Disco is so weird in that they have such high production values, but still manage to very obviously tell, not show, even - perhaps especially - during action sequences.
It’s just so hamfisted.
Excellent description.
Hoo boy, do I have some thoughts.
Spoiler
I’m not sure that hamfisted is the right word anymore. I don’t think the writers even know what they’re communicating, because it’s not that they are telling without showing, it’s that the subtext they’re showing us is so much worse than what they’re telling us. These writers work so damn hard to tell you that the featured crew on the hero ship are the most competent officers in Starfleet, when what they show is the complete opposite. It’s the worst combination: telling good and showing good is basically every other Trek series ever and makes you feel good; telling bad and showing good (Lower Decks) or telling bad and showing bad (Spaceballs, Airplane) makes you laugh. Telling good and showing bad paints characters as incompetent narcissists, which can work if you have likable characters (It’s Always Sunny), but it doesn’t work here. For repeatedly enabling bad behavior Kovich and Admiral Just-for-Men don’t escape that criticism either. Somewhat ironically, it’s the potted plants on the Disco bridge they’ve deliberately and frustratingly chosen not to flesh out (looking at you, Detmer) that are demonstrably better at their jobs.
So I’m sure the writers didn’t intend for me to be rooting for Raynor over Burnham, but that’s certainly the way I felt as the episode unfolded. Dude seems knowledgeable and has experience dealing with Daft Punk (I can’t take credit for that comparison, heard it on a podcast this morning) but Burnham kept getting in the way and fucking things up.
The mystery and monotone of Kovich’s character was interesting in S3, but anything he does or says has become so meaningless. So of course he had to be the one to deliver the setup for the season arc which has more holes than Elon’s sex doll. “Hey, we know about this thing, it’s super-dee-duper important to, like, everything you could possibly imagine. We’ve been capable of retrieving it but never really bothered to, but oh shit Daft Punk is on the way to steal it so you’d better get there RFN. Use any means necessary to secure it. I really mean that: dust anyone that gets in your way. Don’t think that this extremely important mission isn’t extremely important because I’m using the same tone of voice that I might use to read back your fast food order. And if you don’t succeed because you chose not to take a shot despite having a shot that you were ordered to take, I’ll kind of passively complain because that’s my shtick, but I’ll keep giving you critical missions because I might be just as much of a fuckup as you are. Here’s a photo of J-L Pipes as an empty gesture that will definitely win over the haters in our final season.”
For a show that relies so heavily on plot over character, the worst thing they ever did was introduce the personal transporter. It is a plot-shattering device, not in how they use it but in how they don’t use it. They showed Burnham and Book blipping all over a planet in the S3 premiere. So… why did the dirt bike chase have to happen? It was kinda awful all around, from its inception and the characters’ dialogue to the stilted acting and extremely weird editing. BSG knew to use short cuts of the actors in the Viper cockpit to make it look and feel real. In this episode there were multiple cuts of multiple seconds of actors just squinting into the dust.
But hey, Fred played a good Soong-type android, I guess.
All told, looks like the show is going out on the same notes they’ve been playing since season 3. Props for sticking to their guns, I guess, but it’s gonna be a slog.
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Watched E1, breathed a little sigh of relief, then saw that E2 had also dropped.
Was not prepared to make it a twofer.
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The Maguffin treasure hunt is some of the laziest writing I’ve seen in a while.
It’s like they read all the criticism of Rise of Skywalker, and then told it to hold their beer.
mother of god
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I’ve never watched a moment of Disco, but that sounds like a war crime.
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Just finished E2.
I think your summary/analysis was fantastic. Wanting to read it is what motivated me to watch the episode.
Summary
Daft Punk/Admiral Just-for-Men: chef kiss level smart assery
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Did they ever come back around to her eye implant causing her trouble, or was that just memory holed?
I think they’re comfortable with Michael being the only person in the galaxy.
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I can’t take credit for the nicknames since those come from a podcast I listen to. They come up with new nicknames for Vance for every episode, including:
- Admiral Stock Photo on a Wealth Management Website
- Admiral Actor In A Commercial For Generic Testosterone Pills
- Admiral Stern Stepdad You Didn’t Understand Growing Up But Now That You’re An Adult You Sort Of Understand Why He Was The Way He Was
- Admiral You Can’t Precisely Smell His Cologne, But The Room Just Feels Classier When He’s In It
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60% of the time, it works every time.
There was that, and some discussion of her having the yips after the ship crashed on that ice planet, and sometime after that was the senior staff team-building dinner that Saru organized where where she got overly sarcastic about their jump to the future and killed the mood. All in season 3. Since then it’s been nothing but dramatic eyes to Owo and a steady diet of "Yes, Captain"s.
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I have watched the entire show, and I have no idea who Owo is or that there was even a character called Owo.
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Owosekun, the ops officer that sits next to Detmer. You didn’t remember from S2 that she studied ancient religions, or from S3 that she was a swimmer and could hold her breath for a long time??
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With a backstory like that she must be getting a spinoff.
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Ummmmmm…nope.
An underrated part of Discovery is how they set up a problem, formulate a plan, then slam on the brakes as the characters have emotional conversations about this thing that could end all life. Or about their romantic relationships. Or impending professional changes.
Because that galactic emergency can probably wait.
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I said something similar when we watched these 2 episodes: there’s not an awful lot of hurry up going on considering what’s happening. Eureka is like that too but it’s more than a tad less serious show (depending on the size of one’s tad).
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The latest episode of X-Men '97 is blowing up the internet. Anyone watching?