I like the mention that Rhys had his family home destroyed in a tornado or hurricane which shows that as late as the mid-23rd century on Earth there was no weather net in place to prevent life-threatening storms from hitting populated areas.
Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 4x05 - "The Examples"
- Thread starter Commander Richard
- Start date
I had some issues with the scene as well. It's a great example for the need of the Prime Directive. The guy is still the head of state to this government. Having another foreign government telling you how to run your society is not a good thing. They do treat their Prisoners badly or at least some. We are only seen a glimpse of the system and like the guy said it appears to have helped stop crime if you take his word.
I do know also we in America have issues with our Justice System but I know I wouldn't want Germany or China or Mexico or whichever country it would be trying to foist their political will over us even if they did save us from a disaster. It's funny how Burnham talks in this very episode about the need to respect the honorable guy's agency but ignores that logic when it comes to their government.
An 8. For me much better than last week.
Nice mix of action and character moments; and I really enjoy that (unlike Berman era Trek) they've gotten away from instantly/easily figuring out an anomaly/aspect of technology - and I also enjoy that while Burnham is a staunch believer in the Federation, she doesn't over pontificate about it or really go all 'holier than though' - like a certain Jean Luc Picard character.
A little simple thing I really enjoyed was that when they came up with overheating the security system - when asked "And how long will that take?..." the response was "I have no idea -> THANK YOU because in the TNG era someone would have don a Tricorder scan and given an estimate to the nano second. They finally have characters that act like real human beings again.
I also enjoyed Burnham having to reason out on the fly, a way to provide asylum, and I very much enjoyed her final exchange with the Magistrate - again, a real/true human emotional reaction that made sense and wasn't over the top. She was evern shown as somewhat enjoying it, which again is a very 'real human' reaction.
My one nitpick was the 'mad scientist' aspect as the whole - "We could get you more power, but because of the need of thwe Transporter array; we need to do this in a more dangerous way..." felt forced. I mean, the test device was one they created, so they couldn't wait a couple hours until the rescue was completed and they had full access to the ship's power grid? Also the whole "we'll do it safely...", but in the end these two mad scientists are willing to see the containment field get to such a point Saru has to hit the kill switch? <--- Yeah, that was a bit ridiculous (IMO). And yes, you had the exchange between Book and the new mad scientist with teh scientist saying - "The entire power grid of the ship still wouldn't provide his small scale model with enough power; but yeah, in the end, both he and Stammets were just a bit too of the ole 'mad scientist' trope here, and that was my one real nitppick of this episode and why I didn't give it a 9.
Nice mix of action and character moments; and I really enjoy that (unlike Berman era Trek) they've gotten away from instantly/easily figuring out an anomaly/aspect of technology - and I also enjoy that while Burnham is a staunch believer in the Federation, she doesn't over pontificate about it or really go all 'holier than though' - like a certain Jean Luc Picard character.
A little simple thing I really enjoyed was that when they came up with overheating the security system - when asked "And how long will that take?..." the response was "I have no idea -> THANK YOU because in the TNG era someone would have don a Tricorder scan and given an estimate to the nano second. They finally have characters that act like real human beings again.
I also enjoyed Burnham having to reason out on the fly, a way to provide asylum, and I very much enjoyed her final exchange with the Magistrate - again, a real/true human emotional reaction that made sense and wasn't over the top. She was evern shown as somewhat enjoying it, which again is a very 'real human' reaction.
My one nitpick was the 'mad scientist' aspect as the whole - "We could get you more power, but because of the need of thwe Transporter array; we need to do this in a more dangerous way..." felt forced. I mean, the test device was one they created, so they couldn't wait a couple hours until the rescue was completed and they had full access to the ship's power grid? Also the whole "we'll do it safely...", but in the end these two mad scientists are willing to see the containment field get to such a point Saru has to hit the kill switch? <--- Yeah, that was a bit ridiculous (IMO). And yes, you had the exchange between Book and the new mad scientist with teh scientist saying - "The entire power grid of the ship still wouldn't provide his small scale model with enough power; but yeah, in the end, both he and Stammets were just a bit too of the ole 'mad scientist' trope here, and that was my one real nitppick of this episode and why I didn't give it a 9.
It looks to me like they're inching closer and closer to "Calypso" with this episode.
It's also been interesting to read so many "this is the first time Burnham seemed like a great captain"-type comments, in that this was the first episode for me where she seemed like a shitty captain. It was just ridiculous that she went on that mission at all, and so irresponsible of her! This is definitely one of the ST situations that calls for the captain to stay on the bridge.
Previous seasons of Disco have suffered greatly from having to contrive ridiculous ways for Burnham, a character in a subordinate position, to somehow always be at the center of galactic events. Now that she's FINALLY in a leader position, we now have to contrive ridiculous ways to get her back into plots that should be done by subordinate characters?
Just let her be the leader! I would have been so much more satisfied to see her have an actual story with the Magistrate. Those two clashing, intercut with other characters doing the ground mission, would have made a much better episode for me.
Previous seasons of Disco have suffered greatly from having to contrive ridiculous ways for Burnham, a character in a subordinate position, to somehow always be at the center of galactic events. Now that she's FINALLY in a leader position, we now have to contrive ridiculous ways to get her back into plots that should be done by subordinate characters?
Just let her be the leader! I would have been so much more satisfied to see her have an actual story with the Magistrate. Those two clashing, intercut with other characters doing the ground mission, would have made a much better episode for me.
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Sounds like Star Trek to me lol
Well the episode did involve lets face it not just Trek cliches but Sci Fi tv cliches. Prisoners who are innocent and locked up because of a bad government. Except for one guy who really is guilty and wants to pay for what he did thus showing he has true honor. Still I liked the episode. I really liked the guest starts. Both the honorable guy but the new scientist. The new scientist represents what the show has always needed more of and that is internal conflict. A character who represents danger maybe. Only is written better than their failed attempt to get that from Georgiou who only offered snide remarks but hardly did anything else on the show.
These writers have a very shallow knowledge of Star Trek. Have they ever heard of unstable wormholes?
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Barzan_wormhole
Exactly.
This is so stupid.
The writers are implying that technologies are violating the laws of physics.
It also strikes me as an immense missed opportunity for Burnham's own past to not come up in this prison story (or did I miss it?)
But if every there was a character who could make a compelling argument for prison reform, it is Michael Burnham! This is a character that was SENTENCED TO LIFE! And, at the time, she accepted that punishment as just.
And good thing the Federation discovered mercy in her case, because since her sentence was commuted she's saved the entire universe three times (and counting!)
If Burnham was going to be in that prison story, that's the emotional monologue I wanted to hear delivered under a time crisis at the end. Tell the guy she understands his feelings, because she's also gotten people killed and been sentenced to life for it! But look at what she's accomplished once she was shown mercy and chose life! He can do the same!
But if every there was a character who could make a compelling argument for prison reform, it is Michael Burnham! This is a character that was SENTENCED TO LIFE! And, at the time, she accepted that punishment as just.
And good thing the Federation discovered mercy in her case, because since her sentence was commuted she's saved the entire universe three times (and counting!)
If Burnham was going to be in that prison story, that's the emotional monologue I wanted to hear delivered under a time crisis at the end. Tell the guy she understands his feelings, because she's also gotten people killed and been sentenced to life for it! But look at what she's accomplished once she was shown mercy and chose life! He can do the same!
A
Amaris
Guest
The science in this season is seriously wonky.
Again, 5 light year wide black hole (including accretion disk which means its gravitational pull is the size of that accretion disk), disappears and reappears light years away (by the way, the Barzan wormhole did that because it was unstable, and it was a natural wormhole). This is what I meant by the entire galaxy being in danger. They were tracking it the whole time, and then it just up and jumped 1,000 light years away. They're treating it like it's more the size of a large asteroid or small planetoid rather than something that stretches from here to Betelgeuse.
That aside, the new guy creates a miniature version of the anomaly, despite just saying that the technology is far beyond what they are capable, and uses the simulation to build more data on how much power it requires to maintain its presence. The reveal? It's being powered by a hypergiant. I'm just going to come right out and say that the fusion power of even a hypergiant isn't going to be enough to power a 5 light year wide black hole. The largest hypergiant we currently know of, that is classed as a hypergiant, is UY-Scuti, which is 7 AU across.
To reiterate, the DMA is 316,205 AU across. That would be like a monster truck being powered by a watch battery. It just doesn't add up.
Now, the science aside, there were some good character moments. It was great to see Jett Reno again, and I'm glad Culber is confronting his survivors guilt. I could see a hundred miles away that the sacred flute music guy was definitely going to die, but overall it was pretty well done.
This one gets a 5 out of 10 from me. Not bad, but not great either, and no Tilly.
Again, 5 light year wide black hole (including accretion disk which means its gravitational pull is the size of that accretion disk), disappears and reappears light years away (by the way, the Barzan wormhole did that because it was unstable, and it was a natural wormhole). This is what I meant by the entire galaxy being in danger. They were tracking it the whole time, and then it just up and jumped 1,000 light years away. They're treating it like it's more the size of a large asteroid or small planetoid rather than something that stretches from here to Betelgeuse.
That aside, the new guy creates a miniature version of the anomaly, despite just saying that the technology is far beyond what they are capable, and uses the simulation to build more data on how much power it requires to maintain its presence. The reveal? It's being powered by a hypergiant. I'm just going to come right out and say that the fusion power of even a hypergiant isn't going to be enough to power a 5 light year wide black hole. The largest hypergiant we currently know of, that is classed as a hypergiant, is UY-Scuti, which is 7 AU across.
To reiterate, the DMA is 316,205 AU across. That would be like a monster truck being powered by a watch battery. It just doesn't add up.
Now, the science aside, there were some good character moments. It was great to see Jett Reno again, and I'm glad Culber is confronting his survivors guilt. I could see a hundred miles away that the sacred flute music guy was definitely going to die, but overall it was pretty well done.
This one gets a 5 out of 10 from me. Not bad, but not great either, and no Tilly.
How could there be surviving members of an ancient civilization destroyed 200,000 years ago?
Even if some survived the destruction, it's still 200,000 years ago.
Is it supposed to be a reference to Star Trek Online or something?
Stamets clearly doesn't know what he's talking about when it comes to natural phenomena disappearing and reappearing. Chalk it up to his smug, know-it-all attitude and hating to admit he's wrong. 
Yeah, I kinda mentally chuckled at these comments, but I've learned to just enjoy the big picture plotwise after all those years.
Sounds about right.Stamets clearly doesn't know what he's talking about when it comes to natural phenomena disappearing and reappearing. Chalk it up to his smug, know-it-all attitude and hating to admit he's wrong.
The end of the Barzan wormhole didn't so much disappear & reappear, but moved. Not sure what difference that really makes.
The ellipse from Voyager did pop in and out of subspace, but that was orange, so IDK if the DMA could be the same
The ellipse from Voyager did pop in and out of subspace, but that was orange, so IDK if the DMA could be the same
Stamets is just the kind of guy to quote outdated data as current fact and confidently die on that hill.
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