Spoilers The Science Behind Discovery's Burn

[fireproof78]

It is interesting to see what Star Trek space magic is acceptable and what isn't. I am so fascinated by this thought process.

 

[nic3636]

It is interesting to see what Star Trek space magic is acceptable and what isn't. I am so fascinated by this thought process.

I think it ultimately comes down to if you are telling a good story or not. Sometimes things work and sometimes they don't. It's like, they could have made it so that Grudge the cat was a polypoid and whose DNA was altered and then caused the burn when he saw a mouse and hissed at it.

 

[fireproof78]

I think it ultimately comes down to if you are telling a good story or not. Sometimes things work and sometimes they don't. It's like, they could have made it so that Grudge the cat was a polypoid and whose DNA was altered and then caused the burn when he saw a mouse and hissed at it.

All the more reason to hate Grudge.

Stupid Grudge...

 

[The Wormhole]

It is interesting to see what Star Trek space magic is acceptable and what isn't. I am so fascinated by this thought process.

It basically comes down to if I like it it's acceptable, if I don't it's not.

 

[NCC-73515]

Barclay Syndrome is definitely unmitigated space magic. I'm trying to think of why I can accept that and not the Su'kal dilithium connection. It might be the setup or preconceived notions of how things should work.

Genesis was a single episode about that unique horror atmosphere, the creatures they all turned into, and Data telling Picard he'll become a pygmy marmoset XD - the cause of it all, and the solution, were not important.
The Burn, in contrast, was sold to us as the big mystery of the whole season, and then turned out to be something similarly ridiculous.
That's the relevant difference for me.

 

[fireproof78]

I think the only difference for me is imply what the theme of the season. And for me, the Burn being something so mundane, so unexpected, that it fit in so well for me. That sometimes tragedy is not automatically predictable, preventable, or avoidable.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

I thought Barclay was a disease. He seemed almost normal in Voyager

 

[Go-Captain]

Genesis was a single episode about that unique horror atmosphere, the creatures they all turned into, and Data telling Picard he'll become a pygmy marmoset XD - the cause of it all, and the solution, were not important.

The Burn, in contrast, was sold to us as the big mystery of the whole season, and then turned out to be something similarly ridiculous.
That's the relevant difference for me.

So it gets back to setup and payoff. We get tons of pay off before we find out it was Barkley, and, as you say, once we find out, the finding out isn’t important, except to reset things.

In contrast, the Burn’s answer is framed as the whole payoff, no framing the new status quo as the reward. Actually, if Burnham never made such a huge deal about the Burn, and was merely investigating as a side project, then finding out it was Su’kal wouldn’t be disappointing. It would never have been framed as important to the future or the most interesting thing ever, and without that it is alright for it to be lame.

I think the only difference for me is imply what the theme of the season. And for me, the Burn being something so mundane, so unexpected, that it fit in so well for me. That sometimes tragedy is not automatically predictable, preventable, or avoidable.

I would have liked it if the Burn were a really rare natural phenomenon like a mega scale volcanic eruption or California sinking earthquake.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

I would have really liked the story had the Burn been an natural event caused by over use of warp drive or damage to the environment, that would have at least had an explanation and maybe a solution down the road.

 

[fireproof78]

I would have really liked the story had the Burn been an natural event caused by over use of warp drive or damage to the environment, that would have at least had an explanation and maybe a solution down the road.

I would have preferred this as well.