New Discovery episode really playing to the shows top strengths: psychedelics and weird alien animals. Sonequa Martin-Green really is good at playing someone who suppressed emotions her whole life although I really have to assume that was just a happy accident. Still weird to see created by Bryan Fuller after all these years. Good to have another proper animal costar after Spot and Porthos. The ~future~ has a weird aesthetic vibe, you can tell they have a lot of money for the production but they really are not visually creative enough to leap beyond Syfy original series styles. I assume the Temporal War that Book is talking about is the same Temporal Cold War from Enterprise just seen from the other side of the 29th century? Was wondering if this was in the “V’draysh” era from Calypso but that seems maybe even further into the future somehow considering everyone still just calls it “The Federation”? Speaking of which, The Federation Patriotism is absolutely, truly deranged. Every time a human gives a stirring speech about how great they are on any show is a real tightrope and I would argue that even this show kind of pulled it off at the end of season 1 but all this bizarre military worship from this old guy that is meant to be moving is just creepy. Anyway the show is still uniquely weird enough to be watchable. It’s still a mess but at least now they can’t add more nonsense into the existing timeline (until New Horizons/Section 31 come out I guess.) Also it is very, very funny that after all of TNG’s dramatic “Humanity is on the cusp of the next phase of evolution and they must be tested” this show decides that the feds all just explode a millennium later lol.
I watched all of season 2 and I am still struggling to follow the first ten minutes of this disco episode. Some voiceover would be great!
The situation for input devices in the future is dire.
The Gorn did what
Pleased to see that in the future people have plain nouns as names. In 2020 “book” gets bullied on Twitter for being stereotypically enby but in 3120 who’s laughing now this is my cat, Grudge
The scenes with Mr Sahil feel like the President in Death Stranding asking you to unite America. It’s going to be real weird if played straight.
This one gives me hope for the season. This show works way better when the writers stop trying to make the thing they want fit into a Star Trek mold, and instead go for Star Wars.
It sucks to say, but I’d almost rather the bridge crew not show up for a while. Michael and Book’s solo adventure seems way more coherent and enjoyable.
Hoping “Michael trips balls” becomes a regular thing throughout this show.
I mean, they gotta hit Tilley with it now. Wrote a check.
For all the foibles, I think this is my #1 or #2 favorite cast.
At the end I’m like, god damn it, that was fun. I’m back in.
The middle third of the episode could be a Rick and Morty plot in a good way.
i gotta say that this episode of discovery was not like a fantastic episode of star trek but i am very surprised that they managed to decently use the entire (ENTIRE!) cast of the ship in a reasonable way. i mean it’s still a choice that only the science officers are actual characters but i feel like this is a step forward for this show and i look forward to seeing how they let me down this time
also hmm i guess people are using “v’draysh”? the pigdin future english is not the worst so far. i wonder if they watched the expanse and said let’s do that. the expanse does such a good job with the language stuff that it seems like a bad idea to try it though but i guess that could just be a tagline for this series
all the cleaning up leland stuff is a nice reminder of how all modern trek has that weird edgelord streak to it
i mean i sound mean but i really do like these characters and the last two episodes have been very well directed. still seems like an impossible show to recommend to anyone though
Holy shit I super did not like that one at all. Really undid the good will from the first ep.
Why did that entire subplot with the Stamets in the jefferies tube happen?
Hey what was up with that entire main plot with the western bar scene?
I actually fully loved the bad guy’s gun that mildly heats you up a bit, so you kinda gotta just like hold it on a guy for 30 sustained seconds to get his guts hot enough that he falls unconscious. That was incredible.
Oh god remember when the Terran Empress showed up again, and we got treated to scene after scene of her saying “we should be evil, and terrorize everyone” and then Saru responding with “no”. But at the end of the episode, it turns out that violence was the answer the whole time and she was right. We have much to learn from the genocidal space fascists…
Really feel like this season should not have the actual ship at all, and just split up the characters into groups on different planets or something for the whole thing.
Anyways for positives: I liked this exchange with Reno:
Stamets: "Hugh, thanks. Jett, thanks for nothing."
Reno: "Back at you, bobcat."
Stamets: "Bobcat?"
Reno: "I don't know, I'm on drugs."i think discovery as a narrative show can be summed up by the idea that they would do “detmer has a headache” as like a D(?) plot and give it like five full minutes of screentime but not give it it’s own mini arc or affect anyone else’s plot or satisfyingly resolve it or if it’s supposed to be a teaser for a future thing…actually end the episode with a tease…it’s just this weird dangling half idea
Is it just a refusal to follow any formula? It seems like the script editing process for a Star Trek episode can be very consistent.
It feels like the writers all brainstorm, have a million ideas, and then do every one of those ideas, despite the fact that they could not possibly give appropriate screen time to every one. As a result, every episode is jumping around wildly to its A, B, C, D, and E plots, granting, like Sleazy said, 5 minutes to some of them, then inexplicably, half the episode to Stamets having just come out of a coma and deciding to go do all the repair work himself, while every other character tells him to go back to bed. Let the guy sleep! For one episode! He was in a coma!
I know the TOS/TNG era was always formulaic, but at least that meant we maxed out at the occasional rare C plot, and you could tell a complete story within 45 minutes. Hell, Babylon 5 had the same season-long arc thing going, but every episode’s B plot was itself a satisfying story with a conclusion, while still moving forward the larger plot.
I guess I wouldn’t mind these cliffhangers as much if I had the confidence that Disco would pay off any of these threads. I keep thinking about that robot character they had, where in one episode, they actually spent some time developing her backstory and making us care, only to reveal it was for the exclusive purpose of killing her off at the end of the ep. You can just do character development for its own sake! People like it!
Almost feels like any character development they do is reset? Weirdly enough? I can’t think of anyone that is noticeably different than they were back in season 1.
Reason it drives me up the wall is that I do love most of the ideas in this show, they just never get time to be developed:
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Discovery as a Federation research black site created during the war, accidently finding an amazing new layer of the universe while they were trying to develop a weapon.
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Lorca as a “behind enemy lines” mirror universe refugee, trying to hide his identity, yet still holding to Federation ideals to keep up appearances. Man that could’ve been great to see develop over time.
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Stamets and Culber breaking up, spending a season or two apart, becoming friends again.
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Michael learning to express and indulge in emotions again, after a lifetime of repression.
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A klingon who goes so deep undercover he forgets who he actually is? That could’ve worked, it’s insane, but it could’ve been like a “who the fuck am I” thing, where he’s neither klingon or human anymore, on a ship of exotic aliens.
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Saru’s world being so fucked by their history, both sides having essentially committed genocide upon the other, yet aspiring to rise beyond it and join the Federation? Could’ve been great, but instead they just sorta depose the prey species, leave them to the predators, and fly off.
I dunno. I keep thinking back to how the Short Treks are way, way better TV than the actual show, simply because they have to tell a story and complete it before the episode is done.
In legal notes “discovery” is often abbreviated “dx” and I think y’all should use that for your Star Trek show just a helpful tip from your friendly neighborhood lawyer
this is still the best one
That’s the abbreviation for discovery that lame States use D:
DX is just going to lead to lots of HHH_suck_it_chop.gif being what pops into my head each time this show is talked about.
I see no problems with this.
I really liked that latest Disco, episode 3. Looks like it was another Jonathan Frakes one. Different writers than usual too:
Episode 1, That Hope Is You
Written by Michelle Paradise & Jenny Lumet & Alex Kurtzman
Directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi
Episode 2, Far From Home
Written by Michelle Paradise & Jenny Lumet & Alex Kurtzman
Directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi
Episode 3, People of Earth
Written by Bo Yeon Kim and Erika Lippoldt
Directed by Jonathan Frakes
Actually felt like Trek - characters given time to interact with each other, no pointless action dragging on forever, a resolution reached without needing 14 people to die, decent enough mystery that gets solved by the episode’s end… man, weird how much I miss just the most basic storytelling elements.
It’s pretty heavy-handed, it should be said, but focusing on the great Michael/Book stuff, having the engineering crew enjoy a little harmless mystery, and learning more about the post-Burn world, all great.
Standout moment for me was Stamets coaxing the trill out of the jefferies tube. That was cute.
I like Disco, but have also seen STD floated which I cannot abide.
Lower Decks is funny because nobody uses the official/internal abbreviation, which is LDS
The Church of Jesus Christ of Lower DeckS