selenak

DISCO is back, and I forked over the money to Amazon Prime, so I won't have to wait till the evening and Pluto TV.

Given last episode's cliffhanger, this was surprisingly angst light in that we got a casino visit episode, and a cast member joining a wrestling match, and yet somehow, it works. There was even some fleshing out of Tarka with hints that his motivation (a reminder: he wants the energy Species 10 C uses in order to get to a parallel universe) might be connected to A Traumatic Event and/or A Meaningful Promise in his past. But mainly we saw Michael and Joann Owosekun hustle a casino for the greater good, Michael and Book both reinforcing their connection and squaring off, and this episode's shady contact actually remaining ambigious instead of revealing himself evil. I always like it when shows try new character combinations, and Michael & Owosekun on a solo mission together wasn't one we've seen before, so that was very welcome. (It also showed Michael does pay attention to what's going on with her crew and saw the need for Joann to act.) Emerald Chain leftovers trying to get a footing also makes good world building sense, and Michael outthinking Book by anticipating his victory at cards was just done right. Also, in this episode we got more of Admiral Vance than we had for a while, and I appreciate they build on what happened last season by letting him trust Michael now while also letting him do so in a way that works with a loophole instead of contradicting orders, which, as he points out, is just how the President herself acts, too.

Stamets manages to figure out just what Species 10 C is doing with the DMZ - mining, it turns out -, which still doesn't provide answers as to whether or not they know they're killing sentient life while they're at it , and indeed maanages to hammer in how ridiculously out-teched our heroes appear to be, making a diplomatic solution look more urgent than ever. Mind you: if that's how Species 10 C gets their energy, there can't be much left of their original galaxy, which is maybe why they've now turned to others and do know what they're doing. Methinks I spy a real world analogy to how we humans behave towards our planet's natural resources and Third World countries, which would be very Star Trek.

Stamets also manages to talk his husband into less guilt and some leisure time. Still rooting for someone to take over as counsellor from Hugh here, guys. Also: I want Tilly back! The season hiatus, it seems has only reminded me of this.