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

DIS: Choose Your Pain

     Ok, still enjoying things, and there are parts of this episode that are great. Especially the Burnham parts. But the Klingon prison bits dragged a bit for me. Not terrible, and I know where some of it is leading, but not my favorite parts of the show so far. I do look forward to the Mudd episode, but he was weaker in this introduction that I remembered. Without ruining this totally for someone who might be watching along, but Tyler's secret seems pretty obvious in hindsight.

    We open with Burnham having a nightmare about being the tardigrade in the spore box getting tortured. She brings her concerns about the suffering it is really experiencing to Culber who initially is skeptical, but willing to listen and figures out quickly she is right. Lorca is at a command meeting and gets chewed out for being good at war or something and as a bonus reward gets kidnapped by Klingons on his way home. The race is one to try and torture Lorca for info on the spore drive while Burnham tries to convince Saru not to kill the tardigrade by trying to jump to much. Lorca gets tortured, gets mad at Mudd and finally escapes with the totally not shady Tyler. They jump with the tardigrade once, but it shrivels up and will die if they revive it, but to escape with the captain they need one more jump so Stamets gives himself an injection of dino DNA, I mean tardigrade. It doesn't kill him and they save Lorca and Tyler and maybe best of all the tardigrade gets set free to ride lightning of the cosmos or something. 

    A good, but maybe not as great as the episodes around it episode. Kinda hard to stand out in the middle, but not bad in any particular way. Also establishes my favorite trek couple so it can't be terrible.

6 out of 10

DIS: The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry

     These episodes are intense and hella dense, which is a poor mix for me not feeling great, so the summary is going to be a bit short today, but I continue to be impressed with how they are developing Burnham. The Alice in Wonderland analogy is pretty strong at this point, with her starting to figure out who the Starfleet people are on the ship, and who the Lorca people are. I had forgotten how antagonistic her relationship with Saru was at this point in the series. They are way past bickering and basically try to cut each other to the core every chance they get. Wild stuff for episode 4. There are things I love about the Klingons, but I am getting the feeling this season that the Klingon subplot may be the part that should have been cut to give the rest of the story room to breath. On the other hand they have time to slow down a little after this if I remember correctly, but maybe I am wrong?

    We start with Burnham getting her uniform and having feels only to have it jacked to 11 by Tilly arriving with the last will and testament of Captain Georgiou. Burnham never gets to slow down though and she is off to work with the creature in Lorca's lab along with Commander Landry who for some reason I don't remember all that well. We get some news the Klingons are going to destroy a colony full of Federation miners of Disco can't jump so the pressure is on Stamets to deliver. But instead they almost jump into a star, but Burnham notices the tardigrade (she figured that out somewhere in here) reacted when they jumped. 

    Commander Landry gets herself killed by the tardigrade, but Burnham figures out it just wants spores and works with Stamets to get it into the spore box. With it's help they save all the miners, but the tardigrade takes some serious damage along the way. I am going to put all the Klingon stuff in at once instead of intercutting. We learn Voq's ship is in bad shape but L'Rell convinces him to take parts from the Shenzhou. Kol steals his thunder though by showing up with food which is enough to get Voq's crew to mutiny. Voq is left behind, but L'Rell shows up and offers to let him win the war if only he is willing to sacrifice everything. We close with Burnham finally opening the package from Georgiou, and wow, the speech she gets from holo-Georgiou is both intense and basically just what she needed to hear.

    Another really good episode. I didn't remember how long this season was so I wouldn't mind if they slow down a bit. It ends in a way that makes me look forward to watching again tomorrow and I couldn't ask for more! Although I will get it since I also get a new Strange New Worlds tomorrow, but I don't have to review that.

8 out of 10

DIS: Context is for Kings

     I got asked a lot about why I didn't review Discovery right when it came out, and the real reason is of course the birth of my wonderful daughters. And as wonderful as they are, that was a very exhausting period of time. But also I didn't review any of the original Trek as it was released, instead I let it sink in and get the context of what happened afterwards in the universe. I wanted to do that for new Trek as well, but I will obviously get closer to the current production if I keep going at a one a day pace. Given that, season one of Discovery is actually way better than I remembered. Going from classic Trek to this was a shock to the system, but four seasons of Discovery plus Picard, Lower Decks, some Prodigy and an episode of Strange New Worlds, and suddenly the pacing is a lot easier to handle. At the same time it is crazy to think how much more this season has to do. Discovery really depends on having a cool season long story to dig into and in seasons like this one where that story works, this show is incredible. I am kinda surprised to find myself looking forward to season 2 which I haven't really seen at all since it was new.

    We open with Burnham (everyone on the show at this point calls her either Michael or Michael Burnham, but spoiler alert, she ends up as Captain Burnham and it feels disrespectful to address her by her first name) in a prison shuttle with three other non-federation convicts. There is some problem and the pilot dons a vac suit and gets blown off the shuttle presumably dooming them all, which doesn't seem to bother Burnham. Instead of dying though they get picked up conveniently by the USS Discovery, which from jump gives off all sorts of creepy vibes. They end up in the mess hall where their guards let Burnham beat the crap out of the other prisoners defending herself before the chief of security steps in and tells her the captains wants to see her.

    Burnham is surprised to find Saru on the bridge before she is taken to Lorca's ready room. People said they knew he was the villain because of the casting, but I am terrible at remembering faces and actors, so I had to go from clues in the show alone. That didn't immediately make me thing he was totally evil, but there is definitely all kinds of stuff going on with him. He wants her to do some work for him, but she just wants to do her time. Lorca isn't interested in what she has to say and assigns her quarters and duties. She is taken to her quarters and lies down only to meet her roommate, the adorable and at this point super unconfident Tilly. Finding out she has a mutineer for a roommate doesn't freak Tilly out enough though to not tell Burnham to get the hell out of her bed since she will snore like mad if she doesn't have a special mattress which is hella relatable.

    Saru arrives to take Burnham to her duty station and she learns he is first officer. The tension between them is wickedly sharp and he doesn't trust her and is clearly upset that Lorca seems to. She ends up in engineering and I guess the red tube in the background is supposed to be the warp core? They clearly have one, but that main feature of this engineering is a glass box and a bunch of nervous workers. Oh, and a breath print locked door of ominousness. Stamets is in full first season snark mode from the start and gives her all sorts of shit for being a wannabe Vulcan basically. She works late and catches Stamets talking to his apparent best friend on their sister ship, the Glenn. Straal apparently had a massive break through of some sort, but we don't learn anything for now. That night Burnham gets some of Tilly's saliva and uses it to open the clearly terribly designed breath print door and finds a huge room full of spores.

    The next day Lorca gets a priority one and tells Stamets to form a boarding party to investigate an accident on the Glenn that oh, by the way, killed everyone including Stamets best friend Staal. And to add insult to injury he orders Stamets to take Burnham with him. They find the ship dark, but seemingly intact despite Stamets comments about damage. Somehow they get on board without vac suits and things are hella messed up. The crew all got turned inside out, but what's worse a bunch of Klingons were massacred after the humans were already dead. And it turns out there is some sort of horrible monster on the ship leading to Burnham saving the day in a honestly hella badass way.

    Back on the Discovery the prison shuttle is getting ready to go, but Lorca wants to talk to Michael. He offers her a place on the ship, and she thinks she is a wild mutineer with no ethics. She seems to think he is making a spore bomb, so to prove her wrong he site to site transports them to engineering, which is a cool flex, but why not walk? In any case he explains the spore drive to her and she can't say no at that point. Saru gets to show those threat ganglia as he watches what he believes to be Burnham's shuttle leaving but instead she is unpacking in her quarters with Tilly again. Tilly gives the, "I am going to be a captain someday," speak and it got me just like the first time, even if I am not sure that is actually where she is going to end up. We close on Lorca is his lurkatorium with the captured monster from the Glenn and a bunch of skeletons. 

    Going into this not surprised at all the wild shit this time really helped. Knowing that a bunch of the things that seem to be plot holes are actually setup for future events helps make this episode tense and a cool look into the rapidly evolving psyche of Burnham as she returns to humanity. 

8 out of 10

DIS: Battle at the Binary Stars

     This second, and final for now, Georgiou episode was much better than I remembered. Sarek doing the distant mindmeld kinda bothered me the first time, but I think it really helps establish the direction they have always been going with his character. He is a Vulcan who cares about people in a somewhat un-Vulcan way. The irony of him making Michael into someone who is in many ways more traditionally Vulcan than he is seems like it wasn't an accident. I am looking forward to the Lorca episodes, but Michelle Yeoh remains incredibly impressive in her final outing as prime universe Georgiou. Her immediate jump to sabotaging the Klingon ship and then going in to kidnap their leader is hella badass. In some ways it seems unreasonable for her to take Michael along, but I can understand the feeling behind her decision at least. Her death of course only makes it look worse when it comes to the court martial, but presumably that wasn't her intention.

    We start with the showdown where we left it with 24 more Klingon vessels arriving as Michael is stuffed into the brig. After a classic Disco meeting inside a major conflict the Klingons have a massive conference call while ignoring the Shenzhou. All but red face dude agree to follow T'kuvma into battle. The federation fleet arrives and they open a channel. The Klingons are only really waiting for Georgiou to say the, "we come in peace," line to open fire. The titular battle is on and isn't going great for the federation. Klingon vessels are taking shots, but the Shenzhou is heavily damaged and Michael gets to watch a lost bridge crew member get sucked out into the void also trapping her inside a forcefield in an other wise vacuum filled brig. 

    Things seem to be looking up with the Europa shows up and Admiral I Am Not Looking Up His Name Because He Dies In Three Seconds shows up just long enough to get his ship cut in half by a kinda unreasonably huge Klingon ax ship? Kinda silly, but the Europa intentionally blows the core evening the score. The Klingon fleet withdraws in victory? leaving the Shenzhou to watch them collecting their dead. Michael gets a pick me up super distant mindmeld from Sarek who basically tells her to get off her ass and save some people. She does and talks the computer into letting her out rather than just leaving her to die which seems pretty reasonable honestly. 

    Michael shows up in Georgiou's ready room some how (did the bridge crew not mind her walking through despite being under arrest in theory????) And she breaks into Georgiou's suicide bombing mission with her own plan to instead kidnap T'kuvma. Georgiou splits the difference and does both hiding a torpedo warhead in a corpse to be collected and then blowing the bridge off the Klingon ship. She then takes still under arrest but now armed Michael to go try and kidnap T'kuvma despite the Shenzhou not being itself able to warp. They fight a bunch of Klingons but T'kuvma gets the best of Georgiou and Michael has to watch her mother figure die in front of her before fatally shooting T'kuvma, the thing she knew was wrong, but presumably her feelings convinced her to do. She is beamed out and we watch as the Shenzhou is abandoned. In fairly quick epilogue Michael pleads guilty at her court martial and is sentenced to life in prison.

    This was a surprising strong episode. The space battle worked very well and while I don't think Michael should have done what she did, I can understand it. 

8 out of 10

DIS: The Vulcan Hello

     Hah! I bet you didn't think I would be back, but you were wrong internet reader! After a five year break (and the first almost five years with my amazing twin daughters!) I am returning to the world of Star Trek online reviews. To say this has been a crazy five years doesn't even begin to cover all that has happened. I spent a long time trying to decide when was the right time to start this up again with the debut of Discovery, but having just watched the debut of Strange New Worlds it just felt right. So, without further ado, The Vulcan Hello.

    We open with a Klingon giving a monolog about saving Klingon culture by destroying the federation and then cut to a very Vulcan sounding Michael Burnham and her captain out saving a planet of toad people by unclogging the wells. I don't think that is how droughts actually work, but whatever. I had forgotten how great Michelle Yeoh is as captain Georgiou! Just a ton of charisma and confidence. Also having recently watched season five of Disco it is crazy how much more culturally Vulcan Michael is portrayed in this episode. After a kinda cheesy drawing of a giant delta in the sand to credit we start the main story.

    There is a lot of jumping back and forth between the Klingons plotting to light some sort of beacon and the Shenzhou they have been sent to investigate a federation relay. Saru, in full nervous season one mode, is sure it is dangerous and they should leave immediately. They can't seem to figure out what did the damage, but the find an object the is somehow concealing its appearance a few kilometers below in what looks like an accretion disc (meaning the object probably should have been destroyed by now, but it is very pretty). Michael takes a Spock style thruster suit to investigate and finds the object to be ancient. But instead of following orders she goes with her curiosity (I can't really fault her here) and accidentally turns the thing on. She gets attacked by a Klingon in a badass spacesuit who she kills by ramming him with her thruster suit. She is injured though and tumbles through space being irradiated the whole time. (I would spend a while complaining that this isn't how radiation works, but it is canon Trek that radiation works this way so I will give it a pass)

    We return to find Michael dreaming in a medical bay of some sort and we learn that she was raised by Sarek after her family was killed in a rare Klingon raid. She breaks out of the med bay to rush to the bridge covered in sores to tell the captain about the Klingons, which honestly again pretty much makes sense. Georgiou believes her and when the target the object suddenly a huge Klingon ship uncloaks in front of them. After getting treated Michael returns to the bridge where the Klingon beacon lights itself (I forget somewhere in there we learn Voq is the new torchbearer after he burns the hell out of his hand) and after consulting Sarek, Michael tells her captain there is no choice but to attack because it worked for the Vulcans. Georgiou is like, WTF number one, ready room, now! But instead Michael nerve pinches her and tries to shoot first anyway. But Georgiou somehow gets up to point a phaser and Michael and stop her.

    Lots of drama in this episode, especially for an opener. I watched this episode like 5 times with different people when it first came out to the point that I was tired of it, but upon reflection it is actually pretty good. It is crazy how fast Michelle Yeoh got into the part because especially Saru still has some work to do. I was going to give this episode and extra point for Michelle Yeoh, but there is just something about only seeing this small a piece of the story that drags it back down. A solid start and a solid:

7 out of 10