CBS All Access Asks Fans: "Will You Take My Hand?" Into Star Trek: Discovery's Second Season.

The Good: Speeches exemplify Star Trek values well, Most of the acting is good
The Bad: Terrible characterizations, Awful direction, Simplistic plot, A couple of lousy performances, Continuity issues
The Basics: Star Trek: Discovery completes its first season with "Will You Take My Hand?" and it's a lackluster end to a disappointing first season.


The first major chance Star Trek: Discovery has to make a massive course correction has arrived: it is season finale time! Having spent the weekend with die-hard Trekkers - I was at a wonderful fan-run convention populated by the Star Trek fans who remember watching the original series, supported the boom of Trek during the mid-nineties and have kept fandom and the franchise alive for fifty years - who either refused to watch Star Trek: Discovery because they were not going to pay for CBS All Access or because the first two free episodes completely offended their sensibilities (seriously, CBS - I found ONE person who vocally enjoyed Star Trek: Discovery at a convention attended by thousands!), I was in no real rush to watch the first season finale of Star Trek: Discovery. But, upon returning home, my wife - with hope in her eyes - asked, "Did you watch the season finale while you were on the road?" The look of disappointment in her eyes when I said "no" broke my heart. So, while she's sleeping in today, I'm taking in "Will You Take My Hand?"

"Will You Take My Hand?" is a chance for Star Trek: Discovery to make an attempt to re-steer Star Trek: Discovery toward something more recognizably Star Trek and more in line with Star Trek canon (which would be a virtually impossible task). Instead, the show generally digs itself in deeper with an attitude of "we'll do whatever the hell we want with this show!" "Will You Take My Hand?" picks up where "The War Without, The War Within" (reviewed here!) left off, with the U.S.S. Discovery headed on a dangerous mission to the Klingon Homeworld in an attempt to end the war.

As the Klingon fleet closes in on Earth, Emperor Georgiou - impersonating the lost Captain Georgiou - commanded the Discovery on its mission to Kronos. As the ship closes in, Georgiou is harsh with her crew and Saru and Burnham resist her authority and jibes. Georgiou and Burnham visit L'Rell in the brig where Georgiou attempts to torture the information of where she should send a landing party out of L'Rell. Failing that, Burnham brings the Captain to Ash Tyler in an attempt to get the information a nicer way. Tyler advises a team to visit a volcanic site that was leased to the Orions and Georgiou enlists Tyler and Tilly to help deploy a mapping drone needed to better define targets on Kronos. Saru and Stamets take the Discovery under the planet's surface, while the Away Team beams to the Orion marketplace and attempts to gather information.

Shocked by how Tyler's interactions with the Klingons triggers memories of her parents' death, Burnham becomes sympathetic to the Klingons on Kronos. Waking up from being drugged, Tilly discovers that the mapping drone is actually a bomb capable of almost entirely destroying Kronos. Realizing that StarFleet has sanctioned a genocidal action, Saru and the Discovery crew turn on Admiral Cornwell and devise another plan. L'Rell and Tyler leave to end the war by taking control of the Klingon High Council. The Discovery returns to Earth, where Burnham is given a pardon and re-commissioned as a Commander.

"Will You Take My Hand?"actually manages to embody the adage from "Mirror, Mirror" (reviewed here!) that it is easier for civilized people to play the barbarian than the other way around; from the outset, Georgiou is impulsive, short-tempered and cruel, exactly what one would expect from the Mirror Universe version of the character. It proves a severe lack of judgment on the part of the Federation leadership and StarFeet that they would attempt to use Georgiou to end the war. Unfortunately, the fact that no one in the leadership of StarFleet or the Federation foresaw the stupidity of putting Georgiou in command is insulting. How did so many people rise so high in such an ethical organization only to completely lose their principles?! It's a conceit that plays to the idea of a heroic starship crew, but plays poorly to the idea that they are part of something larger; how are they the only capable people in StarFleet who actually adhere to the principles of the Federation?

In a similar fashion, it is utterly ridiculous that Tilly would be part of the Away Team to Kronos. Tilly is a cadet and there is no decent explanation within "Will You Take My Hand?" for what particular skills she had that make her of use to the mission. She is a terrible liability, which is evident almost immediately - especially when Georgiou outs herself to Tilly. Saru is still, technically, in charge of the Discovery and he could easily have ordered a security officer to accompany the Away Team. Allowing Georgiou free range to assemble her team without any oversight makes no real sense.

So, "Will You Take My Hand?" is utilized as an opportunity for Tilly to swear, have StarFleet personnel hang around a strip club and lope into a heroic first season ending. The episode feels like it wants to be audacious, but it pulls its punches. Sure, Tilly gets high and swears again. That's a fairly juvenile way of "being edgy." Georgiou has a threesome and appears almost fully-clothed in the aftermath; the producers were not willing to push the envelope the way something like Altered Carbon (season one reviewed here!) did with naked people in combat.

Akiva Goldsman directed "Will You Take My Hand?" and it doesn't take long before the viewer wishes someone would get him a camera stand. There are almost no shots in the episode where the camera is not shaking and moving in an inorganic way. "Will You Take My Hand?" is nauseating to watch. And the movements make no rational/storytelling sense. For a show that makes viewers pay for the privilege of watching the final product, one would think there would be money in the budget to afford something to hold a camera steady!

"Will You Take My Hand?" is hampered by convention to form over sensibility. While there are continuity issues like a Klingon female taking over (much less serving!) on the Klingon High Council and a Klingon fleet massed right off Earth (seriously, did none of the writers watch Star Trek: Deep Space Nine?!), the episode is far more gutted by its forced attempt to stick to the familiar. Michael Burnham is the protagonist on Star Trek: Discovery and Sonequa Martin-Green gets top billing for the show, so she is utilized like she is the most important character in this corner of the Star Trek universe. As a result, the convicted criminal is the character who upholds StarFleet and Federation values more than anyone else and that plays poorly in "Will You Take My Hand?" As the episode comes to a close, Burnham gives a rousing speech to an assemblage of StarFleet and Federation personnel . . . for no particular reason other than the fact that she is the show's focus. A newly-recommissioned, barely exonerated, officer addressing the top brass in such a fashion is roughly equivalent to me being able to address the United Nations General Assembly. The list of people given such an opportunity before me (or Burnham) is so long as to make such an appearance laughable. It severely diminishes Saru's character that he acts as a supporting character in "Will You Take My Hand?," especially in the climactic speech scene.

On the acting front, James Frain continues to shit all over the legacy of Sarek with his performance - smirking through a key scene between Sarek and Burnham in a way that is decidedly un-Vulcan. Frain cannot be blamed for the writing of Sarek (one supposes Sarek learned his lesson on using force against the Klingons, which is why he was not part of the cabal intended to wipe out the Klingons in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, though his actions in Star Trek: Discovery would have made an approach by any member of that group logical, in which case Sarek failed to disclose?), but when he outright smiles in a scene it is hard for fans not to wince.

The rest of the acting is fine, though Michelle Yeoh and Sonequa Martin-Green dominate the episode. The dramatic standing of many of the characters is well-performed, but given how little is known of their characters, it lacks impact. And Martin-Green delivers her several big speeches well, but they feel forced for the character she plays.

Ultimately, "Will You Take My Hand?" does what it can to resolve the Klingon war arc that has dominated half of the first season and it gets there . . . but it does so in a way that leaps to that end without making it feel organic or incredible. L'Rell becomes suddenly critically important to wrapping up the arc and the way the episode plays, Klingons are undermined for their resolve, personal strength and even their established cultural values. The result is that Star Trek: Discovery ends with its characteristic lack of respect for canon and an emphasis on style . . . though at least "Will You Take My Hand?" pays lip service to Star Trek values and ideology.

For other first season finales from the Star Trek franchise, please check out my reviews of:
"In The Hands Of The Prophets" - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
"Learning Curve" - Star Trek: Voyager
"Shockwave" - Star Trek: Enterprise
"The Neutral Zone" - Star Trek: The Next Generation
"Operation: Annihilate" - Star Trek

2.5/10

For other Star Trek episode, movie, and seasons, please check out my Star Trek Review Index Page!

© 2018 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Another Week, Another Predicted Reveal: Star Trek Discovery Hardly Has "Vaulting Ambition!"

The Good: Well-directed
The Bad: Awful character development, Unremarkable plot, Dull reveal, Huge continuity issues
The Basics: Star Trek: Discovery works to finish its Mirror Universe plot in "Vaulting Ambition," while making a reveal that was predicted by many fans a while ago and is unimpressive now that it has been revealed.


Retconning the events of "Mirror, Mirror" (reviewed here!) so that the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery entered the same alternate universe about a decade prior has created a number of issues with Star Trek continuity. Despite that, the show has moved toward an important story point with "Vaulting Ambition." "Vaulting Ambition" opens with the sense that most of the cards are on the table for the key characters of Star Trek: Discovery.

"Vaulting Ambition" follows the events of "The Wolf Inside" (reviewed here!) and it is impossible to discuss the new episode without references to where the prior episode left off. After all, "The Wolf Inside" found Burnham and Lorca right before the Empress, who was (unsurprisingly) Georgiou - if the show wanted to make a real surprise, it would have been Empress Sato from Star Trek: Enterprise and that the whole Terran Empire had grown on her watch and she had managed to stay alive and in power so long. But Emperor Georgiou visited the planet the Rebels were hiding out on to obliterate them, despite Burnham's promise to the Rebel leader Voq. Inside the Spore Network, Stamets met his doppelganger. And the insinuations fell away and Ash Tyler was revealed to be a surgically-altered Voq, who Burnham used to smuggle critical information back to the U.S.S. Discovery.

Burnham brings Lorca to the I.S.S. Charon, after giving him a hypo to help him resist the Agonizers better. Tilly treats Stamets and he is caught up within the spore network by his doppelganger from the Mirror Universe. On the Charon, Burnham and Lorca meet with the Emperor, who sends Lorca to the Agonizer chamber. Burnham learns that her Mirror Universe persona was raised by Georgiou. They dine together and Georgiou condemns Burnham to death and facing a quick death, Burnham confesses her true nature to the Emperor.

While Stamets becomes distracted with visions of his dead Dr. Culber, Georgiou works out an arrangement with Burnham for information on the spore drive in exchange for information on the U.S.S. Defiant. When Lorca is unable to provide information his doppelganger would know, he watches a man die horribly. L'Rell attempts to treat Voq in the Discovery Sick Bay, while Culber gives Stamets a pep talk and a mission. Stamets must undo the damage that the Mirror Universe Stamets did to the spore network to save it, which allows him to wake up on the Discovery. Unfortunately, it also allows the Mirror Universe Stamets to awaken on the Charon. And, in the process, Lorca's big secret is revealed.

The moment the I.S.S. Charon appears on screen, "Vaulting Ambition" loses a lot of credibility. The Charon is an amazing and impressive ship, but there is nothing even remotely like it in "our" universe during the same time period in the Star Trek universe. The Mirror Universe works have continually operated on the concept of parallel technological development, with a radically-different social development. So, missions, people, and technology are almost always in the same time and place in both universes, just with different motivations. As a result, the U.S.S. Enterprise and I.S.S. Enterprise are virtually identical; Deep Space Nine and the Mirror Universe Terok Nor were constructed by the same person . . . such that Sisko is able to operate the self-destruct system in the Mirror Universe. The I.S.S. Charon, then, is an absolutely ridiculous conceit in "Vaulting Ambition" as there would be nothing at all like it in our universe.

Michael Burnham is proven once again to be one of the worst characters in the Star Trek universe in "Vaulting Ambition." Facing her death, Burnham tells Giorgiou about her universe and provides her with proof of that universe, when she gives the Emperor her dead Captain's badge. The Empire is a bloodthirsty, aggressive organization that seeks conquest over cooperation. Burnham and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery want to return home. That's fine and it makes sense. But Burnham has just attempted to save her own life and the crew of a single ship by mortgaging an entire universe's security. To be clear; following "Vaulting Ambition," there is no sensible reason why the Star Trek Universe would not be facing a constant menace of open warfare from the Mirror Universe's Terran Empire. Between surveillance devices, untrustworthy characters and more people who have the actual technical information on our universe, the Mirror Universe is now an imminent threat to the Star Trek universe . . . and Burnham told them about it!

But then, the episode progresses to its end with one of the most asinine retcons ever to be created in the Star Trek Universe. Lorca's Big Secret is revealed, which feels lazy following Ash Tyler's big secret being revealed last week. In fact, Lorca's big secret is piggybacked on a revelation from the Emperor Georgiou that telegraphs Lorca's reveal . . . and makes no sense whatsoever in the Mirror Universe episodes. "Vaulting Ambition" creates a "tell" for the Mirror Universe characters and that sudden alteration to Mirror Universe human biology is laughably bad; it undermines both "Mirror, Mirror" (Spock would have seen a difference in how the four Mirror Universe characters responded on the Enterprise) and the two Star Trek: Enterprise episodes set there.

There is another huge issue with "Vaulting Ambition," which is much more subtle than in the previous Star Trek: Discovery Mirror Universe episodes. Burnham gives Georgiou information about our universe and that is horrible, but it plays off a conceit that has the potential to be ruinous for the entire plotline. The U.S.S. Defiant ended up in the Mirror Universe in the past - that was established on Star Trek: Enterprise. But the reason that was okay was that the Defiant's crew was long-dead and there would be no information on the ship about how the Defiant ended up in the Mirror Universe other than it fell through a hole in interphasic space. The U.S.S. Defiant has no information aboard it that would allow people in the Mirror Universe to enter our universe - that data was not aboard the dead starship. But now, characters from the U.S.S. Discovery know about how an entire starship worth of StarFleet officers will die horribly in the future. If the non-redacted information from the Defiant makes it back to our universe, the crew becomes complicit in one of the most gruesome death scenarios from Star Trek!

"Vaulting Ambition" continues the Star Trek: Discovery trend of presenting utter misery on screen. The murder in front of Lorca is grisly and his torture is known by the audience to be entirely pointless. The episode lacks the subtlety of other Mirror Universe episodes: in both universes Georgiou is a mother figure to Burnham, Stamets is virtually identical in both universes . . . the only real difference in characters seems to be the politics and the fact that Detmer actually gets lines in the Mirror Universe.

The unfortunate aspect of "Vaulting Ambition" is that it continues to play toward the most banal action-adventure type storyline as opposed to anything nearly as smart as . . . well, most of Star Trek!

For other Mirror Universe works, please check out my reviews of:
Dark Victory By William Shatner
Intendant Kira action figure
In A Mirror Darkly CCG

1.5/10

For other Star Trek episode, movie, and seasons, please check out my Star Trek Review Index Page!

© 2018 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Discovery Arrives On "Context Is For Kings"

The Good: Doug Jones and Jason Isaacs are fine with what they are given
The Bad: Terrible characterization, Abysmal continuity errors, Boring, Prioritizes style and merchandising over substance and storytelling, Derivative
The Basics: "Context Is For Kings" meanders into a Star Trek: Discovery rip-off of Alien before just collapsing into something that will only confound Star Trek fans.


As a reviewer and a life long fan of the Star Trek franchise, it is tough not to begin each review of new Star Trek: Discovery episodes with a laundry list of things that are wrong with the new television series. This is especially hard at the outset of "Context Is For Kings," the first episode of Star Trek: Discovery that features the titular U.S.S. Discovery. The reason it is tough for a Trekker to even approach "Context Is For Kings" with anything resembling an open mind is where the episode begins. Following immediately on the heels of "Battle At The Binary Stars" (reviewed here!), "Context Is For Kings" opens after one of the most glaring continuity errors of the series thus far and it is impossible to discuss without some references as to where the prior episode ended.

"Battle At The Binary Stars" ended with Michael Burnham pleading guilty and being convicted of multiple crimes, including mutiny. People who recall the length and breadth of the Star Trek franchise will see fairly quickly the problem with this. In "The Tholian Web" (reviewed here!) when the Away Team explores the adrift U.S.S. Defiant and it appears the crew killed one another, Chekov asks is there has ever been a crew mutiny on a starship. Spock responds that there is no record of one and that - given Michael Burnham's relationship with Sarek - is just the insult to injury. Not only would Spock know that there have been mutineers in StarFleet, he would have intimate knowledge of one of them. And even if there were no record of the actual mutiny, there is now in the Star Trek universe a retconned conviction for mutiny. Yes, the "continuity experts" on Star Trek: Discovery suck at their jobs.

Six months after Burnham was convicted of her crimes, she is transferred to a dilithium mine. En route, the shuttle she is on is covered in energy-eating bugs. The shuttle is picked up by the U.S.S. Discovery and the prisoners are picked up by Security Chief Landry. After fighting in the mess hall, Burnham is sent to meet Captain Gabriel Lorca. Lorca wants Burnham's help in cleaning off the parasites that are now on Discovery's hull and Burnham is confined to quarters with her new roommate Tilly. After a black alert is declared, Burnham witnesses a strange phenomenon in her quarters.

The next morning, Burnham is reunited with Saru, who is the first officer on the U.S.S. Discovery. Saru brushes aside Burnham's apology for their former Captain's death and he warns her that he will protect Captain Lorca. After Burnham breaks into one of the Discovery's labs, she is in a meeting when the U.S.S. Glen is reported lost. Burnham is assigned to a mission to explore what happened to the Glen, which may have been overrun by spores. Exploring the Glen, the Discovery crew finds the StarFleet crew dead and evidence that Klingons were on board the ship. Burnham and the Away Team are chased off the Glen by an alien and upon returning to the Discovery, Captain Lorca reveals to Burnham just what the mission of the crew is.

"Context Is For Kings" is a boring "meet the new crew" episode coupled with a cheap horror story. The Star Trek franchise has done horror episodes before, but "Context Is For Kings" is a particularly lame rendition of Alien for Star Trek: Discovery.

In "Context Is For Kings" the emphasis on style over substance for the show. In one of her first scenes on the U.S.S. Discovery, Burnham encounters one of her former crewmates from the Shenzhou. Detmer now has a bionic implant on the side of her head, something no other StarFleet officer has ever had . . . and a technological distraction that undermines the surprise of the Borg in the universe a hundred years later. And the viewer has to ask, what the hell is the point?! Why throw something so irrelevant and distracting into a prequel show? Detmer's head appliance is as distracting as the Tribble in the captain's ready room.

Star Trek: Discovery is all about merchandising so far and "Context Is For Kings" is no exception. While viewers wait for an explanation as to what a "black alert" is and they marvel at the idea that the writers felt the need to include a reference to a "breath scan" when this era of the Star Trek featured retinal scans for security locks, they are treated to "Discovery" branded pillowcases. And Sylvia Tully claims to have an allergy?! Whether she does or not is irrelevant: by the time of the original Star Trek no one seems to have allergies and it is cringeworthy to consider that two hundred years from now - when allergies can mostly be controlled - allergies are still a problem.

Stamets is a terrible stereotype of a gay person. Hearing a StarFleet officer talk down to everyone and lisp out "I hate you!" to a friend is flat-out nauseating. Anthony Rapp's character is written like a Will & Grace stereotype as opposed to just an officer who happens to be homosexual. No, Stamets is the unfortunate melodramatic stereotype of a gay person in "Context Is For Kings."

Star Trek used to be fun escapism. Unfortunately, Star Trek: Discovery is a journey into miserable. Everyone Michael Burnham encounters in "Context Is For Kings" is a jerk to her. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was a dark show with a number of angst-filled characters, but even in that people managed to treat one another fairly well from the outset. In "Context Is For Kings" everyone is a dick. Yeah, that's not very professional: Star Trek: Discovery is filled with ass holes and xenomorph rip-offs. The problem with this is that none of the characters feel like they are worth watching (save, perhaps, the underused Saru). Watching "Context Is For Kings," I felt myself feeling much like I did a few seasons into Game Of Thrones; I didn't care who sat on the Iron Throne because everyone was so compromised, unlikable or boring. Star Trek: Discovery has contrived a Klingon war that manages to retroactively make idiots out of most of the prior crews of later StarFleet ships (Chekov, formerly a pretty bright boy, asks if there has ever been a mutiny on a starship when thirteen years prior it was pretty public knowledge that a mutineer started a war with the Klingons!) and by the end of the third episode, the viewer doesn't care who lives or dies in the show - we just want it to be over.

"Context Is For Kings" is just awful. Tully's exclamation of "is that a book?!" is mind-numbing given how books (physical books) appear in Star Trek with no one being at all amazed. There's another robot on the bridge and the science experiment on the Discovery is yet another head-slapper that makes viewers wonder why the hell the executive producers insisted on making Star Trek: Discovery a prequel. Regardless of whether or not the Discovery's experiments are successful or become known outside the ship at all, it seems absolutely baffling that an instantaneous teleporter - much like the Iconian gateways - not only could be developed effectively in this time period, but remain secret for the rest of the franchise timeline.

Doug Jones is good as Saru but even his very brief time on screen is not enough to save "Context Is For Kings." The third episode of Star Trek: Discovery is an absolute dud that phones in the character, dumbs down the exposition (wait, is Michael Burnham a mutineer?!) and tries to confound viewers with spectacle and chases to cover up the lack of deep performances or interesting characters. Even the credits for "Context Is For Kings" are sloppy; there is a person credited as the "Shenzhous computer" . . . when the Shenzhou does not appear at all in the episode!

But hey, there's another robot on the bridge and . . . I've got to go to the bathroom now to do what Star Trek: Discovery is doing to the Star Trek franchise.

For other works with Jason Isaacs, please visit my reviews of:
The OA - Season 1
The Harry Potter Saga
Friends With Money
Elektra

0/10

For other Star Trek episode, movie, and season reviews, please visit my Star Trek Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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