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Star Trek: Discovery nerdchat

Will update weekly as they come out. Let's bitch/cheer.
1Metallica
Reload

The Vulcan Hello:
Despite a weird opening, I found myself really enjoying this episode. It really carried the vibe of the Abrams trilogy, so if you're a fan of those you'll likely have a good time with this. The visuals are on par with those, the production design, costumes, and vfx are all astounding, I can't imagine how much money they spent on this thing. But that aside, the interpersonal relationships between the main trio are quickly established. Things move very quickly, it's mostly all setting up the impending Klingon war, which they do in a very Star Trek-y way. It's not so much action oriented as it is mysterious and curious. They're trying to figure it out instead of going out guns blazing, unlike most popular sci-fi. Still, the script was a bit weak I'll admit, with some exposition heavy dialogue early on. But overall, incredible visuals and solid acting trumped that feeling, and the direction made us feel right at home en medias res with little introduction necessary. 8/10
2Royal Blood
Royal Blood

Battle at the Binary Stars:
Well this was pretty ballsy. I'm not gonna say much about what happens other than that the trailer they put up for this show was literally just for the first two episodes; the trailer that played at the end of this episode should've been the one they showed to sell the show tot he fans. If you're a purist like my dad you might not be as impressed with the show so far as I am, but we both agreed that it's better than we expected. The majority of this one is balls-to-the-wall action, with some serious twists and unexpected turns. This episode ended in a very different place than it started, and I'm looking forward to the future direction. I'm expecting a very DS9, serialized type show here. Which is to say, probably fucking awesome. I'm also loving the attention placed on the Klingons, the conflict is much more interesting. I feel like they're making a comment on the War on Terror with them as the antagonists, but we'll see where they go with it. 8.5/10
3Regina Spektor
Begin To Hope

Context Is for Kings:
This episode was strange in many ways because they tried doing a little bit of everything, but most of it was pulled of exceptionally well. The mystery of the first half, the horror of the second, and the final denouement were all played to their Trek strengths. I was surprised to see the TV-MA rating for this episode and I'm not sure if this episode deserved one, but I'm definitely interested in a show willing to take Trek to such a dark route. In many ways, this was a second pilot and if you were convinced by the first two episodes I strongly suggest this one, as it has much more of a classic Trek feel to it. There were far more references and new characters (that Captain is gonna be an interesting one to watch), and the show successfully pulled off throwing everything into the wind the last couple episodes and shifting to this direction without a hitch. I'm even more sold than I was before. 8.5/10
4Foo Fighters
In Your Honor

The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry:
What a strange, strange episode. I'll go on record to say that this is easily my least favorite episode thus far, though I did enjoy it quite a bit regardless. I felt like so much was going on and yet it felt like there was little progress character wise for, well, anyone. Except maybe the Klingons. It gave it this weird impression of a filler episode even though catastrophically important things were going on onscreen. Some general notes: killing the security officer was a bold and frustrating move that I liked and disliked at the same time. She was such a flat character that I was happy she was gone, but I was disappointed that they didn't put more effort into her before giving up on her. The whole nightmare-creature-from-the-previous-episode-is-actually-our-fuzzy-navigator was just too strange and thin for me to totally grasp this week, but I guess we'll see how it goes. I really enjoy the emphasis on Klingons so far in this show.
5Foo Fighters
In Your Honor

(cont'd)
Giving them a romance subplot was a bit weird, but the character and politics they're throwing us gives plenty of reasons to care and empathize with what's now our main antagonists thus far. But I still love the majority of the cast, and the teleportation effects (and production design on the Klingon ship) were just phenomenal. I also loved the callbacks to previous events from the opening episodes with Philipa's will and the Klingon's harvesting the Shenzou. Also there were a lot of really cheesy moments here and there. Wow, I guess I had a lot to say about that one. 7.5/10
6Fabian
Hold that Tiger

Choose Your Pain:
Shit I forgot to update this yesterday. Um, I really liked this one but I'm a little hazy on the details. I thought that the Klingon prison scenes were really good and that Mudd was used well. I also really liked Saru's arc in this episode. I thought that the whole tardigrade plot worked better this time (even if it's still a little strange), and I was fond of the conclusion they reached with it. Just a really good episode overall. 8/10
7Peter Gabriel
Security

Lethe:
Fuck I have to rewrite this because I deleted everything I wrote the first time, so I'll make this quick. Happy they haven't done a filler episode yet, this was great character development for Michael. Glad they're still killing off/adding new people, not sure if I trust the new security guy (he seems too trustworthy for this show) and the death of our main Admiral lady after she got freaky with Lorca was pretty ballsy. Her scenes were great, even though I saw her death coming. Nice to have a threat that wasn't Klingons, and I really like the direction they're taking Lorca in. He's just so great. Next week's episode looks like a great sci-fi concept, about time that we got one. 8/10
8Black Sabbath
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad:
Aight, so this was just a fun as hell episode. Even the weird TOS-feeling deus-ex-machina ending couldn't throw off my enjoyment of this episode. So, here we have the first Discovery episode to really dive into a high-concept sci-fi plot. While time-loops aren't the most original thing for Star Trek to do, the idea that it was one controlled by an antagonist gave it a clever edge, and the use of one character being able to perceive and affect the repetition was great as well. The engineer's character (I still don't know his name, though) is really coming into his own. While his acting is a bit shaky (which might be purposeful because of all the weirdness going on with him), his character is really interesting and propulsive to the development to the rest of the cast. The writing was really great here, especially with Michael's dialogue with her love interest. Idk, everything was great here expect for the weird ending. 8.5/10
9The Smashing Pumpkins
Oceania

Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum:
Aight, so this was a weird one. This is our first "planet-of-the-week" episode which is very similar to a TOS concept, but the actually premise is a bit weird. Sound aliens that are really mega-pacifists? It's a strange idea, but it's a lot better than a generic one for sure. We got some great character development for Saru here, even if Burnham and the other characters seemed to be stuck in a rut. However, the engineer guy seems to not be doing so well with his space-jumping stuff, causing unknown side effects (which I believe to be his mind jumping into different points of time). Also, Tyler is just too perfect. Either he's poorly written, or I'm right and he's a Klingon spy (maybe one of the human-looking ones in a callback to TOS). The Klingon subplot remains interesting as well, if not quite as invigorating as before. Overall this was a cool, if a bit scattershot episode, with some great ideas and character bits that really could've fit better. 8/10
10Queens of the Stone Age
Era Vulgaris

Into the Forest I Go:
It's hard to talk much about this one because not much happened that I didn't expect. I also just accidentally deleted everything I wrote so this might be brief. Overall, I liked this episode. The visuals and characters remain great, and many moments were played to the height of their ability. But at the same time I'm frustrated with it. If this is truly the ending of the Klingon-arc (which is likely at the moment), then it's a detriment not only to the episode but to the entire show. There was a mythology here that never was quite as deep or big in scope as I would have liked, but I forgave it because I felt it was building to something far larger and more poignant. If this is it, everything just feels half-baked and unjustified. I guess only time will tell, but if this is the case then I'm more than a little pissed-off with the direction this show is taking. What else? Oh, and the Klingon torture-porn scene was weird but kinda great. 7.5/10
11Janis Joplin
I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!

Despite Yourself:
Alright, so this was a kind of weird direction to go in, but I'm not gonna deny that by the end of the episode I was pretty damn on board with everything. Well, not EVERYTHING as the boyfriend-security guy's subplot is still a bit weird/hazy and not in a good way, but the use of the Mirror Universe for character reasons was a great twist (though I could have used a bit more mystery leading up to the reveal), and the way it's used so far is pretty damn great. Michael's reaction to her fallen ship/shipmates being back from the dead was great, and the costumes/production design continue to floor me with their inventiveness. I wonder just how political they're going to go with this seemingly "far-right" universe. Oh, and Tilly had some great scenes too. The engineer/doctor subplot was surprisingly engaging given how little time it was given, and it's definitely going in some interesting directions to say the least. 8/10
12Kyuss
Blues for the Red Sun

The Wolf Inside:
This show is insane. Despite all of it's flaws, I have to always give it credit for having balls and consttantly changing the game, throwing some twists in (even if a few seem forced) and keeping it about the characters firstly. That's what makes me like it so much, the fact that every objective and situation is turned into a way for the characters to interact or learn something new about themselves and each other. So yeah, I totally called that Klingon twist, but the Georgia being the Emperor one is a bit... out there. I guess it makes sense from a character standpoint, but it feels so coincidental that it's a bit weird. Still, I'm looking forward to see what they do with it. The Klingon resistance thing was cool, and the production design continues to be so constantly insane that I'm head over heels for it. This has got to be the best looking show on TV right now. But yeah, that was probably really vague but idc, this one was a 8.5/10 for me.
13Metallica
Ride the Lightning

"Vaulting Ambition"
I forgot to write this up last time but I remember that all I wanted to say was "this show is fucking weird." 8/10
14Dixie Chicks
Taking The Long Way

"What's Past Is Prologue"
"How are they gonna have any more stories for the second season?" were the first words out of my dad's mouth when we finished this episode. My mouth was open agape as well, not for the quality so much as the ambition and balls the show has for blindly dashing from storyline to storyline and throwing in twist after twist with only the slightest bit of reverence for it's impact on the overall plot. I would say that this is terrible storytelling but if I'm honest, it's kind of exhilarating. It's like a different show every week, allegiances shifting constantly, shifting settings, new enemies, new friends, nothing is ever the same. After so many Star Trek shows just end up repeating the same things over and over again well, at the very least this is something new. I didn't care for a few things in the episode, but I'm running out of time and I don't want to write too much so I'll just give this a 8.5/10
15Green Day
Insomniac

"The War Without, The War Within"
This was pretty not good. 6.5/10
16Dixie Chicks
Home

"Will You Take My Hand?"
Even without the insanely stupid plan to have Georgiou captain the ship (why wasn't she just an advisor?), and even without the fact that no one going into it could figure out that she was the Terran version (Tilly's reaction was just idiotic), this was a pretty weak episode. Overall I enjoyed it, and it got better as it went, but it really went over everything too quickly and served as a pretty unexciting closer to a pretty goddamn exciting show. It's still been a great first season (at least compared to other Star Trek shows), but the script didn't help it much here. Martin-Green as always is excellent in her role, and her protagonist's arc and character honestly was what made this episode actually work in the end. A lot of things were forced, Tyler's leaving and the obligatory monologue at the end, but enough here worked to say that it was a good episode, if a weak conclusion to an otherwise great season. 7/10
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