Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 4x01 - "Kobayashi Maru"
- Thread starter Commander Richard
- Start date
What, the President being a hybrid of Bajoran and Cardassian (and human as well) doesn't count? Not to mention the Lurians we've seen since last season, including one as an officer in this episode. Or the fact that in addition to the Voyager-J, there's the USS Nog.
I mean, yeah, a more direct reference would be nice, but, speaking as someone who loves DS9, I'm GLAD they've so far gone with Voyager (being one of the most prominent of the 32nd century Starfleet ships) and now Enterprise (Archer Shipyard) references being so prominent. Both these shows have had some of the most critical reception by fans, so this has been their way of saying openly that these are parts of the franchise being loved, just as much as the first two seasons of Discovery were heavy on TOS references (due to being an almost immediate prequel to TOS), while also featuring Section 31 heavily in season two, a faction introduced and developed by DS9, and Picard is a direct sequel to TNG (plus last season's Unification III featuring actual footage from TNG). Hell, for that matter, last season even reference Picard itself by putting Gabrielle Burnham in the Qowat Milat.
There have been references and callbacks in Discovery across the franchise.
Definitely a good opening to the season. Loved the teaser. I think the President hit the nail on the head with her read on Burnham. I get this is kinda what Star Trek does now but the overall galaxy in danger threat is a little meh for me. It was heartbreaking for Book but how many worlds are we going to lose before Discovery figures it out? 7/10.
Any quality ship porn or a better look at the SF ships in this episode ?
Really, really enjoyed that one. Not sure what the consensus is yet, but I’m loving Burnham in the Captain’s chair. Feels like a totally natural fit to me, and gives SMG a lot more to work with.
My immediate takeaway is -- I am so excited for Burnham as captain! It has been such a consistent problem in the writing that Burnham must always be the center of every Discovery story, but the structure of the show did not organically place her there. So the writers had to devise an endless list of tortured workarounds to keep bringing things back to Burnham, which became stupider and more frustrating as the seasons wore on. Since the show needs her to be in charge of everything, it's such a relief that she's finally in a position where that just makes sense! And SMG, who has always been great, is even better wearing this authority. Watching her was a delight.
I was pretty happy with this episode overall. The Federation President is immediately the most fascinating character Disco has introduced since the original crop. WHAT an incredible scene between her and Burnham at the end! Brilliantly acted by both, and perfectly written. (Please, please, please successfully follow through on the awesome arc this sets up, show. I don't know how many more Disco letdowns I can take!)
I'm always Charlie Brown with the football with this show. Each season has started with such promise and excitement, and each season has ultimately collapsed, to varying degree. So, intellectually I know season 4 is only building to the same shitty failure climax that the last 3 seasons (plus Picard) did, but somehow I'm already feeling "maybe this time they'll get it!" Sigh. I have the naive optimism of a Star Trek character!
And now I think I might just watch the whole episode again.
I was pretty happy with this episode overall. The Federation President is immediately the most fascinating character Disco has introduced since the original crop. WHAT an incredible scene between her and Burnham at the end! Brilliantly acted by both, and perfectly written. (Please, please, please successfully follow through on the awesome arc this sets up, show. I don't know how many more Disco letdowns I can take!)
I'm always Charlie Brown with the football with this show. Each season has started with such promise and excitement, and each season has ultimately collapsed, to varying degree. So, intellectually I know season 4 is only building to the same shitty failure climax that the last 3 seasons (plus Picard) did, but somehow I'm already feeling "maybe this time they'll get it!" Sigh. I have the naive optimism of a Star Trek character!
And now I think I might just watch the whole episode again.
Last edited:
Just thought, with all this talk of the Voyager needing a captain, wonder if that might be the perfect spot for Saru.
Boy, that was a long pre-opening credit sequence! So Burham already knew about the Kobayashi Maru uh, but she didn't know I bet that you could cheat it and still receive high marks for it. So Booker's planet is destroyed! Wow!
I'll say, quite good but still some room for improvement. 8/10
I'll say, quite good but still some room for improvement. 8/10
At first glance, it might seem odd that the President of the Federation is selecting a captain for a new ship. That should be the job of Starfleet. However, these are extraordinary times for the Federation. With the Federation rebuilding itself, maybe the new President is helping out by selecting captains for certain flagships. We also see that the first class in Starfleet Academy was very small. With Starfleet being decimated after the Burn, Starfleet is probably severely understaffed, especially for the monumental task of rebuilding the Federation. So it is not inconceivable that people have to wear many hats to get everything done. So the President could just helping Starfleet because they are understaffed. It is possible that this President is a more hands-on type of leader. We see this in the fact that she is deciding to join starships on rescue missions.
The Federation is a science fiction interstellar organization set over a thousands years in the future. The "president" does not have to fit our idea of what a president should do.
I would love that. I hope we get to see the new Voyager in action.
A dry dock with a clear frontal view of some ships.
I'm of two minds with this episode. I feel like all of the parts worked well, and felt like classic Star Trek. At the same time, they didn't really gel for me as a coherent episode.
The opener before the title was great. Sort of a Trek episode in miniature, with the crisis identified and the crew working collaboratively to overcome the problem. It sort of reminded me of the beginning of STID (which was the most enjoyable portion of that movie). However...it didn't really have anything to do with the remainder of the story - except perhaps re-establishing that Michael is unable to cut her losses and just keeps rolling the dice to see if she gets sixes.
Then there is the long, slow period back in Federation HQ which is (IMHO) a bit too self-indulgent and kinda grinds things to a halt. There were some nice character moments peppered in here, but in the end there would have been much more economical ways in terms of run time to establish the current status quo and introduce the Federation President as a foil for Burnham (I'm so happy though this season has a foil rather than a villain).
The second "crisis" on the Deep Space station was straightforward enough - Trek bread and butter- and I thought it was executed well. The cutaways to Book and especially Saru really deprived the end run of the episode of momentum however - though at least we know the Book sections had a payoff. It feels like Saru was here just to let Doug Jones get paid for this episode, and they could have just shunted those scenes into a later episode.
So yeah, there were two great Trek plot staples which could have held up entire episodes, along with a lot of shaggy and largely unnecessary filler. I suppose the season must have tons of ideas for later on if they crammed so much in here, but...I just don't get why they felt this was the best structure for the season premier.
The opener before the title was great. Sort of a Trek episode in miniature, with the crisis identified and the crew working collaboratively to overcome the problem. It sort of reminded me of the beginning of STID (which was the most enjoyable portion of that movie). However...it didn't really have anything to do with the remainder of the story - except perhaps re-establishing that Michael is unable to cut her losses and just keeps rolling the dice to see if she gets sixes.
Then there is the long, slow period back in Federation HQ which is (IMHO) a bit too self-indulgent and kinda grinds things to a halt. There were some nice character moments peppered in here, but in the end there would have been much more economical ways in terms of run time to establish the current status quo and introduce the Federation President as a foil for Burnham (I'm so happy though this season has a foil rather than a villain).
The second "crisis" on the Deep Space station was straightforward enough - Trek bread and butter- and I thought it was executed well. The cutaways to Book and especially Saru really deprived the end run of the episode of momentum however - though at least we know the Book sections had a payoff. It feels like Saru was here just to let Doug Jones get paid for this episode, and they could have just shunted those scenes into a later episode.
So yeah, there were two great Trek plot staples which could have held up entire episodes, along with a lot of shaggy and largely unnecessary filler. I suppose the season must have tons of ideas for later on if they crammed so much in here, but...I just don't get why they felt this was the best structure for the season premier.
Archer's dry dock and we get the little tune from Enterprise...
I felt that Booker's family was fridged so as to get him motivated to solve the mystery of the gravity distortion.
And, what was it with the camera this time? At times, it looked like amateur hour with some shots being jiggly.
And, what was it with the camera this time? At times, it looked like amateur hour with some shots being jiggly.
Please tell me someone mentioned it "took a long time" to get there
I like that I'm a barometer for you now. LOL
I've swung a lot on this show in the last two seasons for sure. We'll see how the rest of the season goes, of course. This episode just felt different to me - and in a much better way. I like that it gave us a little bit of everything ranging from; a little bit of world-building, going on a diplomatic mission that goes wrong (reminded me of the opening to Star Trek Beyond), and seeing the threat up front with a proper demonstration of what it's capable of. I'm not a huge fan of another galaxy-wide threat story, but, if I enjoy it and find it engaging, it's fine.
I really liked the opening scene. That's the kind of dialogue and humor that this series has needed more of since Season 1 and Burnham was really good in it.
Similar threads
- Poll
- Poll
- Poll
- Poll