Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 1x05 - "Choose Your Pain"
- Thread starter Commander Richard
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I'm thinking more about Lorca's shot at L'Rell again. Whilst it could just be because the writers have more to tell with her, but why "in universe" did he miss? He'd already proven that he was a decent shot - he didn't miss any of the "Klingon Redshirts". Was there a tactic behind not getting not killing her. I thought the shot he took was closer to hitting Tyler than a direct hit would have been from everyone's locations in the scene...
It's one of those guilty pleasures you can't overthink to me, although I do agree, for a full-on, classic MIRROR episode, I'm not sure the groundwork has been laid to properly appreciate that. Could be as simple a thing as a personality split into good/evil Stamets a la Kirk by the expression on his face. Have to rewatch.
The infinite improbability drive made the universe extremely small for me. As for Harry Mudd, no reason for him to be on a Klingon ship as a prisoner. Writers are trying to tie into STOS timeline. Too bad they blew it with the Zoom-Shroom Drive, kinda wreaks all the other Starfleet ships and history for the next 100 years.
Excellent episode! Intense! I loved the development with the tardigrade. The events on the Klingon ship were dramatic. I was afraid from the previews that I wasn't going to like the new portrayal of Mudd, but he was excellent. Much more consistent with the TOS than I was expecting. Shoot, I might have even preferred Rain's (sp) portrayal! Various great callbacks to Stella, the Captains, etc. The characters including Stamets became more likeable. "Cadet, it is fucking awesome!" Now we're left to wonder WTF is going on with the mirror image. "Mirror, Mirror"?
A word to the wise, my guess would be that use of the Spore Displacement drive is not sustainable and has to be abandoned at some point. Just saying . . .
Well, that's your opinion. I actually I think crew is becoming much more relatable. Stamets' team in particular is gelling. The discussion between Burnham and Saru needed to happen and moved things forward. Totally disagree about Burnham. She's not a dud but an excellent character.
Ovarian resequencing enzymes.
This is the first time I'm reviewing DSC. After hedging a bit, I gave this one a 9 but it now feels like an 8, maybe an 8.5...
A few brief thoughts:
I am still trying to figure out what TPTB want to do with this ship and the crew. I know we won't know for sure until they're ready to tell us (or it gets cancelled LOL), but I can't help but think that this is going to be a shadow ship fighting the war and will go down in the darkest recesses of SF history. I don't even want to think of Section 31 right now.
Michael Burnham as a character had potential, but I'm sorry that SMG is woefully misguided in how she's being directed in playing the character. As it is, the whole Vulcan/Sarek/Spock connection is completely gratuitous and is a terrible burden to the character. I wish Burnham was just a nobody from nowhere who got herself into this mess... because then she would actually be interesting to watch. Shoehorning Sarek (and by extension Spock and I hear Amanda as well) just feels as if TPTB are standing out on the highway holding posters screaming "PRIME UNIVERSE!!" My fear is that SMG just does not have the grips of this character. They're trying hard to juxtapose her now as the conscience of the crew (as opposed to Lorca being the inducer....)
...speaking of which, Lorca's character just keeps unfolding like a flower (yes, TXF reference for you Mulder-Scully fans out there). He and Stamets are now easily the best characters on board. When they speak or move, I am riveted. I like Tilly but I am not fascinated by her, but she grounds everything and everyone so fucking well that she's now irreplaceable. The look on her face when we see Stamets lying there inert and seemingly dead made my heart jump and race with fear. Mary Wiseman can do emotions with one flick of her lashes...something SoMG has yet to do with her whole face ("What are you doing with your mouth?!" LOL)
This was Saru's episode and it was awesome to watch him become something foreign to his character -- a hardassed predator. At the end of the episode, I believe he understood not only MIchael, but Lorca better because of those two hours he spent hunting for his captain and batting down all opposition.
Loved the Toothbrushing Duo. Truth be told, I kept praying -- don't french kiss, don't french kiss! But a hug would've been okay by me. In the end, very well done. Those two have had GREAT chemistry from their first scene. Please don't get rid of Culber, TPTB?!
The mirror scene -- has anyone mentioned The Enemy Within? That was what I thoght of instantly when I saw Stamets' reflection smirking in the mirror.
I'll leave the VOQ/Tyler bit alone for now. Just wanted to mention that L'Rell's makeup in this episode was horrible. At one point, it looked like her lower lip was going to fall off?!
Last word: I can count on one hand the number of Trek episodes I have wanted to rewatc IMMEDIATELY after it aired. One was Call to Arms, another was the Mirror episodes on ENT, amongst a few others (BOBW I, The Tholian Web to name a few). This was easily one of them. I rewatched it immediately. Two hours well spent.
Season One, Episode 5. Let's see where we go from here.
A few brief thoughts:
I am still trying to figure out what TPTB want to do with this ship and the crew. I know we won't know for sure until they're ready to tell us (or it gets cancelled LOL), but I can't help but think that this is going to be a shadow ship fighting the war and will go down in the darkest recesses of SF history. I don't even want to think of Section 31 right now.
Michael Burnham as a character had potential, but I'm sorry that SMG is woefully misguided in how she's being directed in playing the character. As it is, the whole Vulcan/Sarek/Spock connection is completely gratuitous and is a terrible burden to the character. I wish Burnham was just a nobody from nowhere who got herself into this mess... because then she would actually be interesting to watch. Shoehorning Sarek (and by extension Spock and I hear Amanda as well) just feels as if TPTB are standing out on the highway holding posters screaming "PRIME UNIVERSE!!" My fear is that SMG just does not have the grips of this character. They're trying hard to juxtapose her now as the conscience of the crew (as opposed to Lorca being the inducer....)
...speaking of which, Lorca's character just keeps unfolding like a flower (yes, TXF reference for you Mulder-Scully fans out there). He and Stamets are now easily the best characters on board. When they speak or move, I am riveted. I like Tilly but I am not fascinated by her, but she grounds everything and everyone so fucking well that she's now irreplaceable. The look on her face when we see Stamets lying there inert and seemingly dead made my heart jump and race with fear. Mary Wiseman can do emotions with one flick of her lashes...something SoMG has yet to do with her whole face ("What are you doing with your mouth?!" LOL)
This was Saru's episode and it was awesome to watch him become something foreign to his character -- a hardassed predator. At the end of the episode, I believe he understood not only MIchael, but Lorca better because of those two hours he spent hunting for his captain and batting down all opposition.
Loved the Toothbrushing Duo. Truth be told, I kept praying -- don't french kiss, don't french kiss! But a hug would've been okay by me. In the end, very well done. Those two have had GREAT chemistry from their first scene. Please don't get rid of Culber, TPTB?!
The mirror scene -- has anyone mentioned The Enemy Within? That was what I thoght of instantly when I saw Stamets' reflection smirking in the mirror.
I'll leave the VOQ/Tyler bit alone for now. Just wanted to mention that L'Rell's makeup in this episode was horrible. At one point, it looked like her lower lip was going to fall off?!
Last word: I can count on one hand the number of Trek episodes I have wanted to rewatc IMMEDIATELY after it aired. One was Call to Arms, another was the Mirror episodes on ENT, amongst a few others (BOBW I, The Tholian Web to name a few). This was easily one of them. I rewatched it immediately. Two hours well spent.
Season One, Episode 5. Let's see where we go from here.
That's an... interesting reading of the text.
So, exactly how many people does he have to kill, torture, manipulate and or simply outright treat cruely to get that title?
So far he's done more than the Klingons have to appear dangerous.
It has obviously done something to Stamets (something that will be explored in future episodes) and I'm sure that whatever it is will result in the spore technology being abandoned.
Hmmm - I'm gonna have to rewatch ep5 because I've hear a lot of references to sexual organs for Klingons. I'm lead to believe that Klingons have some sort of built in Shocker - or, um, Spock-er (for in-universe)?
The meeting was over. He was heading back to Disco. I doubt they wanted to waste 10 minutes on watching him pack his things, file a flight plan, share a joke with the hangar officer, get a coffee on his way out..
Yeah, this was a typical Kirk escapes from a cell with a distraction routine. Seems to be a Star Fleet specialty of that time!
7 out of 10 from me. This is an improvement over the 5 I gave it last week. I'm actually starting to anticipate the next episode on its own merits, instead of just watching for research purposes.
I find it ironic that I still don't really care much about the "main character", except in that she provides a dramatic backdrop for the other characters. Burnham is basically a plot device so far for me.
Lorca has improved significantly in my eyes--now I'm getting a non-smartass Mackinzie Calhoun vibe from him, instead of Luther Sloan, which is good since I like Calhoun and can't stand Sloan.
Staments has officially become a real Star Trek character, versus an even more abrasive copy of Rodney McKay from Stargate: Atlantis.
The only female character I've found compelling so far was Georgiou and they just had to kill her off! (There hasn't been much character development with the helm officer, Keyla Detmer, so I'm withholding judgement for the time being.) I would have expected more from the females, since Kirsten Beyer is a staff writer.
I still don't give a damn about the Klingons. I just don't. Bitch about me not accepting change, if you want. Truth is, I'm perfectly fine with change, if it's good change. There's just nothing compelling about what they've done to the Klingons in Discovery. I don't hate them. It's just one big meh.
It's clear the asinine spore drive is on the way out. It's only a matter of time, and that makes me happy. Having an instant jump drive ruins the whole "wagon train to the stars" premise any TOS era show should have. Even with slipstream being a thing in the Litverse, it's not instantaneous, which makes it far more palatable to me than what Discovery has dished up.
I got big Doctor Who vibes from that final scene with Staments in the mirror. I don't know what's going on with that (except that it's almost certainly not connected with the Mirror Universe,) but I do know this is one of the kinds of changes in story and tone from the previous shows that I really like. I was a Trekkie first, but I'm also a big Whovian, and this kind of thing is right up my alley.
Overall, I beginning to think this series has some real potential.
I find it ironic that I still don't really care much about the "main character", except in that she provides a dramatic backdrop for the other characters. Burnham is basically a plot device so far for me.
Lorca has improved significantly in my eyes--now I'm getting a non-smartass Mackinzie Calhoun vibe from him, instead of Luther Sloan, which is good since I like Calhoun and can't stand Sloan.
Staments has officially become a real Star Trek character, versus an even more abrasive copy of Rodney McKay from Stargate: Atlantis.
The only female character I've found compelling so far was Georgiou and they just had to kill her off! (There hasn't been much character development with the helm officer, Keyla Detmer, so I'm withholding judgement for the time being.) I would have expected more from the females, since Kirsten Beyer is a staff writer.
I still don't give a damn about the Klingons. I just don't. Bitch about me not accepting change, if you want. Truth is, I'm perfectly fine with change, if it's good change. There's just nothing compelling about what they've done to the Klingons in Discovery. I don't hate them. It's just one big meh.
It's clear the asinine spore drive is on the way out. It's only a matter of time, and that makes me happy. Having an instant jump drive ruins the whole "wagon train to the stars" premise any TOS era show should have. Even with slipstream being a thing in the Litverse, it's not instantaneous, which makes it far more palatable to me than what Discovery has dished up.
I got big Doctor Who vibes from that final scene with Staments in the mirror. I don't know what's going on with that (except that it's almost certainly not connected with the Mirror Universe,) but I do know this is one of the kinds of changes in story and tone from the previous shows that I really like. I was a Trekkie first, but I'm also a big Whovian, and this kind of thing is right up my alley.
Overall, I beginning to think this series has some real potential.
We never saw April or Pike doing anything great (hell Pike's only two appearances in TOS, he gets captured and has Spock commit mutiny for him)
No it hasn't? If you're looking at BTS stuff with actors and names, yeah, but just going by what has been shown on screen, no it isn't obvious.
There is no Terran Empire. Discovery is USS.
Or maybe that'll be shown in upcoming episodes? We haven't really even seen what the sacrifice is exactly at this point, much less time for other characters to react to it.
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