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Star Trek Discovery s4, starts 18/19 November

Started by mothman, October 09, 2021, 09:42:42 PM

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Exposition

The opening scene just seems like it was completely stolen from
Spoiler alert
Beyond
[close]
, but as far as a Discovery episode goes, I liked it more than the S2 and S3 premieres. It does hand itself the most basic assignments in the world, but at least they don't mess it up... that probably comes later once we get deeper into exploring whatever universe ending anomaly they're dealing with this time.

Malcy

Quote from: Wentworth Smith on November 18, 2021, 05:23:05 PMThe President
Spoiler alert
was a dope, and totally ridiculous. Querying the captain of the ship during a moment of crisis when speed is of the essence, and seemingly having the power to get a captain of a starship to step down whenever they want.
[close]

Is she only the 4th President we've ever seen in Trek? I can only think of the two in the TOS films, the DS9 one from Homefront/Paradise Lost and now this one.

I got the feeling from Tilly in this one that
Spoiler alert
she might be considering leaving Starfleet
[close]
. Can't remember why now though.

mothman

Maybe it's just watching Flux has left me with diminished expectations, but I thought this was a really solid episode. It managed to cram in a catch-up for the story and characters, introduce the season's big mystery, and incorporate a stand-alone rescue mission subplot. Good music. Good effects - granted the butterfly people in flight was a bit shonky but one can't expect miracles.

Even the opening scene ripping off Beyond was done well. OK it's derivative but then it also shows that the job never changes, even in a different millennium - and timeline! And it made good use of SMG & Ajala's obvious chemistry.

Even Saru's decision to return was done well. They could have just had him turn up and say "been there, done that, I'm back." But instead they used it to show how society on Kaminar has changed now it's Kelpiens and Ba'ul living together, and act as an exemplar of the sorts of conversations worlds will be having as they debate whether to rejoin the Federation.

And you had this new President to call Burnham out on her bullshit. She was right in everything she said. And what could Michael muster in response? "She's a politician just trying to make herself look good!" and "GASP! Did you LIE to that panicking man to get him to calm down?!" Burnham is the captain of her ship, she should not have left it to pilot that work bee just because she immediately assumed she was the best person to do so. Oh, I'm sure the Prez will turn out to be EVIL because Burnham Is Always Right, but until then...

Incidentally the USS Curry is mentioned. An earlier ship by that name appeared on DS9, and was one of the weirder kitbashes of existing models you'll ever see:

https://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/articles/ds9tm.htm#curry

bakabaka

The last line was so gloriously clichéd, no matter how pregnant a pause it gets. I managed to get 4 "They're all gone"s in before he did.

First time I've finished an episode with a smile in ages.

And it's shot straight to the top of the torrent rankings, too.


JamesTC

"We heard you" = We found a way to profit off you more whilst looking like we are apologising.

Am I so old and out of touch that Pluto TV is known to all but me?

Exposition

Quote from: Wentworth Smith on November 24, 2021, 04:14:02 PMAm I so old and out of touch that Pluto TV is known to all but me?
First time I've heard of it too, which probably says something. I can't even seem to access it.

Bad Ambassador

Their solution is to put it on a streaming site where you have to watch it live, with no option for timeshifting or on demand. Why don't they just dump 50,000 Betamax copies out of a fucking Jetstream into the North Sea instead, for all the viewership that'll pick up?


Mobbd

#70
Quote from: Malcy on October 10, 2021, 06:23:45 PMSeen that she is part Cardassian/Bajoran & Human.

The Ferengi still looks odd.



Hahaha! That's hilarious. It's anchored enough to the classic look not to piss me off but if their aim was to make Ferengi look less ridiculous they have failed spectacularly. Bless 'em.

Didn't they already show a Cardassian in Disco briefly? I read somewhere that it looked just as it should, as if to reassure the haters of new Klingons that they wouldn't fuck with this other classic design.

New episode featured yet MORE of the characterless bridge crew nodding, winking, and inanely smiling at each as if to say 'aren't we a great bunch'. 2 for 2 so far this series, let's hope they keep it up.

Malcy

Struggling to get through episode 2. I detest Burnham more than any other character in anything, ever. And as for Gray, oh just fuck off and stop grinning.

Why does SMG over act every single scene and whisper half her lines?

Mobbd

Quote from: Malcy on November 25, 2021, 08:20:00 PMStruggling to get through episode 2. I detest Burnham more than any other character in anything, ever. And as for Gray, oh just fuck off and stop grinning.

Why does SMG over act every single scene and whisper half her lines?

Gah, what a shame. I find that you're very even-handed with your takes, Malcy, and just want to enjoy this. This sounds pretty bad.

At least they're in the 32nd century where they can't break anything.

Exposition

Oh yeah, I see the famous SMG-whisper has returned in full form.

Mr Trumpet

Funny what winds people up, sometimes. I thought it was a good episode. Some cringey dialogue scattered about but the gravity warping setpieces were really spectacular. Decent mystery premise for the series. Could have done with some more aliens in this one. With all the resources they have at their disposal now I don't know why they didn't make the Kwejians at least a bit weird-looking. I thought we were past the days when they didn't bother with alien makeup at all.

mothman

The big-headed alien officer was in the background but didn't move much, might just be their reference model. It's called an Osnullus.

Again, a solid episode. I can see how it might be insufferable if you loathe Burnham, but it's her show so I guess you either learn to grin and bear it, or..?

I like that there's a regular set of named characters on the bridge - Owosekun, Detmer, Bryce, Rhys and Nilsson. And Airiam (RIP). They don't get a lot to do apart from bridge crew stuff most of the time, character stuff comes in dribs and drabs, like Rhys being a surfer or Detmer having PTSD. Hardly doing anything with Airiam in advance of setting her up to be Controlled then killed was a bit rubbish though.

Disinform

Quote from: mothman on November 25, 2021, 11:48:31 PMThe big-headed alien officer was in the background but didn't move much, might just be their reference model. It's called an Osnullus.

Again, a solid episode. I can see how it might be insufferable if you loathe Burnham, but it's her show so I guess you either learn to grin and bear it, or..?

I like that there's a regular set of named characters on the bridge - Owosekun, Detmer, Bryce, Rhys and Nilsson. And Airiam (RIP). They don't get a lot to do apart from bridge crew stuff most of the time, character stuff comes in dribs and drabs, like Rhys being a surfer or Detmer having PTSD. Hardly doing anything with Airiam in advance of setting her up to be Controlled then killed was a bit rubbish though.

Given how little the bridge crew have had in the first 3 years of the show it's refreshing to see infinitely more time given to them this year.  It really does feel like they're fixing a lot of the issues I had with the show.

Quote from: mothman on November 25, 2021, 11:48:31 PMcharacter stuff comes in dribs and drabs, like Rhys being a surfer

Incredible character work.

mothman

Burnham deciding whether or not  to allow Book to go on that mission reminded me of that TNG ep - "Lessons" I think? - where Picard has to deal with having a girlfriend under his command.

Also, this is a bit random, but Saru turned down command of the USS Sojourner. Now, while this is obviously yet another instance of them using names of probes and rovers (there were Curiosity- and Inquiry-classes in PIC), there was also a USS Sojourner which featured in the unused Star Trek: Federation pitch from 15 years ago, set in the 31st century and being even more like Andromeda than DSC season 3 was!

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek:_Federation

One of the people behind that was Bryan Singer, so we dodged a bullet there. Another was Free Enterprise writer/director Robert Meyer Burnett who may feel rather bitter about it given he's become DSC's own Laurence Miles equivalent, forever sniping about the show...

mothman

That was, I almost hate to say it, a really good episode. It wasn't wall-to-wall The Burnham Show. There was some really good acting in this, from David Ajala, and Ian Alexander (when he - or is it they? I know Blu del Barrio is gender neutral, unsure about Alexander though - wasn't grinning like an idiot, which is something I hope gets dialled down a bit). Also not sure I trust Trill High Priest guy.

The aliens having latinum in, well, bit dubious about that but it's a minor thing.

Mr Trumpet

Ian Alexander describes himself as he/they on instagram.

I found myself quite affected by Book's storyline in this episode, much to my surprise. And I loved those shots of Vulcan/Ni'Var, really leaning into the 70s SF paperback aesthetic there.

Mobbd

What's shaking? Is Season 4 still airing or is there a hiatus or something?

A streaming service called Pluto TV is being advertised on some of the podcasts I listen to and I checked it out. It's free but it seems to be largely b-movies and other low-budget probably-not-great stuff. A search for "CSI" brings up no actual CSI but loads of other police procedural stuff I've never heard of. There might be some treasure to be found in there but I'd rather not be the one to sift through it all to find out.

The day after looking into it and kinda writing it off, I saw an advert for Pluto on the side of a bus with some of it's "big" shows (i.e. things people might have heard of) advertised. It showed a Gordon Ramsey thing (which I had indeed noticed when I'd looked at the platform myself) and... Star Trek: Discovery! It was a picture of Michael Burnham in the Captain's chair with lots of gorgeous lens flare and (I think) the show's logo.

Once I'd got over my inner snark saying "hahaha, well this show is in good company with the other off-brand junk," I remembered that my search for Star Trek on Pluto had yielded nothing at all (Dark Star was the closest recognisable thing). I went back and checked today and there's still nothing. Has anyone here successfully streamed Disco on Pluto? Or heard anything about it being either lined up or pulled?

On a Discovery-related note (because it features heavily with its two main time periods and universe crossings), this "Star Trek timeline" image is doing the rounds. No new information as such but it's nice to look at. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FGa7ArfXsAcXi4l?format=jpg&name=4096x4096

mothman

Today's (tomorrow's) episode is the last before they go on an impromptu hiatus until early Feb, to show new Prodigy episodes instead.

I suppose I could watch them on Pluto, but the timing is never convenient. So I watch them the way you'd expect.

And you know what? This season is pretty good! There's actual science and exploration happening. Even Burnham isn't too annoying.

On another forum I belong to, someone mentioned they'd seen a post on Tumblr (or possibly a screenshot of it - however, they couldn't find it again later) suggesting that this season is all about how to respond and come to terms with trauma. The DMA storyline is effectively Trek's metaphor for the pandemic. This is why Culber's (and Kovich's) role as a counsellor has come to the fore.

Mr Trumpet

Yes, after more than 30 years they finally have a proper ship's counsellor doing credible (for TV) therapy.

The show has built up a great roster of recurring/secondary characters now. The Vulcan politician, the dadmiral, David Cronenberg as creepy Guinan. I like the jackass scientist as well.

Mobbd

That all sounds good! Hooray! Those story elements, I mean.

Strange that they'd break for Prodigy. It must be their way of getting Disco watchers into that. Fair enough I guess.

But given that they're intended for different audiences, it's a bit odd. Like, if they want everyone to watch everything why not make straightforward Trek shows that would appeal to everyone like in the old days? Instead of speaking to kids and adults separately while simultaneously wanting the separate audiences to cross over. It's really weird.

And Disco and Prodigy aren't even on the same platform, are they? So the hiatus needs you to understand what's going on and to voluntarily go over to Nickelodeon, right? Which you'd do anyway if you were interested. It's not like you're tuning in to Disco at a certain time only to be presented with Prodigy instead. Or have I missed something? God, I'm old.

mothman

I think Prodigy premieres on P+ and then appears on Nickelodeon later - as in several weeks/months later. It was badged as being "Star Trek on Nickelodeon" but then they seemed to have panicked that P+ subscriptions might suffer.

Meanwhile, after the Netflix debacle, CBS haven't learned anything at all and their promotional material for each new ep of DSC continues to be region-locked on Twitter. This despite desperately hoping that everyone in affected countries will sign up for Paramount+ next year. Yes, sure, right now we can "only" watch it on Pluto TV (snigger) but you'd think it'd be a no-brainer to let overseas fans see what we're missing and thus encourage take-up of P+ when it becomes available in our countries. But nope...

Mobbd

Quote from: mothman on December 30, 2021, 01:02:34 PMI think Prodigy premieres on P+ and then appears on Nickelodeon later - as in several weeks/months later. It was badged as being "Star Trek on Nickelodeon" but then they seemed to have panicked that P+ subscriptions might suffer.

So it is on the same platform. I get it now! And it's a platform that is not available internationally. Got it. Bloody Nora. I'll just get me an eyepatch and wittle me up a wooden leg like everyone else. Maybe Paramount/CBS can just count those as views too and then everybody wins.

mothman

Note the caveat that I think that is what is happening! But, yarrr, a fellow scourge of the high seas, that I be too, matey. In fact that reminds me, I just need to fire up my TOR browser a minute...

JamesTC

Isn't the thing with Discovery on Pluto TV that you have to watch it when it airs, despite it being a streaming service?