This episode has a lot of the same problems most of the previous episodes had: A lack of focus. Too many subplots, but the major one was an almost by-the-numbers re-telling of already existing Trek stories. That being said, it seems like the writers get a better graps at their characters, which is good.
The plot
While all previous stories had some arc-elements to them, this is the first two(?)-parter since the pilot. The main plot - the strange planet and te klingons - are going to reappear next episode. Wise decision of the creators to give us the next episode as well. Would
this have been the final episode before the break, I'd be rather unimpressed. Let's have a look at this episode's plots:
A-plot: Burnham, Tyler and Saru are on an away mission on planet Canadian forest to use a crystal structure for the war, and meet some energy beings. They make Saru go nuts, and he has to be overpowered/reasoned with. Then the energy-beings send signals to the Discovery and the klingons.
B-plot: Klingon chick interrogates Admiral chick, wants to defect, gets busted by Kol.
C-plot: Tilly learns about Stamets condition.
The characters
Saru was the main focus of this episode. There isn't too much of an character arc, with him going mad and all, but we learn that he lives in a constant state of fear, and also about some neat new powers - running fast and stuff. IMO all of that was handeled quite well.
Burnham and
Tyler share their first non-timeloop kiss. We see Burnham struggle with that. We also learn about how she keeps being very precise and logical even in extreme situations, and being very by-the-books regarding protocol, which fits her character nicely. But also that she wants to solve problems peacefully if given the chance, trying to talk reason into Saru, and maybe even the klingons. Tyler OTOH
hates the klingons, further evidence that he
doesn't know about the Voq-thing.
Tilly was waaay toned down this episode, which worked great. If they keep the level of her social awkwardness like in this episode, she might become my new Barclay.
Stamets sometimes feels like the old snarky one again, but the jumps make him act erratic, and out of character sometimes. I want to see more about him - but I am
not looking forward to Mirror universe episodes - this serries already relies
way too much on previous established Trek lore.
The
L'Rell arc was the most tedious one. We don't know what she wants - is her attempt at defection genuine? Does she want to get to Discovery to reactivate Voq? Is she in cahoots with Kol? (Probably not) The point is: We don't know either motivations of her or anyone else, which makes the whole sub-plot boring. Having the actors speak under make-up so heavy they can't act, and false teeth in a made-up language so that they can't speak properly, is really,
really annoying.
The presentation
The space-battle in the teaser looked very good! Sadly, it took precious screen-time away from the heavily under-developed main plot. But at least we see a bit more of the war going on. What was GREAT is that they change the entire vegetation of the planet to "blue". It makes it feel so much more alien. The vfx of the crystal structure and the aliens was servicable. All around, the visuals were very good. Where the episode struggled was pacing and focus, especially missing on the important stuff. Especially the main plot - Saru's gone mad - was in
dire need of at least SOME changes to the formula, and not doing
again such a clichéd by-the-numbers Trek staple story without any unexpected twists or addition to the trope.
Nitpicks
- Soooo. Saru definitely staged a mutiny right here, right?!? Or do they have an "alien influence"-clause? Anyway, it kind of diminishes the severity of Burnham's "first" mutiny again, since this stuff happens regularly on Trek...
- Stamets calls Tilly "Captain". Alternate universe or time-travel influence...?
- The spaceship in the opening battle looked AMAZING! Does she fit in the TOS-aesthetic? No. Do I care? No. I like that ship.
- This entire two--parter is going to be an exact re-telling of TOS "Errand of Mercy", just without the reveal, isn't it?
- First rule of space opera: funky space crystal! Fits great with Trek. Not so great with the grim realism-tone they are aiming for
- I still really fucking hate the new klingon ship designs. They're stupid, and don't look half as good as a model from the 60s. Fire the guy who came up with them (and everyone who approved them as well), and let John Eaves design some real klingon ships
- The energy beings look so much like the spores! As did the space-anomaly that threatened Burnhams prison shuttle in ep3 "Context is for Kings". Apparently this is the only lightning vfx this guys have in their computers...
Gratitious Gore counter
Like every episode since the two-part pilot, this episode has some extremely unnecessary extreme gore going on. This time: Mutilated klingon corpes, with guts and intestines being in the middle of the frame. Stop that!
Final Verdict
Fine. Not bad. But nor really good either. Let's see if they have something in their sleeves for the second part, so far, this one was rather unimpressing. If the next episode is
also going to be this predictable in all their sub-plots, I'm going to be disappointed.
