Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 2x10 - "The Red Angel"

[CorporalClegg]

The crystals don't bother me in and of themselves. They're a stupid Treknobabble DXM. Nothing new.

The problem is, the whole shebang - the crystals, the suit, Section 31's involvement, the "time travel race" with the Klingons - is cheap, hackneyed and derivative. They've regressed back to last season's level of stupid. Worse, they've taken the awesome epic potential of the Red Angel and made it something dull, ordinary, and wholly uninspired.

More importantly, it was done so carelessly. This potentially creates huge structural problems for the plot - the franchise even.

 

[BillJ]

Worse, they've taken the awesome epic potential of the Red Angel and made it something dull, ordinary, and wholly uninspired.

Winner. They had something awesome, and shit on it.

 

[Noname Given]

Winner. They had something awesome, and shit on it.

Why bring up Voyager here?

 

[Alan Roi]

Who said either of those were preferable? Sometimes poor choices stick out like a sore thumb. And it still doesn't answer my question about time travel being a big deal in TOS when time crystals were apparently well known about seven years earlier.

Radiation was well known long before people started turning uranium into atomic bombs. The Greeks knew about steam engines, but considered them to be toys. Seems to me they are treated as a magic trick, toy, glowing watch level tech until someone actually figured out how to use them for something more.

 

[BillJ]

Why bring up Voyager here?

I'm not sure I ever felt as let down by Voyager as I was by the Red Angel reveal.

 

[CorporalClegg]

Why bring up Voyager here?

Actually, I had originally included something about how it feels like an episode Braga might have written for DS9 in my post.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I'm not sure I ever felt as let down by Voyager as I was by the Red Angel reveal.

The RA being mama or it being a S31 project?

 

[BillJ]

The RA being mama or it being a S31 project?

Both. It just felt really uninspired to spend ten episodes on it. Maybe the next episode makes up for it.

 

[fireproof78]

The problem is, the whole shebang - the crystals, the suit, Section 31's involvement, the "time travel race" with the Klingons - is cheap, hackneyed and derivative. They've regressed back to last season's level of stupid. Worse, they've taken the awesome epic potential of the Red Angel and made it something dull, ordinary, and wholly uninspired.

Yeah, that was unfortunate. I hate the time travel race bit. Was a bit shocked by it.

Ugh.

 

[Alan Roi]

Winner. They had something awesome, and shit on it.

By making it a science fiction story of the unintended consequences of reckless abandon with regards to technological development in competition with a rival. How horrible. How dare a Star Trek story be a cautionary tale. This is so not what science fiction or Star Trek is for

 

[CorporalClegg]

The RA being mama or it being a S31 project?

For me, it's the latter.

I'm fine with mama Burnham.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Both. It just felt really uninspired to spend ten episodes on it. Maybe the next episode makes up for it.

I can understand the latter, but not the former. It wasn't an obvious choice.

 

[CorporalClegg]

By making it a science fiction story of the unintended consequences of reckless technological development in competition with a rival. How horrible. How dare a Star Trek story be a cautionary tale.

This would be great if it were true.

But the only lasting consequence will be in the writer's room. It sets a terrible precedent.

 

[fireproof78]

By making it a science fiction story of the unintended consequences of reckless technological development in competition with a rival. How horrible. How dare a Star Trek story be a cautionary tale. This is so not what science fiction or Star Trek is for

I mean, I see your point but it smacks a bit of the Temporal Cold War so it left me with mixed feelings.

 

[BillJ]

I can understand the latter, but not the former. It wasn't an obvious choice.

It wasn't an obvious choice. I can agree with that. Didn't make it a good choice. It was an out of left field choice that had zero to do with the arc up to that exact moment. Which, for me, is bad writing. You have to give the audience clues that add up, which is what would make this kind of story worth revisiting.

It felt like they picked a name out of a hat.

 

[Nerys Myk]

It wasn't an obvious choice. I can agree with that. Didn't make it a good choice. It was an out of left field choice that had zero to do with the arc up to that exact moment. Which, for me, is bad writing. You have to give the audience clues that add up, which is what would make this kind of story worth revisiting.

I dunno, family seems to be a major theme in the arc.

 

[Alan Roi]

This would be great if it were true.

But the only lasting consequence will be in the writer's room. It sets a terrible precedent.

I fail to make any sense of your complaint.

 

[fireproof78]

It wasn't an obvious choice. I can agree with that. Didn't make it a good choice. It was an out of left field choice that had zero to do with the arc up to that exact moment. Which, for me, is bad writing. You have to give the audience clues that add up, which is what would make this kind of story worth revisiting.

It felt like they picked a name out of a hat.

This part I will disagree on. The moment I heard that her parents had been apart of Section 31 and killed in some sort of op I figured this was a possibility.

I fail to make any sense of your complaint.

Same here. "Damage to the writer's room?" Why? Because they use magic to get out of situations? This is Star Trek, where magic is just technobabble we don't understand yet

 

[BillJ]

The moment I heard that her parents had been apart of Section 31 and killed in some sort of op I figured this was a possibility.

You mean ten minutes before the reveal, in the same episode?

 

[fireproof78]

You mean ten minutes before the reveal, in the same episode?

No, I had a feeling her parents would be connected to the spore drive actually or some sort of spore shadow or whatever.