Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 1x05 - "Choose Your Pain"

We're seen him in trailers interacting with Burnham, so no.

 

Her character took a back seat to Saru, Lorca and Stamets this episode.

 

No, clearly not. The mirror Stamets did not have a goatee. Jossed.

 

Rated this one an 8. Second time I've rated a Discovery episode an 8 (first was Binary Stars).

I hope this episode is going to be close to the norm for Discovery. The pace felt less break-neck and confused, and the characters are starting to feel more well-rounded. I really liked the way Lorca and Tyler broke out of the cell, although I was somewhat disappointed that Lorca didn't make some kind of effort to retrieve Mudd on the way out. I liked the interactions between Saru and Burnham and am glad to see Burnham starting to seem a little more comfortable with her new situation.

I also really liked the final scene at the end of Stamets and the doctor (can't recall his name at the moment). It felt very natural and comfortable, like a real life couple that's been together for awhile. So often Star Trek has not managed to make romantic relationships feel authentic so it was nice to see them succeed here.

Notably, we didn't see Voq on the Klingon ship, so I guess the rumors about Tyler may turn out to be accurate.

 

Always a mistake to make one character to represent a Star Trek series, the older Track series didn't have that.

 

I enjoy the theory that Voq is Tyler and this somehow involves the Augment virus. I hope that the producers don't ignore the rich story potential that is the havoc wreaked by the virus but if the Voq character is a way to touch on the more human-looking Klingons then I'm all for that kind of story twist.

 

So, the top five (in no particular order) of all Starfleet Captains, living or dead circa 2256 are April, Archer, Decker, Georgiou, and Pike.

April, Decker, and Pike are still serving, and Georgiou is recently deceased, so they are truly living in a golden age of captaincy. Why isn't Lorca swapped out for one of the three greatest captains of all time?

I liked the backstory on Mudd. He's a sneaky weasel, so I can't wait to see him escape next season or whenever. I know I shouldn't believe a word he says, but apart of me likes to think there's a grain of truth in his story on how the Klingon War pushed him into going from a respectable business man into the con game.

And Lorca apparently saved the Benzites. Good on him. I think Stamets may tie into the mirror universe somehow, although that mirror camera trick was mainly for our benefit, and there's no living creatures in the mirror or whatever nonsense.

Lorca may have pulled a "Mist" ending with his crew on the Huron. Destroys it purposely to spare them a fate-worse-than-death, only to be rescued ten seconds later before he could explode his own shuttle.

It's a good thing that Saru didn't ask for a list of the greatest first officers in Starfleet, living or dead. It'd just be T'Pol, Charles Tucker, I guess, and um, that other Number One or something.

 

Oh and for the record, I went with an 8 or a B+.

Certainly not perfect, but it was definitely a big step forward from the previous shows. And I definitely enjoyed it.

 

I feel bad for Worf. I can see why Klingons don't discuss this with outsiders, this is complicated.

 

I have no idea what you're referring to.

 

I went back and rewatched the Stamets "mirror scene." His reflection has a Starfleet sigil on his jammies, not a Terran Empire one.

I think it's safe to say the mirror universe is not coming through the mirror. Maybe he's just "out of phase" or something.

 

Clearly an in-joke, since no one would rate Archer as a good captain.

 

A simple medical scan will reveal if he's a Klingon, so it's not like he can hide on the ship forever.

 

Well Stemets would have noticed if his badge was wrong.

 

Which is good I think. We need to see the other characters' development so each episode isn't always focused on her.

 

His bio on the Defiant said he was the greatest explorer of the 22nd Century :P

 

I do like the theory that I proposed some weeks ago (in jest), that Voq, who wants everyone to "remain Klingon" will be the one to (re?-)release the virus that turns all Klingons into humans.

 

Humor is not your strong suit.

 

Yeah, it was great and unexpected. One wonders if this was one of the points they decided to retool the series slightly. It doesn't look like the writing team was that different from earlier in the season (two out of the three writers were also involved in the second and third episodes.

 

Voq is a Founder, and this is a new timeline--the Discovery-verse. The Dominion sends a Founder back in time to cause the Federation and Klingons to tear each other apart so when the wormhole is discovered, the Alpha Quadrant will be ripe for the taking.

Well played, changelings.