Just to make something clear: We don't need to know every little emotion and thought of everyone on board. And it's a bit ridiculous to argue that Discovery can't work otherwise. Sorry, this is a ship in a military organization... but let's just emo our way through everything. Honestly, I'm with the president: the crew didn't need to know about the threat to the A-quadrant (which doesn't just consist of Earth and Vulcan BTW) at this point because it's distracting and doesn't actually help in the first contact scenario.
I knew Tal was going to return... unfortunately, the daddy-emo-stuff continues. And let's not forget that ridiculous romance or not waste of time surrounding Saru und the Vulcan president, are they teenagers?... Could we just see for once this crew as a focused and grown-up group of people trying to work towards a common goal?
I also found the interaction between Tarka and Book and his engineering friend resp. far more engaging. Doesn't excuse what he's doing but it was a more "human" story than all the psychobabble on Discovery.
Honestly, if there's a point to this season, I don't get it. 2 more episodes... maybe they'll arrive at some kind of point at last.
BTW... did anyone else notice that about half of the intro is spent on meticulously citing every supervising/executive/whatever producer? Reminds me about the saying of too many cooks... Maybe they should have spent more time on finding a couple of decent writers.
Urgh... Now, they'll somehow force Link and Jo together? And Amelia and that researcher whose name I didn't catch yet? And please, I didn't miss Maggie at all, for all I care she can permanently stay in Boston (and take her husband with her)...
Urgh, and we're back to the soap opera. Again, of course there always has been the soap-opera element in this show. But in the earlier seasons it was nicely balanced with a glimpse into what's going on in Britain and the world at that time. I'm sick of whiny, privileged boys, lamenting their fate. Of course, it's not fun to be in the news constantly, to be harrassed etc. But viewing yourself as the spare who can't outshine the firstborn... get some therapy. (And Kate's mother should get some therapy as well - although, to be honest, she couldn't have forced that gap year on Kate if she hadn't gone... so...)
But I think what this show's suffering from is that all these events aren't that far in the past. Most of the audience remember reading that in the papers or seeing it on the news. So, it doesn't have that informative aspect that the earlier seasons had, I guess, but is simply repetitive and boring.
Don't care about murder couple - really don't care about the vice-president's daughter... and honestly, they keep driving the killed aunt and uncle's car, and no one bothers to check?
Well, it was clear where this would go... still, really poignant episode, typical Star Trek. And the helpless anger in the end, knowing that this child is suffering beyond help, and that another one is being groomed to take over in the future, over and over again - well done.
Granted, children suffer now and in the ST-age... but voluntarily send a child to a life of suffering just that the others may live in luxury, no, there's no moral high ground to be found here. But a couple of questions remain, such as those ancestors who built the machine, did they leave plans behind? And why not relocate the whole population if the planet seems inhabitable without that machine? Was the former colony meant as relocation world once upon a time?
I guess, Kirk, especially Trek-09-Kirk, would have blown that machine up. Can't say I'd have minded much... even though I actually prefer the uncomfortable TNG-like non-resolution we got here.
I liked this episode, it was light-hearted, everyone got good lines... it felt like everyone could let their hair down, loosen up a bit. Again, it's nothing that hasn't been seen in ST so far, but it's delivered with a new/fresh twist. So far, I'm really enjoying this series.
So... let's just assume Hunt's gone... the character wasn't going anywhere, or in other words he's come full circle: starting off with flashbacks to his wartimes and and leaving guilt-ridden and with flashbacks. What's suicidal Megan going to do now?
I like Hayes - I'd have liked to see him with Meredith, I just hope he knows about her being involved with what's his name in Minneapolis (see, really bad at names).
Pleeeease, resolve that ridiculous Link-Amelia-Jo-researcher mess. I really like Link, I also like the Amelia-researcher (sorry, still didn't catch the name yet) dynamics... but Jo, all of a sudden discovering her being in love with Link, just ruins this plotthread.
New Bailey-groupie... hm... him learning how his attendings do things? Okay...
Now, the Webber-method... who didn't see this coming? Residents who think themselves so mega-capable killing someone? There's a reason why it's called supervision and "attending". Remember that episode in season 6 when Teddy sat reading a newspaper during a surgery where Cristina almost messed up? She didn't interfere, she didn't even really pay attention - but she was there, as support and essentially to jump in when things get messy. And remember that episode where Meredith and Lexie mess up that brain aneurysm-surgery because (in this case) Lexie thought she could do it herself? Yes, sometimes people mess up. But these residents need supervision. And did you notice that none of those "new" residents were so far in any way portrayed as geniuses like Meredith and Cristina (and even the others of the original 5) were? Would you actually like to have one of them operate on you without supervision (especially given the situation in-series with them not having had any surgical experience for a year)?
Honestly, boring - nothing we haven't seen dozens of time before... why I'm still watching? Because every once in a while there's an outstanding episode. But the last one of those has been quite a while ago.
Urgh... Sorry, boring, boring, boring. Super women Kahori and Captain Carter (who for no discernible reason got chosen by the Watcher) against Strange Supreme... yawn.
So, Bailey gets the Catherine Fox-award... definitely more worthy of it than the usual self-absorbed egomaniacs but I wonder why it wasn't a joined win for her and Addison.
Can't say I miss Meredith and Maggie - hope they'll stay gone and don't pop up all the time, not that they apparently reconciled with Nick and Winston, respectively... if so, I'd prefer for the guys to leave as well. And of course, Meredith's genius went and discovered the real issue with Alzheimer's... of course. Could we please stop to make her (and Maggie) look like genius reincarnate? She who's without fault? Honestly, I'd have preferred if she'd developed symptoms of Alzheimer's herself and her mania was the first inkling of what was to come. Would have been much more interesting than the 100th medical miracle.
So, Simone's ex-fiance comes in, punches Lucas... and Lucas gets the stinkeye from everyone?
Glad that Jo and Link finally figured things out... and what's going on with Altman? Septic tooth that caused endocarditis which caused a ripped heart valve? Possible... I guess, we'll find out next season. It's just very crazy that they don't have a second thoracic surgeon on call, even with Winston in Boston. How do they cover shifts in that hospital?
Well, this is Star Trek, it's just that simple. It's an amalgamation of TOS, TNG and VOY plot themes, nothing exceptionally new, but it just works.
I'm sorry, but what was that? Every single plotthread was ridiculous, the shootout at the diner, the doppelganger/will-they-won't-they Bradford/Chen story. If I didn't like the show anyway this wouldn't incite me to tune in next season.
TBH, this season was a mess. And this episode as well...
... so they have Wesley welcome Kori to the Travellers, but he can't interfere with Q's actions?
Somehow I thought Q would turn out to be Picard's father, but somehow I liked the interaction between him and Picard. But all the timetravel just because Picard should face some childhood trauma? We are led to believe that he can deal with being turned into a Borg, losing the rest of his family (Robert, Rene), but represses his mother's suicide? Of course, it's traumatic, no doubt about that, but that it didn't come up so far among all the trauma he had to deal with throughout those 30 years, is questionable.
Rios staying in the past... who cares? Sorry, but his whole plotthread was unnecessary and boring...
Jurati's plot was easily the most interesting one. But how did all this influence the Borg as we so far knew them? I mean they are a collective, so come that all the assimilations, including Picard's, still took place?
Otherwise, this season's been all over the place. If I hadn't some kind of investment in the characters, I'd quit. But I guess I'll tune in regardless when this show returns for its final season.
The case was interesting, but the backdoor spin-off protagonist is a bit obnoxious to be honest. And let's not forget superwoman Bailey, this time in her army outfit.
Okay... once again... why have discussions in the middle of a major crisis? Burnham is the captain, she issues orders, even the president of the UFP can't change that as she's not in the chain of command. The only thing those discussions do is show that Burnham is weak at making decisions and giving hard orders. She's the captain, not the chaperon of some boy/girlscout-summerholidays. Leadership's needed here.
Why is communication with 10-c suddenly so easy that it conveys complex ideas? Last time it was about simple maths-equations... And quite frankly, all moralistic shame-on-you-you've-killed-so-many-people-albeit-inadvertantly speeches aside, why can't 10-c articulate their reasons for the DMAs? I mean, it's all good and well that they realized that what they did had consequences on other species, but the whole thing comes across as incredibly patronizing.
I liked the way Book's erstwhile "death" was shown, Burnham taking a moment, then collecting herself and move on... but honestly, did anyone think he was really dead? Other than the message via the chief engineer there was no contact... and if we know anything about Discovery, it's that they LOVE to talk about feelings. So of course, Book had to be alive and returned to Burnham. And of course, he gets to deliver his moralistic speech... mind you, without his actions, the first dma wouldn't have been destroyed, which brought about the creation of the second dma that threatened Earth etc. And now he works at some kind of help centre for those affected by this second dma. Yeah... what a punishment.
Of course, Tilly had to return - hopefully for the last time. I'd rather have seen more of the evacuation efforts and less of Tilly and the admiral waiting around, drinking whisky.
The less said about Saru and the Vulcan president, the better. (And BTW, how can she even contact 10-c telepathically through windows? I thought Vulcans needed direct physical contact (i.e. touch) for telepathy.) But at least, we got some handholding... what are they, teenagers?
Unless I radically change my mind, this will be the last season I followed of Discovery. Sorry, I like some of the ideas, but the characterization, the soap-opera-ish quality, all the dramatic whispering are infinitely more annoying than the appeal of those ideas.
Well, Picard easily manages what Discovery fails at time and again - engaging characters whom I actually care about, interactions without emotional striptease... and an exciting storyline. Of course, we've seen almost everything before, Q, Guinan, the Borg, alternate realities. Who cares? I'll take this every time as long as I relate to the characters. And honestly, "Picard" is a shout back to what made the name Star Trek great, what else is there to say?
OMG - now they need a minder to make sure Burnham really tries to stop Book. Sorry, but WTF? If one's so unsure of Burnham, then replace her with someone new and don't just put a minder on her bridge. And BTW, this is a military ship, not a majority wins kind of decision making process. So, whatever private ideas anyone might have, they should stay private, and everyone should just act professionally. This ship reminds me of some kind of kindergarten.
And the operation let's dock a shuttle on Book's seemingly airtight ship... okay, so it's not quite airtight. And let's not mention interior sensors, even if the shuttle had docked unnoticed, shouldn't the sensors pick up 4 new life forms on the ship and therefore ruin any surprise?
And surprise, surprise, the DMZ was launched from the outside - wasn't that the whole purpose of that Federation session back a few episodes? And surprise, surprise, when one DMZ/mining facility is destroyed another one's sent. And the owners aren't going to be happy now. Who writes such nonsense?
And please, why is everyone still whispering dramatically on this show?
Way too easy for the buildup.
And now we've got another pregnant cop storyline, mixed in with a bit of a triangle because even the divorced husband could be the father... It all becomes a bit repetitive. Still: it's a likeable cast.
Hopefully, Tilly stays gone - and doesn't make a comeback every other episode to save Discovery with her brilliance... But the character wasn't going anywhere, especially since she's been essentially replaced by Adira.
The Vulcan restoration in the Federation... well... let's just be thankful for wooden Burnham for saving the day... again...
This episode was just boring as hell. Sorry to say.
Easily one of the worst episodes this season. The show/mock courts take over, but I'd really like to see some real court action. And the whole firm-situation with racism, power-play, misogynism doesn't resonate at all with me, it just feels too contrived. And let's add the drug king pin trying to make some pot-ice cream... WTF? It feels as if this show runs out of (serious) ideas. Unfortunately, as I still love the setting and the characters.
Boring. Honestly, I don't need William's shy gaze to replace Diana's. Could do with more plot. And why did they exchange Harry's actor in the middle of the season? It's not as though there was a time jump... I liked Philip in this.
What exactly was that Anakin vs Ahsoka interlude all about? If I had had the impression that Ahsoka wanted to die and she somehow gained her will to live by this, okay, but she wasn't depressed or borderline suicidal before. She had a mission, and she certainly didn't need Anakin to wake her up. I also didn't think that Ahsoka was somehow walking the line between light and dark... so what exactly did Anakin or the force or whatever BS they came up with want to teach Ahsoka? Wow, now she wears light grey instead of black... okay... if there had been any message that's pertinent to finding Sabine/Thrawn/Ezra, then I'd have swallowed those scene drops/cameo/flashback to the CW... but it was simply pointless.
But maybe that whole force mumbo-jumbo was only to show off Jacen's abilities. No Sabine... pretty much the only good thing about this episode.
Doesn't change the fact that Ahsoka remains a walking valium, there's little to no content (the plot of this episode is summed up in a sentence)... and space whales including mind-melding with them standing outside the ship (why is there no wind?) looks a bit more ridiculous than cute.
Color me confused by this episode. I understand it's about war and the ramifications it has on the people fighting in it, losing your humanity, lust for revenge, blood lust... all this enhanced by some drug (that we've already seen in episode 1 of this season).
But what did actually happen on J'Gal? Did M'Benga kill the Klingons, or did he inject the Klingon commander who then killed all his officers? (Have to watch that again...) - Anyway, M'Benga turned out the real monster of J'Gal, and he reinforced that image by killing the Klingon commander/now ambassador of the Federation pretty much in cold blood... and everyone knows things are fishy, but there are no consequences. I realize that this episode is supposed to be uncomfortable, and it's not about what happened on J'Gal that bothers me (because "inter arma enim silent leges" and that goes doubly for morals), but the murder/incident on Enterprise? Just that M'Benga was even interacting with the Klingon should have raised multiple red flags, not even speaking that he was fighting with him... Considering his PTSD he should have removed himself from the situation after the dinner and be done with it. Don't know what Pike was thinking, honestly.
So, I'm not sure where this episode was going. It certainly didn't make me more sympathetic to M'Benga.
We have oblivious (but of course, highly competent but misunderstood) agent, oblivious (but very calm considering) almost murder victim whose cyber security background will come into play in the future... and shady chief of staff and jealous FBI head honcho in the White House. Okay, let' see what happens (outside of clichéd writing).
Could someone tell Maggie that she's an entitled, priviledged little girl who can't empathize and doesn't even notice that others aren't as lucky as she is (at least regarding money... the patient and her husband had love in spades which I doubt Maggie's even capable of feeling)? Otherwise, don't care about the fiancé-story, don't care about Teddy and Owen. I did like the new love interest for Schmidt, they had more onscreen chemistry in those 3 or 4 minutes than Schmidt ever had with Niko. Honestly, the Link supporting that woman giving birth... all good and well, but how come that Scout doesn't wake up from all the noise around him?
At some point it really gets ridiculous.
Sorry, but this show gets worse every episode. There's so little plot and so much exaggerated drama... sorry, but that's not Star Trek but some daytime soap.
I like the Newbie. Don't like the Tim/Chen-angle... why does there have to be any romance within a team? Not so sure about the Wesley situation: I hope that gets resolved quickly.
So, Tim tries to catch Ray while committing a crime - and Lopez involves herself in this... Later on, Lucy as well, after Ray shows up unannounced at her home. Anyway, what exactly was Ray's plan there? Showing up at Lucy's didn't make much sense. Neither does Tim breaking up with Lucy in the end...
After last week's foster kid, Bailey decides she wants to have kids - which Nolan hesitatingly agrees to. Urgh... is the actress pregnant? Or why do they force that issue that strongly?
I definitely enjoyed Harper and Thorsen's case - and the fact that the prosecutor (who runs for DA) did the right thing without hesitating too much.
The way William and Kate are portrayed (not the actors, just the relationship, the manipulation by the mother) is still cringeworthy - but I liked the way this is juxtaposed with Elizabeth's festivities.
Honestly, still can't stand Harry. Don't know why he didn't have the guts to really sever all ties with his royal title. I mean, you can't have only the privileges without some obligations. And if he had been truely adverse to standing in the public light... then he wouldn't have made "documentaries", books or interviews. And it's telling that some of the same things he's saying now in real life are written into this show.
And again, I'm not arguing that the situation isn't difficult (for everyone involved, I'd imagine), but there are very different mindsets towards handling it.
