My notes on your notes. Lol!
Awesome notes on the girl who made the stars story. I loved the opening SO MUCH. It’s just beautifuL on all levels.
Sarek’s House. Filmed in the Integral House in Toronto built for math textbook tycoon. Check this OUT! https://torontolife.com/real-estate/look-inside-integral-house-rosedales-28-million-modern-mansion/. If you watch Yesteryear in TAS (my favorite episode of it) I think it has a very very similar feel to Sarek and Amanda’s house in that episode. And I think it’s being huge makes sense for them as it did for the original owner of the Integral house. As it says in the article I posted above he needed peace and calm for study but spaces large enough for 100-200 guests for performances or gatherings. Sounds like something a high up diplomat would need.
Hair, the natural hair movement is and has been such a HUUUUUGE HUGE deal in the black community in particular for decades for black women the hair change would be loud and clear signal of claiming yourself and coming into your own self.
I really kind of hate the uniform ululations out there but I did want to point out Hiawatha patients also wore the blue uniforms like Discovery. Maybe they really do test new uniforms for a whole mission. Maybe they were supposed to be implemented quickly but you know this war thing happened and fashion might have gone on the back burner. (Because that was about two years long. We don’t KNOW how far into the 5 year mission they were do we? I don’t know. I need to go back and watch The Cage. But still there was at least a two year period where it would be the last thing on their mind.)
Re: the humor of the Linus sneeze (yeah my least favorite but I do still quite enjoy it). Be sure to check out Burnham’s expression after the Linus sneeze. Omg she LOVED that Connelly got nailed after he was so nasty and condescending to her. She was so....guilty pleasure about it. I found it shows a side of Burnham we’ve never seen.
Stamets was just watching old “texts” as it were. Like listening to old voicemails of someone who has passed. I loved this whole scene so much. Even more on second watch. Those two have massive chemistry and I think Stamets grief and desolation is palpable without being overdone. The tears in Tilly’s eyes kill me. And the beauty and balance of the humor and pathos is just masterful here.
Re creepy child Spock - he is a little Village if the Damned -ish lol. But I don’t totally not like it. I also think it’s not totally jealousy OF Michael but jealousy of how Michael is allowed to express her love with Amanda in a way he is not. I still love love love the Amanda Spock scene in Journey to Babel and Spock’s just small body movements that say so much. When Amanda says “and I’ll hate you for the rest of my life!” He just crumples a little when you KNOW he actually wants to fling himself into her arms. And after she slaps him and leaves, his posture as he goes to the closed door and touches it, is so powerful. He soooo wants to be the person who can run after her amd cry “I’m sorry!” It’s not Michael I think young Spock is threatened by but how Michael is allowed to be. (I do love the idea too of him seeing her as so brave. I’ll be interested to see if that comes up specifically)
Ok. Sarek’s movements again. (I will never understand Valerie’s confusion about Sarek’s being on Discovery. Or not being as it were. Lol) There is no reason to believe Sarek wasn’t taken home after the end of Lethe to recover. Later, he comes back on board with Cornwall. Here he is on the ship because he is getting a ride after the big Paris doings (remember he says her mother is staying in Paris a while and he is coming with them since they are picking up their new captain on Vulcan.)
I love the Sarek Burnham scene but I always love them. And I love these small two person scenes that develop relationships. The War Without The War Within is probably my favorite S1 ep because it’s a whole bunch of Intimate scenes like this.
I did not really get “flirting” between Tilly and Pike. More like “dad teasing” to me. Got your nose! She’s certainly flustered. He’s a captain like she aspires to be. He’s a Big Deal he’s the captain of an important ship. He’s highly decorated and known. Of course she is flustered. Like meeting a person you’ve always admired like a hero. And they TEASE you. (Plus yeah of course he’s hugely charismatic and charming. Which adds a cluster degree of factor 5) He was delighted and bemused with her fluster. Watch his face during this scene. Honestly I had exactly zero anxiety about his “real ness” after this scene. I also think they did a good job of showing the bridge crews enjoying this too here.
I will never not love “Where’s my damn red thing!” (Even if it‘a a bit Kirk like).
I love the different orientations we see Discovery in throughout the asteroid scenes. Check it out next time you watch. They do such a better job of “right side up” not being a thing in space.
Nhan is a Barzan. Like in the Price in TNG.
I thought Spock’s quarters were great. The door and room reflect MCM/danish modern touches that harken back to TOS even if enlarged and modernized. To me they somehow blended the styles of TOS through even the movies. The shape of the door and the grey with red really reminded me of TOS and some of the movies. In TOS the red was everywhere in the corridors; whole doors, seemed like the ceiling was red in some shots. The back panel of coms devices in the corridors were red. And I felt like, sparse and danish modern/mod as Spock’s quarters were it was like someone really lived there. I don’t know how they gave it a sense of “presence” but it seemed like he could walk in at any moment. Am I alone in this? It may have been colorful but to me it was a beautiful period red particular to the mid century era. In TOS Spock just had that small sitting area in red and the bed of course but it’s definitely in keeping with his original digs. For Spock, even then, would have preferred this monochromatic calm.
Guess what?!
There is a book coming about what the Enterprise was doing during the war! I’m pretty excited about that.
Also, yes Valerie, There are tow ships. Lol.
I really really liked this episode first watch and I think I fell in love second watch. Totally think Jet Reno may be the best character ever invented and I will be massively disappointed if she is not seen regularly the rest of Discovery’s run. Because she is an intergalactic treasure. I also will be horribly disappointed if they do not announce Star Trek The Pike Years after this season because come ON man, there are years of stories to be mined here!!! And I love Pike. If I love young Spock even half as much once we meet him, I will weep if they don’t do this.
There are So. Many. Design and music details in this episode. Good lord you could not have a better “love letter to Trek fans”. I’m sad the people who hate it (and IMO seem to have never REALLY watched A Star Trek episode for anything but ships and battles - boy am I tired of “it’s too SWJ! Whine whine”) won’t get that. And some will call it “fan service” (which I vehemently disagree with, and makes me literally angry. Because this stuff is often so subtle it’s lost on a lot of people out right but “flavors” the entire show like a fine meal). But it really is SO thoughtfully done. What can I say. I loved S1 but S2 is probably going to be amazing.
I read "The Selfish Gene" when it was published many years ago. This is the book in which Richard Dawkins introduced the concept of a meme as an explanatory analogy for how genes propagate. I haven't frequented internet discussion boards or comments sections much in the last few years so I was surprised to see how common the word has become. In fact, I have to chuckle a little whenever I see the word. Memes have become a meme. ;)
Hi everyone.
After many years of Starfleet service and having risen to high rank, I would think that Saru would have picked up the custom of shaking hands. Certainly Pike expected to greet fellow officers with a handshake. It all seemed very awkward to me.
I wonder if Kelpiens are cold-blooded. Linus must be given that he's a Saurian. Do they shake?
Not ready to leave ya yet, Brother.
There were four instances in which one character refused to shake the hand of another. Creepy little Spock shutting the door on Michael was one, but the other three? Was this meant to be an indication that connections between the new and old characters will be difficult to make?
Is Burnham's comment about the computers on the Enterprise going haywire "like a compass at the North Pole" a simile? I have to agree with her that it is. The use of the word "like" is the distinguishing characteristic of simile which differentiates it from a metaphor. Frankly, I was more concerned with how a compass needle would act if it were located directly on top of the north magnetic pole.
Glad to be back for a second season.
I second Glenn's "YES" with a "hear hear"! Wow, @Karen Chuplis - that was a delight to read, thank you for all of these great catches! I love your characterization of Spock's response to Burnham coming from frustration that he is held to different standards than she is, which I think still ties in nicely to the idea of jealousy that we discussed on the podcast while also deepening it further. I also really appreciate you seconding the importance of Burnham's hair changes and how it ties into the major themes of claiming yourself as you are and coming into your own self.
Regarding Sarek, what can I say?! Are we *sure* he isn't a teleporting wizard? ;)
You both got me with the Barzan! Now that I think about it, it's incredibly obvious, but I actually had Benzites in mind when I was thinking of past references to aliens with breathing apparati.
When's our Lower Decks field trip to Toronto?
YES! to everything you've written. I've spent most of the weekend daydreaming about Pike series. I suppose I don't want to jinx it, but right now I'm really interested in pre-Kirk Enterprise show, and I'll admit that I'd even be interested in seeing "The Cage" redone as a part of that show. Something we didn't at all make clear is that the "backstory" segments of "The Menagerie" have already happened -- they took place three years ago while the Enterprise was on it's five-year mission, and so the Enterprise crew has to be wearing the colorful uniforms (at least if the visual continuity matters -- and of course it does to a lot of Trekkers).
I can't believe I didn't recognize Nhan as a Barzan -- that's literally who I had in mind when I mentioned aliens with breathing devices. I guess I just thought the crimped hair was the defining physiological feature, and since it was missing I didn't see it. But now I'm even more interested in Nhan because Barzan isn't a member of the Federation and I want to know how she wound up in Starfleet.
Thank you for looking into this house for us! You've probably heard us say on the show that Valerie and I met in Toronto during a summer-long medieval Latin class, so I'm always interested when Discovery is filming on location. It turns out that this Integral House is not very far from Casa Loma, which is another weird mansion ... but one that has been turned into a little museum. I regret that I didn't know about it back in 2011, or I would have walked by it. But no matter, because we're going to by it and put our nerdy B&B in it. Geeks & Sleeps is coming to Toronto soon!
And I think you're spot-on about what that house is for. Frankly, I can imagine Picard living in a house like that, too, though with way more book shelves.
I like this reading of young Spock struggling with how to express his emotions -- and whether or not that's even good or allowed. We haven't yet seen Spock being teased about his human-ness (tormented, perhaps) by his school-mates, but that is something that must be informing his reaction to Michael's presence. I find myself really fascinated by their family and I hope we get to see a lot more of it -- and I applaud the writers for (so far) handling this so deftly.
Also oh! Oyin Oladejo tweeted me this when I asked about pronunciation. “Hey mdear...so this is how I would spell it out oh-whoa-shay-kun(silent 'n') does that help, hehe, hopefully haven't mislead you.”
Oh! Did anyone else think the first patient on the Hiawatha was an Edosian like Arex on TAS?