Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 1x06 - "Lethe"

[Reyman]

If Ash is a spy... Who looks and acts just a like a real human... Then they can copy Cornwall too.

My theory is he is half Human half augment Klingon. Raised by his human mother, then after her death he spent time with Klingons, decided it wasn't the life for him so instead joined Starfleet.

It also explains why a Klingon female would be interested in him...

 

[cultcross]

So, nobody did a medical check-up for Ash Tyler/Voq before he was granted a position aboard the Federation's most important ship in the klingon war?

What makes you think that?

Also: The background aliens on the secret meeting place looked great.

Agreed, I loved them. I'm only sorry we didn't see more of them before their sudden yet inevitable betrayal.

"Evil" Stamets was way over top.

"Evil" Stamets??

The telepathic link Burnham-Sarek worked over many lightyears

Yay, that's back.

 

[Rahul]

What makes you think that?

They would have known he was a klingon in human disguise. I doubt the klingons are that advanced in genetic engineering to change his entire DNA/internal organ structure. And Federation medical sensors pick up a lot.

"Evil" Stamets??

I'm going to edit that to "Mirror Stamets" in my original post, if you don't mind?

He was clearly negatively influenced by the spore drive, and IMO more akin to his suspicious mirror-self from last episode.

 

[SpocksOddSocks]

Giving this a solid 8 again (I will point out that I would be reluctant to give any higher than this to most Star Trek, and most television in general. I might give a 9 to a few earlier Trek episodes, and only 1 episode gets a 10*). It has to be something spectacular to get higher from me... and it was close to getting a 9.

I like that Sarek's decision to choose Spock is clearly an emotional choice. The logical one would clearly have been to pick Michael, as she was ready and willing for the assignment. There might even have been a chance for the expeditionary group to change their minds a few years later when it was Spock's turn. So yeah, clearly emotional.

I will say, this is yet another example of the Klingons having no honor whatsoever.

Sort of agreed. I always tend to think of "Klingon Honour" to be something they only adhere to when they feel like, usually to hide behind, or to make up retrospectively.

*DS9 In the Pale Moonlight BTW.

 

[cultcross]

They would have known he was a klingon in human disguise.

Well we don't know that yet, in fairness. Maybe we suck at our jobs

I'm going to edit that to "Mirror Stamets" in my original post, if you don't mind?

He was clearly negatively influenced by the spore drive, and IMO more akin to his suspicious mirror-self from last episode.

Interesting. I hadn't interpreted it as a mirror switch, I just thought the actor was settling into his part. He grated on me early on but I've grown to like his character.

 

[Rahul]

Well we don't know that yet, in fairness. Maybe we suck at our jobs

Yeah, that's gonna' be awkward if that theory turns out not to be true!
But at this point, it's pretty much a given. Especially if you consider how many "subtle" hints they introduced (his whole "Seattle"-background, that he was telling Burnham about "being human" and stuff)

 

[KirkusOveractus]

They would have known he was a klingon in human disguise. I doubt the klingons are that advanced in genetic engineering to change his entire DNA/internal organ structure. And Federation medical sensors pick up a lot.



I'm going to edit that to "Mirror Stamets" in my original post, if you don't mind?

He was clearly negatively influenced by the spore drive, and IMO more akin to his suspicious mirror-self from last episode.

I'm now wondering if the Mirror episodes will have some more humor in them, if they'll be opposites of the normal Discovery crew? I wonder if Stamets was replaced when he did the first jump?

 

[cultcross]

Yeah, that's gonna' be awkward if that theory turns out not to be true!
But at this point, it's pretty much a given. Especially if you consider how many "subtle" hints they introduced (his whole "Seattle"-background, that he was telling Burnham about "being human" and stuff)

True, although the writers are clearly switched on to what people pick up from episodes, as there is a growing trend of them addressing exactly what we point out week to week. I'm suspicious that it's too telegraphed at this point.

Having said that though, my IRL friends who watch Discovery hadn't picked it up at all, so maybe it is too much knowledge being a dangerous thing.

 

[Rahul]

Sort of agreed. I always tend to think of "Klingon Honour" to be something they only adhere to when they feel like, usually to hide behind, or to make up retrospectively.

The klingon "honour" has IMO always been more comparable to the "honour" of gangs, or the Mafia. Not so much about being "fair" or speaking truthfully, but more about strictly following a set of rules. I think that fits in line with what we have seen before.

 

[Push The Button]

Re: Tilly making captain

Tilly is too much of a spaz to command a ship. Unless Starfleet is really desperate to fill center seats because most of their senior officers end up being lost in the war, it really shouldn't happen.

Sulu was an excellent officer, on the command track, and it took him 25 years to finally get a ship of his own.

 

[KirkusOveractus]

I'm going to watch again tonight, because there were lots of streaming issues last night. Had to keep restarting the episode, but still had skips and pixellation. I got most of the episode in, but I want to watch trouble-free.

 

[Rahul]

True, although the writers are clearly switched on to what people pick up from episodes, as there is a growing trend of them addressing exactly what we point out week to week. I'm suspicious that it's too telegraphed at this point.

Having said that though, my IRL friends who watch Discovery hadn't picked it up at all, so maybe it is too much knowledge being a dangerous thing.

I think the "too" telegraphed comes from us fans picking this up way too early, and to be honest by unfair means, looking for real life actor announcements and stuff. The first half season of DIS is already long in the can. If the writers want to react to criticism, we are not going to see that before the second half of the season. And in-universe the situation is not as clear-cut as of yet.

Re: Tilly making captain

Tilly is too much of a spaz to command a ship. Unless Starfleet is really desperate to fill center seats because most of their senior officers end up being lost in the war, it really shouldn't happen.

Sulu was an excellent officer, on the command track, and it took him 25 years to finally get a ship of his own.

That's what they call "character development". Trust me, in a few years, Tilly will be a capable command officer, who deserves to get her own ship later own. (If they don't kill her in a cruel twist/rating stunt earlier).

 

[cultcross]

I think the "too" telegraphed comes from us fans picking this up way too early, and to be honest by unfair means, looking for real life actor announcements and stuff. The first half season of DIS is already long in the can. If the writers want to react to criticism, we are not going to see that before the second half of the season. And in-universe the situation is not as clear-cut as of yet.

Oh don't get me wrong, I don't think they are responding to us, it's just that the points we make about each episode, positive and negative, are consistently addressed in the show itself. Burnham's dubious blame, the tardigrade's sentience, Lorca's charming nuttiness, even Burnham's odd route into Starfleet. The writers are pretty self aware about what it is they're writing, and throw very little out there they're not intending to address.

That's what they call "character development". Trust me, in a few years, Tilly will be a capable command officer, who deserves to get her own ship later own. (If they don't kill her in a cruel twist/rating stunt earlier).

Which would be a lovely new thing for Trek to try

 

[Charles Phipps]

If they can't change the genetic structure, how are they sending in human infiltrators in ten years?

That's the premise of Tribbles.

Also, if you can make a salamander into a human then we're in the realm of Space Fantasy anyway.

 

[cultcross]

If they can't change the genetic structure, how are they sending in human infiltrators in ten years?

That's the premise of Tribbles.

But it's also the premise of Tribbles that said infiltrator can be discovered with a simple Tricorder scan.

 

[SpocksOddSocks]

But it's also the premise of Tribbles that said infiltrator can be discovered with a simple Tricorder scan.

I've always thought Kirk and co. go into that scene already suspecting a Klingon spy. If true, that tricorder might be specially calibrated to detect markers that are actually unknown to Starfleet at this point.

 

[KirkusOveractus]

I've always thought Kirk and co. go into that scene already suspecting a Klingon spy. If true, that tricorder might be specially calibrated to detect markers that are actually unknown to Starfleet at this point.

That's possible. The dialogue always hinted to me that McCoy was scanning him just based on a normal cross-reference of what a human or Federation person would be made of.

 

[Vger23]

They would have known he was a klingon in human disguise. I doubt the klingons are that advanced in genetic engineering to change his entire DNA/internal organ structure. And Federation medical sensors pick up a lot.



I'm going to edit that to "Mirror Stamets" in my original post, if you don't mind?

He was clearly negatively influenced by the spore drive, and IMO more akin to his suspicious mirror-self from last episode.

I'd change that to "he was clearly influenced by the spore drive."

We can't be sure it was a "negative" yet....

 

[Mr Awe]

so... is Lorca not unilaterally going after the Admiral because hes in a struggle with his own personality and taking her attitudes of acting smarter to heart? or is he secretly hoping she bites it so he doesnt lose the ship? ora mix of both?

Oh I took the ominous ending with him and the phaser to mean that he's intentionally leaving her hostage so he can keep his ship.

 

[Manuuk7]

I forgot about Tuvok. Sarek isn’t actually a normal Vulcan. He married two human wives after his original fiancé/wife/bondmate, the mother of Sybok, either died or divorced him. Sybok’s mother was either a Vulcan princess or priestess, depending on the material, but from a high status family, as was Sarek. She seems to have taken his son away from him or he was in some way prevented from being involved in the boy’s early childhood.

So after that disastrous proper marriage, he rebelled by marrying Amanda and told everyone he was experimenting by trying to integrate human and Vulcan cultures. He was proving something, maybe to his own parents or to his ex wife or to his ex wife’s family. But then, after rebelling, he set out to make his half human son the most perfectly Vulcan-y Vulcan that ever was and to turn his human foster daughter into a Vulcan and he disparaged their human traits. In The Original Series, he insisted Amanda act in what seems to be the traditional way for Vulcan wives, obeying him in public. Why exactly did Amanda put up with this guy? And yet she loved him and Sarek was desperate enough to save young Michael that he gave up a piece of his soul to do it. His children are genuinely part of him. A study in contradictions.

Isn't that in essence what parenting is all about? How many parents wish their children to follow in their footsteps or become a doctor and the kid rebels and joins the military instead. In a way, what happened (with Sarek wanting Spock to do A and Spock choosing to do B) is so predictable, it has an element of funny.