{"id":7805,"date":"2021-04-21T08:00:29","date_gmt":"2021-04-21T15:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=7805"},"modified":"2021-04-12T06:58:32","modified_gmt":"2021-04-12T13:58:32","slug":"mark-watches-discovery-s01e08-si-ves-pacem-para-bellum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2021\/04\/mark-watches-discovery-s01e08-si-ves-pacem-para-bellum\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Discovery’: S01E08 – Si Ves Pacem, Para Bellum"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the eighth episode of the first season of Star Trek: Discovery<\/i>, my HEART. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Star Trek<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For discussion of trauma, PTSD<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Okay, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m splitting this up by plot, LET\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S GO.<\/p>\n

Stamets\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Admission<\/b><\/p>\n

There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only one scene in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Si Ves Pacem, Para Bellum\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that addresses this new direction in Stamets\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s characterization, so I am guessing we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re about to see a much more in-depth exploration in the coming episodes. But look, just like Tilly, I immediately<\/i> noticed that Stamets had fallen back into his grumpier self. SOMETHING WAS OBVIOUSLY WRONG. The truth is that Stamets has done something no other human has accomplished before, and there was no way to anticipate what the side effects would be. My preliminary guess is that Stamets is slipping out of our understanding of time and\/or place. If the myceliar network allows an object to travel to any other place on said network, what if that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what we saw? When Stamets exited the spore chamber, what if he was temporarily standing in front of the captain?<\/p>\n

So, basically, everything is about to get a lot more fucked up, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it?<\/p>\n

L\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Rell and Cornwell<\/b><\/p>\n

I admitted at the end of the video that I was a little confused about what actually happened during this entire subplot. I think I was so focused on trying to figure out what was a trick and what was real that I simply got myself confused. WE ALL KNOW I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M NOT ALWAYS THE BEST VISUAL INTERPRETER OF THINGS. So: the fight between L\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Rell and Cornwell was fake. Definitely. But L\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Rell didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t expect Kol to turn on her… right? Or is that part of the plan? And did the fake fight happen solely because they got caught? Because I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m STILL unsure if L\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Rell genuinely wanted to defect or not!\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s put all of that aside, as I assume a future episode will make most of this a lot clearer. I never expected these two characters to interact, but y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, this was the most interesting part of the Klingon storyline thus far. I love it when characters who shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ever meet actually do, and they bring out interesting things in one another. L\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Rell is certainly still using Cornwell as a means to an end. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have any doubt about that. But it was so WILD to watch her talk to Cornwell to determine whether she was worthy of respect and<\/i> whether she could trust her, at least in the interim. That little moment where they both admitted that the other wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t what they expected? CHEF\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S KISS.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, give me more of these two in the future, and I might start liking this Klingon plot a lot more.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Pahvans<\/b><\/p>\n

HI, I HAVE BEEN EMOTIONALLY TARGETED BY THIS ENTIRE PLOTLINE. There is pretty much nothing here I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like. Each of the three characters who travel down to Pahvo gets a big character moment, but no one shines brighter (or with more heartbreat) than Doug Jones as Saru. I mean, I shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be surprised. Look at Doug Jones\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s career, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. Prosthetics never get in the way of his ability to absolutely CRUSH IT. And here, his character gets a story that is just… lord.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The idea of Pahvo fascinated me, and I was thrilled that we were finally getting an away mission on an actual planet. (I believe this hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t happened since the premiere.) There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an inherent contrast that the writers play with through the stories of these three characters: In the midst of a terrible war, Tyler, Burnham, and Saru visit a planet that is in perfect harmony with itself. They get to see what peace actually<\/i> looks like, rather than just imagining it.<\/p>\n

Because each of them have their own idea of peace. While Saru works on communicating with the Pahvans, Tyler and Burnham get closer, and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a stunning scene in which they talk about life after the war ends. What does that look like? How will peace manifest for them? For Tyler, we get a portrait of an idyllic life spent beside Lake Shasta fishing trout. And then, Burnham reminds Tyler (and the audience) that her time on the Discovery<\/i> basically IS her moment of peace? Because once this is all over, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s heading back to prison. I say that this works as a reminder for the audience because I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d actually forgotten this detail. Burnham had done so much to find her place onboard the ship that I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t remember that she was never offered a pardon. So, her potential relationship with Tyler can only be a temporary peace.<\/p>\n

Yet Tyler\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s peace is temporary, too! I loved that despite that Lt. Tyler was trying to distract Saru to buy Burnham more time, he was telling Saru the truth. Lt. Tyler doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have internal peace, not after the seven months he spent in captivity with the Klingons. This was a chance to dig into Tyler\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s PTSD and address how it manifested in him. In his case, he felt not just anger, but a violent desire for revenge. He wanted he Klingons to hurt just as much as he had. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no \u00e2\u20ac\u0153answer\u00e2\u20ac\u009d provided as to whether or not this is a fair thing for Tyler to believe, but there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no need for it. Tyler knows he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s messed up because of that experience; he also knows that these sort of thoughts are as painful to him as they are potentially relieving. I put this on the same level as Stamets\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s admission to Tilly: This is more of a hint of a future story than anything else.<\/p>\n

However, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Saru who has the most dramatic reaction to Pahvo, and my heart is breaking all over again because of his story. We learned early in Discovery<\/i> that the Kelpiens were a species born afraid. Their biology allowed them to detect danger and death as a survival mechanism. Upon landing on Pahvo, though, Saru never once felt afraid of the native species or fauna. Not just that, though. As he dealt with the planet\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153music\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and the stress it gave him, he slowly opened himself up to the possibility of harmony.<\/p>\n

Which is something that he, as a Kelpien, has literally never experienced for a single second.<\/i><\/p>\n

I admit it took until that gut-wrenching scene in medical at the end of the episode for me to truly understand what I had watched. Look, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m used to Star Trek<\/i> episodes about creatures that modify a person\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s biology or possess them, but what made this such a brilliant episode is that Saru acted as he did not out of possession or coercion, but choice<\/i>. It makes ABSOLUTE sense that as soon as fear was removed from Saru\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life, he would quickly wish to stay that way forever. Like… oh god, is this what my life would be like if I suddenly never felt anxiety again? Because hyper-vigilance is EXHAUSTING. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what Saru\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life is! So his break from protocol, his lashing out at Tyler and Burnham, his desire to stay on Pahvo and bring others into this existence… of course he would do this. God… Saru got to REST. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say I wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do the same fucking thing if I could turn off my overactive brain, you know?<\/p>\n

The Pahvans then drop the mother of all plot twists on us, though, and y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. I was already into the fact that we got a noncorporeal life form (even though they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not life in the traditional sense) so early into the show. AND ALSO!!!! They acted to bring about peace between the Federation and the Klingons by INVITING THEM TO TALK. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so fucking PURE, and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something deeply funny about that? Them thinking that just a little ol\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 conversation will fix everything, so why don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t we just hail the Klingons and ask them to come hang? There we go! All is fine.<\/p>\n

Oh, all is not fine at ALL, and I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wait to see how this turns out.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Si Ves Pacem, Para Bellum\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":"