Favorite Discovery Episodes in S1

[Tuvix5675]

What are you top three?
Mine
1. Into the Forest I go-Episode 9 (I was really emotionally invested in the Burnham/Tyler away mission aboard the Sarcophagus ship, I found my heart pounding and was on the edge on my seat)
2. Lethe-Episode 6 (this was the first Discovery episode that felt like a genuine Star Trek episode to me)
3. Magic to Make the Sanest Man go Mad-Episode 7 (as a time travel episode it wasn't even close to being one of the best in Trek, but they put a new spin on an old Trek favorite type of story)

 

[BillJ]

"Context is for Kings"

 

[Refuge]

1. Lethe.
2. n/a
3. n/a

 

[lawman]

Top three? Hmm. Lemme do four.

In broadcast order...
1) Episode 4, "The Butcher's Knife...", where Burnham releases the tardigrade. First time the series felt like classic Trek to me.
2) Episode 6, "Lethe." I didn't like the interstellar telepathy angle, but the character insights into Burnham and Sarek were nicely done. I also liked the B-plot with Cornwell.
3) Episode 7, "Magic...", a well-executed time-puzzle story with a nice performance from Rainn Wilson as Mudd. I thought Mudd was portrayed as a little too bloodthirsty, but otherwise it worked.
4) Episode 10, "Despite Yourself." The first Mirror Universe episode, where the possibilities there still seemed exciting, before it all went downhill. Taut and suspenseful.

 

[PT109]

1. Lethe
2. Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad
3. Context is for Kings

 

[CaptainMurdock]

Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad.

 

[Cyrus]

episode 9 (forest)
episode 3 (context)
episode 12 (ambition)

episode 7 (Magic) that so many like was my least favorite

 

[donners22]

1) Into the Forest I Go

2) Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad

3) Context is for Kings

Each is among my favourite Trek episodes, let alone Discovery episodes.

 

[Vger23]

Lethe
Into the Forrest I Go
Despite Yourself

Very good episodes from a total franchise perspective, not just within the confines of Discovery's first season.

 

[Daisyjayne]

1 Into The Forest I Go
2 Magic To Make The Sanest Man Go Mad
3 Choose Your Pain

 

[lawman]

Interesting. So far we seem to have an emerging consensus (provisional and completely non-scientific of course) that the season peaked around episodes 6-7...

 

[Tuvix5675]

Interesting. So far we seem to have an emerging consensus (provisional and completely non-scientific of course) that the season peaked around episodes 6-7...

I think it peaked mid-season with Episode 9, some would say 10, but you are right about consensus, a lot of the same episodes are getting named.

 

[Lord Garth]

Favorite:
"Lethe" -- Shows Lorca at his most twisted.
"Into the Forest I Go" -- The most dramatic.
"Despite Yourself" -- Mirror Universe!

Honorable Mention:
"Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad" -- Fun from start to finish.
"Vaulting Ambition" -- Lorca just pissed me off in that episode. After that, I didn't care about him being killed off.
"Will You Take My Hand?" -- I admit that it's too pat but who cares about the Klingon War? I'm watching this again for the Orion Embassy!

Not an Episode but a Scene:
"What's Past Is Prologue" -- The best phaser fight I've ever seen in Star Trek. Lorca's forces versus Gergiou's forces while Georgiou has her force-field up while everyone tries to blast at her. Up there with DS9's "Rock and Scoals" and "The Siege of AR-558" but while those were more serious and dramatic, this was just fun to watch.

 

[lawman]

Forest caught up with Lethe and Magic, and those three are the runaway leads right now, with six nods each (plus an honorable mention for Magic). Context has four, Despite Yourself has three, and everything else is trailing distantly.

So yeah, according to this non-random sample it definitely peaked mis-season, toward the end of the first arc (although interestingly, Magic wasn't remotely an "arc" episode).

 

[Terok Nor]

I loved everything about the Mirror Universe. I wish Discovery had stayed there instead of returning to the abysmal Klingon War in the final two episodes. Not that impressed with Lorca's ending but everything else in the MU was brilliant.

 

[Tuvix5675]

I loved everything about the Mirror Universe. I wish Discovery had stayed there instead of returning to the abysmal Klingon War in the final two episodes. Not that impressed with Lorca's ending but everything else in the MU was brilliant.

I think the entire first season should have been about the Klingon war, they could have saved the MU for season two. I kinda feel like they blew their load on the first season. I don't know what they have cooked up for season two, but kind of think DSC might now settle into being a run o the mill Trek show about exploration, open character arcs are Burnham, Saru and Tilly gradually getting promoted to Captain, Stamets coming to terms with the loss of Culber, Cornwall finding a new boy toy and Burnham finding a psychologically health heterosexual love relationship. We might never see Georgiou, Mudd, Tyler, Prime Lorca or L'Rell again.

 

[Rhodan]

Well, mine picks will be pretty standard:

Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad
Lethe
Despite Yourself

In tha case of the first two, it was fun to watch something that wasn´t connected to the main arcs that much among other things. And Despite Yourself re-introduced Mirror Universe highly effectively. If only it stayed that strong.

 

[pst]

"will you take my hand?"

i know this is not the season finale most of us hoped for, we all expected a shoot out to end the war. for as much as i hated how violent the series has been, some kind of action in space would've upped the tension going on down on the planet. it's also stupid that the series took us to qo'nos only to land us in an orion city, not a klingon one, but i think the episode did a lot to expand the palate -- both internal and external.

the alien bazar was a great opportunity to throw in a bunch of easter eggs and world building. i'm less enamored of the pan fried ceti eel than i am of seeing what michael describes as a "home". mudd rightly points out early in the season that our starfleet heroes spend so much time flying around in space, they don't get a chance to look down and recognize the little guy. this episode finally does that. it shows us klingons laughing, playing games, just being dudes; a nice departure from the solemnity of the t'kumva acolytes and the mustache twirling of kol and necessary for a show that was supposed to depict both sides of the war.

more than anything, i appreciate "will you take my hand" because it's a lot of walking and talking. michael opens up, ash opens up... their exchange actually feels genuine. of course, i also appreciate the ending at the federation council. michael gives a speech that's mostly unearned given what happened in the other 14 episodes of the series, but it feels good, feels like star trek.

it's no secret i was not a fan of this show, but for all its faults, i think "will you take my hand" is the kind of episode i'd like going forward. plot (even a huge plot like the klingon war) takes a backseat to getting to know our characters and world they inhabit. if only something like this had happened in the front half of the season and not the final damn episode.

 

[Ometiklan]

My choices would probably be (without an overall rewatch to confirm):
1. Magic to make... - I like standalones or at least internally conclusive storylines with overarcing elements
2. Into the Forest I go - The great, real wrap up to the Klingon arc; though I do like Michael's speech and the course correction for Starfleet in "Will You Take My Hand?", it just wasn't as good an episode.
3. Context is For Kings - for intro-ing Lorca (before he was MU) and making everything new and different again.

Lethe, and Despite Yourself are also standouts, and I still like the Vulcan Hello and Battle of the Binary Stars for Georgiou and new triumvirate we could have followed (if not for Michael's fall from grace).

...We might never see Georgiou, Mudd, Tyler, Prime Lorca or L'Rell again.

I think the showrunners have already said we will see Tyler and likely L'Rell in season 2, as part of the "fall out" from season 1.

#BringBackPrimeLorca

 

[guyute03]

I think I have to go with "Magic" just because it so reminded me of TNG so much. High concept sci-fi. I like.