Star Trek: Discovery Review | 'Species Ten-C'

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[zaphod]

I absolutely loved this episode - I must add yet that I've binge watched the last three episodes. Had I watched those same episodes individually on a weekly basis, I'm sure the pacing would have felt much more sluggish. Overall season 4 is still a decent show to watch. However with better pacing it could have been great.

[Shatterhand]

I'm rather surprised you still had issues with the pacing for this episode. I thought this episode was much better paced than the past few. Maybe I was just engrossed enough with what was unfolding on-screen that I didn't notice any pacing problems. Or, maybe I'd been so put off by the feet-dragging of the past two episodes that this one felt different by comparison. Oh, well; to each their own.

All in all, one of the best episodes of the season, in my opinion. I do agree with you, though, that as much as I, too, love Discovery and will continue to defend it against the hyperbolic and narrow-minded naysayers, it has its share of issues, chief among them has always been pacing and how the mishandling of it works to the detriment of the stories they try to tell.

[thontor]

The first contact communication stuff in this episode was so good I can forgive any of it's other flaws. I loved it.

[Stress-Free-K]

No no Steve. This episode and season are paced exactly right. Just like the back story to how the Federation and the Klingons grew to respect one another in season one. This entire season is all about how the Federation came to know their first Type II civilization. I'm glad it's taking its time. 10-C deserves a season-long prelude. Because it is magnificent. And will most likely be the greatest addition to Trek since the Vulcans.

[benjaminjenkins]

Man, I’m sorry but this season has officially made Disco one of my fav trek shows. As a matter of fact, each season has inched it up a few notches on my list. As far as this ep is concerned, it couldn’t have been better…The 10c reveal, them actually letting the ancillary crew members add their thoughts in a significant way to solve a problem, Saru’s very sweet moments, and Book, Tarka, and Reno’s story has been absolutely gripping. This season has been bold and refreshing in so many ways and for me is a sold 7.5/8 out of 10…it’s better than any season of Enterprise and, dare I say, Voyager. 🤷🏾‍♂️🤷🏾‍♂️🤷🏾‍♂️

[Lisa-olih]

I'm have to say this is the first episode I disagree with you on the pacing. I thought it went as fast as it needed to, without going too fast too far. We went from outside to inside and talking, how much faster did you want it to go?

[ChristopherMB]

I feel you with regard to the pacing. As much as I really liked the beats of this episode, that snail’s pace is what’s keeping me from giving it a rewatch. I love Discovery and want it to succeed, but the repetition of season plots, inconsistent pace, virtually non-existent bridge crew except for a moment of backstory out of nowhere, and cyclical conversations about how stressed or depressed they are without any progress forward (or backward, I’ll take anything!), I find the show so frustrating to watch. Which is a shame because I want it to be the Trek I know it can be

[Matthordika]

I can see what you're saying about the pacing of the overall story, but I feel like the individual episodes are strong enough on their own that I'm not evening minding this. This has been by far my favourite season- actually its the only one I can say I've enjoyed as a whole. This season has struck a great balance of being a modern show but also still having a lot of what we love about Star Trek.

[mothgirlx]

I was actually pleasantly surprised with this episode, I was expecting it to not show much 10-C until the next episode but saw so much more in this one

[allenrubinstein]

I actually disagree. I think the attempts-to-communicate scenes were exciting, though they could have used some more direct character beats built into the show to be resolved while they worked out the puzzle (why they needed to shoehorn in some other random crew members for thirty seconds is beyond me). They already had molecule thingies that make people feel things, so it's custom made to push characters into conflict and resolution spaces. I also thought the shifting power dynamic on Book's ship worked to build a little suspense the rest of the season could have desperately used.

This would have been a really good third-to-last episode on a season that was six episodes long, which is probably what this storyline warranted in the first place if the writers knew the first thing about how to structure long-form storytelling. With one more inbetween this and the finale, they could have taken the added time to build in some investment into the alien race itself and given us a reason to care about what happens to them. As it is, Tarka is going to destroy Earth, Vulcan (or whatever it is), the 10-C, Discovery, the spongy new Klingons, Harry Mudd, all the DVDs of the original Trek series and pistachio ice cream. Who cares? Inside the bubble --- outside the bubble. Boom, boom; everything go boom. Can we give the final peg of characters some development and stakes?

[wolvie]

This is the best episode of the season. And i love that they took the time to let the story unfold.

[politesse]

Your opening line! :D It's like Arrival only with technobabble instead of science. Still fun to watch though.

[kuro]

Thanks for the review, always enjoy these. The audio sync seems to be off in parts though.

[HenrikSkogmo]

Hi! Just stumbled across your channel. Do you mainly do spoiler free reviews? I was looking for someone who goes into specifics and assumes the viewer has watched the episode. I enjoyed your take on the narrative, but found it a bit difficult to understand what you're referencing at times when only alluding to it.

[headkittens]

there's a scene i couldn't help but liken to the Tidus-Yuna laugh scene in Final Fantasy X, and while it was played much more realistically and organically, i can't unsee it lol

[translucentsquirrelofdarkn]

maybe I'm just a sucker for the mirror universe, but I actually enjoyed that stint they did there. Most of it at least. I was so excited there was an extended look at it, especially the internal shipboard politics and Tilly having to act like a completely over the top villain when she has no idea how to be a villain. I liked the uniforms, the change in tone, the idea of trying to be good when surrounded by people fueled by hate. I wouldn't have wanted it to go on for much longer, but it was nice. Anyway why am I talking about an episode from four seasons ago?

On the topic of Ten-C, I agree wholeheartedly in the uniqueness of how they communicate. And the sheer gratification I got seeing Book finally keeping an eye on tarka and keeping him away from the controls like he should have done before. I just have to say they did a really good job at making me despise Tarka. Arrogance, lies, manipulation, and betrayal, plus he ruins everything repeatedly.

[nathanb]

You going to do these spoiler-free reviews for Picard Season 2?

Edit: Answered elsewhere. Thanks for another great video Steve!

[celestinenox]

SPOILERS in the first paragraph.

Listen, I truly don't understand the issue here, but that's because I *love* the world-building kind of stuff and the way that the crew of Discovery works out how to communicate with the Ten-C is *super cool* to me and I would have gladly watched an episode that was *only* that and not the other stuff. But, on the other hand, the really cool stuff going on with Burnham and the rest was a great contrast to what was happening with Tarka, Book, and Reno--I knew it was coming and knowing it was coming while also watching the Discovery crew *successfully* making a peaceful overture only heightened the tension for me. I still have a lot of feelings about it.

This truly seems like a personal preference issue, not actually an issue of pacing. I'm the same way with books. One of my favorite books is Kushiel's Dart, which is almost a thousand pages in length and the first half of the book is worldbuilding. But it's *necessary* world-building for the second half. And I *love* the world-building part, it's my favorite part, and I absolutely reread it when I reread the book, which I do often.

Other people find it difficult to get into the book because, to them, the first half is a slowly-paced slog. And it's my favorite part. Neither of us are wrong. It's just personal preference.

[buffalowingschicken]

I've never gotten the impression that you think it sucks, people are way to ready to force unnecessary dichotomies into every situation. I also love the show and have been really enjoying it week to week but your pacing criticisms are spot on.

[MLeoDaalder]

Will you be doing reviews of Picard season 2 as well?