Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 4x06 - "Stormy Weather"

[Unimatrix Q]

Well, let's see: outside of the galaxy. We have the Kelvans, builders of the Doomsday Machine, builders of those androids from I, Mudd, Catspaw aliens...the novels have O from the Q Continuum books and what's-her-name from the Shatnerverse books...I saw a fan series (Iliad? Odyssey?) with another invading species from the Andromeda galaxy. Am I missing any other previously seen potential suspects?

We don't know from where the bluegills hail from, in canon. They could also be extragalactic. Could explain why they apparently didn't return after "Conspiracy". Maybe it took all that time for them to get back to our galaxy...

And because this episode reminded me very strongly on "Where Silence Has Lease", i think i keep Nagilum on my list of suspects. Maybe he also has an extragalactic origin.

By the way, if Zora gets a synth body, i think there will be trouble for Adira and Grey's relationship in the future
Think she either already has fallen in love with Grey or will, from what we have seen...

A 10 for me

 

[DarKush]

I mean, if his body is designed to function as much like an organic body as possible, then his being a synth might not actually make him any better able to survive those extreme conditions than an organic.



I don't like that term. It implies that standalone stories aren't important or legitimate as stories, that the only stories that "count" are heavily arc-based stories.



Yeah, but some folks don't want to experience a work of art. They want to view a filmed Wikipedia article.



"Quirky?" "Extra?" He's a principle character.



Why would they do that? The bridge crew aren't principle characters. The show is not about them.



I think that would have been a legit decision to make, but it seems to me that the writers are trying to set up a relationship between Michael and Zora and that final scene with them on the bridge is going to be foundational to that.



The bridge crew on DIS aren't really comparable to Mayweather, Reed, or Hoshi. All three of those characters were principle characters on ENT -- the show was about them. The bridge crew on DIS are recurring supporting characters, not principle cast.



It's really not. The DIS cast is about as emotional as most people in real life are, and I've met plenty of people in real life who are much more emotional than the DIS characters.



I find DIS's depiction of human emotion much more realistic than the shallow cardboard cutouts called "main characters" on much of TNG and VOY.



Plenty happened storywise. But it happened to characters you don't like, so what happened didn't move you. Which is fair, but stuff did happen.



I mean, I don't think we've ever seen anyone intentionally try to leave the Milky Way Galaxy in Star Trek since TOS "By Any Other Name," have we? The only 24th Century time we saw someone leave the galaxy that I can remember is TNG "Where No One Has Gone Before," and that was using non-standard propulsion and unintentional, IIRC.

I think there's a very fine line between principle characters and supporting characters when it comes to comparing ENT and DISCO. If I recall all of these actors, DISCO bridge crew and Reed, Hoshi, and Mayweather all had their names in the opening credits of their respective series so the line is blurred there. And while the DISCO creatives were upfront about making the series revolve around Michael they didn't preclude not exploring other characters, the supporting characters like Saru and Tilly especially. I can't say ENT was as upfront about its intentions, but I got the impression they Berman-Braga were going for a TOS vibe by focusing on Archer, T'Pol, and Tucker, which made the other cast members supporting by default. Outside of a few welcome episodes or threads here and there, ENT was not about Reed, Sato, Mayweather, or Phlox. The lion's share of stories went to Trip, Archer, and T'Pol.

This could all be my stemming from my being used to the ensemble casts of most of the Berman era, but I saw the DISCO overall bridge crew as more 'important' than say the random bridge crewmembers on the ENT-D or any that were on DS9, even though some of those crewmembers got names like Gates or Rager (and would've been fine learning more about them). Perhaps it was just my assumptions but I was expecting/anticipating we would get more from the DISCO bridge crew, and if not, they didn't need to be so recurring, and could've been more randomly changed up, and to be fair, we are getting a bit of that this season.

 

[Agony_Boothb]

In all seriousness, if tech is as crap in 1,100 years as it is now, it may be time to dust off the old "they're turning Trek into a dystopia" argument...

Please explain what you think a dystopia actually is, because if this sentence is any indication, it does not mean what you think it means.

 

[Sci]

I think there's a very fine line between principle characters and supporting characters when it comes to comparing ENT and DISCO. If I recall all of these actors, DISCO bridge crew and Reed, Hoshi, and Mayweather all had their names in the opening credits of their respective series

No. The DIS principle cast as of S4 consists of Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp, Mary Wiseman, David Ajala, Blu del Barrio, and Tig Notaro. They are the only ones credited in the opening title sequence.

The actors playing Detmer, Rhys, Owosekun, Bryce, and Nilsson (and Dr. Pollard) do not appear anywhere in the opening credits; in fact, they only receive billing after the guest stars are billed at the top of the closing credits. They get lesser billing than episode guest stars.

This is in contrast to the actors who played Reed, Hoshi, and Mayweather; all three were principle cast members who received billing in the opening title sequence.

Star Trek: Discovery features the bridge crew, but it is not about the bridge crew.

This could all be my stemming from my being used to the ensemble casts of most of the Berman era, but I saw the DISCO overall bridge crew as more 'important' than say the random bridge crewmembers on the ENT-D or any that were on DS9, even though some of those crewmembers got names like Gates or Rager (and would've been fine learning more about them).

They're certainly more important in the sense that they are regularly recurring supporting characters that get some screen time in most episodes. But they're not principle cast members, and they're not even recurring guest stars like Sarek, Spock, L'Rell, etc. The show is just fundamentally not about them. It could become about them, but the creators don't have a creative obligation to give them screen time the way they do for principle cast members. They're optional, not obligatory.

 

[Nerys Myk]

While the other trainees ran?

You got it.

 

[Akiraprise]

8/10. Almost a nine.

A much better episode of Discovery this week. It felt like Star Trek.

Some ups: All of the crew working together. Some nice call backs to prior Trek with references to the Enterprise and Voyager's travels. Call back to Relics! The galactic barrier getting noticed once again. Zora is a great addition and her interactions with Michael were on point. Book and his father were good. They appear to have retired the flame throwers on the bridge. Gray getting something useful to do.

Some downs: Using the DOTs as probes makes no sense. They are too small to have any useful sensor palette in my mind. They are using them because they are cute and may sell merchandise. The ship's hull seems pretty weak. I miss the crew interacting with physical props. All the hand waving in thin air they do... I know it's the kewl new sci-fi thing to do. But it must look ridiculous when they are filming.

 

[Lord Garth]

Star Trek: Discovery features the bridge crew, but it is not about the bridge crew.

A distinction that, after four years, a lot of people still don't get. They can't square what the show focuses on with they think the show should focus on.

In addition to Burnham and Saru (and Tilly), the show focuses on Culber, Stamets, Book, Adira, Gray, and now Zora. With Vance being "the boss", and Rillak is prominent whenever she appears. It's not a bridge crew centered show. Never has been, never will be.

DSC has chosen who it wants to focus on, but they keep thinking "Yeah, but that's not how TNG-ENT did it!" News to flash them: DSC has no intention of doing it the way TNG-ENT did. That should be crystal clear by now. If it hasn't after four seasons, it's not going to. So, at this point, I think it's like beating a dead horse.

SNW, I'm sure, will be that bridge crew centered show they're after.

 

[cooleddie74]

I like the DOTs and they definitely feel a lot more appropriate in the 32nd century than the 23rd, but yeah, they're best used for interactions with the ship's crew and amusing little moments, not life-or-death situations where they have to be used to help protect the ship.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I like the DOTs and they definitely feel a lot more appropriate in the 32nd century than the 23rd, but yeah, they're best used for interactions with the ship's crew and amusing little moments, not life-or-death situations where they have to be used to help protect the ship.

If Star Wars can roast a Porg, Star Trek can redshirt a DOT.

 

[JoaquinSlowly]

If Star Wars can roast a Porg, Star Trek can redshirt a DOT.

‪‪I love ‘em, and don’t mind them occasionally dying for the crew, and maybe even sometimes eerily screeching out in pain while doing so. ‪‪I don’t want to see it every week, by any means, but it made me feel something in this week’s episode, so ‪‪it was effective.

 

[cooleddie74]

At least they fit in 3190.

 

[Akiraprise]

I like the DOTs and they definitely feel a lot more appropriate in the 32nd century than the 23rd, but yeah, they're best used for interactions with the ship's crew and amusing little moments, not life-or-death situations where they have to be used to help protect the ship.

I like them too, they are a neat addition to the Trek mythos. Does help explain how Voyager was pristine for seven years. Hate to be the DOT assigned to holodeck maintenance though... ewww.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I like them too, they are a neat addition to the Trek mythos. Does help explain how Voyager was pristine for seven years. Hate to be the DOT assigned to holodeck maintenance though... ewww.

Too risky for a DOT. They send an ensign

 

[fireproof78]

distinction that, after four years, a lot of people still don't get. They can't square what the show focuses on with they think the show should focus on.

Much of the time it feels like stating what the show should be, not what it is and trying to do in terms of evoking audience responses.

 

[DaveyNY]

correction: not sucked… blown.

In my world..., they're the same thing.

 

[jackoverfull]

What a steaming pile of Mugato dung.

The episode’s first part, from the moment they cross the eye of Sauron, is a rather predictable poor copy of some of Shatner’s totality trilogy, from the all engulfing void that eats everything to the galactic barrier connection, meanwhile book goes trough the usual “meet your father as an allucination” tired b-plot out of the worst of voyager.


The marginally interesting part is the evolving of Zora...too bad such evolution apparently made her dumber. Yeah, she couldn’t save the redshirt, sure, it’s not as if she was in full control of, you know, a transporters systems that could have just transported it to safety, a transporter system that gets abused for the rest of the episode anyway. Poor guy, he just had to die to prove the ship was in danger. It gets worse.

They somehow find a way to get our trough book’s hallucinations and Michael orders everyone into the transporter. Except herself, that has to stay behind to play counselor to an increasingly unstable computer. I guess that there either there was only a single EV suit or the crew was useless anyway compared to burnham...but wait, didn’t we see the Cerritos crew manning the bridge in ev suits a few weeks ago? And couldn’t book just stay on his ship with grudge anyway?

oh well. Anyway, Michael stays on the bridge as emotional support and has to suffer trough fire and singing. I guess she forgot she could just join the others in the buffer at any moment.


Well, whatever.


Grey’s new look is really a huge improvement. The mess hall new look, already glimpsed a few episodes ago, isn’t.

Why send probes when you can send cute little droids to cry upon when they get thorn apart by the totality?

4. And one point is just for zora’s and Grey nice scenes.

A n unexpected downfall in a season that started quite well.

Ah, I’m still seasick after all those constant camera movements.

 

[DarKush]

No. The DIS principle cast as of S4 consists of Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp, Mary Wiseman, David Ajala, Blu del Barrio, and Tig Notaro. They are the only ones credited in the opening title sequence.

The actors playing Detmer, Rhys, Owosekun, Bryce, and Nilsson (and Dr. Pollard) do not appear anywhere in the opening credits; in fact, they only receive billing after the guest stars are billed at the top of the closing credits. They get lesser billing than episode guest stars.

This is in contrast to the actors who played Reed, Hoshi, and Mayweather; all three were principle cast members who received billing in the opening title sequence.

Star Trek: Discovery features the bridge crew, but it is not about the bridge crew.



They're certainly more important in the sense that they are regularly recurring supporting characters that get some screen time in most episodes. But they're not principle cast members, and they're not even recurring guest stars like Sarek, Spock, L'Rell, etc. The show is just fundamentally not about them. It could become about them, but the creators don't have a creative obligation to give them screen time the way they do for principle cast members. They're optional, not obligatory.

I stand corrected. I should stop skipping the opening credits.

I didn't say the series was about the bridge crew. Giving them more focus doesn't make it about them anymore than doing a Quark-centric episode or two a season on DS9 made the series solely about Quark. DISCO is about Michael Burnham's journey, she's the main character. That doesn't preclude developing recurring supporting characters. It appears that the DISCO creatives have been slowly doing this, starting IMO from Season 2 and giving more inches over the last two seasons.

 

[Vale]

Are the DOTs supposed to be sentient?

 

[Markonian]

Are the DOTs supposed to be sentient?

Centuries after the likes of Doctor Moriarty, Commander Data and Doc Zimmerman, I would treat any artificial intelligence as a person whether they're truly sentient or not.

 

[137th Gebirg]

The fact that they said the thing was “screaming” when the void started cooking it is a good indication that there’s some kind of awareness going on there.