First off, I like him and he is doing a great job. "They make me look smart", LOL. I like to think he is some super evolved progeny of the "Data" clan. He knows too much and he's a little too smart so naturally he has to be a super evolved android with a super evolved AI. What else could he be? Or...he's Daniels.
From his interview it seems he just doesnt like just lazing around, he'd rather be on set.. Any set.. Doing whatever they want of him to keep busy. And him directing would be interesting but as he said he's more hands on than a typical episode director and wouldn't work well for him. Maybe he could be persuaded?
He could be just a human who is exposed to a broad range of relevant information/data in multiple subjects. Such humans exist in reality... no need to make him an android.
Just a super smart human who is older than he looks. Given the nature of both education and life span for beings in Star Trek it is not unreasonable for him to have a breath of knowledge on multiple topics.
His last response is basically talking about the difference between directing in TV and directing in movies. In movies, directors are essentially the auteurs of the entire endeavor. They might not write the script, but they do request rewrites. The producer is basically reduced to a money man in the background. But they compose all the shots, do the casting, decide where individual scenes will be filmed, usually have a great deal of control over the final cut, and even do a lot of the movie budgeting themselves. They control essentially all the primary creative and techical aspects of a movie, from pre-production to post-production. Which is why when we discuss movies we tend to follow directors, not screenwriters. In contrast, in TV writers typically have primary creative control. In recent years the lead of the writer's room (or two-person team) have been branded "showrunners" but this is an informal term. Still, TV series are never director driven. TV directors are typically hired guns brought in for a 1-2 episode block. They cannot reasonably do an entire series because of how filming schedules work - they will need to be editing/involved in post while additional episodes are being shot. Because directors typically only shoot 1-2 episodes in a given season, they are limited in terms of what they can do in order to not have jarring creative differences between their style and that of the other directors in a given season. Movie directors do indeed sometimes engage in television, but when they do, they typically take on the hats of screenwriter and executive producer as well, making the role very similar to that of a movie director. Think of Twin Peaks, Boardwalk Empire, or Sense8.
He's Flint. "Oh, Flint was dying ... Dr. McCoy said so," you say? What was Flint's M.O.? He'd pretend to age, fake his death, and then move on. With the right equipment, it was probably a simple thing for such a long-lived being to fool McCoy's instruments.
Rando speculation: What if... he’s related to Lorca, or is a Terran? Its interesting he wears glasses, and it was mentioned back in season 1 that Terrans have bad eyesight in the Prime timeline / reality...
Just how old are 32nd century characters? The way Cronenberg's character spoke about the temporal wars seemed like he lived through them personally (at least a century ago). Vance calls himself an old salt despite actor Oded Fehr only being 49 when that scene was filmed. They've never gotten into whether human lifespans in the 32nd century were lengthened past 137 year old McCoy that was possible in the 24th century, and that's not even taking into account the, uh, advances seen in Picard.
Terrans are extremely photosensitive and the brightness of the Prime Universe bothers them. Were Kovich a Terran, he'd be wearing sunglasses. As it turns out, I've recently been theorizing that Vance might have been alive during the Burn, having either graduated in Starfleet Academy's last class before the Burn, or perhaps given an emergency field commission immediately after it. I got the idea after his scene during Terra Firma Part 1 where he's telling Saru about having made many mistakes in his career, and from them having learned the folly of abandoning those under his command even when they seem a lost cause, which made me think he's a guy who has spent his entire career trying to put back together a Starfleet and Federation left in shambles forcing him to make some less then pleasant decisions.
I don't think there's any doubt that Vance, a 49-year-old Fleet Admiral who rose to lead a multi-species instellar agency that has existed through amazing trials and turbulence over 1020 years would be more experienced than a thirtysomething (he was a teenager in 2239, per BTS) self-promoted Captain of maybe a few months or so. Saru proves how inexperienced he is every time he talks to the guy.
Flint!!! Great idea, nice pull from the history of Trek. But Flint was dying and building an android to house his "soul". So we are back to my "He's an android" theory.
I agree with the explanation that Flint wasn't really dying, he just created those false readings (as I'm sure he's had to do thousands of times before) to make everyone think he was. That said, I don't think Kovich is Flint. Attitude's all wrong. Plus, he mentions being fascinated with Terrans since he was a boy...
He is the character who finally admitted that Star trek discovery takes place in the Kelvinverse. He says this timeline was created by a temporal incursion involving a Romulan mining ship. Not original timeline. Sorry folks...
I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic, but in case you're not, the original quote is: "Yor here traveled forward from 2379 and across from an alternate universe created by the temporal incursion of a Romulan mining ship." This explicitly confirms that Discovery is not set in the Kelvin timeline.
So did you not comprehend a pretty straightforward line, or did you read nonsense elsewhere and rush in to gloat?
"You here traveled forward from 2379 and across from an alternate universe created by the temporal incursion of a Romulan mining ship." what does this mean to you then?. If Discovery isnt set in the Kelvinverse then what does the Romulan mining ship have to do with the USS Discovery?. The USS Discovery travelled into the future using a red angel Ironman suit....