Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 3x06 - "Scavengers"

I've noticed something which I also noted back in episode 2. When Burnham is out of the picture and we are just with the crew of Discovery, I enjoy the show a lot more. I like spending time with these other characters.

But when the narrative shifts back to Burnham, my enthusiasm drops right off. Which is a damn shame, given she's the main protagonist.

Anyways. As was mentioned by someone further up, the editing was a bit jarring. What really stood out as particularly awkward was when Booker kissed Burnham in the turbolift. Something very off in how that was put together.

Also, The Burn. This happened, what, 100+ years ago? What's the rush, Michael? It's obviously a very big deal, but the urgency they're attaching to figuring it out doesn't really gel with me. Good job in risking Saru and the rest of the crew's reputation going off in renegade mode the moment you don't get your way.

Also, I would have hoped they'd have injected the burn with a bit more substance by now. Instead, it's starting to feel like Red Angel v2.0.

Loved Grudge and Tilly. As I said, quite happy spending time with the rest of the crew.

 

Are the actors playing Orions we've seen wearing some kind of mask, or is it just the make-up that makes them look so plasticky?

 

I gotta say that episode was frustrating. They should have told us if the black box that Burnham risked her and Saru's careers for actually was worth it. She is honestly my least favorite main character in any Trek.

 

I loved it. One of my favourite episodes so far. I like how Michael is driven by her sense of universal morality not by arbitrary connection. It’s part of the reason I think she’s such a great character.

I was cringing at the Tilly and Grudge stuff, as I normally do when Tilly is involved. She’s such a bland, one-dimensional character. Fortunately it wasn’t a long period. I liked the Stamets stuff a lot though.

 

Who's gonna be number one now?

 

Yeah, Scotty would have hated the 32nd century...

 

I have no doubt that by the end of the season, we will learn the true cause of the Burn and that the answer will play a big role in restoring the Federation and Starfleet. But the characters should not know that yet. Having Michael insist that discovering the cause of the Burn will save the Federation smacks of unearned prescience IMO. Basically, Michael's "hunch" will conveniently turn out to be correct and finding the cause of the Burn will solve the big mystery this season and lead to the restoration of the Federation. But that should happen "organically" from the story. I would much prefer to focus on Discovery completing missions for Starfleet. and then from those missions, finding clues that help solve the mystery of the Burn.

 

SELF-SEALING STEM-BOLTS! Anyone else notice that there seems to be a DS9 reference in every ep so far this year? I keep wondering if there's a hint in that.

 

Second this. I find her to be an extremely irritating character.

When the show spends time with the rest of the crew the quality steps up drastically.

 

There's maverick, and then there's Burnham.
I have been a pretty staunch defender of Discovery since the beginning. Like every other iteration since TOS, it takes time to find it's footing. So far, it has, and I continually enjoy it. However, the whole Burnham issue is just frustrating. These big emotional beats from previous episodes between her and Saru, about regaining trust, and her rededicating herself to Starfleet, all get washed away in an instant. As the Admiral stated, if she had followed the chain of command, and presented her case, this may have all been avoided. If she had gone rogue after that, I may have bought it...that would have been very Kirk like.
Philippa Georgiou is always fun, and maybe her love of Burnham keeps her grounded from being the absolute psychopath she should actually be. (Though I still would have loved to see a show aboard the Shenzhou, where Burnham comes to terms with her human side, which would have stopped all this crying that seems to happen, at least temporarily. I still think that's the show I wanted to see.)
It just seemed like a step back for me. This whole losing trust, gaining trust, and losing it again, is just a circular nightmare.
I love this cast as a whole, and I hope they get the focus they deserve.
As a whole, I enjoyed the episode, but probably the most frustrating one of the season so far.

 

A pretty average episode overall. I'll go through the likes/dislikes this week:

Good:

• Everything that happened onboard the ship or Starfleet HQ was great. I dunno if it was really enough to qualify as a "B-plot" - but it was a set of nice vignettes which provided some good character insights (particularly later in the episode with Stamets and Adira).
• Michelle Yeoh was given something weightier to deal with when it came to the Georgiou character this week. I found her character halfway compelling for the first time ever. I'm wondering if maybe she was given some sort of "treatment" against her will at Starfleet which is reversing her psychopathy? Time will tell.
• While I otherwise did not like what was done with Michael this week, I do appreciate that the series is becoming continually more explicit that her flaws are just that - flaws. If you read the episode closely, it doesn't even seem like Book needed a rescue. He and the Andorian came up with 90% of the escape plan on their own with just a few weeks of work. They would have gotten out on their own, and she would have gotten the "black box."
• I liked the little Easter Eggs this week (self-sealing stem bolts, seeing a TNG-era phaser, etc.).

Bad:

• Michael's whole adventure on the planet was completely forgettable. The grungy planet dominated by unsavory types is basically a complete retread of the first two episodes of the season, with the exact same antagonistic group as the first episode in particular. The villain this week was completely uncompelling, I mean, he was literally someone's nephew - I suppose he was mean to not cut an impressive mien - but it was a big mistake to have Michael and Georgiou up against someone who had kiddie-pool depth. Even Book seemed strangely lifeless compared to his first two outings - basically existing to be the damsel in distress and kiss the hero at the end.
• I really, really hate where they are going with the Burn, and Michael's insistence that solving it is the key to the Federation being restored. The in-universe logic is really attenuated, as I've noted before - it happened a century ago, and hasn't repeated. There's no narrative urgency here whatsoever. I am really hoping this is all a red herring and when we get to the end of the season Michael discovers it was all an accident (science experiment gone wrong, Q taking a dump, etc.) because I think it kinda ruins what they're trying to say regarding her character if she's somehow prescient about the "One Big Thing" and it erases all of the mistakes she made along the way.
• Michael's "we're just friends" insistence followed by a makeout session at the end of the episode was just so cliché. Mind you, the writers had no way of knowing at the time they composed the series that the scene of them kissing would be included in the trailers before the first episode even aired. But this little subplot was completely unneeded. They had chemistry starting in the first episode, and lived in the same friggin ship for a year. They would have boned already. Wil they or won't they is only interesting in terms of drama if there's some tension or extenuating circumstances keeping a couple apart. There was nothing like this between Book and Michael. The drama in this episode would have been better if it had been established they had an existing (albeit long-distance) relationship.
• I'm okay with some contemporary language use in Trek, but Adira saying Stamets is "the bomb" was enough for me to break immersion.
  
  

 

Managed to catch this one early today. While not quite up to the standards of the last 2 episodes, this one manages to balance it's action/chase story with some excellent character moments, something Discovery has become expert in doing.

Every character comes off better here: Saru doing his duty as captain, Admiral Vance as an officer/bureaucrat who is balancing his duties with the new element of discovery and crew, Linus is still comedy relief but he's so likable, Stamets and Culbert share a "moment" and of course Burnham.

I am now seeing where they may go with her. It is completely possible that Starfleet is not her "destiny". She may have to act as a free agent to solves this puzzle and by the end of this series, there's a good chance she will not be in Starfleet. Burnham cannot not be herself. She's learned a few lessons, but she's going to bend or break the rules to accomplish what she thinks is important, in the pilot episode, this was using her mixed/twisted, human/Vulcan logic to save her crew (the first time she had had this close relationship with humans) and learning that her duty was most important, but her rule-breaking this time was dedicated to that very same organization. Along with Spock and Data, I think Burnham will go down as one of the most explored, complex characters in this franchise.

The rescue plot is the weakest point in this episode, but it does serve to highlight the importance of Book, and the necessity of acquiring the "black boxes" and retrieving the data. Clearly, this relationship with Burnham is going to the next level now.

I find the Georgious subplot intriguing, and have a few theories about it. I feel that what may have caused the burn, may be in "tune" with interfaces between universes, and causes there to be a connection here. Whatever finally happened was intelligently controlled.

Then there's the tech...and upgrade to the Discovery. I actually didn't think they were going this far! It's a nice design, just adding a few touches to signify changes, though the most complex are "under the hood". The crew gets instrument and interface improvements. I recall seeing a few erroneous comments earlier in the season about the tech differences not being highlighted enough, and in the last 2 episodes that has become laughingly untrue. It is fairly significant for all of the famous Trek devices to be put into one integrated whole.

As always, this is the best looking show on TV. Nice camera work, good locations, and the future continues to look impressive. Discovery is blowing the doors off of more expensive shows this year.

Rating: 8.75/10

RAMA

 

Not to pile on Burnham, but I really liked the version we got at the start of the season, and I thought they’d found a better way forward for the character. But here she was just awful. Clearly the writers wanted to cement her disenfranchisement with Starfleet, but at this point she seems totally untrustworthy and unreliable. Saru was too lenient with her — she’s a potential danger to the crew.

 

They jettisoned Nhan to man USS Trotsky last week. Otherwise she would've been the new XO .

My guess it would likely be either Culber or Stamets.

 

In addition to demoting Burnham, Saru should've also put her on the Discovery brig for 30 days so she could've contemplated her actions. The same punishment Janeway gave to Tom Paris for an act of insubordination that is morally justifiable, unlike what Burnham just did.

Will she changed her mind during her imprisonment? Probably not, but she should've faced some consequences for her actions and the shortage of qualified officers shouldn't have been an excuse to let her walk away

 

Someone, some organization set off a course of events with the burn to influence history, including nearly destroying the UFP....the fact that the cause is still up in the air is not only significant, its probably the single most important fact to find out! Certainly, Starfleet is in no condition to find this out anymore, so Vance's protestations are understandable, but Burnham is also correct, and hypotethically, if Saru eventually allows it, she has the Spore Drive handy to discover what this might be. Someone got off performing the crime of the century here!

RAMA

 

Discovery shines when it focuses on the crew and its relationships. The episode strived in a lot of these areas. The scene at the beginning with the bridge crew getting the new commpaddtricordbadges (patent pending). Linus' inability to use the transporter correctly. The budding friendship between Stamets and Adira. The always wonderful Paul/Hugh scenes. The mentor/student relationship here and in "Far From Home" with Saru and Tilly. Hell, Tilly is a true breath of fresh air this season after a somewhat obnoxious role in season 2. And Phillipa! Damn, how I've had a real love/hate relationship with this character but at least she's getting an opportunity to do something other than chew scenery. Good, interesting stuff for her with whatever's happening with her. However, a show is only as strong as its lead. And I feel that Burnham's arc this season just doesn't feel right.

I've liked Burnham, even when others have honest and fair concerns. This feels a little forced. Yes, to a point, Burnham has had a rebellious streak since the first episode. But this doesn't feel earned. I voiced this back at "People of Earth" where it became pretty obvious Michael would be, at some point, finding herself away from Starfleet for an extended period. I still think in the next few episodes, that's going to happen. Perhaps not in next week's "Unification III," but soon. And eventually, probably through Book's sacrifice in saving Burnham or betrayal as she finds a big clue regarding the Burn, will Michael come back to the fold for real. (All admittedly speculation, but I'd be very surprised if it doesn't happen in some fashion.) I still feel as though not showing more of Burnham's time with Book and Grudge over the past year was a mistake. Even if there were sprinkled bits throughout the season, I think all of this would feel better in some way. Its the old adage of: "Show. Don't tell." There's a lot more telling with how Michael got here than showing. And I think that's my issue with this season so far.

Obviously, I liked a lot of this episode and there are a lot of good things happening here this season. But there's a pretty big flaw inherent this season. I hope it gets better.

7/10. Mainly for everything that wasn't Burnham.

 

Not true, for reasons I point out above. ^^^

 

SMG has made some comments offscreen about how Michael is not entirely sure that Starfleet is right for her any longer. I wonder if we're working towards her exiting the main character by the end of the season?

Except we have absolutely no reason to suspect it was a deliberate attack, rather than some accidental thing that just happened (with or without input from sentient beings).

It's like presuming because an asteroid falls on your house and destroyed it some alien decided to make it land exactly there.