Reviews

This was a very painful episode to watch - I will not go into all parallel stories involving the crew and their new number one, or Saru, or Gray, or... or... you get the picture.

No. The problem is that the central point of the plot is poorly written and poorly executed.

The crew needs to solve a riddle to beam down - but then you learn that Moll was already there (don't ask me how, I didn't write the story).

And then a wild goose chase led by an 800 Trill who is just keen to go hiking? And fire bursting creatures? And then all this talk about how this technology can be dangerous just to give them to Starfleet without even asking how it will be used?

Ohhhhh. Painful. Silly.

Now, I tend to agree with those reviewers who says this is a good show. It offers a fresh take on a 'who-took-my-child' mystery, and most acting is quite good.

However, I can't help feeling that the personal trauma of the main character has very little to do with her motivations, and the frequent flashbacks are an irritating distraction. I presume that the director wishes to convey that her past experiences drive her to keep pushing forward, but that is not clear. We only see her pain, and then... the matter of the pedophile ring is addressed in a slopshod manner. Suddenly all references to the video, her flashbacks, all gone? Honestly, all this thing about her rape could have been edited out, and it world not have affected the story. In fact, it would probably have improved the pace.

We really enjoyed the way the story was set - characters were mostly credible, bar some minor details. And then... suddenly nothing else makes sense.

The first issue is with the prosecutor - really? She changes her name and no one recognises her? Wow!

The wife is also great. She endures everything to suddenly give up after all is sorted out?

Real shame. This could have been a much better discussion on the behaviour of predatory males and how power is used against victims, or how difficult it is to know what really happens in a relationship where one side uses his power. But no. Silly ending.

I love ST in any form, and will watch it even when stories are not that great. This is the case here. The episode has some great moments, particularly the references to the ideal of the Federation. However, I could have done with the first and last third sections of the story and simply ignored the whole fist fight-miraculous escape-chase scene that bridged the landing on the planet and us finding out about who Book is and what remains of the Federation. This whole section in the trading post added absolutely NOTHING to the story. Also, I can't help feeling that a good part of Season 3 will be devoted to "where could Discovery be?"- that's what the central plot will most likely be. I know that current streaming formats tend to favor long arcs to keep viewers tuned in, this maximising advertising revenues. However, this is unfortunately done at the expense of a good story - as was the case in this episode. Still, we'll weather it - it's ST, after all. Just keep wishing we could have better stories.