S04E10, "Galactic Barrier"
Pros:
"Cautiously optimistic...ish."
Stamets wanting to be a good dad to Adira and Gray.
Tarka has a heart, and a conscience.
My Owo/Detmer shipping meter.
My Saru/T'Rina shipping meter.
Cons:
Not really any cons so far as I can see this week.
Ruminations:
I was excited to see this episode because it meant we were finally going to move outside the galactic barrier (outer rather than the one at the center of the galaxy). I was not disappointed. I have to say again that the visuals team has delivered top notch work. This series, especially as of late, is looking very pretty, even cinematic. They got rid of the flamethrower walls (thank you), and have toned down the more sillier components (like the fun house turbolift). Design seems to be pretty well set at this point.
Speaking of, I liked the reduced saturation effect. It's nice to see what we take for granted as a universal constant actually having limitations. Again, well done.
We get some background on Tarka, having been captured and placed in an Emerald Chain mining camp, his friendship with Oros, and the outcome of that friendship. Some solid unpacking done for this. The power dynamics between President Rillak and Michael ended up being beneficial for both, and they opened up to one another a little more.
You know, on that note, I like that our crew has more compassion, more empathy for people. That's something American audiences desperately need in their entertainment media, IMO. For too long it's been the given that showing that kind of empathy and compassion is either played for laughs, or is to be seen as weakness. Sometimes Discovery takes a very obvious, well walked path, gloms onto tropes I wish they wouldn't, but in this case they've diverted course and taken what I'd like to think is the higher path. So three cheers for that positive change. I'd like to see more of it.
This episode gets an 8/10. I can't wait to see what we get next week.
