Erigah

I've very much enjoyed Discovery but I just cannot fathom why they keep giving Moll so many chances to live. She's one of those characters that you hate. Not love to hate, just hate. Just kill her off, carry on with the story without her. There are always enough enemies anyway without the nauseating Bonnie and Clyde in space love story. Gag.

All that being said, the actress who portrays her (Eve Harlow) is great and plays the role well, it's not her fault the writers keep her hanging on. She was also in The 100 and was a memorable character on that series as well.

I gave this specific episode a low rating because of how my intelligence was so insulted by the lack of security around M&L. Like, really ?

Once again, DIS presents us with a completely dysfunctional Federation and a Starfleet that seems more like a friendly neighborhood watch than an interplanetary, multi-species organization that stretches across thousands of planets with trillions of inhabitants. The scene when a Breen ship appears out of thin air and parks in front of the gates of the Federation headquarters somehow reminded me of the film "Red Dawn". Apparently the Federation has neither sensor grids that would detect such a spaceship days in advance, nor interceptors, orbital guns and mines. And there seems to be no need to place a few battle cruisers around the headquarters either - despite Burnham's vision of a possible future in which the Breen have destroyed the headquarters. The fact that the Breen can beam into the meeting room with their weapons and Starfleet security is once again overpowered by a single woman who can also hack into the station's systems is almost a footnote in comparison. With all the incompetence, it's a miracle that the Federation hasn't been overrun by Romulans, Cardassians, Breen, Klingons, Borg, the Dominion, or other factions from the Gamma and Delta quadrants in the last 800 years.

And the future doesn't seem to be looking bleak just because of this apparent breakdown of galactic order. Apparently there are no historians, scribes, or other intellectuals left in the 32nd century. There is NO ONE in all of Federation space who knows anything about "manuscripts" - except engineer Reno (what a coincidence). You'd think there would be thousands of scholars on Betazed who would know something about a Betazoid manuscript. There should be scholars a dime a dozen on Vulcan, too. But the best option is JETT RENO?!? So this is what our future looks like after everyone has been dumbed down by TikTok, Instagram and the internet in general: In the 32nd century, there will be no one left in the entire galaxy who knows anything about books and history. And even artificial intelligence will become useless.

By the way: Since when do memories attach to objects that an empath then can read? And what is the point of an archive space station changing its location every 50 years to protect its treasures when, on the one hand, someone already knew 800 years ago where it would be today and, on the other hand, Tilly was able to calculate and extrapolate the archive's path through the previous locations anyway? And I don't even want to start ranting about Tilly and Adira, who are once again verbally patting each other on the back and complimenting each other on how well the other is doing their job. If all of these "Good job" and "Well done" scenes were cut out of the episodes, the story would have been told by now.

Rayner is silenced once again in this episode because he does not agree with the optimistic evaluation of the situation like the others. In previous Star Trek series, it was good practice to sit down with the senior officers when making important decisions, put all the facts and opinions on the table and discuss them openly. Picard, Janeway and even Kirk encouraged their officers to speak openly and also to express concerns. The goal was always to evaluate different points of view before a decision was made. But not in the Michael Burnham Show. Opinions that do not coincide with Michael Burnham's are not welcome and first officers who violate this rule are reprimanded and thrown out of the room. After all, there's no "we" in Michael, just an "I".

I am still speechless at how extremely friendly Moll and L'ak are treated and how much Book in particular cares for Moll. Not only did the two of them kill a few Breen, in one of the last episodes they also poisoned a guy and watched him die. I don't even want to know how many more lives they wiped out while carrying out their shady courier services. They are serious criminals and murderers, but are portrayed in a romanticized way like two desperate lovers! Furthermore, there was no reason not to hand Moll and L'ak over to the Breen. It would have given the Federation a breather and a head start in the search for the next clue. After all, the Breen were primarily occupied with internal struggles for power in their Empire. In the end, this whole delaying tactic didn't work anyway.

And why is EVERYTHING on the Discovery always so dark? Sickbay should be lit like daylight so that treatments and operations can be carried out there. But Sickbay seems more like a nightclub than a medical facility. There are no nurses anywhere there either.

...where would Star Trek...no....sorry....the world....no scrap that... where would the universe be if it didn't have Michael? I think it would all be over already. So please, take a moment to thank and praise Michael because she is the chosen one.

There is a table at that table there is a president, an admiral, a captain and a former captain turned number one. They are all chatting because the Breen are coming. But alas for the president, admiral and former captain they aren't as smart as Michael because she is the only one who sees through it all and utters the words'something doesn't add up here' and proceeds to explain something a 3 year old could think of. But thankfully a president and an admiral after asking just a simple 'you believe there is another reason...' that gets the most basic answer are all on board. But when her nr 1 suggests to arm themselves because we're dealing with the Breen after all, they are all in shock for suggesting it and he's dismissed by Michael like a little kid.

But wait! There is more, kids! The she proceeds to adress the president and admiral and suggests they talk to Moll and L'ak to get information. But guess who's best qualified to get that information? You're right! Michael is of course! And what is her argument? "I was with them on the ISS' 'I got a sense how they operate'I I I I....and guess what...without any questioning the president and admiral agree.

I mean....how great is she? Is there anything she can't do or isn't qualified to do?

I mean by now I am starting to realize I like torturing myself by watching this show every week.

Erigah relies heavily on you investing in the character arcs and relationship of Star Trek's attempt at Bonnie and Clyde. Unfortunately it lost its appeal to me a few episodes back.

The standoff between the Federation and Breen has some good moments, but largely feels forced given how little interest I have in the fate of Moll and La'k. I found most of my interest in the Breen politics. That being said it resolves itself in a reasonably good way that just about keeps me with it.

Burnham is fairly dominant during the episode which likely irks those who dislike the character's prominence. As much as I think the audience vitriol throughout Discovery's run is hugely over the top, there is no denying the writers have neglected others characters. It would have been nice to see someone else lead the way for the protagonists for a change. That being said Sonequa Martin-Green gives a strong performance as always.

Rayner being the obligatory character of the week with a grudge against a particular group/race feels an overused cliche out of the Trek writers playbook that goes all the way back to Lieutenant Stiles.

Visually it works well as always for me and most actors are solid in their roles.

Commander Rayner really hates the Breen. What is the reason for this hatred that the Federation never knew about, even has he made it to Captain of a spaceship.

The Breen conquered his home planet and Rayner managed to keep it a secret all this years!

Moll and L'ak are captured and in custody on Discovery and you can just guess that security is lax. While Dr Culber tries to treat the injured L'ak but he does not know enough about Breen biology.

While the Breen enter Federation space as they want Bonnie & Clyde and are prepared to go to war over them. L'ak is someone important.

So Dr Culber better keep him alive despite his lack of knowledge about the Breen even if they have that all knowing Zora on the ship.

Very much shades of Star Trek 6. I think they borrowed some lines from the movie as well.

At least this was better than the last few episodes but Discovery has set a low bar in its final season.