Star Trek: Discovery Review | 'The Galactic Barrier'

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[orvilpym]

Dude, seriously, can you PLEASE do a Star Trek: Discovery Season 4 debate with Jessie Gender?! Basically everything she loves about this season, you dislike, and vice versa. And I know you are YouTube friends (I seriously loved your voice acting on one of her videos, reading from O'Brien's The Things They Carried), so it would be a respectful, friendly debate - but one in which you really would have opposing views on a lot of things. Man, I really want that debate. A real deep dive into the characters, storytelling, acting, all of it. I dunno, a season summary perhaps? Just... just do it. It would be so worth it!

[TubeOPaste]

I loved the quippy debate about translators, which quite openly pokes fun at Star Trek's 'all relevant aliens are humanoid (unless we're all being animated)' trope

[bcwest]

I have liked Discovery from the start, but I'm struggling with this season. I'm not a huge fan of season-long serialized storytelling in the first place, but I've always kind of been okay with it. That's the way it's done now, thanks to streaming, so I make the most of it. I feel like the previous season of Disco were written like "okay, we have 12 episodes, let's write a story that is interesting enough to take that much time and make it worth watching all of it." This season feels more like "well, we wrote a story that would be great for a 2 or 3 episode arch, but apparently we have 12 episodes, so we need to figure out how to drag it out to fill the time." With only a couple episodes left, I don't hold a ton of hope that my personal opinion of this season can be salvaged. So I'm just kind of getting through it and hoping next season returns to the show I more enjoyed.

[johnringwald]

I think the Tarka storyline would have been better utilized if theyd trickled that literary mechanism into the story at key points throughout the season instead of having him allude to it verbally and then info dumping it on us. Its like the writers dont trust us to understand the backstory unless they hit us over the head with it.
Also, why do Risans have a tattoo of a flat screen tv on their foreheads?

[Jayk]

I swear, when the doors to lab opened in Tarka’s first flashback for a spilt second I thought “Jesus, did Steve actually get a part on the show?!?!”

[MLeoDaalder]

I love the east egg/fanservice Starfleet officer in the background in this episode!

[darrylcriss]

Yep. Agree with you. Stating to have a "treading water feel. And it will all get hurriedly resolved in the last episode.

[pascalsmit]

They could have used the extra time to actually build up characters we know little about.

[Faction.Paradox]

Despite the stakes I feel like the last three episodes have lacked energy and urgency.

[royd]

This season feels like Zeno's Paradox: the closer we get to something, the further away it gets. Like you, Steve, I'm on the hook--which only makes watching this thing drag out even more frustrating.

[TubeOPaste]

Also, yet another one of the supporting cast just up and left the ship, only to be replaced with another backgound face that was allowed to shout out one character trait. What's up with that?

[mrmeglomania]

I low key feel like this season is almost a response to Enterprise. And this episode kinda hits some of why. I don't know if it's intentional or I'm just seeing it because I decided to watch Enterprise when I was sick.
Real quick, the similarities (besides obvious homages & Star Trek similarities):
*Both have a "Before Star Trek" pitch that involves the future & time travel.
*Both are about the founding of the Federation (or refounding in Discovery's case).
*Both insist on fiddling with the Klingon's back story.
This season is all about stopping an alien threat that we don't understand and can't communicate with who live beyond an otherwise impenetrable spacial barrier... You know, season 3(I think) of Enterprise.
Even the "Is he a bad guy with a conscience or a good guy without a conscience" from Book & Tarka storyline isn't unlike the guy who makes the doomsday device for the Zendi & Archer's.
Discovery seems to actually like Star Trek, like the concepts and beliefs; and Enterprise is like a rich kid sad he only got a sedan for his birthday instead of a convertible.

[painterfox]

The opening scene with the translators was amazing and a step way above Discovery's normal writing. *spoilerish?*
.
The Gilligan's Island reference, gives a veiled reference to Darmok and really pushes the whole theme of scene so well. Shame it was like two minutes then back to the usual.

[AxelLeJeff]

I hate Tarka, but it's not because I think he's a bad character, I hate Tarka as an opportunistic techbro with a vendetta gumming up the works of progress.
I feel this is a credit to Shawn's acting.
SPOILER: PREVIOUS EPISODES!


I think the problem I have with this is that it's being released episodically, but the plot is being delivered as if they expect you to be binging it.
Oh, you need levity? Well here's the gambling episode. Oh, you need tension, between the main crew and the more reactionary element? Here's the indirect combat episode!

[Pegasusthewyze]

I think part of the problem with a lot of the streaming shows is that they’re still being produced in a model very similar to traditional network television. Part of the promise of streaming platform was that there was a lot more creative freedom and flexibility but a lot of writers are still being locked into a certain number of episodes that is either too many or too few for the stories that they actually want to try and tell.

[johncattley]

Thank you for this review. I think it captures my frustration nicely.

I can only assume that spending so much time on Tarka’s surprise-free O’Brien-esque backstory means that the character and his past will prove crucial in the coming episodes.

I did like several of the character moments in this episode, but taking most of an episode to accomplish something Kirk and Spock did in seconds a thousand years earlier does not seem like a great use of screen time, especially in the era of 12-episode seasons.

[shanenuckolls]

I agree, the B story didn't add much and the A story did drag a bit for how simple/short in plot it was.

[rvdsmith]

wish you would do two reviews... spoiler free one and a big fat full of spoilers review. would be interesting to see which is watched more.

[michaelmitchell]

My thing is ... the Discovery can move in three dimensions, right? So, why don't they just go over/under the galactic barrier instead of through it? For that matter, why didn't James T Kirk try that so that I could have a regular character named Mitchell on the show? Is that asking too much?

[francoislacombe]

Wasn't the mycelial network described as spanning the entire multiverse when first introduced? 🤔