STar Trek: Discovery 3.04
Nov. 6th, 2020 07:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakIn which we revisit the Spotted Ones, find out more about our new character, and it's long term effects all around.
Firstly, a remark about pronouns: I always try to remain unspoilered. But the one spoiler for Discovery's third season which reached me nonetheless was that there would be a non-binary new character. I assume Adira is said character, but as Adira hasn't on-screen identified as such yet or made preferences clear, I'll refer to "her" as the on screen dialogue still does. This is not out of disrespect but simply because word of God isn't canon, only on screen canon is canon. The moment Adira says something on screen, I'm switching to "they" or "he" or whatever else Adira chooses.
On to the episode content. As a Dax fan of old, I was thrilled we visited Trill again, this time with some exterior shots in addition to the grotto with the symbiont pools. Bring on the alien planets, I say. Two out of three Trill officials acting xenophobic the moment Adira is revealed as the current host of the Tal symbiont did not surprise me; even aside from their current situation, the most notable storyline DS9 did involving symbiont/hosts/Trill politics was the reveal that the symbiosis commissioners tried their best to hush up the discovery that far more Trills were compatible with symbionts than they had assumed. So go figure that they reacted badly when being presented with Adira. Add to this that the Burn actually did kill a lot of symbionts, and yes, bad situation all around.This said, because it's the season of optimism, one Trill is Team Adira (and Team Other Species Could Be The Future in general), and it's back to the pool where last we saw Jadzia find out about her murderous musical predecessor. I must admit I teared up when Adira was greeted by all the previous hosts in her reconnected memories. (BTW, I think it's the right choice NOT to let her symbiont be Dax. Tal as a new symbiont we haven't met means no ties to previous canon and a whole new history for the show to explore, if it wants to.
Adira's immediate pre-joining backstory consisting of the tragic loss of her lover could have made me raise a "must we?" eyebrow, except that said lover, Grey, having been the previous host and Grey now being present as a part of Adira sets up all kind of interesting questions (how a host relates to all those previous memories and personalities and integrates them, or not, was always part of the appeal of the species), and I'm curious as to whether Grey is around as a memory of Tal - i.e. the way, say, Curzon was for Jadzia - or whether the show wants to go with Grey as an actual separate entitity. Or whether this is how Adira becomes non-binary. We'll see. There''s an obvious parallel to Culber/Stamets here, while this episode draws parallels between Adira and Michael, so all these could be interesting relationships to form for Adira.
The show in this season builds on last season's tendency towards more ensemble exploration anyway, which I'm all for. So in addition to the Trill plot, we get one on board Discovery that addresses that now there's no immediate threat and no adrenaline resulting from same, the reality of the massive time jump - that it means, essentially, everyone (not on board the ship) they ever knew and loved is dead, and that they're currently without any support network when most of these people have always defined themselves as part of a whole - is really sinking in. And I really appreciate that we get screen time devoted to this. It also looks like the show has found a way to use Hugh Culber that is connected with everyone else's story, not just Paul Stamets', and even how to use last season's return-from-the-dead plot in a way that is useful to him now when trying to help the crew deal. I also like the balance they struck with the resolution; one dinner wasn't going to magically fix everyone, but it was a start, and as Tilly said, they needed both the connecting and the venting.
State of Kayla Dettmer: looks like her story this season has nothing to do with Control, THANK YOU, TPTB. Right now, it looks like it's mostly PTSD, but I'm keeping the "maybe it's also connected to the Burn?" theory in the back of my mind. Anyway - "asking for help is good!" being a theme this season, it was good that Dettmer does just this by the end of the episode. And hooray for Buster Keaton movies as crew cheering up entertainment! (Look, I like silent movies.)
Plot hole being addressed: Paul Stamets as the only one who can use the spore drive really is incredibly risky in a universe where warp drive isn't a safe option anymore to fall back on, and I'm glad that the episode showed Saru, Tilly et all having realised this immediately. I look forward to an eventual alternate solution from Team Science, whose temporary fallout in this episode thankfully was fixed by the time it ended. And btw, first season Tilly with her backstory of maternal put downs would have had a way harder way to deal with Stamets' acting out on her, but not only does she, to quote Peggy Carter, know her worth, but she knows you can argue without this ending the relationship.
Lastly: Saru and his earnest concern for everyone's emotional welfare, not just their physical one, makes me go awww over him all over again.
Firstly, a remark about pronouns: I always try to remain unspoilered. But the one spoiler for Discovery's third season which reached me nonetheless was that there would be a non-binary new character. I assume Adira is said character, but as Adira hasn't on-screen identified as such yet or made preferences clear, I'll refer to "her" as the on screen dialogue still does. This is not out of disrespect but simply because word of God isn't canon, only on screen canon is canon. The moment Adira says something on screen, I'm switching to "they" or "he" or whatever else Adira chooses.
On to the episode content. As a Dax fan of old, I was thrilled we visited Trill again, this time with some exterior shots in addition to the grotto with the symbiont pools. Bring on the alien planets, I say. Two out of three Trill officials acting xenophobic the moment Adira is revealed as the current host of the Tal symbiont did not surprise me; even aside from their current situation, the most notable storyline DS9 did involving symbiont/hosts/Trill politics was the reveal that the symbiosis commissioners tried their best to hush up the discovery that far more Trills were compatible with symbionts than they had assumed. So go figure that they reacted badly when being presented with Adira. Add to this that the Burn actually did kill a lot of symbionts, and yes, bad situation all around.This said, because it's the season of optimism, one Trill is Team Adira (and Team Other Species Could Be The Future in general), and it's back to the pool where last we saw Jadzia find out about her murderous musical predecessor. I must admit I teared up when Adira was greeted by all the previous hosts in her reconnected memories. (BTW, I think it's the right choice NOT to let her symbiont be Dax. Tal as a new symbiont we haven't met means no ties to previous canon and a whole new history for the show to explore, if it wants to.
Adira's immediate pre-joining backstory consisting of the tragic loss of her lover could have made me raise a "must we?" eyebrow, except that said lover, Grey, having been the previous host and Grey now being present as a part of Adira sets up all kind of interesting questions (how a host relates to all those previous memories and personalities and integrates them, or not, was always part of the appeal of the species), and I'm curious as to whether Grey is around as a memory of Tal - i.e. the way, say, Curzon was for Jadzia - or whether the show wants to go with Grey as an actual separate entitity. Or whether this is how Adira becomes non-binary. We'll see. There''s an obvious parallel to Culber/Stamets here, while this episode draws parallels between Adira and Michael, so all these could be interesting relationships to form for Adira.
The show in this season builds on last season's tendency towards more ensemble exploration anyway, which I'm all for. So in addition to the Trill plot, we get one on board Discovery that addresses that now there's no immediate threat and no adrenaline resulting from same, the reality of the massive time jump - that it means, essentially, everyone (not on board the ship) they ever knew and loved is dead, and that they're currently without any support network when most of these people have always defined themselves as part of a whole - is really sinking in. And I really appreciate that we get screen time devoted to this. It also looks like the show has found a way to use Hugh Culber that is connected with everyone else's story, not just Paul Stamets', and even how to use last season's return-from-the-dead plot in a way that is useful to him now when trying to help the crew deal. I also like the balance they struck with the resolution; one dinner wasn't going to magically fix everyone, but it was a start, and as Tilly said, they needed both the connecting and the venting.
State of Kayla Dettmer: looks like her story this season has nothing to do with Control, THANK YOU, TPTB. Right now, it looks like it's mostly PTSD, but I'm keeping the "maybe it's also connected to the Burn?" theory in the back of my mind. Anyway - "asking for help is good!" being a theme this season, it was good that Dettmer does just this by the end of the episode. And hooray for Buster Keaton movies as crew cheering up entertainment! (Look, I like silent movies.)
Plot hole being addressed: Paul Stamets as the only one who can use the spore drive really is incredibly risky in a universe where warp drive isn't a safe option anymore to fall back on, and I'm glad that the episode showed Saru, Tilly et all having realised this immediately. I look forward to an eventual alternate solution from Team Science, whose temporary fallout in this episode thankfully was fixed by the time it ended. And btw, first season Tilly with her backstory of maternal put downs would have had a way harder way to deal with Stamets' acting out on her, but not only does she, to quote Peggy Carter, know her worth, but she knows you can argue without this ending the relationship.
Lastly: Saru and his earnest concern for everyone's emotional welfare, not just their physical one, makes me go awww over him all over again.
no subject
Date: 2020-11-06 07:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-11-07 06:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-11-07 03:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-11-08 09:09 am (UTC)They couldn't have had Dax as the symbiont anyway as the line went into the DS9 future which Discovery has skipped past.
no subject
Date: 2020-11-09 03:30 pm (UTC)Case in point: I must admit I teared up when Adira was greeted by all the previous hosts - I didn't tear up but I sure got chills! None of it was unexpected and it was very clear what the story wanted from me here, but hey, it worked. And yeah, I love having a new Trill character around, too, and appreciated that the Trill part of the episode felt like an extrapolation of previous canon. Not to mention that Michael's big sister vibes with Adira were a great start for that relationship.
the show has found a way to use Hugh Culber that is connected with everyone else's story, not just Paul Stamets', and even how to use last season's return-from-the-dead plot in a way that is useful to him now when trying to help the crew deal
Yes! Very much agree. It's a good character progression for him. That he struggled with his experiences and his talk with Cornwall were highlights of the second season for me, so this felt earned and I loved that he was the one to get the framing words this time. And ditto on Dettmer, the route they went with her - and the whole crew dinner - was what I was hoping for.
Saru and his earnest concern for everyone's emotional welfare
Yeah. I wasn't too happy with the way they told his story last season, but I'm glad they kept this key character trait and keep making it such a big part of who he is as a captain. I feel like he's a very different captain from the ones we've had before, and that he's still learning and even struggling with the role a bit, both of which I like.
no subject
Date: 2020-11-10 06:58 am (UTC)Absolutely, though I'm curious whether now Adira has access to all the memories, this will change - as the symbiont is centuries old. Jadzia and Ezri handled it differently and the show presented them differently - Jadzia generally was a "looks young, but most of the time you can tell she's lived so many lives" type while Ezri not only looked but behaved young most of the time, and like Adira, she got the symbiont through an emergency and without preparation, so on a Watsonian level, I always assumed that was the reason. But it might not have been.
I know whaat you mean about Saru last season, but this season, everything has been great so far.