I watched episode 2 of Season 4 for the first time and I'd like some clarification. I'm trying to do a count of exactly how many minutes this season characters spend talking about feelings in the middle of a crisis. Just really for some data points when people claim it's 'constant' or 'every episode'.
It's not every episode, because episode 1 had none, but I wonder what it is people are defining this problem as, because there are a few instances and they all involve Book, but they are all different.
1) Early in the episode, Michael tries to talk to Book to understand his feelings. The crisis with the anomaly is light years distant, presented as something abstract. This, I think is drastically acceptable and surely no-one has a problem with this kind of scene?
I would give this scene a pass and not add it to the tally.
2) The second is different. Holo-Stamets opens his heart when Book is struggling to control his ship/trying to escape the gravitational anomaly. Stamets chooses this exact moment to express how Book's ability to control the spore drive made him feel inadequate, how he couldn't protect his family, Book made him feel worthless... I wanted to punch him as much as Book did. Dude, seriously, WTF?
I kind fo see how this is something that could stretch a viewers belief. I don't consider myself to be a Discovery hater by any means, but in this instance, as Book I'd turn to Stamets and say "Now? Fucking seriously? You want to talk about this right now?". Here, I see the problem people have. I understand. It's still not constant or every episode, but I get it.
I would not give this scene a pass. I believe it should be added to the tally.
3) The third. Book loses his shit and Michael opens a private channel with him to talk it out. Now, on the surface this is similar to the scene above, except here it feels a) more fitting given that Michael and Book have a relationship and b) more relevant given that Book had basically lost his shit at that point and needed his love to pull him out of a hole.
It's the classic 'talk the person down from jumping off the building scene' and feels relevant and natural and relates directly to the tragedy Book has suffered as well as picking up earlier threads in the episode about Book going through grief. Even though this scene is as guilty of the same things as the previous mentioned, I still feel that it works because of who Book and Burnham are. The Stamets stuff, possibly intentionally, was awkward.
However, I am not sure if this scene passes or fails.
So, someone give me a rundown. I think it's fair to have a problem with the Stamets scene, because I can see what the problem is, but the other two, despite technically being 'talking about feelings in the middle of a crisis' seem both dramatically and thematically earned.
Thoughts?
EDITED TO ADD
I thought E02 was good, but lacked the punch of E01.
It's not every episode, because episode 1 had none, but I wonder what it is people are defining this problem as, because there are a few instances and they all involve Book, but they are all different.
1) Early in the episode, Michael tries to talk to Book to understand his feelings. The crisis with the anomaly is light years distant, presented as something abstract. This, I think is drastically acceptable and surely no-one has a problem with this kind of scene?
I would give this scene a pass and not add it to the tally.
2) The second is different. Holo-Stamets opens his heart when Book is struggling to control his ship/trying to escape the gravitational anomaly. Stamets chooses this exact moment to express how Book's ability to control the spore drive made him feel inadequate, how he couldn't protect his family, Book made him feel worthless... I wanted to punch him as much as Book did. Dude, seriously, WTF?
I kind fo see how this is something that could stretch a viewers belief. I don't consider myself to be a Discovery hater by any means, but in this instance, as Book I'd turn to Stamets and say "Now? Fucking seriously? You want to talk about this right now?". Here, I see the problem people have. I understand. It's still not constant or every episode, but I get it.
I would not give this scene a pass. I believe it should be added to the tally.
3) The third. Book loses his shit and Michael opens a private channel with him to talk it out. Now, on the surface this is similar to the scene above, except here it feels a) more fitting given that Michael and Book have a relationship and b) more relevant given that Book had basically lost his shit at that point and needed his love to pull him out of a hole.
It's the classic 'talk the person down from jumping off the building scene' and feels relevant and natural and relates directly to the tragedy Book has suffered as well as picking up earlier threads in the episode about Book going through grief. Even though this scene is as guilty of the same things as the previous mentioned, I still feel that it works because of who Book and Burnham are. The Stamets stuff, possibly intentionally, was awkward.
However, I am not sure if this scene passes or fails.
So, someone give me a rundown. I think it's fair to have a problem with the Stamets scene, because I can see what the problem is, but the other two, despite technically being 'talking about feelings in the middle of a crisis' seem both dramatically and thematically earned.
Thoughts?
EDITED TO ADD
I thought E02 was good, but lacked the punch of E01.
