Discovery: Season One, Episode One

Star Trek Discovery
Season One, Episode One
The Vulcan Hello
[original airdate: 09|24|2017]
[spoilers ahoy!]

 

 [the image is of a black dwarf star]

I have to admit, I'm sold on any episode of Trek that starts with nothing but words in an alien language. And I will never not adore any shot that recedes to become an eye (or the reverse). Because holy shit that black dwarf star or whatever receding into T'Kuvma's eye as he speaks in captioned Klingon is amazing.

I know that some people really hated the Klingon designs for Discovery, but to me, this is what they should have been. Alien, strange, a little frightening. They're alien. (I mean, I love Worf as much as the next guy, but I spent 95% of my time watching TNG and DS9 and thinking he had no ears. He's got ridges on his feet. But he just looks like a guy with a fancy forehead plaster. This? Man, can you picture Worf and Martok like this? Wow.)

Nice transitioning from T'Kuvma saying that the worst thing humans can say is "we come in peace" to Michael's voiceover saying "We come in peace! That's why we're here". The transition shot was a little abrupt but I'm not here to criticize filming techniques.

I like Michael and Georgiou right off, they have a good rapport and they seem to be fairly friendly with each other. [Also nice having Michael go Vulcan with her storm estimate, since she was raised by them, it's instantly recognizeable if you know Trek]

"This drought is going to last 89 years…"

 [sorry (a gif of an old woman saying "it's been 84 years" from Titanic]

This scene is beautifully shot (especially the part looking down through the alien species' egg sacs perched on the cliffs) and Michael explaining what's going on tells you immediately she's a xenoanthropologist because she has so much knowledge.

Okay, I noticed this the first time around, it is very clever using the phaser rifle to break through the bedrock to refresh the water table. Phasers are such a clear sign of a threat to others, and using it for a peaceful solution is good. Very good.

First indicator that Sonequa Martin-Green is good at what she does: her absolutely incredulous face when she admits they could be trapped in the storm, and Georgiou smiles, puts on her goggles, and says "Let's take a walk." It's like "excuse me, captain, but with all due respect are you insane? This is a sandstorm."

[Mrs Packard from Atlantic saying "we're all gonna die"]

I do like that we don't really see these aliens particularly, since we're avoiding General Order One, it's a nice touch. I also like that Michael clearly trusts Georgiou (who earlier said she trusted Michael) despite the fact that she thinks she's nuts to go for a walk in a rapidly approaching sandstorm.

Okay, I take it back, we see one very clearly. Wow, what an amazing character design! There's some hermit crab aesthetic going on here, and I'm a fan. I'm also amused to note, as a Homestuck fan, that there's a resemblance to the Peregrine Mendicant.

[on the left is the alien with a hermit-crab-esque design. On the right is the 

Peregrine Mendicant from Homestuck.]

Also the bone structure near the well is a nice touch showing this what this species has available. We see no growth of any kind, it's a fullout desert, so they use bone instead of wood or vine.

[[You know, it's really funny to me how fast they offer commands to people (after seven years!) but people are captains for literal decades because that's the end of the line because admirals are desk jobs. AND.

I stg there are like 5 admirals in all of Starfleet in all the shows that are actually good people. The rest of them are corrupt af, and in this household we have a saying "Never trust an Admiral" usually followed by listing off the five we'll actually trust.

I mean, by the time we meet Georgiou, she's been captain a long time. If you watch ahead you find out she's been in Starfleet more than 18 years. If you go by Starfleet's record of awarding captaincy very quickly (and she was lieutenant those 18 years ago) she's probably been captain now for 15 years. It's a little disconcerting, but I suppose if the rate of ensigns coming out of Starfleet Academy is high enough, then they may need a lot of captains.]]

Lmao I have to say, I love how Michael responds. "Well I'd appreciate the offer if I ever thought we'd see the ship again." Georgiou responds with "Well, what would you do if you were stuck here for 89 years." And the Michael comes up with a plausible scenario of how to survive... only to discover that Georgiou is a troll. As they cross their own footsteps, she says: "That's easy, I'd escape," with a smile, as the Shenzhou cuts through the whirling clouds of the sandstorm. Because they never walked in a circle.

The swell of familiar Trek music as Shenzhou descends goes my heart good, even now on the third time watching. And the Shenzhou is a beautiful ship, they all are, but she's one of my favorites.

And as the Shenzhou flies away, we see just how clever the captain really is. She and Michael made a giant Starfleet badge in the sand. I love this woman.

Now we cut to the literal best intro credits for a Trek show I've ever seen. Even now, approximately halfway through season two, they're still wonderful. They've evolved to match events changing on the show as well.

We return with a delicious warp bubble. I do like some of the things they've borrowed from the Kelvin timeline Trek... (I love all Trek), and the warp bubble is one of my favorite things that was added in.

I also like that since Michael is meant to be the main character, she's the one who's recording a log of what's going on. And as she explains what they're dealing with, we get to see our first binary star system since the TNG episode "Evolution"*, and it is absolutely gorgeous. Seeing it reflected in the window around her before cutting to it with the damaged relay blocking what little light it does is amazing. 

[an image of a binary star one tilted up on edge on the left, the other in the center. they are

surrounded by rock debris. On the right is a small ship.]

 
[*There are others, these are just the first onscreen. Talos is a binary system, but Roddenberry couldn't figure out how to make it work.]

Saru, who we'd only heard of passingly until now is an excellent alien design. I love his facial prosthetics, and watching Doug Jones move in his costume is a treat. So graceful! The number of non-humans on the bridge is very nice as well, and there is a gentleman on the bridge with a Lobot-esque band around the back of his head. Research tells me it's apparently like a hard drive, that a human can wear, and makes his job as a comm officer easier.

[Left is Lobot from Starwars. Troy, on the right, is super adorable]

(Also who is the blue guy on the bridge with the shiny spots on his cheek? Is he Bolian or something else? Are those markings? He looks like he has a comm unit behind his ear, but it might be a universal translator. Also, he's a cutie!)

It's fun to listen to the banter between Saru and Michael, who have clearly been working together sometimes.

The implication that Georgiou listens to classical violin music in her quarters just makes me love her more. Also here for the telescope attached to one of the windows. A fricken old-school telescope. Which will have much more meaning later on, just wait. Her ready room is also full of cultural imagery and crystals, including what look like some Wakandan masks and a pot that appears to have taken the Killmonger oath of covering yourself with raised dots for every kill you make.

[find the pot. (on the left is Killmonger from Black Panther with his scarification visible.
on the right is Georgiou's quarters. A pot is visible with similar dotting.]

 Seriously though, this stuff is cool, and I like how it shows Georgiou's respect for other cultures.

Also you get to see how much of a silly person Georgiou is when she admits to Saru that Michael agrees with him, he seems mildly shocked, and she says to make a note of the date and time of this agreement between her senior officers.

Let me just take time out now to note the metal-helmeted lady on the bridge, who we actually see in S2 of Discovery on the bridge in the background! There are so many fascinating background characters in Discovery, and I love them all.

[This image contains a helmeted character with several screens in front stacked vertically. It has a resemblance to a conch shell. On the bottom it reads USS Shenzhou in glowing font]

"Is this amount of sarcasm always necessary?" "No, but I do like it." Oh Georgiou, never change. <3

I do like seeing the binary stars out of the bridge windows, even as Saru tells us they can't find anything but there's something out there.

Foreshadowing? In my Star Trek? It's more likely than you think.

MICHAEL. Just over here bulldozing Saru out of the way so that she can use his station because he's having so much trouble figuring out the object in question and can't get it in focus. Such a great inversion of the stereotypical dude shoving the lady out of the way because she can't figure something out. #deceased

Then Saru tries to sass her back since he's science officer, and she's like "did you just"

I like the disparity between Saru, who thinks whatever it is they're looking at is lurking and waiting, while Georgiou thinks it's looking for help. As stated before in the episode, Saru is Kelpien, so he finds danger everywhere. And Georgiou is Starfleet first and foremost.

Meanwhile Michael is like "ok y'all this is just speculation can we have some facts please."

[The image is Michael Burnham, a young black woman,
captioned with "Okay, Y'all."]

Nice use of the telescope though, if the sensors don't work, employing an analogue device is a smart move.

There's something really hilarious about this exchange between Michael and Saru once it's established a shuttle can't be used and she wants to use a thuster pack. "With the radiation kicking off of those binary stars she'll have twenty minutes before her DNA starts to unravel... like noodles." "Like noodles?" Michael might've been nervous... until that. Iconic.

And then Georgiou takes it to the max telling Saru he should go with her since Michael said if he was afraid of everything he'd learn nothing. He panics and says it would be a waste of resources, and Michael says she doesn't want to put him at risk, and Georgiou's like "you good with that fam?" and Saru's like "............yeah."

Look how excited Michael is when Georgiou gives her permission to go!

[Yessss I get to go to space! And explore stuff! (the image is Michael
Burnham with an excited expression.]

I dearly love Connor giving her a "pre-flight" announcement. It really shows the kind of connection this crew has with each other, and she seems to enjoy it, which makes it better. And I gotta love this thruster suit. Plus seeing Michael engaging the gravity boots and then it draws back to show Georgiou watching her and she's upside down? Bonus.

After the thrusters ignite, mid high-speed flight, Michael bursts out laughing, and I love her a little more. There's something very real about suddenly enjoying something that could be scary.

I am slain by the closeup of her eye when she's gone from excited to unnerved when she is no longer in contact with the Shenzou. It adds to the feeling of concern you have because you see her eye (and Sonequa's amazing lashes), and hear her heavy breathing. It puts one in mind of Spock's similar trip in The Motion Picture.

And then the thusters kick off and her excitement is back. She does love discovering things, doesn't she? And this is something all new. She goes to explore it, despite Georgiou's admonishment to keep it a flyby, and her joy when she looks the object over is palpable.

The craft is astounding, and her voiceover calling sculpture "crystallized spirituality" and saying she can't tell if it was built or carved, and her only word for it is 'wow' is fantastic, because while it's telling you how to feel, it's not wrong. Yes Michael, it is sublime. Especially to someone raised amongst Vulcans, I would think. (Although they might recognize it for what it is, and be less impressed for reasons).

Seeing her mission clock counting down from 10:44 is a very, very nice touch.

"Nice and easy" followed by horrible, hair-raising creaking. Who put a horror movie in my Trek?

You know, someone really needs to update the computer system on what "proximity alert" means. Because I think we all need a warning before whatever the hell is behind us is about to cut off our head. Okay, okay, I guess ten feet is enough warning. Even if your bat'leth is five feet of that.

[Proximity alert my ass! How could you miss he was ten feet in front of you! (The
image is Michael Burnham in suit on left with blue lights, the Klingon on right with red. They are
facing off in close proximity on the surface of a ship. ]

Oh fuck. We all know the Klingons and the humans don't get along all that well at this point in time, and they're probably three seconds from war, and this guy's dressed in a spiked tin can.

It's nice when your polite introduction is interrupted by a lot of yelling and stabbing. And then you ignite your thruster suit and kill a guy.

I love seeing how much they care about her though-- on the Shenzhou, trying so hard to find a way to bring her back when she's at risk for dying of acute radiation sickness.

I think it's almost hilarious that Michael defeated the Torchbearer in single combat, and mostly, on accident, because she ignited her thrusters and his double ended weapon shot through his torso. This is a vote for an updated bat'leth design.

That coffin is the shit though.

[I mean look at the detail! (the image contains detailed coffins with
gilded filigree type details and death masks. One is at an angle, the other is above.]

It's also a very Klingon funeral, not much said, eyes open to watch the path ahead, and as the coffin floats upward, the Klingons let out mourning yells. Very nice. I also like mention of the Black Fleet. But that's not creepy at all that the ship is literally covered in coffins.

In a nice switch to Burnham as a child at the Vulcan Learning Center, I like seeing them using the skill domes with holographic tech like they did in the Kelvinverse. It seems like a logical course of action for education, especially for children, who are easily distracted.

Although I will say it's just mean to have her participating in this particular learning algorithm, since it contains questions about the incident that she was directly a victim of. I mean really. Come on Sarek.

Also Sarek stop adopting children ok.

[tumblr is a goldmine [A photoshopped image of George Washington's family. Spock
and Michael are shopped over the children, Sarek over Martha, Amanda over George.
The text reads: George: do u need anything from the store. Martha: Moar children. George: no martha]

HELLO DOCTOR WHO LOOKS A LITTLE BIT LIKE DR BASHIR. You're very cute. [The actor is Maulik Pancholy who plays Dr Anton Nambue on the Shenzhou]. Yes please stop Michael from getting up she's very ill. Yes, please chase her down the hall as she puts on her hospital johnny and tell her about genetic unspooling. NOODLES I TELL YOU. Saru said so.

You think I'm being sarcastic, but I'm not. This is good stuff.

"No one's seen a Klingon in almost a hundred years!" "Well guess who I am." But seriously, Georgiou, you specifically said you trust Michael with your life, if she says there's Klingons, there are motherfucking Klingons. Also Saru, you're the guy who thinks everything's out to get you, why do you look so surprised she went to red alert.

Ooooh her first name is Philippa, good to know.

Mmmm phase cannons. I love phase cannons. This tells you just how old the Shenzhou is, because prior to this, only NX series ships had them.

HELLO BEAUTIFUL KLINGON SHIP. Wow. Also hello Saru's threat-ganglia, the first time we see these. But man, that ship is gorgeous. Props to the people who designed it.

[Klingon Ship of the Dead coming out of cloak (a large golden Klingon ship with a wedge shaped saucer, cylindrical belly, and massive nacelles coming out of a rippling green cloaking effect.)]

Man Klingon cultists are scarier than regular ones. But yeah, don't question me cuz Kahless is coming you p'tahk, and you'll regret ever saying you didn't wanna be Torchbearer. Cuz you're a big baby for not believing in a child's story, and you dishonor only yourself. }}}:P

Hi Voq! Check it out, an albino Klingon. Bet that's gonna go over well.

[The best part of all this is that to try to hide the fact that SPOILER Shazad Latif was playing both Ash Tyler and Voq, which would eventually give away the fact that Ash Tyler was Voq, he made up the name Javid Iqbal to throw fans off. It didn't work. Protip: when you have a recognizeable voice, this may not work for you.]

"Haha I have more faith than you or anyone else here. Sucks to be you, doesn't it?" Give 'em what for, Voq, I mean, they're gonna treat you like crap so go on, tell them how pathetic they are compared to you. Also I'm going to burn my hand to show you how much faith I have. Because mortification of the flesh goes over real well with other people. No one ever has the balls to match you once that comes up.

Pretty sure I heard someone mutter p'tahk in the background, and if she didn't say who the hell is this crazy p'tahk then we're not watching the same show.

The up side to all of this, if you're crazy enough to deep fry your hand in front of a bunch of Klingons, in the name of Kahless, the lead guy will give you his blade and name you Torchbearer, even if five minutes ago they'd have thrown you out of the airlock for being albino.

Gonna say now, Saru has the coolest feet in all of Star Trek, and I get the feeling they're never going to show them without those boots.

Thanks Saru, I would love to share in your sheer panic. (I am, however, pleased to hear the first information about his species, which will be expounded on later in the series)

Holographic admirals are still prone to rudeness I see. Very serious rudeness. How dare you sir. Ahahaha tell 'em Michael. If "it would be unwise to confuse race with culture" isn't something that's very topical right now, I'll eat my dinner.

Bright light, everyone squints. Don't worry this'll be relevant later.

Torch: Lit
Everyone: Holy Shit
T'Kuvma: Yooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Man, that sound is pretty terrible if you have headphones on, just as a warning. I don't blame Georgiou for being like "TURN IT DOWN. ALL THE WAY DOWN." And then we find out the remaining noise is the ship. Oops.

[a close up of volume knobs turned to 11.]

How to tell this has thrown Georgiou for a loop: "Permission to leave the bridge, Captain?" "Are you kidding?"

Oh so that's why. She wants to say hi to Sarek. HI DAD HOW'S IT GOING I THINK I'M GONNA DIE HOW ARE YOU.

I do find it funny that when she admits that she killed one of the Klingons, Sarek's response is "well they killed your parents, most people would find that... fair." Sarek are you condoning revenge?

Sarek, is your room set up the exact same way as the office Michael's in? Cuz you and your holographic ass should not be able to sit on that table. And isn't that a very casual thing for such a logical man as yourself? I'm curious.

[image of holo-Sarek sitting on Michael's desk while they talk.]

It's sweet though when he says that if there has to be a loss of life he's glad it wasn't hers. And she smiles.

SAREK SHOT FIRST

So this is why the Klingons were bitching about peace and all in the beginning of this episode. They blew up some Vulcans, the Vulcans learned from this experience, and fired on the Klingons every time after that. So basically title drop here. The Vulcan Hello. Okay.

Too bad Starfleet doesn't work that way. If only they'd listened. But then we wouldn't have a show!

I do like that Georgiou goes straight for the gut here, warning Michael away from war because of how horrible it is. War is too often glamorized and treated like it's something noble and beautiful. It's not. "It's blood... and screams... and funerals." And then she says "I taught you better than that." That hits home almost as hard.

Whoops more foreshadowing. Spoiler alert I'm not telling. You'll see soon enough.

MICHAEL MICHAEL NO. Do not nerve pinch your commanding officer. Especially after pretending you're going along with her order. Which she ordered you to follow. And you might've gotten away with it too if it hadn't been for that meddling Kelpien.

IS IT STARFLEET?

Are you serious right now? The light went out and you honestly think that?

Well, now it's To Be Continued.

OKAY. Seriously this is an excellent start to a series. Granted I watched the entire thing the first time through, because that's how it was presented. Unfortunately it's been split over time, so there's that. But it's a great introduction to our universe and to our characters populating it. It's well told, quick paced, but doesn't leave you behind. For a pilot, I'd give it a 9/10.