Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 3x03 - "People of Earth"

Yay! It’s Todd. What’s he doing here? I feel bad that I didn’t recognise his voice now.
I call bullshit on Starfleet not finding another efficient FTL without using Dilithium. I doubt the Relativity used Dilithium in its processes.
Humans being hosts to trill symbiotes is so far the only advanced thing that’s new for the 32nd century. Surprised they got the Trill information correct. I just assumed Michael would know all about the Trill and their symbiotes.

 

He’s not a commander; he’s a squatter of his dad’s workplace, which the two Federation ships in range have repeatedly asked him to vacate, but he thinks he has inherited the property, and now he’s renting out the lower levels for income. This self-proclaimed "true believer" is widely considered a "Fed fanboy" and "larper/reenactor" by those who dwell in reality.

 

This is good advice to keep in mind.

 

I liked it much, much more than the first two episodes of this season. I have no substantive complaints whatsoever. Few nitpicks even come to mind. Some of the emotionality of the reunion in the first half of the episode felt a tiny bit overwrought to me, I recall last season someone said "Discovery doesn't want you to think - it wants you to feel" and that was on display in a lot of scenes in this particular episode, which focused much more on a bevy of different emotions than setting up some interesting intellectual dilemma. Also I think some of the worldbuilding here was extremely, extremely shallow - more should have changed in the Solar System than we saw - but I chalk that up to lack of creativity in the practical/VFX departments rather than writing.

But really, it was very good. I loved the classic Trekkian twist that the "evil alien raiders" were really just humans in funny outfits - a reworking of a Trek trope going back to the Corbomite Maneuver. I liked that the message of the episode - that all we need is open dialogue to bring people together (though it was a little bit...shallow) - was also a classic Trek trope which was reworked. Really it was a "normal" episodic Trek episode with a bit of extra heavy drama piled on. And even this drama was mostly well done. Michael didn't wear on me at all, and Georgiou was even used well in this episode (unlike the outing last week).

I'm rating it an 8. Episode 1 was a 6 for me, and episode 2 a 7, so the season seems on an upward trajectory.

 

“Let’s jump just out outside Earth’s range.”

They jump to Saturn. I’m pretty sure that’s in range.

 

A very good episode, I thought. I’m going to rewatch because there’s a lot in there, but I really enjoyed it. An 8.6 from me.

 

I wonder if this is another case of the VFX team taking liberties that the writers didn't intend? This has been a long-term issue with Discovery.

Showing them passing by Saturn is especially weird because the raiders are ultimately from Titan. Then again, maybe that's the point. If Earth had a scanning range which reached to Saturn, they would have been able to know the origin point of the raiders.

 

Yeah. We know that Starfleet was already aware of many FTL systems that don't require dilithium at the time of Voyager. So the idea that hundreds of years later, Starfleet still had not made the transition to a new FTL system, is very unlikely.

 

I will say although I liked this episode, I really have a bit of mixed feelings because...it's a plot we've seen in Trek dozens of times before. Take out the fact that it takes place in the future, and is purportedly Earth, and we've seen these plot beats across Berman Trek.

I mean, it was an enjoyable hour, but all of this setup, to do a relatively lowkey classic Trek story of misunderstood antagonists and both sides working things out at a conference table? We didn't need to go 930 years in the future for this. A Trek series could have done that in its first season with a clean sheet of paper.

 

Synthehol in a Starfleet food synthesizer database from 2258? Scotty didn't even know about it in 2369. Sigh.

Other than that, good episode!

 

On the other hand it looks like United Earth kept its old 22nd century name after leaving the Federation. Good continuity. Earth reverted to its old sovereignty status after seceding.

 

Loved, loved, LOVED this one!

I was genuinely surprised at the Adria/Trill revelation. I really like Saru as Captain. The crew visiting earth was nice. Maybe it’s because I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night, but there were a few points throughout the episode where the room got a little dusty. I know we have spent less time with this crew than most others, but I genuinely like this team.

If I have any complaints, it’s that I feel we've been shortchanged with Burnham's journey. No way they could do an entire season of Burnham on her own, and I'm not sure how they could effectively show this journey narratively. but I feel as though something is a little off with her and her year away from the crew. I don't know that its earned at this point, but we'll see how it continues throughout the season.

I also don't know that I fully trust Book.

Still, really good one. Give it a 8.5/10.

 

A solid 7.

 

It had a temporal impeller and a temporal warp core, both were probably banned

Great connection!

Might be a reference to the D arriving at Saturn when they entered sector 001 (which should be much bigger)

Could still be

 

This is a franchise where distance and a starship's proximity to a threat are always presented in weird, illogical ways. The Enterprise is the only ship in interception range/the quadrant/etc. despite Starfleet having hundreds or even thousands of ships. Being within the same star system but "out of range" of the most advanced and heavily-inhabited planet in that system.

 

Scotty not knowing about/recognizing synthehol in Relics doesn't mean synthehol didn't exist in his time any more than someone not knowing about plant-based meat substitutes in our time doesn't mean they don't exist.

It could be that he personally served on ships that didn't have it programmed in its replicators. It could be that he knew about synthehol but either forgot it in the moment or hadn't tasted it personally and was expecting real Scotch.

It could even be the case that Scotty had I-Can't-Believe-It's-Not-Alcohol! prior to Relics and because, unlike the Entrerprise-D's version, it didn't suck, he didn't realize it.

Or we just have to accept that there is going to be some inconsistency in technology among the series and its portrayal. The people on Discovery are eating replicated food, not the food cubes that Kirk wanted to be shaped like turkey in Charlie X, for example.

 

Well, to DSC's credit they do call their food delivery systems food synthesizers like TOS. They look more or less the same and even make the "ding" bell sound when the yellow door raises to dispense your order. They got that right from the start.

 

All those people who yelled at me calling that new character a she when they all did in this episode. I expect an apology.

 

Will Tilly's emotional moment with Burnham be the only tangible expression of grief? I hope not.