lot more.
It was fitting they let Burnham exult in the opening, she crash lands on a desolate planet and has no idea if their plan worked and if humanity and the very universe are even alive, so the first sign of lifeforms has to be a relief after all they had been through in the finale. The writers also didn't forget to send back the suit to send the last signal!
We then see Burnham high, and it was kind of a joy to finally see her let loose even if under the influence. Other than possibly "Despite Yourself" this is the first time I can remember her making me laugh out loud.
We also get to see consternated Burnham, and she doesn't stop from letting loose on Book and being the object of amusement after being spit out by a slug....and the slug turned out not to be a horrible menace either, another classic "Star Trek" moment.
This of course brings me to dutiful Burnham, we've seen her before! But here she meets up with Federation Liaison Aditya Sahil, and even though he's not a Captain Kirk style action hero, Sahil has been dutifully manning a relay station, a hero in his own right. He keeps the spirit alive...#WeAreStarfleet right? With meager resources (relatively) and a fragmented, lacking in communication UFP he was awaiting that action hero, and dutiful Burnham showed up...a match made in heaven.
Needless to say, this ending really made the episode. It was a simpler setup than we are used to from the last 2 seasons, but also it seems like a really noble, fitting one, perfect for adventures of derring-do and acts of heroism alike.
Some questions remain:
Dilithium "Burn"...how and why? I suppose this is half of their mission. It seems like it had to be something accomplished either by an intelligent being or organization or an act of widespread sabotage...this gives me a few suspects, which I based on some observations in the show. I won't reveal them here publicly yet.
Dilithium rarity. It is now used as a currency, but if recrystallization tech is available why didn't they scavenge the remaining bits and do it en masse?
Not every ship is powered by dilithium...Romulans used quantum singularities. It would seem anyone who did not use dilithium would have been poised to come into power. The Roms of course had a bit of a disaster in the past, and probably never recovered fully, but there may have been others??
Cool stuff:
Years ago I said any new far future Trek show should include a few basic things, including a more open acceptance of transhumanism (accomplished, we've seen lots of such acceptance even in the main characters, who are not perceived as odd in any way). More nanotech, catoms or programmable matter, with whole ship interiors capable of morphing shape. So it was my pleasant surprise to finally see some aspects of this in the far Trek future. While they necessarily still toned down the capabilities, it was executed really well by the production.
My impression is the future is built on the old advanced one, so we still see a lot of tech we didn't in the 23rd century, but we also see civilization as being run down, and probably not progressing much. So the episode managed to capture this duality well.
The Iceland location was impressive, this episode now ranks up with Picard's "Remembrance" with some of the best cinematography in all the series.
I noticed that there were no white "characters" in the episode, the only white actors had makeup on. That has to be some sort of first. One of my other favorite firsts last season: an all-women away team!
My grade here was an 8/10. I give it an 8.25/10 in my listing. It is below the other 2 premiere episodes of Discovery but still a nice start, and I think the "newness" is appealing to fans.
I'll have a rundown on reaction from around the www on Monday.
RAMA
