The first episode (Star Trek: Discovery "Such Sweet Sorrow: Part One") is less a calm before the storm episode, and more a stationary bicycle. The wheels are spinning, but it's going nowhere. I've enjoyed much of this series, but this episode felt unnecessary. Even watching it, as I did, along with this season finale, it did little more than tread water. The big emotional moments felt rushed, when there was ample room for them to breathe, and the space talk and explosion bits felt laboured, and given that they were there only to foreshadow similar scenes in the episode to come, they felt overplayed.
This episode, however, I enjoyed much more, with huge space battles, some great performances from the core cast, and huge sacrifices to save "all sentient life" (that's what they kept saying, and it was weirdly jarring) but as action-packed as this episode was, for me, it did have a couple of irritating downsides. There will be MANY spoilers for the entire season, as well as the final moments of this episode, so get ready to go blurry!
First off - I will miss Pike. Anson Mount has brought some much needed gravitas to this program, and I absolutely adored him. I was sceptical of his casting, having already thoroughly adored Bruce Greenwood's take on the character in the Kelvin timeline. There was a moment a few episodes earlier where I felt sorry for Sonequa Martin-Green, because it felt as if after Saru and Tilly walking away with the show in the first season, Pike and Georgiou were doing it again here. Then we find out that the Red Angel is Burnham and she's forced back into prime position. I wonder if this is a failing in writing her character from the outset? The fact that they have to keep forcing her into the foreground to stop her being overshadowed by bigger characters seems to be a flaw at the heart of the show.
Another annoying thing this season is the bow they seem to be trying to tie around continuity. It's a messy bow. Looks like it was tied by a toddler. Sucking up to fanboi sentimentality irks me. Yes it makes no sense that there's been no mention of the spore drive or Spock's sister in fifty plus years of Trek, but if you're enjoying the show, that shit shouldn't matter. I was more annoyed that Control, the evil AI (inexplicably given the same name as the incompetent agency in Get Smart) chose to keep pretending to be the corpulent Leland.
Also, why dispatch Cornwell so gratuitously? How many times are they going to re-film the ending to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan? Blast shields really shouldn't have windows, and how a bomb can wipe out half a saucer section but leave a turbolift intact is baffling. Also, that whole scene with Number One was weird. Like they've realised they've hired two great actors and given them nothing to do, so they've hastily cobbled together some moments for a pair we've never seen interact before.
Look, all these quibbles aside, I really enjoyed the second episode. I like what is implied for the next season, I thought there were some spectacular moments, and I will happily watch anything with big space battles and Michelle Yeoh kicking someone in the head. It was a juicy chunk of space opera, and that is exactly what I signed up for when I started watching this show.
Review by Adam RichardVIP 5BlockedParent2019-04-26T02:24:39Z
The first episode (Star Trek: Discovery "Such Sweet Sorrow: Part One") is less a calm before the storm episode, and more a stationary bicycle. The wheels are spinning, but it's going nowhere. I've enjoyed much of this series, but this episode felt unnecessary. Even watching it, as I did, along with this season finale, it did little more than tread water. The big emotional moments felt rushed, when there was ample room for them to breathe, and the space talk and explosion bits felt laboured, and given that they were there only to foreshadow similar scenes in the episode to come, they felt overplayed.
This episode, however, I enjoyed much more, with huge space battles, some great performances from the core cast, and huge sacrifices to save "all sentient life" (that's what they kept saying, and it was weirdly jarring) but as action-packed as this episode was, for me, it did have a couple of irritating downsides. There will be MANY spoilers for the entire season, as well as the final moments of this episode, so get ready to go blurry!
First off - I will miss Pike. Anson Mount has brought some much needed gravitas to this program, and I absolutely adored him. I was sceptical of his casting, having already thoroughly adored Bruce Greenwood's take on the character in the Kelvin timeline. There was a moment a few episodes earlier where I felt sorry for Sonequa Martin-Green, because it felt as if after Saru and Tilly walking away with the show in the first season, Pike and Georgiou were doing it again here. Then we find out that the Red Angel is Burnham and she's forced back into prime position. I wonder if this is a failing in writing her character from the outset? The fact that they have to keep forcing her into the foreground to stop her being overshadowed by bigger characters seems to be a flaw at the heart of the show.
Another annoying thing this season is the bow they seem to be trying to tie around continuity. It's a messy bow. Looks like it was tied by a toddler. Sucking up to fanboi sentimentality irks me. Yes it makes no sense that there's been no mention of the spore drive or Spock's sister in fifty plus years of Trek, but if you're enjoying the show, that shit shouldn't matter. I was more annoyed that Control, the evil AI (inexplicably given the same name as the incompetent agency in Get Smart) chose to keep pretending to be the corpulent Leland.
Also, why dispatch Cornwell so gratuitously? How many times are they going to re-film the ending to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan? Blast shields really shouldn't have windows, and how a bomb can wipe out half a saucer section but leave a turbolift intact is baffling. Also, that whole scene with Number One was weird. Like they've realised they've hired two great actors and given them nothing to do, so they've hastily cobbled together some moments for a pair we've never seen interact before.
Look, all these quibbles aside, I really enjoyed the second episode. I like what is implied for the next season, I thought there were some spectacular moments, and I will happily watch anything with big space battles and Michelle Yeoh kicking someone in the head. It was a juicy chunk of space opera, and that is exactly what I signed up for when I started watching this show.