Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 1x06 - "Lethe"

[Gonzo]

First thoughts:

• Easily the best written episode thus far--no clunky dialogue in sight, and some snappy writing and internal callbacks to earlier beats in the episode.
• Michael emerges as genuinely likable in a nice way here--previously I had respected and found her interesting, but maybe not been as drawn to her character as here.
• Good character beats--some real, honest humanity to the interactions. If we were worried that the show would just be things exploding, that concern is clearly not justified, as this episode was character, character, character--for Tilly, for Michael, for Ash, for Lorca, for Cornwell. Actually a pretty quite, contemplative episode.
• The values on display were very Trekkian.
• I could have done with 30% less Spock name drops, but I do like how they wove Michael into Sarek, Amanda, and Spock's story. So where are we getting that Sybock episode?
• How to read Stamets? Just a much happier guy, or is something wrong with him? Note Lorca's lingering look at his retreating figure...hm.
• Great humanization of Lorca--he shows a vulnerability I quite liked.
• The ending felt tacked on--a step beyond the heart and soul of the episode into clear set up territory for further episodes--not bad, but probably the most underwhelming beat of the episode for me.
• Some good world-building: Vulcan extremists, the neutral arbiter species at the end.
• I was seriously afraid Lorca was going to blow up Cornwell's shuttle or something, and thankful that did not happen...

Next time looks bonkers, and I can't wait.

Haven't seen it yet but if we are talking Vulcan terrorists it could mean we will get to see the Symmetrists, of which Sarek is allegedly a member but its from the Shatner books so not canon.

If they do go the Symmetrist route it would then make it canon though.

 

[Ensign_Rowan_McGrath]

Two things I took from this episode I enjoyed:

1) The idea that has formed for me that Michael's rejection from the Vulcan Expeditionary Group spurred Spock's decision to go to Starfleet Academy. Sarek's indecisiveness on the matter shown here really hits home for me just the distance between father and son in TOS and the movies.
2) Saru's lack of threat ganglia extending when Michael comes on the bridge indicates they are starting to bury the hatchet and Saru no longer sees her as a threat since they were subconscious in the last episode. I wonder how things will go when they are on the bridge together constantly. Same with Keyla, since they both served on the Shenzhou.

I also wonder what Cromwell's cruiser class is? Horizon, Baton Rouge, one of the other ships seen at the Battle of the Binaries? Maybe we'll find out soon.

Also, I love the Tyler-Michael dynamic. May be weird to see the fallout if Tyler really is

Spoiler

the Klingon Voq

Kudos to the Cancri aliens. Maybe they become Federation members after the Klingons betrayed them.

Also to the high Stamets. What further consequences are there to his continual jumping?

 

[Bgt]

I literally laughed out loud when the Admiral finally "realized" Lorca has issues.
This version of Starfleet is not the brightest, is it??
Cause yeah, having a captain who refuses to fix his sight* is perfectly normal.
I mean trusting your greatest ship/asset into the hands of someone who can be incapacitated by a single flashlight beam is perfectly logical, right? Right!

In other news, is SGM a mediocre actress or they just approach Michael in a unsuccessful way? She doesn't behave like a human who grew up in Vulcan, but rather like an autistic person or something ( I hope I do not offend anyone in the spectrum).
Thinking about it, they all act like they if they have serious mental issues..
Which doesn't surprised me, since their captain is a nutcase.

Anyway, I am still in the "It has Star Trek in the title so I will watch it till it gets better" vagon.


*Btw, shouldn't Lorca wear some kind of protective shades while he was playing soldier in the holodeck?

 

[GeekUSACarl]

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?

 

[Smoked Salmon]

Aside from the first two episode I have seen merit in the series increasing per episode....but damn this one was absolute shit. So much so I can't even be bothered to write a proper review. I think I might need to give it a second watch just to see if it was a bad as I think, but I was so unengaged by this episode that I was checking my phone half way through.

 

[The Habs Fan]

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?

I think he's not in a rush to rescue her because it would mean he loses the captaincy

 

[Smoked Salmon]

In other news, is SGM a mediocre actress or they just approach Michael in a unsuccessful way? She doesn't behave like a human who grew up in Vulcan, but rather like an autistic person or something ( I hope I do not offend anyone in the spectrum).

The general merits of the character aside, how is she remotely autistic?

 

[cultcross]

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?

Looking forward to finding out. This is probably a big moment where we learn if we are going the full House of Cards route where our Captain is properly unhinged, or whether this is an opportunity for him to retreat from the edge and straighten up. I would be shocked if Cornwell isn't killed/horribly injured, so it will also be interesting how Lorca reacts to that. Is he filled with remorse at how they ended things, or is he pleased he can bypass her objections?

 

[OpenMaw]

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?

I honestly can't say for certain. I think it's probably a bit of both. It's clearly putting even more of a strain on him. Here's hoping he manages to make the leap to do the right thing.

 

[GeekUSACarl]

Michael is not working as a convincing character.

i couldnt disagree more with this statement. she is a fascinating character. every episode she becomes more unraveled. her complexity makes her fun to watch and i think she is well written

 

[alex08060]

Haven't seen it yet but if we are talking Vulcan terrorists it could mean we will get to see the Symmetrists, of which Sarek is allegedly a member but its from the Shatner books so not canon.

If they do go the Symmetrist route it would then make it canon though.

They could be Romulans pretending to be Vulcans since the federation stands in their way of taking Vulcan.

 

[Charles Phipps]

They could be Romulans pretending to be Vulcans since the federation stands in their way of taking Vulcan.

They did that in the Enterprise books and it was kind of reaching.

Vulcans kill people in sex gladiator games and no one finds this the least bit strange. They're kind of the race of religious people who, if not for Vulcan Jesus-Buddha, would burn the entire place to the ground just to watch it burn.

I generally accept as canon that Vulcans are naturally a bunch of homicidal sociopaths who make the Klingons look passive but keep it all tightly under wraps. Spock and Sarek are examples of the ones who are genuinely good people despite this while the others are....not.

Sort of why I loved the fact Tuvok's go-to hologram for stress relief is him murdering Neelix.

 

[Gonzo]

Looking forward to finding out. This is probably a big moment where we learn if we are going the full House of Cards route where our Captain is properly unhinged, or whether this is an opportunity for him to retreat from the edge and straighten up. I would be shocked if Cornwell isn't killed/horribly injured, so it will also be interesting how Lorca reacts to that. Is he filled with remorse at how they ended things, or is he pleased he can bypass her objections?

No wonder Kirk resisted being promoted to Admiral, they don't have a long shelf life do they.

That's two we have lost in the first half of the first season.

Must admit if I were Lorca I wouldn't exactly be in a hurry as the Admiral moaned at him about going off book to save Sarek, then again he may want to save her but knows he cant as it would be too great a risk to the Discovery and the experiment.

 

[Longinus]

(Posting again without first reading what others have said.)

Now this is Star Trek!

I really liked this episode. Burnham's backstory finally mattered and it is now clear why they chose Sarek specifically to be her mentor. This really is a good exploration of Sarek's character, and the bit about having to choose which child gets to be in the Expedition was really great. Sarek's resentment for Spock joining Starfleet is seen in completely new light, and it really makes much more sense this way.

I really liked the interaction of the regular crew. Tilly and Burnham make a great team, their opposing personalities work marvellously together. Stamets was hilarious and even Lorca got some much needed humanity in his character.

The ending was the weakest part. The trap was predictable, and I really hoped that this wasn't what they were gonna do as it was so obvious. It also kinda calls in question Sarek's judgement on matters other than parenting too.

But overall, very solid episode, more like this please!

8/10

 

[Charles Phipps]

No wonder Kirk resisted being promoted to Admiral, they don't have a long shelf life do they.

That's two we have lost in the first half of the first season.

Must admit if I were Lorca I wouldn't exactly be in a hurry as the Admiral moaned at him about going off book to save Sarek, then again he may want to save her but knows he cant as it would be too great a risk to the Discovery and the experiment.

Mind you, Lorca did dun **** up Starfleet as an Admiral in the hands of the Klingons is not going to help the war effort versus one oddball humanphile Vulcan.

Edit:

FYI, a nice moment in the Spin Off novel from Discovery is Burnham tried to transfer to the Intrepid (i.e. the all-Vulcan ship) and got refused.

 

[Gonzo]

Mind you, Lorca did dun **** up Starfleet as an Admiral in the hands of the Klingons is not going to help the war effort versus one oddball humanphile Vulcan.

Edit:

FYI, a nice moment in the Spin Off novel from Discovery is Burnham tried to transfer to the Intrepid (i.e. the all-Vulcan ship) and got refused.

I am sure she is fine, they just invited her to dinner.

With some Fava Beans and a nice Chianti.

Om Nom Nom.

Admirals are bloody stupid, send a civilian to negotiate instead.

 

[Romulan_spy]

The ending was the weakest part. The trap was predictable, and I really hoped that this wasn't what they were gonna do as it was so obvious. It also kinda calls in question Sarek's judgement on matters other than parenting too.

In the TNG episode Unification, Spock goes on a reckless diplomatic mission to Romulas even though he is certain that it is a trap. He goes anyway because he feels so strongly in giving peace a chance. Likewise, Sarek was willing to go on a risky diplomatic mission that he had to know was a trap for the sake of peace, however remote. So, I would say "like father, like son".

 

[Markonian]

I really like Admiral Cornwell in this episode. I hope she doesn’t perish, and I felt shocked that she’d now had to suffer under the Klingons.

She feels more like a modern-day manager in your workplace than a navy officer, which I like.

Fingers crossed we get to see her cruiser, too.

 

[Charles Phipps]

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

 

[Gonzo]

I really like Admiral Cornwell in this episode. I hope she doesn’t perish, and I felt shocked that she’d now had to suffer under the Klingons.

She feels more like a modern-day manager in your workplace than a navy officer, which I like.

Fingers crossed we get to see her cruiser, too.

Would be nice to start putting names and classes to more Starfleet ships.