Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 4x11 - "Rosetta"

[JoaquinSlowly]

This season Adira complained about having to go through Adacemy training excercises because they had been a teacher at the Academy as Jovar Tal in All is Possible, and in Kobayashi Maru mentioned Jovar’s love of birds, after using related knowledge to help problem solve.

 

[KirkusOveractus]

Before or after the trauma?

I would assume that Starfleet would have a battery of tests that gauge the mental state of a potential starship's crew.

For trauma, are you asking about being sent into the 32nd Century? If so, that's why the crew should have either been grounded or separated to different ships to be acclimated to their new time and surroundings. The last thing I'd want is a ship full of traumatic crew on critical missions. Would you want a group of firefighters sent to your house to put out a fire that are all scared of flames and would not have any sense of urgency?

If Burnham's blathering on about them being Starfleet meant anything, they should realize that they are a professional crew that needs to put some emotion on the side for a bit and take care of the mission at hand. Cry later, but get the critical situation handled.

 

[fireproof78]

I would assume that Starfleet would have a battery of tests that gauge the mental state of a potential starship's crew.

For trauma, are you asking about being sent into the 32nd Century? If so, that's why the crew should have either been grounded or separated to different ships to be acclimated to their new time and surroundings. The last thing I'd want is a ship full of traumatic crew on critical missions. Would you want a group of firefighters sent to your house to put out a fire that are all scared of flames and would not have any sense of urgency?

If Burnham's blathering on about them being Starfleet meant anything, they should realize that they are a professional crew that needs to put some emotion on the side for a bit and take care of the mission at hand. Cry later, but get the critical situation handled.

They should not be on the ship. But they are. So that's what we get.

I doubt that Starfleet has any tests that would account for a crew going through a war, dealing with a secret cabal and then being thrown 900 years in to the future. That's quite the assessment! O_o

 

[eschaton]

I would assume that Starfleet would have a battery of tests that gauge the mental state of a potential starship's crew.

For trauma, are you asking about being sent into the 32nd Century? If so, that's why the crew should have either been grounded or separated to different ships to be acclimated to their new time and surroundings. The last thing I'd want is a ship full of traumatic crew on critical missions. Would you want a group of firefighters sent to your house to put out a fire that are all scared of flames and would not have any sense of urgency?

If Burnham's blathering on about them being Starfleet meant anything, they should realize that they are a professional crew that needs to put some emotion on the side for a bit and take care of the mission at hand. Cry later, but get the critical situation handled.

Again, my issue isn't that some of the crew are like this, it's that all of the crew are like this.

I mean, looking at past Treks you always have characters like Worf, O'Brien, and Odo - characters who are usually either repressed or under control, and just muddle through shitty situations the best they can rather than trying and unload their shit on everyone else. Or someone like Jadzia, who has it together and just wants to have fun. Or someone like Quark who might be a mess on the inside, but isn't interested in your sympathy at all.

With everyone on Discovery acting the same, it means that every character interaction is the same. One character confesses they're not all right, and the other character is a supportive ally. This means that the characters feel like writer avatars rather than distinct people.

 

[KirkusOveractus]

They should not be on the ship. But they are. So that's what we get.

I doubt that Starfleet has any tests that would account for a crew going through a war, dealing with a secret cabal and then being thrown 900 years in to the future. That's quite the assessment! O_o

To me, your last paragraph reinforces your first. What's making the past couple seasons a little strenuous to watch for me is that there are circumstances that need a little more swallowing of the emotional overload and get the job done. Kirk yelling at Bailey to lock phasers when he was staring at the Balok probe overloading, something like that to snap someone out of it to do something.

But it's how any art is: subjective. What one person likes, accepts and will get something from may not be the case with someone else. And that's what makes things like Star Trek great: different viewpoints are shared and seen.

 

[fireproof78]

To me, your last paragraph reinforces your first. What's making the past couple seasons a little strenuous to watch for me is that there are circumstances that need a little more swallowing of the emotional overload and get the job done. Kirk yelling at Bailey to lock phasers when he was staring at the Balok probe overloading, something like that to snap someone out of it to do something.

But it's how any art is: subjective. What one person likes, accepts and will get something from may not be the case with someone else. And that's what makes things like Star Trek great: different viewpoints are shared and seen.

See, I want the emotional overload. Makes me feel somewhat normal and acceptable, rather than the crap I got as a kid from supposed Trek fans of "bury it down."

 

[Jadeb]

I agree this season feels slow. I think the reason it feels so slow is because there is not enough story to the 10-C arc. Literally the entire 10-C arc is the DMA is threatening the Federation and we need to contact the 10-C to try to make peace. That could be a 2 hour movie. It is is not enough for 13 episodes.

It wasn’t even enough to sustain two hours and 20 minutes of Star Trek: The Motionless Picture.

(Mostly joking — I like Star Trek: The Motionless Picture.)

 

[Fateor]

I doubt that Starfleet has any tests that would account for a crew going through a war, dealing with a secret cabal and then being thrown 900 years in to the future. That's quite the assessment! O_o

Starships getting temporally displaced is a common enough occurrence that we have multiple examples of it occurring.

So unless the Federation has decided to stick their fingers in their ears and go "la la la you don't exist any more" like they did with Time Travel they should have tests and regulations in place for dealing with Discovery's circumstances.

 

[fireproof78]

So unless the Federation has decided to stick their fingers in their ears and go "la la la you don't exist any more"

They have.

That's where technology goes too. And time travel deserves to be ignored.

And it's not a matter of occurrence but how do you process it. And how do you recognize the longer term effects it could have. I have many examples of people having a terrible time at work; how does that help me?

 

[Fateor]

They have.

That's where technology goes too. And time travel deserves to be ignored.

And it's not a matter of occurrence but how do you process it. And how do you recognize the longer term effects it could have. I have many examples of people having a terrible time at work; how does that help me?

You can't ignore Time Travel, it's the ultimate weapon, so if you don't research it and ways to defend against it you'll cease to exist when someone else uses it against you.

As to how you recognize the longer term effects, this is a setting with machines that can read your mind.

 

[fireproof78]

You can't ignore Time Travel, it's the ultimate weapon, so if you don't research it and ways to defend against it you'll cease to exist when someone else uses it against you.

Yes, you should. Time travel is outlawed. Just get a Q or the Guardian of Forever to guard it forever and never, ever, allow time travel in Star Trek again.

And I'm cool with the writers just ignoring it too. Time travel sucks. It is the ultimate reset button that should not be used.

As to how you recognize the longer term effects, this is a setting with machines that can read your mind.

And scramble your brain.

Sounds healthy.

 

[Mr Awe]

I gave this one a 7, which is being generous. It was a bit tedious. Let's standing around talking about our feelings while our homes are under threat. And, of course, understanding those feelings will save the day! Feelings are fine but it's all overdone.

It was a leap to assume that the planet was home to 10C but it was logical to check out.

The entire thing has been dragged out too long. Not digging it.

 

[Mr Awe]

I agree. Trek is science-fiction so it has technobabble and fake science. But it should still follow some common sense. EV suits that only filter known chemicals, is a bad EV suit. It literally does not do what an EV suit is supposed to do. So that makes no sense. Not to mention that Trek is always encountering new particles on strange new worlds. So having an EV suit that does not protect you against unknown substances is super dumb. So yes, that was a dumb moment in today's episode.

What cracked me up was that apparently they have a setting for that. Ok, now filter out the other stuff. Voila, all fixed!

So, the EV suits can filter out unknown things, but the default setting is to block only the things in the Starfleet database!

 

[Mr Awe]

Those evil writers!

I get what people are saying but guess what? It's not new.

Still makes it a problem for current Trek. The writers need to be more creative. They can do the story they want but be smarter about it.

 

[fireproof78]

So, the EV suits can filter out unknown things, but the default setting is to block only the things in the Starfleet database!

Sounds like a lot of Voyager and the TNG transporter filter.

Still makes it a problem for current Trek. The writers need to be more creative. They can do the story they want but be smarter about it.

I hope they can get more creative. But given the verbal haranguing they get for getting things wrong I won't hold my breath. They cannot win. They are called incompetent, ignorant, stupid, and all manner of things. That is not incentivizing doing better.

 

[Search4]

I enjoy most of the crew interaction segments. They are well acted and SMG has vastly improved in my opinion. If they were at warp with essentially nothing to do but wait, all fine. But it seems like every time someone says "2 hours to go!!" there's an emotionally charged discussion of someone's vaguely similar situation instead of "crap! let's get to work".

I suspect we all know the plot of the Wizard of Oz movie. They don't wait until the end to meet the Wizard! They meet him ~mid way, he's unpredictable and a set of new actions occurs directly from that meet which our heroes have to take on and which leads to a resolution. Couldn't we have had a similar arc for 10C? Spore jumped in early (or traverse the wormhole), some sort of disaster occurs, but at least we're dealing with the issue at hand?

And in this episode if the planet were so important why weren't there an array of senors and drones and cute little robot guys swarming the planet? Or more than one away team? Suppose they shuttled down to a place where there was nothing important?

And how does a "former gas giant" have a solid surface anyway?
And why did we ignore the Dyson rings - gee, MIGHT they have something relevant? They have much larger area than any planet and clearly show technological development?
And yes, why not show earth evacuating instead of Booker etc. proving how ineffective Starfleet security is?

I have been watching this season turn into flypaper for several episodes now. Its almost Einsteinian, the closer we get to the end the slower we go. I gave it a 4 because of the lack of forward momentum and i'm a bit astonished that others think so highly.

 

[Mr Awe]

Sounds like a lot of Voyager and the TNG transporter filter.

I hope they can get more creative. But given the verbal haranguing they get for getting things wrong I won't hold my breath. They cannot win. They are called incompetent, ignorant, stupid, and all manner of things. That is not incentivizing doing better.

I can agree with the idea that all series will have its detractors. And I've accepted that Discovery is taking an approach to Star Trek that is not my favorite. That's totally fine. It'll never be my favorite ST but I expect to enjoy it to some degree.

However, what I'm seeing here is an additional negative factor, bad writing. They clearly didn't have enough content for the full season. There are silly but distracting mistakes that pull me out of the story.

While I'm not the biggest fan of their approach, I accept it as the way they want to go. However, I will continue to criticize the execution of that approach. At least make it the best that it can be.

Right now, they're failing at the execution of their vision for the series. That's what I'm criticizing and it's fair. They can go the direction they want, just do a good job at it!

 

[fireproof78]

I can agree with the idea that all series will have its detractors. And I've accepted that Discovery is taking an approach to Star Trek that is not my favorite. That's totally fine. It'll never be my favorite ST but I expect to enjoy it to some degree.

However, what I'm seeing here is an additional negative factor, bad writing. They clearly didn't have enough content for the full season. There are silly but distracting mistakes that pull me out of the story.

While I'm not the biggest fan of their approach, I accept it as the way they want to go. However, I will continue to criticize the execution of that approach. At least make it the best that it can be.

Right now, they're failing at the execution of their vision for the series. That's what I'm criticizing and it's fair. They can go the direction they want, just do a good job at it!

I will withhold judgement until the season is concluded. Right now this season feels like Daredevil did and I was not as invested midway through until the very end. Now, on rewatch, it is way better. So, until it is concluded I will wait and see.

You are welcome to criticize the execution. I just don't expect better. The writers have no incentive to do better.

 

[Fateor]

And why did we ignore the Dyson rings - gee, MIGHT they have something relevant? They have much larger area than any planet and clearly show technological development?

Because... Because... Quick! Look behind you! A three headed monkey!

But yea, that was a clear case of them just being idiots.

 

[Turtletrekker]

This season in particular is struggling to fill out a 13-episode order, much in the way the Marvel Netflix shows did.

I'm glad any seasons moving forward will only be 10 episodes, like Picard and Strange New Worlds and the animated shows.