Re: General Order 7, could it be not yet in effect as of "If Memory Serves"?
In "The Menagerie", they make a big deal about GO7 as why it's a big deal to NOT go to Talos IV. Here, Spock rambles off the coordinates and Burnham sets a course without a second thought; the Disco crew similarly don't bring the planet up as the ONLY place where there's a death penalty to set foot there (i.e. agony booth maybe, disintegration chamber no). Given the dire circumstances there would have been ample opportunity to bring it up (and then ignore it), but here it goes unmentioned. Maybe it gets implemented later, or the usual bureaucracy surrounding putting the death penalty on things has simply taken at least this long to be put into effect.
Other musings:
- It's stardate 1532.9, which means we've backtracked AGAIN - it was stardate 1834.2512 in "An Obol for Charon" and 1029 the week before that. The 1834 reference was on a graphic, so it MIGHT be excusable, but all these dates are still all technically before the last date check of the previous season, which had its own problems but ended at 1834.2.
- The S31 ship bridge has retained the ready room space behind the Shenzhou's bridge, but as a relatively featureless room without furniture and with different wall plugs and supports (matching those in the hallways) at the ends. The window is sealed over with slats, and has an odd pulsating light source coming through it. The room seems to be the same size but is oddly claustrophobic considering the lenses used elsewhere in this same episode.
- Observation: The four shadowy Admirals talking with Leland and Georgiou are the four most classicially-recognized "founder" species of the Federation. Intended or not, it's rather apropos that these four are talking with a shadowy Section of Starfleet that has been around since its inception.
- The doors on the S31 ship's not-Ready Room don't close after L & G leave it. No one is seen entering it afterwards, though it did open for them as they entered it. It is closed in a later shot.
- Similarly, the Disco's bridge door to the aft lab is also seen open in the background. And robot head is back on the bridge!
- @ Timo, where did the Discovery's warp 5 speed reference come from? Earlier this season there was some convenient math suggesting she tops out at warp 7, i.e. 343c on the classic scale.
- Observation on the blue flowers: they emit a sound, but here they're seen stopping the sound AND closing up their petals and flowers when touched. Assuming the flowers are there for pollinating purposes as we know them, it would make it very difficult for those butterflies to land and do their thing if the flowers are closed. But what if the sound, closing function and pretty flowers are all parts of a carnivorous response and the plants are actually eating the butterflies, attracted by the sights and sounds..!
- Illusion or not - in the intervening years, Vina has apparently gained an appreciation of stiletto heels. And how to walk around a gravel pit with them.
- This episode highlights how busy the corridors are this season compared to last, and how many of those extras aren't doing any physical maintenance work as we know it, like swapping out components or what have you. Indeed, this year it seems most of them are doing active work you'd see in labs or engineering spaces, like working consoles or on gizmos at the new workbench part of the corridor set. It feels to me that these people are performing functions that aren't actually maintenance.Luckily there are a LOT of consoles these extras can be standing at, but unlike the ones in TNG and elsewhere, there are a lot of people just standing there working them as if it was their job to do so all shift long.
- I hadn't yet noticed that in the new mess hall set, the five (now all completely functional) food slots on the one wall are supplemented by a sixth on the new far wall piece. And in this episode, the lighting (which is pretty different to other episodes this year) of the mess hall doesn't include the displays of the ships, we've seen lit in other instances.
- I've been told that the actor for Commander Airiam in the first season is the very conspicuous Engineering officer down in the spore hub during the abortive jump. I wonder if it was makeup issues that forced the change in casting? She was also the officer who activated the Cybertronian asteroid capturing thingy in "Brother".
- When Burnham lands her Shuttle 06 back on Discovery, it's done in a VERY off-center fashion. The nacelles are also steaming hot! But as if to complement that effect, the deck underneath is inexplicably slick with water. While likely a director's visual choice, was someone literally swabbing the decks or hosing it down, and some got on the shuttle as the crewmen dove out of the way, resulting in the poor parking and steamy engines?
- The shuttle ramp is distinctly different than the one seen earlier this season on the medican shuttle, despite them both being ostensibly the same design. This one is longer and includes a mid-ramp support, and the previous one is shorter, has a more severe angle, and doesn't (visibly) do the Batman-esque extrusion thing.
Mark
