@paladin5150 Well said. I particularly liked that the episode finally made the bridge crew feel important and have personalities.
@paladin5150 Well first and foremost let me say that I enjoyed the hell out of the season premiere "Brother", and I'm a fan of the series overall. However, I feel that they invite a lot of the criticism and hate from these so-called canon fascist and "purist" because of the constant backpedaling in the timeline; with the new Kelvin-based movies, DISCO, and dating as far back as Star Trek: Enterprise. It's time to move forward in the timeline, and I don't mean resonance due to an altered timeline event from Star Trek (2009) that impacts Picard's life after Nemesis. You'll probably never be able to satisfy all of the critics, but if they really want to deviate from all the canon noise, and constant whining about continuity, then I feel someone needs to seriously consider making a new Star Trek series that takes place (in the original timeline) well beyond the events that occurred in Star Trek: Voyager. Let's boldly go where NO "purist" has gone before...
@hey-i Fair point! And IMO if STDISCO can find it's stride AND a sustainable audience (that is, one that is large enough to pay the bills) we might eventually see such a show. Meanwhile they drag Patrick Stewart out of retirement and hope that nostalgia will bring a few eyeballs to the screen. It's a disjointed effort at best. As I previously opined, the hell with the naysayers and finicky elitists, just write GREAT stories and give them to great actors, and turn them loose. DISCO is a step in the right direction, and, like a sailboat tacking into the wind, it has to veer from side to side to make forward progress. If people support what we DO have now, the studios have incentive to push the boundaries further, rather than rely on what they feel is safe, that is, the past.
Review by Paladin5150BlockedParent2019-01-19T09:29:54Z
Nicely done CBS. Deftly blended in some characters (1 this episode) and iconography from TOS to squelch the discord from the nattering, canon fascist nabobs, and pique the curiosity of the undecided, while still remaining PRE-TOS and advancing the original "Discovery" premise. Well played..., well played indeed.
Of course the "purists" will be quick to point out everything wrong with this episode, just as they have all along, insisting that this is a show we shouldn't enjoy because it's not Trekie enough, or TOO futuristic for the timeline, or too politically correct, or too violent, or too gay, when perhaps the real problem is with those whose cranial contents simply haven't evolved enough to grasp the actual depth and awesomeness of the show.
Star Trek has ALWAYS been about "going BOLDLY where no man has gone before" yet, sadly, there are those who desperately try to squeeze it into the confines of what THEY say is correct, and would have the writer and producers restricted to the same tried, true, and BORING stories that were fed to the masses starting almost 50 years ago. Now imagine if they were allowed to restrict technology, or commerce, or just about any facet of life to where it was 5 decades ago. I for one like and embrace the changes that have occurred both IRL and on our screens of all various shapes and sizes. Just as I am willing to give each new generation of Star Trek writers the benefit of the doubt, and the chance to not just copy and paste, but to stretch the limits of possibility and imagination, and take us on new adventures, and to new frontiers.
If that gets some purists canonical panties in a wedgie, well, so be it. But I for one am willing to suspend disbelief, buckle up, lower my shields and enjoy the ride.
As for the episode itself, several nice head fakes, when those familiar with TOS would be expecting certain things to occur but... gotcha!
Kudos to Sonequa Martin-Green for continuing to evolve her portrayal of Michael Burnham, and showing some emotions when appropriate. To the always delightful Mary Wiseman, who, as newly minted officer trainee Tilly is "incandescent" as ever and never fails to make me smile when she's on screen. Anthony Rapp's Staments, is of course going through the stages of grief, and, had me worried for a moment, but, it looks like something new is about to bring him out of his funk. Doug Jones Saru, was, well... Saru, and, believe me when I say, I mean that as a GOOD thing. Anson Mount pulled his weight as Captain Pike, doing a yeoman's job of restraint when stepping into such an iconic (if short lived) role. And the addition of Tig Notaro's deadpan wit and whip-smart timing (as well as her characters apparent next level engineering chops) might have her hanging out in the Montgomery Scott wing of the Discovery, we shall see.
Overall a really good season premier, and, from the looks of the upcoming clips, it's gonna be fun.