Tag: CBS All Access

Categories
Discovery Season 1 Star Trek

The Vulcan Hello

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate 1207.2: An uncrewed communications relay at the edge of Federation space suddenly stops working, and the starship U.S.S. Shenzhou is sent to investigate. Captain Philippa Georgiou sends her first officer, Commander Michael Burnham, to investigate an object near a binary star that seems to be deliberately scattering the entire electromagnetic spectrum, including visible wavelengths. Burnham flies a thruster suit toward the unknown object, finding it to be an ancient vessel of some kind. When Burnham lands on the object, her presence triggers a sudden activation of the vessel, and an armed Klingon warrior appears behind her. When the Klingon attacks, Burnham attempts to escape, accidentally impaling the Klingon with his own weapon before slamming into part of the Klingon vessel and tumbling back toward the Shenzhou, unconscious.

Burnham awakens aboard the Shenzhou, rescued by suffering from acute effects of exposure to the radiation emanating from the binary star nearby. She leaves sick bay before her treatment is complete to warn Captain Georgiou of the Klingons’ presence. When Georgiou orders the Shenzhou‘s weapons brought to bear on the object just visited by Burnham, an enormous Klingon ship decloaks just ahead. As Georgiou consults with Starfleet, Burnham seeks the advice of her adoptive father, Ambassador Sarek of Vulcan. Georgiou is steadfast in her desire for a diplomatic solution, but Burnham advises her that the Klingons will only respect a show of strength: a battle worthy of their mettle. When she is unable to convince her Captain of this course of action, Burnham attempts a mutiny, but it’s too late: as the Shenzhou waits alone for reinforcements, an entire Klingon fleet warps into view.

The Klingons have been anticipating the humans’ spreading influence in the galaxy, and T’Kuvma, the leader of the Klingons aboard the ceremonial ship discovered by the Shenzhou, wants to unite all 24 of the Klingons’ disparate houses to attack the Federation before they themselves are attacked. T’Kuvma is annoyed when not all of the Klingons share his zeal…but the Federation ship before him has fallen so easily into the trap, he sees no reason to delay the war he sees as not only inevitable, but prophesied.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonteleplay by Bryan Fuller and Akiva Goldsman
story by Bryan Fuller and Akiva Goldsman
directed by David Semel
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek: DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Shazad Latif (Lt. Ash Tyler), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Jason Isaacs (Captain Gabriel Lorca), Michelle Yeoh (Captain Philippa Georgiou), Mary Chieffo (L’Rell), James Frain (Sarek), Chris Obi (T’Kuvma), Maulik Pancholy (Dr. Nambue), Terry Serpico (Admiral Anderson), Sam Vartholomeos (Ensign Danby Connor), Arista Arhin (young Michael Burnham), Emily Coutts (Keyla Detmer), Justin Howell (Torchbearer / Rejac), Javid Iqbal (Voq), Ali Momen (Kamran Grant), Bonnie Morgan (Crepuscula), David Benjamin Tomlinson (Or’eq), Tasia Valenza (Computer Voice), Chris Violette (Britch Weeton), Romaine Waite (Troy Januzzi)

Star Trek: DiscoveryNotes: Stardate 1207.2 equates to May 11th, 2256 – ten years before the first season of the original Star Trek (and 2-3 years after the events depicted in The Cage and the Cage-derived flashback scenes from The Menagerie), and 95 years after These Are The Voyages…, the series finale of Star Trek: Enterprise. As that finale takes place 5 years after the remainder of the fourth season of Enterprise, this may mean that Captain Archer’s last contact with the Klingons (in Affliction and Divergence) was one of the last contacts with the Klingons “a hundred years ago”.

Tasia Valenza, the new Federation computer voice (assuming the role left vacant by the late Majel Barrett Roddenberry), is the only cast member with ties to prior Star Trek: she was a Vulcan would-be Starfleet cadet vying against Wesley Crusher and others for a coveted slot at the Academy in 1988’s Coming Of Age. She also appeared in the 1990s series Space: Above And Beyond.

Star Trek: DiscoveryThe Klingons’ ritual scream at the heavens – a warning that a dead warrior is ascending – was first established in Star Trek: The Next Generation (Heart Of Glory, 1988); the concept of a multitude of Klingon “houses” originated in another TNG episode (Sins Of The Father, 1990). Ironically, Burnham’s adoptive brother, Spock, took a similar headlong plunge into danger in a Starfleet thruster suit in 1979’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture. The original Klingon Torchbearer’s weapon is identified by Burnham’s heads-up display as a bat’leth, though very different in design to the one wielded by Worf in many an episode of TNG; it’s possible that, much like the Torchbearer’s title, this bat’leth is more ornately ceremonial than functional (though that doesn’t prevent it from being deadly).

Star Trek: DiscoveryCredited, but not appearing in, this episode are series regulars Shazad Latif, Anthony Rapp, Mary Wiseman, and Jason Isaacs.

The Shenzhou is named for a real family of Chinese spacecraft that had only just started flying the last time there was a Star Trek series on the air.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Discovery Season 1 Star Trek

Battle At The Binary Stars

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate not given: Starfleet reinforcements arrive to assist the Shenzhou, with further ships on the way. As Captain Georgiou orders Burnham escorted to the brig, the shooting begins, and heavy losses are incurred on both sides. Admiral Anderson arrives, commanding the Europa, and tries to broker a cease-fire with the Klingons, only to have his ship rammed head-on by a cloaked Klingon ship. The Shenzhou is in no shape to keep fighting, but when the Klingons begin retrieving their dead from the vacuum of space, Captain Georgiou decides to attach an armed photon torpedo warhead to one of the floating Klingon corpses, causing critical damage to T’Kuvma’s ship. Georgiou and Burnham beam aboard the ship to try to capture T’Kuvma, which would disgrace him in the eyes of his society, but their mission has a far higher price than they expect – and rather than making T’Kuvma a pariah, they make him a martyr…and the Federation and the Klingon Empire are now at war.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonteleplay by Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts
story by Bryan Fuller
directed by Adam Kane
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek: DiscoveryCast: Cast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Shazad Latif (Lt. Ash Tyler), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Jason Isaacs (Captain Gabriel Lorca), Michelle Yeoh (Captain Philippa Georgiou), Mary Chieffo (L’Rell), James Frain (Sarek), Kenneth Mitchell (Kol), Chris Obi (T’Kuvma), Terry Serpico (Admiral Anderson), Sam Vartholomeos (Ensign Danby Connor), Arista Arhin (young Michael Burnham), Emily Coutts (Keyla Detmer), Javid Iqbal (Voq), Ali Momen (Kamran Grant), Clare McConnell (Dennas), Thamela Mpumlwana (young T’Kuvma), Damon Runyan (Ujilli), Tasia Valenza (Computer Voice), Chris Violette (Britch Weeton), Romaine Waite (Troy Januzzi)

Star Trek: DiscoveryNotes: This episode includes a mention of the last Klingon/Federation battle taking place at Donatu V, a planet first mentioned in The Trouble With Tribbles (1967), though Trouble established that battle as having taken place in the 2240s, not a century ago. Donatu V was a Klingon planet by the 24th century (DS9: Sons And Daughters). The unusual design of the Shenzhou‘s transporter room – an early reveal of which caused fan uproar – is cited as being an outmoded transporter design still in use aboard the Shenzhou due to the ship’s advanced age.

Star Trek: DiscoveryRepresentatives from House D’Ghor and House Mokai stick around to listen to T’Kuvma’s sales pitch; other known Klingon houses include Duras, Martok, Mogh, Korath, Kozak, and Antaak, though it is not known how fragmented this system of Klingon society might have become by the 24th century. (It is clearly stated that the Klingon Empire is currently comprised of 24 Houses.) Voq says that T’Kuvma devised the cloaking device; though in much official and unofficial backstory surrounding Star Trek III: The Search For Spock, the Klingons are said to have gotten cloaking technology from the Romulans. Both could be right: perhaps T’Kuvma is padding his resume just a bit. When T’Kuvma is shot by Burnham, his blood briefly vaporizes purple – the color of Klingon blood as it appeared in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (in nearly every other instance in the franchise, it appears red).

Star Trek: DiscoveryChris Obi is the latest crossover actor to have appeared in both Star Trek and Doctor Who, having appeared in the 2011 Doctor Who episode Closing Time.

Credited, but not appearing in, their second episode in a row are series regulars Shazad Latif, Anthony Rapp, Mary Wiseman, and Jason Isaacs. Not showing up is good work if you can find it.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Discovery Season 1 Star Trek

Context Is For Kings

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate not given: Six months after her role in the fateful opening volley of the war between the Klingon Empire and the Federation, Michael Burnham has been stripped of rank and sentenced to life in prison for mutiny. But even that doesn’t go smoothly: the prison shuttle is beset by space-faring microscopic life that drains electrical energy, and is tractored to safety by a huge Starfleet ship, the U.S.S. Discovery. Commanded by Captain Gabriel Lorca, the Discovery is seemingly fresh out of spacedock, and there are at least a few familiar surviving faces from the Shenzhou aboard, including Saru, now serving as Discovery‘s first officer. But wherever she shows her face, Burnham is a pariah at best, and yet Lorca seems to have singled her out, letting her work aboard the ship (under guard) rather than letting her sit in the brig. But the more she learns of the Discovery – and the fate of her sister ship, the Glenn – the more Burnham suspects that the ship’s mission isn’t purely scientific.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonteleplay by Gretchen J. Berg & Aaron Harberts & Craig Sweeny
story by Bryan Fuller & Gretchen J. Berg & Aaron Harberts
directed by Akiva Goldsman
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek: DiscoveryCast: Cast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Shazad Latif (Lt. Ash Tyler), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Jason Isaacs (Captain Gabriel Lorca), Rekha Sharma (Commander Ellen Landry), Emily Coutts (Keyla Detmer), Julianne Grossman (Discovery Computer), Grace Lynn Kung (Psycho), Devon MacDonald (Engineering Officer), Sara Mitich (Airiam), Oyin Oladejo (Joann Owosekun), Conrad Pla (Stone), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Shuttle Pilot), Christopher Russell (Milton Richter), Saad Siddiqui (Straal), Elias Toufexis (Cold), Tasia Valenzia (Shenzhou Computer)

Star Trek: DiscoveryNotes: The Zee-Magnees Prize is an award for groundbreaking scientific research; by Burnham’s time, it has already been won by Dr. Richard Daystrom (The Ultimate Computer). Guest star Rekha Sharma gained genre fame as Tory Foster, President Roslin’s aide de camp in the 21st century remake of Battlestar Galactica, and has appeared in Supernatural, V, and an episode of the fan-made series Star Trek Continues. Prior to her breakout role in Galactica, she had made numerous appearances in Dark Angel, the ’90s revival of The Outer Limits, and Smallville.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Discovery Season 1 Star Trek

The Butcher’s Knife Cares Not For The Lamb’s Cry

Star Trek: DiscoveryNo stardate given: Burnham, having been let in on the secret of Discovery‘s experimental “spore drive” that allows the ship to traverse trails of microscopic organic particles throughout space, is re-adjusting to wearing a Starfleet uniform (albeit one with no rank). Captain Lorca assigns Burnham to work on weaponizing the creature that nearly killed the Discovery boarding party aboard the Glenn, and assigns Commander Landry, Discovery‘s security chief, to work with her. Landry’s impatience leads to a fatal accident (for her), while Burnham continues to warn anyone who will listen that the creature, a kind of macroscopic alien tardigrade, is not inherently violent. A Klingon attack on one of the Federation’s most important dilithium mining facilities forces the Discovery into action, and the still-not-fully-functional spore drive must be used…whether it gets Discovery to the besieged planet, or drops it into a situation even more dangerous than a Klingon assault.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Jesse Alexander and Aron Eli Collette
directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek: DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Shazad Latif (Lt. Ash Tyler), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Jason Isaacs (Captain Gabriel Lorca), Michelle Yeoh (Captain Philippa Georgiou), Jayne Brook (Admiral Cornwell), Mary Chieffo (L’Rell), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Kenneth Mitchell (Kol), Rekha Sharma (Commander Landry), Dennis Andres (Engineer Rance), Emily Coutts (Keyla Detmer), Jordana Blake (Betarian Girl), Julianne Grossman (Discovery Computer Voice), Javid Iqbal (Voq), Sara Mitich (Airiam), Oyin Oladejo (Joann Owosekun), Christopher Russell (Milton Richter), Tasia Valenzia (Shenzhou Computer Voice)

Star Trek: DiscoveryNotes: Corvan II is noted here for producing 40% of the Federation’s supply of dilithium crystals, but it’s also home to the endangered Corvan gilvo creature prized by Worf’s son Alexander in the TNG episode New Ground (1992). Kol hails from the Klingon House of Kor, which means he may or may not be related to Kor, the Klingon encountered by Kirk on the planet Organia (Errand Of Mercy, 1967). Macroscopic organisms are rare in Star Trek, but not unheard of, whether it’s the enormous energy-eating amoeba that nearly destroys the Enterprise (The Immunity Syndrome, 1968), or macroscopic viruses that swarm aboard Voyager (Macrocosm, 1996).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Discovery Season 1 Star Trek

Choose Your Pain

Star Trek: DiscoveryWith the secret of navigation with the spore drive finally unlocked – the enormous tardigrade-like creature must be harnessed to perform the navigation – the Discovery has been busy in the war with the Klingons. Starfleet Command even advises Captain Lorca to be less visible for fear that the Discovery‘s experimental drive system could be discovered by the Klingons, a fear that seems to be borne out when Lorca’s shuttle flight back to Discovery is cut short as a Klingon ship appears, and Klingon warriors board the shuttle in short order. Lorca is taken prisoner and, in captivity, meets a shifty human named Harry Mudd, also a Klingon prisoner, and a Starfleet officer named Ash Tyler, a prisoner of war since the battle at the binary stars. As Lorca endures Klingon torture and tries to plan an escape, Saru finds himself in command of Discovery by default with a crisis on his hands: the continual use of the spore drive is draining the tardigrade’s energy and sapping its will to live. Soon, it will be unable to help the Discovery crew find their missing captain.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazontelelplay by Kemp Powers
story by Gretchen J. Berg & Aaron Harberts & Kemp Powers
directed by Lee Rose
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek: DiscoveryCast: Cast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Shazad Latif (Lt. Ash Tyler), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Jason Isaacs (Captain Gabriel Lorca), Jayne Brook (Admiral Cornwell), Mary Chieffo (L’Rell), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Rainn Wilson (Harry Mudd), Conrad Coates (Terral), Emily Coutts (Keyla Detmer), Julianne Grossman (Discovery Computer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Rhys), Sara Mitich (Airiam), Simon Northwood (Shuttle Pilot), Oyin Oladejo (Joann Owosekun), Christopher Russell (Milton Richter), Kirk Salesman (Shuttle Klingon 1), Tyler Evan Webb (Shuttle Klingon 2)

Star Trek: DiscoveryNotes: Lorca’s previous command, the U.S.S. Buran, was named after the ultimately aborted Soviet-era Russian attempt to duplicate or improve upon the design of the American Space Shuttle. Faced with allowing his crew to fall into Klingon hands and endure torture or worse, Lorca blew up the Buran with all hands…as he escaped. Harry Mudd is seen here ten years before the events chronicled in the original Star Trek episode Mudd’s Women, and at this point is married to Stella (I, Mudd). The tactical plot seen very briefly on Discovery‘s bridge shows Rura Penthe (Star Trek VI, Enterprise: Judgment) and Khitomer (Star Trek VI, TNG: Sins Of The Father) in relation to the current outlines of Klingon and Federation space; Deep Space K-7 (TOS: The Trouble With Tribbles, Star Trek: DiscoveryTAS: More Tribbles, More Trouble, DS9: Trials And Tribble-ations) is perilously close to that boundary. Choose Your Pain has the dubious distinction of dropping Star Trek’s first F-bomb (thank you, Cadet Tilly), which drew a mixed reaction from some segments of the audience.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Discovery Season 1 Star Trek

Lethe

Star Trek: DiscoveryAmbassador Sarek departs Vulcan on a top-secret mission to try to negotiate, on behalf of the Federation, with the Klingons to end the war. En route, he discovers that his pilot is a member of an isolationist faction that favors withdrawing Vulcan from the Federation altogether. The pilot has dosed his own body with an explosive that will destroy the ship; though injured, Sarek manages to surround himself with a force field to survive, sending part of his katra to…

…Burnham collapses in the mess hall aboard Discovery, having just received Sarek’s telepathic distress call. She is surprised when Captain Lorca agrees to go on a rescue mission over Starfleet’s objections. As the wreckage of Sarek’s ship – one piece of which contains him as he clings to life – is in a dangerous nebula, Burnham can only search for the wreckage in a shuttle, piloted by Ash Tyler, who has been appointed Discovery’s new chief of security. But when Burnham is close enough to make contact with Sarek, he seems to not want her there. A secret lies in their shared past, one that he is fighting against letting her find out, even if it means he dies with that secret.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Joe Menosky & Ted Sullivan
directed by Douglas Aarniokoski
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek: DiscoveryCast: Cast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Shazad Latif (Lt. Ash Tyler), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Jason Isaacs (Captain Gabriel Lorca), Jayne Brook (Admiral Cornwell), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), James Frain (Sarek), Mia Kershner (Amanda), Kenneth Mitchell (Kol), Conrad Coates (Terral), Emily Coutts (Keyla Detmer), Julianne Grossman (Disocvery Computer), Luke Humphrey (V’Latak), Clare McConnell (Dennas), Sara Mitich (Airiam), Oyin Oladejo (Joann Owosekun), Damon Runyan (Ujilli), Jonathan Whittaker (Vulcan Director)

Star Trek: DiscoveryNotes: The katra was first mentioned in Star Trek III: The Search For Spock (1984), and Sarek’s experiences in this episode may explain why he is adamant, bordering on emotional, about finding Spock’s katra in the opening scenes of that film. Burnham’s rejection by the Vulcan Expeditionary Group was actually engineered by Sarek, who was forced into choosing between enrolling Burnham or his son Spock; he chose in favor of the latter, only to be disappointed when Spock enlisted in Starfleet against Sarek’s wishes, rending the decision pointless. (Presumably, long before this had happened, Sybok of Star Trek V fame had gone his own way.) Extremist factions on Vulcan are known to have existed a century earlier (Enterprise: Awakening), a time during which knowledge of the katra was apparently not widespread, and will continue to crop up a century later (TNG: Gambit Part II, DS9: Field Of Fire). Burnham mentions a posting to a Constitution class vessel “like the Enterprise” is a prestige assignment, even though by this point the Enterprise may well be over 20 years old (which could explain many of the differences between the looks of Star Trek: Discoverythe original series and this series). As The Cage happened three years prior to Star Trek: Discovery, Burnham may have Spock in mind when she says this. The Discovery has at least a rudimentary holodeck, though it would seem that it is used only for combat simulations. (23rd century holodecks are not an anachronism, however: the animated episode The Practical Joker clearly shows a “holographic environment simulator” aboard the Enterprise.) In Greek mythology, the river Lethe would cause those who drank from it to forget, as presumably Sarek would like to.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Discovery Season 1 Star Trek

Magic To Make The Sanest Man Go Mad

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate 2136.8: Burnham is relieved when duty calls her away from an increasingly awkward party to investigate something a bit more worthy of her attention, a spacefaring creature in ill health. Since it is an endangered species, the Discovery crew is bound by law to beam it aboard and transport it to a safe facility, but once it’s aboard, it disgorges something that would make any creature ill: Harcourt Fenton Mudd. Enraged that Captain Lorca left him stranded in a Klingon prison, Mudd is back for revenge, and has an illegal (and unstable) device to create a time loop. He can kill Lorca as many times as he likes, and is willing to do the same to the rest of the crew, until he extracts the secret of Discovery’s drive system to sell to the Klingons.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Aron Eli Coleite & Jesse Alexander
directed by David M. Barrett
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek: DiscoveryCast: Cast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Shazad Latif (Lt. Ash Tyler), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Jason Isaacs (Captain Gabriel Lorca), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Katherine Barrell (Stella), Peter MacNeill (Baron Grimes), Rainn Wilson (Harry Mudd), Milton Barnes (Deck Crew #1), Emily Coutts (Keyla Detmer), Jason Deline (Medical Officer), Hamza Fouad (Deck Crew #2), Julianne Grossman (Disocvery Computer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Rhys), Sara Mitich (Airiam), Oyin Oladejo (Joann Owosekun), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Comm Officer 2), Izaak Smith (Jogger #1)

Star Trek: DiscoveryNotes: Betazed (future home of Counselor Deanna Troi) is already known to, or may already be a member of, the Federation in the 23rd century, as Mudd has been involved in criminal activity in Betazoid territory. Actor Peter MacNeill, though he appears only very briefly here, was a regular in Captain Power And The Soldiers Of The Future (as “Hawk”) and on the ’90s series Psi Factor: Chronicles Of The Paranormal. He also voiced numerous characters in the 1980s animated series Star Wars: Droids, and guest starred in two episodes of Gene Roddenberry’s Earth: Final Conflict.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Discovery Season 1 Star Trek

Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate 1308.9: Having deposited a landing party consisting of Saru, Burnham, and Tyler to the planet Pahvo, the Discovery diverts to answer a distress call from U.S.S. Gagarin, under Klingon attack. Lorca’s previous strategy – to drop in out of a spore drive jump and blast every enemy in sight – is no longer a guarantee of success: as more Klingon houses rally to Kol’s side, their ships are armed with cloaking devices. Discovery‘s overwhelming advantage has been negated, and the Gagarin and her crew pay the price for this revelation.

On Pahvo, a planet whose ecosphere audibly sings in a variety of frequencies, boosted into space by a crystalline transmitter that may or may not be of natural origin, Saru’s landing party is there to see if that transmitter can be altered in such a way as to help the Federation’s war effort. But what couldn’t be seen from space is quite visible on the ground: the planet is inhabited by energy beings who are curious about their unexpected visitors. They offer peace to Saru – a peace that he’ll willingly betray anyone to keep.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Kirsten Beyer
directed by John S. Scott
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek: DiscoveryCast: Cast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Shazad Latif (Lt. Ash Tyler), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Jason Isaacs (Captain Gabriel Lorca), Jayne Brook (Admiral Cornwell), Mary Chieffo (L’Rell), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Kenneth Mitchell (Kol), Michael Boisvert (Kovil), Conrad Coates (Admiral Terral), Emily Coutts (Keyla Detmer), Anthony Grant (Klingon Communications Officer), Julianne Grossman (Disocvery Computer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Rhys), Sara Mitich (Airiam), Oyin Oladejo (Joann Owosekun), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Bryce), Tyler Evan Webb (Klingon Guard)

Star Trek: DiscoveryNotes: The title of the episode translates from Latin to English as “if you want peace, prepare for war”, originating in a 5th century written work, “De Re Militari” (“Concerning Military Matters”). This is not the first Star Trek episode to use a Latin phrase as its title; that honor goes to Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges (1999), an episode of Deep Space Nine‘s seventh and final season.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Discovery Season 1 Star Trek

Into The Forest I Go

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate not given: The crystalline transmitter on planet Pahvo is sending a homing signal identifying its location to both Starfleet and the Klingon fleet. Though ordered to withdraw to protect the Discovery‘s one-of-a-kind technology, Captain Lorca is ready to stay and fight. Saru and Burnham devise a means of gathering data on the Klingon cloaking device through a series of over a hundred spore drive jumps in rapid succession. In lieu of a suitable tardigrade creature, Lt. Stamets prepares to serve as the spore drive’s navigator yet again, over Dr. Culber’s objections. Burnham and Lt. Tyler beam over to the Klingon ship of the dead to plant the sensors that will gather the data, but discover that they’re not the only human life signs on board: Admiral Cornwell is still alive in Klingon captivity. So is L’Rell, imprisoned by Kol for her treachery. Burnham has to go it alone when the sight of L’Rell leaves Tyler in a state of post-traumatic shock, and to buy time, Burnham reveals herself and challenges Kol to a duel. Though Burnham is unable to overpower Kol, it will be his last fight as the Discovery gains the upper hand by finding the means to defeat the cloaking device. Burnham, Tyler and Cornwell are beamed safely back aboard Discovery, but L’Rell throws herself at Tyler in order to escape as well, and is promptly thrown in the brig. Though weakened, Stamets volunteers to navigate Discovery for one last jump home…though it would seem that Lorca still isn’t ready to return to Earth.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Bo Yeon Kim & Erika Lippoldt
directed by Chris Byrne
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek: DiscoveryCast: Cast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Shazad Latif (Lt. Ash Tyler), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Jason Isaacs (Captain Gabriel Lorca), Jayne Brook (Admiral Cornwell), Mary Chieffo (L’Rell), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Kenneth Mitchell (Kol), Michael Ayres (Transporter Technician), Conrad Coates (Admiral Terral), Emily Coutts (Keyla Detmer), Julianne Grossman (Disocvery Computer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Rhys), Sara Mitich (Airiam), Oyin Oladejo (Joann Owosekun), David Benjamin Tomlinson (Klingon Bridge Officer)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Discovery Season 1 Star Trek

Despite Yourself

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate not given: Mere moments after Discovery‘s latest spore drive jump, it’s obvious that the ship isn’t where it’s supposed to be. Rather than Starbase 46, Discovery is surrounded by debris from Klingon vessels, but not just any Klingon vessels: they were crewed by Vulcans and Andorians. Analysis of a data core from the wreckage reveals that Discovery has jumped into another universe, a parallel timeline in which the xenophobic Terran Empire wages war against all those not from (or subjugated by) Earth. The Empire’s reign of terror dates back to the 21st century arrival of Vulcans on postwar Earth, but its reach was rapidly accelerated by the arrival of a more advanced starship from a variation of its own future. Discovery‘s crew has to act the part to find a way back to their own universe, and their own war, without arousing enough suspicion to get themselves killed.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Sean Cochran
directed by Jonathan Frakes
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Shazad Latif (Lt. Ash Tyler), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Jason Isaacs (Captain Gabriel Lorca), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Mary Chieffo (L’Rell), Sam Vartholomeos (Captain Connor), Emily Coutts (Keyla Detmer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Rhys), Julianne Grossman (Discovery Computer), Sara Mitich (Airiam), Alo Momen (Kamran Gant), Oyin Oladejo (Joann Owosekun), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Bryce), Chris Violette (Britch Weeton), Romaine Waite (Troy Januzzi)

Star Trek DiscoveryNotes: The Defiant‘s arrival from the future is chronicled in parts one and two of In A Mirror Darkly (2005), one of Star Trek: Enterprise‘s final adventures, though the ship’s initial disappearance from several years into Discovery’s future was first seen in 1968‘s The Tholian Web.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Discovery Season 1 Star Trek

The Wolf Inside

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate not given: Aboard the Shenzhou, “Captain” Burnham receives orders to wipe out an enclave of an organized resistance. These renegades, inclduing Klingons, Vulcans, Andorians and Tellarites, have banded together to fight the xenophobic oppression of the Terran Empire. With Tyler at her side, Burnham beams down to meet with the resistance leader – the Klingon known in Burnham’s timeline as Voq. The sight of Voq has a strange effect on Tyler; moments after this timeline’s Sarek establishes that Burnham is telling the truth, Tyler screams in Klingon and attacks Voq, but is nearly killed for his trouble. Burnham manages to plead for his life and return to the Shenzhou, where Tyler admits that his recent confusion and flashes of trauma are a glimpse into a horrifying surgical procedure that transformed him from Klingon to human.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Lisa Randolph
directed by T.J. Scott
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Shazad Latif (Lt. Ash Tyler / Voq), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Jason Isaacs (Captain Gabriel Lorca), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), James Frain (Sarek), Michelle Yeoh (Emperor Georgiou), Emily Coutts (Keyla Detmer), Riley Gilchrist (Shukar), Julianne Grossman (Discovery Computer), Devon MacDonald (Service Engineer), Alo Momen (Kamran Gant), Dwain Murphy (Captain Maddox), Tasia Valenzia (Shenzhou Computer), Chris Violette (Britch Weeton), Romaine Waite (Troy Januzzi)

Star Trek DiscoveryNotes: After months of fan speculation, Voq and Ash Tyler are revealed to be one and the same. This episode features the first Andorians and Tellarites seen since Star Trek: Enterprise, as well as continuing the odd Mirror Universe tradition of male Vulcans wearing goatees (Spock, Soval, and now Sarek; only Tuvok seems to have bucked the trend).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Discovery Season 1 Star Trek

Vaulting Ambition

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate not given: Burnham and Lorca brace themselves for a reunion of sorts with Emperor Philippa Georgiou, ruler of the Terran Empire. For Burnham, it’s like seeing a ghost of the captain she admired and then betrayed, but for Lorca, it’s a trip back to the agonizer booth. Stamets, still unconscious in the spore chamber of Discovery‘s engine room, meets his counterpart from the alternate universe, but is unimpressed with the other Stamets’ ends-justify-the-means approach…and indeed leaves his other self behind when he thinks he spots Dr. Culber. Burnham, under threat of death, reveals the truth to Georgiou…who, in turn, reveals that Burnham’s recent twists of fate have been deliberately engineered by someone native to this treacherous timeline.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Jordon Nardino
directed by Hanelle M. Culpepper
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Shazad Latif (Lt. Ash Tyler / Voq), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Jason Isaacs (Captain Gabriel Lorca), Mary Chieffo (L’Rell), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Michelle Yeoh (Emperor Georgiou), Sam Asante (Senior Guard), Jeremy Crittenden (Lord Eling), Raven Dauda (Dr. Pollard), Billy Maclellan (Barlow), Dwain Murphy (Captain Maddox), Tasia Valenzia (Shenzhou Computer), Marie Ward (Junior Guard)

Star Trek DiscoveryNotes: The “interphase” referred to here, along with the resulting homicidal madness that consumed the original 23rd century crew of the Defiant (TOS: The Tholian Web), was a product of Tholian experiments conducted in the mirror universe in the 22nd century, which eventually dragged the 23rd century Defiant back in time and across the divide between timelines (as detailed in Enterprise: In A Mirror Darkly).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Discovery Season 1 Star Trek

What’s Past Is Prologue

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate 1834.2: Having learned that Captain Lorca is, in fact, a native of the other timeline, Burnham races to contact Discovery to warn Saru of what she has learned. Lorca’s insurrection against Emperor Georgiou comes to a head, and Burnham is caught in the middle. On Discovery, Saru and the crew brainstorm a mission to attack Georgiou’s flagship, the Charon, to rescue Burnham and destroy Charon‘s power source, unleashing a torrent of mycelial energy in the process, allowing Discovery to return to its native timeline. But Discovery may not survive the rescue attempt, Georgiou may not survive Lorca’s attempt to seize the throne, and Burnham may not be able to resist the temptation to undo a tragedy for which she feels responsible.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Ted Sullivan
directed by Olatunde Osunsame
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Shazad Latif (Lt. Ash Tyler / Voq), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Jason Isaacs (Captain Gabriel Lorca), Michelle Yeoh (Emperor Georgiou), Rekha Sharma (Landry), Emily Coutts (Keyla Detmer), Jeremy Crittenden (Lord Eling), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Rhys), Sara Mitich (Airiam), Oyin Oladejo (Joann Owosekun), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Bryce)

Star Trek DiscoveryNotes: Mirror Lorca’s attempt to beam away from the crippled Buran in the middle of an ion storm mirrors the transporter accident that took Kirk, McCoy, Uhura and Scotty to the Mirror universe in Mirror, Mirror (1967).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Discovery Season 1 Star Trek

The War Without, The War Within

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate not given: Discovery‘s return to its native universe and timeline is heralded by a boarding party led by Admiral Cornwell and Sarek, who mind melds with Saru in order to confirm that everyone aboard Discovery is who they claim to be. The Federation has nearly lost the war with the Klingons, as Discovery was absent for nine months (and presumed lost, since wreckage of the ship’s alternate universe counterpart was found). Nearly a third of Starfleet’s ships have been destroyed in kamikaze Klingon raids, and defeat seems imminent. The one advantage with which Discovery has returned? Emperor Georgiou, who strategically engineered the downfall of the Klingons in her timeline. Burnham feels she could offer vital tactical advice, but Sarek and Cornwell have another role in mind for her – one that involves putting the leader of a cutthroat regime into Discovery‘s captain’s chair.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Lisa Randolph
directed by David Solomon
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Shazad Latif (Lt. Ash Tyler / Voq), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Jason Isaacs (Captain Gabriel Lorca), Michelle Yeoh (Emperor Georgiou), Jayne Brook (Admiral Cornwell), Mary Chieffo (L’Rell), James Frain (Sarek), Michael Ayres (Transport Officer), Emily Coutts (Keyla Detmer), Raven Dauda (Dr. Pollard), Riley Gilchrist (Admiral Shukar), Julianne Grossman (Discovery Computer), Harry Judge (Admiral Gorch), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Rhys), Sara Mitich (Airiam), Melanie Nicholls-King (Admiral Drake), Oyin Oladejo (Joann Owosekun), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Bryce)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Discovery Season 1 Star Trek

Will You Take My Hand?

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate not given: “Captain” Georgiou is introduced by Admiral Cornwell, under the cover story that reports of her death were exaggerated and she was recently rescued from Klingon territory. The mission proceeds as suggested by Georgiou before, but rather than jumping Discovery into an underground chasm to map the surface for military targets, Georgiou decides she’d rather destroy the planet, destroying the Klingon civilization altogether. Burnham returns to Discovery to confront Admiral Cornwell about the mission, learning that Starfleet Command was privy to the changes in the mission plan. After making an impassioned plea for Starfleet to stand by its code of ethics, Burnham rewrites the mission plan, letting Georgiou go free and placing the detonator of her doomsday weapon into the hands of L’Rell, who uses the threat of annihilating the Klingon homeworld to unite the great houses and end the war. Tyler elects to remain with L’Rell as a peace liaison between the Federation and the Klingons, and Discovery at last returns to Earth, where a full pardon and reinstatement to the rank of commander awaits Burnham. Saru commands Discovery on a course for Vulcan, where the ship’s new captain will come aboard…but this mission is delayed by a distorted distress signal from the U.S.S. Enterprise, commanded by Captain Christopher Pike.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonteleplay by Gretchen J. Berg & Aaron Harberts
story by Akiva Goldsman & Gretchen J. Berg & Aaron Harberts
directed by Akiva Goldsman
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Shazad Latif (Lt. Ash Tyler / Voq), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Jason Isaacs (Captain Gabriel Lorca), Michelle Yeoh (Emperor Georgiou), Mia Kershner (Amanda), Jayne Brook (Admiral Cornwell), Mary Chieffo (L’Rell), James Frain (Sarek), Clint Howard (Creepy Orion), Michael Ayres (Transport Officer), Matthew Binkley (Shavo), Emily Coutts (Keyla Detmer), Riley Gilchrist (Admiral Shukar), Anthony Grant (Er’Toom), Julianne Grossman (Discovery Computer), Harry Judge (Admiral Gorch), Morgan Kohan (Weapons Trader), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Rhys), Crystal Leger (Klingon Player #2), Clare McConnel (Dennas), Damon Runyan (Ujilli). Sara Mitich (Airiam), Oyin Oladejo (Joann Owosekun), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Bryce), David Benjamin Tomlinson (Klingon Player #1), Bree Wasylenko (Shava)

Star Trek DiscoveryNotes: Welcome Clint Howard back to the Star Trek fold as the sleazy Orion trader dealing in “smoke”. As a young child actor, Clint appeared as Balok in the first weekly episode filmed, The Corbomite Maneuver, and later appeared in Deep Space Nine (Past Tense Part II) as a homeless man and in Enterprise as a Ferengi (Acquisition). He has also appeared in Rod Serling’s Night Gallery, From The Earth To The Moon, was a regular on the short-lived early ’90s CBS series Space Rangers, and has appeared in many of his older brother Ron Howard’s films, Star Trek Discoveryincluding Apollo 13. If you look closely in the opening shot of Earth, you can see the familiar shape of the Starfleet starbase first seen in Star Trek III, though possibly still under construction. Deanna Troi’s home planet, Betazed, is known to the Terran Empire (if not the Federation) in this time frame, as is Mintaka III (TNG: Who Watches The Watchers?). Emperor Georgiou dismisses the distractions on Qo’noS as “bread and circuses”, name-checking an unrelated original series episode of the same name. While Kahless was first mentioned in the original series (The Savage Curtain), the legend of Kahless’ battles against his treacherous brother Molor is fleshed out in such TNG episodes as Rightful Heir and Star Trek DiscoveryFirst Born. Burnham’s description of the real phenomenon known as a phreatic eruption is accurate, but it would have to take place on a massive, worldwide scale to have the planet-destroying effect described. Rather than the customary theme from Star Trek: Discovery, the end credits feature a new recording of Alexander Courage’s theme from the original series.

LogBook entry by Earl Green