Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 3x12 - "There Is A Tide…"

Brief initial thoughts...

• Better than last week
• Die Hard. Down to Burnham losing her boots
• Sorry to see Ryn go
• Like Mitchell’s character
• Book’s gonna die next week
• Big split between Stamets and Michael going into season 4
• “They’re made from shit, you know.”
• Osyrra and Vance scenes were great.

8/10.

 

So far it was just the modulating effect of a star on a distress signal... another really bad story twist

 

Agree to disagree!

 

Pretty entertaining overall except the plothole of not jumping discovery back to the nebula when they had a chance.

 

Of course they can keep fucking with her boyfriends! DRAMA!!! And who knows? Maybe he’ll ride off into the sunset but they’ve set him up to be a part of Michael’s world in Starfleet but is that ultimately in his character? I honest to god was surprised they didn’t have a reveal that Book was working for Osyrra. I’m glad they didn’t. It would have been too on the nose. I don’t think ultimately he’s a character that can fit in in Michael’s world and therefore I feel he’s a goner.

There was also a look at Detmer with the line about leaving bodies down. I hope I’m wrong but I think Kayla’s going to die next week.

I will say I’m glad that the stakes are a little smaller this season. At the very least it’s not the entire Galaxy at stake.

 

An excellent course correction after last episode. However, in a serialized show, there might be a bit of "too little too late" here.

I mean, the episode has a lot going on which is good. Osyraa (or as I say, Discount Seska) was finally given some depth as an antagonist. The scenes with her and Vance were the highlight of the entire episode, and notable because they were the only truly surprising part of the episode. We've been "treated" to so many shallow antagonists who just want to destroy...it's intriguing to have a villain who is instead seeking respect. That said, the trailer for next week suggests this is pretty quickly going to become undone.

The "Die Hard" action section involving Burnham (and eventually the rest of the bridge crew) was serviceable - no, it was done well - but it's something we've seen before in Trek several times. No new ground was being broken here. I suppose I did somewhat enjoy going into the Jeffries tubes (I was wondering if Discovery was all that funhouse open space with the turbolift roller coasters). But on the whole this was just perfunctory stuff you'd expect in a season finale.

There are numerous things which I liked but was like...why didn't we see it earlier in the season. It's nice to see Zareh again, but it would have been nice to see him before the penultimate episode. Did this need to be our introduction to Mitchell's scientist character? Why did they wait so long to flesh out the Emerald Chain as anything other than a group of slavers and marauders? This is a serialized show after all. They could have peppered random scenes involving the Emerald Chain POV throughout the entire season, which would make the payoff here much more compelling. But instead they farted around with mediocre episodic Trek before giving us something fairly emotionally compelling.

I'm glad they openly lampshaded what a bad job Tilly did in the previous episode. It will be interesting to see what happens next week. They should allow Tilly a crowning moment of glory to redeem herself, but given this is Discovery I would guess they give it to Michael, forcing Tilly into a sidekick role yet again.

I really did not like Stamets' turn here however one bit once Michael rescues him and they conflict about jumping back to the nebula. It was at least set up well in the previous episode, but the degree of conflict was really overplayed here. He's supposed to be a professional, and this is another example of the weirdly high level of drama in the series this year which results in my suspense of disbelief crashing down.

Still, overall, this was a good episode - even a very good one in isolation. It's just when it comes to seeing it as narrative payoff for the season as a whole that it begins to fall flat.

 

I saw this "last night" (that's what we'll call it) but went to bed immediately afterwards. Just got up. Still groggy.

Um... the short-short version (like they said in Spaceballs): I think the overall story in the third season won't be wrapped up next episode. Just the immediate crisis. The same as in Picard Season 1. Okay that wasn't so short.

Still no rating. I want to see how all three episodes play out first. I had a feeling Ryn wasn't long for this world. But the actor is Mary Wiseman's husband, so I'm sure he'll play another character at some point.

I liked the episode. Still want to see where it goes. That's the best I can say with not enough sleep.

 

I guess neither Burnham nor Tilly likes coffee that much

 

"The stakes are so much higher now!"
- Burnham, S3

 

Well, Michael is pretty dramatic.

 

Someone on another forum made the point that everything is being set up for Discovery to be destroyed next episode:

• Stamets is at Starfleet HQ
• Most of the crew is also at Starfleet HQ
• Saru, Culber, and Adira are in the nebula
• The Sphere Data is on those three DOTs, not in the main computer

Basically we just need to get Michael, Tilly, and the bridge crew off the ship. Book is of course strictly optional.

 

It's also because of its principles and ideals that it endured for so long and inspired so much hope and people who still want to be part of the Federation (despite the Burn).
Those principles and ideals also helped Voyager crew cope with their isolation in the Delta Quadrant and apply them in practice on some occasions (when situations allowed) with positive results.

Also 350 planets could easily encompass majority of the Milky Way galaxy (with 'pockets of space belonging to some indigenous 'minor' species that were once part of larger organizations. For example, if Quonos joined the Federation, I think most of Klingon space would automatically become Federation space.
If the Founders also joined the Federation at some point, the majority of previously known Dominion space would become Federation space automatically.

I imagine that 'minor species' which were part of larger organizations like the Klingon Empire and Dominion would be considered as 'previously occupied' (same as Bajor) and be provided Federation aid to restore themselves and then offered to join the Federation if they wish later on (and much like Bajor, I imagine that most would).

Would be interesting to see how much of the Galaxy is considered 'Federation' with all 350 planets though.
Now with the spore drive, it would become a lot easier to maintain contact, etc.


Some things from this episode:
Starfleet didn't manage to replicate the Spore Drive (which seems a massive stretch if you ask me, but fine) and Osyraa knew this... which only further supports my supposition that Osyraa could have easily taken Discovery to Emerald Chain HQ, and study its spore drive to give herself a massive advantage over the Federation.

The notion that replicators convert energy into matter was retconned to now say they simply break matter down into base elements and reconstitute them into different forms of matter (or the replicators of the 24th century really DID convert energy into matter and because of the Burn and relative scarcity that ensued, the Federation had to resort to matter to matter conversion technology instead - also, I don't think they need fresh form of matter because the technology in the 32nd century would have to be massively more efficient where losses don't really occur - heck, 0 waste is essentially a policy for the 24th century... so 32nd should have the same one - a fresh supply of matter isn't necessary when the crew's excrements [in whatever shape or form] are probably harvested [which probably includes dust, etc.]).

Zora is finally a prominent character - yay.
I think she will be instrumental in helping the Federation replicate the Spore Drive and using non-human interfaces in Season 4 and onwards (which will probably deal with previous and new Federation worlds joining back together).

 

Next episode is called That Hope Is You (Part II), according to The Ready Room.

 

If we see the Sphere Data transforms into Zora in any of the promos, then this plot sounds viable. I doubt we'll see it as it will be giving away too much spoilers I'm afraid

 

So we'll close Season 3 with the second of the two-parter episode...and the entire season was about how to build Burnham/Discovery as "the hope" to restore Starfleet/Federation into its former self. Interesting

 

I knew it.

It was either going to be that or the premiere for Season 4.

 

Called it at the beginning of the season.

 

Yay! You win!

 

Yeah, I liked that they pivoted from the cartoonishly evil Osyraa, but it seemed silly she’d go to such absurd, counterproductive lengths to present her proposal when the Emerald Chain seems to be on pretty equal footing with the Federation. Maybe it would have sufficed just to say, “Hey, we’d be willing to stop with the slavery, marauding and mass killing stuff if you’ll work with us.” Instead, we get a contrivance a Bond villain would envy.

TBH, I don’t understand why the show leans into the cartoonish so much in general — eeevil Georgiou, the MU, one-note comedy characters like Linus, OTT threats to all life and the universe, evil Osyraa and her silly scheme. The whole season would have worked much better for me had the Emerald Chain been given a more nuanced portrayal throughout — hard people making hard choices in a hard time — rather than saving it for a Discovery twist(TM) at the end. The show is supposedly a more adult take on Trek, but the negotiation scenes in this episode had me pining for the sophistication of Mark Lenard’s Romulan commander from TOS.

Some of the scenes were just dramatically inert. Did we really need to stop everything for Burnham to compose a farewell note to her mom? (Cut to mom coming to the rescue with the Vulcans and Romulans next week, I guess.) And all that business with Admiral Vance reading page after page of Osyraa’s terms of service made me feel bad for the actor, sitting there with nothing to do but squint into air.

So, yeah. I liked the idea of what they were trying to do in this episode a lot better than how they actually did it. That’s how I’ve felt about much of this season.