[5.8/10] Look, I don't want to declare that Discovery can’t do comedy. We’ve seen great stuff with Harry Mudd in this version of Trek, and other comic moments. But the truth is that the tone of this take on the franchise is typically very severe and self-serious, the visual presentation a bit antiseptic, and the tone a bit detached, which is a really tough environment to gin up laughs in.
“The Trouble with Edward” tries, but it more or less dies on the vine. That’s a real shame, considering how much I enjoy Tribbles, H. Jon Benjamin, and the occasions when Star Trek just gets silly. The editing here is pretty languid and doesn't really work with the comic timing to make these gags land. (It’s no coincidence that the editing on Archer is near-perfect and works for the show’s tone and rat-a-tat humor really well.)
There’s a solid enough throughline about the whole “mediocre white man” ruining it for everyone thing, but it’s done very bluntly, which lessens its impact. And while I can appreciate a good touch of continuity, I don’t know that I ever really needed to know the origin of tribbles, let alone that they would turn out to be the product of one bitter idiot screwing with genetic engineering on a Starfleet ship.
That said, the closing faux-cereal commercial is really funny,, if for no other reason than it has to match the tone and editing tropes of those types of ads, which gives it a comic potency missing from the rest of the short.
Overall, this one is a real missed opportunity, taking a solid enough idea and a great performer, and sinking them with a substandard script and presentation, and unnecessary retcons.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-01-04T17:10:23Z
[5.8/10] Look, I don't want to declare that Discovery can’t do comedy. We’ve seen great stuff with Harry Mudd in this version of Trek, and other comic moments. But the truth is that the tone of this take on the franchise is typically very severe and self-serious, the visual presentation a bit antiseptic, and the tone a bit detached, which is a really tough environment to gin up laughs in.
“The Trouble with Edward” tries, but it more or less dies on the vine. That’s a real shame, considering how much I enjoy Tribbles, H. Jon Benjamin, and the occasions when Star Trek just gets silly. The editing here is pretty languid and doesn't really work with the comic timing to make these gags land. (It’s no coincidence that the editing on Archer is near-perfect and works for the show’s tone and rat-a-tat humor really well.)
There’s a solid enough throughline about the whole “mediocre white man” ruining it for everyone thing, but it’s done very bluntly, which lessens its impact. And while I can appreciate a good touch of continuity, I don’t know that I ever really needed to know the origin of tribbles, let alone that they would turn out to be the product of one bitter idiot screwing with genetic engineering on a Starfleet ship.
That said, the closing faux-cereal commercial is really funny,, if for no other reason than it has to match the tone and editing tropes of those types of ads, which gives it a comic potency missing from the rest of the short.
Overall, this one is a real missed opportunity, taking a solid enough idea and a great performer, and sinking them with a substandard script and presentation, and unnecessary retcons.