Episode titles!

[rivendellrose]

As a taste of what's to come on January 7 (or 8, depending on where you are in the world), we now have episode titles for the remainder of season 1!



Here's the post on Twitter, but I am told the video is only viewable from in the United States, which sucks. So here's the list!

10: Despite Yourself
11: The Wolf Inside
12: Vaulting Ambition
13: What's Past is Prologue
14: The War Without, The War Within
15: Will You Take My Hand?

What do we think, friends? Any guesses (serious or otherwise) about what any of these might have in store for us?

Comments

[aella_irene]

I sincerely hope What's Past Is Prologue will feature hilarious time travel antics.

[rivendellrose]

I was thinking the same! Although the DS9 episode with a very similar name (Past Prologue) didn't have anything to do with time travel, so who knows?

[lizbee]

YESSSSS THEY ARE ALL AMAZINGLY WANKY AND OTT. Thank you, Disco, you are everything I didn't even know I wanted.

[rivendellrose]

Right? One thing I have definitely learned from this first season of Disco is that I LOVE dramatic episode titles. And that last one. Oh my god, I can tell from here that it's gonna break my heart. I don't even know how yet, I'm just sure it will.

[lizbee]

It really is like they looked at Babylon 5 and later DS9 and went, "Okay, but what if our titles were ALSO kind of cheesy?"

I AM HERE FOR THAT.

Oh my god, I can tell from here that it's gonna break my heart. I don't even know how yet, I'm just sure it will.

I've just been assuming all along that there would be heartbreak. BUT THIS ISN'T HELPING.

[rivendellrose]

"It really is like they looked at Babylon 5 and later DS9 and went, "Okay, but what if our titles were ALSO kind of cheesy?""

MARVELOUSLY, DELICIOUSLY CHEESY. ♥ (Taking bets now on whether next season will have something like "And the Rock Cried Out No Hiding Place"?)

"I've just been assuming all along that there would be heartbreak. BUT THIS ISN'T HELPING."

Considering the show broke my heart twice in the first three episodes, yeah, heartbreak at the end is pretty damned inevitable. If nothing else, I am way too invested in Ash Tyler, and also way too aware that he will inevitably hurt me Burnham. But oh my god this is the kind of wanky, melodramatic heartbreak that I live for!

[lizbee]

IT'S GONNA BE BAD.

I've gone from "Lorca's gonna redeem himself [from whatever] by sacrificing his life for his crew and that's great" to "that's probably how his story ends, but I don't like it because I'm tired of PTSD being written like it's a death sentence, can't he just get fired and have a million years of therapy + occasionally Special Guest appearances?"

[rivendellrose]

Yeah, that's... awkward. I could see it potentially working if the emphasis is less on "Lorca is so screwed up because PTSD so he has to do this" and more on "Lorca is not a good man and even he knows it, and this is the way his arc can turn around from valuing himself more than his crew to the reverse." Buuuuuut I say that as someone who is not personally impacted by the PTSD stuff and for whom it's fairly theoretical and not top-of-mind, so I could be totally off-base on that.

I would love for him to get fired (or escape!) and then reappear on and off in future seasons. That would be great. Jason Isaacs has clearly had so much fun with the role so far, I can't wait to watch him chew more scenery in the second half. ♥

[lizbee]

I think a lot of it depends on what his motivations and history turn out to be.

Disco seems to be in the middle of telling three different but related stories about trauma -- Michael's childhood traumas, which drove her actions in the premiere; Lorca's straight up military PTSD; and Ash's captivity and abuse trauma. And so far, they're really good and interesting, and it also seems sort of intentional? I mean, it's not for nothing that Cornwell is a psychiatrist, and so forth.

But whether I'd call it good representation ... I'd say yes at this point, but we're in the middle of that story, and who knows how it will turn out? If Ash is Voq (and doesn't choose to stay Ash), and Lorca redeems himself through death, that'd leave a sour taste in my mouth.

ANYWAY, my goal for 2017 was to stop deciding things were problematic before the whole story was told (unless, like, it started out bad, obviously I'm not completely undiscriminating), so I'm waiting to see.

[nenya_kanadka]

That's a good goal, tbh. Saves so much premature angry flailing and heartbreak (except for the times when it WAS that stupid or bad all along :P). I can't handle being jerked around too much by my shows so that's pretty much my policy.

I had actually not even considered the redemption through death possibility until you mentioned it, and was just assuming Michael would eventually run a (justified, this time) mutiny, during which Lorca would...??? underpants gnomes? I hadn't thought that far.

I'd love to see him get therapy, from the point of view of caring about his welfare and not wanting stories about ptsd making people evil. I could also handle a version of the story where it turned out that he's a not-great person for reasons unrelated to his trauma, and exits pursued by bear for that reason (only to return as guest star later of course).

They really are doing a lot of quite subtle things with trauma history so far, and I could see that including different sorts of endings for Ash, Lorca, and Michael. Ash and Michael didn't send their bff and fuckbuddy off to be tortured to death by Klingons, you know? I have a really hard time forgiving that, and idk. Part of me feels like "trauma made him do that" is not great either because it takes away his agency and depicts mental health issues as being the source of homicidal decisions. He WAS panicking like whoa, but not everybody would have done...that...even when flailing for survival.

So I don't want Lorca dead (despite how satisfying Mudd's multiple murders were to watch) but I do feel like he could get smacked down pretty hard before I'd have an issue with it, whereas I just want rainbows and puppies and therapeutic snuggling (and actual treatment) for Ash and Michael.

I guess Lorca's "evil or just headfucked" quantum waveform collapses after a couple more choices where he *could* choose the less self-interested option and we see whether he does or not.

/thoughts on yaoi as the kids used to say

[lizbee]

NO, I LOVE YOUR THOUGHTS ON YAOI.

The thing about sending Kat to the peace talks is that, even though Lorca was motivated by self-interest, it was still the right thing to do. Same with not charging to her rescue (which presumably Starfleet agreed with). And I really think she must have anticipated that it was a trap, and that she wouldn't be rescued if captured -- she seems resigned, not surprised, at the end of "Lethe".

Less justifiable, to me, is manipulating Stamets to make "one last jump", which Lorca then sabotages, at the end of "Into the Forest...". Stamets, because of his rank and health condition, was way more vulnerable there.

Part of me feels like "trauma made him do that" is not great either because it takes away his agency and depicts mental health issues as being the source of homicidal decisions.

RIGHT. I saw a post on Tumblr about how Lorca's decisions can't be callous or abusive because they're driven by PTSD, and (a) I think that "abusive" is a really complicated concept when it comes to a captain making decisions in wartime, and (b) that's bullshit, of course his decisions are often callous/bad/neglectful of his crew's wellbeing, and sure, PTSD is a driver there, but he's the one who actively lied to Starfleet to avoid treatment.

It's complicated! And I really like that about Lorca and his story, I just hope the actual narrative continues to be nuanced and thoughtful.

[kore]

Aww I kind of don't want Lorca to die, I've gotten attached to him in a weird way. I want him to either NEARLY die in a sacrifice attempt that works but someone rescues im and now, surprise! he has to deal with all the fallout and recovery, or for him to escape and be an ambivalent bad guy. I blame Jason Isaacs, I was SO OVER the "bad dad white male captain figure" and he just roped me in easy.

....okay that sounded less weird in my head

[lizbee]

No, it is absolutely how I feel as well!

I deeply resent Isaacs for making me care about a white male asshole with angst, and I'm going to prove it by watching his entire filmography over my summer break. But in an angry way.

[kore]

I SUPPORT THIS ANGRY NON-HATEWATCHING. Damn you Jason Isaacs, why do you have to be so magnetic and good at adding nuance and depth to a character type I have been tired of for like decades??

....I just realized he has been in some bad movies and I have already seen a bunch of them https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Isaacs#Filmography...oooh, I think Awake is on Netflix.

[lizbee]

My library has Case Histories on DVD, which I am told is both full of shirtless manpain and is his wife's favourite of his roles, which seems ... relevant.

[kore]

REALLY

I am already being lured in by Brotherhood: 'A lifelong gangster who has returned home to Providence, R.I., after a self-imposed seven-year exile after a contract was put on him. He's hoping to pick up where he left off. At the end of the first season, Michael is attacked and severely beaten by Declan. At the start of the second season, Michael is suffering from brain trauma and blackout, and has no memory of who attacked him. However, he tries to prove to Freddie that he is ready to go back to work for the mob....Jason Isaacs once described his character as follows: "Well actually, Michael Caffee is not a bad guy. I wouldn't have done this if he was a bad guy. He's a really interesting man. He has a really strict ethical code that he adheres to and he thinks he is better for the neighborhood and the future of the city than his brother is. He thinks his brother is corrupt, he's part of the system." //FACEPALM

[kore]

Ooh, those are based on the Jackson Brodie novels, I liked those IIRC.

[dreamy_dragon73]

I'm kind of hoping that Lorca will redeem himself without having to die.

Guest appearances? Did I miss something? Is Isaacs leaving?

[lizbee]

No, I'm just guessing, based on the unlikelihood of his signing on for more than a season.

[dreamy_dragon73]

He seemed very enthusiastic about Disco getting a second season - but I suppose it depends on his other projects :)

[nenya_kanadka]

So, "Despite Yourself" is 100% a Mirrorverse episode, right?

And we're getting, like, evil Saru, Georgiou in tight leather pants, and something about Lorca that doesn't collapse all character development so far into "he's been from the MU all along so ofc he's evil"?

Right? I am a woman of simple needs.

[lizbee]

I kind of hope that, instead of mirror universe!Saru, his place is taken by the predator species from his planet -- but it's just Doug Jones in different prosthetics.

[rivendellrose]

OH. OH MY GOD, THAT'S IT, THAT'S PERFECT. ♥♥♥ THIS, SO MUCH.

[rivendellrose]

MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY. ♥♥♥ I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want to bias anybody but if that's not the title for a Mirrorverse episode, I don't know what is.

Also YES to Evil Saru and YES YES YES YES YES to Georgiou in tight leather pants. I'm sorry Michelle Yeoh, I know how miserable Nana Visitor was in that pleather getup that creaked every time she moved, but it was a very formative experience for my teenage sexuality. I will absolutely pray that you get better tight leather (real leather), but oh god please this year has been madness and I've been so good. XD

And no way in hell does Lorca get off with "he's always been from the MU," in my books. Nope. Lorca is from our universe. But I would laugh forever if Mirror Lorca was totally good and noble and ours was just like "...wtf."

[kore]

How about good noble Lorca in some kind of revealing outfit being bossed around by Evil Saru?

[dreamy_dragon73]

Ohh, I like that :D

[kore]

YES TO ALL THIS