Warning: Spoilers ahead for “Star Trek: Discovery” Season 4, Episode 6This most current episode more or less marks the halfway point in this fourth season of “Star Trek: Discovery” and its tough to tell quite which direction its going in. Following last weeks episode– where the story pace was provided an intravenous cocktail of high octane jet fuel, nitroglycerin and that disgusting-looking “wake-up juice” Doc Brown has to drink in “Back to The Future Part III”– the apogee of action and enjoyment continues and who better to take on that directorial difficulty than an individual with as much experience as Mr. Frakes.If the entire season had been as action-packed as this weeks episode is, it wouldve been a different experience. And aside from one contrived element to the story, this is most likely the most entertaining episode so far and it provides some fascinating instructions that the story may take, definitely ones that are wide open for discussion.We start with a great link to last weeks episode as Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) develops her own household tree inspired by the lalogi orb Felix gave to Burnham at the end of “The Examples” (Season 4, Episode 5). Its the first of a few old-school elements that return in this episode and thats fantastic, however therein lies the primary issue with “Discovery,” every episode really feels totally different; theres really little continuity, if any, between discussion designs and content.There are lots of good, primarily downplayed touches to this episode that have actually been doing not have in others so far. And theyre definitely not used so delicately as to change stairs or passages, regardless of how advanced we may we be 1,100 years from now.The first transporter mishap took place in “The Original Series” episode “The Enemy Within” (Season 1, Episode 4) when Captain Kirk was inadvertently duplicated in the transporter and something comparable occurred to Will Riker in “The Next Generation” episode “Second Chances” (Season 6, Episode 24).
Caution: Spoilers ahead for “Star Trek: Discovery” Season 4, Episode 6This newest episode basically marks the midway point in this fourth season of “Star Trek: Discovery” and its hard to inform rather which direction its going in. Episode 6, entitled “Stormy Weather” also marks the first installation in Season 4 that “Star Trek” alumni Jonathan Frakes has directed and it has his trademark handprints all over it. Following last weeks episode– where the story pace was offered an intravenous cocktail of high octane jet fuel, nitroglycerin which disgusting-looking “wake-up juice” Doc Brown has to consume in “Back to The Future Part III”– the apogee of action and excitement continues and who better to take on that directorial obstacle than a private with as much experience as Mr. Frakes.If the entire season had been as action-packed as todays episode is, it wouldve been a various experience. Because an equally paced seasonal story arc runs out the concern, recentlys episode did a great deal of heavy lifting, by altering the nature of the dark matter anomaly, together with introducing some flamboyant tertiary characters and mashed potato. And aside from one contrived component to the story, this is most likely the most amusing episode so far and it presents some interesting directions that the story might take, certainly ones that are wide open for discussion.We start with a good link to recentlys episode as Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) creates her own household tree motivated by the lalogi orb Felix offered to Burnham at the end of “The Examples” (Season 4, Episode 5). Its a great 32nd-century item placement for Ancestry.com. We also discover that wouldve been Books (David Ajala) fathers birthday today, which sets up a nice sub-story later in the episode.Much to everyones excitement, Burnham announces that the Discovery is going to go into the subspace rift left behind by the DMA. Hopefully some careful analysis will offer some ideas as the origin of the anomaly. Saru (Doug Jones) offers some useful exposition in an exceptionally long Discovery corridor tracking shot and we find out that the flight into the rift will rough and slow. While their discussion typically lets them down, Burnham and Saru do make a really efficient command team.Frakes incorporates some simple-but-effective screen wipes to produce an old-fashioned-style montage of ecstatic crewmembers dropping whatever theyre carrying out in their downtime to all set themselves for the imminent mission. Its the first of a few old-school aspects that return in this episode whichs fantastic, however therein lies the main issue with “Discovery,” every episode really feels completely various; theres really little continuity, if any, between presentation styles and content.There are numerous nice, mainly understated touches to this episode that have actually been lacking in others up until now. (Image credit: Paramount+) Suddenly, rather of a long, rough journey through the plasma barrier of the subspace rift, the ride becomes as smooth as glass. All scans are useless as there is quite literally absolutely nothing out there; no stars, no plasma barrier, no gas clouds, no nothing. Burnham extremely wisely introduces a DOT-23 robotic drone to investigate, instead of risk a life. And her decision proves to be the best one when the drone experiences the edge of the rift and starts to disintegrate, yelling as it does so … in an unusually dark moment in “Star Trek: Discovery” worthy of a Wilhelm scream. Roll opening credits.The crew goes through a well-conceived strategy in order to get answers. A photonic flare fired at the same speed with a similar trajectory as the bad drone suggests that the sub-space bubble that the Discovery remains in, is collapsing. So now we have our ticking clock for this episode. Geek note: Its refreshing that an “inverse tachyon pulse” wasnt discussed at any point because Saru did reference the Enterprise breaching a subspace barrier earlier and we assume that was from “The Next Generation” series finale “All Good Things” (Season 7, Episodes 25 and 26). We get to the most contrived portion of this episode, the brand-new relationship in between Zora (voiced by Annabelle Wallis) and Gray Tal (Ian Alexander). Its such a shame that neither Gray nor Adira (Blu del Barrio) have been provided more powerful, better-written parts to play. Its excellent to see “Star Trek” embracing a metaphoric story reflecting the journey of a really individual change and weve seen a great deal of that, but its not exactly subtle anymore and its totally possible to fill a good idea. Given that its topical this week, with the release of “The Matrix Resurrections,” we need to remind ourselves that the extremely first “Matrix” movie launched in 1999 was a trans allegory composed by two closeted trans females which contains many referrals to the trans experience. But those were indirect and intriguing, the referrals in “Star Trek: Discovery” arent fascinating or subtle any longer. (Theres an excellent article on Vox about “The Matrix” and its value to both the Wachowski sisters.) The team of the USS Discovery ready themselves to endeavor into what lies beyond the Eye of Sauron. (Image credit: Paramount+) Since efforts to learn anything about the subspace void have mostly stopped working, Burnham aborts the mission and orders a withdrawal. There are no reference points in area to utilize to navigate, so theyre stuck. The group at Paramount behind this episode, be it the authors or the director, have done a good task of gradually and effectively shutting down every avenue of escape for the hapless crew of the Crossfield class starship.Zora, whose character expands at an exponential rate this episode, cant assist and warp drive is not an option. Its up to Book and Stamets (Anthony Rapp) to leap Discovery out using the spore drive. This does not work out and Book ends up on the getting end of a plasma energy rise. This produces another enjoyable sub-story, Books heated argument with the hallucination of his dead dad (played by Rothaford Gray) and while this trope has actually ended up being a cliché with time, its handled well and is pleasurable to enjoy. Were left hoping after the first hallucination, that this is in fact an episode-long sub-story and well see him again, which we do, of course.Gray helps Zora focus in a scene abundant in contrived discussion and in doing so Zora is able to detect “something unusual” on the outside hull of deck 17. And with little more than that, theres an unexpected hull breach that makes no genuine sense except to eliminate bad Ensign Cortez and thus reinforce the severity of the Discoverys plight. And allowing the VFX group to enjoy a bit of twisted enjoyable. The reason why its that specific part of the Discoverys hull and why it survived the shields isnt effectively explored.If the USS Discovery is Zora, and shes a sentient AI, were all the little DOT remote drones sentient too? (Image credit: Paramount+ )At this point Zora emerges from behind the bulkheads and presents herself to everyone on the bridge … and it ends up being main: The USS Discovery is now a living, sentient starship, like if HAL from “2001: A Space Odyssey” had a daughter with Moya from “Farscape.” And in all fairness, you need to wonder why this hasnt happened prior to, provided what else 32nd-century innovation has to offer– and that will constantly be a problem when you propel a sci-fi show a thousand years into the future.Book continues to argue into thin air, worrying those who happen to be standing next to or near him, with the hallucination representing his survivor guilt. And its not simply Book, Zoras having issues with regret as well and seeks consolement from both Burnham and Gray, declaring her sentient lifeform status and her place now as a member of the crew.In sickbay, Dr. Culber (Wilson Cruz) has been evaluating some unusual particles in Books brain that might or might not be causing the hallucinations. Turns out they reveal proof of having come from the edge of the galaxy and when you follow this bunny hole to its end, its apparent that the DMA came from outside our galaxy and so did the types that made it. Because of course.You d believe they might beam him into an emergency situation escape field with the innovation of the 32nd century. (Image credit: Paramount+) With simply 10 minutes left up until the shields are compromised, a strategy is hatched: Detect these particles in the rift and follow them out, but to guarantee the crews security when the shields finally fail, everyone is going to be stored in the ships transporter pattern buffer.Ah, the transporter buffer. That old chestnut. In spite of beaming ending up being a very common part of daily life of the 32nd century, to the extent that folk use transporters rather of stairs and even to just change clothing, like we saw in the Season 4 premiere episode– but the thing is, transporters eliminate you.Science Bit: The creators of “Star Trek” have never formally verified that transporters eliminate you. However, exclusively based upon the science, transporters do eliminate you. In easy terms, these teleportation devices scan every particle in your body and briefly store them in the pattern buffer, while at the exact same time, the original body is to all functions and intents, disintegrated. The transporter then transforms the scanned copy into energy and beams the information stream to the desired location, where the body is rebuilt, from a sub-atomic level, utilizing innovation similar to a replicator. Its similar in principle to a fax, other than this fax maker destroys the initial, to prevent duplication, although that has been understood to happen.The problem is basically an existential one. Because our bodies are comprised of identifiable matter, why will not transference of consciousness happen? What makes our consciousness so special? Whats the difference in between a similar copy and you? If you were to put your copy into a different space that you had not enjoyed, would you be able to see it? No. Its a perfect copy, but its not you. There is a good short article on Ars Technica that actually goes into detail on this.This is just among lots of reasons why “Enterprise” is my favorite series of “Star Trek,” since unlike numerous other incarnations of chronologically-later set shows, using transporters is considerably less, particularly as a primary plot. And theyre certainly not used so delicately regarding change passages or stairs, no matter how innovative we may we be 1,100 years from now.The first transporter mishap happened in “The Original Series” episode “The Enemy Within” (Season 1, Episode 4) when Captain Kirk was mistakenly duplicated in the transporter and something similar occurred to Will Riker in “The Next Generation” episode “Second Chances” (Season 6, Episode 24). Its the TNG episode “Relics” (Season 6, Episode 4) when Captain Montgomery Scott was discovered to be saved inside the pattern buffer of a ship that crashed on a Dyson sphere more than 75 years prior, thats possibly more relevant.Diced into cubes and sent out up to area in a million pieces. This is what happens when teleport fails. (Image credit: United International Pictures) Everyone gets together in groups and holds hands, like we used to do at kindergarten, before they all get scanned, broke down and stored on a computer system they hope operate on something more sophisticated than El Capitan. Burnham chooses to remain with her ship and Zora.Book fixes most likely more with himself than with his hallucination, and the last scene as he wishes his dead father a happy birthday is quite touching. Another touching moment rapidly follows as Book races to bid farewell to Burnham before he gets diced into a million pieces and she deals with the complete fire and fury of the subspace rift.The last act establishes the tension perfectly as we see interior shots of Discoverys deserted corridors, totally without anybody or any activity as Zora has actually shut down the starships life assistance and Burnham prepares herself on the bridge with absolutely nothing however an environment match to protect her. The scene may or might not be a deliberate nod to the legendary 1980 sci-fi adjustment of “Flash Gordon” but I for one, would far rather be listening to the power chords of Brian May and the “Flash Gordon” soundtrack flying a starship through a treacherous field of flames on a possible suicide mission … than a super soft, vocal variation of the 1933 torch tune “Stormy Weather.” Practical Exercise: Rewatch the scene where Burnham is on the bridge, which is ablaze as the Discovery hurtles like a comet through the subspace barrier … and listen to this. Tell me you would not be screaming at Zora to dial the volume as much as 11.” Ah well, who wants to live for forever ?! Zora, call the volume up to 11 and play Queen on loop.” (Image credit: Universal Pictures) Burnham eventually wakes up in sickbay as Zora and safely beamed everyone out of the transportation buffer. Back at Federation HQ, Saru has a fascinating discussion with Book as they see the Discovery being repaired in spacedock. Saru even mentions on how quickly programmable matter is making the repair work, just to perfectly set us up for next weeks episode. Book likewise says on his own anger as an outcome of his current experience, potentially setting up a “forgiveness” aspect to the plot in case the DMA ends up being unintentional or an unintended by-product of something, much like the deaths of millions were inadvertently triggered by a grouchy Kelpien on a world made of dilithium.No indication of Ruon Tarka today, will he pop up again in the next five episodes? Ideally, it will be slightly more fulfilling than Zarehs last-minute reappearance last season.Yes, this episode is great (apart from one bit)– in fact, its the very best up until now this season– however I still feel bruised from being bumped around so much with so lots of various styles of episodes. There are a great deal of twists and turns in this installation, but it keeps you on your toes and the action, as considerable as it is, is evenly spread out throughout. Zora has been fully fleshed out, so maybe we are still predestined for some sort of possible future we saw in the “Short Trek” episode “Calypso”. The only small grumble about her development spurt today is that she appears to have problem with some fundamental things but then has definitely no issue interpreting an intricate mix of tone, facial expression and non-verbal approaches of communication.Weekend on Rigel II ✓ The “tree of life” link to last weeks episode is an extremely nice touch Everybodys character is checked out a little bit more in this episode Robot and crewmember deaths are dark! Absolutely nothing like a great old-fashioned outrageous escape plot, fantastic Lots of excellent action that is effectively and uniformly spread outImprisoned on Rura Penthe ✗ Zora often battles with fundamental things, but can quickly analyze NVC There are no wires in the 32nd century.? No sign of Ruon Tarka today Missed chance to play the “Flash Gordon” soundtrack by Queen Adira and Gray just arent being completely utilizedRating: 6.5/ 10The initially 6 episodes of Season 4 of “Star Trek: Discovery” are available to watch now and subsequent installations will drop every Thursday on Paramount+ in the United States and CTV Sci-Fi or Crave Television in Canada. Countries beyond North America can watch on the Pluto television Sci-Fi channel.Paramount announced on Twitter today (Dec. 23) that “Star Trek: Discovery” will be taking a mid-season break after next week, with the mid-season ending dropping on Thursday, Dec, 30. The season will then return with brand-new episodes, beginning with Episode 8, on Feb. 10, 2022. Thats a break of six weeks!Todays finest Paramount Plus dealsFollow Scott Snowden on Twitter. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
