Light and Shadows

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

An action-packed episode, we watch Captain Pike struggling to survive as his shuttle goes up against a Time Rift in space, the only drawback being use of a ripoff monster: a probe transformed into an unsubtle version of those metallic monsters used in "The Matrix".

Meanwhile Commander Burnham is doing her darnedest to protect her brother Spock, Ethan Peck sporting a beard and babbling quotes from Lewi Carroll - a nice touch. Michelle Yeoh figures prominently here, throwing a martial arts fight with Burnham and skilfully maintaining her ambiguous stance between being a hero and a villain.

It's enjoyable here to see the direct predecessor for "Strange New Worlds", as the actors playing Spock, his mom and Captain Pike are all on screen.

I just like how the writers are crafting complicated stories into complicated and weird science. This episode builds up to a lot of stuff and it feels as if the season is just about to begin. The nuances are ever present: not everything is clear cut or black and white like: logical and illogical- or past present and future- or murderer or innocent- or .... And Michael Burnham is just electrifying to watch. Passionate, present, nuanced too. One more thing, in this episodes, like in many others, the show-runners show a rich and creative plethora of imagined worlds and civilizations and they are not lazy about it. This show is pretty smart and I like it.

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.

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!