The Red Angel (210)

[GateWorld]

STAR TREK: DISCOVERY - SEASON TWO
THE RED ANGEL
EPISODE NUMBER - 210

Believing they have discovered the identity of the Red Angel, the Discovery crew hatch a plan to trap the time traveler in order to get answers -- putting Burnham herself on the line.

VISIT THE EPISODE GUIDE >>

[DigiFluid]

Yeah so...I sure didn't see that ending coming

[P-90_177]

i can’t help but feel like this was a swing and a miss in a lot of ways. The plot seems to be going in the direction i was most afraid of. And some stuff doesn’t really make sense. Michael told the story of how her parents died and clearly spoke as though she saw or at least heard her mother die. Then Culber noted that the bio-signature of the angel was 100% match to Burnham which, if it is her mother, would not be true. There would be similarities but not a match.

In my head i was also trying to write off the idea that two scientists would be able to build something like the suit in the first place in the 23rd Century. Granted this brand of time travel feels very messy compared with what we see later but i hope there’s some explanation like they were backwards engineering it or such. Otherwise they’ve talked about how massively out of Starfleet’s league the suit is.

There was no tension in Burnham’s sacrifice since we knew she would live. Ordinarily it’s possible to generate some artificial tension with a main character but in this case we were effectively told what was going to happen.

We can already assume by the ending that Control’s next move is to try to capture the suit. Maybe it’s at that point Burnham takes it and works to save the galaxy instead of just saving herself like her mom was.

I was only truly happy with the character moments, particularly the major one between Burnham and Spock in the gym.

Obviously we still don’t know all the pieces yet. So they’ll likely be explained in the run up to the finale but I feel like this is the first time Disco has disappointed me and became very obvious... It’s not that it was a bad episode, it’s just that it’s doing exactly what i thought it was going to do rather than give me another twist. And that unfortunately is making the universe feel very small with Burnham being the central figure to everything.

[Chaka-Z0]

I thought it was a bit odd that they talked about getting rid of the AI in their systems as the ultimate priority, yet they launched Airiam body in space which could possibly contain a dormant version of that same AI, and retrieved by some malicious entity.

[P-90_177]

I thought it was a bit odd that they talked about getting rid of the AI in their systems as the ultimate priority, yet they launched Airiam body in space which could possibly contain a dormant version of that same AI, and retrieved by some malicious entity.

They showed right before her funeral that all the data in her stored memory was deleted during what appeared to be her autopsy or something similar.

[DigiFluid]

There was no tension in Burnham’s sacrifice since we knew she would live. Ordinarily it’s possible to generate some artificial tension with a main character but in this case we were effectively told what was going to happen.

This was my chief complaint, that we knew she was in no danger, because future Michael would save her. But even though that's a valid observation in the moment and for most of the episode, it ends up being rendered invalid and actually a very real risk when we realize that the Red Angel isn't actually her.

It's a wonky bit of storytelling, and not the cleverest thing Discovery has ever done.

[Chaka-Z0]

Was Spock aware of Burnham's parents demise? How did he know when he went in for his pep talk?

[P-90_177]

This was my chief complaint, that we knew she was in no danger, because future Michael would save her. But even though that's a valid observation in the moment and for most of the episode, it ends up being rendered invalid and actually a very real risk when we realize that the Red Angel isn't actually her.

It's a wonky bit of storytelling, and not the cleverest thing Discovery has ever done.

Exactly. I mean this whole thing does make narrative sense. So much of this season has been built around family. Burnham’s relationships with the crew and Saru in particular and Sarek, Amanda and Spock... And if this was any other show I’d be absolutely cool with having Burnham’s mother turn up... But I like my Star Trek to feel bigger than any one person...

All that being said, I am still looking forward to what comes next. And I am 80% sure that what we will see next is her mom being responsible for Spock’s visions and saving Michael when she was a girl and on the Hiawatha and Michael herself being respnsible for the jumps that have guided Discovery thus far. Particularly the one on Kaminar that saved Saru and the other Kelpiens. But I kinda feel we’ve been given too much of the puzzle now. I’m really hoping they pull something out of left field to surprise us.

[P-90_177]

Was Spock aware of Burnham's parents demise? How did he know when he went in for his pep talk?

We can presume he heard about it. By that point Burnham had given Leland and bloody nose over it and yelled at Ash in a corridor because of it. It’s safe to assume that after seeing him with blood pouring out of his face Pike would insist to know what Leland told Burnham. Otherwise yes it is a bit of a question but there are plenty of ways that he could have found out given that there is a fairly clear time gap between her conversation with Leland and her going down to blow off steam in the gym.

[DigiFluid]

Was Spock aware of Burnham's parents demise? How did he know when he went in for his pep talk?

They grew up together, so I don't see why he wouldn't have been aware that their deaths were the reason why he suddenly had a new adoptive sibling.

[Chaka-Z0]

They grew up together, so I don't see why he wouldn't have been aware that their deaths were the reason why he suddenly had a new adoptive sibling.

Of course, sorry I wasn't clear. I meant when he comes in the Gym after Burnham's talk with the S. 31 guy. He knew what really happened to her parents or did I miss something?

[BruTak]

Hmmm, yeah, leaving the bridge unattended and the ship on autopilot while the ship's company goes to Ariam's funeral? While there's a dangerous rogue AI lurking who knows where?

That annoyed the hell out of me.

Perhaps this is the shade of my late dad poking at me. He was Merchant Navy during WWII, and he'd be the first to tell you you never, never, leave any part of a vessel completely unmanned. There should be a minimum of two crew just to keep an eye on things and each other.

Good to see that weasel Leland get his comeuppance. Personally, I think Burnham should've kicked him in the balls as well as breaking his nose.

[P-90_177]

Hmmm, yeah, leaving the bridge unattended and the ship on autopilot while the ship's company goes to Ariam's funeral? While there's a dangerous rogue AI lurking who knows where?

That annoyed the hell out of me.

Perhaps this is the shade of my late dad poking at me. He was Merchant Navy during WWII, and he'd be the first to tell you you never, never, leave any part of a vessel completely unmanned. There should be a minimum of two crew just to keep an eye on things and each other.

Good to see that weasel Leland get his comeuppance. Personally, I think Burnham should've kicked him in the balls as well as breaking his nose.

That annoyed me a little too. But I guess they’ve already shown the computer is as automated as it can be in the 24th century and they always have the site to site transporters in an emergency... it’s still silly but I let it go for the sake of an emotional scene... Loved Saru’s singing.

[BruTak]

Saru's singing was beautiful, yes. Do we know if it was Doug Jones himself? If so he has a fine singing voice.

[DigiFluid]

Saru's singing was beautiful, yes. Do we know if it was Doug Jones himself? If so he has a fine singing voice.

It was indeed Doug Jones singing, he confirmed it on Twitter yesterday (lots of people, myself included, were asking).