Jinaal

This had to be the most boring of trek ever created. I don't mind the relationships just not entire shows with characters that have no chemistry. It's season 5 and it's like trying to build characters for season 1. And why the new helmsman. What happened to the other 2. I don't even know their names.

Discovery could have had an amazing run but this is the nail in the coffin. I could barely stay awake and thought this is some of the most boring tv I have watched in a while.

I am a huge star trek fan. But I can't get past how dull this was. I hope that it gets better soon. At least I don't need a sleeping pill tonight.

I enjoyed this episode as it's fairly traditional in its Star Trek themes of connection and understanding of others.

The Trill plot is reminiscent of many Trek stories beforehand where characters learn about an apparently hostile species and it unfolds in an interesting way. The body swap aspect with Wilson Cruz playing a different character works well. Michael and Book service the plot, but the interest lies more with the themes and obtaining the next part of the mcguffin. How it finishes promises intrigue for the next episode but it feels a bit random with no foundation laid for what it showed.

Rayner's first day on Discovery was entertaining and the conflict between him and Tilly feels like Riker/Jellico for the modern Trek audience. As much as I enjoyed seeing this type of personality onboard Discovery, you get a bad feeling it's going to end up with him sadly admitting his no-nonsense approach is all wrong.

Saru and T'Rina reminded me (slightly) of that early misstep in the Sisko/Casssidy Yates engagement, just slightly less dramatic. You feel Saru should be too smart to initially fail to see what T'Rina explains to him near the end. If that was the case though, there would be no story.

For me it's a 6.5/10, but I round upwards.

The final season of Star Trek: Discovery should be going out with all thrusters blazing.

It is a shame that after a promising opening two episodes. This is a safe listless episode with the A, B and a C plot.

It was a bit of a snoozefest. T'Rina and Saru's bump in their relationship before officially announcing their engagement. The president marrying a non Vulcan or Romulan might cause waves. It seems T'Rina and Saru never discussed the implications of their cross species relationship.

The new First Officer Rayner wanting to spend 20 seconds to get to know his new crew. He was essentially being a Captain Jellico lite.

Even Burnham's and Book's quest in the planet of the Trill's only livened up when they got chased by the Itronoks.

A glacial pace but the biggest problem. It wanted to be like a Star Trek: TNG episode of the late 1980s. Discovery should be following its own course.

Wilson Cruz carried this episode, brilliantly portraying "Jinaal", the essence of a Trill host from a millennia before. Great comedic chops by Cruz to pull off a smart plot line that underscored the mission that Booker, Burnham and Culper need to accomplish.

Mary Weisman seems lost as Tilly this season; I have no idea why she is on the ship for this mission, but okay.

And that brings me to the big DOWN with this franchise. The actors of Blu del Bario and Ian Alexander have ZERO chemistry or acting ability. They bring nothing. Their characters... have nothing believable between them other than an ability to sit next to each other and look forlorn. The ONLY... ONLY saving grace is that this is the final season and I will hopefully never have to see that story arc again. So... so... many other talented actors on the planet and the producers went with them.

Episode 2 was actually pretty good, but I had already feared that it might not last. I was right. This week's episode brings back all the worst tendencies the show has exhibited for years. Minimal advancement of the larger story, because the season arc again is (perhaps) not meaty enough to carry an entire season. Flashy effects set pieces for apparently no other reason than to change the otherwise dull pace. No significant interest in actual believable human drama, but instead melodramatic soap opera dynamics and shortcuts to deliver Hallmark-esque platitudes.

Chief example is their overuse of the word "connect". It always seems to come down to "connecting" and touchy-feely faux-emotional solutions. Where's the science? Reason? Logic? Or if not those: suspense, mystery, sense of wonder? All such things mark science fiction as a genre, and Star Trek in particular. Discovery keeps claiming that these things is what it's interested in, but really it's all about sentimentality.

Callum Keith Rennie and his character remain a bright spot in a mostly one-note ensemble (Rapp, Wiseman and del Barrio being the worst offenders) as a focused professional with an edge, but they set him up this way just so he can be lectured by a sanctimonious subordinate about how professionalism should take a backseat to being friends with everybody. I don't know why the writers think such representation will endear anyone to Tilly.