TL;DR – After a season we start getting answers while things fall apart
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix subscription that viewed this series.
Su’Kal Review –
There have been several on-going questions through this season of Star Trek Discovery, and at the core of them is what caused The Burn. Today, after a season of questions, we finally get some answers, before things start falling apart.
So to set the scene, we start this week’s episode right where last week’s Terra Firma Part 2 finished with a memorial service. While this is happening Stamets (Anthony Rapp) gets a notification from the ship that they are watching that there is a life form on board, which given it has been 125 years, and the amount of radiation seems unlikely, but here we are. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – While there was a lot
that happened in this episode, it just didn’t click with me the way the rest of
the season has.
Score – 3 out of 5 stars
Review –
We are about at the mid-point of the season and the story of the red lights is
still unfolding. However, as we go along, there is still nothing concrete to
hold onto, Spock is still missing, the red lights are still an enigma, and who
knows what Section 31 is up to. Now while this has been fine up until a point,
at some time we need to have a moment of focus. Without that, we get today’s episode that is full of promise and cool moments but is lacking something.
So to set the scene, we start today’s episode in the moments after An
Obol For Charon finishes with Michael (Sonequa Martin-Green) racing to
the engineering section after hearing about Tilly’s (Mary Wiseman) disappearance.
When she arrives all she finds is the alien cocoon pulsating on the floor and
no Tilly in sight. However, all of that is put on hold when the USS Discovery catches up with Spock’s
shuttle, only it is not Spock that makes a graceful exit after it docks with
Discovery, but an old friend … though I don’t know if you could call her that. Now
from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some
[SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – This week we take a
moment to look at many of the other stories swirling around Discovery, with a return of a few old friends.
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
So far this season we have been focusing very much on the Red Lights, the Red Angels, and the potential threat (maybe) that they pose. However, at the end of Season One, there were a lot of plot threads still hanging there and this week we take a moment to say hello to some old friends, and also kick a bit of ass while we are doing it.
So to set the scene, in last week’s episode New Eden, we discovered that Spock is not only on leave but that he has checked himself into a mental health facility, and is refusing all contact from his family. Well, that’s great but no one told Amanda (Mia Kirshner) that she could not find a way to reach her son. She arrives with Spock’s medical files and one request to Michael (Sonequa Martin-Green) break the encryption, which would be a breach of protocol if everything had not just changed. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – We get to see what Discovery will be exploring for the
first half of the season, and it is an area Star
Trek does not often venture.
Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars
Review –
There are some areas of discourse that Star Trek has not really delved all that much in to in its fifty odd years, and one of those is faith. Now, of course, there are references to it in The Original Series and Enterprise, and we do get more of it in Deep Space Nine, but still, the show has been very hands off. Well, last week in Brotherwe dipped our toes into faith, well today we dive all the way in.
So to set the scene, Captain Pike (Anson Mount) is continuing to command the USS Discovery to find out what the deal is with these red lights that appeared with purpose across the galaxy. Today they have found another red light but this is deep into the Beta Quadrant 100s of years away at maximum warp. There is no way any ship could get there, but then no other ship has the Spore Drive. So off to the Beta Quadrant, we go, and nobody was quite expecting to find what they find. Now we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – A beautiful character
piece that makes the most of the short run time.
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
Today we are going to be doing small mini-reviews for all the Star Trek Shorts, starting with an exploration of what it means to step forward and change your life.
So to set the scene, it is after Will You Take My Hand? and Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman) has officially entered the Command Training Program, which is a huge achievement, which is completely lost on her mother Siobhan (Mimi Kuzyk). As this is going on a standard cargo run is interrupted by a stowaway and the two are about to crash together.
TL;DR – We started with a group of people on a ship in space, and over the season, as adversity after adversity piled up, we ended with a crew. I mean I just wrote 1000 words just on the cast, the show is that good.
Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars
Review –
This year has been a strong year for Sci-Fi on TV we have Lost in Space, Altered Carbon, The Rain, as well as more Westworld, 3%, and The Expanse. In the middle of all this was a release, which for me was probably anticipated more than anything else, a new Star Trek series. Now the fact that I really like the Star Trek franchise should come as no surprise, indeed a wrote an article all about my love for Star Trek Deep Space Nine. However, there was also a lot of trepidation going in, since DS9 we had Voyager that had some great individual episodes but nothing really came together as a series, and Enterprise that took three seasons to find out what type of show it wanted to be and when it got there decided to end on just about the most insulting note that it could (yes I know it was not meant to be a series finale but still). However, I went into this thinking that I can at least give it a season, and boy what a season it was. So in the first season of Star Trek Discovery the broke it up into different chapters, we took a look at Chapter One here, and today we are going to take a look at Chapter Two which was the back half of the season but also some of the themes that transcend all of the season, you can also see all of our reviews for the individual episodes here. With this in mind, just a warning that we will be looking at the season as a whole, and as such there will be some major [SPOILERS] discussed in this review. So caution is advised if you have yet to finished Season One of Star Trek Discovery, and we would recommend you giving the first season a watch.
TL;DR – In the end, we started with a group of people on a ship in space, and over the season, as adversity after adversity piled up, we ended with a crew.
Score – 5 out of 5 stars
Review –
Oh wow, we have reached the end of Season One and what a season it was, there were jumps in time and space, war with the Klingons, even a sojourn in the Mirror Universe. Now all of this was like a freight train barrelling towards tonight’s finale and here we are. So today we are going to take some time to look at how the episode worked on its own, before looking at how the whole season worked as a while in an article a bit later this week.
TL;DR – The season is hurtling towards the season finale and today is about putting all our ducks in a row waiting for next week’s growing dilemma.
Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Review –
It is hard to believe that we are almost at the end of the first season of Star Trek Discovery, and that today’s episode is the penultimate entry for the season. Now, this more than any episode this season was all about getting everything ready for what I am assuming is going to be a massive season finale. Which is good because you can see where it is going in the future, but does leave this being one of the weaker episodes this season, but given the strength of the season it still is a fascinating one to watch. Now as always, we will be going into depth with the episode, so there may be [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – Tonight’s episode takes the twist from last week and ploughs forward at 100km an hour
Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars
Review –
So right out of the gate, I have to say that last week’s episode Vaulting Ambition (see review) completely caught me off guard. Lorca’s (Jason Isaacs) reveal was such a masterful stroke on the part of the writers, it was a surprise but it was also hiding in plain sight all the time. That is such a difficult thing to nail, especially when you were setting it up all the way back in Context is for Kings (see review). So it is in the afterglow of that reveal that we start this week’s episode, the continuation of our now four episode Mirror Universe arc, where we discover a number of things, including that I was completely wrong last week and that reactor is totally not Romulan.
TL;DR – Just when you think Star Trek Discovery is done surprising you, it pulls out an emotional punch followed by a 2 by 4 to the head
Score – 5 out of 5 stars
Review –
I have to take my hat off to the team over at Star Trek Discovery, tonight had a reveal that spent episodes building up, the reveal felt completely justified and not contrived, and I did not see it coming at all. That is such a difficult difficult task to pull off and make it feel natural, it was magnificent to watch. Now we will get into that a bit later when we can get into spoilers, but wow, this is one of the best episodes of Star Trek I have seen in a very long time.
TL;DR Movie Reviews and Analysis 