Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 4x06 - "Stormy Weather"

[Sakonna]

After last week's disappointing episode, this one was a return to strong season 4 form for me. I remain impressed with how many problems that bedeviled Disco seasons 1 - 3 seem to have at last been resolved, though I'm still operating under the assumption Disco's most severe failing (inability to land a season arc) remains in effect. But god would I love to be wrong!

I most enjoy that they've at last found a way to keep the show focused on Burnham, while also allowing space for the rest of the cast to shine as well. And Burnham is further enriched when she's interacting with characters that register as characters, instead of props.

And finally we really deal with Zora! The ship needing therapy to get out of the crisis was a perfectly Discovery and perfectly Star Trek idea, and they executed it delightfully.

It was great to see Gray get some real screentime as well.

Now, if only they could figure out a way to deliver backstory on the bridge crew that's not an emotional speech delivered in the middle of a time-sensitive crisis. That Owo/Saru exchange was nice, but would have fit better among the tag scenes at the end of the episode.

The void was effectively frightening, and gave me great flashbacks to the exciting terror I felt as a little kid watching "Where Silence Has Lease."

How are they’re fires and sparks if there is no life support? I mean I know there would be some oxygen left but that that would be used up rather quickly.

Programmable matter -- the galaxies most flammable substance. It can burn uncontrollably, even in an airless void.

 

[DaveyNY]

One might assume that the ships main construction material must have some O2 molecules mixed in to its matrix.
Since it was very apparent that extremely high temperatures were involved as the hull broke down, that could be the source of the sparks.

At least no 'flame throwers' went off.

 

[IMC Headquarters]

I know our Star System is surrounded by a Wall of Plasma that is known as our "Heliopause" and can get as hot as ~ 49,426.667° C.

If our Star System has a "Wall of Fire" known as a "Heliopause"; I'm pretty sure most Star Systems has their own "Heliopause" / "Wall of Fire" that is filled with equally Hot Plasma.

Um...I'm not paranoid as a rule, but the heliopause leads me to conclude we're in trapped in solitary confinement. We are well and truly stuck here. And not by accident, either.

 

[Lord Garth]

I'm going to make this episode a 10, and retroactively rate the last episode a 9.

This is what boldly going where no one has gone before is to me. Space was scary, mysterious, no idea what's going to happen next, or if what they'll try to do will work. AI learning and growing.

I'm also glad that Book holds Grudge instead of holding a Grudge.

After the main plotline simmering in the background for a few episodes, it's come back into sharp focus again, and came back with a vengeance.

 

[cooleddie74]

So there's an Enterprise in this time period. Until contradicted by onscreen evidence I'm calling it the Enterprise-Z.

 

[bookworm8571]

Great episode. I really like the way they are developing Zora as feeling character whose body is the ship. It reminds me a bit of the Anne McCaffrey books I read as a kid about the Ship Who … It was also refreshing that they didn’t go the predictable route and have Book get angry and break up with Michael over manufactured conflict. I don’t know if they would spare time to share family stories before going into the pattern buffer, but I was happy to see Owo again and it was nice to learn Book’s real, original name and see his dad and cat, who I think is probably swearing at Michael, not complimenting her. I’m not all that fond of Gray’s hairstyle and piercings.

 

[BK613]

So, I've binged everything DSC since October and this may be my least favorite episode. Everything felt so contrived and so paint-by-numbers.

 

[cooleddie74]

The Galactic Barrier gets the first onscreen name drop in the franchise since 1968. Nice.

 

[Campe]

I had a huge smile on my face with the reference. Also makes me wonder if one of the characters is going to get Gary Mitchell-ed.

 

[cooleddie74]

At least we know now this is from another galaxy like the Planet Killer in TOS. Or the Kelvans who came from the Andromeda Galaxy in their long-term mission to conquer our galaxy. At least this isn't some standard Milky Way Galaxy threat we've probably heard of before and can picture in our heads.

 

[cooleddie74]

As a perpetual critic of DSC since the series began it's so weird seeing me giving so many consecutive good reviews when those less vocal in their problems with the show seem routinely disappointed by this season's episodes but this was a solid 9 for me. Gray got a lot more to do, Zora was further developed, Book's hallucination/Mycelial Network visitation by his late father was a nice touch and Michael almost getting broiled in an EV suit on the bridge was some dark fun. There were still issues with a couple of scenes taking too long to get the whole "feelings" message across but this one worked and very well, and dropped some cool references to earlier chapters of the franchise.

 

[Cap'n Calhoun]

The show also repeats my pet peeve with Star Trek, where no culture exists after the year 2000 and any reference to music has to be couched in what's contemporary to the audience.

Yeah, though as with Tom Paris's interest in the 20th century, it's something of an established pattern for the character given Zora's previous interests in Funny Face and Buster Keaton films. If she starts showing the crew episodes of Paw Patrol or something I'll have bigger questions.

So there's an Enterprise in this time period. Until contradicted by onscreen evidence I'm calling it the Enterprise-Z.

Well, there were plenty of letters left in the alphabet...

 

[IMC Headquarters]

Yeah...why didn't Michael shelter in a shuttle with full shields while wearing her EV suit? Surely she could still communicate with Zora? I know. Plot.

So the subspace rift is akin to the Phantom Zone? It's a great place to lose people if need arises. There's nothing there! Is the DMA some sort of intergalactic jailer?

Ooh! The Malon have new dumping grounds!

I like how Captain Burnham treats Zora with polite respect. It's not every captain who says, "Please" to the ship's computer when issuing orders.

 

[Seven of Five]

10 for me. I really enjoyed Zora singing to Michael as all hell was breaking loose on the bridge. It was a lovely visual.

Gray had more to do this week, which I really appreciated. His interactions with Zora were quite charming.

The whole setting in the void made the situation a dangerous one, which I always like to see more of in Star Trek.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

7

Well executed, but very thin on story.

It felt to me that the episode was basically making sure everyone participated, had some line or action that can be added to the Memory Alpha pages of each character. Few of these seem germane to who the characters were, and exposition really doesn't substitute for character development. Among the bridge crew, Owu was my favorite, but I thought her dialogue was shallow, just checking off a box. I would rather that she had pushed harder to get Saru to make the repairs. Book considering bloody revenge seems like a thin direction for the character. That said, I did find the performance with the dead father to be chilling.

 

[DaveyNY]

So there's an Enterprise in this time period. Until contradicted by onscreen evidence I'm calling it the Enterprise-Z.

There probably is, but I don't believe it was a current version that they were referring to.

They were referencing several past occurrences, so it had to be the Enterprise-D since it's the only other similar incident we are aware of.
Also, they specifically said "Voyager", not "Voyager-J".

 

[Roald]

Has anyone seen the preview for episode 7 yet at the Ready Room? Looks amazing, and the way Will describes this episode: this will be a must-see..!

 

[any_gopher]

Has anyone seen the preview for episode 7 yet at the Ready Room? Looks amazing, and the way Will describes this episode: this will be a must-see..!

I'm very excited about next episode because of the kinds of things it looked like that clip was addressing. This season has blown me away and I'm very excited for next week's episode. I'd relegated the galactic barrier as one of those TOS elements that would likely never be addressed again, but here we are 53 years later about to revisit the concept on-screen for the first time in all this time.

 

[valkyrie013]

Gave it an 8, lots better than the previous few episodes,

Few things.
That ensign shouldn't have died. He should have been transported away the second there was the breach. Hell even a few seconds latter would work to. Space is Not an instant death.

No one thought ... Let's send an unmanned probe in first to see if it's okay? Even a tethered one? No? Dive in head first into the rocky breakers? Sure!

I do miss Tng in that it rarely went back to the Tos well .. It was it's own thing. Disco is getting better but still to much relying on the past. Although a bit hypocritical of me to say.. If they show a doomsday machine I will squee

 

[eschaton]

I liked this episode, but I didn't love it as much as many seem to have.

There was a lot to like here, I admit. I was surprised that the main character of this particular episode was Zora! She is the only character in this episode who has an identifiable character arc from the beginning of the episode to the end, turning into a changed...computer...by the end of the run time. I liked that Gray actually had purpose in the story beyond just hanging out with Adira for once (they seem to be foreshadowing his leaving the ship, with his feelings of uselessness, and his continued discussion about wanting to be a Guardian on the Trill homeworld. The third strong character element was of course Book, and David Ajala again hit it out of the park here.

I was also happy with how effective this was as a bottle episode. Standing sets only, and (aside from hallucinations/visions of Book's father) no one but the core Discovery crew, with everyone playing an important story role. I thought the tension in the episode was very well communicated. I'm also happy that some forward movement was made on the seasonal plot arc - and it was at least a bit unexpected to me.

So what didn't I like? I continue to find the "family tree" thing carried over from last week lame, but that is a minor quibble. My big issue is - more than any other episode this season - this felt like a gross failure of one of the most basic elements of storytelling - show not tell. This episode was extremely talky, and when the well-composed emotional scenes are taken out of consideration, the remainder was laden with technobabble exposition, with the main cast telling us - over and over and over again - exactly what the issue at hand was. I think some of this in Trek episodes is inevitable - even part of the core concept of universe, where people for some reason narrate out loud whatever they are actually doing on a computer interface. But there was just so, so much of this - particularly in the first half of the episode - that it felt like I was watching someone dictate a plot synopsis rather than actually seeing a story onscreen. Lots of the scenes - from the destruction of the probe to the dude getting sucked out the airlock - would have been so much more effective with less interjections from the bridge crew. I just really wish the writers could find a way to actually develop the crisis of the week without having the main cast explain to us the crisis, and then troubleshoot the solution out loud.