Tag: review

Star Trek: Discovery – “The War Without, The War Within”

by Alex Reed, posted in Star Trek Essays, Star Trek: Discovery Reviews

I’d like to begin this review how I concluded the last review. With a shrug.

“The War Without, The War Within” isn’t bad, but it’s not hugely compelling either. It feels more like classic Trek than most of Discovery, taking its time for slow dialogue scenes between pairs of characters. You mean we actually get to watch these characters act like people? Seeing as pretty much every episode of Discovery careens ahead like a freight train, a slower, calmer episode like this comes as a nice surprise. But it also can’t shake off Discovery syndrome, where every quiet character moment must be balanced with a BIG CRAZY TWIST.

Taking Time to Talk

Among the episode’s notable two-person scenes:

  • Tyler runs into Stamets and tries to apologize for killing Culber. It goes about as well as you’d expect. It’s a good moment, though, well-played. Of course Stamets has nothing to say. How could he?
  • Burnham and Tyler have it out over their relationship, which is less good. The scene is overacted and stilted, filled with trembling voices and tears rolling down cheeks. It underlines how the Burnham / Tyler romance was dictated by the plot rather than emerging naturally from character. There’s a particularly cringeworthy moment when Tyler accuses Burnham of taking his recent exposure as a Klingon spy as an “excuse” to back out of their relationship. In what universe is that good for a relationship?
  • Tilly encourages Burnham to talk things over with Tyler. The Tilly / Burnham friendship has been one of the understated bright spots of this season. Too bad Tilly is so often lost in the cacophony of the plot.

However, we also need to discuss the foolhardiness of Saru’s decision to let Tyler wander the ship freely. This is a dangerous man, with an alter ego Klingon personality that could leap forth at any moment. In fact, the entire crew treats him much too cavalierly. The way they react, you would think he got sloppy at the office party, not recently got exposed as a surgically altered Klingon who tried to kill the first officer. The scene in the mess hall is laughably simplistic. Everyone gets quiet when Tyler enters the room, then Tilly sits next to him, the ice is broken, and everyone starts smiling and chatting. What is this, high school? Even when Discovery tries to focus on character, it bungles the details in favor of narrative convenience.

Action Quotient Fulfilled

Of course, this wouldn’t be a Discovery episode unless we shoved in some action sequences. Cornwell and Sarek beam onto the bridge with phasers drawn (of course), and Sarek mind-melds with Saru to figure out where the Discovery has been. (I thought the mind meld was a closely kept secret in the time of TOS? I’ve long since given up on fitting this series into the established timeline.) Also, the crew has to grow more spores for the drive, which they accomplish by shooting pods at a planet and doing some tech stuff. It looks pretty, but I have no idea what actually happens. How did Discovery manage to have all this tech on hand? Because we must keep the plot moving at all costs, of course!

There are some tech and overall plot elements that work, and some that don’t. Charting the surface of Kronos by spore jumping inside the planet is a neat plan. It’s also an interesting idea that the Klingon houses have fractured, and each is attacking the Federation to fulfill its own pursuit of glory. In a better series, this would be explored for dramatic benefit (think what Deep Space Nine would’ve done with the idea of competing Klingon houses), but instead, we throw away this interesting political scenario so we can romp around in the Mirror Universe for four episodes. In a Serious Briefing Scene, Cornwell and Sarek decree that the Mirror Universe will be kept secret, since knowledge of alternate universes would apparently lead to mass hysteria. This purports to explain why Kirk and crew didn’t know about the Mirror Universe, but wouldn’t Starfleet captains at least be briefed about this potential security threat? Plus, Picard, Janeway, et al, regularly discovered alternate universes and no one made a fuss about keeping them secret. It’s really the writers’ convenient way of saying, “We wanted to use the Mirror Universe, so shut up.”

It All Comes Back to Logic

There’s a moment in this episode that exemplifies Star Trek: Discovery. Having just learned that Lorca was from the Mirror Universe, Admiral Cornwell pulls out her phaser and vaporizes Lorca’s tray of fortune cookies. I laughed. It’s a punchy, unexpected moment. But then a voice instantly spoke to me, “As you know, Mr. Chekov, no one can fire an unauthorized phaser aboard a starship.” It was Valeris from The Undiscovered Country, after she tried a similar trick and set off the security alarm. Back then, Star Trek bothered to think through the rules of its universe. It asked basic questions like, “Can someone just randomly fire a phaser on a starship? Mmm, probably not.” Discovery doesn’t care. Rules and logic don’t matter. Only the moment matters. In The Undiscovered Country, multiple people come running into the room asking, “Did someone fire a phaser?” In Discovery, everyone shrugs and thinks, “I wonder what more crazy shit will happen today.”

The episode ends with Mirror Georgieu placed in command of Discovery for its climatic run on Kronos. Look, another BIG CRAZY TWIST! At this point, I’m suffering from twist exhaustion. But I can predict with certainty that there will be several more before the end. To quote Voyager’s “Muse,” which was itself a reflection on the nature of Star Trek storytelling: “Find the truth of your story and you won’t need all those tricks.”

Miscellaneous Notes:

  • The episode uses vocabulary from the transgender community in reference to Tyler. The doctor says he’s “presenting” as Tyler, and his operation is referred to as “species reassignment surgery.” I’m not sure this is a great allegory to draw since Tyler’s experience was so horrific.
  • Even in its attempt to provide clarity on L’Rell and Voq’s plan, the episode muddies the waters further. So they intended to capture Discovery and use the glory from its conquest to unite the Klingon houses? This plan skips so many intermediate steps that it makes my head spin.
  • In my mind, Discovery is apocryphal. I simply can’t reconcile this series’ relentless grimness with the sunny, colorful world of the Original Series that supposedly takes place ten years later.

Previous episode: “What’s Past is Prologue”
Next episode: “Will You Take My Hand?”

Star Trek: Discovery – “What’s Past is Prologue”

by Alex Reed, posted in Star Trek Essays, Star Trek: Discovery Reviews

“What’s Past is Prologue” concludes the Mirror Universe arc pretty much how I expected: an action-packed romp that’s shallow but pretty to look at. I’m not sure if Discovery has found a groove or if I’ve adjusted my expectations to its level. If that sounds like a backhanded compliment, so be it. I enjoyed watching this episode. It’s fun if you turn your brain off. The trouble is, the reason I love (or used to love) Star Trek is that I like leaving my brain on.

What I Liked A.K.A. The Good in the Mirror

Let’s give credit where credit is due: this climactic episode summons the full impact of quick cuts, bright flashes, and solid punchy sounds to deliver some spectacular action scenes. The fight in the Emperor’s throne room is riveting, with swift, brutal fight choreography. It’s hard to believe that Kirk’s fight with the Gorn in TOS’s “Arena” takes place in the same universe. (Laughably, “Arena” is supposed to take place ten years after this episode.) So the punchy stuff is good, and the starships whizzing around is also good. The episode’s climax, where Discovery destroys the spore generator and rides a mycelial wave back to “our” universe, is genuinely exciting and makes great use of intercutting. The visualization of the spore network is particularly gorgeous: a series of infinitely branching tunnels, with Stamets barely picking the right path each time. No wonder it’s such a strain on him.

Characters also have good moments. With Burnham gone and Lorca evil, Saru gracefully settles into the captain’s seat and gives a nice inspirational speech about how the ship isn’t Lorca’s anymore; it belongs to the crew. Burnham and Georgieu have some good interplay, particularly Burnham’s line: “You lost a daughter and an empire. I lost a captain and a life.” With all this talk of the Mirror Universe as destiny, it seems that fate has balanced the scales for both of them. Mirror Lorca is a two-dimensional villain, which (deep breath, repeating myself from last week) is disappointing considering the extended setup and potential squandered etc. But he has an interesting speech where he lays out his philosophy: “The strong and the capable will always rise.” He believes the universe would be better if everyone accepted that the strong and capable should rule. At least he has a philosophy, unlike the boring-as-shit Kol from the first half of the season. (“Who?” asks half the audience.)

The episode also lays on the references to contemporary issues pretty thick. Not only does Lorca accuse Georgieu of “letting aliens spill across our borders,” but literally concludes a rousing speech with “make the Empire glorious again.” Along with the Klingons and Vulcans, that makes three alt-right populist factions on this series! Also, Stamets, Tilly, and Saru have a scene that practically screams “CLIMATE CHANGE” in capital letters. They discuss how the Terran plan to harness the spore network is resulting in its destruction, gradually draining precious resources that cannot be managed “sustainably.” “How could they be so shortsighted?” Saru sighs dramatically. (“GET IT?” screams the script.) Though both these scenes are obvious and heavy-handed, I appreciate the effort.

What I Didn’t Like A.K.A. What’s Behind This Mirror?

Scratch the surface and you won’t find much beneath. Once you get past the superficial whiz-bang, the fact remains that this is a series riding on spectacle and big twists, trying to distract us from the fact that it was never built on a solid foundation. Throughout its entire run, the series has kept careening ahead, never giving us time to settle down and bond with these characters. Remember TNG’s “Encounter at Farpoint” and how it devoted entire plot-irrelevant scenes to watching Riker and Data hang out in the holodeck? Or Picard and Crusher tentatively acknowledging the death of Beverly’s husband? When I try to think of similar “hangout” moments in Discovery, all I come up with is Tilly and Burnham running through the halls in “Lethe.” (The party in “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad” doesn’t count because it’s wrapped up in the time loop.)

I like Saru and Stamets and Tilly and Burnham. But so frequently, they’re swept away by a torrent of plot incidents: pieces on a constantly shifting chessboard. And as for the Mirror Universe characters? Except for DS9’s “Crossover,” MU people aren’t meant to be real people, so they can only go so far in engendering our sympathy or disgust. By spending four entire episodes in the MU, the series has hung a lot on Mirror Lorca and Georgieu, and they can’t sustain the weight because there’s nothing there. “They’re just evil” is pretty much all there is to them. This show’s much-touted narrative arc has proven to be its own worst enemy.

Now we’re back to “our” universe with Mirror Georgieu in tow, plus presumably some Tyler / L’Rell stuff to work out (neither appeared this week). With only two episodes to go, Discovery has precious little time to wrap things up, or God forbid, extend important story arcs into the second season. Because I’m already eager to leave spores, secret identities, and the whole bloody Klingon war far behind.

Miscellenous Notes:

  • Saru has a great captain’s log voice! An important prerequisite for a Starfleet captain.
  • I admit that Lorca’s ironic death by spore generator was satisfying.
  • Mirror Landry shows up. Unfortunately, you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference between her and Regular Landry, because the latter honestly felt like a Mirror Universe character to begin with!
  • We’re back to the Klingon war stuff. My reaction: a shrug. Just a shrug.

Previous episode: “Vaulting Ambition”
Next episode: “The War Without, The War Within”

Star Trek: Discovery – “Vaulting Ambition”

by Alex Reed, posted in Star Trek Essays, Star Trek: Discovery Reviews

At a trim 38 minutes, “Vaulting Ambition” is the shortest live-action hour of Star Trek ever made. Considering the content, I didn’t mind. With this episode, Discovery slips back into its old tics, the tics that have held it back all along: grimness and narrative murkiness. What’s funny is how tonally similar this episode feels to earlier efforts like “Context is For Kings” and “Choose Your Pain,” except those were set in “our” universe and this episode is set in the Mirror Universe, a realm that usually offers a darker contrast to “our” universe. Perhaps the show is trying to make a broader point about the fallibility of “our” universe, but I think that’s giving it too much credit. The show is what it is, and the similarity of the two universes says a lot about its tonal baseline.

Let’s Get to the Point… Another Twist

We’ve known all along that there’s been something off about Lorca. In “Lethe,” his old lover Admiral Cornwell barely recognized him. In “Despite Yourself,” he randomly banged his head against the wall. Now we have an explanation; Lorca was from the Mirror Universe all along. Was I surprised? Yes. Was I disappointed? Yes. However, the episode plays the reveal of this secret well. Mirror Georgieu gradually leads Burnham to the realization that mirror Terrans are sensitive to light, a trait which Lorca has displayed all along. And in a parallel scene, Lorca is presented with a comrade from the Mirror Universe, who his guard threatens to kill unless Lorca says the name of the guard’s sister, who he apparently raped and killed. At first, we the audience think that Lorca doesn’t know the sister’s name, so the tension comes from our knowledge that the poor comrade is doomed. But when Lorca reveals his true colors, killing the captor (who has already killed the comrade), our expectations are subverted. It’s a nice way to pull the rug from under us. But my problem isn’t so much with the execution as with the implications of this twist.

Before, it was possible to read Lorca as a damaged man with a traumatic past. We assumed that the destruction of his ship and crew left a deep imprint on his psyche, making him increasingly guarded and paranoid. Though Lorca was sometimes a frustrating enigma, I assumed that an insightful answer to this puzzle was coming. Now we know Lorca was… just evil. Because he’s from the Mirror Universe. That is disappointing. By definition, the least interesting explanation for a character’s bad behavior is “they’re evil.” This twist hand-waves away all of Lorca’s potential complexity and turns him into a two-dimensional villain. Also, the shock factor is seriously hurt by coming on the heels of the Tyler/Voq reveal in last week’s “The Wolf Inside,” which landed with more gravity and had more interesting implications for the character in question. Discovery is revealing itself as a series about flash and spectacle, where big twists substitute for character insight.

It’s a Spore World After All

Last week, I assumed that mirror Stamets had contacted our Stamets through the spore network for a nefarious purpose. It turns out not to be nefarious (necessarily). He just wants to escape, after being trapped in the spore network due to an experiment gone awry. This storyline works decently, but like most of Discovery’s storytelling, it takes a confusing turn. Stamets encounters Culber in the spore network, who informs him that he’s dead, and the two have a final conversation. All this wants to be very emotional, and the actors try their best, but I simply couldn’t get past the basic question: what the hell is Culber in this scene? He can’t be a figment of Stamets’ imagination, since he conveys new information about the spore network (it’s afflicted by some kind of disease and its demise may lead to the “annihilation of everything, everywhere,” whatever that means). The only real explanation is that this is Culber’s “soul.” So the spore network is like a dreamcatcher for souls? We’ve dealt with katras before in the Star Trek universe, but this is a step too far. I simply couldn’t feel for Stamets or Culber because the encounter between the two didn’t feel real.

Other stuff happens in “Vaulting Ambition,” but the Lorca revelation and Stamets/Culber scene are the centerpieces. Both are interesting, but problematic, like the series at large. Discovery is generally watchable from week to week, with high production values, good acting, and the occasional good moment. But its endgame is not at all clear. If the conclusion to this season soars, like the half-season ender “Into the Forest I Go,” it may redeem a season full of confusing tonal shifts and tangents. If it lands with a thud, thus will land the season.

Miscellaneous Notes:

  • There are two other story threads going on here, which I file in the Other Stuff category. One is the Burmham / Georgieu interplay, which I found uninteresting. There’s always been something missing in this relationship, going back to the first two episodes, which never really let us feel these characters’ respect and admiration for each other. In the Mirror Universe, the dynamic is supposedly more extreme, with Georgieu functioning as a surrogate mother for Burnham. But there’s nothing to latch on to here, nothing to care about.
  • Also, L’Rell is able to soothe Tyler/Voq using some kind of sci-fi thingy. We still have no idea what L’Rell’s plan or motives are, which also makes it impossible to care.
  • Both Stamets exit the spore network, but the episode implies that their identities are switched. Yet more characters that aren’t what they seem.
  • Burnham and Mirror Georgieu eat Kelpian for dinner. Gross.

Previous episode: “The Wolf Inside”
Next episode: “What’s Past is Prologue”