Star Trek: Discovery 4.03.
Dec. 4th, 2021 09:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakIn which context may not be for kings, but it's certainly relevant, despite not undoing anything.
One of the most interesting aspects of this episode to me was seeing Ni'var , post reunification Vulcan-Romulan culture, in action. So on the one hand there's the subplot involving the Romulan-originated Qowat Milat, on the other hand we get the Vulcan-based science institute complete with meditation and a mind-meld scene, the first since the ones Sarek performend in s1, I think. But the two aren't separate; T'Rina, the President of Vulcan, connects both subplots. The way she asks for the rogue Sister of the Quowat Milat to be handled by Ni'var is a far cry from the high handed arrogance such a request, or rather, demand, would have been made centuries back, and her conversation with Book about why Vulcans choose to follow logic, that this has nothing to do with not having emotions, is very much that of a post Spock Vulcan, too.
I also like that the final scene keeps the episode's solution from feeling too pat and glib. Yes, the rogue Quowat Milat had a good reason, but a man is still dead, and that's on her. (Also, even if she didn't want to inform all and sundry of the existence of the people she needed to save by making an official request, which is understandable given the Emerald Chain is hardly the only crime syndicate out there, she could have told some of her sisters, and found a way to avoid this death.
At the same time, I appreciate that Michael's quick assumption that the (Federation) President needed the reminder of the dead man was shown to be false when Laira Rillak turned out to know the names of both his sons. BTW, when I googled how to spell her name I discovered that the new Federation President has Bajoran, Cardassian and human heritage. (I'd been wondering which people she's supposed to be from.) Which I think is a great choice. After all, we're 900 years into the future, and other than the last post Burn century which had disrupted and inhibited space travel severely, there must have been constant interaction. It would make sense if "hybrids" aren't a rare exception anymore but that there are a lot of beings with ancestry to several people around. I'm now even more intrigued by the character.
Of the various subplots, Adira waiting for Grey to wake up in his new body was the least interesting one, though I'm glad it happened, and it offered Hugh Culber the chance to continue proving himself a fabulous doctor/counsellor/adoptive Dad. Though honestly, being Doctor and Counsellor is a bit much, so here's my current speculation: Grey will take over Counsellor duties.
Tilly and Michael on a mission together made me realise how long it's been (I guess the writers realised, too), though while I enjoyed her part here, the whole thing felt a bit regressive in that Tilly acts here as if it was still s1 or early s2, compared to how she handled herself last season. For now, I'm prepared to handwave since she's in a depression crisis (which she's getting out of). Speaking of people getting out of a crisis, Book experiencing the mindmeld and looking at his memory as healing and helping him in his grief really resonated with me due to the actor's performance, and the final scene between him and Michael, with the holographic trees above them, also showed them as a supportive couple in a quiet way that compliments their usual battle couple style. Crossing my fingers that the writers keep them together instead of inserting artificial angst. (Can you tell I recently finished my Farscape rewatch?)
We're not further in discovering what the Anomaly is, only what it isn't, but that's to be expected this early in the season.
One of the most interesting aspects of this episode to me was seeing Ni'var , post reunification Vulcan-Romulan culture, in action. So on the one hand there's the subplot involving the Romulan-originated Qowat Milat, on the other hand we get the Vulcan-based science institute complete with meditation and a mind-meld scene, the first since the ones Sarek performend in s1, I think. But the two aren't separate; T'Rina, the President of Vulcan, connects both subplots. The way she asks for the rogue Sister of the Quowat Milat to be handled by Ni'var is a far cry from the high handed arrogance such a request, or rather, demand, would have been made centuries back, and her conversation with Book about why Vulcans choose to follow logic, that this has nothing to do with not having emotions, is very much that of a post Spock Vulcan, too.
I also like that the final scene keeps the episode's solution from feeling too pat and glib. Yes, the rogue Quowat Milat had a good reason, but a man is still dead, and that's on her. (Also, even if she didn't want to inform all and sundry of the existence of the people she needed to save by making an official request, which is understandable given the Emerald Chain is hardly the only crime syndicate out there, she could have told some of her sisters, and found a way to avoid this death.
At the same time, I appreciate that Michael's quick assumption that the (Federation) President needed the reminder of the dead man was shown to be false when Laira Rillak turned out to know the names of both his sons. BTW, when I googled how to spell her name I discovered that the new Federation President has Bajoran, Cardassian and human heritage. (I'd been wondering which people she's supposed to be from.) Which I think is a great choice. After all, we're 900 years into the future, and other than the last post Burn century which had disrupted and inhibited space travel severely, there must have been constant interaction. It would make sense if "hybrids" aren't a rare exception anymore but that there are a lot of beings with ancestry to several people around. I'm now even more intrigued by the character.
Of the various subplots, Adira waiting for Grey to wake up in his new body was the least interesting one, though I'm glad it happened, and it offered Hugh Culber the chance to continue proving himself a fabulous doctor/counsellor/adoptive Dad. Though honestly, being Doctor and Counsellor is a bit much, so here's my current speculation: Grey will take over Counsellor duties.
Tilly and Michael on a mission together made me realise how long it's been (I guess the writers realised, too), though while I enjoyed her part here, the whole thing felt a bit regressive in that Tilly acts here as if it was still s1 or early s2, compared to how she handled herself last season. For now, I'm prepared to handwave since she's in a depression crisis (which she's getting out of). Speaking of people getting out of a crisis, Book experiencing the mindmeld and looking at his memory as healing and helping him in his grief really resonated with me due to the actor's performance, and the final scene between him and Michael, with the holographic trees above them, also showed them as a supportive couple in a quiet way that compliments their usual battle couple style. Crossing my fingers that the writers keep them together instead of inserting artificial angst. (Can you tell I recently finished my Farscape rewatch?)
We're not further in discovering what the Anomaly is, only what it isn't, but that's to be expected this early in the season.
