DIS: Vaulting Ambition

     This episode hit like a hammer the first time I saw it. Sure there had been hints about there being something wrong with Lorca, but I think the Ash Tyler/Voq situation had me distracted enough the first time that the Lorca thing kinda came out of left field. Revealing his eye problem to have been there as a give away from the beginning is probably my favorite part. It didn't surprise me this time of course, but it was still a solid episode.

    Lots of Stamets running around in the mycelial network and finding the mirror version of himself. Burnham delivers Lorca to the emperor and gets the worst dinner ever. Then to save herself from execution she reveals the truth, that she is from a different universe. Fortunately the emperor is aware of the multiverse and doesn't her people to have anything to do with it. Stamets finds out that mirror him is what is damaging the network, and Burnham figures out that her Lorca is actually mirror Lorca just as he escapes.

    A nice, fast episode. I kinda skipped the C story, but it mostly resolves the Voq situation, but presumably Tyler is still all messed up. I think the shortness of this episode may have robbed it of a higher score, but it is a great pay off and then setup episode all in one.

8 out of 10

DIS: The Wolf Inside

     The Voq/Tyler thing was hinted so hard earlier that it wasn't exactly a shock when it was revealed this episode. I wonder if it would have worked better if we saw less from outside Burnham's perspective though since it is clearly a shock to her. The Georgiou as Emperor thing was really cool even this time though. The shock on Burnham's face would probably have given away to the Emperor that something really odd was going on, but my recollection is she isn't aware of the mirror universe at this point.

    We are really starting to move the story forward this episode. Burnham gets assigned the job of killing the head of the resistance but instead beams down to meet with them. The Sarek mind meld thing was really cool and is presumably the entire reason they wrote her character to be his adopted daughter from the beginning. The Voq/Tyler/Voq interaction was less interesting and it isn't clear to me why he would stop at all. I mean, I understand why mirror Voq does what he does, but prime Voq seems kinda out of character. Fortunately we largely resolve that storyline in time for the next big jump. That is something I really appreciate about this season of Disco is they do a great job spreading the pay off out instead of doing it all in the last two or so episodes. 

    My comments above probably make it clear that I think this is a better than its immediate peers type episode. Not perfect, but some memorable moments and it has Michelle Yeoh so that is definitely worth a point more than the previous one.

7 out of 10

DIS: Despite Yourself

     Second review I am writing today since and fell behind! If I try to get moving again there may even be a third one tonight! I think the Discovery version of the mirror universe captures its danger in a way the DS9 strangely did not. The DS9 mirror universe always felt kinda mustache twirly if you know what I mean. This version feels like you could get stabbed or tortured to death at any time in a really brutal way.

    Tyler keeps getting worse as they try to figure out what happened. He gets sent to retrieve a Klingon data core and runs into bodies and starts losing it. But fortunately they are just a bunch of Andorians and Vulcans so it's no big deal. The data core lets Burnham figure out basically everything about the mirror universe which she picks up fast, but no one seems to learn faster than Lorca who is a natural. He has a plan to capture the Shenzhou to just get some data allegedly, but clearly he is there for some more complicated plot. Tilly gets to become captain Killy which is fun. Before they leave Tyler snaps and kills Culber in front of a semi-catatonic Stamets which sucks. Burnham has to kill a guy who looks and sounds exactly like one of the bridge officers from her time on the Shenzhou, but this gets her accepted as the new captain no questions asked. 

    Short summary, but another good middle episode that mostly works to push towards the exciting conclusion. Not a bad episode, but with the surprises spoiled for me it is actually less exciting than the first time around.

6 out of 10

DIS: Into the Forest I Go

     Finally a middle episode that also contains some conclusions bits! The Klingon war is all but solved. And finally some of the strange stuff about spore jumping pays off, in the last 20 seconds of the episode! But still overall decent episode. I admit I got behind on my reviews and watched the next episode before writing this review, but I settled on my score at the time.

    Lorca is up to his usual ignoring Starfleet game and decides they have to save a peaceful species they messed around with last episode to save the war or something. But he at least pretends to follow the order to return to the star base. Lorca has a plan to analyze the Klingon cloak by doing a bunch of spore jumps around it to gather data, but this will be brutal on Stamets who is already suffering. Lorca reveals he has plans for the multiverse with the data they gather to Stamets and he can't resist the temptation. Burnham and Tyler get sent to plant the probes on the Klingon ship of death while Disco bobs and weaves. The first one goes fine, but Tyler goes full PTSD and has to be talked down by a badly injured admiral Cornwall while Burnham plants the other probe. 

    She has to do so distracting while the data gets gathered and ends up getting Georgiou's badge back from Kol just as she, Tyler and Cornwall are beamed to safety. They blow the hell out of the ship of death presumably killing Kol and warp away. Lorca congratulates a shaken Stamets in the shuttle bay and nudges him into one last jump. Just before they jump Lorca hits an override button and something goes wrong with the jump. Instead of the starbase the only see rubble, Klingon rubble!

    A good, but not super memorable episode. The Burnham fight while Discovery jumps around and Stamets almost dies is definitely the highlight of the episode. 

7 out of 10

DIS: Si Vis Pacen, Para Bellum

     It is partly a letdown from the previous episode, and partly that the Klingon war ends up not being the most interesting part of this season that leads to this episode not being the strongest so far. Not terrible or anything, but it really feels like a middle episode. Lots of moving storylines forward, but other than defending Pahvo, I am not really sure how they helped the war effort that much. The best scene is definitely the battle at the beginning which isn't exactly ideal.

    We start with an intense space battle against the Klingons which is going poorly. So poorly that they lose the ship they are there to defend and barely escape with their lives. The Klingons are using cloaking tech to full advantage. Star fleet has a plan to stop them by tuning some sort of natural crystal to somehow give away the Klingon position. It is up to Burnham, Saru and Tyler to get it done. Saru at first hates the planet, but gets his mind influenced but the creatures that live there and suddenly he is in full peace mode. Back with the Klingons L'Rel ends up killing the captured admiral from a few episodes while trying to help her escape and learns Kol is even more evil than she thought. She decides to destroy him by pledging her loyalty to him. Back on Pahvo we get a few good scenes, but in the end Burnham has to shoot Saru and they think they have won, but instead it just invites the Klingons over for tea or something.

    I made my feelings pretty clear at the top. These middle of the season episodes are where Discovery is at its best and worst depending on how wild the decide to go. This one could have been a lot more wild.

5 out of 10

DIS: Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad

     Woo! Not sick anymore! Still worn out, but feeling world better than last weekend. On a related note I will definitely miss some days on these reviews, but in general I am going to still aim for once a day. The episode tonight was one of my favorites on the first watching and it is still really good this time. The rare semi-bottle episode that still manages to push the Burnham/Tyler romance forward. We are halfway through the first season and getting close to the point where we learn why the thing Lorca has wanted more than anything is to keep Michael Burnham alive. She has believed up to this point that he just wanted her because she is smart and maybe willing to cross ethical lines, but he has all sorts of reasons of his own. 

    This is an amazing time loop episode that would almost be silly to summarize, but basically Mudd traps them all in a 30 minute time loop to try and steal the ship. Stamets somehow can remember events from across the loop like Mudd can though and teaches Burnham and Tyler to love and also saves the day in the end by outsmarting Mudd. Just watch this one. You wont regret it.

    

    Yes, I am a sucker for time shenanigan stories, but this is a really good one. It is such a Discovery story in that it focuses hard on just its main characters, but manages to tell an interesting, clever and also heartfelt story that I just love.

9 out of 10

DIS: Lethe

     This was a good episode, but I am not feeling well. 

7 out of 10