Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 2x07 - "Light and Shadows"

[T'Bonz]

I really liked this episode. But I'm a huge fan of Amanda and Sarek, and Mia, as always, was fantastic. Frain did a good job this time too and it sure seemed to me that Spock was reacting to his parents fighting. Amanda cracks me up; she takes no shit from Sarek. "Try again, husband." *lol* She's a mama bear. I think though if she had to choose between Sarek and her son, bye bye Sarek.

As for why does she stay? Well Vulcans have that bond, so she knows how Sarek feels about her.

Tyler. He sure seems better integrated than last season. Still, I wouldn't trust him as far as I could see him. I hope that you-know-who kicks his ass next week.

Georgiou and Leland. I think Burnham is dumb to trust either of them. I'm rather shocked that that Sarek trusted Section 31, unless he's one of them. Not sure how that would fly with Amanda. I was sitting there muttering, "You damned fool. They'll use him and then he'll be killed." Amanda had the better instincts on that one.

So Airiam is possessed. This should be interesting. Looks like this is taking from all the Short Treks, so expect to see Mudd soon, and the AI at season's end.

But I'm not good at predicting. I thought they'd tease us with Spock, only seeing him at the very end. Wrong!

I'll give this one an eight. I'd have given it a ten had they shot Tyler out an airlock...

 

[Cyrus]

As expected, former showrunners Harberts & Berg replaced by James Duff (as exec producer) in the opening credits.

No Culber This week.

The burning of shuttle fuel did remind me of Galileo Seven.

With Red Angel kind of confirmed as a humanoid from the future, have they already abandoned the Faith vs Sciene thing?

Really liked the scenes of young Spock and young Burnham.

The redemption arc for Emperor Georgiou seem to have started.

The bit about Burnham parents and section 31 was interesting.

I am surprised many people mention TCW. Even on ENT TCW ended with the 4th season "Storm Front" episodes. I don't think Discovery would resurrect that failed plot line.

 

[Gepard]

With Red Angel kind of confirmed as a humanoid from the future, have they already abandoned the Faith vs Sciene thing?

Sure seems like it, and I bet it's related to this:

As expected, former showrunners Harberts & Berg replaced by James Duff (as exec producer) in the opening credits.

The Angel went from a total mystery to identified awful quick, between these two episodes.

(It's rather a shame – I enjoyed the sense of awe and wonder it evoked in the way it was presented earlier in the season.)

 

[thribs]

Is it me or did I see a planet blowing up in the credits for next week? I possible glimpse of future Romulus?

Jason

Well Kurtzman was involved in that story beat.

 

[Succubint]

Another excellent episode. There's a lot packed into it, especially the Sarek household stuff. This was mostly set up, so it introduced more questions, I think, than it offered answers but I still really enjoyed the ride.

I am now firmly on board with the idea that Airiam could end up being the Red Angel. I think we're supposed to think she's compromised by whatever was from the future that came through that altered or evolved the probe, but there's a possibility they figure it out in time and she ends up going through time jumps to close some kind of paradox.

Still, that next episode's preview is hinting at the need for a conflict with entities from the future. I hope it's not TCW related, but others might like a revisit.

I don't understand how Sarek and Michael could have bought Leland's act so easily. Amanda's instincts were spot on, though, and I loved the way she stood up to her husband, even though eventually he won that argument. Michael was lucky Georgiou decided to warn and help her to escape with Spock, otherwise he would have been in deep peril. So did the Emperor basically admit she's seen the logs from the USS Defiant? Does she have some limited knowledge of the next 10 years?

I actually liked the outing with Pike and Tyler, even if it was sort of a trope-y bonding session. Both were being dicks, actually, not just Tyler. But Pike has the pips so it was appropriate that he should have the last word. They deliberately played up Pike's crankiness, though, and used the time distortion to also make him suspicious in order to show him how he was jumping to conclusions about Tyler. I also felt Ash's frustrations, since he can't excise Voq from himself, nor can he make up for what Voq did when he took control over him. His own consciousness was cruelly ripped from him by the Klingons and superimposed onto Voq's body, all against his will, in the first place. He's a victim of the war, just like Culber. People keep forgetting that.

I forgot to add that seeing Tyler just channel Voq rage with the probe while Stamets is yelling for them to get beamed off asap made me chuckle out loud. When all else fails, use the Klingon solution and bash it to pieces. Colonel Kira would have been proud.

 

[Agony_Boothb]

So did the Emperor basically admit she's seen the logs from the USS Defiant? Does she have some limited knowledge of the next 10 years?

I think Georgiou knows everything that will happen in the next 10 years. The Terran Empire with their paranoia would have been terrified of further incursions from a universe where they don't exist. No doubt Georgiou and the Emperors before her would have memorised the Defiant's logs back to front to learn everything they can about a potential threat.

 

[Seven of Five]

What a strange episode. I was on the verge of giving it a 6, but the Talos IV reveal at the end over-geeked me, so it's a 7. It's frickin' amazing!

So the episode went at a breakneck speed, and that was to its derision unfortunately. I wanted them to slow down and spend more time with the Spock part of the story, but they kept snapping back to the weaker Pike/Tyler/shuttle in danger™. It's interesting getting more hints about Red Angel's identity, but not like this.

Having said that, this week's revelations gave me cold sweats about the Temperal Cold War. I really hope this isn't part of that horrible mess, and that it's separate. I also hope it makes sense by the end. Is that too much to ask?

Vulcan looked amazing, and Amanda was good again. Sarek was even a little better than I remember before. I love that Amanda was hiding her son to the detriment of Starfleet's investigation. They were very moving scenes, especially learning about Spock's difficulties as a child.

 

[CommanderRaytas]

Not gonna lie, I squeed when they mentioned Talos IV. That's the kind of fangirl I am.

Baby Spock is frigging adorable.

Rain on Vulcan! Was that a first?

Glad to see Spock, even in his loopy state.

Pike is awesome, as always.

Love me some manipulative Georgiou.

 

[guyute03]

9. Loved it.

2x07

What I noticed/thought

- "3's" a reference to faith
- future-tech exo-suit
- "fricking amazing" ... for a moment I thought she said "fracking"
- Pike STILL rulz
- really nice Vulcan cgi
- "temporal distortions". STAR TREK.
- some Enterprise "temporal chamber" reference there
- Saru without fear
- Spock on Vulcan
- Amanda acting illogically, emotionally.
- 40 minute episode. Ugh.
- "katra stones"
- episode carried by the incredible acting prowess of Mia Kirshner
- I don't trust (but I still like) Ash Tyler
- I will NEVER trust Section 31
- "Matrix tentacle" probe
- I like Leland a bit more now, LOVE the actor, still despise 31
- I don't see how they will turn hardcore Bashir/O'Brien/DS9 fans TO 31's side
- Am reminded of LOST's "4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42"
- shuttle shielding reference to Voyager, 'Endgame's' future shielding
- My mind, once again, for good or ill, goes right to some future Borg trying to disrupt Discovery, The Federation, Time.
- "Once more, with feeling"
- Airiam, infected with something. My mind goes right to Borg insignia.
- I hate that my mind goes right to the Borg, but I do see them showing up on Discovery at some point, it is inevitable.
- Talos 4
- Talos 4 aliens in the preview for next week. I LOVE IT.

 

[Hythlodeus]

Borg would make no sense at this point in time, judging by everything we know about them from TNG and ignoring VOY for very good reasons

 

[Visitor1982]

A 7 from me.

Not a bad episode, but I felt it really didn't add much to the story. Would have liked to have seen more from Vulcan.

Can't wait for the fight between Culber and Tyler in the mess hall next week!

 

[Roald]

Loved this so much... Star Trek has never done story arcs better than this, not even on DS9... Loved the Airiam infection, am really intrigued as to where that will lead... Am soooo looking foreward to next week, can’t believe how quickly 40 minutes go by...

 

[guyute03]

Borg would make no sense at this point in time, judging by everything we know about them from TNG and ignoring VOY for very good reasons

You are correct, Borg would make no sense at this point, but my mind still goes right to them, for good or ill.

 

[thribs]

The Talos reveal was fine but we knew it was coming. I’m still more excited with all the Control references.

 

[Roald]

Well it would be completely epic if they’d build up to this massive space battle involving Red Angel (Borg?) and the new Klingon D-7 fleet...

 

[thribs]

Borg would make no sense at this point in time, judging by everything we know about them from TNG and ignoring VOY for very good reasons

Why ignoring Voyager?

 

[Hythlodeus]

Why ignoring Voyager?

it makes life generally better.

but in that particular case: because the retcons directly contradict TNG

 

[thribs]

it makes life generally better.

but in that particular case: because the retcons directly contradict TNG

How so?

 

[JoeZhang]

Interesting to note that the writer's completely ditched the 'ward' angle of Michael that we saw in S1 and it's just full on brother and sister, mother and father now.

 

[Hythlodeus]

How so?

well, the tip of the iceberg would be the Borg going from completely unknown species to being studied by human anthropologists a generation ago in just ten years