Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 5x08 - "Labyrinths"

[Jedman67]

Back to be being boring. I mean this one was really bad. You got a interesting concept with the library but it's just backdrop to once again for the 500th time to key to solving the problem is Burnham getting in touch of with her feelings and then when she does it's treated as this remarkable thing. Because of course no other person has ever comes to terms that they might have trauma or flaws within themselves.

The Breen have been turned into bad comic book bad guys. Or something out of Power Rangers. With what's her name now the leader after killing the other dude it really got silly and why do they have factions? Like they are Klingons or something. The shows final season , which started off fine is turning into just more of the same.

I don't really agree with this, but wouldn't it have been nice to give Stamets, or even Reno a chance at solving this particular puzzle? What I don't like about DSC and SNW is the lack of depth to secondary and tertiary characters compared to DS9.

The bridge crew - what happened to Owashekun and the scarecrow lady? Linus doesn't even get comic relief!
After 47 episodes, We know the ensemble almost superficially and the main guys too well.
A little variation with Burnham stepping back a little to let the other guys breathe would have been nice.

I still gave this a 9, because it was excellently produced; the test being a psychological rather than a puzzle made it interesting, as did Burnhams not figuring that part out to the end.

The Breen crashing the party at the last minute was a nice touch, Star Trek works by having the enemy show up when you least expect it (unless you're the audience).

It was nice that the Breen were not 1 dimensional for a change, even if the Primarch was a bit too cartoonishly villain.

 

[Phoenix219]

I've figured out why I'm so off on these threads - Since I'm the anti-binger, and only watch one a week, i started out behind with the first 3 episodes coming out at once. Heh.

I actually had a lot of fun with this episode, and really enjoyed the bulk of it, but at the last scene, I had an honest to god good laugh at the show's expense. I might have been just the perfect amount of stoned, but man, did that seem hilariously bad to me.

 

[Jedman67]

I've figured out why I'm so off on these threads - Since I'm the anti-binger, and only watch one a week, i started out behind with the first 3 episodes coming out at once. Heh.

I actually had a lot of fun with this episode, and really enjoyed the bulk of it, but at the last scene, I had an honest to god good laugh at the show's expense. I might have been just the perfect amount of stoned, but man, did that seem hilariously bad to me.

I actually binged 6-9 this week. I've been slowly catching up over the past month.

 

[Kzinti]

books actor was really good in this one(as usual) but the archive ''faction'' was a bit of a pushover for something that's been around a 1000 year they should have given them a bit more teeth still the episode was fine

7.5/10

 

[Phoenix219]

I was going to point out you could click on the video and get the full title, then I saw the icon in the corner indicating it's a Major Grin video and realized why you haven't done that.

I will never understand the hate for Major Grin videos. He's not a hater. Its mild comedy at best. Its nitpicking, no different then the things we do here. He is far from one of the hate-mongers that are so despised here. He loves Trek and loves the minutia and has pointed out things I wouldn't have noticed in a million years. Its not hate. He's not Doomcock.

 

[Phoenix219]

He is jealous that Discovery has been better than Picard season 3, that's all.

Ahahahah.

not even close. Picard S3 was so good that it made me forgive 2 decades of hate for the 24th century, after Generations.

This has been the most watchable and fun disco has been since the beginning of S1 and the beginning of S2, but still doesn't touch Picard S3....

imo, ymmv.

 

[Phoenix219]

TOS is not really a ensemble show but it's not the Kirk show either even though he is the star. It was all about Kirk/Spock/Bones. Nobody on Discovery was ever treated as important to the show as Spock and Bones were to TOS. Book sort of is in the final season but for the most everyone's purpose on the show has to more or less been to come and along and affirm Burnham's feelings or skills or whatnot.

At some point last season, I almost thought they had figured out the formula - Michael, Book and Saru as the new Triad, the emotions (book) and logic (saru) being brought to Michael (Kirk) for the human decision to be made. I always thought it was a shame they went away from that so quickly. They could do it again with Raynor, but now the show is over. Meh.

 

[Phoenix219]

Anyway...

I liked the episode. The Library was cool in and of itself. Burnham's various wrong guesses were amusing (especially the maze and sand). Moll's constant undermining of the Primarch was fun to watch, but even with that I didn't guess she'd kill him and take over. As someone else wrote, L'ak would be sad and angry (and may still be) to watch her use his Scion-ness to take the kind of power he never wanted.

Book (both of them) was the MVP here. His reaction to the root from his world tree was sublime. While we've seen Burnham deal with some of her insecurities before, my favorite bit here was when she resignedly said, "can you at least tell me what the test was?"

I'm wondering if they'll pull a subversion and the McGuffin won't be able to raise L'ak, leaving Moll to actually deal with her grief.

This made me think of Who Watches the Watchers, with the not-vulcan begging The Picard to bring back the dead, but it just not in the scope of his power to do so. It would be very fitting if the Progenitors, and their relationship to us, was the exact same dynamic. (Much like earlier discussion has compared it to the Genesis device.) A lot of the more things change, the more things stay the same.

I know everyone else knows the ending already, but I'm still 2 weeks away, and still speculating. lol.

 

[fireproof78]

I will never understand the hate for Major Grin videos. He's not a hater. Its mild comedy at best. Its nitpicking, no different then the things we do here. He is far from one of the hate-mongers that are so despised here. He loves Trek and loves the minutia and has pointed out things I wouldn't have noticed in a million years. Its not hate. He's not Doomcock.

Its not funny.

I haven't enjoyed one of this videos.

 

[The Wormhole]

I will never understand the hate for Major Grin videos. He's not a hater. Its mild comedy at best. Its nitpicking, no different then the things we do here. He is far from one of the hate-mongers that are so despised here. He loves Trek and loves the minutia and has pointed out things I wouldn't have noticed in a million years. Its not hate. He's not Doomcock.

He has a very clear and obvious bias against the modern shows.

 

[Phoenix219]

He has a very clear and obvious bias against the modern shows.

There is nothing wrong with liking the older stuff better. He doesn't attack the new shows with hate. He contrasts scenes with each other to show discrepancies or to make mild comedy. A lot of these videos have nothing to do with the new shows. He's a clever creator and it is not mean spirited. He is a master of the minutiae. And that is the most Star Trekkian thing of all.

 

[fireproof78]

And that is the most Star Trekkian thing of all.

No.


Diversity of interests is. Minutia is fine but emphasizing it over characters, stories and themes is missing the forest for the trees.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Hmm. About half an hour in, and the lights are going out. The Inner Lights.

. . .

The Primarch had it coming!

I gave it a 9.