Despite Yourself

Longtime Trek fan, all series, movies even the reboots though the last one jumped the shark in terms of just being yet another explosion-filled adventure movie, not Trek at all. And I don't even really care whether the movies or series are 'Trek' or not. Just that they are worth watching. which Discovery decidedly is not, despite my repeated attempts simply due to being a Trek fan. For one thing, what has this crew ever actually, er, discovered? Beyond that, lousy acting, lousy lighting (I don't watch much TV, maybe the shadows and darkness are the current cool thing but doesn't do much for me), lousy stories, lousy characters. Beyond the overhyped and terribly bad actress Michael character (where in hell do people find her a good actress?) I could not name one character in this show without a character list. whereas in all other Trek series, within a few episodes, I and other fans could easily do so. Says a lot. It's frankly just an awful show and I think by this point I'll only continue watching to see how utterly worse it might get, if that's possible. Longtime, and hugely disappointed, Trek fan.

Despite Yourself is a great episode of Star Trek: Discovery. The crew of the Discovery is in an alternate universe and have to act quickly to fit in to the new universe. I WILL NOT SPOIL IT FOR YOU.

Johnathan Frakes (Star Trek: First Contact) directs this episode and gives it a certain cinematic style that some of the previous episodes are lacking. Also he manages to get better performances out of the actors as well. Especially Mary Wiseman (Baskets) who delivers a stunning performance when her character is forced to act a certain way, which happens to be the complete opposite of her characters personality. Also Jason Isaacs (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) unsurprisingly gives a great performance as a captain who is also forced to act a way his character isn't use to and he pulls it off to great effect.

The episode is also the funniest yet, with a certain characters Scottish accent being a stand out. The only downside to this episode is that some of the editing and a couple of moments from the character Ash Tyler aren't executed as well as the rest of the episode.

Otherwise it was the best episode yet in my opinion.

8/10

It's amazing to me how much they were able to squeeze into this episode...SPOILERS AHEAD!

So we pick up Discovery with a captain and crew who have no idea where they are and after a little effort we find out it's the Mirror Universe. I love a good mirror universe story because it reminds us that the peace and harmony the Federation enjoys was hard earned and didn't come easy. Here in this universe Burnham is assumed dead, Lorca is a fugitive on the run, and Capt Tilly runs Discovery with an iron fist. (which makes for some great comedy)

While Ash and Burnham get closer we find out Ash is having major mental issues leading him to Lrell in the brig. She uses a Klingon prayer to either bring up memories or a hidden personality. Many seem to believe this is Voq altered to look human but I'll let the story keep it's secrets and unfold as it should. This freaks out Ash and leads him to Dr Culber to run tests on him. I don't want to give away the episodes big twist but it fits as Culber is so worried about his catatonic partner (Anthony Rapp) that he doesn't see the threat right in front of him.

As we get into the final part of this episode we have Burnham and Lorca going on a secret mission to the mirror version of USS Shenzhou. There are some wonderful fight scenes, perfectly timed slow clap, and even the agony booth!

Long Live the Empire and Long Live Star Trek Discovery!

After a rather abysmal first round of episodes this is the first one i actually liked.

It's grittier than ever, but the story holds up and is engaging. Interesting take on another universe - this is just as much a possibility as the utopian original Star Trek universe.

Keep it up!!

This is actually a good episode but the character of Tilly is so annoying, played badly by an actor who is not capable of the role she has been given. I suspect nepotism of some sort. I worry about the rest of the series if she has a prominent role. She's horrible, both as an actor and as a character, and detracts from the overall quality of the show.