Discovery 2x2 "New Eden"

rating: ***

the story: Locating one of seven mysterious anomalies unexpectedly leads the crew to a distant human colony.

review: "New Eden" is Discovery in deep classic franchise mode, one of the very textbook episode archetypes.  If you don't recognize it from the above brief summary, you probably aren't a fan.  This one goes back to the original series, and there were even examples in both Voyager and Enterprise.  Actually, the episode's roots go so deep, it was directed by Jonathan Frakes (Riker from The Next Generation)!

The funny thing is, that's probably the least explored element of the episode.  As with most such attempts, Discovery seems only half-interested in such storytelling, as if to say that it knows what Star Trek's supposed to do, and it's enough merely to acknowledge.  But the second season so far has greatly deviated from the frenetic pattern of the first, and actually begins to look a lot like Enterprise's third season, the hunt for the Xindi that, like this arc, involved the search for anomalous objects in space (in Enterprise it was spheres).

What's perhaps more interesting about the episode is how it's helping Tilly take a more active role in the series.  Tilly is emerging as a polarizing figure among fans.  Some find her downright irritating.  This actually puts her in good company, as the franchise has frequently found characters like that (Wesley Crusher in Next Generation, any number of Ferengi in Deep Space Nine, Neelix in Voyager, among others) in the spotlight.  But in the first season, Tilly stood out in small moments, never really driving the plot, in a series composed of characters filled with lucrative intrigue.  In this season, she's taken on a far more active role, and even has started borrowing a little from Stamets, for instance, as she finds herself haunted by dead acquaintances.  This will, at any rate, by interesting to see develop.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - An old plot, and also echoes of a previous serialized season.
• series - A few interesting things to say about the season's arc.
• character - Tilly begins to emerge as a more important element of the series.
• essential - The clumsy way the old plot is handled is familiar to fans of the series by this point.

Discovery 2x1 "Brother"

rating: ****

the story: The crew takes on Pike as temporary captain to solve a dangerous riddle in space.

review: There's a ton going on in this second season premiere, but the concise way to explain is thusly: this is a great way kick things off, as well as continue what came before.  It all centers, once again, on Michael Burnham, as we delve once more into her backstory, as the adopted daughter of Sarek and now as foster sister of...Spock.

First of all, let's get this out of the way: "Brother" continues Discovery's penchant for setting up new characters in the series.  Burnham's arrival aboard the Discovery itself was deftly handled in the first season, and there's the same dynamic spirit again here, not only with Pike (in his third live action incarnation, as with Sarek), but the cocky (and amusingly short-lived) Connolly and Reno, whom I hope we see again, all lively personalities that likewise follow in the tradition of the likes of Tilly and Stamets.  If Star Trek used to have the reputation of holding back the personalities of actors playing humans (a criticism leveled against Voyager), Discovery seems determined to prove that as yet another thing it's enthusiastically kicked to the curb.

Visually this is now the standard by which all later generations are going to judge the franchise.  "Brother" is the strongest TV effort yet in that regard, if you consider such things important.  Funny for something that began on a shoestring budget and often looked like it.

But back to Burnham.  The episode leans heavily on things Discovery fans already know, but backtrack so that newer fans might be able to catch up, before plunging ahead with our first glimpses of Spock in the series, at this point as a boy the young Burnham first met.  She's been a character to reckon with since she first appeared, and is easily the essential element of the series.  That is to say, she has earned her right to stand alongside not only Sarek but Spock as well, regardless of whether or not the actor playing him is Leonard Nimoy (the late and much-lamented).  The episode is very careful about how it approaches Spock, even as it shows us, incredibly new things us about even him, his relationship with Sarek, and even more of what made his early life such a struggle to reconcile his human and Vulcan halves.

If that isn't enough, "Brother" also throws in two classic Star Trek storytelling beats: a lost Starfleet ship being rediscovered unexpectedly, and a baffling enigma in space.  Any or all of this ought to be intriguing to longtime fans, and seeing it afresh will hopefully help hook new ones.

Humor was obviously also injected somewhat deliberately, mostly in the character of Saru, something that would've greatly benefited his Short Treks entry, which saw none of this kind of inspired storytelling.  The brief reference to it in the episode is basically all you really need to know, until we inevitably see his sister again.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - A lot of stuff fans will appreciate.
• series - Beginning a fresh chapter doesn't mean the previous one is forgotten.
• character - All the returning main characters have at least a moment or two in which to shine, and several new ones are introduced brilliantly.
• essential - This is Discovery doing what it does best.

notable guest-stars:
James Frain (Sarek)
Mia Kirshner (Amanda)
Ethan Peck (Spock)
Tig Notaro (Reno)

Discovery - Short Treks 1x4 "The Escape Artist"

rating: ****

the story: Mudd has been captured...again.

review: Wow, so I begin to suspect there was no production overview on these Short Treks.  Two of them were attempts at profound statements, idea-wise or character-wise, and they more or less failed, and two of them were simply creative statements, and they were huge successes.  The latter I consider "Calypso" and now "The Escape Artist."  "Calypso" featured a totally new character while "Escape Artist" marks Harry Mudd's third Discovery appearance, and his best to date.

After a debut marred by an undercooked debut for Tyler in "Choose Your Pain" and a perhaps overly clever follow-up in "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad," Mudd at last stands front and center, and is all the more charming for it.  It's not Rainn Wilson who was ever the problem.  On the contrary, he proved an inspired choice (the most inspired casting choice of Discovery to date) to play this incarnation of Mudd.  Presentation of the character has also been remarkably consistent, more than enough to sell the, ah, virtues of a character who had become entangled in memories of the original (and animated) series but perhaps doomed to never escape it. 

There are even echoes of other Star Trek adventures here.  One can see Enterprise's "Bounty" in there; the two stories even share Tellarites in common, and I doubt that's coincidence.  But the difference is that Mudd isn't Captain Archer, and isn't even Starfleet.  What "Escape Artist" and "Calypso" do best, in fact, is prove that Star Trek doesn't need Starfleet to tell a worthwhile story, which is something the franchise hasn't really tried before.  As Mudd has reiterated a few times at this point, existing alongside the Federation but standing outside of it gives him ample opportunity to reflect on its existence (another thing the Abrams films, particularly Star Trek Beyond, have also touched on to considerable value).

"Escape Artist" takes full advantage of the Short Treks format, even using unusual editing for a Star Trek, which other entries would've greatly benefited from (particularly "Brightest Star"), and unlike the other three realizes that this was an opportunity to revisit something we had seen but could might see in even better light with added spotlight.  And it's something you could show anyone and they would more likely than not get a kick out of.  And that's as high praise as you can get for mass audiences.  For fans, it's a fun indulgence in a lot of familiar material, grounded by letting a fun character be at his most engaging.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - General fans will dig it.
• series - Committed fans will dig it.
• character - Arguably the best Mudd spotlight to date.
• essential - A great way to showcase Star Trek.

notable guest-stars:
Rainn Wilson (Harry Mudd)