Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 4x02 - "Anomaly"

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Except Logic may not be telling them that they need to join rather than join. They may see no pressing need

Remember, the whole reason Ni'Var seceded in the first place was because of the Burn.

Since it's been proven that 1) the specific cause of the Burn has been found; 2) the Federation was not responsible; and 3) the Burn cannot possibly repeat itself ... there's no logical reason for Ni'Var NOT to rejoin the Federation.

 

[fireproof78]

Remember, the whole reason Ni'Var seceded in the first place was because of the Burn.

Since it's been proven that 1) the specific cause of the Burn has been found; 2) the Federation was not responsible; and 3) the Burn cannot possibly repeat itself ... there's no logical reason for Ni'Var NOT to rejoin the Federation.

Save for the political changes to the galaxy.

 

[Finn]

Remember, the whole reason Ni'Var seceded in the first place was because of the Burn.

Since it's been proven that 1) the specific cause of the Burn has been found; 2) the Federation was not responsible; and 3) the Burn cannot possibly repeat itself ... there's no logical reason for Ni'Var NOT to rejoin the Federation.

They are motivated by logic. If they decide there aren't logical reason(s) to join at the moment, they might not....

 

[fireproof78]

For starters, there has been a huge change in the political landscape in the region. Ni'Var is wise to wait and see what comes from these changes rather than just leaping back in like nothing changed.

 

[Paul Weaver]

I never felt Vulcans moved fast. Maybe reunification changed them, but to join the federation after just a few months? Wouldn’t they want to have a referendum for such a major change in policy? (insert 52% reference)

We see they are moving in the direction of rejoining

 

[fireproof78]

I never felt Vulcans moved fast. Maybe reunification changed them, but to join the federation after just a few months? Wouldn’t they want to have a referendum for such a major change in policy? (insert 52% reference)

We see they are moving in the direction of rejoining

Why would they? There is literally no reason to rejoin right now.

 

[Tim Thomason]

The Ni'Varians have three factions to appease. If they can't reach consensus, they probably have a wait and see approach. The Romulans are probably all for rejoining the Federation, the Vulcans are weighing their options, and the Romulo-Vulcans might be fearing a loss of political power if their home planet joins.

 

[Lord Garth]

Except Logic may not be telling them that they need to join rather than join. They may see no pressing need like it was following the end of the Romulan-Earth War...

They might not see a pressing need right now. I think the events of this season will create the pressing need.

 

[cooleddie74]

If I remember correctly the Vulcans didn't even join the effort to stop the Xindi superweapon until well after Shran and the Andorian Imperial Guard had decided to intervene. The Vulcans are well known for taking their time with things.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Still finding the big bad this season super boring.

So we're not doing alien cultural stuff this year, just fighting a big space anomaly?

 

[Lord Garth]

So we're not doing alien cultural stuff this year, just fighting a big space anomaly?

This is what happens when people pine for the days of '90s Trek. They give them space anomalies.

 

[fireproof78]

This is what happens when people pine for the days of '90s Trek. They give them space anomalies.

Be careful what you wish for.

 

[Vger23]

This one was ok. Solid Star Trek, but certainly nothing special. I liked the Book/Stamets stuff quite a bit. I also really appreciated the quieter moments between Burnham and Saru. DSC is definitely better when it slows down occasionally and lets the characters do their thing. I thought Book’s trauma was interesting and well-done, while not being overplayed. This episode may have sets a record for exploding consoles. I loved seeing Culber in action during the crisis. Wilson Cruz is perfect in this role.

Nits:
It’s official now…I don’t care about Adira and Grey. It just feels like a tacked-on romance or plot line for newer characters I’m not invested in. I’d prefer to see more of Bryce/Detmer/Owo/etc and less of them. I really don’t believe whoever thought installing flame units onto the set this season was thinking clearly…it looks absolutely ridiculous. There hasn’t been enough Vance this season. I still hate the refit look of the Discovery…and I miss the computer voice announcing Black Alert.

7/10

 

[Photoman15]

Also, I see that they're openly calling the computer Zora now. Obviously this is a setup for "Calypso", but I'm wondering, who (in-universe) first came up with that name? I can't remember, did the computer ASK to be called Zora, or did somebody else think of it?

Now, they created a temporal problem. Discovery in Calypso has been parked for ~1000 years. But it had to be back in Discovery's original time because the Calypso Discovery has attached nacelles. And as we all know, there in the 32nd Century, they have whatever they called it. So how did Calypso's Discovery get parked where it is? And why?

 

[Lord Garth]

So how did Calypso's Discovery get parked where it is? And why?

The anomaly might have temporal qualities. Without a way back, Zora would have to change Discovery's appearance and hide the ship where it can't be detected. And if it ever were to be detected, all anyone would think they'd find is a 23rd Century ship, minimizing any potential damage to the timeline. Burnham would've given the order as they'd be fleeing the ship as it gets sucked into the past with no way out. Connects all the dots, except for: why is one shuttle left behind?

 

[JirinPanthosa]

This is what happens when people pine for the days of '90s Trek. They give them space anomalies.

Those are fine for single episodes. Whole seasons, not so much.

I just assume the sphere data is destined to go the way of Edy. Heck, they're already building a droid body for Gray, why not the sphere data?

I like that they resolved the question of "Why doesn't everybody just make themselves into a robot now" in a one off line, just going out of their way to fix a Picard plot hole.

 

[fireproof78]

Now if only they would fix the transporter plot hole.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Well, to be fair, it's only been a short time since the fall of the Emerald Chain. Probably take awhile before Andor even thinks about rejoining the Federation.

My question is, why isn't Ni'Var back in yet? Their president seemed reasonable, surely she would see the logic of rejoining the Federation now that the cause of the Burn has been determined?

Because when they asked they said "Ni'Var".

 

[Noname Given]

This is what happens when people pine for the days of '90s Trek. They give them space anomalies.

Yeah I wonder what magical particle of the season in combination with programmable matter we'll solve/ correct this anomaly?

My bet is on: "Gravitational De-Lensing Particles", deliver that via a specially treated probe composed of programmable matter.
(And Michael Burnham will be appropriately sobbing/ be emotionally compromised for some reason as she gives the order to fire the probe into the anomaly.)

 

[Ometiklan]

Overall gave this one an 8. So much improved over last week. Great focus on character bits, and with enough time to flesh out some of them in a satisfying way. Some are still too swingy, like the Burnham/Stamets conflict evaporating (offscreen) or the hunt for a new XO (which still hadn't been accomplished 5 months after Burnham got promoted), or the ship suddenly naming itself (offscreen). Too much of those stories are being tossed by the wayside to service the plot needs of the current episode. Still don't care much for the Gray storyline. Saru continues as the reigning MVP.

If this is the level of the rest of the season, I can live with it. But I will always hope for further improvement.

I think the problem is there no build up to the technologies we see, and too much reliance on having seen the previous season and other Trek....They go to the future for a fresh start and don’t even embrace cool culture changing technologies like immortal robot bodies.

Most of Trek hasn't really been interested in the science fiction part of the premise. But it isn't until large time jumps (Enterprise or Discovery seasons 3+) that it really becomes noticeable. Makes me wonder what ENT or DIS S3+ could have been with a showrunner/show creator who did care. ENT could be a cool mix of NASA/Apollo 13/Star Trek: First Contact ship tech and developments really showing the first iffy steps out into the wider galaxy. DIS could show some amazing developments in technology alleviating a lot of day to day concerns and allowing greater focus on characters and interactions, but they are still stuck in a starship-exploring-anomalies paradigm.

One of the thing I was noticing about the new uniforms setup. Does any rank besides Captain or Admiral have a visible indicator of a crew members rank?

If so, I couldn't see it.

I could be wrong but with lower officers isn't the rank on their epaulets like it is in TMP?

The uniforms have their rank pips on the far right of their tri-com badges for all officers. ‪‪I kind of wish they were also on the neck devices with the offset chevrons, since they’re there for Captains, but it’s a minor nitpick for me.

Only the Captain’s rank neck devices have pips to indicate rank, every other bridge officer has nothing above the two chevrons.

This was the second most annoying thing I noticed this week (1st most is still the stupid Fire Swamp flame throwers). I liked how the captain's uniforms had the rank pips on the collar (but did they need to be in 4 separate locations, including the combadge?). But everyone else not having them on the collar was still bad. I even paused the show during closeups of Owu and Detmer, and Detmer's rank was still practically impossible to determine. Just a bad costuming design concept.

And adding to that, I noticed that the combadge itself is very murky. There is no clear color contrast, nor is the shape clear as the delta blends too much into the oval. So much for the iconic Trek delta. Almost makes me miss the days of DIS seasons 1 and 2 where literally everything was branded all over with the delta (including the pajamas!).