Torn between a joke about orbits and a joke about pointing. Well, I guess they balance themselves out. Spoiler.
This episode felt like the first episode of a two-parter – a lot of setup, moving pieces around. But very little actual conflict or character development. The only thing we get is the totally unearned ‘Rayner decides he’s earned the Captain’s Chair’ moment at the end. Something which was set up what felt like 15 minutes earlier. And he can’t even get the ‘failure is not an option’ line to work.
None of which is to say that this is a bad episode. There are some series highlight VFX, especially the black holes, and some good action sequences. The Breen infiltration stuff is so stupid and on-the-nose that it offset that to a fair degree though. Still, an enjoyable enough 45 minutes of video.
But really what happens? They find the thing. A few people go into the thing. The thing is unshielded and tumbling in space. Oh, and Saru is doing something that had better turn out to be interesting and important, rather than a bad use of time in Discovery’s last ever episode.
Quick hits:
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In the context of where we left last episode (a tight countdown until the arrival of the Breen) makes the cut to Saru very abrupt.
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And then this whole briefing scene is literally a plot recap we could have covered with ‘now all the Breen are on the way’.
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Yep Saru, have the vital conversation with Discovery just walking down a corridor in Federation HQ.
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Book’s job of the week is helping with the Spore Drive it seems.
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Nice black hole VFX.
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The helm banter makes it feel like O-O and Detmer were meant to be here. I miss them.
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‘The Lagrange point’ – Hah! There are a bunch of them…
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Wow, a reference to Tal’s past on Earth. Don’t get many of those.
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Sigh, convenient weak point. Lazy.
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“Object is about the size of a shuttle” – cut to a shuttle that could comfortably fit it in the space between everyone’s stations.
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These cuts to Fed HQ is really killing the momentum.
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These are the least convincing infiltrators ever.
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Seriously Burnham, do not unload your feelings while infiltrating an enemy ship. Timing?
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Thank goodness the Breen don’t believe in name tags.
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Rayner has not earned this redemption the script is assuming.
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ID scanner for the shuttle bay but not the bridge? Has Worf been consulting on security out here?
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Burnham and Moll ending up in the mysterious artefact is the most obvious plot development of all time.
927 down.