Star Trek: Discovery 4.04.
Dec. 11th, 2021 09:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakIn which several characters make big decisions.
First of all, noooooooo, you can't take Tilly away from us, show! Even if the way she leaves basically guarantees she'll be back as recurring instead of regular, so yes, I know she's not gone forever, and yes, I'm glad she didn't get hurt or killed but was given a professional departure, so to speak. But: Sylvia Tilly is such a core part of what makes DISCO great! Now I inevitably have to wonder whether this is due to backstage drama. I mean, I heard Mary Wiseman was harrassed by jerks online about her weight, and I really hope it's not for this reason. I usually try to keep away from backstage gossip, not least because it tends to be spoilery, but: has anyone heard something? Or is it that between Adira as the science whiz kid and Saru as the confidant and trusted right hand, the writers felt they've doubled Tilly's original functions with other characters?
`
So much for the Doylist aspect. In-story, Tilly feeling lost this season and seeking for a purpose again has been thematized through several episodes now, and the explanation she gives here - that back in their original time, her determination to become Captain as fast as she could was at least partially fueled by wanting to show her mother, and it's now sunk in that her mother is 900 years dead - accounts for some of it, but (speaking strictly Watsonian now) I think it's more than her mother - it's everything and everyone else (other than the people on Discovery) who are gone. Last year, Tilly was acting First Officer part of the time and thus had way too much to do to stop and think, let it all sink in, so I can buy this as a delayed reaction now that she does have the time.
Giving her an exit episode where she is supposed to do a save training trip with some of the new cadets of the restored Starfleet Academy and it ends up a real dangerous experience which also doubles as one showcasing Tllly's strengths (and providing the cadets with a bonding opportunity) is a tried and true ST trope well executed. I also appreciate the attention to world building, i.e. that these cadets are different from the ones a millennium ago in a key way, that they come from worlds which had been isolated by the Burn and thus are not used to interacting with people from other cultures, that the Emerald Chain's years of exploitation still are huge on everyone's consciousness. And it's the first time in a while that we got some (though only a few) glimpses of the Tal part in Adira, which is a reminder that while Adira is young, Tal is anything but.
Meanwhile in the main plot: the "Ni'var is about the rejoin the Federation when suddenly, a last minute obstacle arises, Michael who is both Federation and Vulcan is the one to figure out a solution" might have been predictable (that's why I was set to call the episode cozy before Tilly's exit, both her trip with the cadets and the diplomatic stalmate/solution were variations on known story patterns, which I don't mean negatively, on the contrary, I meant I liked watching it as an air breather, I felt comfortable with it), but it was very smoothly executed and additionally made me wonder whether someone was inspired by the Brexit Britain/EU relations. (If, you know, not a sleazy liar like Johnson and his minions but actually ethical people were in charge of GB.) Given that the Federation Presidents' objection that you can't cherry pick and "this would allow Ni'Var to have all benefits of membership" without carrying the same duties really sounds familiar. If so, recontextualiszing the Federation from something very obviously US inspired to something EU inspired is an intriguing writers' move.
Said plot also gave us more of the T'Rina, the Vulcan President, showing her befriending Saru to a degree that I wonder whether this is the set up for Saru's first official romance, and Laira Rillek, the Federation President, making that partly Cardassian, partly Bajoran heritage I've read about last week on screen canon and letting her promptly display the Garakian trait of setting the main Starfleet character of the episode (Bashir and Michael Burnham) respectively up to solve the problem instead of asking directly. Since Michael is more experienced than Bashir was early on in DS9, she calls Rillek out on this, but pleasingly not in an aggressive manner, just in a "I know what you did right there" way, and I continue to like what the show is giving us with both Presidents, showing them as different yet both dedicated women. Incidentally, are Bajor and Cardassia now members of the Federation (or rather, were they before the Burn?)
Lastly, Culber continuing to work with Book on his mourning and therapy offers some neat bit of backstory for Culber, and a hint that he's still having some problems of his own and is not all perfect emotional and mental balance. I continue to speculate that Culber won't do double duty as chief medical officer and sole counsellor on Discovery forever, and that Grey, who is currently without a job on the ship, will get the counsellor part of those jobs. (Not that Culber isn't doing great with Book, but come on, this is just too much for one man!)
In conclusion: if it hadn't ended with Tillly accepting David Cronenberg's job offer, I would have said I enjoyed this episode unreservedly.
First of all, noooooooo, you can't take Tilly away from us, show! Even if the way she leaves basically guarantees she'll be back as recurring instead of regular, so yes, I know she's not gone forever, and yes, I'm glad she didn't get hurt or killed but was given a professional departure, so to speak. But: Sylvia Tilly is such a core part of what makes DISCO great! Now I inevitably have to wonder whether this is due to backstage drama. I mean, I heard Mary Wiseman was harrassed by jerks online about her weight, and I really hope it's not for this reason. I usually try to keep away from backstage gossip, not least because it tends to be spoilery, but: has anyone heard something? Or is it that between Adira as the science whiz kid and Saru as the confidant and trusted right hand, the writers felt they've doubled Tilly's original functions with other characters?
`
So much for the Doylist aspect. In-story, Tilly feeling lost this season and seeking for a purpose again has been thematized through several episodes now, and the explanation she gives here - that back in their original time, her determination to become Captain as fast as she could was at least partially fueled by wanting to show her mother, and it's now sunk in that her mother is 900 years dead - accounts for some of it, but (speaking strictly Watsonian now) I think it's more than her mother - it's everything and everyone else (other than the people on Discovery) who are gone. Last year, Tilly was acting First Officer part of the time and thus had way too much to do to stop and think, let it all sink in, so I can buy this as a delayed reaction now that she does have the time.
Giving her an exit episode where she is supposed to do a save training trip with some of the new cadets of the restored Starfleet Academy and it ends up a real dangerous experience which also doubles as one showcasing Tllly's strengths (and providing the cadets with a bonding opportunity) is a tried and true ST trope well executed. I also appreciate the attention to world building, i.e. that these cadets are different from the ones a millennium ago in a key way, that they come from worlds which had been isolated by the Burn and thus are not used to interacting with people from other cultures, that the Emerald Chain's years of exploitation still are huge on everyone's consciousness. And it's the first time in a while that we got some (though only a few) glimpses of the Tal part in Adira, which is a reminder that while Adira is young, Tal is anything but.
Meanwhile in the main plot: the "Ni'var is about the rejoin the Federation when suddenly, a last minute obstacle arises, Michael who is both Federation and Vulcan is the one to figure out a solution" might have been predictable (that's why I was set to call the episode cozy before Tilly's exit, both her trip with the cadets and the diplomatic stalmate/solution were variations on known story patterns, which I don't mean negatively, on the contrary, I meant I liked watching it as an air breather, I felt comfortable with it), but it was very smoothly executed and additionally made me wonder whether someone was inspired by the Brexit Britain/EU relations. (If, you know, not a sleazy liar like Johnson and his minions but actually ethical people were in charge of GB.) Given that the Federation Presidents' objection that you can't cherry pick and "this would allow Ni'Var to have all benefits of membership" without carrying the same duties really sounds familiar. If so, recontextualiszing the Federation from something very obviously US inspired to something EU inspired is an intriguing writers' move.
Said plot also gave us more of the T'Rina, the Vulcan President, showing her befriending Saru to a degree that I wonder whether this is the set up for Saru's first official romance, and Laira Rillek, the Federation President, making that partly Cardassian, partly Bajoran heritage I've read about last week on screen canon and letting her promptly display the Garakian trait of setting the main Starfleet character of the episode (Bashir and Michael Burnham) respectively up to solve the problem instead of asking directly. Since Michael is more experienced than Bashir was early on in DS9, she calls Rillek out on this, but pleasingly not in an aggressive manner, just in a "I know what you did right there" way, and I continue to like what the show is giving us with both Presidents, showing them as different yet both dedicated women. Incidentally, are Bajor and Cardassia now members of the Federation (or rather, were they before the Burn?)
Lastly, Culber continuing to work with Book on his mourning and therapy offers some neat bit of backstory for Culber, and a hint that he's still having some problems of his own and is not all perfect emotional and mental balance. I continue to speculate that Culber won't do double duty as chief medical officer and sole counsellor on Discovery forever, and that Grey, who is currently without a job on the ship, will get the counsellor part of those jobs. (Not that Culber isn't doing great with Book, but come on, this is just too much for one man!)
In conclusion: if it hadn't ended with Tillly accepting David Cronenberg's job offer, I would have said I enjoyed this episode unreservedly.
no subject
Date: 2021-12-11 09:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-12-12 08:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-12-13 03:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-12-11 09:34 pm (UTC)I'm kind of like ... this is a good narrative choice that makes a lot of sense for Tilly, and I'm actually glad that someone has decided to leave the 23rd century bubble and integrate more with the 32nd. AND YET I hate losing Tilly, and I hate that it means we've lost half our female regulars in one swoop.
no subject
Date: 2021-12-12 09:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-12-13 03:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-12-12 11:10 am (UTC)You know, while I'm quite happy with the diplomatic solution that was found to allow Ni'Var to rejoin the Federation, my immediate gut reaction to T'Rina's demands was "What does the Vulcan science academy suspect about the gravitational anomaly that the others haven't found out yet?"
(I'm mostly basing this assumption on the mindmelt scene between T'Rina and Book in the previous episode, because to me it appeared as if at least for a split second T'Rina clearly had glimpsed something, but wasn't willing to share.)
Laira Rillek, the Federation President, making that partly Cardassian, partly Bajoran heritage
The actress is doing a phenomenal job, isn't she? I just love how her body language comes across as rather Cardassian, her neck movements, the way she is holding herself...
no subject
Date: 2021-12-12 11:23 am (UTC)I hadn't thought of that, but that would have been a fascinating (ahem) twist. Also, I'm suddenly reminded of how Sisko stopped Bajor from joining the Federation due to having had a Prophet revelation, and then it turned out there was an actual good reason for that (the coming Second Occupation in which Bajor not being a Federation planet was to the advantage of Bajor).
The actress is doing a phenomenal job, isn't she? I just love how her body language comes across as rather Cardassian, her neck movements, the way she is holding herself...
Yes, and at the same time, her clothing has echoes of the robes the Kais on Bajor used to wear. Given that most of the Cardassians the show(s) individualized and made recurring were male, I've been longing for a layered female Cardassian for a while. (Back in the day in s1 of Voyager I was hoping Seska would be, but alas, they went the one dimensional supervillain road with her instead.) And I'm so glad the Cardassians, after not showing up on Enterprise, the reboot movies, and the first three seasons of Discovery (and the first of Picard) are finally making a (partial) comeback!