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Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 3x11 - "Su'Kal"

Rate the episode...


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It's also getting a bit ridiculous that the Villains can show up as nearly instantaneously as the Discovery jumps (IE within 4 hours). I mean hell if ships can still travel that fast, WHY did the Federation fall apart so fast?
Ossyra used a Trans Warp Corridor. Book mentions it. Supposedly it's a dangerous thing to do.

Sure, the Q have thus far been portrayed as having abilities (probably technological in nature) t
Since when? The Q aren't Trelane or Apollo.
 
As for the idea that Saru, Burnham and company won't know what the Borg were/are by this point?
That will have to have already been covered in their remedial "here's what you missed" retraining.
 
The last two episodes have had different names than what was originally shared. It may well be the final episode has that title.

Seems a feasible scenario with Burnham finally becomes 'Discovery' captain and officially takes over the task of rebuilding the Federation after
dealing with Ossyra and her gang who based from the promo is apparently lying waste on Starfleet HQ
 
Keep it to yourself, please. Don't say stuff like this again.

Yeah, I'm not sure what's disagreeable about that opinion (maybe because I share in it partially). Tyler's a generally intriguing character. Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of missteps and missed opportunities there, but it was a very modern and very nuanced take on exploring an actual identity crisis that would only be possible on a franchise like Star Trek and only in the latest couple iterations.

It was sad to see him left behind in the 23rd century, but ideally they'll rectify that mistake by including him in future series in the same era (SNW and/or Section 31).
 
I don't like the episode, despite the few good things it has. The whole holodeck situation is pretty amusing with it changing the team's appearances, apparently on a level beyond surface deep, and the way the corrupt programs function. Somehow Burnham is actually enjoyable while trying to game Su'Kal and interact with the monster. Tilly does pretty good verbally in command but is hampered by poor plotting.

On the minor issue side, the holodeck plot has some pacing issues and should have been wrapped up this episode.

On the bad, they've been dragging this out for four episodes. They should have went to investigate the moment they got the coordinates. Before now it looked like Saru was just learning tough lessons on being a commander, but now it's obvious he is being setup to leave command, maybe even the show. Burnham will definitely be captain of Discovery, and make Tilly her full time first officer. The latter is not a bad thing, but Saru is one of the few good characters on the show. I also expect Culber to die depriving us one of the few fleshed out and good characters.

The rest of the problems almost all come down to lack of setup, just as with the last minute characterization they gave Airiam, the cyborg woman, in a desperate attempt to get the audience to care about her just before killing her.

There's no setup or follow up for why Burnham thinks the giant dilithium world is important to the Burn.
No connection in theme, context, or plot for the Burn source. Unbelievably, Burnham being the Burn source would make more sense.
They have a cloak, which should have been mentioned in episode 6 with the upgrade. They sure mentioned a lot of other stuff which didn't need mentioning. It would have created either an expectation or a forget it and surprise situation, and would have removed Tilly the first officer having to ask if her ship has a system. If anyone knows the ship has a major system, it has to be her.
Apparently nothing, not even shields, stop transporters now, and no one thinks to just beam torpedoes into each others ships.
 
Was not expecting another cliffhanger there, and the episode was a rather offbeat one at that. Went from bummed at no Saru makeup to impressed by Doug Jones' ability to emote so well as the story progressed. Liked Burnham's "I'm a program" improvisation, the old storyteller scene leading to that tune being hummed--is it the same one that seems to underlie the overarching plot?--, the button under the armrest thing and Tilly's interaction with the Orion baddie (better played this time), and the actor playing the holodeck raised Kelpian's turn... Son's in town with his girl friend (28 and 24 yo respectively), who wanted to watch it with me, so it was a different viewing than usual... they both are confused about the "they" issue but not turned off by the Stamets/Culber relationship. Beautifully shot and visualized, I think, but not too sure about the meat of the story, having to once again wait until the next episode to play out. Solid 8 until then.
 
This was a great episode by itself but a little anticlimactic in terms of a reason for the Burn.

All the buildup and it’s because an abandoned child’s emotions cause a dilithium planet to go haywire. If it’s not more than that it’s a let down.
 
I guess she's in good company ;)
JOACHIM: They're requesting communications, sir.
KHAN: Let them eat static!
JOACHIM (OC): They're still running with shields down.
KHAN: Of course. We're one big happy fleet. Ah, Kirk, my old friend, do you know the Klingon proverb that tells us 'Revenge is a dish that is best served cold?' It is very cold ...in space.

[Enterprise bridge]

KIRK: This is damned peculiar. ...Yellow Alert.
SAAVIK: Energise defence fields.
UHURA: I'm getting a voice message. They say their Chambers coil is overloading their Comm system.
KIRK: Spock?
SPOCK: Scanning. Their coil emissions are normal.

[Reliant bridge]

JOACHIM: They still haven't raised their shields.
KHAN: Raise ours.
JOACHIM: Their shields are going up
KHAN: Lock phasers on target.
JOACHIM: Locking phasers on target.

[Enterprise bridge]

SPOCK: They're locking phasers!
KIRK: Raise shields!

[Reliant bridge]

KHAN: Fire!

(explosions rips through the Enterprise)

[Enterprise bridge]

KIRK: Sulu! Get Those shields up.
SULU: Trying, sir!
(scenes of chaos in engineering)
SULU: I can't get power, sir!
KIRK: Scotty! Uhura, turn off those damn channels!
UHURA: Mister Scott on the screen, sir.
[Enterprise engineering]

SCOTT: We're just hanging on, sir. The main energisers out.
KIRK (on intercom): Try auxiliary power.
SCOTT: Aye sir.
 
The rest of the problems almost all come down to lack of setup, just as with the last minute characterization they gave Airiam, the cyborg woman, in a desperate attempt to get the audience to care about her just before killing her.

There's no setup or follow up for why Burnham thinks the giant dilithium world is important to the Burn.
No connection in theme, context, or plot for the Burn source. Unbelievably, Burnham being the Burn source would make more sense.
They have a cloak, which should have been mentioned in episode 6 with the upgrade. They sure mentioned a lot of other stuff which didn't need mentioning. It would have created either an expectation or a forget it and surprise situation, and would have removed Tilly the first officer having to ask if her ship has a system. If anyone knows the ship has a major system, it has to be her.
Apparently nothing, not even shields, stop transporters now, and no one thinks to just beam torpedoes into each others ships.

You've echoed my sentiments almost word for word. I did enjoy this episode and was heavily invested in the drama of it all, but, I couldn't look beyond these things. Virtually NOTHING is ever set up and they are introduced to us as vital, but, because they weren't set up or hinted at prior, it only makes me feel like I missed an episode one week.

One thing that confuses me is what does the solving of the Burn do for them in-universe? Sure, it's for us, the viewers, and for the Discovery crew to find out, but, once the Burn is solved, what does that change for them - if anything? Is the Federation just going to magically come back together now that a cause has been identified?
 
Not good, not bad, just meh. The whole episode was just one Trek-trope after another. Dangerous very powerful child, ship gets hijacked, malfunctioning holodeck, etc...

this had to be the easiest “ship gets taken over” story since “The Final Frontier”. But even there Sybok had brainwashed the senior staff.

not sure that I like that a Kelpian X-man is responsible for the burn but it is kind of a “out of left field” choice.

this one gets a 5.
 
You've echoed my sentiments almost word for word. I did enjoy this episode and was heavily invested in the drama of it all, but, I couldn't look beyond these things. Virtually NOTHING is ever set up and they are introduced to us as vital, but, because they weren't set up or hinted at prior, it only makes me feel like I missed an episode one week.
I'm curious. What make's you think you've missed an episode? What wasn't set up?

One thing that confuses me is what does the solving of the Burn do for them in-universe? Sure, it's for us, the viewers, and for the Discovery crew to find out, but, once the Burn is solved, what does that change for them - if anything? Is the Federation just going to magically come back together now that a cause has been identified?
Solving the Burn means preventing it from happening again. I think they've outright said that. No, the Federation won't magically come together, but it can start rebuilding. Especially if the threat of another Burn is eliminated and Dilithium World pans out.
 
Solving the Burn means preventing it from happening again. I think they've outright said that. No, the Federation won't magically come together, but it can start rebuilding. Especially if the threat of another Burn is eliminated and Dilithium World pans out.
That always seems to be the intent from my understanding. Eliminating the fear that this burn will happen again would give them less worry and more confidence to build again.
 
Everyone's wondering where the Borg are in the 32nd century. They're going to find out when a Borg drone shows up out of nowhere and assimilates Su'kal, granting the Borg power to now destroy all dilithium powered ships whenever and wherever they want! :borg:
speaking of the Borg, anyone noticing the guys in black suits having mind-control devices and telling people that stuff is irrelevant? Just saying...

The simple fact is, he caused it to happen, and as long as he exists he could cause it to happen again.
Just take him off and keep him away from the planet and it won’t.

And no one else in Starfleet knows?
I really don’t think there is a traitor, but if there is and isn’t on discovery it can on my be Vance, as he’s the only non-discovery Starfleet that got a bit of characterization. I don’t think this will happen.

One thing that confused me. They kept going on and on about a four hour limit on the planet, but when Saru and Culber stay behind, Culber tells Michael that Discovery would need recover them within a day or it would be too late. So, what's the actual timetable here?
Noticed that...I think they messed up something with the script or during editing and Culber was supposed to know about adira’s arrival. Now, why didn’t they bring the medicine they had onboard (the four-hour limit was already considering the stuff they brought with them) and how will they assume it, as it’s supposed to vanish in the holographic environment as the other stuff, is a good question.

speaking of adira, I wonder if gray will appear to the others as well in the holographic environment!

Someone else mentioned this earlier...

What if Su'Kal is actually the ghost like creature now and the Kelpian is part of the holodeck?

That could explain why he's able to effect the dilithium in such a manner to cause The Burn.

Perhaps he has become an integral part of the planet?
I think he will either be the ghost or the ghost will be a part of him.

The first episode ended with, literally, hope; that someone has finally arrived to restore the Federation to what it once was. But since then, I've gotten no sense that objective is being carried out. Discovery just returned to Starfleet and is essentially just one of the other ships following orders. There's no sense of them restoring the soul of who the Federation once was. To me, that's been the most disappointing thing this season so far
yep...As I was fearing last year the went all Andromeda: they’re supposed to rebuild the Commonwealth but we never see them doing it and one day we’ll be told they did it.

Ossyra used a Trans Warp Corridor. Book mentions it. Supposedly it's a dangerous thing to do.
How convenient that the corridor leads right there, in the middle of nowhere.

As for the idea that Saru, Burnham and company won't know what the Borg were/are by this point?
That will have to have already been covered in their remedial "here's what you missed" retraining.
they didn’t know about the Romulans...

I thought Discovery was to be come more episodic though. How are we to care about such individuals in such short a time?
it’s called good writing, being episodic and episode length has nothing to do with it.
 
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