Story: If Memory Serves
Written By: Dan Dworkin & Jay Beattie
Series: Star Trek: Discovery
Year: 2019
So Burnham takes Spock to Talos IV, or rather maybe he took her there, and they use their excellent mind powers to clear Spock's brain up, share his thoughts with Burnham, and finally as payment take Burnham's painful memory of how she hurt Spock as a child. So we get Spock's situation cleared up, and also show us what Burnham did that was so awful that they've been teasing for a while now. Spoiler Alert it's exactly what we all thought, she pulled a Harry and the Hendersons on him and called him a half breed so she could runaway.
Anyhow Pike is ordered to stay put by Section 31, but since he doesn't really like Section 31 he decides to say fuck that, particularly when Veena makes contact with him from Talos IV, and the Talosians let him speak to Burnham. He decides to go rescue them, but Section 31 is on his tail. They get there at the same time, and both lock their transporters onto Burnham and Spock. In order to keep their atoms from disintegrating, Pike lets them go. Section 31 takes off, but it turns out it is a Talosian trick! Spock and Burnham fly their shuttle to Discovery, and now they are on the run.
The episode also has a B-plot involving Dr. Culber's difficulty reintegrating. He doesn't feel like himself, he doesn't feel like he is in his own body. And Stamets trying too hard isn't making things easy for him either. He does punch out some aggression on Tyler, which new Saru lets just happen because he is more aggressive himself. But I think this was a good storyline, one I wish got it's own A-story in an episode. Particularly as it is more interesting than Spock and Talosians being rehashed.
I think this is actually a fine episode, but I couldn't help but just wish this series didn't feel the need for retread. I'm not too bummed about seeing Talosians again, because I've always thought they were cool. I'm more just disinterested in exploring Spock any further. To me, Spock is Nimoy, and everything he did with that character was great. But his story has been told. He was explored in the original show, the movies, and in TNG. Then he was revived in the Kelvin films...and now this. Truth be told, I don't need more Spock. I didn't need Burnham to be Spock's sister. She could have been raised by any Vulcan family. Making it specifically Spock was always an issue. But here we are. I can deal. I think Peck is a fine Spock so far. I might prefer him to Quinto, who did his own thing and that was fine, but I was always skeptical (though I thought he found the character in Beyond).
My disappointment in the Talosians is only in their redesign. I LOVE the original design. It is so simple. And they didn't go too nuts like the Klingons, but these new versions look more like the Vians from The Empath mixed with Generic Alien #463. I think their bulbous heads looked too smooth. It needed to look fleshier. And they needed to be paler. And smaller. The voices were weird too. Anyhow this is just fanboy nitpicking.
The episode begins with a "Previously on Star Trek" that gives a rundown of "The Cage." It is neat, but it only makes the idea that Discovery is the Prime Universe a little harder to swallow. I don't buy that it's the same universe when you put them right next to each other like that. Oddly, when Doctor Who began "Twice Upon a Time" with "709 Episodes Ago..." which went back to the 60s black and white era and then brought it into the modern era and the recast First Doctor. And that worked tremendously. Doctor Who has just managed to balance modern and classic Doctor Who, partially because it is a goofy fantasy adventure show that can get away with that stuff because it never takes itself too seriously. It is harder on Trek. Discovery is so stylistically different from the original show. And that is fine, but merging the universes in my head is a struggle, even as I like both. If Discovery took place 100 years after TNG, I could make it all work in my head. They chose the more difficult path, and I have to just brush it off as best I can.
NEXT TIME: Section 31 Headquarters
Written By: Dan Dworkin & Jay Beattie
Series: Star Trek: Discovery
Year: 2019
So Burnham takes Spock to Talos IV, or rather maybe he took her there, and they use their excellent mind powers to clear Spock's brain up, share his thoughts with Burnham, and finally as payment take Burnham's painful memory of how she hurt Spock as a child. So we get Spock's situation cleared up, and also show us what Burnham did that was so awful that they've been teasing for a while now. Spoiler Alert it's exactly what we all thought, she pulled a Harry and the Hendersons on him and called him a half breed so she could runaway.
The episode also has a B-plot involving Dr. Culber's difficulty reintegrating. He doesn't feel like himself, he doesn't feel like he is in his own body. And Stamets trying too hard isn't making things easy for him either. He does punch out some aggression on Tyler, which new Saru lets just happen because he is more aggressive himself. But I think this was a good storyline, one I wish got it's own A-story in an episode. Particularly as it is more interesting than Spock and Talosians being rehashed.
I think this is actually a fine episode, but I couldn't help but just wish this series didn't feel the need for retread. I'm not too bummed about seeing Talosians again, because I've always thought they were cool. I'm more just disinterested in exploring Spock any further. To me, Spock is Nimoy, and everything he did with that character was great. But his story has been told. He was explored in the original show, the movies, and in TNG. Then he was revived in the Kelvin films...and now this. Truth be told, I don't need more Spock. I didn't need Burnham to be Spock's sister. She could have been raised by any Vulcan family. Making it specifically Spock was always an issue. But here we are. I can deal. I think Peck is a fine Spock so far. I might prefer him to Quinto, who did his own thing and that was fine, but I was always skeptical (though I thought he found the character in Beyond).
My disappointment in the Talosians is only in their redesign. I LOVE the original design. It is so simple. And they didn't go too nuts like the Klingons, but these new versions look more like the Vians from The Empath mixed with Generic Alien #463. I think their bulbous heads looked too smooth. It needed to look fleshier. And they needed to be paler. And smaller. The voices were weird too. Anyhow this is just fanboy nitpicking.
The episode begins with a "Previously on Star Trek" that gives a rundown of "The Cage." It is neat, but it only makes the idea that Discovery is the Prime Universe a little harder to swallow. I don't buy that it's the same universe when you put them right next to each other like that. Oddly, when Doctor Who began "Twice Upon a Time" with "709 Episodes Ago..." which went back to the 60s black and white era and then brought it into the modern era and the recast First Doctor. And that worked tremendously. Doctor Who has just managed to balance modern and classic Doctor Who, partially because it is a goofy fantasy adventure show that can get away with that stuff because it never takes itself too seriously. It is harder on Trek. Discovery is so stylistically different from the original show. And that is fine, but merging the universes in my head is a struggle, even as I like both. If Discovery took place 100 years after TNG, I could make it all work in my head. They chose the more difficult path, and I have to just brush it off as best I can.
NEXT TIME: Section 31 Headquarters
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