ValueSubtracted

See, I meant what I said last week about being bad at listening to podcasts!

That's an interesting question. Kirk seemed pretty determined to let Khan and his people have a real chance on Ceti Alpha V, so it makes sense that he'd allow them some tools, and even weapons.

But this episode also makes a bit of a big deal out of Khan's reaction to Starfleet technology that's much more advanced that what he's used to. Some kind of throwback/antique weapon would make sense.

I thought this was a decent one. They continue to walk the line of adding depth to Khan without necessarily casting him in a positive light.

I'm a little surprised they dropped the Sulu/Tuvok framing device, but I didn't really miss it.

RIP Joaquin, I guess the guy in TWOK is your kid.

You're not alone - we're looking into it!

the fanatasy/hallucination wss made by Batel

Yeah, I think you're right - that's the only anwer that makes any kind of sense. I was just thrown by the fact that Real Batel showed absolutely no awareness of, or interest in, what had happened when Pike snapped out of it. At least, that's what I remember - I haven't gone back to double-check.

It does beg the question of what about the project "requires further development" - it seemed like a pretty comprehensive plan when I looked at it.

The Alto project is on the "secondary" list of projects that are likely next.

I think Discovery handled Pike's "destiny" in the best possible way by rooting it in character.

Pike grabs that time crystal because he's dedicated to the mission, and to Starfleet. He will eventually save those cadets for the exact same reason. There doesn't have to be anything metaphysical going on there - he affirms that that's the kind of person he is, and that's why he'll end up in that situation one day, even knowing it's coming.

It makes me sad that SNW has been diluting that.

Or is it only a combo thing?

That seemed to be the implication. In which case, I think it might have been better to have Batel get more fully "possessed," and take the angle that she knows exactly what's going on, and what needs to be done. It would take her agency out of the episode, but...the episode didn't really give her any agency as it is.

I wanted to sleep on this one too see if there would be anything I would appreciate after some reflection, but...no, not really.

I thought that the way they came to understanding what was going on was a little rushed and a bit too speculative

I think this is a big part of what didn't work for me. They really wanted to get to the fireworks factory, and sidestepped most of the interesting potential in order to get there.

The extended fantasy/hallucination was the strongest part of the episode, but...it seemed to be entirely about Pike. Did Batel even experience it? The episode seemed completely uninterested in what she might be going through as she prepared to sacrifice herself.

And the conflict itself suffers from the "pah wraith problem" - I'm fine with the idea of a conflict between primordial good and evil...but it's hard to make it interesting. All you can really do is focus on how it affects the people involved, and they were only semi-successful at that.

I wouldn't give the new company too much credit - most, if not all, of this stuff must have been in the works for quite some time.

But let's hope things continue to trend upward under the new regime...

It's almost as if they had something very specific they were trying to convey with the "we have to go back in time to prevent this fascist future, oops it's just the world our viewers live in" plot.