Star Trek: Discovery 3.13
Jan. 8th, 2021 07:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakThird season finale. Now with the previous two seasons, I had liked the seasons in totem but not to much their respective finales. This time, though, with one major caveat, I liked the finale as well, and thus am even more looking forward to season 4.
Now, to get the caveat out of the way since I like to end on a positive note: while Saru taking a leave of absence to help Su'kal adjust makes complete in-story sense (he's the one whom Su'kal trusts and has bonded with, just handing him over to someone else after a century of Su'kal living only with holograms would be completely irresponsible), on a Doylist level it feels part of a cheat to get the writers out of the dilemma of having shown Saru as an excellent Captain the first part of the season, while Michael is shown more comfortable with a lone (or small team) trouble shooter kind of thing, when they evidently still wanted to end the season with Michael ascending to the Captaincy. The other part of the cheat comes in the first of the final three episodes when Saru is "emotionally compromised" re: the Kelpiens in distress whicih gives Michael the chance to make a tough call; given Michael's has been shown acting on her attachments not just in this season but also in the previous one when it comes to rescue missions, this is a bit rich.
This said, Michael's overall arc has been towards becoming Captain eventually from the start, and as long as Saru hasn't left the show (I fully expect season 4 not to start immediately after s3, because unlike with s2-s3 there is no cliffhanger to resolve, and thus a year or more can have passed when we met our heroes again), I'm good. All the more so since I liked everything else, plus it will be interesting to see whether Michael is able to delegate to others now that she's Captain, and how she deals with disagreeing crew members wanting to go on their own missions then. (Also, of course the last three episodes did show her able to strike a balance between the needs of the many and the few, prioritizing the former in her action re: Stamets, for example, but also when Osyraa tries to blackmail her by using Book.
Last season's finale suffered, among other things, from offering way too much action and special effects. Here, there was action as well, but it was balanced by character scenes, and because of that the action itself was affecting as well. The bridge crew fighting their way to the nacelles and Joann keeping conscious just long enough to accomplish the mission was moving the episode took the time to show her and Keyla interacting throughout, showed us Tilly and Michael communicating through a cryptic sentence why they could because they have created the moving memory that sentence draws on together.
Same thing with the Su'Kal subplot: "will our heroes get Su'kal to deactivate the holodeck in time before everyone dies of radioactive poison? could have been suspenseless (no way the show is going to kill off Culber again, among other things), but was instead incredibly emotional because of how Saru managed to get through to Su'kal and how his own story as the first Kelpien to leave Keminar plays into it; the holodock isn't just a gimmick but gains additional emotional weight when it recognizes Grey and makes him visible to people not Adira for the first time. (Thus settling once and for all Grey really is around, not just a projection of Adira's psyche.) Hugh Culber's reaction isn't generic, it's specific to Culber who, like Grey has been dead and unable to touch any non-spore sentient being for eons before being found again, and that makes the difference. (For me, personally, it also changed Grey from "Adira's love interest" to a character in his own right; now I'm rooting for our heroes to find a way of making him permanently visible - and tangible - again.)
And then there's Vance, and Starfleet in general. For a show still accused (mostly by people who haven't watched beyond the first few episodes of s1, I suspect) of being too dark, Discovery actually offers arguably the most optimistic, positive presentation of Starfleet. It chucks away the standard Trek trope of the regular crew plus Captain coming across as the sole great Starfleet people while everyone else are (if higher ranked) obstuctive beaurocrats, or (if lower ranked) canon fodder. Not to mention the occasional mad or at least jealous rival Captain. When Sisko in DS9 says the much quoted "It's easy to be a saint in paradise", it was an observation of the early 90s, and then was necessary. But these are different viewing times. And this Starfleet doesn't exist in paradise but in a situation hanging on its metaphorical finger nails when our heroes show up. It's still presented as an organisation driven by ideals, working to help people, open to compromises, yes, but not a compromise of core beliefs (this made the Vance and Osyraa negotiations so good last week). And the very first future Starfleet member we saw this season holding his lonely watch shows up again in this finale with such joy - not since the Tardigrade have I cared about someone's suffering and joy so much who was only in two episodes with even there limited screen time.
It's also why to me the happy ending felt deserved. Yes, reestablishing intergalactic travel on a big scale doesn't solve every problem, but that's just the mechanical part of it; we've seen our characters reach out and connect to other people and planets through the season, and this started the coming together again process before the "Burn" problem was solved.
I'm also on board with Osyraa's ending. She was a good villain, and my Woundwort-and-Hazel comparison from last week came to mind again when I watched the finale today. Like Woundwort, she can see the alternative, she has the ability, but ultimately the drive to power and her ego is strongest in her, and thus she ends up as a tyrant instead of a true visionary, ends up losing her crew and the fight. I thought Aurellio would play a role in defeating her (after the predictable disillusionment), but him figuring out at long last a way to use the spore drive without Stamets so Discovery can make it back to Saru et al in time was less predictable and better.
Lastly, trivia: I think every incarnation of Trek featured warp core ejections, but this particular pov filming is new? And: how come we didn't get a single shot of Grudge in this finale?
All in all, like I said: a good finale for a good season (save that one caveat). Moving the setting from pre TOS to the unchartered future really paid off in spades, and the big threads - "what caused the Burn?", "finding the Federation/finding our place in the future", "healing and rebuilding" - all were developed throughout the season. I'm proud of you, show.
Now, to get the caveat out of the way since I like to end on a positive note: while Saru taking a leave of absence to help Su'kal adjust makes complete in-story sense (he's the one whom Su'kal trusts and has bonded with, just handing him over to someone else after a century of Su'kal living only with holograms would be completely irresponsible), on a Doylist level it feels part of a cheat to get the writers out of the dilemma of having shown Saru as an excellent Captain the first part of the season, while Michael is shown more comfortable with a lone (or small team) trouble shooter kind of thing, when they evidently still wanted to end the season with Michael ascending to the Captaincy. The other part of the cheat comes in the first of the final three episodes when Saru is "emotionally compromised" re: the Kelpiens in distress whicih gives Michael the chance to make a tough call; given Michael's has been shown acting on her attachments not just in this season but also in the previous one when it comes to rescue missions, this is a bit rich.
This said, Michael's overall arc has been towards becoming Captain eventually from the start, and as long as Saru hasn't left the show (I fully expect season 4 not to start immediately after s3, because unlike with s2-s3 there is no cliffhanger to resolve, and thus a year or more can have passed when we met our heroes again), I'm good. All the more so since I liked everything else, plus it will be interesting to see whether Michael is able to delegate to others now that she's Captain, and how she deals with disagreeing crew members wanting to go on their own missions then. (Also, of course the last three episodes did show her able to strike a balance between the needs of the many and the few, prioritizing the former in her action re: Stamets, for example, but also when Osyraa tries to blackmail her by using Book.
Last season's finale suffered, among other things, from offering way too much action and special effects. Here, there was action as well, but it was balanced by character scenes, and because of that the action itself was affecting as well. The bridge crew fighting their way to the nacelles and Joann keeping conscious just long enough to accomplish the mission was moving the episode took the time to show her and Keyla interacting throughout, showed us Tilly and Michael communicating through a cryptic sentence why they could because they have created the moving memory that sentence draws on together.
Same thing with the Su'Kal subplot: "will our heroes get Su'kal to deactivate the holodeck in time before everyone dies of radioactive poison? could have been suspenseless (no way the show is going to kill off Culber again, among other things), but was instead incredibly emotional because of how Saru managed to get through to Su'kal and how his own story as the first Kelpien to leave Keminar plays into it; the holodock isn't just a gimmick but gains additional emotional weight when it recognizes Grey and makes him visible to people not Adira for the first time. (Thus settling once and for all Grey really is around, not just a projection of Adira's psyche.) Hugh Culber's reaction isn't generic, it's specific to Culber who, like Grey has been dead and unable to touch any non-spore sentient being for eons before being found again, and that makes the difference. (For me, personally, it also changed Grey from "Adira's love interest" to a character in his own right; now I'm rooting for our heroes to find a way of making him permanently visible - and tangible - again.)
And then there's Vance, and Starfleet in general. For a show still accused (mostly by people who haven't watched beyond the first few episodes of s1, I suspect) of being too dark, Discovery actually offers arguably the most optimistic, positive presentation of Starfleet. It chucks away the standard Trek trope of the regular crew plus Captain coming across as the sole great Starfleet people while everyone else are (if higher ranked) obstuctive beaurocrats, or (if lower ranked) canon fodder. Not to mention the occasional mad or at least jealous rival Captain. When Sisko in DS9 says the much quoted "It's easy to be a saint in paradise", it was an observation of the early 90s, and then was necessary. But these are different viewing times. And this Starfleet doesn't exist in paradise but in a situation hanging on its metaphorical finger nails when our heroes show up. It's still presented as an organisation driven by ideals, working to help people, open to compromises, yes, but not a compromise of core beliefs (this made the Vance and Osyraa negotiations so good last week). And the very first future Starfleet member we saw this season holding his lonely watch shows up again in this finale with such joy - not since the Tardigrade have I cared about someone's suffering and joy so much who was only in two episodes with even there limited screen time.
It's also why to me the happy ending felt deserved. Yes, reestablishing intergalactic travel on a big scale doesn't solve every problem, but that's just the mechanical part of it; we've seen our characters reach out and connect to other people and planets through the season, and this started the coming together again process before the "Burn" problem was solved.
I'm also on board with Osyraa's ending. She was a good villain, and my Woundwort-and-Hazel comparison from last week came to mind again when I watched the finale today. Like Woundwort, she can see the alternative, she has the ability, but ultimately the drive to power and her ego is strongest in her, and thus she ends up as a tyrant instead of a true visionary, ends up losing her crew and the fight. I thought Aurellio would play a role in defeating her (after the predictable disillusionment), but him figuring out at long last a way to use the spore drive without Stamets so Discovery can make it back to Saru et al in time was less predictable and better.
Lastly, trivia: I think every incarnation of Trek featured warp core ejections, but this particular pov filming is new? And: how come we didn't get a single shot of Grudge in this finale?
All in all, like I said: a good finale for a good season (save that one caveat). Moving the setting from pre TOS to the unchartered future really paid off in spades, and the big threads - "what caused the Burn?", "finding the Federation/finding our place in the future", "healing and rebuilding" - all were developed throughout the season. I'm proud of you, show.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-08 07:18 pm (UTC)ITA with your caveat -- it's been obvious they have been wanting Captain Burnham since the very first ep of the show, and I think they maybe had the problem where Saru and Tilly both organically became better leader material as the show went on. But Michael has always been the hero-protagonist-soul of the show (she actually became one with Discovery!). (Maybe Saru will be a new high-level diplomat? He'd be great at it.) And she is my fave, so I am fine with it, lol. I remember exclaiming to T during the premiere when she was escaping early on, "She's the Kirk!" and it's great seeing that in a woman character, a lead woman character, who's the CAPTAIN. (I'm also very happy she has a great hottie partner because the thing US TV always does with the Strong Woman is either unsex her, or give her a tragic love life. Sometimes both.)
Personally, Stamets vowing to make Gray visible again to everybody was very moving for me, especially given the casting of those actors. (Okay fine, I cried)
no subject
Date: 2021-01-10 09:49 am (UTC)Really the opposite, and I'm baffled on both counts. I mean, not that you can't critique the show for other reasons, but a) it's not darker than either DS9 or Enterprise, and b), it's the most pro-Federation show since TNG.
. I'm also very happy she has a great hottie partner because the thing US TV always does with the Strong Woman is either unsex her, or give her a tragic love life. Sometimes both.
Quite. And Michael already did the tragic love story with Ash, we really don't need it twice. This season in general did a good job of selling me on her and Book as partners who trust each other, are good for each other and have chemistry. The episode where they actually kiss for the first time didn't quite work for me, but the rest of the season's treatment of them as a couple did.
I didn't cry, but I was deeply touched during the vow scene as well.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-08 10:16 pm (UTC)On the other hand she makes a very good and resourceful Commander of an away team, and I suspect she should have been kept in that action-orientated role, with the Captain and crew of Discovery basically as the support team. [It is perfectly acceptable not to be suited for a position and still be extremely valued in Star Fleet. However I suspect the modern perspective of status from hierarchy is making itself felt here, which I feel is rather alien to Roddenberry's vision for Star Fleet.]
Together it made for a very unsatisfactory conclusion to what was otherwise a most excellent season of the show. At least for me.
But time will perforce tell. Until next season.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-09 11:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-01-10 09:54 am (UTC)This said, I agree, as you could see from my post, that Michael becoming Captain (a different thing from taking command in a battle situation) felt forced within the last three episodes.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-10 01:14 pm (UTC)The "sudden cowardice" refers to the act of Tilly giving up the command of Discovery to Burman, especially since she had proven herself to not only be brave, but to be a competent leader. I suspect that the exact words are my military heritage showing, which really doesn't look well on officers unilaterally abandoning their responsibilities in such a cavalier manner. Especially since she had done such an excellent job so far, and in particular exhibited the attitude, responsibility, and leadership that you really do want from your command officers, even if she lacks experience. But it's not her fault - it's entirely on the writers room. And it's just something that isn't done. Especially in a dangerous situation, because you really don't want any confusion in command. On the other hand having Burman advise her works contextually to the same effect, and allows her to save the day and be the hero of the piece, but does not achieve the writer's objective of putting her in the chair for the future.
I really cannot stress how unsuited I feel the character of Burman is for command, especially for the role of captain. And I don't really think her fundamental character can be rehabilitated in order to make it so. Especially since she has spent three seasons effectively being destructive of good leadership (admittedly for the sake of drama). Again, blame the writer's room for building her that way.
On the other hand she does have the sort of independent qualities you do want for the commander of a small commando unit of problem-solvers. It would definitely harness her best qualities and put them into good use, keep the show action orientated and interacting strongly with the reformation of the Federation, and maintain the small active cast you want in a TV series. But it would lack the mystique attached to the rank of captain, like the previous series leads were.
Which really is why TNG introduced the concept of Away Teams, because the captain shouldn't leave her ship.
Oh well. My apologies for my vehemence but I really didn't like this ending to an excellent season. Still we shall have to wait and see wear season four takes us.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-09 08:19 pm (UTC)*I really enjoyed that experience, going from weird to utterly fascinating, just as much as the moment in the finale when the holo is turned off and he's suddenly Saru, familiar and as we know him again.
As for the season, I enjoyed it immensely despite seeing the flaws, which was kind of weird and fascinating, too. The jump into the future definitely helped, I agree.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-10 09:56 am (UTC)My feelings precisely. Doug Jones reassuringly tweeted he's busy filming s4, and as long as Saru is still part of the regular team, I'm curious to find out about what's in store for him.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-09 11:35 pm (UTC)BTW, I've always wondered who's on the bridge in the off shift(s). We never see anyone else, but that's true for all ST series. Autopilot?
no subject
Date: 2021-01-10 10:22 am (UTC)I really, honestly don't understand this claim. Firstly, Discovery was not darker than DS9. Secondly, it was way more optimistic even in its darkest season, s1. In DS9, Starfleet command sanctioned a genocide during the Dominion war and went through with it (biological weapon to wipe out the Founders), and the sole reason why it didn't work was because of Bashir finding a cure for Odo. There was no indication that the fact they'd gone this far in war caused any kind of self reflection. Whereas when Starfleet command sanctioned the bombing/destruction of Kronos at the end of s1 near the end of the Klingon war and at a time when Earth itself was under threat (which it hadn't been in the Dominion war), our heroes not only war against this themselves (which they also were on DS9) but convinced Admiral Cornwell this was wrong and that it was worth keeping to the ethical path instead. Their gamble to negotiate with an enemy (L'Rell) instead and trust her to keep her word paid off. And there was plenty of self reflection in Starfleet afterwards about what they had almost done.
As for humor, again, even in s1, the darkest season, there was humor; the episode Magic makes the sanest man go mad (which I think was 1.05) was a showcase in point. Even the Mirrorverse episodes had it (Lorca playing the Engineer with a Scottish accent, Tilly doing her "Captain Killy" impersonation). S2 - which was in general lighter - had Tilly going on inadvertent babble about Pike right in the season opener and Pike taking it with good good grace (and humor), and said opener also introduced Jet Reno who snarked even when almost dying just before her rescue. Now I actually had a problem with how Emperor Georgiou in s2 at times only seemed to be there to provide quips, given what she'd done in the past, but those quips were admittedly funny. The show also consistently showed how trusting people instead of being cynical (or falsely wishing to protect others by doing all on your own) and only trusting yourself paid off - Pike's decision to trust the engineer with the truth on the religous planet being one case in point, also in general Spock and Michael's relationship repairing, Gabrielle Burnham opening up not only to her daughter but Georgiou, Pike gaining the time crystal not by force or trickery but honoring the Klingons who guarded it and putting his own life on the line, and so forth. What we saw did, in fact, make Starfleet as an organisation look way more attractive than TOS had done, where Admirals were presented to be there only to obstruct, and other Captains usually were Up To No Good. By contrast, Pike taking over command at the start of s2 was done while also respecting Saru and by not taking it for granted the Lorca-damaged crew would trust him, but by earning their trust through his kindness and openness to their imput. Conversely, when Cornwell came on board he had no problem deferring to her as the superior commander.
I'm not saying you can't critique ST: Discovery on other grounds. But specifically "too dark" or "no optimism" just is not born out by the facts.
Off shifts: actually, Data's Day on TNG gives us a sequence where Data - who was an android doesn't need sleep - is in command of the bridge during such a shift, and the rest of the people there are all actors the audience is unfamiliar with.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-10 10:11 pm (UTC)Off-topic: they can stop already with the stupid rotating camera work, Starting a scene upside-down might disorient once, but doing it for so many is just bloody annoying. It reminds us there's a fourth wall and I like to forget it.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-17 07:43 pm (UTC)As to the supposed darkness of this show, I don’t know what people might be watching to think that. This crew, and this set of writers, is more into the Federation and Starfleet than any others and that is one reason why this show is so resonant with me. Burnham herself basically bleeds Starfleet. It’s inspiring and hopeful, and as an American, it is just the antidote my people need in the age of Trump - a government, an establishment that we can be proud of. That Vance turned out to be just a guy and not an incompetent or a super-villain, was perfect.
I love this show.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-18 07:15 am (UTC)