Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 3x01 - "That Hope Is You, Part 1"

it is better not to talk about star wars

 

That Federation outpost must have one impressive holodeck if the guy never wanted to leave.

 

Well, not here any way. We have a whole forum for that and it is great fun!

 

Star Wars. That's the one with the guy in all black who has the breathing problem right?

 

Orions and Andorians make for wacky partners in crime. We need a zany sitcom about an Orion and an Andorian who decide to break into the criminal underworld and all their slapstick adventures.

 

one of the reasons why I like star trek is because they try to give realistic and logical explanations to what we see on the screen

 

Whew, what a ride it was. Another exciting season opener. I didn't like it as much as I did Brother, but I enjoyed it from start to finish. The episode did a good job of introducing the new setting, letting us see all the weird stuff through Burnham's eyes and not getting into pedantic exposition. I was especially glad that Book didn't start to recite the whole story in great detail... he doesn't seem like that type and he's naturally not really knowledgeable about something that far in the past. I mean, it's on a smaller scope, but how many people could accurately explain what happened at Chernobyl other than it exploded?
I liked that his description of the Burn was left quite vague to let the writers flesh it out later. And of course it also allows for dozens of competing headcanons, at least for now, so we might continue to see some quite heated arguments about how it happened, in true Trek fandom fashion.

Even though the gorgeous Icelandic scenery was utilized to a great degree, I didn't care much for Hima. It was just the usual fare for lawless frontier planets we've seen in sci-fi a thousand times, but I liked how seamlessly the various Trek races, including Cardassians and Lurians were integrated into its society. And of course there's the relay stations keeping the Federation's flame alight and passing it from parent to child. I'm digging this "the Federation as an underground secret society" angle, I'm just hoping that the presumably restored Federation won't merely be a carbon copy of the Federation-That-Was.

I took an instant liking to Book, right at the "nope" and terminating Cosmo's call. While his first meeting with Burnham wasn't on exactly the best terms and they were only forced to work together by the circumstances, they built up a good rapport with each other; I've enjoyed their banter way more than I did every single scene with Burnham and Tyler. It isn't that high a bar to cross, I know. He might be cynical, viewing those "true believers" waiting for the Federation's second coming with pity, but he still has something to believe in, and I was happy to see the reveal that he was a conservationist. The Federation no longer being around to enforce interstellar treaties reminded me of how governments in today's world are able to destroy the environment without any repercussions, and especially of the United States retreating from the Paris Accords. I like Star Trek being topical, and I like the continued message of, to use the Vulcan proverb, "One man can summon the future." Individual good deeds aren't worthless, even if the world seems irreparably broken.

As for Burnham, ho boy. It was weird to see her emote, but at the same time it felt so good. Of course, many of those emotional scenes in the trailer were from her drugging, but even with a clear mind she seemed so much more in touch with them than before. She was absolutely hilarious while drugged, and I loved it being juxtaposed with the intense action scene at the space port. Overall, the episode worked quite well for me. I won't say yet that the series is finally finding its voice; let's see how the actual crew does before making that judgment.

Observations:

• I liked how the Burnham-centric scenes from the trailer, derided by various people as clunky and awkward, gained so much more meaning in context. "The Federation is a vision" speech worked really well as her being deep in denial, desperately trying to console herself, with Book curtly shooting her down with a pitying "that's nice." And the "That hope is you" one also made sense... Burnham was literally the first bona fide Starfleet Officer that Sahil had met in his entire life, proving that his faith might be more than just a pipe dream. Of course it isn't about Burnham being the second coming like some people so swiftly assumed.
• I never expected solar sails to be name-dropped. DS9 continues to seep through the cracks almost undetected.
• Bad Cosmo. We're not roasting cats. Bad, bad Cosmo!
  
• I roared with laughter at Burnham's first reaction to the drug being that Tilly shouldn't get any. Seeing how hyper it made her, Tilly would probably literally go to warp from it.

 

There was an Orion woman in this episode right? Did humans develop an immunity to Orion pheromones? Otherwise she could have used her pheromones and taken Book aside for a steamy, uh, interrogation scene and the Orion Syndicate would quickly learn everything they wanted to know from Book and wouldn't waste time drugging Burnham.

 

the maquis wanted to become independent from the federation for no reason I suppose

 

Tendi in LD - set 808 years earlier - is also an Orion female and nobody in Starfleet seems to have problems with her pheromones, so I'm guessing by the 32nd century a pretty effective block or even immunity has been developed.

 

I don't like Lower Decks much but I demand a scene where Book proves how wacky true believers are by (minor spoilers for Lower Decks)

Spoiler

taking Burnham to a bunch of Federationers paying homage to a giant statue of Miles O'Brien.

 

That's a 24th Century issue. Not a 23rd.

 

Did anyone get the name of the noncom liaison they met at the end? I liked him. A reserved performance beaming with quiet pride works a lot better with these DSC style speeches than, well, the alternative. I got kind of emotional when he was talking about that flag.

 

So I assume transwarp beaming made no progress at all in a thousand years?

 

That is not always the case and isn't applied consistently. There are some facets that are a part of the framing device.

That said, since the Federation isn't gone completely I think it is possible, however unlikely, that people would hold on that and want to see it return, and there is the possibility. How it plays out remains to be seen but certainly is something I can accept as a narrative.

Mileage will vary.

 

Marc Okrand is credited in this episode, as both Dialect coach and translator, so I guess he's still working on Alien Languages for Season 3.

 

I still want to bring back Classic Anatolia and repopulate the original descendents into that area and give them back their home lands.

 

Alternate universe tech.

 

that would be great!