So Discovery has been renewed for season two....
http://ew.com/tv/2017/10/23/star-trek-discovery-renewed-for-season-2/
Episode 6 "Lethe"
So we are almost at the half way point of the series and I still do not have a clear sense of what this show is or wants to be.
If it is a "war show", I have no sense of the scale or repercussions or morality of this war. (Something DS9 did wonderfully, continually exploring the concept of how do you maintain paradise/utopia/ideals and fight a war?).
If it is an exploration show, I mean it is called Star TREK, we have only gotten the tiniest hint at this potential element through the Tarigrade and Spore Drive. But so far, no real new worlds explored.
But as a character show, it succeeds very strongly. This latest episode was probably the best since the pilot in fleshing out Michael's character and making her more relatable and likeable. Again, this episode, I loved Tilly. Even Stammet's was really fun this episode, as he has a definite genius hippy vide here which I hope the writers maintain and build upon.
So Ash has only been on the Discovery for a week and is promoted to Chief of Security? Hhhmmmmmm.......
More tortured and maybe sinister hints at Lorca's past? Is he just broken goods or is the online theory correct, and he is not the real Lorca but a Mirror Universe doppleganger?
Again, the producers defy the timeline by having a holo-deck.
Some nice new elements added to the Vulcan mythos... Logic Extremists. Works for me.
But this episode also made me wonder, did Michael even attend Starfleet Academy?
I was going on the assumption that Spock was probably quite few years older than Michael, but based on the Sarek flashback, and both Michael and Spock applying and being tentatively accepted to the Vulcan Expeditionary Forces at the same time, they are probably very close in age.
We know this story takes place in 2255. We know 7 years earlier, Sarek brought Michael to Captain Georgiou, so that would be around 2247 or 48, which according to Memory Beta is when Spock entered Starfleet Academy, so that fits. So did Georgiou sponsor Michael to the Academy and fast tracked her back to the Shinzhou? We know cadets do serve aboard starships. And both Spock and Michael are clearly brilliant and could have completed Academy studies in a shorter time span. Though Michael rose to the rank of Lt. Cmdr and First Officer in only 7 years while Spock at this same time would be serving under Pike as either an Ensign or Lt., depending on the source material. Though clearly, serving aboard the Enterprise, the newest in a line of Constitution Class starships would be a better and higher profile assignment.
Wow... my nerd brain is waaayyyyyy over thinking this!
Anyway, I really enjoyed the Plot A storyline of Michael, it had a nice arc to it and set some new elements into play. As for the continuing subplot B with Lorca, he continues to be a mystery... displaying a different quality in each new episode which makes him difficult to predict and very interesting to watch.