Far from Home

Damn, there goes my hope after 3x01, that the writers learned how develop interesting characters.

I don't know how they manage it, but somehow the complete crew of the Discovery is blessed with diverse character flaws, making it a challenge to like them and almost impossible to identify myself with them. This crew literally feels alien to me. And Georgiou as the antipode for the Federation in general, won't be enough to save the show.

That the plot is so very very generic certainly didn't help either.

My god this show would be great without Burnham. Just put the former Empress in charge!

After going through the wormhole, Discovery crash lands on a planet.

This is an okay episode that gives decent screen time to Saru in command of Discovery and some of the lesser visited characters. It also finishes quite strongly.

One plot thread involves an away mission that sets the scene reasonably well. It's great to see Saru in command and his character is very likeable in this episode, embodying many of the Star Trek ideals. He is complimented well by Georgiou who is as opposite as it gets. Tilly doesn't really contribute much for me aside from the cinematic effect of her beautiful auburn curls against a snowy, mountainous backdrop.

Back on board Discovery there seems to be some intrigue surrounding Detmer which hopefully might give her character the attention and depth she didn't receive in the first two series. Scenes between Culiber and Stamets seem to have lost their edge now with everything being happy again.

There was a bit of a space-western feel to it all which for me is a bit of a tired aesthetic within the sci-fi genre. It's not done badly, it just made me roll my eyes given that we are 930 years into the future, with all the intrigue and creative freedom this carries. I found myself wondering if the best they can offer is somebody moseying into a saloon full of suspicious locals and getting involved in a dispute with some desperadoes.

Doug Jones and Michelle Yeoh both give strong performances, although I do not think the dialogue written for the latter (as always) suits her delivery style. It feels too laden with Americanisms for a Malaysian actress playing an Asian character, however Yeoh still manages to pull it off.

The production values are obviously high with some great scenery and effects which would not look out of place in a big budget movie.

Having seen Michael's arrival in the future last episode, we now get to see the rest of the crew's arrival. The story seems somewhat truncated and simplified for brevity, with what feels like chunks missing, but all the relevant and important stuff is there. It would probably have negatively impacted the pace to spin it out more.

The naysayers who are determined to rubbish Discovery no matter what will be out in force again, but at least now they can't call it the Michael Burnham show as she barely makes any appearance in this episode until the final scene. In fact we've skipped over a whole year of Michael Burnham's story, so unless any of that is shown in some flashbacks, that argument really holds no water anymore.

Great to see Michelle Yeoh back and on form as evil Georgiou; she's the real star of this episode!

Nine out of ten because I understand how some fans will not appreciate the longer story arc and judge the episode as boring on that basis. But really, for me it was great.

I like this show. The scenery is great and for the most part the cast is likeable. Burnham bores me and Tilly needs a new job. I liked the old Star Trek but I'm glad it's evolved and made the universe more acceptable to a wider audience