Discovery 3x08 - "Sanctuary"

[lizbee]

I'm going to stop apologising for putting these posts up late (day jobs: ew) and instead thank you all for your patience.

Have at it in the comments!

Comments

[lizbee]

My thoughts, in no particular order:

- there was a lot of discourse (much of it sexist if not outright misogynist) on Twitter last week about Tilly's temporary promotion, and I just want to report my complete lack of surprise that she is very, very good at being first officer
- (for one thing, we saw her doing similar work -- delegating work assignments, basically management stuff, a couple of episodes ago)
- it's weird how everyone demands that Michael and Tilly prove themselves when it's Saru who is kind of bad at his job
- like, way to go starting a war, mate
- if Admiral Vance didn't have a drinking problem before Discovery turned up, he does now
- by the end of the season, Tilly will be captain and Grudge will be her first officer
- overall this episode felt like a weak A plot and a bunch of really strong B and C plots
- IDK, I just feel like the scenes on Book's planet felt ... a bit by-the-numbers? Men Have Conflict. Men Punch Each Other. Men Resolve Conflict. I wanted to see more of the people of the planet, whose name I have forgotten, and how they're getting by under Osyra
- speaking of, there is one way to ensue I won't instantly adore a female villain, and they found it: she has TERF bangs
- (accordingly, I only like her a little)
- everything with Georgiou was GREAT and I cannot wait to see how it's resolved
- ADIRA
- MY LOVE
- also for the first time I am interested in the cause of the Burn, so well done everyone

[archangelbeth]

- if Admiral Vance didn't have a drinking problem before Discovery turned up, he does now

Here he is, holding the remains of the Federation together with cynicism and determination, and what shows up with a MAGIC ship-drive that can only be directed by one man? A bunch of golden-age idealists with What Would Kirk Do memetics. (And they don't even have exposure to a Kirk!)

Man's gonna start drinking. (Though it's nice, as of the Door episode, to see that he's got a touch of Classic Starfleet in him. Echoes down the centuries of Pike: All personnel, this is Captain Pike. Starfleet... is a promise. I give my life for you; you give your life for me. And nobody gets left behind.
(S2Ep5))

My Autocorrupt decided to auto-complete Adira as Adirable and for once I cannot find fault with that. I love them so much.

[mekare]

>> by the end of the season, Tilly will be captain and Grudge will be her first officer

I‘m all for it!

Also yes re Vance and alcohol.

>> I wanted to see more of the people of the planet, whose name I have forgotten, and how they're getting by under Osyra

Thank you for putting into words what was bothering me about this episode. I know they wanted to highlight Book‘s connection to his family, but it didn‘t feel grounded at all in a place or people despite the pretty visuals.

[nonelvis]

GEORGIOU. GEORGIOU. JUST GONNA CAPSLOCK HER NAME FOR A WHILE. Except for the part where I mention how hilarious the white footy pajamas were, along with her comment about looking like a sperm. Classic Empress Georgiou.

Also really loving the Paul, Hugh, and Adira family unit that's forming; I wouldn't have thought Stamets would be a gentle father, but he seems very well-suited for it, and clearly Hugh has had fatherhood on his mind as well. (I am slightly side-eyeing that all the overtly queer characters, other than Georgiou, are being narratively bunched into a single unit, leaving the rest of the ship resolutely cishet, as far as we know. But possibly I'm overthinking things.)

Anyway, the real hero here, as always, was Grudge, who somehow made it through Detmer's attack on the Death Star "rogue mission" without horking on anyone. I mean, sure, she's probably used to some scary flying, but that was a lot for one kitty. I hope she has a nice velcro bed to stick to while the ship is moving about.

[lizbee]

(I am slightly side-eyeing that all the overtly queer characters, other than Georgiou, are being narratively bunched into a single unit, leaving the rest of the ship resolutely cishet, as far as we know. But possibly I'm overthinking things.)

No, same. I get that there's a desire to show queer people bonding and forming a family, but it feels like the same problem as having all the queer people in one series, but on a micro level.

(Though I realised this morning that my headcanon is that Michael is the only straight person on Discovery.)

I mean, sure, she's probably used to some scary flying, but that was a lot for one kitty.

I really disapprove of situations where cats can potentially be vapourised!

[strangesistas_writings]

Fairly certain Michael is the only straight person on Discovery at least with a speaking part. Detmer and Owosekun are all but confirmed as a couple. Tilly has expressed interests for men but she could still be interested in women as well and Georgiou, Culber, Stamets and Adira none of them are straight.

[nenya_kanadka]

And Jett Reno's a lesbian!

I am so pleased with Detmer/Owosekun this season. ❤

[strangesistas_writings]

Most of the speaking roles on Disco are queer characters though. Who else would they be grouped with? Michael in a lot of ways is still on the oust with a lot of the crew so there aren't many other places for Adira to go.

[nonelvis]

I agree that Hugh and Paul are the most likely parental figures here. But the only other character on Disco actually confirmed onscreen as queer is Georgiou, though I also tend to agree with you that Detmer and Owosekun are being treated as a couple.

Like I said, I'm willing to believe that I'm making something out of nothing here. And I do love this family unit a lot.

[nenya_kanadka]

There is also Jett! Though I suppose she's more of a recurring than main character. But extremely and canonically queer.

[nonelvis]

Oh! You're absolutely right; I'd forgotten about her simply because she's in so few episodes. (Though I love her a whole lot.)

[archangelbeth]

Grudge was sticking to the Andorian! Much better than velcro.
=^.^=

[gatheringrivers]

EMPEROR GEORGIOU, KEEPER OF THE BEST LINES EVAH!

I cackled so hard at "human spermatazoa"...

[tellitslant]

It continues to delight me that we get to watch multiple queer characters interact just as a regular feature for reasons that don't always have to do with queerness. Because we have Culber and Georgiou just having doctor-patient interactions, it makes me much more forgiving of the occasional clumsiness (to me) of Stamets and Adira. And even there, I'm just so pleased to see NB pronouns showing up ON A STAR TREK... it does my heart good. Sigh.

I am deeply concerned about Georgiou but having so much fun watching her. The preview for next week looks like it will be stressful but delightful.

I have to admit I looked mildly askance at Tilly's promotion - like, it's just such a big jump - but I will eat my judgement on that one.

I did not pay very much attention to the main plot and I am not sorry.

[sabotabby]

- Calling it now: Culber is going to want to have kids after seeing Stamets interact with Adira
- Understandable as I would kill to protect Adira
- Really loved Detmer in this, to my surprise as she hasn't been that interesting to me before
- Osira was a bit disappointing. I hope we get a better Big Bad. She's just kind of blah.
- Glad Tilly is being competent. She really seems like a weird choice for first officer—like I felt like she was only promoted because the audience relates to her more than Michael—but at least she's good at it.
- Georgiou was awesome as always and I can't wait to see a Georgiou-centric episode next week
- The planet plot was meh. Seemed too easily resolved.
- Michael was adorable with the little kid (you can pick skin right off his face! Hah!)
- Grudge is my love forever and ever

[strangesistas_writings]

I do wish more time went into the planetside part of these stories. There is never any real sense of the planets or what they're like, so much of the clothing looks like black rags and they have like two sets. I guess they spent most of their budget for the year filming in Iceland so nothing left over for costumes I guess.

[starlady]

I do think the A plot was meh but on the other hand it was nice to see some male empaths! Men have feelings too, well done everyone.

We continue to inch closer to confirming the bridge lesbians onscreen, give yourselves 5% of a cookie, writers.

I think Georgiou is leaving next week (or the week after, it's a two-parter) and I wonder if they might go to the Guardian of Forever. Would love to see how the eons have treated that sardonic donut rock.

The thing with the Starfleet distress signal at the heart of the nebula where the Burn started is so evocative of older Trek, from stuff like The Motion Picture to Yesterday's Enterprise. I'm quite interested to see where that goes.

[mekare]

>> do think the A plot was meh but on the other hand it was nice to see some male empaths! Men have feelings too, well done everyone.

Oh yeah, this!

[mekare]

Favourite bits:

Georgiou: Where I‘m from the Emperor‘s physicians were buried with them when they died. It in incentivized loyalty.

Aaah Saru. He‘s so cute trying out his commands.

Love the golden light in Kweijian.