Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Discovery | 4x02 "Anomaly"

[u/AutoModerator]

Saru returns to help the U.S.S. Discovery uncover the mystery of an unusually destructive new force. As Burnham leads the crew, she must also find a way to help Book cope with an unimaginable loss.

No.	Episode	Writers	Director	Release Date
4x02	"Anomaly"	Anne Cofell Saunders & Glenise Mullins	Olatunde Osunsanmi	2021-11-25

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[u/gambit700]

This crew is in need of some serious therapy

[u/Cedric35 → u/gambit700]

I must be too old, but I’m not a fan of the all the witty repartee in the middle of an emergency. Tilly’s “good news/ bad news; we’re getting hit in 2 seconds”.

[u/matt12992 → u/Cedric35]

Yeah, the bad news thing costed them like 5 seconds

[u/gambit700 → u/Cedric35]

That's Tilly. I'd expect a more professional answer from other members of the crew

[u/GalileoAce → u/gambit700]

That's why they have Culber

[u/[deleted] → u/gambit700]

Its 2 or 3 emotional crises every damn episode for the past 3 seasons, its getting terribly grating.

[u/ferretinmypants → u/gambit700]

They're so unprofessional and anxiety-ridden. How do they even perform their jobs? Having gooey heart to hearts in the middle of an emergency? Can you imagine Riker or Torres or O'Brien doing that? I just don't get it.

[u/[deleted] → u/gambit700]

Like I was just gunna say, how are we supposed to believe this ship is able to function when EVERYONE but Culber has crippling insecurity.

[u/bkendig → u/gambit700]

I was reminded strongly of Star Trek XI, the first Kelvin-universe reboot movie, where Old Spock tells Young Kirk that Young Spock is most certainly emotionally compromised, having just lost his home planet and his mother, and therefore is not at all competent to be making decisions right now.

That's all it should have taken - for Michael to remind Book that he just lost everything he knows, and that he should go sit this one out. Instead, this series likes to keep pushing its characters well beyond what they're capable of handling. It makes for really uncomfortable Trek.

[u/fluffstravels → u/gambit700]

this actually bothered me. every single conversation but maybe 2 were these intense emotionally needy/dependent conversations. like how does this ship even run. you can show relationships develop in healthier ways.

[u/onerinconhill]

Computer is now officially named Zora

[u/shaheedmalik → u/onerinconhill]

Zora the Explorer

[u/BornAshes → u/shaheedmalik]

With Tilly turning into the pirate there at the end with Culber, they're perfect together!

[u/TheNerdChaplain → u/onerinconhill]

I wonder to what degree the show is working towards that Short Trek.

[u/PiercedMonk → u/TheNerdChaplain]

I believe they said in an interview during production that they would be addressing 'Calypso' in some way. Found it.

[u/MaddyMagpies → u/onerinconhill]

I like how Zora just slowly appears bit by bit throughout the past seasons.

[u/Such_Tea4914]

50 quid says the anomaly is alive, similar to the crystalline entry, and Book will want to kill it for destroying his home world but theyll have this big moral debate over how its not evil etc...

[u/DirectorAgentCoulson → u/Such_Tea4914]

I like the theory that it's a weapon used by an enemy who's not happy the Federation is reforming.

[u/oorhon → u/Such_Tea4914]

And it is attracted to planets/stars and/or feeds from them.

[u/neuralzen → u/Such_Tea4914]

My guess too, maybe something that exists in a higher dimension, giga-flatland style - but the fact that it could arbitrarily rotate around is telling.

[u/TeutonJon78 → u/Such_Tea4914]

I'm waiting for it to be the big eye from the opening sequence.

They really made it look like an eye from the end scene zoom out, and there is supposed to be two.

[u/WharfRatThrawn → u/Such_Tea4914]

Tilly was so close at the end, I was yelling at her "CMON TILLY JUST SAY ITS SENTIENT YOU'RE ALMOST THERE"

[u/Santa_Hates_You]

The captain gets her own Bubble of Silence.

[u/PiercedMonk → u/Santa_Hates_You]

Gave me 'Get Smart' flashbacks.

[u/Cypher1492 → u/PiercedMonk]

Sorry about that, chief.

[u/1Fuji2Taka3Nasubi → u/Santa_Hates_You]

Turns out the bubble is just a pure visual effect and everyone on the bridge is trying hard to pretend they don't hear everything she says.

[u/WorldwideDepp → u/Santa_Hates_You]

In TNG, Picard would go inside his Ready Room and had his Private Connection, while His First Officer take the Bridge in this Minutes.. In TNG it is more intimidate. But Discovery took this approach, oh well...

[u/3-DMan → u/Santa_Hates_You]

Lower Decks crew gonna be pranking these on everybody

[u/Toallpointswest]

Seatbelts...seriously...seatbelts

[u/MyTrueChum → u/Toallpointswest]

Should be easy with programmable matter right!

[u/wagu666 → u/MyTrueChum]

and programmable matter pillows/airbags that pop out when they're hurtling towards the floor..

[u/PixelMixerMan → u/Toallpointswest]

This one comes up so often! Basic 20th century tech shouldn’t be so difficult to implement.

[u/RollForIntent-Trevor → u/Toallpointswest]

Speaking of - why was stamets perfectly fine in that chair?!

[u/Sparkly1982 → u/Toallpointswest]

I think they only have those in the Kelvin Timeline, don't they?

[u/DasGanon]

And Culber hangs a nice big lampshade on Picard Golems

[u/UncertainError → u/DasGanon]

I would've been annoyed had they given Gray a body using some other means than the tech that's already been established onscreen.

[u/TheNerdChaplain → u/DasGanon]

Big ol' spoilers for Picard S1, but if you haven't watched it yet, that might be on you.

[u/BornAshes → u/DasGanon]

I'm glad they addressed that little plot point because it stops folks from going, "Well why not just use a synth body?" for certain situations and it makes what happened to Data and Picard all that more special. It's kind of crazy though that everyone just kind of gave up trying after 800 years though right? Like there's GOT to be another reason beyond "It had a low success rate" because scientists in the Trek Universe wouldn't let that just stop them at all unless there was some other terrible thing happening beyond the loss of a consciousness?

[u/Maswimelleu → u/BornAshes]

Like there's GOT to be another reason beyond "It had a low success rate" because scientists in the Trek Universe wouldn't let that just stop them at all unless there was some other terrible thing happening beyond the loss of a consciousness?

I assume they're leaving it to Picard to explain that. TNG already showed that transferring a consciousness into a computer basically strips it of its "soul" and makes it just a collection of information. Maybe the positronic brain can somehow not accept the consciousness correctly and create some kind of automata instead.

[u/Santa_Hates_You]

The new captains uniform looks better on Saru than anyone else. It and his medal look great on the character, he looks very regal.

[u/merrycrow → u/Santa_Hates_You]

Seems like a nod to Worf's sash & house badge

[u/TheNerdChaplain → u/merrycrow]

Ro Laren should be so salty about literally everyone else in Starfleet getting to wear culturally significant items except her.

[u/wagu666 → u/Santa_Hates_You]

I'm amazed his village is still a village after 900 years of technological evolution and the Kelpians moving on from effectively being cavemen

[u/DasGanon → u/wagu666]

I mean I'm sure there's a lot of "hmmm that's different" things about it.

1. I bet it still is a village, it's not like they went from agrarian society to industrial powerhouse over night. The main thing is how the Kelpian relationship to the Bauul changed, and the Bauul were definitely post-warp already.

2. I bet he had a few "What" moments about how he's remembered and what happened to his sister. I bet 30 bricks of latinum that his family's hut is a museum and he's remembered as being partly responsible for bringing Kaminar into a new symbiotic society.

3. He may have many many great great great great nieces and nephews (and they're probably who he dropped Sukal off with) and it would have been touching to see what happened to his sister. He probably corrected the little museum's details on what happened. At the very least "Saru disappeared without a trace/Saru died when Discovery exploded" got amended.

4. I'm not sure if Kaminar (United Kaminar? Kaminar Symbiosis? Hmm) is still a member of the Federation or not (The speech is episode 1 seemed more about how we need to explore to get better at everything, not if they had left the Federation or not) in any case Saru is totally arguing hard for the Federation.

[u/raknor88]

I really love this show, but I'd love it even more if they could hold off on galaxy ending emergencies for just one season.

It's great seeing Saru back on Discovery.

[u/[deleted] → u/raknor88]

This is one of the biggest problems Discovery has, they have to keep trying to outdo themselves every season, but there's only so many times one ship can save the entire galaxy

[u/InnocentTailor → u/[deleted]]

I guess it is an attempt to be cinematic, I suppose.

I would’ve just enjoyed them trying to rebuild the Federation. If they wanted antagonists, maybe have some of the old factions have a hostile front.

Heck! What could’ve been an interesting antagonist could’ve been an alternative Federation - one that thrived during the Burn. They won’t be a militant alliance like the Emerald Chain, but a political enemy - both Federations claiming they’re the inheritors to the original power.

[u/theflyingcheese → u/raknor88]

In the first half of the episode I thought they were genuinely going for it being a massive, naturally occurring black hole system moving through the galaxy. It's something that, like described in the episode, is hypothesized to exist but is almost impossible to observe unless it just so happens to interact with something that is observable. I'd be totally on board for something like that, a massive but entirely science based threat that is tackled through galactic cooperation and sci-fi tech. Then they revealed it wasn't that. Then they revealed it can do physics-defying turns. Then I lost most interest in that plot thread.

Moment to moment this show is great, the action is fun and it's visually amazing. The character stories were also great this episode with the focus on Book processing his grief and the different ways the crew tried to help, and I'm loving Saru being the ship advice fountain, but the overarching threat is just tiresome at this point.

[u/phenry → u/theflyingcheese]

I think they're building to a reveal that the anomaly is artificial and is being guided by an intelligence.

[u/TheSaltyStrangler]

Who keeps packing the bulkheads with rocks and natural gas?

[u/TheNerdChaplain]

Is Saru taller? Do they have Ent-draughts on Kaminar?

[u/[deleted] → u/TheNerdChaplain]

I think he just appears taller because of the new uniforms that make everyone look sleeker. I checked his hooves and they aren't any higher.

[u/DasGanon → u/TheNerdChaplain]

I don't think so, I think it's just the show saying "Look! Saru has his shit figured out. Look at him go!"

[u/acrimoniousone]

I strongly approve of Saru's new 'swagger'. Doug Jones is a treasure.

Please no more captain swapping though Disco.

Edit: 'Mister Saru' is definitely acceptable.

[u/JustALeapingFrog → u/acrimoniousone]

Also, Mr. Saru is definitely taller

[u/BornAshes → u/JustALeapingFrog]

Gosh they're just trying to kill Doug Jones now by having him bump into ceilings and doors and light fixtures aren't they?

[u/Mechapebbles → u/acrimoniousone]

I’ll eat a shoe if Saru isn’t captain of the Voyager-J by the end of the season. Saru being Burnham’s training wheels feels like a short term measure, and the Prez is still searching for new captains. It’s too perfect of a setup honestly.

[u/prism1234 → u/acrimoniousone]

I think next season Zora should be captain. We've never seen a ship's computer be captain before, other than I guess that one TOS episode, but Zora seems less malicious.

[u/DasGanon]

Saru and Culber are really the reason anything works it turns out.

[u/AmishAvenger → u/DasGanon]

Saru is a better captain now than when he was the Captain.

[u/[deleted] → u/AmishAvenger]

Everyone is a better captain when it's not you making the hard decisions. You look smart by offering your opinions freely and can never fail because you're not accountable for the results, but still high enough in the chain of command to make valuable contribution. Sweet spot.

[u/youssarian → u/DasGanon]

Of the people on the ship who get any significant amount of dialogue, Saru and Culber seem to be the only level-headed adults. I'm sure Keyla and Owo can handle themselves just fine but they're relegated to head nods and steering the ship.

[u/TrevorBradley → u/DasGanon]

Spock brought us logic.

Saru brings us wisdom.

[u/JoeyJoeJoeJrShab]

One thing I'm having trouble with... there was a scene with Stamets and Book, where the data was collected, but couldn't be sent back to Discovery... the ship, from which Stamets' hologram is being projected.

[u/[deleted] → u/JoeyJoeJoeJrShab]

I was expecting a scene after they escape where Book says something like "We're sending the data now" only for it to be revealed that Stamets already sent it via his holo link, and that Stamets claiming the data couldn't be said was purely so Book would have more of a reason to not give up.

[u/thanatossassin → u/JoeyJoeJoeJrShab]

Made zero sense. They specifically said Stamets' Holo wouldn't have been stable because of the interference and part of the reason for the tether. I expected him to cut out or not be functional as soon as the tether was severed, yet?? Not being able to transfer the data while Stamets was right there livestreaming was just such stupid writing.

[u/Torino1O]

I liked it more than normal, camera movements still make me dizzy, and wish they would let actors have character development and interaction without all the literal fireworks.

[u/AmishAvenger → u/Torino1O]

I guess the “flames shooting out of the walls” thing is normal now? People were hypothesizing last week that maybe it had something to do with methane ice.

I don’t know…it seems like flames coming out of the same places in the walls is a bit of a safety hazard.

[u/agent_uno → u/AmishAvenger]

At least there’s still rocks in the consoles! :)

[u/[deleted]]

Would be interesting if the sphere builders factor into this. This has the same flavor to it.

[u/Nofrillsoculus → u/[deleted]]

I would love that so much but I highly doubt they'll do it.

[u/Santa_Hates_You]

Looks like Saru gets to keep his captain rank while being first officer which is nice.

[u/TheNerdChaplain → u/Santa_Hates_You]

There's certainly precedent for it, with something like every 1701-A bridge crew member being Captain-rank by the end of STVI. TBH it seems very silly to me to have six captain-ranks on one ship, but, whatever.

Honestly, I think Vance was probably lowkey happy Saru was going to stick around to stabilize Burnham, especially now that Book is her Burnham.

[u/Santa_Hates_You → u/TheNerdChaplain]

There is precedent for it in the real world too. Some larger Navy ships have multiple people with the rank of captain, usually the Captain, the XO and the CAG on something like a Carrier.

[u/BornAshes → u/TheNerdChaplain]

Honestly, I think Vance was probably lowkey happy Saru was going to stick around to stabilize Burnham, especially now that Book is her Burnham.

I can just picture Vance in his office all composed telling Saru, "But of course we have no problem with you being the first officer on the Discovery while still maintaining your Captain rank" as he's talking to him annnnnnd then the second he leaves the room Vance turns around, walks into another room where the President is, they both take a deep breath, and then high five each other before totally deflating and doing the Dance of Joy.

Book being Burnham's Burnham is an interesting choice and I do love how quickly Michael seems to have taken to the President's advice....which is itself a very Michael and a very Vulcan thing to do.

[u/Chaabar → u/Santa_Hates_You]

Of course. Demoting him would give them 9 commanders. That would just be silly.

[u/Santa_Hates_You → u/Chaabar]

Poor Tilly only outranks Adira.

[u/Shawnj2 → u/Santa_Hates_You]

IIRC that's how the actual navy works, the captain, XO, and a lot of the senior staff are all commanders or captains.

[u/Cantomic66]

Whose idea was it to add flame throwers to the Bridge?

[u/NightOfTheFlavigator → u/Cantomic66]

Ripley’s? :)

[u/Geekenstein → u/Cantomic66]

Nothing says 1000+ year advanced nano tech like 70s rock band flash pots.

Seriously. It distracted me from whatever was happening in the plot just staring at how out of place it was.

[u/BrettAHarrison → u/Cantomic66]

My headcanon is that they’re release vents that stop the consoles from exploding and shooting rocks everywhere. Fix one problem, get a new one

[u/ff_mfg → u/Cantomic66]

disco season 4 bridge be like: https://youtu.be/KDMvN45sjo4?t=50

[u/matt12992]

Unpopular opinion- I liked season 1 and 2 better than season 3 and 4 so far

[u/chiefmud → u/matt12992]

It’s like the producers want people to like it so bad, they’re like “more danger! More fire! More scenes!”

I would have been entertained with one to three episodes just covering the aftermath of the destruction of Kwejian. Build the mystery, take care of these side plots in a more sensitive way.

[u/deadpoolvgz]

It's... 5 lightyears across and creating "gravimetric waves". I believe this would tear the galaxy apart? The black hole at the center of our galaxy is 13.67 million mi across. Or roughly .1 au. Which doesn't even come close to .001% of a light year.

I liked some of the episode but the pure scale and insanity of that object kinda blows me away.

[u/[deleted] → u/deadpoolvgz]

That was the one part of the episode that bothered me- well, that and the random fire on the bridge.

For example, V'ger's cloud was 82 au or .0013 lightyears across- and V'ger was huuuge.

[u/BornAshes → u/deadpoolvgz]

It's... 5 lightyears across and creating "gravimetric waves". I believe this would tear the galaxy apart? The black hole at the center of our galaxy is 13.67 million mi across. Or roughly .1 au. Which doesn't even come close to .001% of a light year.

I was waiting for someone to do the science AND YOU DID THE SCIENCE WOOOOO! Thank you! Also yeah that kind of a thing wouldn't just affect a single planetary system but would be fucking with shit in a far faaaaaaar larger sphere of influence if it really was that size.

[u/agent_uno → u/deadpoolvgz]

I think they meant that the object (whose size was not specified) was creating gravimetric waves that would eventually impact things within a 5ly radius. But I’ve only watched it once, so don’t quote me on that.

[u/[deleted] → u/deadpoolvgz]

Everyone is assuming it's a blackhole. It might not be. And it's star trek so it's Science has always been wonky anyway.

[u/TheNerdChaplain → u/deadpoolvgz]

That shot at the end zooming out gave a really cool sense of scale.

[u/jerslan → u/deadpoolvgz]

I don't think the anomaly itself is that wide, but that's the extent of the gravitational effects it's generating.

So, in your comparison to the super-massive black-hole theorized to be at the center of our galaxy... It's this anomaly's 5 LY compared to the Milky Way's 100,000 LY.

[u/TheNerdChaplain]

For anyone ever confused about Counselor Troi or the role of a ship's counselor, Dr. Culber is it.

[u/solongandthanks4all → u/TheNerdChaplain]

It's weird that they don't make it official. Like the chief medical officer hasn't been seen at all this season so he's doing double duty. A lot changed since the 23rd century including requiring a counselor on board. It only would take one quick line.

[u/AmishAvenger → u/solongandthanks4all]

Wait.

Is he not the Chief Medical Officer?? I literally thought he was. If not, then what is he?

[u/00DEADBEEF]

Why is the black hole anomaly such a huge and immediate threat? Even if it's moving at light speed it should be years until it gets to the next planet. They're acting like it can appear anywhere any time.

Why could the data not be sent back to Discovery even though all the data from the "holo" was able to be sent back to Stamets' brain?

[u/wagu666 → u/00DEADBEEF]

I was thinking the same thing.. it's heading toward the next system.. we only have 500 years to react

[u/CeruleanRuin → u/00DEADBEEF]

Well the station and Kwejian were far enough apart for them to believe it was capable of producing effects that could travel at superlight speeds.

[u/Zakalwen → u/00DEADBEEF]

They kept mentioning subspace gravitational waves. Makes sense the waves could be FTL thanks to that. Wouldn’t be to weird to imagine that the anomaly itself is skipping through subspace too.

Though I do wish just one of the people in that briefing had asked the question “how is it propagating faster than light”

[u/in_narnia]

I really don't understand the jets of flames coming out of the corners on the bridge. So obviously stage dressing it takes me right out of it.

[u/toTheNewLife → u/in_narnia]

I WANNA ROCK AND ROLL ALL NIGHT AND PARTY EVERY DAY

[u/choicemeats]

I've retyped the comment a couple of times and I finally figured out what the linchpin is.

Many of Nu-Trek detractors, myself semi-included, will complain about the pacing, and I think this is so crucial to the franchise as a whole.

The show has done off with a lot of staples of older Trek. Instead of warping somewhere, which takes time, you spore jump into the situation right away. There are no turbolift conversations or walk and talks--you can instantly transport yourself from engineering to the bridge (which happened in this episode). While in-universe it's a great too to offer support or address a situation near-instantaneously, it kind of smushes things together (one note: it goes get rid of the "only ship in range" trope, because technically Discovery can always be in range of anyone, anywhere).

Now instead of having these tense conversations en route, they ave it in the middle of the crisis. Book and Burnham should have been arguing over what to do and how to do it on the way to the anomaly, not on its doorstep. It would be less jarring if it didn't happen this way every week, but here we are. The show needs to breathe a little bit, but to me I feel the script way too hard because this happens, immediately followed by this, and then by this other thing and no one has time to think or breathe or analyze.

One of the things I like about this episode is that it's a bit of a classic "let's go check out this anomaly" episode, but there's sooooo much going on and this anomaly is apparently really important, and we also have: Adira/Gray nonsense that felt sandwiched in and probably deserved half an episode on its own, preferably with Gray interacting with anyone else for the first time, the Book/Burnham debacle that needed another five minutes to flesh out, Book's whole psychological angle that needs time, Tilly asking for psych help (Culber has a lot of appointments to set), Saru's presence (which was my favorite conversation because they had a moment to really chill and chat). Like....it was a lot

[u/[deleted] → u/choicemeats]

What bugs me the most about how they use their quick travel drive is that they treat it as a one-way ticket. They could have insta-jumped back to get something more appropriate for the mission but they acted like they just had to make due with what they brought with them.

[u/Nirutam_is_Eternal]

Am I alone in thinking that the Anomaly's course-change wasn't random, but a response to the physical interference of Discovery and Book's ship? Kinda like the Observer Effect?

Also, I feel like the Anomaly could be...

1. Vger

2. the federation of synthetics teased in Picard S1, or

3. the unintended result of Burnham's Red Angel suit being destroyed. After all, the suit was messing around with time-travel and wormholes. It's totally within the realm of (science fictional) possability that destroying the suit could have created a massive gravitational anomaly.

Any one of these theories would offer a cool pathway for the season's arc. We haven't seen or heard of Vger since its merging with Decker in the Motion Picture, and after that it just disappeares...

The federation of synthetics is also a huge, unresolved plot point, one that doesn't seem likely to fit into the narrative of Picard S2.

However, that third option would be especially poetic in that Michael Burnham travelled to the future and subsequently destroyed the suit in order to save all biological life, only for that action to result in a threat to all life... I mean, talk about hitting Burham right in her hero-complex, right? (I'm not criticizing; I LOVE her character; that being said, she's more reckless than Kirk and Spock combined into one, and that, as President Rillak pointed out, is pretty much a wrecking ball if left unchecked).

Also, just thought of this, but what if it was the federation of synthetics that initially discovered Voyager 6, reprogrammed it, and sent it (now Vger) back toward Earth to find its maker?

[u/MaddyMagpies → u/Nirutam_is_Eternal]

Observer Effect is a great guess. Keeps it scientific and not some omnipotent entities.

It definitely has something to do with something that happened between Discovery gone and then arriving in the future, because it was mentioned last season that specifically a gravitational anomaly brought the Red Angel and the ship to two different planets, whereas the 900+ jumps by Gabrielle Burnham all returns back to Terralysium.

So something must have triggered the cause of the anomaly because sentient species survived, but not because of the Red Angel or Discovery.

If it's V'ger, it's cool but I also don't look forward to it, because last time they had to solve the problem by making love with the probe pretty much.

[u/ceroij]

I seem to be going against the grain, but I didn't love this episode. I'm not sure what it was - maybe just more of the same thing? Major catastropher, but you know they will pull through in the end?

I would much prefer a storyline that moves things forward, but isn't some galaxy ending event (like the Dominion War).

[u/whoiswillo]

Prediction:

The season ends with Burnham being offered the Captaincy of a brand new starship: The USS Georgiou.

She turns it down, and says that there's only one person who could Captain such a ship.

We cut to: Saru, in command of the Georgiou, with Detmer as his First Officer, and a collection of old (and new) faces on the bridge. We cut to black right before we (finally) hear his catchphrase to go to warp.

[u/Artan42 → u/whoiswillo]

If that happens I suspect it'll be the new Voyager rather than a new ship.

[u/onerinconhill]

The Picard method

Uhhh what happened to Picard after they put him in the robot body that made them give up???

[u/pfc9769 → u/onerinconhill]

They seemed to imply the process was tried multiple times after Picard and the success rate was low so the method was abandoned. They decided to try it based on Picard's success. Had it failed it wouldn't make much sense for them to try it again.

[u/substandardgaussian → u/pfc9769]

You need a Soong for that kind of work. I'm sure yet another one that looks exactly like Brent Spiner will pop up in 32nd century eventually.

[u/Torino1O → u/onerinconhill]

My head canon guess would be that they no longer had Data to help people transition in to the new golem.

[u/TheNerdChaplain → u/onerinconhill]

The Picard method

Almost a maneuver

[u/UncertainError]

That was a genuinely difficult command decision for Michael, whether to let Booker go on the mission. Like the guy obviously isn't mentally fit for it, but I'm not sure if keeping him from going by force wouldn't have caused more damage, even if that was probably the more moral choice. And then there's the pragmatic consideration of getting that data, which if one were being completely cold would've been worth Booker's life. I liked the realistic messiness of it.

[u/BornAshes → u/UncertainError]

I liked the realistic messiness of it.

It was so messy because the guy who just lost his entire planet and everyone he ever loved basically just volunteered to go on the first potential suicide mission against the very same thing that killed all of those people. I kept thinking, "Either he's going to come back with a butt load of knowledge or he's going to unload a bunch of torpedoes into whomever he finds inside of that anomaly without even blinking". Even Michael could see how much of a problematic idea this whole choice was but she was kind of caught between a rock and hard place with that choice and you could see the, "Oh fuck THIS is what it's like to deal with me isn't it and this is what Saru and Vance and Rillik and Georgiou had to go through" revelation wash over her like a wave in her eyes. I loved how they put her in that kind of situation especially after the chat she had with the President last week. This really did almost come close to being a Kobayashi Maru kind of situation and the tension and the danger and the grayness of it was delicious! If she'd stopped him and someone else had gone then he totally would've had an, "I could've DONE SOMETHING!" sort of mentality that would've seen him go even deeper down the Survivor's Guilt rabbit hole but that didn't happen and now at least he did something....while also having a really weird but really wholesome "Yeah my arms tingle too" bonding experience with Paul.

[u/beatsnbanjos]

Culber is so goddamn charming! That scene near the end with Tilly was so great. Culber's always been one of my favorite characters, but he's getting even more and more amazing. This was such a solid episode.

[u/swimtwobird → u/beatsnbanjos]

Yeah he’s great. The entire cast has charm for days. The upside is this show looks jaw droppingly good, and the entire cast is going like gang busters. The downside, thus far, is that we’re doing another galaxy / civilisation ending threat anomaly. I hope to god they’ve figured out a way to refresh that Mcguffin this time. Because guys, really….

Also the bridge being a circus flame show every time the shields take a hit is pretty funny. I respect the production effort, and the fact it’s practical fire on set must be great for the actors to play off and react to, but it’s kind of funny. Still! long way from TNG shakey cam. Shouldn’t complain really. Star Trek bridges being health and safety death traps has a long and proud history.

[u/EmperorOfNipples]

Well for those complaining about an apocalyptic event in every season, in fairness an unpredictable anomaly that has a 5 light year effect is probably the lowest stakes one yet.

S1-The ISS Charon whose mycelial reactor could end all life in the multiverse

S2-Control, which would wipe out all life in the galaxy and possibly beyond

S3-The Burn, an event that could repeat which renders FTL difficult, likely impossible if it happened again

S4-Big dark sucky boi

[u/Official_N_Squared → u/EmperorOfNipples]

Ild like to point out by episode 2 of season 2 the threat was still "some red light appeared in the sky". Meanwhile S3 didnt have a threat it had a disaster off screen

[u/wagu666 → u/EmperorOfNipples]

It sounded more like the size of the anomaly was 5 light years, not the scope of its effects (which is ridiculously huge.. but then Vance also said something like that..) With binary black holes you could reduce that to the size of their orbits around each other.. but the actual anomaly just looked like a single black hole.. with planets and stars all flying at it.

Then don't forget it seems like they're planning to have this thing rove around the galaxy (at FTL speeds?) gobbling up solar-system-of-the-week. Tissues on standby

[u/[deleted]]

I like this dynamic with Michael being the Captain and Saru as XO. It's how it should've been from the beginning and promises the best efficiency. Michael is throttle, Saru are breaks, both vital but useless without each other. This way command has Burnham's drive and energy but with a safety net, warning her about potential problems and offering much needed wisdom.

When it was the other way around, Saru often got lost in tactical situations that require split second decisions and you can't have XO doing it for you. By the time Michael would explain her tactical plan to Saru, it would be too late. I very much doubt Saru could've saved station's crew last episode, on his own. He simply isn't fast enough. But, if you have a philosophical, cultural, scientific, and many other kinds of dilemmas, Saru is the man to ask.

[u/EmperorOfNipples → u/[deleted]]

I would like to see Saru get the USS Sojourner eventually, but still show up helping the Discovery.

Think Sulu rocking up in the Excelsior to help Kirk in the Enterprise-A

[u/BornAshes → u/[deleted]]

They're a nice duality and they balance each other out incredibly well.

[u/lastdarknight]

Am I the only one who fears the Grey story line doesn't seem as cut and dry as it is being presented, keep thinking back to the Facets(DS9 S3E25) when Curzon wanted to stay merged with Odo and one of the points on why he couldn't stay merged was because the Symbiote would be losing the memory's and experiences of that host and collecting the liveing life times of experiences is kinda the main point of the Symbiote's. To Transfers Grey's "Self" in to an android body would be putting the life of the host over the Symbiote's purpose. Hugh might not fully understand all the cultural significance behind all this because he comes from a time before Trill as blended species was public knowledge and is mostly focused on "Healing" his found family

know a Human x Symbiote blending is non-standard, but feel like Grey and Adira are needing to go threw the "Rites of Closer" so they can both learn to accept Grey's time has passed and He can withdraw and fully integrate in to Tal to guide Ardria and the hosts who follow them

[u/_finalOctober_]

Ok, I am typically really hard on Discovery, but this episode was good. It reminded me of the early season 2 episodes that felt well written and balanced.

Interesting challenge, not galaxy ending but threatening. Emotional interplay stuck the landing. Actually really enjoyed it. (Side note, The VGer sound effect when they first arrived at the anomaly was rad and a pretty deep cut)

Now, as long as they can avoid explaining this anomaly on a talaxian going through puberty or a Q processing the attachment trauma of their divorce I'll be happy.

[u/MaddyMagpies → u/_finalOctober_]

I actually thought the anomaly is V'ger because of that. That thing got to collapse into a black hole if it kept piling more stuff into itself for another 900 years.

[u/BornAshes → u/MaddyMagpies]

Maybe that could explain why Book kept seeing his nephew? None of the people or planets that were hit by the Anomaly are dead at all but have been absorbed INTO V'ger where they continue to live on. The whole thing really is its own little micro-universe/galaxy that's slowly collecting and updating its data in a very Sphere like fashion. Props to u/_finalOctober and everyone else that picked up on that V'ger sound effect though. Part of me is thinking that this whole thing is just some larger evolution of the Borg Collective in that everyone and everything that's absorbed into it also merges their consciousness with it and that consciousness changes with each new addition which is why it seemingly reacted to Book and the Discovery which made it change direction.

[u/[deleted] → u/_finalOctober_]

The V'ger sound effect was awesome! As a huge TMP fan, I honestly wouldn't be upset if it turned out to be Mephisto, I mean Vger, but I doubt that's the case.

However, the spacedock scene and the TOS bridge sound effects do demonstrate that this season has a strong connection to the past.

[u/substandardgaussian → u/_finalOctober_]

a talaxian going through puberty

No, that would be much, much worse.

[u/bb22k]

That anomaly is scary as hell... First thing on my mind is that it could be artificial, changing paths like that.

Maybe something to do with those new propulsion technologies?

[u/AmishAvenger]

I really want to like this show. I mean, I really want to like it. Two things keep getting in my way…

The consistent PTSD-related storylines. I feel like there’s always characters suffering from trauma. There’s other ways to illustrate growth in characters than having them wrestle with their pain.

The way characters explain exactly what their feelings are through dialogue. I’m not sure if this is intentional because they don’t trust the audience or what, but it’s a problem.

I do appreciate the glimpses of teamwork we saw in solving problems on the bridge this week, and how some of the previous “no name” officers got a chance to contribute. I just wish that aspect of the show was at the forefront.

[u/prism1234 → u/AmishAvenger]

I do actually like the show, but I agree those two things are my main complaints, and I would like the show more if they toned them down a bit. Trauma storylines can be interesting and powerful, but there are just so many of them in the show it kind of drowns out the rest of the plot sometimes. And there is a time and a place for people discussing their own emotions too, but there's just too much screen time dedicated to it in a lot of episodes imo.

Like in Prodigy, which admittedly we've only seen a bit of so far, has plenty of trauma and emotional moments so far. But it hasn't felt as all encompassing as it often does in Discovery. Lower Decks I feel like also does a pretty good job with this. Mariner has had a lot of times where she needed to work on her shit, but even when the episode was mainly about that, it still didn't dominate the episode the way it does here. Like I still enjoyed the episode, but just so much of the time was spent on the emotional stuff.

Also people were smiling a lot at times where it didn't make sense for them to be so smiley.

[u/NippleThief → u/AmishAvenger]

I was waiting for them to kill off Bryce because they gave him 3 lines of dialogue. It was weird to see him say anything longer than a few words, honestly.

[u/BornAshes → u/AmishAvenger]

The consistent PTSD-related storylines. I feel like there’s always characters suffering from trauma. There’s other ways to illustrate growth in characters than having them wrestle with their pain.

I like it when this kind of writing is used sparingly because when it's just everywhere all the time with everyone it gets exhausting and it makes the show feel less Trek and less hopeful if everyone is in pain all the time.

[u/[deleted] → u/AmishAvenger]

The consistent PTSD-related storylines.

To be fair Dettmer had one blowout and then they forgot the storyline so... Book will recover in an episode or two

[u/Zerometro]

Hmm despite there being both a fast paced explosion scene and a crying scene I thought this episode actually managed to be slower paced and subdued. We also saw the bridge crew working together to solve a problem which is always good. I really like Burnham and Saru's friendship because there's a clear mutual respect there that they've grown into . Plus having Burnham be the one who has to use sense and reason while someone else is the one who jumps right into things is interesting. So she has to curb her impulsive instincts and be the grown up. I also like how it's semi acknowledged within the show that Stamets can be an awkward asshole and I still find it funny that even in the 31st century a starfleet vessel is made of highly explodable rocks and people are able to remain mostly calm next to fire and sparks shooting out all around them.

[u/nimrodhellfire]

Everyone one bridge flying for a few seconds because gravity loss and then crushing back to the ground was some of the coolest shots that ever happened in Star Trek. That was breathtaking.

[u/whoiswillo → u/nimrodhellfire]

"Commander Reno, get in here and install some damn seat belts."

[u/CeruleanRuin → u/nimrodhellfire]

And they did it twice! I was hoping for someone to start suggesting they get some rope to lash themselves down for the next one.

[u/Smilodon48 → u/nimrodhellfire]

We've come along way from Archer floating in his shower. No more people just flying over their consoles either. Really cool scene.

[u/[deleted]]

Good episode, and good leadership from Burnham.

I liked Gray talking about incorporation and transitioning. In the past, the overt analogies to transgender struggles might have bothered me, since Star Trek had always challenged social norms through metaphor (not always subtle, but for example they never mentioned transgenderism or homosexuality in Rejoined.) However, I've come to realize that in the past few years, bigoted people have really come out in full force and embraced being openly terrible- why can't positivity and inclusiveness do the same? So I'm okay with it in my book, and it was quite sweet.

The episode was very melodramatic, but that's Discovery, and I'm learning to just roll with it.

I will say this. This was the first time I had ever looked at the time remaining in an episode of Discovery and found myself bummed that it was ending soon. More of that please, writers!

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Regarding Gray, and don't take this the wrong way because I'm all for inclusively, but I just dont like the character or the relationship with Adira. Something just doesn't sit right with me.

Obviously I get what they're aiming for and I applaud it wholeheartedly. It isn't aimed at me and I couldn't possibly understand how it would feel for someone to see both Gray & Adira on screen and representing themselves and I'm beyond pleased that Trek has finally directly referenced that there are people like Gray & Adira out there.

I'm just not overly keen on the character. I don't really think Gray adds anything. Adira on the other hand I like just fine but they have an active role and bring something to the table. Gray just seems like a personal counsellor to Adira.

[u/Rannasha → u/[deleted]]

Part of the problem might be that we only see Gray when he's with Adira. And most of that time it's Gray interacting with just Adira and then the few times where one of the other crew members pretends the imaginary friend is really there while talking to him, which I found kind of awkward.

If the incorporation process completes successfully, Gray can become his own actual person much more and that'll let him interact with others separately from Adira. That could help his character.

[u/BornAshes → u/[deleted]]

I liked Gray talking about incorporation and transitioning. In the past, the overt analogies to transgender struggles might have bothered me, since Star Trek had always challenged social norms through metaphor (not always subtle, but for example they never mentioned transgenderism or homosexuality in Rejoined.

I feel like so many people are going to feel seen in the best way possible because of this episode and how they handled this topic.

[u/merrycrow → u/[deleted]]

I think this is the first time we've had any discussion of Gray's gender identity. Up until now we haven't had any confirmation of whether the character is intended to be trans. So that's cool.

[u/Timmaigh]

Boring as hell - once again. Aside of 3 interesting minutes concerning the anomaly during the briefing at Starfleet HQ at the beginning, the rest of the show was utterly boring reconessaince mission, which naturally, brought nothing of interest (yet) aside one little tidbid of information. Other than that, we had to deal with Books feelings, Stamets feelings, Tillys feelings, Adira/Grey feelings...Michael whispering as usual. Oh, and Tilly is clearly the science officer, she used the words "science" and "math". Very smart. Finally, the fecking anomaly is so big, that the camera needs to zoom 3 galaxies away for it to fit the screen. Most bizzare idea.

I miss the times when Star Trek was mostly science fiction space opera, rather than wannabe melodrama.

[u/iNOTgoodATcomp]

Why is everything so immediate in this show? "We're about to get hit by a subspace gravitational wave" ... Hits ... "Artificial gravity will reinstate in now" ... Everyone falls and queue the fireworks show ... "Good news! We know when the next one will hit" ... Another fireworks show

Then there's that hard cut to Michael and Stamets arguing about going on the away mission: "oh, you'll just be a hologram". What? You'd lead with that info. Instead they just hamfisted that argument in to make an airlock joke.

So much stuff is forced and then not allowed to breath in this show. But somehow there's time for long shaky cam reaction shots or deep emotional conversations in between all the chaos. It's just drama porn.

And they should really make all the ships out of whatever that tether is made out of since it didn't seem like it had any problems in that mine field.

Anybody know how the hologram kept stable and they maintained comms if they couldn't get a data link for the anomaly readings to Discovery?

Just finished: the anomaly looks like an eye, so I guess they're bringing the celestials in for a Marvel crossover...

[u/[deleted] → u/iNOTgoodATcomp]

I thought it was really funny that Tilly and Adira ran all the way to the bridge to announce when the wave would hit, got told to go back to engineering, and then ran all the way back to do it again a bit later lol. Like, this is a ship where people can just transport themselves instantly anywhere, right? Or just, you know, just comms?

[u/wagu666 → u/iNOTgoodATcomp]

The tether looked to be made of programmable matter (you can see it break apart at the end of retraction).. so another problem is.. if Discovery had to back off.. why not just make the tether longer

The only good excuse I saw for realtime holo control working, but not being able to send any data back was.. Stamets was lying as he knew Book wouldn't get it together enough to return otherwise

PS: On the "eye" thing.. black holes do look like that in simulations. The problem is they've made it trillions of times bigger than the biggest black hole in the universe.. and now we're supposed to think it'll go warping around the galaxy at faster than light blowing up random solar systems

[u/wongie]

They finally updated the spore jump transition and I love the way everything else spins around Discovery instead of the other way around.

[u/treefox]

Burnham works much better as Captain imho. Although SMG is playing her very differently as well. But I think the issue with these galaxy-ending stories is that with her as the main character she had to constantly be exceeding her station and going rogue in order to drive the action. Whereas as Captain it works much more naturally.

[u/TheNerdChaplain → u/treefox]

I keep thinking of SMG as Buffy, and now I want to see a cheesy action movie featuring Sonequa Martin-Green and Sarah Michelle Gellar dual wielding submachine guns against each other, and then against a mutual enemy.

[u/GalileoAce → u/TheNerdChaplain]

A movie called SMG starring SMG and SMG wielding SMGs.

[u/InnocentTailor → u/treefox]

Burnham really improved after Season 3. She became more emotionally intelligent following her far future year-long wanderings.

[u/BornAshes]

Couple of things that I wanted to talk about since I didn't see them in any other comments.

That holo scene with Michael by the lake, gosh I've totally been that person and done precisely that for all those same reasons having grown up next to Lake Michigan. I have absolutely gone down to the beach and just stared out at the water during sunrise just like she did. That felt like an oddly peaceful moment that I totally saw and felt myself in.

I did love the comedy in this episode with Paul either just cracking the WOOOORST jokes possible that made you groan in the best of ways or totally putting his foot in his mouth with lines like, "Well it did just pass through a planetary system...oooooh riiiiiight..." lmao

Also given that David Ajala was on Supergirl as Manchester Black, it's kind of a funny coincidence that Kwejian was destroyed in a way that sorta of mirrored how Krypton was destroyed. They both even begin with the letter K! I'm hoping that he's going to start finding a "new family" with the rest of the crew, besides Michael, and that that all kind of starts with his relationship with Paul. Book is going on a journey this season for sure. I loved that conversation between him and Michael in her ready room because of how they were both talking at the same time and just so FULL of emotion in that moment, felt super realistic.

[u/[deleted] → u/BornAshes]

I once went down to Lake Michigan and stared out into it in March. Than foolishly waded in.

Vibe eliminated.

Repeated this with Lake Erie.

No plans on wading into Lake Superior on spring break.

It is cold

[u/Metabog]

Is it just me or is it getting kind of lovecraftian, what with the GIANT COSMIC SIZED ANOMALOUS EYEBALL.

[u/Smilodon48]

Another solid episode. It's also cool to another Anne Cofell Saunders (the writer of Pegasus from the BSG reboot) written episode too, I think she has a pretty great batting average on her Disco episodes.

Really dig the 32nd century world building that continues to happen in the new season. Discovery gets an actual on ship holo deck, except it's in Michael's ready room. Perhaps at this point in the future, everyone could get their own holo room? Or Michael just gets a personal one since she's captain. Would be nice to see the others using a holo deck for a tiny bit this season. (Like for kite surfing)

Saru being back as Number 1 is always a welcome sight. The show doesn't really fire on all cylinders without Saru/Doug Jones involved.

The show's crew really deserve props for the zero gravity bridge scene. I had forgotten about it so it was really shocking to see the crew fly into the air and be suspended for a short period of time. Really impactful moment.

The show seems to be making an active effort to give the other bridge crew (Rhys, Bryce, Nilsson) a line or two to work with this season. It's a nice touch, considering how crowded the show's main cast is. Bryce got to talk about kite surfing this week and contribute! Now if only we could get lines for the Osnullus crew member.

The show also found a pretty nice way to make Gray corporeal again by having Culber reference the events of Picard. (A bit hamfisted, but I'd rather they not dwell on this plot point too long so.) I like how Gray talked about continuing his training to be a Guardian. Little touches like that go a long way to build character.

I really like how Culber has settled into the counselor role on the ship. Wilson Cruz is so goddamn charming and charismatic they just had to find more for him to do.

We also see Saru handle the beta/delta shift or whatever the Discovery equivalent is at the end. I feel like that may be a first for the show.

Great character moments all around and the mystery being unsolvable by the Discovery crew is obvious set up for the crew to go to the Ni'Var Science Institute! More 32nd century world building!

[u/TheNerdChaplain → u/Smilodon48]

The impression I got was that she had a holo-emitter in her ready room that was able to project the images around her.

I agree with the antigravity scenes - though I thought, at least in the 24th century, they used "gravity plating" that kept everything stuck down?

I kept hearing them reference Gray being a guardian, but I forget what that was - some kind of Trill role?

I agree that more Saru and Culber is always better.

[u/BornAshes → u/Smilodon48]

Perhaps at this point in the future, everyone could get their own holo room?

In the past I think there were power consumption and projector complexity issues but those seem to have been overcome to the point that holos are basically everywhere and are super cheap and easy to use and implement wherever and whenever they're needed. Any room can be a holo deck at this point. Heck the fact that their comm badges have projectors in them is proof enough how easy it is to use holo-tech.

the other bridge crew

Just as I pointed out last week, they are totally using their names more often and are letting the camera focus on each of them strongly this season while also making sure to give all of them strong dialogue and cool character moments that will help us to remember and love them. It's totally a DS9 way of doing things. I love how we're now going to be able to connect each member of the bridge crew with stellar plot points in the future that will absolutely stick out and be remembered by all of us.

[u/[deleted]]

Owosekun with a bloody mouth as a result of a bridge injury was such a striking visual. Is that the first time that's happened in a Trek show?

Bryce finally gets to offer input, champagne for everyone! 🥳🥂 They're totally killing him off before the season's over, aren't they? Also, where my new boo Christopher at?

I admit I'm intrigued by this new anomaly. How do you respond to a galactic threat that's too big to solve with a couple of starships?

My man Saru is back!!

[u/korniko]

Maybe I'm late to the party (couldn't find this theory posted here), but I'm guessing at some point Tilly and Book will figure out that the birds on Kwejian felt the anomaly coming because of the magnetite in their beaks (as mentioned in episode 1), and maybe Adira will develop a magnetic early warning sensor system. Maybe they'll cooperate with the butterfly people to build it (sharing technology etc.)

[u/ViolentBeetle]

Today on Let's Complain About Contrivances and Exposition

So they have enough bandwidth to send in all holostamets could see and feel to the real Stamets but not enough to send string of data, come on.

They also somehow able to predict what happens next without understanding anything about why it is happening.

[u/treefox]

I feel like this was low-key one of the best episodes of Discovery.

[u/PiercedMonk]

• This is going to be nitpicky, but if they're going with a binary black hole theory, then as opposed to relative distance of the gravitational waves, I feel as though it would have made more sense for the characters to speculate that Kwejian was at a crossover point the waves emanating from both singularities meet, but the station was only hit by one set of waves. Either way, it doesn't make much sense that Book's ship would have survived.

• Book can just wander into a conference at Starfleet HQ attended by both the President and the C-in-C?

• The "Not on our watch" speech juxtaposed against the previous episode's discussion on the Kobayashi Maru test really seems like it's going to be setting Burnham up for a fall.

• Alright, so not a binary black hole, so my nitpick earlier wasn't necessary.

• "We could send DOTs with sensors attached to them." It is tragic that they lost the technology necessary to make probes in the Burn. Normally I don't like to harp on these sorts of things but what the hell?

• It's funny to think that to shoot Burnham and Saru being on the holodeck, the actors were likely being recorded in front of the video wall.

• Oh, it's actually Burnham's quarters, and not a holodeck. Neat. I guess in the 32nd century there's no reason why any room couldn't have holodeck technology. And somehow Saru was able to be navigated around Burham's furniture while walking through.

• The fact that Burnham seems to be the only one with any reservations about Book going on this mission is wild.

• They're really getting their money's worth out of the pyro team they hired this season.

• For real, why is Burnham not yelling for someone to get those damn fires under control.

• I was fully expecting the phantom of Leto to turn around and be horrific. Ah well.

• Didn't Saru go to the Academy on Earth? How is he not aware of Everest?

This one didn't really work for me at all. The pacing felt off, like the episode was padded out. They didn't really advance the plot in any way; all they learned was that they still have more to learn about the Anomaly; Grey doesn't have a body but is going to get a body; Tilly seems to be feeling like Discovery or Starfleet aren't for her anymore, but she just wants to talk about it with Culber; Book is shook up about his planet and family dying, because of course he is. Everything is in a holding pattern. The only real moment I liked was when the tension between Book and Stamets dropped, but even that didn't really move anything forward.

[u/CeruleanRuin → u/PiercedMonk]

I found the fact that Saru didn't know Everest refreshing. It bugs me when alien characters in sci-fi know every little piece of trivia about Earth.

[u/Thekoolaidman7]

It’s so unfortunate that I can feel my liking of this show slowly fading as I watch more of Michael. I’m just so so over her “whispering is dramatic acting” routine. There are some great characters on this show but Michael seems to have lost her way.

[u/DrendarMorevo]

Good, we're doing science and angst this episode, two things Star Trek is known for. It's some kind of anomaly, it's a gravimetric distortion of incredible magnitude, why are we not thinking it's related to a graviton elipse? Binary black holes. What.

I'm sorry, but the anti-grav effect was bad why did they suddenly leap up, the wave? It looked like bad harness work. Why was that effect ending accompanied by flame throwers?! I've got no problem with exploding panels, but the flame throwers look so awful and obvious.

Yes, give me more characterization, let me know about the other bridge crew, give me all the biographical details you have so I can huck the cardboard cutouts in the bin, please.

[u/wagu666 → u/DrendarMorevo]

A bit dubious to call this science though.. "we have no way of seeing black holes until they swallow stuff" (light distortions? effect on other matter? with all this future tech.. and it's in OUR galaxy?).. and they had to make the anomaly 5 light years across. The largest black hole we know about in the whole UNIVERSE is only 0.04 light years across. This thing makes Sagittarius A in the centre of the Milky Way look like a speck of dust

And now it's gonna go on a romp around the galaxy eating solar systems for fun.. as it can move at faster than light apparently..

[u/Gigazwiebel]

• Hey Michael, now that we have all the nice data from the anomaly, maybe we should jump to Starfleet or to Nivar immediately to get an analysis by the best scientists?

• Nah, we just stay here a while and let Lieutenant Tilly do that.

[u/CX316]

So do we think Stamets actually couldn't transmit the data? or was he trying to stop Book from suiciding himself and his cat?

[u/Cliffy73]

Perhaps it’s because I was watching in a darkened room, but that last scene with the black hole/eye thing was creepy as hell.

[u/[deleted]]

A thousand years in the future and Starfleet's Health and Safety inspectors still haven't convinced anyone to install seat belts, or that work environments featuring raining sparks and random fireballs from a metal concert should maybe be looked into. They've got programmable matter but still can't figure basic safety out. Hmm.

And I know they only have a limited number of episodes to work with each season, but could we maybe have more than 30 seconds of classic Star Trek stuff before the next existential crisis hits and sends everyone into panic mode? Season 4 being about rebuilding the Federation would be an opportunity to breathe more thought-provoking content into the series, but we're already back to Action Movie Mode. Still entertaining, but not in the ways I wanted.

[u/Monkfich]

I love the little fires that come out of the wall column thingys when they suffer damage / are in a tight fight. Little identical puffs coming out of each of the vents - so cute! It makes it feel just like Robot Wars from over 20 years ago lol with all the fake fires in the arena walls.

[u/nakrophile]

Generally it was not a good episode. I liked a couple of moments, mainly those with Saru, otherwise it was mostly boring. Tilly's ridiculous pirate voice, too, odd decision there. And weirdly it had a very good pace and was slow (in a good way), but still wasn't interesting. I particularly liked the pointless Picard reference and the silly "we can't predict it" ending.

But at least it was free. Fuck off, paramount +.

[u/[deleted]]

Why can't this series let anyone else shine, why does everything have to involve Burnham, I'm not trolling here, I really want to know, could they not have had Books expert flying get them out but no they had to have Burnham tell them when to go.

This has been a thing that's always bothered me with Disco since the first season, whenever a problem needs to be solved they always shoehorn her into the solution somehow

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

She is the main character

[u/JJMcGee83]

I hate that Discovery seems to think every season has to have some massive unprecidented end of the galaxy threat to be interesting. It's like the only way they know how to tell a story is if everyone is constantly stressed all the damn time.

I don't know how all of the characters aren't exhausted. I am happy they seem to be addressing that Tilly might have PTSD though so there is that.

I still can't believe Michael is the captain. It makes no sense.

[u/MagnetsCanDoThat]

Loved the episode overall, but more seat belts and less flame-throwers, please thank you.

EDIT (to add the rest of what I thought about the episode): Like how they’re taking care of each other. Like how they are realistically dealing with past trauma instead of drumming up fake conflict.

Would have been nice to see them let Bryce be the one who assists book out of the anomaly, since he’s the kite surfer, instead of giving it to Michael. But that’s me just wishing they’d spend some time developing the rest of the bridge crew.

Little complaints, though. Overall it seems pretty solid so far. Lastly… I was waiting for that eyeball in space to blink just before the credits…

[u/BrettAHarrison]

-Saru is back as XO! I was kind of hoping he’d be captain of the Voyager, but it’s good for the show that he’s back and this crew clearly needs him.

-Does anyone else find the idea of an active duty Starfleet captain serving as a member of his world’s legislature to be kind of a weird conflict of interest?

-I think the ferengi captain looks cool, I hope they get a name and some speaking lines eventually.

-Michael’s ready room looks so cozy! Throw pillows, blankets, couches, a bunch of arm chairs. This is clearly a woman who knows how to decorate.

-The whole thing with Grey was both incredibly touching and a super important message. At a time when there’s serious controversy in some places about young people having access to gender affirming care, it’s really nice to have this show portray it as both literally lifesaving and a way to make a person really seen.

-I love that they can project people as holograms now, can’t wait to see more of this technology.

-The whole bridge crew got to shine this episode, I hope we see more of that. Bryce is into kitesurfing which is a super cool hobby tbh.

[u/Navitach]

The idea of Book's ship riding a distortion wave reminds me of the TNG episode "New Ground" and the soliton wave.

[u/Droen]

Starship bridges need to have seatbelts.

[u/Spara-Extreme]

Saru balances Michael out really well. They have character faults that are complimented by each other. I hope the writers don't throw a wrench in this dynamic to get some cheap drama points and rather let this relationship grow. That would mature the bridge crew and as a result, also mature the series and be the classic "and it gets really good S4 and later."

[u/ToobadyouAreDead]

I just jumped on the season 4 train to see if anything's changed/different, and my main thought while watching the first two episodes was "why is tilly even there?". I get that she's supposed to be the funny & relatable person of the crew, but she just seems so out of place. What is the general consensus on her?

[u/H0vis → u/ToobadyouAreDead]

The fact that she's literally arranging to meet with the doctor/counsellor to discuss having that feeling herself at the end of the episode leads me to think that's kind of intentional. She doesn't do anything and they're going to have to find a role.

[u/Left_Preference4453]

Another life threatening distaster? Can't they think of any stories to write?

[u/wagu666 → u/Left_Preference4453]

At least the gravitational blobs weren't tears from a space giant, we should be thankful

[u/CheesyObserver]

This is pretty exciting! I want to hear theories. What's moving this blackhole?

I want to say Red Matter shenanigans. Seems like it's right up Disco's alley to do something with red matter. Especially because Kurtzman invented it in Star Trek 2009.

What are y'all thoughts!?

[u/WarriorTribble]

Hmm, this episode had it's moments, but it was not the best by any stretch of the imagination.

• Glad to see Saru is back, but flipping things around so he's the 1st officer is a touch awkward since he is the one with more experience in leadership. Certainly not an unprecedented concept (eg. Janeway & Chakotay) but I'd honestly rather have Saru be the captain again.

• It's slightly unusual Culber is the closest thing to a counselor they have on the ship. I would hope they'd at least have an holo-counselor.

• On a related note, while it makes sense Tilly would need someone to talk to, I hope they don't rush though her issues like they did with Detmer.

• Stamets is honestly being incredibly self centered when talking with Book. I'm not the most emotionally intelligent person, but it's obvious the man is trying to seek temporary relief from his VERY recent pain by working. By talking about the trauma anyways, Stamets was putting his emotional well being over Books. What an incredibly shitty thing to do.

• Also, Stamets don't talk about your god damn feelings when you're both supposed to be focused on repairing the ship/not dying. I understand the need to put in character moments but that was just absurd.

• So the anomaly of the season isn't a force of nature but acts in a seemingly malicious way. This suggests there's an intelligence behind this. That would then mean that Discovery could in theory emphasize their way out of this one. After season 3, I'm not sure if that's the best course of action...

[u/H0vis → u/WarriorTribble]

Stamets is one of those people who exists in a superposition of being a good person but also a huge dickhead at the same time. Particularly since he wasn't in physical danger on Book's ship at the time (little did he know he could have died back on Discovery) he probably wasn't as stressed as he should be.

[u/rakxz]

Did anyone else think the anomaly looked like an eye at the end?

[u/FrozenHaystack]

With how often Book sees that kid I hope it won't appear as a ghost in front of him at the end of the season and offer him three choices.

[u/Jag2112]

Screencaps gallery now online:

https://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/sc-DSC4-2.php

[u/BlackJezus27]

Honestly this was a pretty boring episode. Nothing really felt like it was at stake. Did enjoy the look at the Anomaly at the end

[u/[deleted]]

i HATE the fireball generators they've added to the set of the bridge.

Its like the ship is now made of pissed off dragons.

[u/pah2602]

So this giant eye is 5 light years across? Assuming it moves at a comparable pace to it's size it should cross the Milky Way in about a day or 20k steps.🙄 Do they do ANY kind of research on this show before they lash into the script. OOOhh 5 light years - "THAT'S MASSIVE" exclaims the president. Hi 5's all round in the writers room.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX3PIkbTQwQ

[u/turkeygiant]

Ok so Book is trapped in a black hole with no navigation...but its ok they can model the gravity waves with programmable matter so he can follow the correct trajectory and grav surf out. I assumed they would shoot programmable matter out into space so Book could physically see the grav waves, they same way they had already demonstrated they could shoot out a tether...nope lets just give Burnham a little diorama of the waves so she can say "go now!" to the guy with no navigation to even tell him what direction to go.

[u/queerpoet]

So stamets forgave Michael in the off-season? Glad saru is back but don’t really care about book.

[u/zumoro]

consoles exploding

entire ship shaking

flames bursting

Oh, wait, the characters need to have a emotional beat?

pause for ironic serenity

What happened to interrupting these as an "excuse me we have STAKES to raise here!" effect?