User Reviews

Oh, thank GOD they finally got rid of the annoying Gray / Adira story line! Both of them were like the 1st season Wesley Crusher of Discovery! Good, Gray got a synth body. Fine. GOOD BYE. Take your chicklet teeth and tight, blinky eyes and that just irritating requirement that you barge into every conversation with the bridge crew, and get the f off the ship. And take that spastic Tilly wanna-be with you. It is a shame that this plot took up so much oxygen in this episode.

Otherwise, great mid/late season cliff hanger.

One might be pleased to hear that this mid-season finale is somewhat (a big somewhat) akin to classic Trek in that there is no action in the entire episode. Instead, it focuses on most of the Milky Way Galaxy conversing on what action should be taken regarding the DMA: destroy it with the possible consequence of harm to species 10C and damaging warp sub space making warp travel impossible in the immediate area, or, locate species 10C and make first contact. Burnham advocates for peaceful first contact, while Booker moves for destroying the DMA.

There are two plots to the episode, but neither one takes precedence over the other as they both entail the destruction or preservation of the Milky Way Galaxy. The problem with Zora's plot is that it is fine on its own (in fact this is the element which makes the episode feel like classic Trek) but as part of the whole it seems like the writers needed the rest of the cast to do something equally important to the Galactic summit. As a result, this makes the Galactic Summit of HUNDEREDS OF SPECIES DECIDING THEIR OWN FATE feel unimportant: even if they do succeed, there is a chance Zora might still decline and the summit was all for naught. On the other hand, the Galactic summit feels more like a "senate episode" from the CLONE WARS than it does Star Trek. To be honest, the I know the Galaxy is massive, but this meeting of the four quadrants makes the Galaxy feel really, really small. We see multiple representatives from the same species giving different or stacked votes, it doesn't quite make sense. Unless of course that is the other element from classic Trek that is being borrowed... the recycling of props and resources!

The whole episode, in fact, most of the first half of this season goes by really slowly even though there is some action. This could be to build tension, but instead it makes the pacing of the show very slow. "The Examples" was by far the best episode of the season, with not much action, but also playing into the mystery of the DMA. By "...But To Connect" we still don't know a lot about the DMA, and yet the mystery and urgency seems gone. In a serialized show, the lack of action may be to the episode's detriment, as we only see a portion of the story and a partial conclusion. The events of this episode appear to have happened because the writers needed something to happen. We all know the conclusion of the episode before it even happens, but the obstacles for the characters seem a little contrived. There are some good elements to this episode, but overall it is mediocre, similar to the rest of season 4's first half. We shall see how season 4's second half goes, I am excited to uncover the mystery of species 10C!

There's a big debate about whether to try and communicate with those who made the anomaly.

Or just blow the whole thing up.

There's another debate about what to do with the new sentient Ai on the Discovery, since it's not being entirely cooperative.

Not terrible, but we've been through all these moral dilemmas before many times in other episodes. So it all feels a bit pointless. Gray and Aidra are in it again just because. Whereas the Bridge Crew are once again off doing whatever and hoping they might get some screen time next week. Maybe.

At least David Cronenburg does once again. He is always worth it. Nice to have a succinct character with certainties who doesn't dither.

Slightly unnecessary dropping of the F bomb at the end as one character does what the plot requires of them.

Ho hum.

Two stories and both deal with a moral quandary.

Zora the sentient computer is refusing to follow orders due to the safety of the crew. Stamets is anxious of the potential impact of AI turning bad.

Adira and Gray support Zora and it is left to Kovich to adjudicate.

The Federation get a plan from Ruon Tarka to blow up the DMA using banned weapons.

Book is all up for this and is prepared to betray Michael who opposes it.

This looks like another bottle episode. Again this might had been fine in a long running season format of previous Star Treks. It just halts the momentum of the shorter serial structure of Discovery.

The series arc has come to a halt. Moral debates about artificial lifeforms being treated as a new species has been done before.

It looks like Star Trek: Discovery has definitely been affected by Covid related filming restrictions. It is all so inert.

The big guy says that any one of the crew has enough information to destroy Discovery. So someone like Booker (one of the most tiresome characters I've ever seen) can ignore the wishes of a whole universe and go off half cocked with that Narcissistic nut case engineer. Meanwhile, you know who, makes a speech and turns every diplomate in the galaxy around. They were so stupid until she said her piece. And then the computer is made a member of the crew and that's all it takes to give up the information. What about the danger to the crew. When did that change? There is no bigger supporter of LGBT issues than I am, and yet the constant hugging and kissing on screen by the obviously gay characters grates on me. Isn't it enough that they have embraced stereotypes from the deep past. They have to snuggle every time something is accomplished. I don't see any of the rest of the crew doing that. The gay people I know are as diverse and unique in the way they approach life as any other members of society. I suppose now that Booker is off to destroy the threat, things may come to a head. Oh, he should be brought in for treason, but it would hurt his feelings, so forget about it.

There was not much in this episode to talk about. There were 2 plot lines and both were slow and boring.

The Federation votes for first contact with species 10-c and Zora is declared a new life form so she can stay as the computer of the Discovery. Zora was clearly brought as a metaphor for non-binary people.

The ending with Tarka and Book going rogue could be seen from 5 light years ahead. Honestly the trailer for the last 4 episodes had more excitement than this episode.

The 2nd half of season 3 and almost the entirety of season 4 don't click with me. While I certainly can understand why some people are enjoying Discovery more because of it, it resembles too much of a soap opera for me.

I really don't mind personal talks about feelings and emotions but since the last season that taken the centre stage instead of the science fiction stories and that's what bothers me. Star Trek always left me in awe about space and its wonders, the miracles of future science, time travel, all the while connecting to real world dilemmas and moral problems. It was always a nice balance but in Discovery we get barely any space travel, new species or cool stories. There is one mystery that is slowly being revealed and we get some other story snippets here and there, but 90% of the episodes are about people talking about there feelings and emotions.

It would click more with me if the characters had been developed better, but we still hardly know the bridge crew. The only time they get to shine are when they can share an anecdote about their life which makes them a convenient vehicle to drive the plot to a new stage. It is all about plot convenience.

The main character doesn't click with me either. She feels like a super hero, always being right and always bring at the centre of every problem and solution. Her actions barely have any negative consequences and that just makes her too flawless and therefore unlikeable. Plus the incessant whispering and crying doesn't make it any better.

I wouldn't mind if this is the last season of Disco. The first 2 seasons were great but the last 2 seasons were just boring for me. Going into the future I believe Disco will go down as the one Star Trek series that has almost no classic masterpiece episodes, I certainly can't name one. I hope Strange New Worlds will build on the foundation that Disco has built and improve vastly upon it. Sometimes you just need to fail to know how to make something great.