Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 1x07 - "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad"

[Vger23]

No.
The writing on The Americans is great. Or The Crown. Or Transparent. Or Handmaiden's. Or Thrones. Or PoI. Or Stranger Things. Or House of Cards. Or Orange Black. Dexter. BreakingABQ. Or a 100 other examples I could list.

This is sophomoric shit.

Then





Fucking





Stop




Watching.




Sweet fancy Moses. What is wrong with you people who keep complaining over and over and over and over again. Time loop? I feel like I'm stuck in one with you people who insist on not only watching a show you don't like, but then expending energy on letting everyone know about it.

It's frigging old, folks. Really, really old.

 

[BeatleJWOL]

It's a discussion forum, not a genitally-stimulate the writers forum.

Give it a rest.

 

[DEWLine]

Amen, friend. Amen.

 

[DEWLine]

One more thing I like about Discovery's version of the Federation Starfleet: even in the middle of wartime, an Endangered Species Act still has value and meaning. And legal strength backing it up.

I'll leave it at that.

 

[BeatleJWOL]

Or maybe I'm just too used to being told things I like are shitty. You learn to live with it.

 

[omnirad]

That was the most fun episode so far. Putting a 'Disco' twist on an old trope. The characters are developing nicely. I give it my highest rating yet, a 9.

 

[nasanoel]

I'll watch the first season to give the show a fair shot but so far I'm not a fan. Nothing about this episode or the show so far has grabbed me to make me want more of it.

 

[Kenobiwan85]

This episode was very entertainting, so many moments that I had a stupid grin on my face just because of how much I was enjoying it. Honestly, none of the actors really stick out as "wooden" to me, and I am enjoying getting to know these characters (Stamets is easily becoming a favorite).

Edit: Rainn Wilson killed it as Mudd, and the scene of him repeatedly killing Lorca was great (nothing against Lorca).

 

[Vger23]

I thought it was good. Again, much more in line with classic Star Trek episodes. It had a great sense of fun. Rainn Wilson really is Mudd and does a great job chewing it up. We got a ton more family chemistry from the characters this week. Some of the dark comedy (101 ways to kill Lorca) was great. I also love the look he gives Saru a couple of times when Saru lectures him on the "fish" thing.

Not the best...bit still very entertaining. This one was a popcorn chewer as opposed to some of the other heavier episodes.

And that's ok.

 

[eschaton]

I'm going with an eight on this one. I think it was the best episode of Discovery yet, and a big turnaround from the mess last week.

This continues the pattern of Discovery falling into "classic Trek" mode. The episode had an A plot (time loop/Mudd) and a B plot (emerging Burnham/Tyler romance). All of the performances were great in this episode as well (although Saru wasn't given much screen time). I'm even starting to like Tyler, who didn't do much for me in his first two outings. The plot was serviceable, but you don't expect the most sensible plot in a "time loop" episode.

The bad - or at least why I didn't rate it 10:

1. Burnham continues to be unimpressive to me every time the script calls for her to have extended monologues. I didn't mind the "log" entries, although they went on for a bit too long. But a lot of times it feels like the writers have talking too much about her emotions rather than showing them. I mean, I understand she was raised by Vulcans, but it really gets tiresome.

2. The plot (such as it was) did have one notable flaw - how was it that Burnham started remembering things between loops after the discussion with Stamnets about her feelings?

3. As noted, the episode conceptually was a total ripoff of Cause and Effect. Not that that's a bad thing in and of itself, since it's really not a question of plot, but execution. But it's a bad sign that there's only 15 episodes this season and they needed to mine TNG for plot ideas. At the very least, I don't want to hear people complaining any longer about how The Orville just rips off Trek episodes, because this was much more blatant than anything they did.

 

[Pure Antiproton]

Good standalone episode. Moved some of the characters far along in their arc. I’m surprised how much I like Stamets now. He was my least favorite at first. Lorca seems much more like a real federation captain in this one also. Hope to see more of Mudd but they neatly wrapped his story up.

 

[Tuskin38]

Could someone watching on CBS all access grab a screenshot of Stella's father's ship?

Her and her father's outfits were also very TOS.

 

[CorporalClegg]

This would have been great as a popcorn chewer. Popcorn chewers have whimsy and levity and aren't lathered in pretense.

This was not that.

 

[Tuskin38]

Eat popcorn with every episode of DSC

 

[Jesse1066]

I enjoyed the heck out of it, honestly. This was a fun episode.

 

[ichab]

Not bad but I can only give it a six due to it being an obvious copy of "Cause and Effect."

 

[Annorax849]

Not one of the better episodes, but not that bad.

New factoid: Betazoid was at least known, if not in the UFP, by Discovery. That sort of debunks the semi-common theory that they were in the First Federation.

 

[Tuskin38]

 

[Mudd]

After what they're tolerating, the idea the Starfleet would court martial Lorca over neglecting a space whale is a giggle.

 

[BeatleJWOL]

This continues the pattern of Discovery falling into "classic Trek" mode. The episode had an A plot (time loop/Mudd) and a B plot (emerging Burnham/Tyler romance).

And unlike a lot of earlier Trek where they never intersected, the B plot is an element of the A plot while still having its own arc. Unfortunately that arc is undercut by so many time travel shenanigans, but it's there.

(although Saru wasn't given much screen time)

The preview indicates that will be fixed next week.

how was it that Burnham started remembering things between loops after the discussion with Stamnets about her feelings?

I think that may just have been less-than-great editing choices that left out choice bits.

3. As noted, the episode conceptually was a total ripoff of Cause and Effect. Not that that's a bad thing in and of itself, since it's really not a question of plot, but execution.

I think there's a significant difference in that TNG the D just stumbled upon the time loop and got forced into it.

In this, the time loop was forced onto the crew by an outside antagonist. It's not enough to call it wholly original, but it's an interesting spin on something we've all seen (ironically!) before.