Remove your chip. The second episode of Star Trek: Discovery is coming up.
The final scene of the premiere episode of "Star Trek: Discovery" season 4 on Paramount Plus is something you probably remember.
In that episode, we saw the destruction of Book's homeworld. The planet has been reduced to a burning cinder in space because it was once lush, fertile and full of symbiotic plant and animal life. His nephew Leto: toast, his brother Kyheem: char-broiled, the Sanctuary: incinerated, and the trance worms Book risked his life to save.
This week we can see why the dramatic event was not a great writing decision so early in the season. Book is overwhelmed with grief to the extent that words can't describe how sick he is to his stomach. Add to that the inevitable survivor guilt that also overcomes him and you have a pretty depressing subplot for the rest of the season. It wouldn't stop. Not for a long time.
A typical season of "Star Trek: Discovery" lasts about two weeks in real time. If it's portrayed as anything different, it won't be believable. The Star Trek writers are going to be feeling pretty low for the rest of the season, unless the likes of Ron Moore or Naren Shankar are secretly hired to write the rest of the season.
If you're interested in learning more about Star Trek: Discovery, you can check out our guide.
All Federation member and non-member worlds must work together to save the galaxy. The credit is given to Paramount Plus.
There are examples of brilliant loss in sci-fi shows. Louanne "Kat" Katraine is in the "Battlestar Galactica" episode "The Passage". Dr. Beckett is in the "Stargate: Atlantis" episode. The "Lost in Space" episode "Eulogy" features a robot. I don't know which one made me cry the most. The grief wasn't a plot point for the rest of the season because of the in-season elapsed time. These are just characters.
There isn't anything interesting about this show in the immediate future. It doesn't go anywhere in this episode.
After last week's disappointing opener, we pick up more or less, although we learn that a couple of days have passed. Book has been in a semi-permanent state and is on the bridge of his ship, recording the last moments of his time on the ship. It's unlikely that you would be interested in any sort of company after such a tragedy, and that's because Burnham is not interested in any sort of company at all.
In defense of the Star Trek movies.
Doug Jones is an essential member of Discovery's crew and an essential member of the cast. The credit is given to Paramount Plus.
After a whole 30 seconds of talking about Book, the conversation becomes more of a catch up with the other topics. He turned down the command of the ship so that he could ask her if he could be her first officer. Naturally, Burnham accepts and ends Tilly's time in the role.
We went back to Federation HQ. The United Federation of Planets and Starfleet have not made an attempt to relocate to Earth. It's only been five months since dilithium was declared safe to use in warp cores, but we haven't heard a whisper from the captain of the United Earth Defense Force. We might see more in later episodes.
Lieutenant Cmdr. Paul Stamets told everyone that the anomaly is 5 light-years across. That is three times the diameter of the solar system. Not much is known. The current theory is that it could be a black hole with two singularities merging and causing huge waves of gravity. In reality, merging black holes actually release ripples in spacetime. To learn more and be able to predict its path, you have to get out there and study it.
The Star Trek movies are in chronological order.
The bridge looks like a football stadium before a big match. The credit is given to Paramount Plus.
The President of the Federation, Laira Rillak, gave a speech about how all worlds must come together. As we begin to understand the gravity of the situation, the tension builds up, for the most part. This episode is better the second time you watch it. It helps if you snack on a potent food. Is it really necessary to destroy Kwejian so soon to prove the threat was serious? Book is the main character on the show and his homeworld is far from the planetary equivalent of a red shirt.
As they walk through the corridors of Discovery, she asks if he got taller. We were all thinking the same thing. It's a nice scene and it shows that everything is hunky-dory with the Kelpien taking over as first office role, not that we expected anything different.
The Discovery goes to black alert, Curly-from- "The-Three-Stooges" sound effect, and spore jumps to the edge of the anomaly after a motivational speech by Burnham. The bridge crew gasped when they saw the size of the thing on the viewscreen. The opening credits are rolled. The only way to get any useful data is to fly a ship into the accretion cloud caused by the anomalies, according to an analysis by Stamets.
In the first season of "Picard" Jean-Luc was put into a synthesizer made of modern, robust materials.
It seems like Stamets was against Burnham after his panic attack in the Season 3 finale and subsequent neck pinch and ejection in an emergency escape field. Book volunteers his ship because a probe is too small. Naturally, she has reservations. Book would not eat, sleep, or talk for two days, and then would sit in a fetal position in the dark, gently rocking back and forth, feeling like every day was as long as the previous one.
It's not realistic. The actors do an outstanding job of almost-fooling us into thinking that this would happen, and that's why full credit must go to them. Stamets is going to be the one to gather as much data as he can.
In this episode, we see Gray Tal checking out a hardlight hologram body, but the conversation afterwards hints that it is an inspection only representation of what will finally be a synthesizer body. It is the next step in bringing them out of the Trill form and into a normal existence. This scene gave the producers a chance to get out of the corner they were in at the end of the first season. Picard's consciousness was transferred into a golem and he became a super-strong, super-fit, and fast 94-year old.
Who wouldn't want a kind, generous, empathizing man as their family doctor? Dr Hugh Culber is a doctor. The credit is given to Paramount Plus.
They incorporated all his frailties to make the body feel more natural, rather than allowing him all the benefits of an artificial body. Who is going to suffer from arthritis, cataracts, or any effects of old age? "I knew you wouldn't want to change after 94 years in the same body," Soong says.
The first full trailer for 'Star Trek: Picard' Season 2' was released.
The artist did a beautiful job with the body, says Dr. Hugh Culber on Discovery. The Soong method is named after a 24th century cyberneticist.
"Maybe I should get a body like that when I die too," Adira says. I could live forever.
Culber said it was not likely. The process was tried a number of times after Dr. Soong first used it, but the success rate was so low that eventually people stopped trying.
In "Picard" Season 2, there is a window of convenience to explain away the future frailties of Jean-Luc. It makes you wonder why Gray is going for this option after he was told it was better than no option.
Anthony Rapp and David Ajala shine in this set piece. The credit is given to Paramount Plus.
One way or another always seems to be effective, according to the blend of platitudes and wisdom provided by Saru. Why haven't they looked at the sphere data about the gravitational anomalies, since there's a name drop for Zora, the ship's computer? At this point, it hasn't been mentioned.
A harebrained plan was hatched whereby a holo of Stamets will accompany Book and his ship will be tethered with a matter umbilical to Discovery to provide a stable communications channel and the ability to pull the ship out if need be. The set piece is pretty good and takes up the entire third act. Stamets and Book's interaction is the highlight and both Anthony Rapp and David Ajala do a great job of making their chemistry believable.
Book's ship is required to go further into the anomalies and must detach from the tether despite the objections of Burnham. There are pockets of distortion that cause temporary periods of weightlessness for the whole crew. It looks like it was a lot of fun to film. The time is of the essence as neither ship can take much more punishment. Book's navigation controls are knocked out and he starts to stray from the mission. Stamets has done a great job up to this point, but now it's up to Burnham.
It was unexpected that a young Kelpien caused the burn. The credit is given to Paramount Plus.
He must surf the waves from the accretion cloud in order to get Book's ship out of the anomalies and out of danger. She opened a private channel on the bridge and did her own routine. The book only has enough power for one more attempt. It's well put together.
After the drama is over and everything has calmed down, everyone starts reflecting on their own experience of loss, which makes the episode a bit depressing. It's a convincing portrayal of deeply personal loss when you read book up. If a few weeks now pass in-episode time, between this installments and next week's, then that's probably not going to happen, because that's the only real way to make this particular sub-story believable.
The end of this episode shows that the path of the anomaly is completely random and impossible to predict, as well as the planets that will be affected. The episode ending was a bit smaller than last week.
The dialogue and character development carry this episode even though the plot has holes in it and nothing significant happens. The show's antagonist is an astrophysical abnormality that is more than 29 trillion miles across. It's difficult to see where Osyraa ended up last season, but it's likely to happen again this season. Ambassador Spock and Nero in the first "Star Trek" movie are linked to the "lightning storm in space" phenomenon. George Lucas likes to have everything connected, so we've seen how much Alex Kurtzman likes to have everything connected.
The drive should be trans-warp.
This episode is not terrible because of good dialogue and acting.
The name of the starship is amazing.
Her potential is far from being fully utilized.
Stamets has good scenes with dialogue.
Grudge can't smell anything.
The people are at the station.
Book's grief would consume him after just two days.
Another clue in the 'Anomaly of the Season' story arcs.
There are many flamebursts.
The Stamets/Burnham hostility has been brushed under the rug.
That silly sound is made when the Discovery uses its drive.
The rating was 6/10.
The first and second episodes of the fourth season of "Star Trek: Discovery" are available to watch now on Paramount Plus in the US and Canada. The decision by Paramount to shoot themselves in the foot and remove "Discovery" from all non-U.S./Canada regions was met with outrage, even cast members made their feelings known.
Thankfully though, it seems like the flood of frustration was brought to the attention of studio suits and now the new episodes will be on the Pluto TV channel each Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The first two episodes will be on Friday, Nov. 26. The fourth season of "Star Trek: Discovery" will be available on Paramount Plus in countries outside of North America.
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