#discovery rewatch

[thewomancallednova]

Also, everytime I rewatch Tig Notaro's first appearance as Commander Reno I think back to that time I told my partner about Notaro being in Star Trek. I said something along the lines of "Oh yeah, she plays a lesbian in Star Trek: Discovery." and that led my partner to believe for a little while that "lesbian" was like a distinct species on Star Trek. They were disappointed when I had to tell them the truth

[biblioflyer]

I don’t know how to properly explain this, but the most Roddenberry thing ever is Tilly and Detmer sitting with Tyler as if he was a different person than Voq and the consciousness that controlled the hands that murdered Culber belonged to someone else,

[isagrimorie]

Okay why did they let the writers for Magic that makes the sanest man go Mad go, because the two episodes they’ve done was really good.

It has more ensemble feel to it even as Michael Burnham is still the center of the story. It also feels the most Trek because of its potential, since the pilot episodes at least.

Also, I really miss having people just around pre-COVID days when extras are just casually around.

Look at all those extras milling about in the background. Also, LOOK AT HOW THE DIMENSION OF THE CORRIDOR FITS. It's not ultra-large like it is in SNW!Enterprise. The dimensions make sense. It fits visually.

Also, look at how beautiful the color grading is in season 1. I haven't even touched it with Photoshop. The colors are just right, they pop, and they don't have the constant weird blue filter that Disco will have in season 4.

Also, were they dating? Or going to? Cause I would've been down for that unfortunately this is the most character he's shown in all 4 seasons of Discovery.

It's the casualness of it -- the way everyone in the crew is just relaxing.

Pulling a con against a con man was really fun too-- I particularly love when Stella showed she's no mark:

And Burnham's impressed look was great:

Again, no coloring or brightening, the scene didn't need it.

Also while I do love Burnham and Booker together, I really did like Burnham and Tyler.

Look, another extra! Just randomly walking around! Pre-Covid productions really were different.

The blue uniform is still my favorite Disco uniform and I miss it.

[bisexualbailorgana]

captain pike and tyler’s dynamic in season 2 is so needlessly homoerotic like why is pike pouring them both a drink to discuss their opposing positions regarding spock and loosening his collar 😭😭 they should have fucked it would have sorted everything out between them

[avoicefromthestars]

Star Trek: Discovery Lethe / Such Sweet Sorrow

[dellamortte]

Michael Burnham | STAR TREK: DISCOVERY S01 EP07: Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad "Sometimes the only way to find out where you fit in is to step out of the routine. Because sometimes where you really belong was waiting right around the corner all along."

[tinderbox210]

Michael Burnham and Rayner + parallels pt. 2

[revvethasmythh]

The research notes on distilling dunamancy found in Brenattos apothecary are so interesting actually. It’s not outright stated who’s notes they are, but with a retrospective lens it’s quite clear that they’re Ludinus’. There are fragments there about his musings on some of Trent’s protégées showing proficiency with early dunamancy, that he is planning to incorporate it into his own skill sets to aid him in his pursuits, and he records how it seems the Kryn have been quote unquote “learning to bend and break the threads of destiny for hundreds of years. Be this truth, I cannot imagine the Raven Queen looks down upon them favorably either, though the thought brings a laugh to my lips.”

[loudfederationscreeching]

will never not be a little peeved that adira's first two episodes feature endless misgendering. i get that they hadnt specified pronouns yet, and kind of maybe didnt know themself yet?, but considering the level of promo given to discovery's new non-binary character, to have to spend that much time meeting a new character and hearing 'she/her' that much was and is pretty frustrating. like we as the audience knew before any of the characters did

that said, i do find the layered metaphor that their joining with the tal symbiont is called 'an aberration' because adira is human, added with the beginning of the arc with gray, to be pretty damn compelling still. that mix of being othered but also hope is pretty well done imo! discovery is constantly trying so hard wrt telling queer stories, usually failing a tad, but also then bringing it back in, and i do respect that pretty solidly. TWO instances of unbury your gays is pretty unhinged to pull off and yet!!

[stealerofthe2ndbraincell]

The Last Weekend

[clementine-kesh]

of all the treks, excepting maybe tos, discovery is the one that most leans into the space fantasy genre space. mushroom-based fast travel, booker’s intimate, spiritual connection with nature which echoes classic imagery of elves and druids, even the mirrorverse’s terran empire has aesthetics which draw strongly from high fantasy with their ornate armor and imposing throne rooms. it’s really cool to see a trek show which plays in that space and gives discovery a very unique feel

[thewomancallednova]

Watching "Light and Shadows" I'm kinda mad they shunted Burnham off into the 32nd century, before Spock explored his human side in SNW season 2. I'd have LOVED to see SNW season 2 Spock have a conversation with Burnham

[biblioflyer]

The Discovery S1 finale: the good, bad, and uncomfortable

The revelation that Sarek played a role in authorizing the bomb plot on Qonos was bleak. Hardly shocking from Mr Vulcan Hello, but bleak. However, the season does end with Sarek being more introspective about how the war may have skewed his reasoning. It’s more thinkable now to bridge the Discovery version of Sarek with the strident peace maker if we assume Burnham’s monologue is right and the war inflicted deep moral injuries on everyone involved.

Moral injury in this instance refers to a concept that war is such an aberrant experience that it makes people lose sight of their values. Which can actually lead them into losing sight of why in normal times violence is disfavored for a problem solving tool and thus being less conscious in war of what precise immoral acts are necessary and useful and which ones are self defeating. The risk is that the greater the desperation and the greater the desensitization the more the finer distinctions between different acts of immorality blur.

The parallels between Burnham’s unrighteous stance in the beginning and her righteous stance now with the crew behind her are decently executed and feel good. However, this feels a bit like Picard in that the righteous stance feels good but authorial fiat is justifying it much more than the world building. It’s unclear at all how destroying Qonos would save the Federation. If their hand was detected, it seems extremely likely that the Klingons wouldn’t stop at making satraps out of Federation worlds, they’d actively become genocidal.

Also it seems unlikely that the Klingons could effectively wage a civil war if Qonos is their main industrial base. Which, considering this isn’t the first time that the threat of losing the home world might cripple the Klingon Empire so maybe it really is the case that Qonos is essential and there’s some sort of taboo or understanding that you don’t fight on the homeworld itself, or take any action against its infrastructure. If that’s the case, that taboo clearly was not in place during the Duras uprising.

While the world building doesn’t really seem to make a whole lot of sense, it is an okay moral parable about standing up for what’s right and not losing track of decency. Especially if we are intended to read this as the Federation’s plan was desperate and it really did make no sense, then crew of the Discovery was saving the Federation from itself not just morally, but also practically.

I love a good story about conscience and decency and Burnham‘s line about giving into the temptation to abandon the rules that keep our worst selves in check was very strong. I just wish that the world building in storytelling around that courageous stand made more sense the problem ultimately seems to be that People very understandably want to understand the stories in a more traditional way as if they are documentaries and I do too therefore, when the world building doesn’t seem to justify the actions of the characters, it undermines the value of the moral lesson itself.

Sat still is that this was a 15 episode season and we will never ever again get that amount of space to explore the characters and the universe so in some sense this is probably as good as the world building can get which is not great. It wasn’t terrible but you can fly the Terran Palace through some of the plot holes.

[isagrimorie]

I’m up to episode 5, Choose Your Pain of my Discovery rewatch and Discovery crew or select Disco crew are slowly finding their way back to the Starfleet way with Michael’s balancing force of compassion and curiosity.

Ash also enters the picture — and I can see why Lorca can be so charismatic, the actor is very charismatic. I still don’t know how I feel of the twist about Lorca. A podcast I’m listening to about Discovery mentioned how he liked the idea of Lorca, who is really Mirror!Lorca Breaking Good, instead of Breaking Bad. Starfleet was breaking him from being bad into being good until the last few episodes of Disco. I’ll see what I feel about it.

Ash is immediately suspicious and I think it's deliberately telegraphed.

I might be late for the party but I just realized that the Discovery Bridge crew, as written in season 1 weren’t meant to be main characters they’re background characters brought forward.

This struck me when Dr Culber and Stamets brought up their concerns about the Tardigrade on the Bridge and none of the Bridge crew reacted.

And then when Saru ordered Rhys to do something and he briefly objected, like a lightning strike I realized when I stared at Rhys… I knew nothing about Rhys. I didn’t know anything about Detmer or Owo and the weirdly good looking model guy. The characters who followed into the future, I didn’t know anything about them. They don’t have an “I want” moment.

It’s the failure of the writing that the Bridge crew are still background character status four seasons into the show. We are getting a few more things with Detmar and Owo but it feels so slight to the amount of time we see them.

This is where Lower Decks and Prodigy excels I think, because even background characters are more drawn.

[bisexualbailorgana]

the thing that Gets me about michael and ash’s relationship is that it is built on complete trust and almost perfect honesty. like for two people so deeply traumatised and hurt and with voq literally trying to kill michael and the impact that has on her, their relationship shouldn’t work. but it does because they have unshakeable faith in each other and (generally) don’t hide how they feel or what they’re struggling with and because they know exactly how much the other has been hurt and they always try to respond with empathy and patience. they are each others tether!!!!!!

[avoicefromthestars]