Star Trek: Discovery 2.03
In which we get three plot lines.
The Tilly one solved the „May“ puzzle from last episode, though I expect that’s not the last we’ve seen of her (since the episode took care not to kill her and show us the alien in captivity). Considering Tilly spent the last few episodes saving the day, I didn’t mind her being saved herself, especially not since it happened via Michael & Tilly friendship and Michael applying reason to deduce the nature of what was plaguing Tilly. (Also, „Give me a problem to solve“ was such a Michael Burnham thing to say.) Neat fake-out of Tilly assuming „May“ was referring to Lorca when she was in fact referring to Stamets, too, and it makes sense that a mushroom based parasite would assume Stamets was the Captain.
Return of the Klingon saga: I really don’t know what’s up with the make-up department that they can’t provide Mary Chieffo with prosthetics that allow her more facial flexibility (goes for the rest of the Klingons, too, except for Tyler/Voq who escapes it by looking human) wile being entirely able to do so in the case of the Kelpians. This being said, the difficulties L’Rell faces here with a human looking sidekick are logical (given the extent of Klingon xenophobia last season), the bomb threat was only ever going to be a temporary power-tool and the eventual resolution - instead of telling the truth re: who killed who and betrayed whom, which would only foster more treason, faking Ash’s death and that of the kid and using it for propaganda to style herself mother of the Empire - also makes sense within those parameters. The existence of the baby itself: reminds me of the sudden T’Pol/Tucker offsprings on Enterprise (in seasons 3 and 4, one doomed due a timey-whimey plot and one by sheer soap), and I’m willing to bet a lot it won’t grow up raised by monks, or at least not entirely, but will come back at some future point of the plot line, probably at the most disastrous point possible for L’Rell; I know how these things work. This being said, the kid is but one element in the so far nicely complicated depiction of who Tyler/Voq is now and how he relates to L’Rell. I could have done without the „so why did you call Michael Burnham?“ part (which reminded me of how I feared last season they’d go for a L’Rell/Burnham/Tyler triangle and was relieved when they did not), but as it turned out that wasn’t actually all that relevant (save that Kor’s dad wanted to use it against L’Rell and L’Rell in the end managed to use it herself), but the „Why don’t you treat me like Voq?“ conversation needed to happen, complete with Tyler explaining that to the Tyler identity, what was love for Voq feels like sexual violation. I had been less than thrilled that the entire Voq-Tyler plotline supposedly ended with Tyler being purely Tyler two thirds in s1, which would have made it somewhat pointless, and had been cautiously hopeful when the season finale hinted it wasn’t that easy and the access to Voq’s memories means a bit more than just having a „Voq: his life and times“ movie in the back of his head; characters genuinely struggling between identities (and not in a nervous breakdown way) are far more interesting.
Return of the Emperor: while Section 31 makes sense for her, I never liked the Section 31 storyline from DS9, so, sigh. But it’s undeniably ST canon and has been since decades. Here’s a depressing thought: since the Mirrorverse intel is deeply classified (hence Kirk & Co. not knowing about it) and MirrorGeorgiou passes herself of as Georgiou Prime, it means that Georgiou Prime’s reputation will, presumably, get considerably darker, and she’ll go from being one of Starfleet’s most exemplary Captains to one who has gone darkside thanks to the Klingon war.
Vulcan/Human Family Dysfunction central: my favourite part of the episode. I really love what Discovery has done with Amanda so far. I mean, I am as fond of Jane Wyman’s Amanda in her TOS episode as the next ST fan, and am glad Wyman cameo’d in ST IV. But let’s face it, most of the Amanda Grayson personality fandom associates with her hails from media tie-ins - there are some excellent classic ST novels with her in a central position - and fanfiction. (Winona Ryder’s Amanda in the ST Reboot Movies could not showcase more than maternal love for her son before getting killed off for the sake of his angst.) Star Trek: Discovery last season to me felt like the first screen canon to give me a sense of Amanda as a person in a day to day context - and now, in this season, we get this episode, where she acts instead of just reacting to her family member’s actions, where we get screen canon on her doubts, how she feels about having gone along with Sarek’s choice of raising Spock as Vulcan, that she thinks she related to Michael differently, that in reply to Michael’s (still cryptic) explanation of having done something to trigger Spock’s refusal to interact, she responds not in an „ideal mother“ fashion but in a mixture of anger and affection like a real person. If there’s questing for Spock (again) to be done, I’m thrilled that Amanda gets to do it this time, and am so looking forward to her getting fleshed out on my computer and tv screens.
Re: red angel, it’s a Vorlon, clearly. Only half way kidding. Especially given that Clarke’s famous quote got turned into „any sufficiently advanced entity is indisguishable from a god“ last episode, I think it will turn out to be someone like the Prophets or the Q, fancying themselves to be protectors prodding on the development of various younger species. Given that said being isn’t around in later Trek, I’m placing my gold-pressed latinum on it eventually turning out to be less than wanted by said younger species, including our heroes, once its endgame is revealed.
This entry was originally posted at https://selenak.dreamwidth.org/1327968.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.
The Tilly one solved the „May“ puzzle from last episode, though I expect that’s not the last we’ve seen of her (since the episode took care not to kill her and show us the alien in captivity). Considering Tilly spent the last few episodes saving the day, I didn’t mind her being saved herself, especially not since it happened via Michael & Tilly friendship and Michael applying reason to deduce the nature of what was plaguing Tilly. (Also, „Give me a problem to solve“ was such a Michael Burnham thing to say.) Neat fake-out of Tilly assuming „May“ was referring to Lorca when she was in fact referring to Stamets, too, and it makes sense that a mushroom based parasite would assume Stamets was the Captain.
Return of the Klingon saga: I really don’t know what’s up with the make-up department that they can’t provide Mary Chieffo with prosthetics that allow her more facial flexibility (goes for the rest of the Klingons, too, except for Tyler/Voq who escapes it by looking human) wile being entirely able to do so in the case of the Kelpians. This being said, the difficulties L’Rell faces here with a human looking sidekick are logical (given the extent of Klingon xenophobia last season), the bomb threat was only ever going to be a temporary power-tool and the eventual resolution - instead of telling the truth re: who killed who and betrayed whom, which would only foster more treason, faking Ash’s death and that of the kid and using it for propaganda to style herself mother of the Empire - also makes sense within those parameters. The existence of the baby itself: reminds me of the sudden T’Pol/Tucker offsprings on Enterprise (in seasons 3 and 4, one doomed due a timey-whimey plot and one by sheer soap), and I’m willing to bet a lot it won’t grow up raised by monks, or at least not entirely, but will come back at some future point of the plot line, probably at the most disastrous point possible for L’Rell; I know how these things work. This being said, the kid is but one element in the so far nicely complicated depiction of who Tyler/Voq is now and how he relates to L’Rell. I could have done without the „so why did you call Michael Burnham?“ part (which reminded me of how I feared last season they’d go for a L’Rell/Burnham/Tyler triangle and was relieved when they did not), but as it turned out that wasn’t actually all that relevant (save that Kor’s dad wanted to use it against L’Rell and L’Rell in the end managed to use it herself), but the „Why don’t you treat me like Voq?“ conversation needed to happen, complete with Tyler explaining that to the Tyler identity, what was love for Voq feels like sexual violation. I had been less than thrilled that the entire Voq-Tyler plotline supposedly ended with Tyler being purely Tyler two thirds in s1, which would have made it somewhat pointless, and had been cautiously hopeful when the season finale hinted it wasn’t that easy and the access to Voq’s memories means a bit more than just having a „Voq: his life and times“ movie in the back of his head; characters genuinely struggling between identities (and not in a nervous breakdown way) are far more interesting.
Return of the Emperor: while Section 31 makes sense for her, I never liked the Section 31 storyline from DS9, so, sigh. But it’s undeniably ST canon and has been since decades. Here’s a depressing thought: since the Mirrorverse intel is deeply classified (hence Kirk & Co. not knowing about it) and MirrorGeorgiou passes herself of as Georgiou Prime, it means that Georgiou Prime’s reputation will, presumably, get considerably darker, and she’ll go from being one of Starfleet’s most exemplary Captains to one who has gone darkside thanks to the Klingon war.
Vulcan/Human Family Dysfunction central: my favourite part of the episode. I really love what Discovery has done with Amanda so far. I mean, I am as fond of Jane Wyman’s Amanda in her TOS episode as the next ST fan, and am glad Wyman cameo’d in ST IV. But let’s face it, most of the Amanda Grayson personality fandom associates with her hails from media tie-ins - there are some excellent classic ST novels with her in a central position - and fanfiction. (Winona Ryder’s Amanda in the ST Reboot Movies could not showcase more than maternal love for her son before getting killed off for the sake of his angst.) Star Trek: Discovery last season to me felt like the first screen canon to give me a sense of Amanda as a person in a day to day context - and now, in this season, we get this episode, where she acts instead of just reacting to her family member’s actions, where we get screen canon on her doubts, how she feels about having gone along with Sarek’s choice of raising Spock as Vulcan, that she thinks she related to Michael differently, that in reply to Michael’s (still cryptic) explanation of having done something to trigger Spock’s refusal to interact, she responds not in an „ideal mother“ fashion but in a mixture of anger and affection like a real person. If there’s questing for Spock (again) to be done, I’m thrilled that Amanda gets to do it this time, and am so looking forward to her getting fleshed out on my computer and tv screens.
Re: red angel, it’s a Vorlon, clearly. Only half way kidding. Especially given that Clarke’s famous quote got turned into „any sufficiently advanced entity is indisguishable from a god“ last episode, I think it will turn out to be someone like the Prophets or the Q, fancying themselves to be protectors prodding on the development of various younger species. Given that said being isn’t around in later Trek, I’m placing my gold-pressed latinum on it eventually turning out to be less than wanted by said younger species, including our heroes, once its endgame is revealed.
This entry was originally posted at https://selenak.dreamwidth.org/1327968.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.