Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 4x04 - "All Is Possible"

[NCC-73515]

That’s correct, Cronenberg said Kovich was just that, a cultural historian who happens to be an expert on the Terran Empire, and it was in an excerpt from an interview in Star Trek Explorer magazine at StarTrek.com

Thanks, glad I remembered it correctly

Those shuttlecraft...has an Orville vibe to it, don't they?

More like original Jeffries shuttle minus nacelles

This week I am pissed at the scene where Kovich, who is a consultant, offers Tilly a position. I just expected that to come through a normal chain of command.

Why wouldn't someone who probably is the professor of terranology in the history department be able to hire people?

its 32nd century, shouldn't the Shuttle have an EMH? that is partially made of programmable mater that can make medical tools to use? Exocomps used transporters/replicators for tools?

An EMH should have poped up and saved the guy, or at least stabilized him for the time being.

So instead of using their Emergency ___ Hologram technology to "Save Lives".

The Writers conveniently forgot about it for cheap points at plot drama.

Or the writers remembered that any patient who blinks too quickly would disable such EMHs
I guess they're all undergoing blink-resistance refits.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

Or the writers remembered that any patient who blinks too quickly would disable such EMHs
I guess they're all undergoing blink-resistance refits.

I guess StarFleet must be paranoid about Terrans, although, they only have encountered 1 Terran in a few hundred years.

And the one Terran that has been encountered was allied with StarFleet to some degree.

 

[fireproof78]

I would be.

 

[nic3636]

Kovich could have been a consultant temporarily filling in as head of Starfleet Academy. So he builds the whole thing up and gets it going, then turns it over to a permanent replacement to manage the day to day and he goes to the next thing. Happens all the time in the real world and makes sense for a man of Kovichs talents. Drift around and go where you are needed.

 

[NCC-73515]

I guess StarFleet must be paranoid about Terrans, although, they only have encountered 1 Terran in a few hundred years.

And the one Terran that has been encountered was allied with StarFleet to some degree.

They never said it was Terran-specific blinking, or that just Terran boots can destroy the tricommbadges

 

[fireproof78]

 

[Annorax849]

I'm thinking you might be able to explain away some lack of the 800-year difference in technology (and galactic scale) simply around the idea that when the TCW started (so 28th century?) the Federation and humanity mostly lost interest in exploring space and became far more interested in time. I get that doesn't mean technology wouldn't advance, but the whole thing could have led to a chain of stagnation.

 

[fireproof78]

All you have to do is limit information, create a background of fear and mistrust, and a focus on protecting over growth.

 

[Fateor]

I'm thinking you might be able to explain away some lack of the 800-year difference in technology (and galactic scale) simply around the idea that when the TCW started (so 28th century?) the Federation and humanity mostly lost interest in exploring space and became far more interested in time. I get that doesn't mean technology wouldn't advance, but the whole thing could have led to a chain of stagnation.

You really don't want to remind people about the stupid "Time Travel Ban" given it's utterly impossible to enforce...

 

[Nerys Myk]

More like they would be happier in doing a show that is about regular fiction than Science Fiction.

If the writing staff doesn't enjoy the Science part of "Science Fiction", they really should do a procedural drama or other types of regular fiction show.

There are PLENTY of CBS / Paramount shows that are procedural dramas that they can work on.

Who's say they don't?
As I've said before, Star Trek has never been a show about science. It's there as part of the setting. They use it to drive the drama sometimes. But the crux of the show is about people and ideas.

YES, THE STAR TREK FORMAT IS ACTUALLY THAT SIMPLE. IF YOU'RE A TV PROFESSIONAL, YOU ALREADY KNOW THE FOLLOWING SEVEN RULES:
I. Build your episode on an action-adventure frame- work. We must reach out, hold and entertain a mass audience of some 20.,000,000 people or we simply don't stay on the air.

II. Tell your story about people, not about science and gadgetry. Joe Friday doesn't stop to explain the mechanics of his .38 before he uses it; Kildare never did a monologue about the theory of anes- thetics; Matt Dillon never identifies and dis- cusses the breed of his horse before he rides off on it.

III. Keep in mind that science fiction is not a separate field of literature with rules of its own, but, indeed, needs the same ingredients as any story -- including a jeopardy of some type to someone we learn to care about, climactic build, sound motivitation, you know the list.

IV. Then, with that firm foundation established, inter- weave in it any statement to be made about man, society and so on. Yes, we want you to have some- thing to say, but say it entertainingly as you do on any other show. We don't need essays, how- ever brilliant.

V. Remember always that STAR TREK is never fantasy; whatever happens, no matter how unusual or bizarre, must have some basis in either fact or theory and stay true to that premise (don't give the enemy Starflight capability and then have them engage our vessel with grappling hooks and drawn swords.) VI. Don't try to tell a story about whole civilizations . We've never yet been able to get a usable story from a writer who began... "I see the strange civilization which...".

VII. Stop worrying about not being a scientist. How many cowboys, police officers and doctors wrote westerns, detective and hospital shows?

 

[fireproof78]

You really don't want to remind people about the stupid "Time Travel Ban" given it's utterly impossible to enforce...

I really do because I want no time travel.

 

[Amaris]

I really do because I want no time travel.

I am so so sooooooo tired of time travel.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I am so so sooooooo tired of time travel.

I'm not

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[Fateor]

I really do because I want no time travel.

Then this is the wrong setting for you.

 

[eschaton]

Who's say they don't?
As I've said before, Star Trek has never been a show about science. It's there as part of the setting. They use it to drive the drama sometimes. But the crux of the show is about people and ideas.

There's a yes but here.

One of the biggest things speculative fiction allows for is the development of allegorical storytelling. Star Trek is absolutely leaden with this in general.

 

[Amaris]

I'm not

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Well obviously THAT one counts. We see that in DSC, I'll be there with bells on.

Only bells.

 

[fireproof78]

I am so so sooooooo tired of time travel.

Indeed.

Then this is the wrong setting for you.

Hasn't stopped anyone else.

 

[cultcross]

Well that episode was terrible. It was, in fairness, better than this week's Doctor Who so I can't in good conscience grade it the same, so it gets a 4.

The stilted ridiculous dialogue endured throughout (who writes people speaking that way?), and neither story was any good. Two Star Trek clichés warmed over with little new in there. The Galileo Seven/Good Shepherd rip off was particularly uninspired, with each moral point hammered home with the subtlety of a giant jellyfish. Speaking of which, we were pretty quick to jump to eliminating them, weren't we? Seek out new life, phasers on kill. Meanwhile we didn't see Tilly struggling with any command decisions or facing their consequences - everything just happened to her. Imagine, for example, if she'd had to make a choice which resulted in the LTs death but saved the cadets. But no, he's just dead.

The clunky brexit analogy wasn't nearly as clever as they clearly thought it was and having Burnham announce what was going on all the time was fanfic level poor writing ("I think this is political theatre!" Thank you narrator). Why didn't Ni'var mention this clearly deal breaking matter until the last possible second of what apparently have been months of negotiations? Who cares!

Spent a lot of time last week setting up Grey only to have him in one brief scene with no more idea than before of where he's going post incarnation.

Poor.

 

[XCV330]

Well that episode was terrible. It was, in fairness, better than this week's Doctor Who so I can't in good conscience grade it the same, so it gets a 4.

The stilted ridiculous dialogue endured throughout (who writes people speaking that way?), and neither story was any good. Two Star Trek clichés warmed over with little new in there. The Galileo Seven/Good Shepherd rip off was particularly uninspired, with each moral point hammered home with the subtlety of a giant jellyfish. Speaking of which, we were pretty quick to jump to eliminating them, weren't we? Seek out new life, phasers on kill.

The clunky brexit analogy wasn't nearly as clever as they clearly thought it was and having Burnham announce what was going on all the time was fanfic level poor writing ("I think this is political theatre!" Thank you narrator). Why didn't Ni'var mention this clearly deal breaking matter until the last possible second of what apparently have been months of negotiations? Who cares!

Spent a lot of time last week setting up Grey only to have him in one brief scene with no more idea than before of where he's going post incarnation.

Poor.

I agree with you on most if not all your points, though as a whole I still liked this one. In general the quality of this season is far down from what it was before. There's no urgency, there's no
I know what it is, as I am writing this reply: There's no adventure.

There is a little action, but it's not adventure. It's gone. They're in a new millennium. There's no excuse.

It's feelings and character development and reassurances. It's not even trying to be subtle about it. It's not the show I started watching.

 

[dupersuper]

Nearly one thousand years further in the future and Starfleet shuttles are still death traps...

Gamma rays? Really?

Discovery is finally not letting technology or technobabble get in the way of good storytelling

Not to say there wasn't some really good stuff here, but good storytelling would also generally include an explanation of why something introduced earlier in the story that would obviously solve the problem isn't used.

DSC won't even have Michael mention Sybok her adoptive half-brother so I doubt they'll recycle anything else from that film.

My personal timeline for young Spock until we get more onscreen info.:
Sybok leaves
then Yesteryear
then Michael taken in by Sarek and Amanda

This explains why Spock was so standoffish when Michael arrived (having just lost his half brother and pet in addition to the bullying we've seen and Vulcan dyslexia and red angel stuff we learn of that season).

I would not be surprised if they're saving Culber and his issues for when the 32nd century Klingons finally show up.

And as for T'Rina and Saru, well here's what would have happened realistically.

Saru: I would like you to teach me your ancient Vulcan meditation techniques.

T'Rina: And why are you asking me, of all people? Your longtime colleague Michael Burnham is a graduate of the Vulcan Science Academy and you could have asked her any time in all the years you've known her.

Saru: ...

T'Rina: That's what I thought. To quote Ambassador Spock, "If I were human, I believe my response to you would be 'Go to Hell!' ...If I were human."

Saru:

It's "unrealistic" that she likes him to and wanted to spend time with him?

Interpersonal relationships are boring once they're happy and established

Hard disagree.

This show cannot win period. The standard set is too high because of a lot of different factors. It's not all malicious but it also cannot succeed because it has the albatross of Trek's past weighing it down.

Then why do I enjoy Lower Decks, Prodigy and Short Treks so much? They have the same albatross.

• On a personal level I hate shuttle crash stories. I can't think of a single one in any Trek that I liked

Not even Galileo 7?

Eh, I fully believed they had the apocalypse ("Burn") happen to massively reset the technology level.

How did it "reset" anything. it would've slowed the development that was already 800ish years in Discovery's future, but that's about it.