Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 2x08 - "If Memory Serves"

[Sparky]

Did anyone notice that Burnham smiled when touching the flowers? Mirroring Spock's reaction in the flashback of the Cage. That could have been a nod to that moment in The Cage, or maybe they just created an in universe explanation for why Spock smiled like that. Anyone who touches those flowers can't help but smile as a response.

 

[Mr Awe]

That still doesn’t mean it’s an alternate timeline from TOS.

Agreed, they're clearly going out of their way to show that it is the same timeline. In fact, large elements of the story depend on it being the same timeline.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

Me too. Earliest I remember seeing her was on Alias.

Maybe that's how she got the job? I know Orci wrote a few episodes. I think Kurtzman may have, but I'm not sure.

I think that Kurtzman and Orci wrote all their Alias episodes together.

The quality of the look and production of this show can't be understated either. It was like watching a frigging major motion picture tonight.

Damn

I am sorry for gushing, genuinely, but I love Star Trek, and this one just hit me. I'm actually nervous about how they will compete with this one now.

Every episode feels like a mini-movie. It's nice to see a Star Trek series be so cinematic instead of the play like TNG style

I confess: I didn't recognize her, and I watched ALIAS religiously.

So did I. I was thinking "Is that Melissa George?". i was pretty sure it was her but not 100%...she looked different.

 

[Alan Roi]

I confess: I didn't recognize her, and I watched ALIAS religiously.

She had a fine series in 2012 called Hunted. Worth checking out.

 

[Gov Kodos]

Did anyone notice that Burnham smiled when touching the flowers? Mirroring Spock's reaction in the flashback of the Cage. That could have been a nod to that moment in The Cage, or maybe they just created an in universe explanation for why Spock smiled like that. Anyone who touches those flowers can't help but smile as a response.

The plants could have an effect on creatures like a tribble's trilling. The music and such might be the plant's way to draw in insects for pollination or to draw in prey for food like a Venus flytrap.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

The said that the Talos system was restricted but I don't think they ever said that the punishment for visting there is the death penalty. Maybe it comes later?

 

[Mirror Mirror]

I enjoyed this, but gods the fan theories flying thinking they are going to reset the look are everywhere now.

 

[Alan Roi]

I enjoyed this, but gods the fan theories flying thinking they are going to reset the look are everywhere now.

Yep. Lots of folks wishing really really hard for Burnham to erase herself from the timeline.

 

[TrickyDickie]

My first 10. Some of it was dark and a bit hard to see, but that is a small nitpick that doesn't even take anything of substance away.

I'm wondering now if the Mutara reference does have significance....the destruction of the planets had a Genesis torpedo feel. "Perverted into a dreadful weapon...."

Maybe someone gets ahold of Genesis at some point?

Is Michael....Alice? Is Mirror Georgiou....The Red Queen?

In any case, that was a great episode!

 

[Hythlodeus]

Finally watched it. There's not much to add to what others have already stated. Yes, it was a very fine episode, nearly perfect. I was very vocal over the last week about the amount of fanwank DSC is throwing at us this season, but THIS episode was doing it right and for all the right reasons. Also: Peck is spectacular as Spock, hitting all the right notes and by Cthulhu is his voice uncannily like Nimoy's.
The transition from the The Cage footage to Mount's Pike was a better done version of the already great transition from Hartnell's First Doctor to Walder Frey's version of the character in Twice Upon a Time last year.

Is that Delta Vega (Vulcan system) in the background?

Must be, since

"Vulcan has no Moon"

 

[Noname Given]

Correct me if I'm wrong but weren't warp capable shuttles NOT a thing in this era? I don't know if this has happened in this show before, just something I noticed last week. In any case, just something to keep in mind now I suppose.

No - they have FTL capable shuttlecraft in the TOS era - See TOS S2- "Metamorphosis".

 

[Yistaan]

I'm wondering now if the Mutara reference does have significance....

Spock was seeing all times at once after the Red Angel mind meld. He likely knew on a half-conscious level the Mutara sector was the place of his (temporary) death and traveled there.

Speaking of which, Spock's return from death was relatively well adjusted compared to Culber's. In the aftermath of Star Trek 3, did Spock recall Culber's poor adjustment to resurrection and adhere to logic that more strictly to ensure he didn't end up that way?

 

[Sparky]

The plants could have an effect on creatures like a tribble's trilling. The music and such might be the plant's way to draw in insects for pollination or to draw in prey for food like a Venus flytrap.

Well, there's my new head canon.

I'm really kind of in awe of this episode the more I think about it. They were able to craft a semi-sequel to the original pilot, adding more depth to it in the process. In doing so they were also able to add more depth and meaning to the events in The Menagerie. All while firmly establishing that Discovery does take place in the original *real* timeline.

I wonder how far they're going to take this, will the Red Angel somehow have a tie in with the upcoming Section 31 or Picard series? Could it have something to do with the destruction of Romulus and the events that led to the creation of the Kelvin timeline? The possibilities abound.

 

[Yistaan]

It would be really weird if They explain that the Original Series is NOT how things should have looked.

More bizarrely the Cage recap seemed to indicate that the non-remastered TOS was canon, not the remastered TOS...

 

[Hythlodeus]

More bizarrely the Cage recap seemed to indicate that the non-remastered TOS was canon, not the remastered TOS...

I believe the recap was a mix of both versions

 

[Sparky]

Must be, since

"Vulcan has no Moon"

That's no moon, it's a space station.

 

[Hythlodeus]

That's no moon, it's a space station.

 

[Tim Thomason]

Should Vina even remember Spock? I mean, he was there when they discovered the Columbia encampment, but it was mostly Boyce and Pike who talked to her, and then she absconded with Pike and Spock later transported back up, never to return (until now), even though she met The Women!

They're not really old friends. I guess maybe Illusory Pike went into detail on his bromance with Spock.

... Also, wasn't Pike there when Vina got her fake Pike replica to spend the rest of her life with (or 13 years, whichever comes first)? She kinda told him something he witnessed firsthand.

 

[Hythlodeus]

Should Vina even remember Spock? I mean, he was there when they discovered the Columbia encampment, but it was mostly Boyce and Pike who talked to her, and then she absconded with Pike and Spock later transported back up, never to return (until now), even though she met The Women!

They're not really old friends. I guess maybe Illusory Pike went into detail on his bromance with Spock.

... Also, wasn't Pike there when Vina got her fake Pike replica to spend the rest of her life with (or 13 years, whichever comes first)? She kinda told him something he witnessed firsthand.

It doesn't matter if Vina remembers. The Talosians remembered and that's enough

 

[Midquest]

I try to glance at the professional reviews and...the A.V. Club gives this a C? After giving last week a B? I mean, everyone gets to like what they like, but that still seems strange to me.

Anyway, as someone who has pretty much loved all of Disco, this was possibly the best paced, edited, and written episode thus far. It sits next to the current winner, "Calypso."

• I absolutely adored the way they worked in "The Cage." Nothing felt like excessive fan service, and everything seemed like a logical progression both from last week's plot and the story we saw a half century ago. As someone who was very skeptical of going all-in on the Spock/Pike material, I'm glad to have those worries assuaged.
  
• Vina! A character I never knew I wanted to see again, and wow. What a lovely way to use the character. My friend who's never seen a frame of "The Cage," and thought I was saying, "Vino!" (as in wine) nonetheless found her captivating.
• Spock! In a few instances, Peck said something that started out sounding very Spock-like and then derailed in anger or bitterness...and that's pitch-perfect. I can see the glimmers of who he'll be.
• What Michael did to Spock hit me hard, felt totally natural, and played very honest.
• "You actually think the beard is working?"
  
• Pike got some great material here. His ending always felt cruel to me, and the scene with him and Vina does a lovely job setting up "The Menagerie" in a way that injects it with a new pathos that I quite enjoy.
• Control: I haven't read the books, but I think we can see the beginning of the end here for a governmentalized Section 31.
• They're doing a great job of handling Culber. They weren't kidding when they said that there would be consequences. What I really love is that I think they're going to have their cake and eat it to--and it's going to be satisfying, not cheap: not only will these events advance these two characters, but we're going to get to watch them fall in love from the beginning, too.
• I love that they're tracking Saru's personality shift.
• I honestly thought the cinematography was great here. The lens flare added to the warmth and magic of an episode about illusions and facades, and the camera tilts helped us feel the instability that so many characters were feeling.

This is an absolute 10 for me.