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Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 1x09 - "Into the Forest I Go"

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Trek has never been good at believable romances, but Burnham/Tyler romance is honestly so far the worst, aside from the weird attempt at the end of TNG to get Worf and Troi to hook up. Plenty of "romances of the week" were worse however.

I think part of the issue is SMG's characterization as Burnham pretty much requires her to have difficulty expressing her emotions. But Latif is surprisingly unconvincing as well. This is a shame, because if they're taking the story in the direction I think they are (making him Voq, and hence developing conflict between his romantic feelings for Burnham and his hatred for her as the killer of T'Kumva) starting out with believable passion is a must.

I din't really feel the chemistry either. The scene in tylers quarters in episode 9 changed that though.
 
I must be the only fan of the Worf/Troi romance lol It reminds me of real life, the unlikeliest people do hook up and have a great life together. The people with chemistry are the ones making the divorce lawyers' bank account happy.

As an adult who is married with two kids, I really appreciate O'Brien and Keiko, because it's a pretty realistic depiction of a long-term relationship that's established (basically the only one in Trek, which is weirdly full of single/divorced/widowed 30 and 40 somethings). At the same time, I'm really glad we didn't have to watch their courtship.
 
I wondered if it was playing out that way to others. It's like the separate episode writers are not tying in with each other. A little lip-service to a previous episode ending and 'let the audience fill in the gaps' has been overused. It's lazy. We don't need to be spoon fed but when one episode ends on a note of drama - Admiral captured - then the next hardly mentions her, you shrug it off once or twice. However when the build up is repeated - Admiral possibly dead, L'Rell a slave to Kor, only to find in the next episode the Admiral has been alive in this room of horrors for God knows how long and L'Rell is in there too!
Building on Cornwell's capture that you mentioned, we're left with Kol saying, "I'm looking forward to meeting you, Admiral," but we never get that pay off of what happened when she was eventually taken before Kol. I realize in some cases writers allow the audience to "fill in the blanks," but when there are too many blanks like that, you're left wondering if there was an entire episode missing between that episode and the next. Maybe we would have seen that meeting if it had been one of the "stars" of the show who had been captured, like Lorca.

It would be like Picard getting captured and brought before Gul Madred at the end of the first part of "Chain of Command," and then not getting back to him until 3/4 of the way through the following episode -- yeah, he went through some stuff, but you didn't need to see all that.
 
There was the one scene in Ep 3, where Lorca shows Michael the drive and we see what could be a view of the Guardian of Forever next to an intact temple. If true, that's clearly in the past, as the temple was nothing but ruins in "CotEoF". That would imply a possible traversal of time and space.

Was the Preserver obelisk on a moon of Andor?

Was that the Guardian of Forever? If so, then why was the time planet a mystery to the Enterprise crew?
 
Thinking about it more over the past week or so, even though this episode was fantastic, my big issue with it is this: It feels like they wrote it (at least in rough draft form) before they wrote many of the preceding episodes. That is to say, they had the beginning and the end of the arc penciled in, and then tried to figure out how to get from point A to point B.

Why is this bad? Because most quality serialized TV, even if it has an end destination in sight, is to a large extent made up on the fly (or lifted from books which were written in a linear fashion). This is important because often the writing process brings out something in a character you didn't expect to find. To use a Trek example, consider how in DS9 basically all of the amazing recurring characters (Garak, Martok, Weyoun) started out as one offs, and then the writers liked them so much they built them into the crescendo of the series.
I don't think knowing in advance where and how you want to end an arc (assuming the Klingon war arc is over) is a bad thing. I have seen much more criticism of shows where it is perceived that the writers "had no idea of how to end the arc", than the other way around.

DSC stilll has plenty of room to add new characters or to explore different aspects of characters.
 
Yeah I've watched the episode a few times and Lorca looked as freaked out as everyone else. There was no scene of him looking out of his ready room window with a sinister, knowing smile or anything else to indicate that he intentionally wanted to get the ship wherever it ended up. I'm thinking that showing us the 'Lorca Override' might be a massive red herring. It's possible that Stamets jumped the ship to the unknown location by accident because his brain is scrambled from too many jumps.
 
The ninth episode of the series, picking up where the previous one left off. It has a good start, with Lorca wanting to do something about the Klingons responding to the Pahvan signal, but Starfleet recalling Discovery to Starbase 46. Thus Lorca orders them to warp to the starbase instead of spore-jumping there. This is presented very well, it follows on from what has been revealed about his character so far. He persists when Stamets wonders why he wants a check up on the effect that the Spore drive may be having on him.
Turns out, there is something wrong with Stamets. His brain has been undergoing changes due to the effects of being the navigator. Then there is the slip up by Tilly, who had assumed that Stamets had told Culbur about the side effects that he has been experiencing. (It appears that Culbur wasn't surprised.) However, the plan to defeat the cloaking device by sneaking aboard the Klingon ship and installing sensors was a good plan. That there would be a large risk for the officers involved seems to be the reason why Lorca wouldn't let Burnham go in the first instance.
Is there something more there. More to the reason why Lorca wanted Burnham on Discovery than has been revealed so far. Most likely. However 133 spore-jumps in quick succession seems a little excessive (and Stamets is wondering whether he could stand the strain), but it works. Aboard the Ship of the Dead, Burnham and Tyler find Cornwell (just as well given what's next). Are the sensors too conspicuous, yes. The depiction of Tyler's PTSD, when he sees L'Rell on the other side of the room is rather well done.
Burnham then has to complete the mission, as Tyler is then in no shape to continue the mission (as Cornwell tells her). She then goes to the bridge to place the second sensor. The scene when she talks to Kol via the universal translator is interesting. (If the Klingons had been isolationist for nearly a century, there would be next to no chance for using a universal translator. Hence the specifications for the software may be somewhere on Qo'noS, but Kol and his supporters would have little use for it, even if they knew that it was there).
Still, Burnham delaying Kol while the Discovery continued the 133 jumps was a good scene. The conclusion to this episode was done well too. Discovery is recalled again. Lorca talks Stamets into doing one more jump. Tyler goes to the brig and asks L'Rell what was done to him. Her response is... cryptic (I'm still sure that he's not Voq!) The ending where the last jump goes awry is a very effective cliffhanger. 8/10.
 
How about neither? Why is nobody considering this a result of Stamets' obvious medical crisis /transformation?
How about both? Stamets has swiss cheese for brains and Lorca is a morally corrupt human being looking to run away. Dumb and dumber got them where they are now.
 
Building on Cornwell's capture that you mentioned, we're left with Kol saying, "I'm looking forward to meeting you, Admiral," but we never get that pay off of what happened when she was eventually taken before Kol. I realize in some cases writers allow the audience to "fill in the blanks," but when there are too many blanks like that, you're left wondering if there was an entire episode missing between that episode and the next. Maybe we would have seen that meeting if it had been one of the "stars" of the show who had been captured, like Lorca.

It would be like Picard getting captured and brought before Gul Madred at the end of the first part of "Chain of Command," and then not getting back to him until 3/4 of the way through the following episode -- yeah, he went through some stuff, but you didn't need to see all that.
I agree. Cornwell is one character I have interest in. When she called Lorca on pulling a phaser on her I would have liked some consequence. She's a woman. She's an Admiral. She's a health professional. She had all those cards in her favour. But oh no. She gets captured. Next episode is the party one with Mudd and his stupid time crystal. When we get back to the Admiral she's either left for dead or simply no one cares. The resolution in episode nine? Admiral somehow alive, shipped off to hospital to be forgotten and Lorca being offered (no joke) a medal! Honestly I postured a few weeks ago that Lorca a crew killing psychopath was going to get a medal one day. I really thought it was just a stupid joke, lol.
 
How about both? Stamets has swiss cheese for brains and Lorca is a morally corrupt human being looking to run away. Dumb and dumber got them where they are now.

The same could be said, though, for other captains and commanding officers throughout Starfleet history. Ron Tracey. Mark Jameson. Erik Pressman. And swiss cheese for brains is an apt description of Reg Barclay, who in spite of some very scattershot thinking patterns and behavior was widely regarded as one of the most talented engineers and holoexperts of the late 24th century. We just need to face that Starfleet is far from the ideal, utopian-minded organization many of its officers throughout history like to portray it as being. It's had some pretty corrupt and downright flaky members who rose to heights of great power and influence.
 
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I agree. Cornwell is one character I have interest in. When she called Lorca on pulling a phaser on her I would have liked some consequence. She's a woman. She's an Admiral. She's a health professional. She had all those cards in her favour. But oh no. She gets captured. Next episode is the party one with Mudd and his stupid time crystal. When we get back to the Admiral she's either left for dead or simply no one cares. The resolution in episode nine? Admiral somehow alive, shipped off to hospital to be forgotten and Lorca being offered (no joke) a medal! Honestly I postured a few weeks ago that Lorca a crew killing psychopath was going to get a medal one day. I really thought it was just a stupid joke, lol.

According to Memory Alpha, they originally planned to kill her at the end of Lethe, but then changed their minds at the last minute. She probably wasn't even mentioned in the next episode because it was too late to modify the episode to account for that. Unfortunately, they never really figured out what to do with her character - hence her being "put on a bus."
 
Did they keep the Sarcophogus Bridge set in place alive held since the pilot, almost unused, or where they rebuilt (it's a kit set, and decorating, it wouldn't take longer than a day) or did they film this stuff right back at the beginning, all the sarcophagus ship episodes were filmed back to back, and then the sets were pulped.

Half the season so far did not use the klingon set?
 
If I was Stamets, I would have said, "OK, I won't do it then."
I didn't understand the logic of it. They sent the admiral on a shuttle. The claim that it was unsafe to travel by warp was confusing. It seems like they could have headed back to the fleet at full warp then used the spore drive only if they countered Klingon ships. Maybe intelligence reported no Klingon activity at the time the admiral's shuttle left and then they got updated reports. That was my impression. But why didn't they head back when it was safe?
 
Building on Cornwell's capture that you mentioned, we're left with Kol saying, "I'm looking forward to meeting you, Admiral," but we never get that pay off of what happened when she was eventually taken before Kol. I realize in some cases writers allow the audience to "fill in the blanks," but when there are too many blanks like that, you're left wondering if there was an entire episode missing between that episode and the next. Maybe we would have seen that meeting if it had been one of the "stars" of the show who had been captured, like Lorca.

It would be like Picard getting captured and brought before Gul Madred at the end of the first part of "Chain of Command," and then not getting back to him until 3/4 of the way through the following episode -- yeah, he went through some stuff, but you didn't need to see all that.
It's not like Chain of Command at all. The "A" story of Chain is Picard's torture and subsequent mind games with Gul (whoever). Not difficult to understand why this was the A" story, as Picard was captain of the Enterprise and the most important character in the show. Having him captured and then forgotten, even for one episode was unthinkable.

None of this applies to Cornwall. The character wasn't even part of the main cast, despite her rank. Lorca called into Starfleet for orders after her capture so we can assume (or maybe it was in the episode) that they turned thumbs down on a rescue attempt.

As for her meeting with Kol, although it might have been interesting to some to actually see, the fact that it wasn't shown means it held no significance. Sometimes shows don't always give us exactly what we want.
 
Lorca is pretty much part of an A story. One episode ended with him being 'put on notice'. Resolution? Nothing. Whether a character is a main one or not may restrict their usage but why go down a path and then leave it hanging? Same with L'Rell. Somehow she was in the Klingon death room with the Admiral. From the previous episode when Kol outed her I thought she was going to be some kind of slave to him. Instead she's in this room with the Admiral, and why are both of them alive? Wouldn't they be dead meat? Yet if Kol wanted to meet the Admiral to use her as a bargaining chip maybe he wanted her alive, though he probably thought she was dead too when she was dragged off. Mind you there was no mention of using the Admiral for any leverage after she was captured, that was just another nowhere story.

The Pahvans. They were the basis of an entire episode and a catharsis for Saru. Soooo they want to get the Federation and the Klingons together to bring harmony to discord. They were just a plot device for a Discovery/Klingon confrontation. Silly to assume they would feature in another episode beyond needing protection from an A story character.
 
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