Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 1x09 - "Into the Forest I Go"
- Thread starter Commander Richard
- Start date
I'm enjoying the show. I think. I can't yet tell if I'm watching the show to be entertained, or analysing it.
It feels like Star Trek. They talk about Starfleet values, and they fire phasers, and there's a bit of technobabble and I feel like that old leather Picard once pontificated about.
But I think Jammer nailed it for me in his review of Si Von Pun Enim Legis (or whatever) last week:
So I dunno. I enjoyed this episode like I've enjoyed all the others so far. But the show itself is just...fine? It's completely fine. But vanilla, and joyless. It's neutral. It'll do.
But I still very much look forward to it every week.
It feels like Star Trek. They talk about Starfleet values, and they fire phasers, and there's a bit of technobabble and I feel like that old leather Picard once pontificated about.
But I think Jammer nailed it for me in his review of Si Von Pun Enim Legis (or whatever) last week:
So I dunno. I enjoyed this episode like I've enjoyed all the others so far. But the show itself is just...fine? It's completely fine. But vanilla, and joyless. It's neutral. It'll do.
But I still very much look forward to it every week.
We finally got some ship porn for those who have been harping on about this. I couldn't give a shit, but I guess some people do. Yay for you. Me? I got tons of character development and emotional moments that made this a satisfying episode for me.
Joyless? What does that even mean? There was so much heart and love in this episode.
Joyless? What does that even mean? There was so much heart and love in this episode.
The story of DS9's "Bar Association" is credited to two women.
God, that really could be it, couldn't it?
It's not vanilla, I agree. It is however not feel good.So I dunno. I enjoyed this episode like I've enjoyed all the others so far. But the show itself is just...fine? It's completely fine. But vanilla, and joyless. It's neutral. It'll do.
But I still very much look forward to it every week.
...I feel sorry for the Pahvo. The story doesn't return to them at all. Did they have ulterior motives, or were they just naïve? Did they become UFP honorary members ASAP? Did nobody go back and tell them to do the cloak-defeating thing after all? Or at least to tone it down so that the next predatory (or herbivorous but hungry) species wouldn't finish them off?
Also, why didn't Kor destroy the planet? This was on his to-do list, and it's not as if he could pursue his primary goal of boarding the hero ship when he apparently couldn't catch the nimble vessel, or inflict any significant damage to her. Firing on the transmitter tree should have stopped Lorca from running away from him.
Timo Saloniemi
Also, why didn't Kor destroy the planet? This was on his to-do list, and it's not as if he could pursue his primary goal of boarding the hero ship when he apparently couldn't catch the nimble vessel, or inflict any significant damage to her. Firing on the transmitter tree should have stopped Lorca from running away from him.
Timo Saloniemi
The strengths and weaknesses of Discovery are remarkably consistent episode to episode. As always, the character work and performances were fantastic, and the visuals are stunning throughout. I'm also increasingly aware of how skilled the editors are -- every time DSC has any sort of heavy intercutting going on, the build of suspense is wonderfully done. They have such a carefully calibrated control of tone.
But, also as always, they just can't break their reliance on cheap and impossibly convenient storytelling contrivances! Stamets decides to do one final jump at the end, for no apparent reason. L'Rell regaining consciousness at just the right moment to hop a beam to Discovery. Tilly has to blurt out a reveal of Stamets side-effects just because we have to get all the reveals out before the jumps start in a minute. And we're expected to believe they would even be waiting for Stamets to report side-effects before running tests on him?!? You have genetically modified a person so he can be used as a battery for flying around an interdimensional mushroom space highway! You wouldn't just be assuming that was all going to work out fine! You'd be running tests after every jump!
Ultimately I like Discovery, the things that work for me really work for me. I am excited for each new episode and watch right away. But I am also frustrated with it, in that it feels perpetually on the cusp of being waaaaaay better, if they could just do a better job of camouflaging their plot mechanics as drama. You always feel the hand of the writer moving the chess pieces around.
(*Which, yes, to some extent has always been the way Trek works. It just worked stylistically better with the other elements of the earlier shows. Situating it in such a modern, big-budget, visually-hyper-detailed world requires an accompanying stepped-up attention to the detail on the story structure side)
But, also as always, they just can't break their reliance on cheap and impossibly convenient storytelling contrivances! Stamets decides to do one final jump at the end, for no apparent reason. L'Rell regaining consciousness at just the right moment to hop a beam to Discovery. Tilly has to blurt out a reveal of Stamets side-effects just because we have to get all the reveals out before the jumps start in a minute. And we're expected to believe they would even be waiting for Stamets to report side-effects before running tests on him?!? You have genetically modified a person so he can be used as a battery for flying around an interdimensional mushroom space highway! You wouldn't just be assuming that was all going to work out fine! You'd be running tests after every jump!
Ultimately I like Discovery, the things that work for me really work for me. I am excited for each new episode and watch right away. But I am also frustrated with it, in that it feels perpetually on the cusp of being waaaaaay better, if they could just do a better job of camouflaging their plot mechanics as drama. You always feel the hand of the writer moving the chess pieces around.
(*Which, yes, to some extent has always been the way Trek works. It just worked stylistically better with the other elements of the earlier shows. Situating it in such a modern, big-budget, visually-hyper-detailed world requires an accompanying stepped-up attention to the detail on the story structure side)
Dorothy Fontana wrote 11 episodes of TOS, 1 TAS, 5 TNG, 1 DS9, 1 New Voyages, and half a dozen Star Trek Video Games.
Star Trek came out of the gate strong.
Star Trek came out of the gate strong.
Another great Discovery episode. It had a little bit of everything. Great action, character moments (Michael and Tyler) and cliffhanger. I can't wait to see where this parallel universe lead us.
As I said before, it's unfortunate there's so many hiatus in American tv. You begin to fill your Sunday nights with something else then forget about the whole deal unless you're a big fan of a show. For me, in the past, TV shows were like a date. Every Sunday or Wednesday or whatever day, I would have a date with TV and watch my favorite TV shows. I would record it, only when it wasn't possible to be there. Now it's harder to keep track of all the TV shows and end up watching whatever is on. I remember a time when there was basically only 2 hiatus: summer and the Christmas/New Year weeks. All the other times, you knew what hour and day of the week you needed to free to watch your favorite TV shows. I don't know how they are supposed to keep loyal viewers that way (the TV shows are not loyal to us they are busy elsewhere apparently!). Still, can't wait for the return (January 7th, 2018
).
As I said before, it's unfortunate there's so many hiatus in American tv. You begin to fill your Sunday nights with something else then forget about the whole deal unless you're a big fan of a show. For me, in the past, TV shows were like a date. Every Sunday or Wednesday or whatever day, I would have a date with TV and watch my favorite TV shows. I would record it, only when it wasn't possible to be there. Now it's harder to keep track of all the TV shows and end up watching whatever is on. I remember a time when there was basically only 2 hiatus: summer and the Christmas/New Year weeks. All the other times, you knew what hour and day of the week you needed to free to watch your favorite TV shows. I don't know how they are supposed to keep loyal viewers that way (the TV shows are not loyal to us they are busy elsewhere apparently!). Still, can't wait for the return (January 7th, 2018
).
Duo perhaps, but never forget Dorothy Fontana and Jeri Taylor.
Except for DS9 IMHO, although we are only halfway through.
I yield to your screenshot-fu. Good catch!Well he does do something naughty
But he maybe isn't expecting the end result...
Also, 'away team', continuity error, I reduce my score from 9 to 2.
I actually got a little bit emotional watching this one. Stamets' "I love you", Tyler's PTSD (or is it repressed memories of surgery and consensual sex coming back all twisted?) and Lorca injecting his eyes so he could watch the Klingon ship explode were awesome.
That last jump was telegraphed to go catastrophically wrong. With the mention of alternate universes, I can guess where the latter half of the season is going...
And Klingon boobs. It's a proper Netflix show, now!
That last jump was telegraphed to go catastrophically wrong. With the mention of alternate universes, I can guess where the latter half of the season is going...
And Klingon boobs. It's a proper Netflix show, now!
I think it’s likely that even if he isn’t Voq, that the relationship is going to turn out to be more complex than has been presented.
And finally something for the xenobiologically curious to get interested in. We know almost nothing about alien physiognomy in Trek because it’s all neck up. Trill spots and Worfs back notwithstanding. You can bet there’s a screen cap out there being examined for at least two reasons.
That reads like a pitch-perfect description of the Kelvin universe too, to me.
Well, we got more than our share of Denobulan physiology, too. Even if suitably Austin Powers masked in places.
And not running tests on Stamets was a plot point. Lorca didn't want to find out. Except when it suited his plans that there would be something wrong, and he then got more than he wanted.
Timo Saloniemi
And not running tests on Stamets was a plot point. Lorca didn't want to find out. Except when it suited his plans that there would be something wrong, and he then got more than he wanted.
Timo Saloniemi
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