What's Past Is Prologue

When Star Trek is good, it can be very good. Unfortunately with all the spin offs after ST: The Next Generation, there was a creative vacuum that was clearly on display in Voyager and Enterprise.

Discovery the series has so far not been consistent but this installment was astonishingly good. It even nearly threw in a tribute to Doctor Who with the 'reversing the polarity' quip!

Lorca reveals his true colours and it is not that different from Jason Isaacs other famous character Lucius Malfoy, a believer in racial purity which Empress Georgiou has diluted. Lorca has no time for the namby-pamby Federation.

Burnham feels compelled to help Georgiou and both need to work together to stop Lorca while the crew of the Discovery have to figure out how best to get back to their own universe.

When you have a martial arts actress such as Michelle Yeoh you might as well use her for some kick ass action and that is exactly what Georgiou does here.

This episode is more Burnham focused but the rest of the primary cast all get a shout. Probably the least "classic Trek" episode of the series so far. But that's not a bad thing per se. I say least classic Trek because of the amount of action, fighting and violence. The closest previous episodes I can think of are ones where Klingons are invading DS9. However those episodes where pretty straight forward plot wise where as this episode of DSC has lots of twists and turns. I was on the edge of my seat for most of this one. I have to give it to the production team. Not only is this is turning into great Star Trek but also a fantastic Sci Fi series overall. Something that we've been missing as of late. I didn't rate Blade Runner 2047 and the less said about the Last Jedi the better. It kinda appears that the writers have attempted to turn this first season into a 13 hour movie basically. Similar in structure to West World. Which I think a lot of us suspected from the outset. Building up to an explosive final act. If the last couple of episodes of the season are as good as this, I can't wait! I still hope they manage to sort the look of the Klingons out though. Would also like to see a couple more stand alone episodes in the 2nd series. Where individual members of the crew get a chance to shine.

I might be the minority, but I had hard time watching the same kind of shaky camera work that turned me away from series like Black Sails and Vikings. Fortunately, not every episode of ST: Discovery has these annoying camera movements, but they were strong in this one and made my eyes hurt.

The last three episodes have been still an invigorating ride after the tedious Ep4-Ep9. After ST: TNG I don't have any deep thoughts for the newer action oriented one, but it's merely fun to see how they are messing things with mirror universe and evil characterizations even if it doesn't result to logical explanations. I like the fast-paced and a bit rushed storytelling but I wish there were more room for building up the mystery of Captain Lorca who suddenly became the more interesting character in the series.

My goodness, the AU plot was a doozy.. Tightly scripted, edge of seat and even occasionally, dare I say, buttock clenchingly tense.

13 episodes led to this point... Like an X marks the spot. If you watch the series again, you can see the signs and the hints... Lorca, the UPPITY Klingons, the Mycelium network...

This epsiode was pure unadulterated Star Trek pulled into the ... ahem... 21st century...

Noble battles of morals against the darkness, selfless acts of bravery... Comeuppance and of course occasional moments technobabble to show that some are cleverer than us...

Not to mention an epic warp to end all warps!!!!

Surely now, for all those naysayers, Ladies and Gentlemen, it would time for all to acknowledge that THIS IS STAR TREK.

If you haven't watched it yet, this is pretty much as good as it gets!!!

What does it mean when an episode is so good it feels like a finale but there are still 2 episodes left?? This episode, similar to the last 1-2 episodes, has done a great job of explaining some of the "canon" complaints of Trek purists. Even though they didn't have a leg to stand on to begin with, some loose ends getting handled are welcome.

DSC is having the best 1st season of any Trek series ever. The story telling is superb, the characters are well written and supremely well acted. Doug Jones is mind boggling with how he can emote wearing his Saru makeup. The man can ACT!

It's nice to see people who initially, and blindly, jumped on the hate bandwagon finally realizing how incredibly wrong they were and admitting they are enjoying DSC. And the remaining purists are now far outnumbered and keeping to the shadows hugging their "great bird of the galaxy" dolls. DSC is here for the long haul!