• The episode opens on L’ak’s funeral. Because he stabbed himself in “Mirrors”, and then intentionally overdosed on the drugs meant to cure him in “Erigah”....
When I was doing a all Star Trek movies marathon recently, I did wonder what that Species that looked like a Klingon but wasn’t a Klingong was, but it seemed hard to look up. Now I know he was an Efrosian.
“Euclidean Geometry”; this is the first mention of a species called the Euclideans.
LoglineWhen Captain Burnham is trapped within a “mindscape” designed to test her worthiness to retrieve the Progenitor’s powerful technology, Book, Rayner, and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery must hold off the Breen long enough for her to escape....
I thought that the twist to Burnham’s mindscape challenge would have been that she needed to empathize with others, and thus take a look at what Book was reading the whole damn time.
LoglineWith Moll and L’ak finally in custody, the Federation is pulled into a diplomatic and ethical firestorm when the Breen arrive and demand they be handed over. Meanwhile, a frustrated Book looks for ways to help as Tilly, Adira, and Reno work to decipher the latest clue....
It is the 31st Millennium. For centuries the L’ak Emperor of Breenkind has sat immobile on the silver throne. He is master of Breenkind by the will of of the gods and master of a million worlds by the might of His inexhaustible armies. He is a rotting carcass writhing invisibly with power from the progenitor age of technology. He is the Carrion Lord of the vast Imperium of Breen for whom a thousand souls are sacrificed every day so that he may never truly die…
The whales Gracie and George were stated to have wandered into San Francisco as calves. Outside of feeding events which can include the famous bubble nets, humpback whale pods usually consist of a lone mother and calf (or calves) pairing with a trailing “escort” male. Humpbacks are one of the few mammals that can be nursing...
Better safe than sorry. People might have been surprised that the voyage home on the Klingon ship following the Search for Spock would have included whales.
LoglineWhile undercover in a pre-warp society, Captain Burnham is forced to consider breaking the Prime Directive when a local tradition threatens Tilly’s life. Meanwhile, Culber tries to connect with Stamets, and Adira steps up when Rayner assigns them a position on the bridge....
The beginning and last line of Dr. Culber’s conversation with his grandmother recreation felt a bit stilted, as if he wasn’t fluent, which was strange because the middle part of the conversation had a goof flow to it. It made me wonder if there was some failure in directing or if Wilson Cruz is just not that fluent in Spanish compared to the actress for the grandmother, which is understandable and I’m not knocking him for it.
Anyway, I quite liked this episode. Very classic “planet of the week” Star Trek deal that I’m always down for. Break that prime directive. Save those natives from themselves. You can splurge on a plot or two of those. We’ve seen it before, we’ve seen it again. It had a solution more rooted in a character moment rather than Treknobabble which I appreciated. Thumbs up for Tilly’s endurance, they made that whole run not look easy.
I can’t help but think them teleporting to Moll and L’ak with the fresh new clue would essentially play right into their own hands.
• The episode title references the mirror universe, a dark reflection of the familiar reality of Star Trek where humans, or Terrans as they’re more commonly called there, evolved to be more sensitive to light, resulting in everyone tending more towards malevolence, and barbarism, and queer coded villainy. Other episodes...
The title of the episode, of course, pretty much telegraphs which parallel universe we’re likely to have elements of this week. The Mirror Universe was a major part of Season 1 of DIS, and the Mirror Philippa Georgiou was a supporting character through the first 3 seasons....
LoglineCaptain Burnham and Book journey into extradimensional space in search of the next clue to the location of the Progenitors’ power. Meanwhile, Rayner navigates his first mission in command of the U.S.S. Discovery, and Culber opens up to Tilly....
I would posit that the Solid “face” Breen biology that L’ak is maintaining bleeds, while the transparent gelatinous one doesn’t bleed, making the non-bleeding Breen the social norm.
• The arms merchant whom we see Moll and L’ak dealing with appears to be an Annari, who were introduced in the VOY episode, “Nightingale”, which I mention only because I believe it is the first time we’ve seen a member of Delta Quadrant species in DIS, though not the first mention....
As an aside, Guy Delisle’s “Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea” as an animator collaborating with SEK Studio is a fascinating read. SEK not so secretly animated some singular episode of A:TLA and a couple other things you may or may not be familiar with like Stan Lee’s Mighty 7, basically by being an outsourcing of an outsourcing, which seems to be the case here.
The title comes from the David Bowie song “Changes” from the 1971 album Hunky Dory. The song also has the lyric “Time may change me, but I can’t trace Time.” Given the theme of this episode, it seems appropriate....
I kept wondering if the song the Dry Dock Worker was listening to was a song we might be familiar with, but I couldn’t identify it because I’m not that into music.
LoglineOn the way to the next clue, the U.S.S. Discovery is sabotaged by a mysterious weapon, leaving Captain Burnham, Rayner, and Stamets as the only crew members who can possibly save the ship in time....
Same here. I felt that saying that and having it not work before Rayner has his big speech would have been more fulfilling, and it would have tied in with the awkward scene about pretending to still be in a relationship with Booker.
• We will learn that the episode title, “Jinaal”, is a character’s name. Trek has had several episodes where the title was simply a character’s name:...
Canon Connections: DIS 5x08 - Labyrinths
• The episode opens on L’ak’s funeral. Because he stabbed himself in “Mirrors”, and then intentionally overdosed on the drugs meant to cure him in “Erigah”....
Boimler is the One Punch Man of Star Trek (medium.com)
POV: Your overdue book fines have been piling up (i.imgur.com)
I wanted to see the oubliette.
Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Discovery | 5x08 "Labyrinths"
LoglineWhen Captain Burnham is trapped within a “mindscape” designed to test her worthiness to retrieve the Progenitor’s powerful technology, Book, Rayner, and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery must hold off the Breen long enough for her to escape....
Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Discovery | 5x07 "Erigah"
LoglineWith Moll and L’ak finally in custody, the Federation is pulled into a diplomatic and ethical firestorm when the Breen arrive and demand they be handed over. Meanwhile, a frustrated Book looks for ways to help as Tilly, Adira, and Reno work to decipher the latest clue....
A question about Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. [Spoilers]
The whales Gracie and George were stated to have wandered into San Francisco as calves. Outside of feeding events which can include the famous bubble nets, humpback whale pods usually consist of a lone mother and calf (or calves) pairing with a trailing “escort” male. Humpbacks are one of the few mammals that can be nursing...
Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Discovery | 5x06 "Whistlespeak"
LoglineWhile undercover in a pre-warp society, Captain Burnham is forced to consider breaking the Prime Directive when a local tradition threatens Tilly’s life. Meanwhile, Culber tries to connect with Stamets, and Adira steps up when Rayner assigns them a position on the bridge....
Canon Connections: DIS 5x05 - Mirrors
• The episode title references the mirror universe, a dark reflection of the familiar reality of Star Trek where humans, or Terrans as they’re more commonly called there, evolved to be more sensitive to light, resulting in everyone tending more towards malevolence, and barbarism, and queer coded villainy. Other episodes...
Disco Version of TOS theme with awesome brass and kickass flute solo (www.youtube.com)
18+ Star Trek Writer Deep Dives Into Discovery Season 5’s Villains (screenrant.com)
stunned silence (lemmy.world)
Annotations for *Star Trek: Discovery* 5x05: "Mirrors" (SPOILERS):
The title of the episode, of course, pretty much telegraphs which parallel universe we’re likely to have elements of this week. The Mirror Universe was a major part of Season 1 of DIS, and the Mirror Philippa Georgiou was a supporting character through the first 3 seasons....
Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Discovery | 5x05 "Mirrors"
LoglineCaptain Burnham and Book journey into extradimensional space in search of the next clue to the location of the Progenitors’ power. Meanwhile, Rayner navigates his first mission in command of the U.S.S. Discovery, and Culber opens up to Tilly....
Canon Connections: DIS 5x04 - Face the Strange
• The arms merchant whom we see Moll and L’ak dealing with appears to be an Annari, who were introduced in the VOY episode, “Nightingale”, which I mention only because I believe it is the first time we’ve seen a member of Delta Quadrant species in DIS, though not the first mention....
North Koreans Secretly Animated Amazon and Max Shows, Researchers Say (www.wired.com)
Annotations for *Star Trek: Discovery* 5x04: "Face the Strange" (SPOILERS)
The title comes from the David Bowie song “Changes” from the 1971 album Hunky Dory. The song also has the lyric “Time may change me, but I can’t trace Time.” Given the theme of this episode, it seems appropriate....
Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Discovery | 5x04 "Face the Strange"
LoglineOn the way to the next clue, the U.S.S. Discovery is sabotaged by a mysterious weapon, leaving Captain Burnham, Rayner, and Stamets as the only crew members who can possibly save the ship in time....
deleted_by_author
Canon Connections: DIS 5x03 - Jinaal
• We will learn that the episode title, “Jinaal”, is a character’s name. Trek has had several episodes where the title was simply a character’s name:...