Kobayashi Marie continues its discussion of the First Season of Star Trek Discovery with Episode 14 – The War Without, The War Within
Ewww. The very first thing Saru (Doug Jones) learns is that Emperor Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) eats Kelpiens. Good start. Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) has some explaining to do. And something else to deal with … because Ash Tyler (Shazad Latif) is about to wake up having been allegedly separated from his Klingon self by L’Rell (Mary Chieffo). But Michael can’t bear to see him.
On the other hand, he wants to see her. He seems OK now. Repentant and guilty but Tyler not Voq. But to be honest, it’s very difficult to trust him, even though I really, really, really, want to.
It is so good to see Admiral Cornwell (Jayne Brook) again! However, she seems a bit jumpy and has Sarek (James Frain) as backup. I guess his mind meld is useful to see if there are any other species-reassigned Klingons lurking around. And this is all before the credits.
Finally, we get the answer (I think) to one of the questions that has been bugging me throughout. Discovery finally gets the spore drive working effectively. Yes, Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) had a bit of a time of it getting used to understanding and navigating. But it worked out in the end. My question has always been, if it’s such good technology, why have we never seen it in other Star Trek series? Why did it fall out of use before Enterprise or Star Trek TOS? And I think Cornwell and Sarek give us the answer here – if the drive can take you anywhere in space and time, then it’s going to be a temptation to revive or revisit deceased relatives, or change history somehow, which can’t be allowed to happen. At least, I think that’s the reason they’re giving. If that’s the case though, then you would have thought some unscrupulous being would have discovered it and tried it out over the years, so the ret con doesn’t quite work. Does it?
So, Admiral Cornwell, just before we set off on a perilous journey back to base, I think perhaps I should just let you know that … erm … well … we have an evil emperor aboard who doesn’t really want to be here. And a half-human half-Klingon hybrid who’s in recovery. That’s all. No big deal.
Nice touch here: I just noticed on this viewing that Burnham makes a point of asking Emperor Georgiou exactly how she defeated the Klingons. Jump all the way back to the very first episode The Vulcan Hello and that’s where Burnham asked Sarek how he handled the Klingons. So she’s seeking advice from both her parents. Awww.
This is the episode where I realised how good Shazad Latif is at crying. Crying at his apology to Stamets. Crying when he’s talking to Burnham. The guy is a mess. Burnham finally pays him a visit, and oooh that little step backwards that she takes when he moves towards her. Heartbreaking. And then he’s so cruel, he knows just how to use her vulnerability in relationships and her parents’ death to really get at her. That was mean, Ash. That’s not the original Ash Tyler we first met. And yet then he does the bit about why L’Rell couldn’t get through to him was because he loves Michael. Oh these two are tearing me apart over here.
Kobayashi Marie will be back on Friday her final recap Season 1 of Star Trek Discovery
Kobayashi Marie continues its discussion of the First Season of Star Trek Discovery with Episode 14 – The War Without, The War Within
Ewww. The very first thing Saru (Doug Jones) learns is that Emperor Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) eats Kelpiens. Good start. Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) has some explaining to do. And something else to deal with … because Ash Tyler (Shazad Latif) is about to wake up having been allegedly separated from his Klingon self by L’Rell (Mary Chieffo). But Michael can’t bear to see him.
On the other hand, he wants to see her. He seems OK now. Repentant and guilty but Tyler not Voq. But to be honest, it’s very difficult to trust him, even though I really, really, really, want to.
It is so good to see Admiral Cornwell (Jayne Brook) again! However, she seems a bit jumpy and has Sarek (James Frain) as backup. I guess his mind meld is useful to see if there are any other species-reassigned Klingons lurking around. And this is all before the credits.
Finally, we get the answer (I think) to one of the questions that has been bugging me throughout. Discovery finally gets the spore drive working effectively. Yes, Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) had a bit of a time of it getting used to understanding and navigating. But it worked out in the end. My question has always been, if it’s such good technology, why have we never seen it in other Star Trek series? Why did it fall out of use before Enterprise or Star Trek TOS? And I think Cornwell and Sarek give us the answer here – if the drive can take you anywhere in space and time, then it’s going to be a temptation to revive or revisit deceased relatives, or change history somehow, which can’t be allowed to happen. At least, I think that’s the reason they’re giving. If that’s the case though, then you would have thought some unscrupulous being would have discovered it and tried it out over the years, so the ret con doesn’t quite work. Does it?
So, Admiral Cornwell, just before we set off on a perilous journey back to base, I think perhaps I should just let you know that … erm … well … we have an evil emperor aboard who doesn’t really want to be here. And a half-human half-Klingon hybrid who’s in recovery. That’s all. No big deal.
Nice touch here: I just noticed on this viewing that Burnham makes a point of asking Emperor Georgiou exactly how she defeated the Klingons. Jump all the way back to the very first episode The Vulcan Hello and that’s where Burnham asked Sarek how he handled the Klingons. So she’s seeking advice from both her parents. Awww.
This is the episode where I realised how good Shazad Latif is at crying. Crying at his apology to Stamets. Crying when he’s talking to Burnham. The guy is a mess. Burnham finally pays him a visit, and oooh that little step backwards that she takes when he moves towards her. Heartbreaking. And then he’s so cruel, he knows just how to use her vulnerability in relationships and her parents’ death to really get at her. That was mean, Ash. That’s not the original Ash Tyler we first met. And yet then he does the bit about why L’Rell couldn’t get through to him was because he loves Michael. Oh these two are tearing me apart over here.
Kobayashi Marie will be back on Friday her final recap Season 1 of Star Trek Discovery
You can catch up on the prior columns here!
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