Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 2x13 - "Such Sweet Sorrow"
- Thread starter Commander Richard
- Start date
It was definitely a set up episode. I was pleased that it was a much better set-up episode than "War Within, War Without" from S1, though.
Shit. I'm already deep in "Analysis mode" while watching. No matter which show or movie.
Am I doing it wrong? Maybe I'm just an overthinker when it comes to entertainment...
Shit. I'm already deep in "Analysis mode" while watching. No matter which show or movie.
Am I doing it wrong? Maybe I'm just an overthinker when it comes to entertainment...
Everyone's different. I try not to consciously analyze the first time, but if something jumps out to me, it'll jump out. I'm pretty sure there are posts here in the episode discussion threads where I'm thinking, "I wonder about this" or "I wonder about that" while watching. It happens.
For me, it depends how engaged I am in the episode. "If Memory Serves" was purely entertaining. Last night, I was nitpicking two minutes in.
My first time was with whales.Whether love or Star Trek, there's nothing like your first time.
The two things that jumped out at me last night were
1. Why not use the spore drive to get way the hell away from Control, and spend time formulating a better plan
2. Wow, I can't believe Sarek and Amanda just sort of magically appear in the midst of this extremely critical crisis countdown.
But, for me, the key is simple: it doesn't detract from my enjoyment. It's nothing more than an amusing side note for me. I prefer to enjoy the characters and just let the story take me where it wants to go. My imagination has always been really big. I generally just fill gaps in naturally and that stuff becomes almost meaningless.
And, to the point @Nerys Myk makes, I don't get a charge over playing "I'm smarter and more clever than the writers" on a message board.
I can't listen to any music witnout thinking about mix, arrangement, a rhyme. West Wing 's out of tune trumpet in the theme! Now I mention it, the soprano voice in the remastered Trek TOS theme is so much more forward in the mix than in 1967. Argh. Bugs me every time.
Funny thing, I might find plot holes when I'm watching and bother my wife with them (I end up sounding like the gang from MST3K commenting as we watch), but those things usually don't bother me that much overall, even if it seems that I'm bothered by them while I'm actively watching.
What bothers me more is the overall tone and feel of the show (any show, really). As I mentioned in a few posts above, my main gripe with DSC is that the writers don't get the rest of the crew meaningfully involved with each story in a way that would have them interacting through fun dialogue and entertaining situations/moments.
Sure -- I say out loud and in a frustrating way "jeez -- why don't they just solve their problem by doing X, Y or Z?!", which usually results in my wife tell be to just be quiet. However, those frustrations are just minor issues that I quickly forget about. The bigger issue I have is that they are ignoring chances for the characters to have fun and be fun.
EDIT TO ADD:
The one thing that does bother me plot-wise while watching any TV show or movie is when the drama requires people to do stupid things or act stupidly in order to move the story along. That's one thing that takes me right out of the any show as I'm watching.
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Rewatched this one, and it goes up in my estimation. I rated it a 9 initially, but I'm going to say that it's in fact a solid 10. Sure, there were a few things I didn't love ("I will always be here for our son. Always, even as I keep my distance, as he has asked": As exposition goes, that's awkward as hell). But almost everything here was pitch perfect to me.
What this episode does really right for me is advance the plot at a steady clip while also capturing character at every turn. This seems to be a hallmark of Paradise's work on the show thus far. For instance, in the scene where the crew collaborate with Po to work out a way to execute their plan, there's hardly a line or moment here that doesn't tell us something about the characters, from Po drawing equations with her spoon to Georgiou's exasperated disgust. It's really beautiful.
At the same time, the plot moves forward fast, and that's one thing that sometimes gets lost in episodes of any show that set up the fireworks factory, so I really appreciate that. The emotional beats felt earnest and earned. I just hope that they give us a little bit more than a cliffhanger at the end of the season. Let us have some sense of where we end up once they've (presumably) jumped in time.
Other thoughts:
What this episode does really right for me is advance the plot at a steady clip while also capturing character at every turn. This seems to be a hallmark of Paradise's work on the show thus far. For instance, in the scene where the crew collaborate with Po to work out a way to execute their plan, there's hardly a line or moment here that doesn't tell us something about the characters, from Po drawing equations with her spoon to Georgiou's exasperated disgust. It's really beautiful.
At the same time, the plot moves forward fast, and that's one thing that sometimes gets lost in episodes of any show that set up the fireworks factory, so I really appreciate that. The emotional beats felt earnest and earned. I just hope that they give us a little bit more than a cliffhanger at the end of the season. Let us have some sense of where we end up once they've (presumably) jumped in time.
Other thoughts:
- Great music this episode.
- I'm going to miss Spock and Burnham together, something I didn't think I'd say when they announced that he'd be on the show.
- Did the VFX for the ship exteriors look unpolished compared to everything else this season?
- I do kind of wish they'd remain in the current time period, but what I really like about going forward is the way doing so automatically draws attention to this core group as being people who matter for this show. Suddenly, Owo, Detmer, Reno, and the others seem much more realized.
- Saru needs to become captain. I don't think Michael's ready, and I like her having autonomy to act as a catalyst.
- Reno needs to not die. I feel like that's what they're setting up and I really need them to not do that, thanksmuch.
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I will say that it was nice Pike allowed the crew to evacuate before activating the self-destruct. Unlike past captains who activate it first giving the crew mere moments to get off before it blows.
I still marvel at the fact that they managed to evacuate the ENTIRE SECONDARY HULL of the Enterprise-D five minutes before saucer separation.
I still marvel at the fact that they managed to evacuate the ENTIRE SECONDARY HULL of the Enterprise-D five minutes before saucer separation.
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If you call constant bickering with each other "critical thinking," then I guess you are correct.
