Spoilers DSC: Desperate Hours by David Mack Review Thread

Discussion in 'Trek Literature' started by Defcon, Sep 9, 2017.

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Rate Desperate Hours

  1. Outstanding

    17 vote(s)
    24.6%
  2. Above Average

    36 vote(s)
    52.2%
  3. Average

    13 vote(s)
    18.8%
  4. Below Average

    2 vote(s)
    2.9%
  5. Poor

    1 vote(s)
    1.4%
  1. Markonian

    Markonian Fleet Admiral Moderator

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    Tbh, I’d love to see Richard Robau again. The actor, Faran Tahir, is not as big a name as Isaacs or Yeoh, so affordability may not be an issue.
     
  2. David cgc

    David cgc Admiral Premium Member

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    On the flip side, if they need a second Starfleet captain to play some role in Star Trek (1)4, they could do worse than a cameo by the KT versions of Georgiou or Lorca. It's a shame how the movies and TV show are so divorced (at the very least, DSC needs to talk with the movies' sound team. I was watching a bit of "Beyond," and it was so much more comfortable hearing TOS and TOS-styled sound effects for stuff like "opening a channel" and "scanning" than the TNG versions plopped into DSC all willy-nilly).
     
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  3. F. King Daniel

    F. King Daniel Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Sadly, Discovery can't use elements from any of the 13 Trek movies so we'll never see Robau Prime :(
     
  4. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    As I just posted in that thread, that can't possibly be true, since we've already seen movie elements in the show, like glimpses of Earth Spacedock and Ceti Eels in the finale, the use of the Okrand Klingon language invented for the movies, the name Kronos/Qo'noS for the Klingon homeworld, and the generally movie-influenced design of the Starfleet ships.
     
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  5. The Wormhole

    The Wormhole Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Plus Kurtzman himself, who is a bit higher in the food chain than this Erika Lippoldt, only said just last week they could use whatever they wanted from any of the movies.
     
  6. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    And Tahir is definitely up for it. I asked him on Twitter if he would play Robau again (if DSC asked him to), and he said he'd love to do it.

    I just figured that being President of the Federation is the next logical step for The Robau. :techman:
     
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  7. Markonian

    Markonian Fleet Admiral Moderator

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    Question:
    At the end of the book, in the time set a month before “The Vulcan Hello”, Georgiou ponders about Lieutenant Commander Burnham. Does that mean she was full Commander for only a few weeks in May 2255?
     
  8. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    She could still have been a LCDR - they are often referred to as just 'Commander'.
     
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  9. Markonian

    Markonian Fleet Admiral Moderator

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    Rank pin shows full Commander in the series, though.
    Doesn’t it?
     
  10. Burning Hearts of Qo'nOs

    Burning Hearts of Qo'nOs Commodore Commodore

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    It's a good thing they made those rank pips so easy to see :rolleyes:

    All the pictures I've been looking at the past two minutes look like solid pips of a commander, but I was under the impression she was a lt. commander this whole time. Anyone able to confirm? Its really hard to tell in any of the pictures I'm looking at ^^;
     
  11. The Wormhole

    The Wormhole Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Her rank insignia in the finale is indeed a full Commander. During the two part premiere I don't think we ever get a good look at her insignia, but at her court martial at the end when her sentence is being read out, she is addressed as "Commander Michael Burnham." This is a situation where full rank would be used, if she were a Lt. Commander the Tribunal would have addressed her as "Lieutenant Commander Michael Burnham." As they called her Commander, she was indeed a full Commander.

    I wonder if there was a change in plans and Michael's rank was changed to full Commander at the last minute? Both Desperate Hours and Drastic Measures say she's Lt. Commander and they did seem to go to an effort to avoid a good look at her rank insignia.
     
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  12. TheAlmanac

    TheAlmanac Writer Captain

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    This should be really easy to determine--is the second sleeve braid solid or broken? ;)
     
  13. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Yeah, I'm kind of annoyed they put they made the rank pips tiny and on the badge. I have a 40in HD TV and even watching in what I believe is full 1008p through my PS4, I don't think I was able to actually make up the rank pips once. I could tell they were there on some of the closeups, but I couldn't even begin to actually count them.
     
  14. Ronald Held

    Ronald Held Vice Admiral Admiral

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    For a small ship, the XO might be Lt. Commander.
     
  15. Tuskin38

    Tuskin38 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Chakotay's rank insignia looked like it was meant to be Lt. Commander, but I don't think he was ever called as such.
     
  16. The Wormhole

    The Wormhole Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    There certainly is precedent for that, Sisko was a Lt. Commander when he was XO of the Saratoga and Voyager's first XO, Cavit, was Lt. Commander. However, really, if the XO is a Lt. Commander, than the CO should be a Commander. Georgiou's rank was definitely Captain, we do see several close-ups of her rank insignia.

    All this is moot though, like I said, Burnham is called "Commander" at her sentencing, a situation where full rank would be used, so her rank was clearly meant to be full Commander as far as the aired version of the show is concerned.
     
  17. Tuskin38

    Tuskin38 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    For some reason I was under the impression that Spock was a Lt. Cmdr in TOS, but It looks like he wasn't.

    I'm not sure why I thought that.
     
  18. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    No doubt because Spock was consistently called a lieutenant commander in dialogue in the first season (specifically in "Court Martial," "The Menagerie," and "Tomorrow is Yesterday"), even though he wore commander's stripes.
     
  19. 20fridge

    20fridge Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    I always assumed his rank was Provisional Commander. At the very least, that's what's listed on memory alpha. http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Chakotay
     
  20. Tuskin38

    Tuskin38 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Yes he has a provisional rank of commander, but the insignia itself is one black bar with two gold bars, similar to the normal Starfleet Rank Insignia for Lt. Commander of one black pip and 2 gold pips.

    The other provisional ranks follow the normal Starfleet insignia style, i.e. Lt. Jg Provisional is one gold and one black.

    I'm assuming it's a costume error they never fixed.

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Feb 22, 2018