I maybe in the minority, but I appreciated Gaal's backstory. If any, I thought her backstory should've taken even more time. I find it astounding that a teen prodigy raised by a religious tribe can learn and grasp complex mathematical theories in few months to few years, from scraps of books and scrolls no less. While the first episode was visually stunning, it was emotionally sterile. Her backstory brought more emotional depth.
Jumps between the present day Gaal and Terminus were only occasionally effective, and mostly distracting. The episode should've focused on Gaal and Gaal only. A relative newcomer Lou Llobell delivers a stand out performance.
Back in Terminus, clumsily choreographed fight scenes aside, the crash was an amazing sight. Yes, the empire crew were blinded by arrogance and meet their demise all too easily, but man, the crashed looked awesome.
Salvor is starting to come into her own. No longer a tough-as-a-nail-misunderstood-star-child-warden, she's starting to embrace and understand her roles in Terminus.
Foundation is a complex sci-fi novel and while this adaption is dumbed down, it still pays a great respect to intellectual details, requiring more deliberate pacing and patience. But puzzle pieces are starting to fall into places.
The soap opera writers that have been put in charge of this ,once revered, franchise continue to distort and abuse the long and beloved history of Star Trek canon to subvert it to their own hand. In past seasons we've seen that Burnham was the reason Spock became who he was, we've lost beloved characters who have rejected everything they were before, Romulus was blown up and now we don't even have Vulcan anymore. Whatever reason these "writers" might have to do this is beyond me but it should be clear by now that it's malicious. Their ilk have destroyed 50 years of canon on Doctor Who, destroyed Star Wars and pretty much done the same to Trek. If rumors are to be believed they will soon include the Guardian of Forever and possibly deliver the final blow to Star Trek.
To the people defending this soap opera dribble... Well I don't know what to say to you. Character development, plot and the concept of coherent writing are cornerstones of anything that's good. These writers can't even keep track of events in the same episode let alone use a massive overarching storyline or how to benefit of over 50 years of worldbuilding.
It's disgraceful really what they have done and they should be ashamed of writing something that is below mediocre. But that appears to be modernday "entertainment" and by god... I hope it bites them back in their ass cause we'll all be worse off if it doesn't.
The conclusion to the cliffhanger could not have been a surprise as a lot of us were already suspecting the parallel universe theory. And at least it explains certain things people were negative about. Now there are different things to be negative about and guess what - it´s OK. Everybody is entitled to his own opinion. Sure this is different and yes it is not TNG or DS9 or even VOY like. So what ? You don´t like it ? Fine - don´t watch.
I like where this is going and I am saying this as a decade long fan of Star Trek. Of course now they have to be aware with their writing a bit more because there are already established facts in place of the Mirror Universe. One thing I don´t like was how easy Burnham fell into her role and the guilt stricken face after killing that guy did not convince me. Oh, yes one thing I definately don´t like is all the sex. It does nothing for the story and seems to be just there to be there. But I for one am looking forward to what will developing out of this more than I was before the break.
Remember Star Trek has always been about tolerance.
Another episode full of unexpected twists and revelations. After being introduced last week to the Tardigrade ("Ripper") as a rampaging monster that will slice you up, I found myself quite delighted to discover that it's actually a cuddly creature who seems to be depressed. Michael figuring this out has warmed to to her a lot more, and I really like her being in science mode rather than "I'm-going-to-act-rashly-because-I'm-clever" mode. It's also our first hint that she does has some empathy once she sees how the Tardigrade is hurting. Her approach to learning about it was delightful and so in-keeping with what so many of us love about Trek.
I think it's time to address the characters on this show. There's a lot of talk in various forums about how they are not true to the spirit of what Star Trek has shown us before. That's just not true. People seem to be forgetting that it wasn't really until The Next Generation that Roddenberry imposed his rules about humans having overcome petty feelings like jealousy and animosity, with no conflict allowed between Starfleet crew members. And then people also seem to forget that the rule was disregarded more times than I can count, with all of the writers (correctly) pushing against it as much as they could. It was a noble concept but a terrible one for telling stories.
Lt. Stamets does seem to be overly critical and confrontational, but I find myself enjoying seeing a human being acting like a human being rather than some sanitised idea of what one should be. And this is certainly not a new concept within Trek if you remember any number of human scientists who appeared on the various shows before. Off the top of my head, in TNG Dr. Leah Brahms was a stone cold bitch to Geordi when she discovered how he was modifying her engine designs. If we go closer to the era of Discovery, then we have Dr. Richard Daystrom from TOS who was was crippled by feelings of resentment and endangered people's lives.
A bit more troublesome is (was) security chief Landry. She seemed to be downright hostile and condescending. Again, we have seen examples of other security officers acting this way across TNG, DS9, etc. but I was finding her a bit much to handle (and I had a similar issue with Rekha Sharma's performance on Battlestar Galactica), and I can't say I'm sorry to see her go. She was the most un-Trek like character on the show, almost malevolent.
The return of the Klingons to the main story had me a bit worried, as they were by far the worst thing about the opening episodes. I'm glad to say I was more impressed with them here, despite many of the fundamental issues still hovering in the background. I was immediately intrigued by the relationship between Voq and L'Rell which came through even though the makeup barely allows the actors to emote. I wish we had gotten a better look at the Birds of Prey, though, they were little more than blurry shapes.
If this episode revealed anything, it seems that Captain Lorca and Michael are going to end up severely at odds. Michael could see that the Tardigrade was in distress and is clearly not comfortable with the moral dilemma - but there's no way that Lorca is going to take that as any kind of consideration. Someone like Captain Picard would certainly not allow one creature's suffering at the expense of other's safety to continue, but Lorca is very different. Stamet's summary of him last episode as a "warmonger" is beginning to fit. I think that where the true Star Trek spirit is going to appear is with her desire to end the war through more peaceful means while pushing against Lorca's more bloodthirsty ways.
Also, finally we see why there's a gap in the ship's saucer and I LOVE it!
