The Twilight Zone (2019) -- Season 1 Episode 8 (Point of Origin)

You see, the government thinks that Eve is an undocumented immigrant of a different kind.  She and a “caravan” of others have come from a parallel dimension, seeking a better way of life.  Eve pleads ignorance to no avail.  She eventually escapes, but the episode ends with her being brought back into custody.  Even her own family rejects her.

I’m not entirely certain what the episode is hoping to do.  I get that an immigrant can look like anyone.  We all came from somewhere.  It’s just a question of how and when.  I find it odd that Eve can’t remember immigrating.  It might be to show the plight of people brought by their parents.

People who came to the country as children often run into their own problems, as they may think they were born here, as is the case with Eve.  I don’t think the episode really did enough with Eve to make any sort of point.  She just has her life upended.  Anna, on the other hand, does know that kind of fear.  She’s not really used that well in this episode.  In fact, her only role seems to be putting Eve in her place.

In the end, the episode really doesn’t give me anything to think about.  It doesn’t shock you into realizing what it might be like for someone in that position.  It doesn’t do much to explore different angles or degrees of immigration.  There are plenty of people who come here legally and are still harassed and still fear legal action.  Even people who were actually born here face discrimination.

The issue of immigration seems like a backdrop for Eve’s horror.  It’s not something that’s used to make a point.  Having watched all ten episodes at this point, I’d say this one was the weakest.  It’s way too simplistic.

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Star Trek: Discovery -- Season 2 Episode 13 (Such Sweet Sorrow)

I’ve had my complaint about Star Trek: Discovery so far, but I will say this:  I’ve spent the second season wonder what its end game is going to be.  There were seven red signals, a sphere with a vast amount of data and an artificial intelligence bent on getting that information.  We also find out that Burnham’s mother isn’t really dead and that she’s been working against the AI from 930 years in the future.

So, how does this all work out?  The data can’t be erased.  Once it’s in Discovery’s computer, it won’t let Discovery be destroyed.  The only option is to go through with the original plan of sending the information into the future.  The difference here is that Burnham will take the entire ship into the future.  Yes, they’re going to build another angel suit and let Burnham use it.

This raises a lot of questions, some of which I’ve asked before.  Will it work?  Does it even make sense?  Will Burnham’s mother be there or will she even be allowed to leave the future?  Will Discovery make it back to the 23^rd century or will Discovery be 930 years in the future for the rest of its run?

However, we now know what the time crystal was for.  A new red signal even leads Discovery to a planet where the inhabitants might be able to help.  We learn that it will probably be a one-way trip for Burnham and Discovery, as the crystal will burn out.  (That doesn’t mean the 32^nd century won’t have some other means of time travel.)

The entire episode is buildup.  It’s setting us up for what Burnham has to do to save humanity and all life in the galaxy.  She has a lot of figuring out to do and a need to accept her fate as The One.  Yes, she’ll have help and various characters will vow to go with her.  (I suppose it’s better than assembling a new bridge crew in the future.)  I guess we’ll have to wait for Part II to see how it plays out.

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Star Trek: Discovery -- Season 2 Episode 1 (Brother)

It took me a while to watch the first season of Star Trek: Discovery.  I refused to subscribe to CBS All Access.  So, I had to wait for it on DVD.  I then had to reserve it at the library and wait for it to become available.

I still refuse to pay for All Access just to watch the one show, but when the second season became available, I didn’t have to wait as long.  It turns out that Netflix has the DVDs available to rent.  So, I was able to get the first disc of the second season pretty quickly.

The story starts out where last season ended.  Captain Christopher Pike has assumed command of the USS Discovery, leaving the Enterprise to be repaired.

What happened to the Enterprise?  The ship detected seven red signals.  When the ship attempted to scan one of them, many of the ship’s systems blew out.  Pike is now taking emergency command of the Discovery to complete his mission.  Pike has brought with him two officers to help.

What they find is a collection of debris.  It has abnormally high gravity…and the wreckage of a Starfleet vessel, complete with survivors.  A rather large sample of the debris is brought onboard for study, the survivors are rescued and the crew of the Discovery has a new mystery on its hands:  What are these mysterious signals?

You might be wondering where Spock is in all of this.  After all, he is the chief science officer of the Enterprise and Michael Burnham’s foster brother.  That’s discussed more in the next episode.

This episode is more concerned with setting up the next story arc.  I wouldn’t say that this season is less ambitious.  Instead, it would seem that the series has found its footing.  I suspect that it’s going to go for a more even pace.

Last season, we had a war with the Klingons and a prolonged venture into the Mirror universe.  (I had issues with both.)  From what I’ve seen, the writers decided to stick with one main story and use Burnham’s relationship with Spock to move it along.

The show would also seem to rely more on a new story than canon, which is odd considering that the first episode has two established characters, one of which will be sticking around for the remainder of the season.

My only issue is how to abbreviate the name of the series.  ST:D never really sat well with me.  ST:Disco isn’t an option, either.  Has anyone used ST:DIS yet?

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Star Trek: Discovery -- Season 1 Episode 15 (Will You Take My Hand?)

Star Trek: Discovery was a good news/bad news kind of situation.  The good news was that there would be a new Star Trek series after many years.  The bad news was that you’d have to pay for it.  Alas, my local library saved the day with the first season on DVD.  I had to put in a hold and wait, but I was still able to get all 15 episodes of the first season.

So, here we are at the last of those episodes.  It would seem that there’s a resolution to the Klingon War at hand.  Starfleet has a plan to send a probe to the Klingon home world and maybe find a way to threaten the Klingons into submission.  Only, it‘s not really a probe.  It’s a bomb intended to destroy the planet.  And when I say intended, I mean that it’s what Starfleet actually planned to do: Destroy the home world so that the Klingons would realize how serious the Federation is.

I’m not sure I like this plan.  There is a parallel to the United States dropping the bomb on Japan.  It shows that Starfleet is serious.  I had never thought of Starfleet being that serious, but this is what they get for putting a Mirror Universe Emperor in charge of the war effort.  It puts an admiral on the verge of selling Starfleet’s soul just for the sake of winning.

Given that there’s a Klingon home world in the other series and that this is the second-earliest Star Trek series, it’s safe to say that it doesn’t come to that.  The question is how and why it doesn’t come to that.  This is where Discovery has a chance to redeem itself.   The previous series had been about exploration.  Deep Space Nine had a wormhole, which led to a new part of the galaxy to look at.  Even Voyager, which was stranded 70,000 light years from home, took time to look at a new planet or meet a new race.

Discovery was mostly about conflict and war.  It’s almost a darker version of Deep Space Nine.  I am hopeful for the second season.  I know I’ll have to wait a few months if I don’t want to fork over the money, but I waited this long for Season 1.  I’ve also seen some spoilers for Season 2, which have me curious.  Despite what I may have felt before, there is some Star Trek in Discovery.

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Star Trek: Discovery -- Season 1 Episode 14 (The War Without, the War Within)

Life is rarely fair.  Ash Tyler turned out to be a Klingon spy.  To cover his secret, he killed the chief medical officer and nearly killed Michael Burnham.  He’s allowed to walk around the ship unsupervised.  Also, Michael Burnham saves the Emperor of the Terran Empire.  She’s the most ruthless product of a ruthless version of humanity.  Rather than lock her up, they make her captain of the Discovery.  Makes sense.  Right?  That’s how this episode goes.  But, hey!  We’re back in the Prime Universe!  There’s no more evil humans or Vulcans with goatees to worry about.

The crew can focus on the Klingon war again, which has progressed nine months since they left.  Things aren’t going too well for Starfleet.  20% of Federation territory has been lost.  About a third of the Fleet is no more.  Starfleet Command needs something major and Emperor…er…Captain Georgiou might be the one to give it to her.  They do have the Klingon T’Rell in holding, so she might provide something useful.

The fact that they let two major threats walk freely through the ship is my major issue here.  You might say that there’s some major plot point that will require both Georgiou and Tyler.  And you’d be right.  I have seen the finale.  However, use of those characters would be done grudgingly.  Someone would be forced to let them out of prison to accomplish something.  That’s not the case here.  It would seem that being human, or at least appearing human, has its advantages.

It’s also a bit of an insult to Saru to make Georgiou the captain.  Saru has done a great job commanding the Discovery.  You can’t even argue plot point here.  First off, doesn’t the entire crew know what’s going on?  Why the pretense of saying that it’s the Prime Georgiou other than to remind the crew that they have to keep up an act?  Why even make her captain?  They could just as easily keep her on as an advisor or something.  If anyone asks, you could say that she’s taking time off to recover from being held captive or something.  The fact that she’s given direct command of a starship means that she could take over the Prime Universe.

So, yeah.  The first season of Discovery will end with some major questions.  I’m sure the writers have something planned for Tyler and Georgiou, but many of the details seem forced or unnecessary.  Basically, there are three people on the ship that shouldn’t be trusted and two of them are trusted in this episode.  I’m not sure any explanation would be sufficient, but I am curious to see where the characters go in season 2.


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Star Trek: Discovery -- Season 1 Episode 11 (The Wolf Inside)

WARNING: I will be giving out major spoilers ahead.



After Star Trek’s first dealings with the Mirror Universe, Kirk asked how Spock was able to identify his counterpart so easily.  Spock noted that it was easier for our Kirk to impersonate his alternate than it was for the alternate to impersonate Kirk.

Michael Burnham would find that of little comfort.  She’s had to take her alternate’s place and make some of the same decisions Kirk had to.  She’s tasked with wiping out a group of rebels, and the Terran Empire shows no mercy.  She manages to stall, saying that she’ll beam down to at least pump some information out of them or something.  She then gives them an hour to evacuate.

During this time, we learn several things.  Commander Saru’s counterpart is Burnham’s slave, which is a little troubling, but not unexpected.  Ash Tyler is also starting to lose it, which…is a little troubling, but not unexpected.  At the end of the episode, we find out who the mysterious Emperor is.  (This time, it’s not really that troubling and totally expected.)

One might say that the series is easing into the mirror universe.  I think someone had the idea early on to split the season between the two universes, not realizing how hard it would be to write for the Mirror Universe.  I can totally understand those that feel that the pacing is slow.  I can’t say that it’s unnecessary, as everything seems to havfe a purpose.  (For instance, Burnham lies to Saru about his having a Mirror counterpart.)

Also, whoever programmed Tyler did a horrible job.  Spoiler alert:  He’s a Klingon spy.  In the original series, we know that Klingons have done this at least once and that Tribbles will rat them out.  Granted, this isn’t for another ten years.  It’s possible that the procedure hasn’t been perfected yet or that the Klingon who did it this time was a hack.  Either way, there were some indications that something like this was coming.  I just wasn’t expecting this.  The one down side is that Samets was blamed for killing his husband.  (I would hope that all of that will be straightened out.)

It’s an interesting episode.  Tilly, the talkative cadet, has to play a confident captain.  She’s also shaping up to be Discovery’s version of Wesley Crusher.  She’s young and inexperienced, but seems to have some really great ideas.  At least the series seems to be playing that character a little better.  Tilly is a cadet and, as such, has had some training.  These are also unusual circumstances, meaning not many people would be qualified.  (In fact, the one person we know is qualified to help Samets is Samets, and he‘s in a spore-induced coma.)

So, some aspects of the episode are promising.  The show seems to be going the 24 route with each episode ending with a major revelation.  It gets a little tiring having to get excited each week.  (It was also odd that, on 24, major plot twists happened every hour on the hour.)  I’m still wondering what they’re going to do with the rest of the season.

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Star Trek: Discovery -- Season 1 Episode 6 (Lethe)

I know that I seem to be getting used to Star Trek: Discovery.  Certain aspects are starting to make sense.  I still have questions and issues, but I’m learning how to deal with that.  Aside from which, I’m getting the DVDs from the library, so it’s not like I’m giving money to CBS.  Still, I have to take issue with any issue that starts with two main characters running laps in shirts that say DISCO in big, bold letters.

I can handle Spock having a foster sister we didn’t know about.  Star Trek V revealed that he had a half-brother and I took that in stride.  I’ve dealt with updated Klingons and easily abandoned technology, as I’ve mentioned before.  I can forgive a lot of things.  Please tell me that there’s no disco in the future.  If I find out that there is, the series is dead to me.

That being said, it looks like Discovery has holodecks, or something similar to it.  Captain Lorca and Ash Tyler are getting a little target practice in when we find out three things about Tyler.  One, he’s a better shot than Lorca.  Two, he’s modest about it.  Three, Lorca is making him the new chief of security.  I guess being in a jail cell together for an indeterminate, yet short, time makes for some good bonding.

In fact, Admiral Cornwell drops by to talk about just that.  She’s worried that Lorca isn’t ready to get back into the captain’s chair just yet.  In fact, she was apparently a psychiatrist, which would lend some credibility.  One thing leads to another, which leads to Cornwell and Lorca sleeping together and Lorca pulling a phaser on Cornwell.  So, yeah.

She wants to keep him off the bridge, but an issue has come up.  Ambassador Sarek was on his way to meet with the Klingons for diplomatic talks, but he was injured by a Vulcan extremist.  Yes, Vulcans have those, apparently.  There are those among the most logical race that would like to keep it that way.  Sarek’s taking a human wife and taking a human girl should be punishable by death.

The good news is that a rescue operation is successful.  The bad news is that Cornwell has to go in his place, as she’s the only qualified authority figure within range.  She and Lorca will talk about him taking a break when she gets back, which is the most obvious way of telling the audience that a major plot twist is coming.  She might as well just say, “I’m going to go put myself in a situation that requires the help of the one person who stands to lose if he’s successful.”

So, I guess Star Trek isn’t beyond a little cliché writing.  That’s ok.  You can’t be perfect all the time.  Aside from which, it does make for a good cliffhanger.  We already knew from the previous episode that maybe Lorca wasn’t the best captain.  Now we know that other people know it, too, and they’re in a position to do something about it.  This really is becoming a lot like a soap opera.

One thing I want to bring up: I don’t recall it ever explicitly being stated that The Original Series never had holodecks, although I could be wrong.  It would seem that holodecks came about during The Next Generation era, as the pilot of The Next Generation would have implied that it was relatively new technology.  I’ll grant that maybe the technology was in development.  Discovery is supposed to be this top-secret super ship, so it’s possible that everything is cutting edge.  I don’t know.

It is nice to see some subtle continuity, though.  Long-time viewers will remember that Sarek was at odds with Spock over Spock’s decision to enter Starfleet.  Now, we know why.  Come to find out that Burnham wanted in on the Vulcan Expeditionary Force, but those running the show wouldn’t hear of it.  Sarek is told in no uncertain terms, only one non-Vulcan at a time.  Either Spock is let in or Burnham, but not both.  It doesn’t matter that Burnham is good enough.  Apparently, Vulcans can be racist, too.

It sort of reminds me of Dark Page, in that the parent of a main character is hiding a dark secret about their child.  In Dark Page, Deanna Troi has to use her telepathic abilities help her mother resolve an issue as Lwaxana is close to death.  In Lethe, Burnham has to use her telepathic bond to help her foster father resolve an issue that’s been eating away at both of them while he’s close to death.  (Oh, and he has to hit the emergency beacon while he’s at it.)

So, Discovery isn’t all that I hoped it would be, but I am finding redeeming qualities and I am curious to see what happens next.  I’m just hoping that it’s not like Enterprise, where it turns out to be a holodeck fantasy or someone waking up from a dream or something.

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Star Trek: Discovery -- Season 1 Episode 2 (Battle at the Binary Stars)

I’d like to think that there’s a plan.  Not to life, necessarily.  I think life, in general, is random.  When it comes to episodic television, though, I’d like to think that there’s a plan.  With Star Trek: Discovery, it’s not clear what that plan is, yet.  The Klingons look totally different.  They have cloaking devices.  Spock has a foster sister we didn’t know about.  Oh, and Spock’s foster sister has apparently just started a war with the Klingons.

Michael Burnham is the foster sister and she did kill one a Klingon, although it’s probable that they were looking for a fight.  There’s this new wannabe Klingon leader, T'Kuvma, who wants to unite the houses by picking a fight with The Federation.   If not Burnham, it would have been someone else.

The fact that she was correct is irrelevant, even when lots of other Klingon and Starfleet ships show up.  Her plan was to shoot first, which Starfleet doesn’t do.  Aside from which, she also tried to mutiny, which lands her in the brig.  She escapes and does help the Captain try to take T’Kuvma alive, but that ends in failure, too.  Both T’Kuvma and Captain Georgiou die.  Burnham ends up stripped of rank and court-martialed.

This was the second part of the pilot story.  It’s enough to make your head spin, especially if you’ve watched all the previous incarnations.  As I mentioned for the first part, it’s a huge franchise, with all the TV shows, movies and books.  A few things aren’t clear, like how Burnham got her spot as first officer or why the Klingons look the way they do.

I felt that the episode was kind of weak.  Part one was the setup and part two was basically one big battle scene.  Sure, it’s an epic battle and all, but we’re getting mostly the story of how Burnham came to be on the U.S.S. Shenzhou.  (Two episodes in and we haven’t even heard from the U.S.S. Discovery yet.)

The episode ends with Burnham utterly defeated.  She has no rank or position, despite a promising career.  Even if she gets out of her life sentence, which she does, she’s the executive officer that mutinied and got her commanding officer killed.  She’s not going to have a lot of friends.

I have the first disc of Season One from the library, with a hold on the second disc.  Given that I’ve watched all of the life-action series and movies, I feel like I have great expectations for this series.  I know people wondered about Worf, given that he looked so different from the original Klingons.  I am willing to give Discovery a shot.  I can only hope that it doesn’t disappoint.

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Star Trek: Discovery -- Season 1 Episode 1 (The Vulcan Hello)

Star Trek has an interesting history.  The Original Series was apparently not popular enough to get a fourth season, but it just made it to the point where the reruns could be syndicated.  The Next Generation was syndicated, which gave us seven seasons.  Then, came Deep Space Nine and Voyager, the latter of which was the flagship of UPN.  UPN didn’t last long after Voyager went off the air, but we did get Star Trek: Enterprise, which was set before The Original Series.  There were also the movies, which were a mixed bag.  Then, we got that movie reboot, which I’m still not fond of.

So, here we are with Star Trek: Discovery, which is supposed to be this big thing for CBS All Access.  Except, I’m not going to let CBS use my love of Star Trek to get me to fork over money for yet another streaming service.  I refuse to.  Fortunately, by local library has the first season on DVD.  Thus, I can watch the show and not pay for it.  Having watched the first two episodes so far, I’m glad I didn’t.  I’m not entirely satisfied with what I’ve seen so far.

The episode starts with Captain Philippa Georgiou and First Officer Michael Burnham bringing water to a dry, pre-warp culture without being seen by the inhabitants.  They manage to beam off the planet after a successful mission.  Cut to a damaged communications relay.  It appears the big hole in the middle of it was deliberate.  Not only that, but there’s a Klingon ship hiding in the asteroid field.

These aren’t the original Klingons that Kirk had to deal with.  They have ridges and no hair.  They’re the exact opposite of the first Klingons.  I have no explanation for this.  I’m assuming it will be explained later on.  Anyway, the leader of this ship wants to declare war on The Federation so that he might unite the houses under one rule.  It is a powerful ship and he does have a cloaking device, which I’m assuming will also be explained later on.

Georgiou wants to hold off on attacking.  Starfleet doesn’t fire first.  However, Burnham is in contact with her foster father, Sarek, who advises her to attack first.  Georgiou declines her first officer’s advice, prompting her to act illogically and take the captain out with a Vulcan neck pinch.  Before Burnham can attack, Georgiou recovers and relieves Burnham of duty.  We’re left with a cliffhanger, not knowing what the Klingons will do next.

I have a few issues with the series so far, and we‘re not even 50 minutes into it.  It seems like the show was written by people that had never seen Star Trek before.  It’s as if everyone took a look at various Wikipedia articles and just decided they could wing it.  I’ve already mentioned two issues with the Klingons.  It also seems like the Shenzhou was given a first officer that didn’t have much training.  (If I’m interpreting correctly, it seems like Sarek got her the job rather than having her work her way through the ranks.)

If CBS wanted hard-core fans to buy into the service and support the show, you’d think the writers would try a little harder for continuity.  To be fair, the first season of The Original Series was all over the place, but we’re talking about a franchise that’s fifty years old.  This is the sixth live-action series.  I’d think they’d have their act together.

I think anyone who watched most of the previous series will take issue with the pilot.  I am hopeful.  Each of the other series took a while to get going.  Even the movies seemed to alternate between hit and miss.  There are so many issues with this episode, but I am willing to give the series a chance.  It did get a second season and will apparently get a third.  I will admit that there are ways my issues could be satisfactorily resolved.

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