Light and Shadows

Seems like the reviews are either 9s & 10s from viewers like me who are loving Star Trek Discovery, or 1s from old guard haters who aren't willing to let the Trek Universe track some new ground.

I've been a track fan since discovering the classic series in reruns. I've watched all seasons of all series, and recognize that this show is taking some liberties while capturing the essence of what I love most about Star Trek, and doing so in a highly entertaining way.

As for this episode, we finally find Spock, sort of, a plot element that has drug in a bit long for me. But it's exciting nonetheless. The climate and ancient-ness of Vulcan are further developed. Tyler and Pike have some conflict that is fun and resolves nicely. Pike is quickly becoming one of my favorite starship captains in the franchise. And, I about fell out of my chair when Talos IV came up!

The one consistently annoying device that is over usd is the techspeak problem solving sessions that just sound like "blah blah whatever" when Tilly and Stamets are saving the ship. Character drama is much more interesting. TNG used to do the same thing and it causes me to disconnect from the story. But eh, the rest is so good I'm hooked anyway!

When I began watching the original series back in my college days, I never dreamed that people would carry it around in their heads for fifty years. That they would look at every new incarnation and spend their time longing for the old show. Do any of you realize how lame some of those episodes were. There's the whole "canon" thing that seems to get people upset. As cinema evolves so do the story lines and the characters. There are new challenges with sophisticated science. Granted, I find this new show to have some real flaws, but it isn't that they aren't trying. There are too many subplots and there is the tiresome Tilly, but I still love to see what a new angle can do. I'm sure when TNG came along, the same naysayers were whining. A canon is generally written by one writer or poet. If cinema had followed what you want, we would still be watching silent films.

Burnham goes back to Vulcan whilst Discovery encounters a temporal anomaly.

This is a pretty good episode, especially the visuals, with a strong plot that is unfortunately let down by the exposition.

I enjoyed the story, which I found to be quite compelling and the final reveal works not only as great fan service but as hook to find out what happens next. I hope the writers have something in mind for preserving the legacy of the Trek canon as they write this story, but if it turns out to be something special I will forgive the franchise inconsistency. The sub-plot involves great sci-fi, but probably could have done without the similarity in tech design to The Matrix.

Generally in the episode the visuals are brilliant. The cinematography is excellent and works well for the visual storytelling. Some of the editing is also superb. One of my favourite parts is a transition between one Discovery character's eye to a light aboard another ship.

Where I struggle, as usual with Discovery, is the dialogue. I find the exposition to be so deliberate and obvious that it feels unnatural. Pretty much all of the intro sequence is a big information dump and the episode is littered with other similar moments. I don't mind it so much during the technobabble sequences, because these things need explanations but they do drag on a bit in this show. The worst line in the episode for me was one character reveal about Burnham that was unimaginatively spoken between two Section 31 characters.

Performances from all cast are solid with nobody especially standing out except Sonequa Martin-Green who leads her scenes well and possibly Mary Wiseman who continues to entertain.

This episode felt like a dream. Mostly because I could not believe that the characters would do what they did in real life. We have a temporal rift opening up for no reason, But Its not interesting enough to keep Michael around, so she leaves for Vulcan...and suddenly, she is there. about 10 seconds pass for the Ship and she is now on Vulcan. I understand editing techniques, but this gives the episode a dream like quality. I have to ask myself was anything really real in this episode?...

First it was just a few nano particles..then it was some tachyon particles, next it was a rift and then it was a full blown wormhole. Its like each person was seeing it as something different. Until everyone agreed that it was a wormhole..Then Michael wanted spock to be on Vulcan and viola...he was!

Not to mention this episode was a FULL 20 minutes shorter than any other episode this season..Overall it was an interesting episode. But I still insist that it all felt like a dream.

Omg this episode was beyond brilliant So much happened I feel like I need to watch this 20 more times Just epic !! Ethan was amazing as Spock Michele Yeoh is so bad ass Sonequa is so beautiful and the chemistry between Spock and her is electric Special effects spectacular as always I cannot fault this episode I just cannot wait a week for the next instalment Well done writers..this show is just perfection