{"id":7820,"date":"2021-05-14T08:00:53","date_gmt":"2021-05-14T15:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=7820"},"modified":"2021-05-02T10:43:11","modified_gmt":"2021-05-02T17:43:11","slug":"mark-watches-short-treks-s01e03-the-brightest-star-s01e04-the-escape-artist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2021\/05\/mark-watches-short-treks-s01e03-the-brightest-star-s01e04-the-escape-artist\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Short Treks’: S01E03 – The Brightest Star \/ S01E04 – The Escape Artist"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the third episode of the first season of Short Treks<\/i>, I still need to fight all of you. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Star Trek<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I am\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 obsessed with these Short Treks<\/i> episodes??? All three thus far have been basically perfect??? And I never expected that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d get the backstory to ALL OF THIS in one of these episodes???!?!?!?!?!<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Brightest Star\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is Saru\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s backstory. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the explanation for where Saru came from, what his planet, Kaminar, is like, why his people are viewed as they are, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also a deeply heartfelt exploration of isolation, longing, and curiosity within a dogmatic society. First and foremost: I love what this does for the character of Saru. This episode granted me a new context for him, a new way of understanding who he is and why he behaves as he does. Saru yearned for a life beyond the system he was raised in.<\/p>\n

And let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s talk about that system, because I still have QUESTIONS. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know who the Baul are because we never see them in the episode. Which is the smart choice. By restricting the audience\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s knowledge of what this whole sacrificial ritual is, we are just as knowledgable as Saru is\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 up to a very clear point. That point is where the Saru\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s father claims that there is nothing beyond Kaminar, that the other Kelpien\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s willingly allow themselves to be taken in order to maintain \u00e2\u20ac\u0153balance.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I have approximately eight thousand million questions about this whole arrangement, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to start with HEY WHAT THE FUCK??? My second coherent thought is more or less: Do the elders know<\/i> who these Baul are? Do they know where other Kelpiens go? Or are they just in the dark as everyone else, continuing this tradition because they know no better than others? I can see both being potentially true, especially because fear would play a vital role in either explanation. Perhaps the Kelpien elders know the price of defying the Baul, and this is the better and safer option. At the same time, part of what made this compelling was its exploration of tradition. I think many of us could relate to the friction that comes from people sticking to a tradition for the sake of it. I know I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve coped with the frustration that arose when I asked why something had to be done, and the answer I got was, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Because we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve always done it.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I mean, lemme be real: That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one of the most aggravating bits of logic I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever heard. It is unsurprising, of course, given that I, too, grew up within a dogmatic environment. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just mean my extremely religious home life , though that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the obvious parallel to what Saru lived through on Kaminar. It is mostly likely impossible that any of us have not ever experienced friction around dogma. White supremacy is dogmatic; systemic homophobia and transphobia is, too. So are the arms of colonialism and empire. It has<\/i> to be that way in order for these structures to maintain power.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There is some sort of structure here, too, though again, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand it all. I would love a longer episode that explores this specific relationship between the Kelpiens and the Baul. However, I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need<\/i> that to appreciate Saru\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s moving story. He longed for something more, for stars brighter than the ones he could see. He is a character who saw potential where others saw none, and isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t that a wonderful development of what we already know of him? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m now thinking of Saru\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s anger at Burnham for what she did during the Battle at the Binary Stars. I now know that Saru quite literally gave up his entire home and culture to leave and become a part of Starfleet. Not just that, but the final scene reveals that it was Lt. Georgiou who traveled to Kaminar while risking violation of Starfleet\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s non-warp-society\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s regulations. It makes her death all the more tragic for a character like Saru, who saw Georgiou almost as a savior of sorts. She was the one who convinced the higher-ups that it was worth it to pluck one lone Kelpien from his community to join the Federation.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He gave up everything, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. He clearly loved his sister, who I believe knew<\/i> he was going to leave AND STILL SUPPORTED HIM. She understood him on some level, and she didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stop Saru! I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even imagine the heartbreak and grief she must be going through. And what of the other Kelpiens? Was a story crafted to explain Saru\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s absence, especially since he disappeared by means that weren’t<\/i> the ritual? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know. Again, I love that this show is making me ask these sorts of questions, and I am obsessed with how deeply emotional and caring this specific story was. Saru held out hope for a better life than the one he was living, and Georgiou was the one who helped him make that dream a reality.<\/p>\n

I AM A MESS, OKAY. God, how are these shorts so consistently good???<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Brightest Star\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

In the fourth and final episode of the first season of Short Treks<\/i>, THIS ALSO RULED. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Star Trek<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Okay, these Short Treks<\/i> are incredible??? The quality of all four of them is exactly the same as the show in terms of writing, cinematography, and storytelling. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re these hyper-specific deep dives into different characters, and each one of them expands on existing canon. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re all so tonally different, too! This one is entirely comedic, but it makes sense that it is because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all about Harry Mudd, the most chaotic character on Discovery<\/i>. The events of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Escape Artist\u00e2\u20ac\u009d take place after \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such a Harry Mudd episode? Because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not just that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s funny, but even the structure of the story itself is slimy and deceitful like Harry Mudd is, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so fucking brilliant to me?<\/p>\n

So let me back up. After Mudd leaves with Stella during his last appearance on the show, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clear he somehow got out of that predicament and set out to start conning all over again. Much of this episode makes the convincing case that this is what he does and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll always do. Hell, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re seeing him before<\/i> he interacts with the crew of the Enterprise<\/i>, right? So years and years into his future, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll still be doing this shit.<\/p>\n

But that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part of the trick. As we watch Mudd try to manipulate Tevrin, the Tellarite bounty hunter who has finally captured him, the episode flashes back to past interactions in which Mudd was held captive by people he screwed over. It was clear he would always cycle through the same techniques because THAT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S WHAT CONMEN DO. When one doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t work, they shift. They adapt. We saw that in both of Mudd\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s episodes in season one, and so that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s exactly what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s doing here! He proposes alliances against the Federation; he tries flirting; he tries begging for his life; he tries appealing to the greed of others. And somehow, he clearly gets out of all these scenarios because\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 again, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Harry Mudd.<\/p>\n

EXCEPT THIS SCRIPT IS USING THAT KNOWLEDGE AGAINST US THE WHOLE TIME. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why this con works so good against Mudd\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s marks, too! Because Mudd behaves in a specific way when he is captured, each of these bounty hunters truly believes that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to outsmart him. They aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to fall for a single one of his tricks because they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve heard it all! But they were fooled right from the get go, and their desire to be smarter than Mudd only worked in favor of his plan. BECAUSE NONE OF THESE PEOPLE WERE EVER HARRY MUDD. THEY WERE ALL ANDROID COPIES OF THE ORIGINAL MUDD. Like\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 can we talk about how this is just an EVIL plan and how it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also SO BRILLIANT that I weirdly respect Mudd? Obviously it can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t work forever, and new is gonna get out about there being android versions of Mudd, but in the short-term? Mudd gets fifty thousand credits a pop. He gets to fool bounty hunters by handing over copies of himself\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 himself. And the very structure of this episode is a con, and I absolutely LOVE when stories do this sort of thing. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like a meta-textual synchronicity, and if Mudd was gonna have an episode devoted to him, this was the way to do it. BRAVO.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Escape Artist\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– My third novel (and middle grade debut) THE INSIDERS has been announced! Check out the cover reveal and pre-order links here.<\/a>
\n<\/strong>– If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"