Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 4x04 - "All Is Possible"

[IMC Headquarters]

The L in L-class planets might stand for Luck, as in s*it-out-of.

I love the honesty in Kovich's "...it stung."

Saru rocked his suit. He has sharp threads ganglia.

Man those transporters work fast!

That shuttle bay is gorgeous. Love the streamlined shuttles, too.

The Ni'Var sets and exterior are stunning, too.

 

[JD]

I just really hadn't posted in any of the episode threads yet, so this is just an overall reaction to what we've gotten so far.
I've been really enjoy it, I like Burnham as the Captain, and the anomaly story has been good so far. I kind of like that they are going for a little more older fashioned standalone stories, but still with continuing arc elements.
As for this episode specifically, the stuff on Ni'Var was pretty good, and gave us some nice moments for Saru, Burnham, and the two Presidents. The way they worked into their Burnham made sense, even if it's probably gonna piss the Burnham haters off.
The stuff with Tilly, Adira, and the cadets was definitely the best part. The cadets were all pretty interesting, and it gave us some good character stuff with Tilly and Adira.
I was really shocked Tilly actually left, I didn't expect that at all.

 

[Turtletrekker]

I was getting a "Final Mission" vibe from the episode even before I realized Tilly was leaving.

 

[TheMadCloner]

I like how they’ve written Rillak so far.

She’s a fleshed out character that behaves how a Federation president might be expected to behave. Not a cardboard villain with evil self serving aspirations, but not a completely altruistic hero without flaws either. She’s a politician who is more or less honest about her political motivations, and isn’t completely devoid of a moral compass either.

She’s not someone you look at and think of as the greatest president in Federation history, but she’s someone who is competent and ultimately wants the best for the Federation.

 

[Fateor]

This show cannot win period. The standard set is too high because of a lot of different factors. It's not all malicious but it also cannot succeed because it has the albatross of Trek's past weighing it down.

And, more sadly, is me being told that's just the way it is.

Actually the standard of "a moderate level of in universe consistency" isn't a very high bar to pass.

Take the TNG episode Disaster, the script was originally going to call for the ship to hit some asteroids. But then the writing department went "That would make no sense how would an asteroid even damage the ship" and invented "Quantum Filaments".

Technology and history doesn't mean you can't tell a story, it just means you have to be creative in how you tell it.

Take this last episode, 90% of the plot holes could have been solved with a simple change to the scene where instead of the shuttle crashing on an ice planet, it is completely vaporized due to a power cell rupture while performing an uncontrolled reentry through the atmosphere of a desert planet, and they only survived because of the shuttles automatic emergency beam out protocols.

There, no question about why they didn't wait in the shuttle for rescue, no question about why they didn't use the shuttles programmable matter to make a com system, and you can do the whole "survive together on a hostile planet for a X days with only our basic items" thing while they wait for rescue.

 

[TheMadCloner]

Actually the standard of "a moderate level of in universe consistency" isn't a very high bar to pass.

Take the TNG episode Disaster, the script was originally going to call for the ship to hit some asteroids. But then the writing department went "That would make no sense how would an asteroid even damage the ship" and invented "Quantum Filaments".

Technology and history doesn't mean you can't tell a story, it just means you have to be creative in how you tell it.

Take this last episode, 90% of the plot holes could have been solved with a simple change to the scene where instead of the shuttle crashing on an ice planet, it is completely vaporized entering the atmosphere of a desert planet, and they only survived because of the shuttles automatic emergency beam out protocols.

There, no question about why they didn't wait in the shuttle for rescue, no question about why they didn't use the shuttles programmable matter to make a com system, and you can do the whole "survive together on a hostile planet for a day with only our basic items" thing while they wait for rescue.

I can guarantee you there would be complaints about how a 32nd century shuttle could be completely vaporized in the atmosphere of a moon that is suitable for breathing (i.e. not some gas giant with insanely high pressures in the atmosphere).

You can pick apart anything with enough scrutiny. At some point you just need to sit back and enjoy a good story if the details aren’t completely canon-breaking and unbelievable.

 

[Yistaan]

I was thinking a different species would be brought in to do the arbitrage.

 

[Fateor]

I can guarantee you there would be complaints about how a 32nd century shuttle could be completely vaporized in the atmosphere of a moon that is suitable for breathing (i.e. not some gas giant with insanely high pressures in the atmosphere).

You can pick apart anything with enough scrutiny. At some point you just need to sit back and enjoy a good story if the details aren’t completely canon-breaking and unbelievable.

*points at the minor edit you missed and chuckles*

 

[nic3636]

One other thing I like about this season is the de-emphasis on the serialized storytelling. The serialization is still obviously there, but it’s not the central focus anymore. The anomaly doesn’t interest me at all, but that’s ok because it’s mostly used as a way to advance the other plots. Discovery’s strongest episodes have always been the stand alone ones IMO

 

[fireproof78]

Actually the standard of "a moderate level of in universe consistency" isn't a very high bar to pass.

Past Star Trek didn't always pass it either. Especially upon rewatches back to back I see it more. And it's OK. It doesn't damage my enjoyment of the show. Discovery gets that as well from me.

It’s always more cognitively engaging to pick apart something than to praise/enjoy it. I think we’ve all been guilty of that in the past. But when enjoyment or praise is deserved, I think it’s OK to put away the critic hat for a moment and just let yourself have fun watching the episode.

I tend to agree and no doubt that drives a lot of behaviors especially among fans. But, I wore that hat all through high school and college and it was just exhausting. I didn't enjoy the franchises I was a part of any more. I watched films with a notebook and pulled them apart. There was no joy, no love, and ultimately no making peace with a franchise I supposedly like.

So, I've reached the point that where if I decide to start a story and engage with the characters I am willing to try. That is why I try very little right now. There are few characters I care about in fiction at the moment.

 

[TheMadCloner]

*points at the minor edit you missed and chuckles*

OK? You’d just be adding layers of technobabble onto a story that doesn’t need (or want) it. You’re basically hammering technical details upon technical details in an attempt to close a “plot hole” that doesn’t actually need closing. What was presented in the actual episode was sufficient to satisfy my suspension of disbelief. You may have a tighter standard, but for me the overall story wins out.

Put it another way. If the technical detail was enough to bring your rating down from a 8 to a 5, I think you have a very different focus when watching TV than I do. Because the actual story here was pretty good.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

I don't have an issue with Disco developing the characters, but the season plot line (the anomaly) was seemingly placed on the backburner over these two episodes... with larger amounts of time passing too.
Maybe now that they have dealt with Till leaving for the Academy they will pay attention to the Anomaly more and develop characters with that story.

It's funny how much more character work was done in season 2. I wonder what happened.

 

[TheMadCloner]

Past Star Trek didn't always pass it either. Especially upon rewatches back to back I see it more. And it's OK. It doesn't damage my enjoyment of the show. Discovery gets that as well from me.

I tend to agree and no doubt that drives a lot of behaviors especially among fans. But, I wore that hat all through high school and college and it was just exhausting. I didn't enjoy the franchises I was a part of any more. I watched films with a notebook and pulled them apart. There was no joy, no love, and ultimately no making peace with a franchise I supposedly like.

So, I've reached the point that where if I decide to start a story and engage with the characters I am willing to try. That is why I try very little right now. There are few characters I care about in fiction at the moment.

I think there are times for both. You can be critical of something but still enjoy it. I think the issue is when you start to watch something with a negative preconceived bias, because that’s when you start to be critical for the sake of being critical. It’s exhausting to watch TV that way.

 

[eschaton]

I will admit the way I watch the show probably leads me to ding it a little.

I want to watch it ASAP when I wake up, so I typically download it onto my tablet and watch it during my morning routine or on the bus heading into work. Due to the constant use of music and the low mixing of dialogue on the show, I also typically watch with the captions on.

 

[TheMadCloner]

I will admit the way I watch the show probably leads me to ding it a little.

I want to watch it ASAP when I wake up, so I typically download it onto my tablet and watch it during my morning routine or on the bus heading into work. Due to the constant use of music and the low mixing of dialogue on the show, I also typically watch with the captions on.

Given you've been one of the posters here who has rated episodes both decently and not so decently, it's encouraging that you agree about the tonal shift so far this season. At least it means the writers' work this season has started to change some longstanding opinions about the show.

 

[The Habs Fan]

This was my favourite episode of season 4 so far. It felt very old school Trek and was a very nice send off for Tilly, which took me by surprise. I agree with some others that they might be transitioning her to a Starfleet Academy spin-off

 

[BoTWoT]

I've read every review so far on IMDB where this is currently collectively ranked at 4.2/10...and you come to this thread on the biggest Trek message board on the interwebs, and it's mostly praise for the episode. While this one falls flat in spots, it's probably the most classic Trek formulas of the season. I'm not sure if most of the "fans" of Trek are actually fans if almost all the "reviews" are 1/10. I generally like the episode and the series. The highpoint is the All Is Possible snowglobe...possibly the most Star Trek thing you could ever do as a snowglobe. Gonna miss Tilly...though after losing the first two ships she's left to command, maybe the Academy is a better place for her?

 

[cooleddie74]

With all the criticisms I've had of DSC since its launch this season has been pretty consistently entertaining and we're four episodes in and it has yet to fall on its face the way the first three seasons did by this point. I'm cautiously optimistic the series is heading in the right direction.

 

[Amasov]

So far, I think Discovery is 4/4. They've really stepped it up this season with some compelling stories that I'm really enjoying. Each episode is brought to a satisfying conclusion. Things that were set up at the start come to resolution by the end and I feel like it was a FULL journey to get there. Things also don't feel needlessly dragged out. I'm glad Tilly's story is moving along and not being labored across the entire season with practically no movement to it.

 

[Amasov]

With all the criticisms I've had of DSC since its launch this season has been pretty consistently entertaining and we're four episodes in and it has yet to fall on its face the way the first three seasons did by this point. I'm cautiously optimistic the series is heading in the right direction.

This.

I, too, am cautiously optimistic and am on the lookout for that moment where the show just goes off the rails. But so far, I absolutely love what I'm seeing. Four episodes in and I think it's been the strongest season so far. I'm actually excited for a new episode each week.