{"id":7814,"date":"2021-05-03T08:00:05","date_gmt":"2021-05-03T15:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=7814"},"modified":"2021-04-26T10:52:16","modified_gmt":"2021-04-26T17:52:16","slug":"mark-watches-discovery-s01e13-whats-past-is-prologue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2021\/05\/mark-watches-discovery-s01e13-whats-past-is-prologue\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches &#8216;Discovery&#8217;: S01E13 &#8211; What&#8217;s Past is Prologue"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In the thirteenth episode of the first season of <i>Star Trek: Discovery<\/i>, this was simply one of the finest <i>Trek<\/i> episodes ever. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch <i>Star Trek<\/i>.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Holy shit, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so impressed. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so thrilled. MY HEART WAS RACING A MILLION MILES AN HOUR WHEN THIS ENDED, OKAY. I know some of the writing decisions haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t been my favorite as I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve watched this, but I also know that I was missing pieces of the whole. I was upset about losing Georgiou because of the potential for that relationship with Burnham, but now I have&#8230; <i>this<\/i>. Which is so tantalizing and absurd and literally not what I could have ever expected, and I must admit that I am completely and utterly interested to see what the show is going to do. Am I pleased with the story of Dr. Culber? Not yet, even though I appreciated the highly emotional use of Dr. Culber\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s words to guide Stamets (and the <i>Discovery<\/i>) home. (I am still maintaining hope that Dr. Culber\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s line about how nothing really goes away in the network is the canon means of bringing him back, becuase otherwise I will feel some THINGS about this writing choice.)<\/p>\n<p>So here I am, with the conclusion of multiple arcs and journeys sitting in my lap, and I can barely fathom what I just experienced. This was the culmination of a lot of story beats, yes, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a thrilling and exhilarating episode in its own right. It felt both refreshing and utterly <i>Star Trek<\/i> at the same time, which is a feat. There is not a wasted fucking SECOND in this script!!! I do enjoy a lot of the five classic <i>Trek<\/i> shows, and I hope that was obvious during my watch of them, but I also know that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a specific kind of <i>Trek<\/i> pacing. While there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s certainly more room to breathe at times, that also resulted in some episodes feeling stretched out or a little thin. (Let us all take a moment to bow our heads in respect for that <i>The Next Generation<\/i> episode that was so boring I quite <i>literally<\/i> feel asleep during it.) At the same time, I got the sense that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Past is Prologue\u00e2\u20ac\u009d fit neatly within the <i>spirit<\/i> of what <i>Trek<\/i> can be, especially in that it is an utter repudiation of what the Terran Empire stood for, right up until the end, when Burnham LITERALLY saves a Terran from the inevitable conclusion of her life within that place.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>GOD I AM SO EXCITED FOR THE NEXT EPISODE.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>So, my thoughts are scattered. There are a number of completely spellbinding moments in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Past is Prologue,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d so let me try to cover them all. HERE WE GO.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I actually want to start with a question, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not even sure it will be addressed. But&#8230; what happened to the Prime Universe version of Gabriel Lorca? I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need this episode to answer that; I think that is out of the scope of the story this script had to tell. But somehow, Lorca was able to infiltrate the <i>Discovery<\/i> seamlessly, and I assume he had to take out the <i>real<\/i> Lorca, right? OH MY GOD, IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S NOW HITTING ME: Cornwell was concerned because she believed Lorca had changed after the <i>Buran<\/i> disaster. He fucking LITERALLY DID. The amount of hinting this season did to the truth of Lorca is ASTOUNDING. I mentioned this in the video, but I think one of the key elements of making a good plot twist work is to hint at the truth without most people figuring it out. And actually? If someone does? That doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make it a bad plot twist inherently.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>I am, however, one of those people who did not see one bit of this coming. NOT ONE.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Oh my god, the return of Commander Landry? I WAS NOT READY.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Throughout this episode, there are a <i>lot<\/i> of action sequences. Yet not a single one is there just for the show of it. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re all deeply emotional. Even the first big one\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwhere Burnham escapes\u00e2\u20ac\u201dis layered with meaning. Burnham struggles throughout this episode with her loyalty to Georgiou and what it means in this universe. She wants to do right by this woman, even though she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not the <i>actual<\/i> Georgiou that she originally betrayed. But what if those instincts run counter to her survival? So, when Burnham is confined to the brig, she places her need to fulfill her mission at the highest priority. She <i>needed<\/i> to contact Saru to tell him of recent events. At the same time, she continued to win over Georgiou, didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t she? Georgiou respected Burnham\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s drive, even if she despised where she learned it from. WHICH IS WHY I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M SO EXCITED TO SEE GEORGIOU IN THE PRIME UNIVERSE. What is that going to look like?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Another writing choice I deeply appreciated throughout this episode was the commitment to depicting the Terrans as so egotistical and afraid that they literally couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see how their own destructive actions were hurting themselves. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a selfishness and exceptionalism written into the core of who they are. They pursue anything that will give them a short-term victory or an immediate sense of superiority. A great example of that is in something I questioned myself: Why would the Terran Stamets pursue a mycelial engine that would destroy the mycelial network <i>and<\/i> all life in all universes? Surely certain death would be enough of a deterrent, right? Except that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the point: the Terrans believe they are the exception to known rules because they have power. It is&#8230; well, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a fun thing to type in 2021, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, given how many political parties and movements in recent years are largely based in this same absurd and dangerous mindest. IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S FUN. REAL FUN.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>HEY GUESS WHAT I LOVED. Tilly and Stamets working together and Stamets giving Tilly her due because she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fucking brilliant and she deserves it and REMEMBER WHEN ALL HE WOULD DO IS SNAP AT HER AND HELP. HELP ME. I love, <i>love<\/i> seeing this crew come together. That also goes for the way Saru handled himself this entire arc. HE IS A CAPTAIN, and a fucking fantastic one at that. His speech explaining what they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have to do? GOD. CAPTAIN-WORTHY CHILLS.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>(How is all of this happening in season one, how are there still two more episodes in season one, WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHOW DOING IN LATER SEASONS)<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Can I also just state that phaser deaths in this show are way more disturbing? Cool, cuz they are.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>I imagine that for many of you\u00e2\u20ac\u201dif you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re watching this again with me after having experienced it before\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthis season had to be a fucking EXPERIENCE. Because I am <i>still<\/i> dealing with the reveal of who Lorca is and how deeply fucked up many of his interactions have been. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s that scene here where Lorca implores Burnham to remain behind while Landry hunts her down. That truly helped me begin to reckon with Lorca\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s behavior: From the very beginning, he told Burnham that it was destiny that brought them together. I mean, I feel like the poetic end of Lorca (GOD FUCKING BLESS WHOMEVER CAME UP WITH THAT BIT IN THE WRITERS\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 ROOM BECAUSE IT WAS PERFECT) is the greatest rejection of that notion of destiny anyway, but in hindsight, so is the story told. <i>Lorca<\/i> chose these things. Destiny did not force any hand at all. In doing so, he grossly manipulated everyone around him so that he could find a way back to his universe. In doing so, he also viewed each of these people as a means to an end. Which, for the record, he literally told Burnham! Sometimes the end justifies the means! OH MY GOD HE WAS TAUNTING HER TO HER FACE. Anyway. Lorca really thought that Burnham\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Vulcan upbringing made her <i>superior<\/i>. Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unpack that! Because in Lorca\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s universe, he HATES the Vulcans, and yet, he developed an intense attachment to Burnham as a replacement for <i>his<\/i> Burnham. Oh god, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so fucked up, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it?<\/li>\n<li>And that scene was followed by another in which the writers just completely kill it. That scene in Georgiou\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s&#8230; ready room? Whatever that was. First of all: brilliantly shot. That beam of light down the center of the table, visually separating them? Pure art, put that shit in a museum. Both of them holding the pins of the one they lost? Pure pain. Burnham refusing to betray Georgiou again? Just kick me off a cliff please, it would probably hurt less.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>I gotta bring it up again: Saru\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153no-win scenario\u00e2\u20ac\u009d speech wrecked me. GOD IT WAS SO GOOD. He detected no imminent threat of death and used that to motivate the others past their feeling that the situation was hopeless beyond sacrifice. UGH.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>So, like I said, this whole episode was a thrill ride, but from the moment Burnham and Georgiou entered the throne room until the last image, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Past is Prologue\u00e2\u20ac\u009d took my soul to another stratosphere. (It has not returned.) I genuinely could not figure out how Burnham and Georgiou were going to orchestrate a coup <i>and<\/i> an escape. But let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s talk about the fight choreography??? Not only was it all fluid and natural, but it was layered and meaningful to the characters? I loved that the Commanders\/Number Ones fought one another, while the two captains had at it. It was an ideological argument between Landry and Burnham; it was a fight between despots for Lorca and Georgiou. What of that brutal character moment where Lorca slashed at Landry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s back? He was trying to save Burnham, wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t he? He didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want her killed!!! He valued Burnham more than his own commander!<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>BURNHAM\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S SPEECH. Oh my god, <i>Lorca could have just asked them to take him home<\/i>. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such a succinct point, but that is the Federation in a nutshell, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what Lorca never would have understood. In one line, Burnham summarized Lorca completely: He doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand a world in which you ask for help and get it. Everything must be fought for; all people are means to an end. So of course he ended up in another universe and schemed his way back.<\/li>\n<li>His death is literally one of the best written in the entirety of <i>Trek<\/i>. I will never recover from the poetry.<\/li>\n<li>I WILL ALSO NOT RECOVER FROM GEORGIOU DECIDING TO GIVE BURNHAM THE LIFE SHE DESERVED IN HER OWN UNIVERSE. AND THEN THAT MOMENT IS IMMEDIATELY SUBVERTED WHEN BURNHAM TOOK GEORGIOU\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S WORDS AT FACE VALUE. Because in the Terran universe, she is a failed emperor! What life does she have there? SO BURNHAM JUST GAVE HER A NEW LIFE IN A WORLD SHE DESPISES.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>As if that moment wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t enough, the destruction of the <i>Charon<\/i> was terrifying and awesome (and I mean that in the sense of it inspiring awe), and the show had to save two more gut-punches for the end. Dr. Hugh Culber told Stamets what to do, and it was that same piece of music that annoyed Stamets so much that led him home. Am I okay? Oh, absolutely not. ABSOLUTELY NOT. I still want Dr. Culber to come back, but holy shit, what a moment. THE CLEARING IN THE FOREST.<\/li>\n<li>And then.<\/li>\n<li>Then.<\/li>\n<li>I just&#8230; fuck. FUCK. WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>NINE MONTHS<\/li>\n<li>THEY WERE GONE FOR NINE MONTHS<\/li>\n<li>THE KLINGONS BASICALLY WON.<\/li>\n<li>WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!!!!!! WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the finale. The next one isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t either. That <i>terrifies<\/i> me. What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bigger and more explosive than this? THEY LITERALLY BLEW UP THE BIGGEST SHIP IN THE WHOLE SHOW IN THIS EPISODE.<\/p>\n<p>I loved this episode, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. I hope these (almost) two thousand words make that clear. BECAUSE I LOVED THIS EPISODE. Oh my god, <i>Discovery<\/i>, I have no doubt you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to be the best possible show to go out on. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M SO EXCITED.<\/p>\n<p>The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Past is Prologue\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded <a href=\"https:\/\/markdoesstuff.com\/products\/mark-watches-star-trek-discovery\">here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><b>Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n<p>&#8211; <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/diversebooks.org\/cover-reveal-for-the-insiders-by-mark-oshiro\/\">My third novel (and middle grade debut) THE INSIDERS has been announced! Check out the cover reveal and pre-order links here.<\/a><br \/>\n<\/strong><strong>&#8211; If you&#8217;d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, <a href=\"http:\/\/eepurl.com\/ey636\">sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the thirteenth episode of the first season of Star Trek: Discovery, this was simply one of the finest Trek episodes ever. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Star Trek.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[713,614],"tags":[615],"class_list":["post-7814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discovery","category-star-trek","tag-mark-watches-star-trek"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7814\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- WP Super Cache is installed but broken. 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