“Red Directive”
Logline
Captain Burnham and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery are sent to retrieve a mysterious artifact hidden inside a 800-year-old Romulan vessel – but find that they’re not the only ones on the hunt. Meanwhile, Saru is offered the position of a lifetime.
Written by: Michelle Paradise
Directed by: Olatunde Osunsanmi
“Under the Twin Moons”
Logline
On Saru’s last mission as Captain Burnham’s Number One, the team ventures to a seemingly abandoned planet to hunt for what might be the greatest treasure in the galaxy.
Written by: Alan McElroy
Directed by: Doug Aarniokoski
The
Tap for spoiler
self-sealing stembolt
callback was fun.
Over 800 years, and they still don’t know what they’re for…
From the Dragon Prince to Discovery references to self sealing stem bolts will always amuse me.
I probable noticed it at the time, but finding the reference in Dragon Prince seems like a good reason for a rewatch.
As predicted, it’s Captain Rayner’s galaxy, and we’re all just living in it.
I can see what the various interviews were saying - things are already set up to have a sense of finality, with a strong theme of “moving on” woven throughout just about every character’s arc so far.
The “respectful Indiana Jones” vibe is a lot of fun, I hope they can sustain this energy for the rest of the season.
With Stamets talking about legacy and Saru and Tilly leaving or talking about leaving, it really does feel like a final season. If I didn’t know otherwise, I’d think they knew it going in. I hope it can maintain that to the end.
What the actors knew and what the writers knew are not necessarily the same thing though. The writers could well have had a much better idea this would be the end of the road, and left them selves avenues accordingly.
Fred’s absolutely a setup to have Brent Spiner appear as SOMEONE in some episode.
And given Season 3 of Picard, it might even be Data, with his new hybrid with-bits-of-Lore personality.
But it could be a human Soong too, or another Soong-type android (I absolutely hate they call them “synths”, all I hear is Fallout references.)
Edit: It just really stood out to me there was a line referencing that Fred might have “a family”.
I think at this point I’d rather see one of the Isa Briones characters, were they to go that route.
Fred’s Data cosplay walked right up to the line of silliness for me, but honestly he probably represents a legitimate stage of…Soongvolution.
Burnham is the one that said “family,” but I’m wondering if she even knows what Soong-type androids are, since they would have appeared after her time. She probably made an assumption that Fred was biological, given how quickly she had to sweep the room and leave.
I’m more curious why they didn’t just hook up Fred’s head and turn him back on. They were able to do that with Data. Maybe they figured Fred wouldn’t be cooperative, or that Stamets just didn’t have the technology or know-how to able to do that and went straight for “download the data”.
I’m wondering if she even knows what Soong-type androids are, since they would have appeared after her time.
That didn’t even cross my mind while watching. Most of the crew would have no idea who Picard was either which is kinda funny.
I’m more curious why they didn’t just hook up Fred’s head and turn him back on.
Same but holding out hope they still do this at some point!
Most of the crew would have no idea who Picard was either which is kinda funny.
Culber had a bit of a moment like that when explaining the Soong mind transfer he was going to perform on Gray last season.
“Soong first used it on a a Starfleet admiral - Picard was his name - but the success rate was so low that eventually people just stopped trying.”
Overall, though, the Discovery crew seems remarkably well-educated about the time they skipped over.
Ah nice, I think I missed that line when I watched it the first time.
And given Season 3 of Picard, it might even be Data, with his new hybrid with-bits-of-Lore personality.
Goddammit man, I had finally convinced myself I hated the fan service in PIC S3 why are you doing this to me??
T’rina suggesting she could just force a mind meld on Saru to find out what he was thinking was hilarious. They are too cute.
(I will riot if one of them dies this season. Please do not take the best couple in Star Trek away!)
I can’t believe I forgot to mention today’s biggest revelation: a Type 3 phaser is just a Type 2 phaser stretched out!
I wonder if the whole thing can be squished into a convenient, easy-to-conceal Type 1…
How far do they have to stretch it before they get Worf’s purple space bazooka from Insurrection?
Worf’s Purple Space Bazooka is my new band name.
These two episodes were really enjoyable. Discovery is not my favorite Trek series but I have been looking forward to this final season.
For once I’d like for the ominous sounding color label to not be red or black. Let other colors like Mauve or Taupe have its time in the spotlight. I’m sure plenty of people would be afraid of a Mauve Death or a Flaxen alert or an Amaranth level protocol, or an Aegean mission code
A Taupe Directive is just nap time.
Code Taupe is for when you have to uncover a mole in your organisation.
So good to have trek back!
Annotations for 5x01 up at: https://startrek.website/post/8825833
Annotations for 5x02 up at: https://startrek.website/post/8839649
You are my hero.
Loved the first episode, I think the way they brought Book back made sense and I think the season set up connecting to an underutilized TNG episode is absolutely awesome, I could not be more down for this kind of season of Discovery. On to the second episode!
Did anyone else notice that the alien statues in 5x02 looked remarkably similar to the Batarians from Mass Effect?
I wasn’t too impressed by the first two episodes. There were some good parts in it – most notably the actor who played Fred – and I liked the more upbeat tone compared to previous seasons. But ultimately it felt like watching Star Wars. I was bored by the prolonged action sequences in both episodes. They are just a showcase for the talent of the VFX people but the scenes feel empty and meaningless.
I’ll keep watching but only because I know it’s the final season. There are just too many of the same old Disco tropes for me to really enjoy this show. A prime example was the scene aboard the Romulan ship: Burnham beams over with Rhys and Owo…only for them to be incapacitated so that the main character can continue on her own. I know, I know, Disco is not meant to be an ensemble show and that’s okay. But it just doesn’t work for me.
