Star Trek Discovery. [SPOILERS WITHIN]

Also, a key aspect of the Magical Negro trope (and one of the things that makes it so toxic) is that the character rarely has any needs or desires of their own, even when that's patently ridiculous, and exists only to help a white hero whose needs and feelings do matter learn an Important Lesson About Life. Gabrielle Burnham doesn't fit that.

Tilly was chosen because the Qowat Milat's weapon of choice is a sword, most the the killing moves we've seen are stabbing thrusts. Dr. Burnham going along with having Tilly on the mission was a selfish decision. Stabbing Tilly with a sword would be like sticking a pin into a pin cushion. She would make an effective defense tactic.

According to a story from Dawn Ennis which drops tomorrow, some character is leaving the ship and the show in tomorrow episode.

Gotta say, that's a helluva well-kept secret. I could see a character on the SHOW leaving but specifically from the crew...?

Tilly's leaving would be well sign-posted IMO.

Here's hoping they visit Vagra II and someone gets what's coming to them.

It'd make complete sense if Gray wanted to make the most of his second life and left never to be seen again, but if it does happen I bet it'll be a bridge officer that never got more than a few lines before that episode.

Nope.

Big meh from me on the Burnham's Mom episode. I actually fell asleep watching it.

The cadet episode ended up being a lot better than I expected.

So Tilly's going to teach at the Academy?

Hey Michael, say Bajor.

"I don't know how much longer I can take this." Me neither Book.

How did they survive that crash?

Boring episode, but a slight improvement over last week.

At first I winced at the Bajor pronunciation but remembered that several times in TNG and even DS9 it was spoken with emphasis on the second syllable like Burnham does here.

per the article, it's temporary.

Pros:
Tilly and cadets facing adversity together, building teams.
Gray is adorable.
Hugh is fitting in well as a counselor.

Cons:
* Mary Wiseman leaving for a while. "Tilly" is one of the reasons I tune in.
* "Shuttle knocked off course to crash on planet because of <insert random space weather>."
* The continued sidetracking of the 5 light year wide black hole. It hasn't hit anyone else yet, which is interesting, since it's 5 LIGHT YEARS WIDE AND TRAVELS AT WARP. Seriously, they shouldn't have even bothered with this story line. I kind of wonder if they've realized it was overkill and are trying to pare it back?

I'm just really not connecting with this season. It started off strong enough, and there are some interesting moments, but I'm just not making a connection. I'm not remaining interested while watching. I literally checked my email while I was watching it, and normally I don't look at my phone while I watch TV.

The cadets on the L class planet didn't do anything for me. It felt like a B story that didn't too much in the way of payoff (for me, anyway), and I don't even remember the name of the cadet that was killed. I feel too detached from the proceedings, I think. All of this just doesn't feel like it matters to me, and while I realize that's a subjective factor, it still weighs in on how I see the episode. It has to entertain me in some way, whether that's to get me thinking, get me involved in the action, or whatever it may be, but I don't feel at all engaged.

Plus, again, no Tilly for at least a few episodes, and that is going to degrade my interest if there isn't anyone to pick up the slack.

This one gets a 5 out of 10 from me.

I like the new shuttles.

When the shuttle went out of control, Tilly's mass pulled everyone to her. Sadly the lieutenant that died was caught between her and the cadets. When they shuttle crashed on the planet, Tilly acted like an airbag cushioning the impact. They bounced off her, which is why they were more or less spread around her. Michael's reaction when seeing Tilly was due to her surpressing hey laughter and disbelief at how most of the crew on the shuttle survived.

Also Starfleet came up with a new regulation, any vessel smaller than a roundabout, Tilly is to be the lone occupant, her mass exceeds what the emergency thrusters are capable of maintaining control, when main power goes off line.

Maybe I'm a pushover but I thought this was fine. In fact, it struck me as exactly what folks have been asking for - smaller, more focused, character stories rather than "Trek saves the universe again!" action movies.

One part Galileo Seven, one part Journey to Babel only one (sorta) explosion, I mean, this is what I hope Strange New Worlds is like

Random thoughts...
Culber is the class of a strong cast. Every scene he's in is better for it.
The interaction between Saru and T'Rina continues to be well played
This is one of the better Kirk Monologues from Burnham, less grandiose, more focused
I don't think I'm actually going to miss Tilly much - they write her too intense, less is more
(one thing alluded to in Dawn's article is that some who are familiar with autism read Tilly as being, as they say, "on the spectrum" - Mary didn't say she consciously played her that way and I can't say what the writers intend, and I'm happy for them if they too get the joy of seeing themselves in Trek, but for me they can let her sometimes dominate scenes where she's not the primary and it can be jarring to me at times)

I may like Gray somewhat more than anticipated but I really need to see him interacting with other crew members besides Adira now that this is possible, and for them to give him an actual concrete purpose on the ship rather than being Adira's lover.
I really liked that Cadet Harrel (the Orion) and I'd love it if he were added to the crew at some point in the future.

Finally caught up:

It seems like a bad message that it's wrong to be racist towards an individual Orion... if that individuals family has a history of political activism. "Don't be a racist because racism is dumb" would have been a better lesson.

What's Tilly supposed to teach at the Academy exactly? Leadership? Questionable. Science? Maybe. History? Reasonable. Admiral Janeway was a guest lecturer for a course about the Borg in the timeline she erased, I could see Tilly flourishing in something specific like that.

Michael reporting directly to the Federation president so frequently feels wrong to me. I recognize that the Federation is a lot smaller now and Discovery and Michael are both high profile assets, but it still feels wrong. You didn't see Archer dealing with Earth's president constantly, despite being the only warp 5 ship Earth had.

Fucked up that a dude died on that training mission and the survivors are talking about what a great time they had a few hours later. Why include that character at all if his death is going to mean nothing moments after he's gone?

I like Michael pronouncing Bajor weird, it makes sense in-universe that different people would pronounce things differently. I was so weirded out the first time I heard a British person say. "Omega."

If Gray isn't a force ghost, then he's just... some guy. I wonder if they're setting him up for some noble sacrifice that destroys his body and leaves his spirit trapped inside Tal permanently. Or maybe he'll just hang out and be the new Keiko.

Robbing a Starfleet vessel for dilithium and killing a guy is okay, but lying about why you want the Federation to give you free dilithium isn't? Asking your buddy to get her Starfleet captain daughter to hook you up discreetly is out of the question? Buying some on the black market isn't an option? I don't like plots that require the baddie to be stupid.

[ narrows eyes ]

Tilly teaching at the academy is the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen in Trek. Remember the marine biologist from TVH coming with Kirk and crew to teach about whales? That makes sense. Tilly teaching makes no sense for several reasons.

She can teach over eating.

A class specifically about the DIS Season 1/2 and TOS era would make sense, whether it's historical events, tactics, or 23rd century Starfleet philosophy. Even if a hologram could deliver the lectures, the kids would probably be more interested in hearing about those things from someone that lived it. (According to STO, Tilly originally attended the academy alongside Jim Kirk, she's gotta have at least one story about him.)

Prediction: While at the Academy Tilly starts learning more about what Spock got up to after she last saw him, and recognizes that V'Ger or the whale probe or Nomad or Trelane or Space Lincoln or whatever is the origin of the DMA.

Maybe ol'-glasses-face-everyone-goes-gaga-for read of her sprinting prowess in the mission report and has her lined up for an athletics position.

Oh yeah, one bit of praise: Michael clearly picked up the president's trick of reading someones file and referencing information from their biography when speaking to them. For an episode where everything else was explicitly spelled out, it was a nice subtle moment of growth. Michael's learning how to be a politician, even if she doesn't necessarily want to.

It doesn't even need to be a "politician" thing. Pike pulled the same move but in reverse in his intro ep, inviting the bridge crew to take a good look at his Starfleet file (even his poor grade in that one class) in order to earn their trust.

This. Politicians do what Pike did, but usually on a superficial level in order to gain social credit. This gives them more maneuverability to either help you or hurt you before your figuring it out on your own. Pike did it because it had to be understood that without trust in him, or each other, they wouldn't be able to function. Pike's usage was altruistic, while the federation president's motives remain to be seen. Normally, my gut would say she's legit, but this is DSC writing, so she could turn at any moment and end up being from the mirror universe or some bullshit.

First episode of this season was decent enough, but it's continuing the same trajectory as season three.

That is, downward.

Granted it's a common enough thing to do, but Michael started doing it after watching the president do it and asking her about it privately.

Nearly half way through.

This week, some jail break thing and slight nudge of the anomaly mystery box.

Which leaves 5 episodes- the final two reserved for plot-heavy IronBurnham escapades and fuck everyone else who even thinks about contributing. Hope you enjoyed any snippets of character development (I say that generously) this season, cause that's by-the-by now.

There will have to be something with Gray, presumably. I would've liked to see how he and Georgiou got along. Could've been interesting with The Emperor licking her lips pondering how "fully functional" he was. That would've been a gnarly hook up. I do miss Georgiou - I know she ended up being nothing more than a quip machine, but at least she injected some energy and a lil' conflict into the show.

So anyway, that leaves 2 episodes. Episode 8 normally sets us up for the dumb shit in the final two. What will the twist be? Is the Fed President up to something nefarious? The nature of the anomaly should be revealed here.

Which leaves one filler episode.

Hey, Gray, 1991 called. They want their shitty hairdos back.

hell.. this is just for the greater toronto area...