ST: Discovery 5.1. and 5.2.
My current favourite ST show is back! (For the last time, sniff.) The first two episodes have been released on Paramount +, and sorry, Apple +, but you're off for me now for as long as Disco runs its final course, I really have to limit my streaming services.
I enjoyed these first two eps a lot. I mean, I might have rolled my eyes a bit at the speed in which the show found an excuse for Book to do his community service for last season's events on Discovery, but hey. Firstly, it's in the fine tradition of letting Garak go with an off screen stint in the brig between episodes for attempting to genocide the Founders, which given it's Garak and we want him on screen interacting with characters not just from a cell, I could understand, and secondly, looks like Book and Michael won't just pretend nothing happened but have now some issues between them to be worked out, so there are consequences.
Our opening seasonal plot is a treasure hunt which turns out to be connected to a TNG episode I vaguely remember as I only watched it once (not a favourite, but I didn't hate it, either, I mean, I liked those eps when Picard gets his inner archaeology nerdism on, it's just that it felt in The Chase, the TNG ep in question, they tried to explain something which, very much like "why do Klingons look different in TOS than they do in the movies and all later s hows?" , didn't feel like it needed in universe explaining because it's evidently caused by Doylist reasons. (I.e. there are so many humanoid aliens around because actors in costumes are what a 1960s show could afford.) What's cool about the ST: Discovery treasure hunt, though, is that the scientist who planted all those clues 800 years ago was a Romulan named Vellek (that's the TNG connection, he actually was in that episode), and this reminds me that Discovery does really well with the Romulans. I.e. Ni'vaar, the planet formerly known as Vulcan, really is presented as a mixed culture know, and the Romulan descendants aren't made out to be the bad guys or antagonists. While Picard introduced the Romulan ninja nuns, Disco took up the ball and ran with it by making them credible and interesting whenever they showed up. Now not only is the long dead Romulan scientist a genuine scientist (not a mad or evil one), but the puzzle within a puzzle and poetry are all elements that make sense within what we know about Romulan culture. It's good world building, is what I'm saying, and uses Romulans for something other than providing the same kind of menace/plot for the nth time.
Also, we're meeting three new characters in the opening episodes: firstly, Moll and L'ak, who appear to be among other things the kind of antagonists modelled on the protagonists as a "What if?" - they're Couriers relying on each other and pulling off daring escapes, and you could see Book thinking "damn, that's how Michael and I lived the life before she found Starfleet again!" a lot. We haven't seen Michael's adrenaline junkie tendencies - which she does have usually in season openers - in a while, and s3 was her "do I really want to be part of an institution?" arc, but I think this is the first time we're seeing it from Book's perspective. And that's before he figures out Moll is the daughter of his late Courier mentor. Given Book is still living in the aftermath of his home planet's destruction, I suspect Moll and L'ak will embody a lot of roads not taken for him.
And then there's Captain Raynor, played by none other than Callum Keith Rennie aka Leoben from BSG, aka RayK from the show with two Rays. Last season, when (President) Laira Rillak was introduced, I mentioned that I like she's got multiple planetary ancestry (Cardassian, Bajoran and human), because after a millennium of interaction, stands to reason that hybrids like Spock aren't unusual anymore in the Federation (or elsewhere) and there are far more people who are descendants from more than one galactic ethnicity. Raynor seems to be another case in point since he's got the ears that, no pun intended, point to Vulcans or Romulans somewhere in his genetic make up but otherwise seems to be manily human. He's another "might have been", for Michael this time, since he shares several traits with her that were bound to and indeed did make them butt heads within minutes. In the opening sequence wheren everyone is still attending a party at Federation headquarters, Michael and friends were toasting to "change", and "chance" - who is able to, who isn't, how much do we need to or should?" looks like it's going to be a seasonal theme, as Raynor is still stuck in the defensive attitude one might dub, like the s1 of Disco pilot, "The Vulcan Hello", and makes a call (like Michael did in the pilot) with fatal conquences, no matter how well intended, but also shows that he's generally a capable officer with an instinct to help others. By the time the second episode is over, he's become Michael's new First Officer, which looks like it's going to make for an interesting and compelling dynamic.
Michael needs a new First Officer because Saru has decided to take the job offered to him as Ambassador to the kind of smaller worlds who ended up overlooked the last time the Federation expanded, since President Rillak doesn't want to repeat old mistakes. (Remember, it was established that even before the Burn, the Federation had severe problems precisely because of its size and lack of flexibility.) This will allow him much more time with T'Rina, who in an adorable scene proposes marriage to him. (BTW, is that a first in a ST show, descpite it being decades - that a female character suggests marriage first to the male one? I think it is, if we don't count Lwaxana Troi.) Of course the writers know their audience is familiar with the "one last mission" trope and meanly have Michael aware of it, too, so she's increasingly more worried about Saru's survival each time it's brought up this is one last mission for him, but thankfully Michael and we can breathe easier: Saru survives. I find I'm okay with this latest development. Saru going back from fully qualified Captain to First Officer always did feel a bit like "Michael is the main character, her eventually becoming Captain is part of her arc" necessity, and he should make a superb ambassador. Also, there's the Tilly precedent from last season - regular going to recurring - and I'm happy to say Tilly now is back to regular again (the show having also found an excuse why she's rejoining the crew for the big treasure hunt before continuing her academy teaching career she decided on last sason). By which I mean: I can accept less Saru this season if what we get of him is great, and so far it looks like it is and will be. His scenes with Michael through these first two episodes underlined why their relationship is perhaps my favourite ST friendship in a loooooooooooooong time, spanning decades. And we've been there for the entire development, from the rivalry for Georgiou's mentorship in the pilot to becoming arguably closer to each other than to anyone else, temporary enstrangements and ups and downs included. And I'm sure we'll see Saru again as the seasonal plot progresses, just not on Discovery.
Let's see, what else: Fred the Soong type synth was a neat (if short lived) guest star to have, and beyond the continuity gag provided more fodder to what appears to be Stamet's personal quest this season - figuring out what his legacy and professional call now should be beyond the spore drive -, and it looks like Adira will get some belated fleshing out beyond science whiz kid and one half of a couple. I'm also curious whether the show will do something with Trill next week that will compare to what they've done with Vulcan-Romulan Ni'var, i.e. show us that Trill society is changing or even what it's actually like beyond the symbiote business. As I said, the challenge of "change" seems to be a big theme this season anyway, so it could happen.
I enjoyed these first two eps a lot. I mean, I might have rolled my eyes a bit at the speed in which the show found an excuse for Book to do his community service for last season's events on Discovery, but hey. Firstly, it's in the fine tradition of letting Garak go with an off screen stint in the brig between episodes for attempting to genocide the Founders, which given it's Garak and we want him on screen interacting with characters not just from a cell, I could understand, and secondly, looks like Book and Michael won't just pretend nothing happened but have now some issues between them to be worked out, so there are consequences.
Our opening seasonal plot is a treasure hunt which turns out to be connected to a TNG episode I vaguely remember as I only watched it once (not a favourite, but I didn't hate it, either, I mean, I liked those eps when Picard gets his inner archaeology nerdism on, it's just that it felt in The Chase, the TNG ep in question, they tried to explain something which, very much like "why do Klingons look different in TOS than they do in the movies and all later s hows?" , didn't feel like it needed in universe explaining because it's evidently caused by Doylist reasons. (I.e. there are so many humanoid aliens around because actors in costumes are what a 1960s show could afford.) What's cool about the ST: Discovery treasure hunt, though, is that the scientist who planted all those clues 800 years ago was a Romulan named Vellek (that's the TNG connection, he actually was in that episode), and this reminds me that Discovery does really well with the Romulans. I.e. Ni'vaar, the planet formerly known as Vulcan, really is presented as a mixed culture know, and the Romulan descendants aren't made out to be the bad guys or antagonists. While Picard introduced the Romulan ninja nuns, Disco took up the ball and ran with it by making them credible and interesting whenever they showed up. Now not only is the long dead Romulan scientist a genuine scientist (not a mad or evil one), but the puzzle within a puzzle and poetry are all elements that make sense within what we know about Romulan culture. It's good world building, is what I'm saying, and uses Romulans for something other than providing the same kind of menace/plot for the nth time.
Also, we're meeting three new characters in the opening episodes: firstly, Moll and L'ak, who appear to be among other things the kind of antagonists modelled on the protagonists as a "What if?" - they're Couriers relying on each other and pulling off daring escapes, and you could see Book thinking "damn, that's how Michael and I lived the life before she found Starfleet again!" a lot. We haven't seen Michael's adrenaline junkie tendencies - which she does have usually in season openers - in a while, and s3 was her "do I really want to be part of an institution?" arc, but I think this is the first time we're seeing it from Book's perspective. And that's before he figures out Moll is the daughter of his late Courier mentor. Given Book is still living in the aftermath of his home planet's destruction, I suspect Moll and L'ak will embody a lot of roads not taken for him.
And then there's Captain Raynor, played by none other than Callum Keith Rennie aka Leoben from BSG, aka RayK from the show with two Rays. Last season, when (President) Laira Rillak was introduced, I mentioned that I like she's got multiple planetary ancestry (Cardassian, Bajoran and human), because after a millennium of interaction, stands to reason that hybrids like Spock aren't unusual anymore in the Federation (or elsewhere) and there are far more people who are descendants from more than one galactic ethnicity. Raynor seems to be another case in point since he's got the ears that, no pun intended, point to Vulcans or Romulans somewhere in his genetic make up but otherwise seems to be manily human. He's another "might have been", for Michael this time, since he shares several traits with her that were bound to and indeed did make them butt heads within minutes. In the opening sequence wheren everyone is still attending a party at Federation headquarters, Michael and friends were toasting to "change", and "chance" - who is able to, who isn't, how much do we need to or should?" looks like it's going to be a seasonal theme, as Raynor is still stuck in the defensive attitude one might dub, like the s1 of Disco pilot, "The Vulcan Hello", and makes a call (like Michael did in the pilot) with fatal conquences, no matter how well intended, but also shows that he's generally a capable officer with an instinct to help others. By the time the second episode is over, he's become Michael's new First Officer, which looks like it's going to make for an interesting and compelling dynamic.
Michael needs a new First Officer because Saru has decided to take the job offered to him as Ambassador to the kind of smaller worlds who ended up overlooked the last time the Federation expanded, since President Rillak doesn't want to repeat old mistakes. (Remember, it was established that even before the Burn, the Federation had severe problems precisely because of its size and lack of flexibility.) This will allow him much more time with T'Rina, who in an adorable scene proposes marriage to him. (BTW, is that a first in a ST show, descpite it being decades - that a female character suggests marriage first to the male one? I think it is, if we don't count Lwaxana Troi.) Of course the writers know their audience is familiar with the "one last mission" trope and meanly have Michael aware of it, too, so she's increasingly more worried about Saru's survival each time it's brought up this is one last mission for him, but thankfully Michael and we can breathe easier: Saru survives. I find I'm okay with this latest development. Saru going back from fully qualified Captain to First Officer always did feel a bit like "Michael is the main character, her eventually becoming Captain is part of her arc" necessity, and he should make a superb ambassador. Also, there's the Tilly precedent from last season - regular going to recurring - and I'm happy to say Tilly now is back to regular again (the show having also found an excuse why she's rejoining the crew for the big treasure hunt before continuing her academy teaching career she decided on last sason). By which I mean: I can accept less Saru this season if what we get of him is great, and so far it looks like it is and will be. His scenes with Michael through these first two episodes underlined why their relationship is perhaps my favourite ST friendship in a loooooooooooooong time, spanning decades. And we've been there for the entire development, from the rivalry for Georgiou's mentorship in the pilot to becoming arguably closer to each other than to anyone else, temporary enstrangements and ups and downs included. And I'm sure we'll see Saru again as the seasonal plot progresses, just not on Discovery.
Let's see, what else: Fred the Soong type synth was a neat (if short lived) guest star to have, and beyond the continuity gag provided more fodder to what appears to be Stamet's personal quest this season - figuring out what his legacy and professional call now should be beyond the spore drive -, and it looks like Adira will get some belated fleshing out beyond science whiz kid and one half of a couple. I'm also curious whether the show will do something with Trill next week that will compare to what they've done with Vulcan-Romulan Ni'var, i.e. show us that Trill society is changing or even what it's actually like beyond the symbiote business. As I said, the challenge of "change" seems to be a big theme this season anyway, so it could happen.