4x01 - Kobayashi Maru

[goodbyebird]

So the season premiere is upon some of us! Are you happy to have our crew back?
Sound off below ❤️

<b>Bad, mediocre, good, or great?</b> <b>Where does this sit in the ranking of the four season premieres we've had so far?</b> <b>Favorite moment?</b> <b>How's your ship(s) looking?</b> <b>New shiny character? Insert squee here pls!</b> <b>Opinion on the new look/outfits?</b> <b>Most/least interesting plot lines hinted at?</b> <b>How does this have you feeling about the upcoming season?</b> <b>Anything else?</b>

(I'm away from home for work, can't watch the episode, so will be steering clear of the comments here)

Comments

[tree_and_leaf]

I mean, I'm in Europe, so it doesn't feel like I've got them back :( :( :(

[dewline]

I enjoyed it.

Not happy about all the people who've been watching from outside US + Canada being told to wait til next year, and not sure what to do about it.

[aurumcalendula]

I enjoyed the episode. Paramount's nonsense is very irritating, to say the least.

[mekare]

Aaaaaaah I was so looking forward to season 4 and now it‘s just been taken away... *grrrrr*

[intothisshadow]

Some spoilers below...





Bad, mediocre, good, or great?

It was good! I enjoyed Michael a lot in this episode - she was happy, carefree and having fun for a lot of the time. Such a huge contrast to seasons 1 and 2. I wish that trend will continue.

Where does this sit in the ranking of the four season premieres we've had so far?

I'm have trouble separating single Discovery episodes from each other and the entire season story and can't really remember what happened in the other season premieres. So I can't say other than I liked it!

Favorite moment?

The whole beginning with the butterfly people - it felt like closer to my preferred kind of Star Trek, and I loved seeing Michael having fun :) And I liked the conversation towards the end between the Federation President and Michael, it reminded me of TNG! Philosophical questions for the win :)

How's your ship(s) looking?

Not a shipper so I don't really care, but I like Booker and Michael's relationship with him, and I hope there won't be relationship drama with them and they just continue to be happy and support each other.

New shiny character? Insert squee here pls!

The Federation President! I hope she'll turn out to be good people and who will challenge Michael to think about her way of doing things now that she Captain and will go on to have many more interesting philosophical discussions with Michael and other characters.

Opinion on the new look/outfits?

Better than the old ones but still boring! I guess I'm happy with the colors, but the cut and/or the fabrics of the new uniforms are so uninspired. Although I don't really know how to fix it - I can barely sew a button myself. I just know the look is boring IMHO.

Most/least interesting plot lines hinted at?

Most interesting - Rebuilding Federation and Starfleet. I'd love seeing Discovery visiting new and old worlds, spreading the word out and enticing worlds to join the Federation and getting into adventures while carrying out this mission (like with the butterfly people in this episode).

Least interesting - The anomaly that hit the repair space station and destroyed Booker's homeworld and looks to be the new universe spanning threat. I wish it will turn out to be natural phenomenon rather than something else and is confined to just this region of space instead of threatening the whole universe. I could be very interested in adventures & techno babble to figure out what it is and how to solve it. But I really, really hope it won't be a weapon or a weapon that failed and accidentally created the phenomenon and will now threaten the whole damn universe.

How does this have you feeling about the upcoming season?

I'm looking forward to it!

Anything else?

I did enjoy the episode even though I'm keep hoping for things that fundamentally ((propably) aren't Discovery. I was shyly hoping for episodic stories, or stories spanning just 2-3 episodes this time, but I'm guessing the anomaly that hit the repair space station and destroyed Booker's homeworld is new the season long, universe threatening danger. Again. It's just hard to care when the stakes are so huge and samey every season. I'd like smaller, more human stakes stories.

I really like the changes in Michael that happened in season 3 mostly I think - she's warm and happy and enjoying herself now. I'd love to see that continue. I think this episode was my favorite portrayal of her.

I thought that I didn't care that the Discovery's main character wasn't the Captain, but now that Michael is the Captain that just feels right - because she is the main character. So it kind of feels like Discovery is now what it was supposed to always be.

The bridge crew - I keenly hope the other bridge crew characters will get some distinction and meaning this season. I still only remember Michael, Saru, Tilly, Detmer and Owosekun's names. And of those, only Michael and Saru I consider important characters, Detmer and Owosekun are sometimes-important-supporting-cast-but-not-really, and the rest of the bridge crew... might as well be bodies. But I think there's supposed to be at least two guys in the bridge crew? I'm not even sure which ones are supposed to be not-background characters. Again in this episode often someone was shown in a reaction shot like I'm supposed to know and care who they are, like with Sulu or Chekov in TOS or even Troi in TNG, but here I am, going "Who???? Why are they showing him/her???" instead. Detmer and Owosekun's actors (and Airiam's, in that only episode she got meaningful screentime) do a good job when they have something to do; I'd like to see the other bridge crew actors to get something to do as well!

I might sound like I don't actually like Discovery that much - I do, but I just think so much more could be done with some things. I'm looking forward to next week's episode!

[mekare]

Oooh a question: I‘m going to continue posting my season 3 rewatch posts, would you like to pick up the season 4 episode posts after that? Maybe by then more people will have caught up with season 4/5 (I’d definitely plan on making posts for the final season once I’m watching).

I really like your discussion starters!

Rewatch thoughts

[mekare]

Bad, mediocre, good, or great?

Great actually. I had forgotten most of what happened.

Favorite moment?

Oof. Michael and Booker holding hands and smiling just before Book leaves for Kweijan. Oh, and Admiral Vance being reunited with his family.

How's your ship(s) looking?

Fine! Michael/Book are fine (though I think I remember some hard times coming up).

New shiny character? Insert squee here pls!

The president is interesting, her speech about how she sees leadership (as opposed to Michael‘s view) made me hopeful about her as a character who will provode interesting plotpoints.

Opinion on the new look/outfits?

I LOVED everyone‘s new hair (except for Nilsson‘s).

Most/least interesting plot lines hinted at?

I‘m wondering how much they‘ll focus on the new technologies which are supposed to make them independent of dilithium.

How does this have you feeling about the upcoming season?

Great!