#dsc rewatch

[loudfederationscreeching]

will never not be a little peeved that adira's first two episodes feature endless misgendering. i get that they hadnt specified pronouns yet, and kind of maybe didnt know themself yet?, but considering the level of promo given to discovery's new non-binary character, to have to spend that much time meeting a new character and hearing 'she/her' that much was and is pretty frustrating. like we as the audience knew before any of the characters did

that said, i do find the layered metaphor that their joining with the tal symbiont is called 'an aberration' because adira is human, added with the beginning of the arc with gray, to be pretty damn compelling still. that mix of being othered but also hope is pretty well done imo! discovery is constantly trying so hard wrt telling queer stories, usually failing a tad, but also then bringing it back in, and i do respect that pretty solidly. TWO instances of unbury your gays is pretty unhinged to pull off and yet!!

[casketour]

live music is the only thing that makes me feel alive

[autisticburnham]

Harry Mudd is just as much trash as he always was, but my love for Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad does have me smiling at him being here

[thewomancallednova]

Also, everytime I rewatch Tig Notaro's first appearance as Commander Reno I think back to that time I told my partner about Notaro being in Star Trek. I said something along the lines of "Oh yeah, she plays a lesbian in Star Trek: Discovery." and that led my partner to believe for a little while that "lesbian" was like a distinct species on Star Trek. They were disappointed when I had to tell them the truth

[jonfucius]

Great Star Trek Rewatch - Discovery S1

Originally posted on Twitter 8 July 2020 - 21 July 2020

Star Trek: Discovery is up next in my Great Star Trek Rewatch. As with Star Trek: Enterprise, mini-reviews will document my progress.

The Vulcan Hello: Strong introductions to Burnham, Saru, Georgiou. Breathtaking spacewalk. The new aesthetic takes some getting used to, but it’s window dressing. T’Kuvma helps explain why TOS Klingons are different from TNG Klingons. Burnham’s mutiny is unprecedented. 6/10

Battle at the Binary Stars: Georgiou’s demise was a surprise, but T’Kuvma’s death was the big shock given the marketing campaign. A life sentence for mutiny is excessive, though not surprising given the scale of consequences from Burnham’s mutiny. 7/10

Context is for Kings: The true pilot of DSC, this episode gets Burnham onto Discovery and introduces the rest of the crew. The mycelial network is inventive. The horrors aboard the Glenn are Trek body horror at its most grisly. Lorca is immediately intriguing. 8/10

The Butcher’s Knife Cares Not for the Lamb’s Cry: RIP(per) Landry. Shades of “The Devil in the Dark” as Burnham comes to understand the tardigrade. Klingon machinations begin as Voq and L’Rell are betrayed by Kol. Culber immediately joins the pantheon of great Trek doctors. 7/10

Choose Your Pain: Lorca is captured by L’Rell and meets Harry Mudd and Ash Tyler. This Mudd is as devious as his TOS incarnation, but still garners sympathy when Lorca leaves him with the Klingons. Stamets becomes one with his shrooms as Ripper leaps away. 7/10

Lethe: A question that has lingered for fifty years is finally answered: what drove Sarek and Spock apart? Incredible connections to TOS without feeling like a blatant retcon. Lorca is a “broken man” indeed. Burnham and Tyler’s mess hall scene is classic Star Trek. 10/10

Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad: A classic Star Trek trope gets a uniquely Discovery twist. Mudd may get off easy for all his villainy, but it's a very TOS ending. Loved seeing the crew let their hair down and party. 10/10

Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum: Saru finally gets a moment of peace on Pahvo. Doug Jones’ finest work is in his confrontation with Burnham. A classic Star Trek tale with Discovery’s trappings. Shoutout to Jayne Brook and Mary Chieffo’s scenes - what a fantastic pairing! 9/10

Into the Forest I Go: RIP Kol and the gorgeous Sarcophagus ship. The jump sequence is a nail-biter, as is Burnham’s fight with Kol. Tyler has some severe PTSD from L’Rell’s torture, but is able to pull it together thanks to Cornwell. But where in Hell is Discovery? 8/10

Despite Yourself: Mary Wiseman steals the show, impersonating “Capt. Killy.” Tyler’s PTSD/brainwashing comes to a head as he shockingly murders Culber. What is L’Rell’s hold on him? Hard to see Stamets so debilitated as well. 7/10

The Wolf Inside: Tyler is becoming unraveled as Burnham tries to get a handle on the Terran universe. Having Georgiou be the Emperor is brilliant. 7/10

Vaulting Ambition: Kelpien sushi is disgusting. So is the sickness engulfing the mycelial network. And the torture L’Rell inflicted on Tyler. Lots of pieces move into place here as Lorca’s true nature is revealed. This reveal still doesn’t quite stick the landing for me. 7/10

What’s Past is Prologue: the extended MU jaunt ends with a stunning set piece: Discovery riding a mycelial shockwave as Stamets guides them home, with vital assistance from Culber. Sad to see Lorca go, but we get Georgiou again. 9/10

The War Without, The War Within: Discovery’s been gone 9 months and the war is in the Klingons’ favor. But is genocide the right answer? Great visual effects with the prototaxites regrowth, but this is a filler episode through and through. 6/10

Will You Take My Hand?: Most of Season 1's threads get wrapped up here: L'Rell becomes chancellor, Georgiou acclimates to "our" universe, and Burnham and Tyler part ways. Burnham's speech and Saru's stand (We Are Starfleet) are the highlights of this episode. As is the tag. 9/10

And with that, Season 1 of DSC comes to an end in my Great Star Trek Rewatch. Final score: 7.80/10. Highest score(s): "Lethe," "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad." Lowest score(s): "The Vulcan Hello," "The War Without, The War Within".

[spideyhexx]

just saw challengers. not as crazy as i thought

valid ofc, im biased cause I really did love the movie, but I don’t think the storyline at its core is crazy necessarily, I think there’s certain scenes that really stand out in its tension/payoff is so good and I think a lot of the ‘craziness’ is more stemming from the way it’s filmed/the shots/acting, etc.

[gildedsunshine]

pike was such a good captain for discovery. the way he brought new life into the crew after lorca ugh. hes everything a captain should be

[thecurioustale]

USS Excelsior Captain Styles Did Nothing Wrong!

When I was a kid, I thought Captain Styles of the USS Excelsior in Star Trek III was an absolutely insufferable jerkwad that they were just playing up as a one-off villain, and that no one in real life could possibly be that much of a jerk.

Now in my 40s, I think to myself how mild and gentle Styles was in putting up with Kirk's outrageous bullshit.

It's kind of mind-blowing, actually. Like, as an adult now, knowing how adults behave, his boast about beating the Enterprise's speed records is completely within the wheelhouse of a normal and healthy ship captain, and his big scene in the middle of the film when he gets to chase the Enterprise is downright professional, with a little bit of that military arrogance just to warm the cheeks. ("If he tries to get away [from my state-of-the-art ship], he's in for a shock.") Like, compared to real-life commanders, Styles would be considered one of the sane and moderate ones.

I would watch a movie about him!

(You can see his big scene in this showcase of Earth Spacedock scenes on YouTube.)

My problem with a lot of sci-fi ship captains is that the "hero" ones i.e. the protagonists whom we're supposed to root for are almost always softies who play to the audience and don't actually behave like professional ship captains. (Interestingly, TOS Kirk and early TNG Picard were exceptions to this, but the trend died in Star Trek with Roddenberry, to be revived only briefly with Mirror Universe Lorca in DSC, who was of course written as a villain.)

I have tried over the years to make my own starship captains in Galaxy Federal more "captain-like," let's call it. And I was rewatching that scene in Star Trek III recently with Captain Styles, and I realized that, based on how I read him now, it's not actually all that hard. The bar is pretty low. All it takes is some reasonableness, some professionalism, a sense of responsibility, and a commitment to the rules of the game. Add a little flamboyance, maybe a riding crop if you will, and you've basically got a C-average captain at worst.

[girlbosslrell]

[dragons-in-spaceee]

WHO GAVE HIM THE RIGHT TO BE THIS ADORABLE

[mlmcaptainpike]

into the forest i go is like the funniest fucking episode of discovery ever because lorca is like “we need people to go infiltrate the Klingon ship, who can go infiltrate the Klingon ship for me. btw this is really important and nothing can go wrong” and Tyler (got tortured by Klingons for 7mo) and Burnham (parents killed by Klingons) are like “sounds like a job for team ashburn!”

[loudfederationscreeching]

the theme of loss throughout discovery has really struck me during my rewatch. its constant, inescapable. michael has lost her parents, she loses her captain, her identity within starfleet. she finds all these again, different. she finds adoptive parents, reconnects with sarek, loses them both. she reconnects with spock, loses him, refinds and completes his legacy. finds georgiou in a new form, loses her again. the crew loses airiam, almost loses saru. stamets loses culber, they find their way back to each other. adira loses gray, they find him again, they rediscover each other, are remade. the crew is thrown through time, loses their families, their friends. they come to find that starfleet has lost so much of itself, they come to help refind it

its like, we find each other. we lose each other. we have to figure out what that means. discovery evolves so much and spans so much, the loss is inevitable, but it remembers itself

[startrekmemequeen]

"And i'm here now. And here's my hand"

[autisticburnham]

If Disco had longer seasons and the ability to have filler episodes, it would have been fun if while leaving the galaxy to go meet the Ten-C they had to deal with a Where No Man Has Gone Before situation

[thewomancallednova]

Okay I rewatched "Calypso" and I have thoughts on how it connects with Discovery, post-season 5. (Spoilers)

Just watching "Calypso" the feel I got was that the crew abandoned the ship for whatever reason, and told the nav computer not to move. And then during the centuries that ensued Discovery's computer "evolves" as she says herself, eventually naming herself Zora, but still not quite being able to acknoqledge herself as a person. And then Craft comes along and she has her first actual interaction as a living thing with another living thing and it's kind of beautiful, Craft affirms her personhood in a way that she herself can't and by the end she clearly come closer to accepting herself, by positing herself as the Craft's lover and one to give him his true name.

But then in seasons 3-5 of Discovery we see Zora go through a bunch of personhood development stuff, to the point where Starfleet authorities are willing to transfer crucial Discovery personell if they aren't willing to accept Zora's autonomy as a person. And that's really cool and all, but it feels really sinister if you force "Calypso" to happen afterwards and Zora looses all sense of her own personhood during her centuries of solitude. Which is kind of horrible and not really what Discovery usually goes for in tone, at least not without a follow-up.

And it also shines a really bad light on the crew of Discovery. In "Calypso" Zora says that no one ever did anything nice for her, like really? Obviously that makes sense when you assume pre-abandoment Zora wasn't yet evolved, but I can absolutely not imagine the post-time jump Discovery crew to not do nice things for Zora.

I dunno, I think I would have preferred it if they just left "Calypso" as an open-ended not referenced again unconnected vague thing.

[jonfucius]

Great Star Trek Rewatch - Discovery S2

Originally posted on Twitter 24 July 2020 - 12 October 2020

Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 is up next in my Great Star Trek Rewatch. As with ENT, DSC, and STX, mini-reviews will document my progress.

Brother: S2 gets off to a strong start, with Anson Mount’s sublime Pike taking charge. Jett Reno & Nhan are also instantly fascinating characters. DSC’s Spock is initially an enigma. The seven signals/Red Angel are compelling MacGuffins. 8/10

New Eden: Y’all. This is one of the strongest episodes of any Star Trek series. The final scene with Pike and Jacob is so quintessentially Trek… Just a phenomenal hour. 10/10

Point of Light: I didn’t much care for this one when it aired, but on a rewatch it gained a point or two. L’Rell taking the name and role of Mother is an incredibly badass moment. And I love Tilly and Burnham’s scene in their quarters. 6/10

An Obol for Charon: A classically Star Trek tale of seeking out new life forms. Saru’s vahar’ai is incredibly moving and profound, as is the sphere’s deathbed longing (who lives, who dies, who tells your story?). 8/10

Saints of Imperfection: So glad to have Culber back, though it’s clear his experience in the mycelial network has had an affect on his psyche. The visual effect of the doorstop maneuver is astounding. And where does S31 get all those fantastic toys? 7/10

The Sound of Thunder: The Ba’ul are suitably creepy and malevolent, and I love the twist that the Kelpiens were once the aggressors. Seeing the Kelpiens throw off their shackles is inspiring. 7/10

Light and Shadows: We finally meet Spock, and Tyler and Pike come to an understanding. But what happened to Airiam? I got chills at the end, when the coordinates are revealed. 7/10

If Memory Serves: I wasn’t expecting a “Previously on Star Trek” at the first airing, and I still get goosebumps on subsequent rewatches. This episode deepens the connection between Spock and Pike, and how Burnham utterly destroyed young Spock. Now, say goodbye, Spock. 9/10

Project Daedalus: Advancing the Red Angel plot doesn’t make Airiam’s death any less tragic. Also tragic is the state of Spock and Burnham’s relationship. Really solid work from everyone involved. 8/10

The Red Angel: We finally meet the Red Angel, but before we do, we get a couple of excruciating body horror moments, and a delicious Stamets, Culber, Tilly, and Georgiou scene. 8/10

Perpetual Infinity: Burnham loses her mother, again, but our heroes have a new mission. Control’s takeover (assimilation?) of Leland is creepy and terrifying. 7/10

Through the Valley of Shadows: Anson Mount’s Pike is cemented as one of the greatest captains in Star Trek and Starfleet history. Control’s new abilities are frightening. All the pieces are in place for the end game. 9/10

Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 1: I’d call this the calm before the storm, but it’s pretty stormy already. Pike’s farewell to the crew is stirring, and the crew’s farewell to their loved ones is gut-wrenching. A rider upon a pale horse approaches. 9/10

Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2: In honor of the late TrekCaptions:

I fly a starship Across the Universe divide And when I reach the other side I'll find a place to rest my spirit if I can

A stunning conclusion to one of the strongest seasons of any Star Trek series. 10/10

And with that, Season 2 of DSC comes to an end in my Great Star TrekRewatch. Final score: 8.07/10. Highest score(s): “New Eden,” “Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2.” Lowest score(s): “Point of Light.”