I recently realized that my local library has the first season of Star Trek: Discovery on DVD, thereby allowing me to bypass paying for CBS All Access to watch the show. I just got the second DVD, so I’d like to review this episode before watching the next few episodes. The episodes so far would seem to flow more evenly from one to the next, so this will allow me to keep the storylines straight.
This one starts shortly after the previous episode. Michael Burnham has just come back from the Discovery’s sister ship, the Glenn, with useful technology and a tardigrade-like creature who has been dubbed Ripper. She and Commander Landry are tasked with figuring out how to weaponize Ripper so that the crew might defeat the Klingons. After all, Ripper took on a bunch of Klingons alone, as well as giving the away team a run for their money.
Burnham does make a major discovery: Ripper has some sort of symbiotic relationship with the spores. He’s also not that aggressive when not provoked. All of Ripper’s actions thus far have been in self defense. Furthermore, it would appear that Ripper can help navigate the ship for long jumps. Discovery can use the spores for shorter jumps with some degree of accuracy. To do the math for longer jumps requires some sort of supercomputer.
It’s not clear exactly what Ripper does or how Ripper knows where to go. It’s not possible to communicate with the large creature, although the large creature does appear to be in pain when the drive is in use. Captain Lorca uses Ripper to get to a colony that mines 40% of the Federation’s dilithium to protect it from a Klingon attack, so some discomfort isn’t his concern. In fact, Burnham seems to be the only one who does show any sort of concern, ethical or otherwise. She’s able to demonstrate that there’s no threat.
The ethics of using an alien creature without consent really isn’t dealt with in this episode. The entire thing seemed a little too convenient. I’m assuming that Ripper was trained by the crew of the Glenn. Much like Star Trek’s The Devil in the Dark, it’s possible that a Vulcan was able to mind meld with Ripper to communicate what was going on.
So much is still unknown about Ripper. Part of me feels like I’m missing something. Maybe this will be explained in later episodes. I expect someone to leave a comment, “Didn’t you see when someone said X?” I feel like the episode could have used a little more exposition. It’s too bad for Ripper that his one advocate is someone who’s already on shaky ground with the rest of the crew. However, this would be a very good reason for eventually discontinuing the use of the spore drive.
I definitely want to watch the next four episodes. Maybe I’ll find a few of my answers. At this point, though, I’m only expecting more questions.
This one starts shortly after the previous episode. Michael Burnham has just come back from the Discovery’s sister ship, the Glenn, with useful technology and a tardigrade-like creature who has been dubbed Ripper. She and Commander Landry are tasked with figuring out how to weaponize Ripper so that the crew might defeat the Klingons. After all, Ripper took on a bunch of Klingons alone, as well as giving the away team a run for their money.
Burnham does make a major discovery: Ripper has some sort of symbiotic relationship with the spores. He’s also not that aggressive when not provoked. All of Ripper’s actions thus far have been in self defense. Furthermore, it would appear that Ripper can help navigate the ship for long jumps. Discovery can use the spores for shorter jumps with some degree of accuracy. To do the math for longer jumps requires some sort of supercomputer.
It’s not clear exactly what Ripper does or how Ripper knows where to go. It’s not possible to communicate with the large creature, although the large creature does appear to be in pain when the drive is in use. Captain Lorca uses Ripper to get to a colony that mines 40% of the Federation’s dilithium to protect it from a Klingon attack, so some discomfort isn’t his concern. In fact, Burnham seems to be the only one who does show any sort of concern, ethical or otherwise. She’s able to demonstrate that there’s no threat.
The ethics of using an alien creature without consent really isn’t dealt with in this episode. The entire thing seemed a little too convenient. I’m assuming that Ripper was trained by the crew of the Glenn. Much like Star Trek’s The Devil in the Dark, it’s possible that a Vulcan was able to mind meld with Ripper to communicate what was going on.
So much is still unknown about Ripper. Part of me feels like I’m missing something. Maybe this will be explained in later episodes. I expect someone to leave a comment, “Didn’t you see when someone said X?” I feel like the episode could have used a little more exposition. It’s too bad for Ripper that his one advocate is someone who’s already on shaky ground with the rest of the crew. However, this would be a very good reason for eventually discontinuing the use of the spore drive.
I definitely want to watch the next four episodes. Maybe I’ll find a few of my answers. At this point, though, I’m only expecting more questions.
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