Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 1x02 - "Battle at the Binary Stars"

[Guy Gardener]

We didn't meet him.

Maybe it's possible that white = "specialist" or "civilian contractor" (no money. You know what I mean.)

Graduating both medical school and Starfleet academy must mean that there are not a lot of young doctors in the fleet, so like Phlox, Starfleet might have to take on civilian doctors to make ends meet.

 

[Unimatrix Q]

It's been almost a week since this episode and I haven't replayed any of it over in my mind like the TNG, DS9 and VOY pilots. Nothing to daydream about, no philosophical questions to consider other than whether it's a good idea to mutiny all by yourself. It was military science fiction. I like military sci fi, but I don't think it can serve as the foundation of a Star Trek series. I hope the Klingon war is just an arc and not the basic premise of the show.

Onwards, though. You have my money, CBS. Tread lightly.

The complete opposite with me. I replay the pilot episodes in my mind again and again. So many questions. Was the War preventable? What happened to the Klingons in the 100 years between Enterprise and Discovery? What was the original Kahless really like and what did he really teach before his message was perhaps changed by his followers? The klingon burial ritual and the black fleet.
The UFP laws and justice. The political state of the galaxy. Etc.,etc.

 

[tenmei]

We didn't meet him.

Maybe it's possible that white = "specialist" or "civilian contractor" (no money. You know what I mean.)

Graduating both medical school and Starfleet academy must mean that there are not a lot of young doctors in the fleet, so like Phlox, Starfleet might have to take on civilian doctors to make ends meet.

Doctor Nambue was supposed to be the ships CMO - the only member of the ships command crew we didn't appear to meet was the Chief Engineer, although it's possible that Weeton was the Chief Engineer though Memory Alpha are listing him as the Transporter Chief and the tie-in novel simply says he's a junior engineer.

 

[JRTStarlight]

The Romulans in "Balance of Terror." Their cloaked BoP was carrying several old-style nuclear warheads to serve as a self-destruct device should the vessel be damaged beyond repair or risk falling into the hands of an enemy. Apparently the Romulans were a lot more comfortable around nuclear weapons than humans and didn't mind lugging some of them around inside their ships, but then as far as know the Romulans never used them on themselves in a devastating world war.

Nuclear weapons are not particularly dangerous to carry on a ship – they don't blow up if jostled around, and well contained radioactive materials wouldn't be a problem. Compared to the matter/antimatter warheads, nukes are a snap.

 

[JRTStarlight]

Romulans are what Vulcans were before the Time of awakening (300-something ad.). The Romulans were dominant. Surak made a funky new cult of logic, they nuked each other, the Romulans left, and the Vulcans somehow survived on a radioactive cursed wasteland. Personally, I (alone) think the Romulans left Vulcan because they won the war, and still had the resources to leave. If they lost, how would they have taken a billion people to the other side of the quadrant at subwarp speed? Unless, shades of Space 1999, the Romulans were locked up inside a lunal penal colony that was nuked, and set adrift?

Those guys (who later became Romulans in name and made a new language, to boot) may not have won, but may have escaped, too. Perhaps much like Khan, and maybe not with a sleeper ship but with genetically pure gene banks and artificial wombs to kick start a new colony once they found a new home. They needn't have left in the billions at all. They might also have left before the war. We just don't know enough about it.

 

[Jack Watkins]

Took a week, but finally finished my review of the Star Trek: Discovery premiere. http://wp.me/p8wVHj-40

Damn, these things are hard! How did Tim Lynch do it week after week? :-)

 

[Guy Gardener]

Agreed.

Although enslaving the Remans can't have been easy with an army of babies.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Weeton was the Chief Engineer

Whil Weeton?

 

[Guy Gardener]

Doctor Nambue was supposed to be the ships CMO - the only member of the ships command crew we didn't appear to meet was the Chief Engineer, although it's possible that Weeton was the Chief Engineer though Memory Alpha are listing him as the Transporter Chief and the tie-in novel simply says he's a junior engineer.

I remember thinking "Wow he's hot" ...Oh, I know him from Weeds, and 30 Rock, not that I retain any of that, but he's definitely grown into his body since then.

 

[cooleddie74]

Nuclear weapons are not particularly dangerous to carry on a ship – they don't blow up if jostled around, and well contained radioactive materials wouldn't be a problem. Compared to the matter/antimatter warheads, nukes are a snap.

I wasn't referring to the danger of carrying them in storage but the fact that humans had waged a global war with them barely a century before their conflict with the Romulans. Mankind almost destroyed itself with them and within fairly recent memory at the time of the TOS episode. Romulans just seemed to have a more carefree attitude about both carrying and using them which is reflective of their more martial and warlike attitude.

 

[tenmei]

Whil Weeton?

Britch Weeton apparently

 

[cooleddie74]

I suddenly want some pumpkin pie with Cool Hwip.

 

[Pauln6]

Episode 2 was fun. I did wonder if they were deliberately poking fun at old Star trek tropes by beaming over only the captain and first officer and having it be rather unsuccessful because that's actually a terrible idea.

I dislike the fact that all the members of the klingon houses are nuklingons with no hair and no beards. They should have included some old style klingons in old style uniforms.

 

[cooleddie74]

^
Agreed.

Throwing in some Augment virus Klingons along with some TMP and Berman-era warriors to show a diversity of looks and wardrobe styles within the Empire would have been a wonderful touch and indicative of the Klingons being a multiethnic and multicultural species embracing members from across the spectrum. I'm still hoping they mix things up with different looks as the series progresses.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Since the Shinzou is a small science vessel, maybe they were the only two "real" soldiers on board?

If there was dedicated security on board, they may have been flushed out, or if security was a second hat other crewmen wore when they were not staffing vital positions, there would have been no way to collect and deploy any such scattered force quickly, who were not busy keeping the burning down ship together.

 

[Gonzo]

^
Agreed.

Throwing in some Augment virus Klingons along with some TMP and Berman-era warriors to show a diversity of looks and wardrobe styles within the Empire would have been a wonderful touch and indicative of the Klingons being a multiethnic and multicultural species embracing members from across the spectrum. I'm still hoping they mix things up with different looks as the series progresses.

One aspect I did like was the different styles of the heads of the Klingon houses, In fact I think they had different variations and amounts of facial construction as well, they weren't all like T'Kuvma.

Need to watch it again to be sure though.

 

[cooleddie74]

I do have to say I liked how the woman who heads the House of D'Ghor wore ornate jewelry on her cranial ridges. Previous female Klingons in the franchise didn't decorate their cranial ridges with jewelry and I enjoyed how this one looked. It was definitely a different look for a Klingon.

 

[Michael]

I do have to say I liked how the woman who heads the House of D'Ghor wore ornate jewelry on her cranial ridges. Previous female Klingons in the franchise didn't decorate their cranial ridges with jewelry and I enjoyed how this one looked. It was definitely a different look for a Klingon.

Yes, I really liked the headpiece as well!

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

That is an amazing design. Especially with the ethereal green projection vibe. I'm looking forward to seeing more of the character.

 

[Prax]

This is out of the blue, but I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere. Is the albino the albino from "Blood Oath"? Or could he be?