rivendellrose: (Lt. Bambi)
[personal profile] rivendellrose
This episode was all the kinds of space-soap-opera bonkers, and I am so happy right now.



First off, I love L'Rell dearly, but she is way dumber than I ever gave her credit for (and my impression of her intelligence usually hovers somewhere between "You're pretty cunning, for a Klingon!" and "...Okay, maybe not...") if she thought she could get away with having Ash Tyler play a major role in her government without that causing huge problems. Honey. No. This is not smart. And don't think you're getting out of responsibility for this, either, Lt. Bambi, because you ought to be smart enough to know that this is a bad idea, too, even if it's only from a "former chief of security" standpoint. (Though, admittedly, he was only a chief of security because Captain "I Like Officers Who Are Personally Beholden to Me" Lorca made him one. Back on the Jaeger, he was just a security officer. So...)

All these months I had assumed, without even considering the alternative, that these two were at least clever enough to realize that they'd have to pretend Ash was just a background player of some kind -- a toy or a pity object or a trophy of war -- in order to make his being there work. Boy was I proven wrong.

So, big surprise that the high council is fomenting rebellion against L'Rell. Big surprise that while House Mokai is trying to help her as well as they can, House Kol (in the person of Kol's father, who I am 99.999% sure was played by Kenneth Mitchell in the grand and marvelous old Star Trek tradition of "Eh, they're related, let's just get the same actor again!" (pause for IMDB check... and it's confirmed! I was right that I recognized that voice and those marvelously theatrical gestures! ♥)) is agitating most loudly for L'Rell's (and Ash's) removal. Big surprise... that someone in a very deep hood that looks familiar from the trailers is skulking around among the Mokai crew. Hmm.

Meanwhile, back on Discovery, Michael Burnham has no close relationships with anyone who has never had severe mental health issues (except possibly Amanda, but I'm going to say that an immense guilt complex over how she raised her son and, well, being in love with Sarek... counts). Ash Tyler calls to let her know that his ex-girlfriend kissed him and he's very conflicted things are not going great with L'Rell's reign as chancellor, then Tilly has a breakdown because she keeps seeing ghosts, and Spock apparently killed three doctors in the mental hospital where he was being held and then escaped. No need to mention Sarek's many issues, I think. Then Tilly has a breakdown on the bridge and tells Captain Pike to shut up (apparently, she was actually telling ghost!Mae, who was deeply upset that the captain of the ship wasn't small, blonde, and very white... which definitely describes someone else on the ship).

Tilly, fortunately, learns from Ash's mistakes of the past and tells Michael that she's losing her mind and can't handle this alone. Michael figures out that Mae isn't acting like a figment of Tilly's imagination but actually like an entity with its own goals and weird obsessions, and that the issue is spore-related, not medical.

Back on Qo'noS, Ash and L'Rell wander into the season finale of one of those Klingon soap operas that [personal profile] gaslightgallows and I were joking about a few months ago. Well, actually it appears that L'Rell has been living in one of those for months (at least, if not always), but Ash didn't know, becauuuuuuuuse L'Rell got pregnant with Voq's kid back before she transformed him into a Human but she had the baby grown ex-utero (Klingon medical practices are so much more advanced than I ever expect them to be and also damn, can we have that please?) and now they have a baby that her uncle has been taking care of and keeping hidden from Ash and everyone else, but L'Rell hasn't even seen the baby because she doesn't want him to be a weakness. ...Because knowing that he's there but not seeing him will totally accomplish that. This is such classic L'Rell logic that it made me facepalm. She's so bad at this, you guys. Has she ever made a plan that actually worked?

Ash, realizing that he is living in a soap opera, decides "to hell with it," and tells L'Rell that he wants to be with her and raise the baby together. Meanwhile Kol'sha has found out about the baby, kills L'Rell's uncle who's been guarding him, kidnaps the baby, and sends a (marvelously dramatic) ultimatum to L'Rell and Ash telling them to give up their claim to the chancellorship or he'll kill it (or something, I might not have caught the exact details). L'Rell tells him he'll have to kill them both or the one left standing will come after him, which is suitably dramatic for any Klingon opera, and then there is a very epic battle which ends in Kol'sha proving that Kol was the honorable one of the family and zapping L'Rell and Ash with paralytic energy, then printing L'Rell's thumbprint on her abdication in Ash's blood. He's about to execute Ash when, well, someone hiding in the shadows sighs and shakes her head, I assume, having realized that Michael Burnham is going to be pretty pissed off if she allows her ex-boyfriend to be executed by a stupid Klingon. And Emperor Philippa Georgiou rides to the rescue, defeating Kol'sha and his remaining team, then unveils herself in the most charming and dramatic manner possible, because she is who she is and no one understands drama better than Emperor Georgiou. (More of which later.)

And she then corrects Ash when he calls her by that title in the most adorably delicious way.

And then delivers unto L'Rell a few quips about motherhood followed by the most scathing "This plan is not going to work for you, and you cannot have your cake and eat it too" speech. Oh, L'Rell, did you think she was giving you options? No, she's going to tell you what to do.

And then, apparently, write out the whole script for you, because there is no fucking way that "call me a more dangerous name, call me mother" speech was not penned by the hand of The Mother of the Fatherland. I know her style when I hear it, and L'Rell's whole final scene has "EMPEROR PHILIPPA AUGUSTUS IAPONIOUS GEORGIOU" written on it in solid gold ink and a big flourish. Watch the queen conquer, indeed. I had thought that L'Rell would want to look to Admiral Cornwell for mentoring in female leadership -- it had not occurred to me that an even better, more terrifying, and more appropriate guide for her might exist. And yet here we are. (Do I ship it? Let me think about it for a bit, but, Reader, I might.)

Up aboard the Section 31 vessel, Ash finally figures out who the Emperor is working for (okay, no he doesn't, she tells him) and The Emperor makes googly eyes at the baby and then pretends she didn't because she's way too bad-ass for that he has also decided that he's going to send his baby down to grow up on the Klingon monastery moon of Boreth, raised by the monks who serve Kahless. Okay, cool. He'll be safe there, he'll never meet his parents, but he'll be safe and raised by good Klingons who serve the old ways, and... apparently at this time in history nobody ever leaves Boreth and only people who belong there go there. Okay, sure. Somehow it was this detail (and trying to remember the previous canon that has touched on Boreth, which I believe was the TNG episode where Kahless returned?) that made me think... huh. This poor kid still doesn't have a name. And he's going to be raised with no family. And... he's an albino.

Hang on, a nameless albino Klingon is a thing we've seen before.

The Albino from "Blood Oath" was apparently already a pretty infamous Klingon criminal by 2290, and Disco's first season was set in 2256, which would mean that by the time Kang, Koloth and Kor are sent after him for the first time, L'Rell and Ash's son would be 34. A totally reasonable age for a Klingon to have established followers and a reputation. So, I'm calling it -- I don't give a crap what future canon may or may not decide re: this kid, I am saying here and now that L'Rell and Ash's son is, in fact, the murderous criminal known as The Albino, who raided Klingon colonies, vowed revenge on the three captains who tried to apprehend him and broke up his power base, infected each of their firstborn sons with a genetic virus (aww, he takes after his mummy!), and was eventually taken down in in 2370 (at the grand old age of 114, which is reasonable since Kang, Koloth and Kor cannot have been much younger, if not being perhaps even older) by those three captains and Jadzia Dax, the Trill host successor of their blood brother.

This makes me unreasonably happy, and while I feel faintly apologetic toward Ash and L'Rell... I don't feel sorry enough to give up this absolutely brilliant little piece of connection between my two favorite Star Treks.

Anyway, The Emperor is certain she'll recruit (or, really, she claims she already has recruited) Ash into Section 31, and... I can't be surprised. Or doubt her. That is classic Ash. Out of the frying pan, straight into the inferno.

Oh, and Stamets sucked Mae/the spore entity out of Tilly and then it started roiling around in the science bay because classic Star Trek. It was last seen bouncing off a containment field while Saru called for security.

Next week: Saru is dying of Kelpien plot device (presumably we will need to go to his homeworld and retrieve his sister in order to solve this), the spore entity gets out and tries to engulf Tilly, Tig Notaro is back (hooray!) and the Discovery is caught in a web of some kind. "Like a spider's web," says Pike. "Do you mean a Tholian web?" say I in return. Only time (a week, specifically) will tell.

Date: 2019-02-01 01:44 pm (UTC)
ironed_orchid: face of young black woman in a spacesuit (space disco)
From: [personal profile] ironed_orchid
I am here for Georgiou scripting L'Rell's entire speech complete with throwing the synthesized head of Voq/Tyler's head into the inferno where no one can check its veracity.

I like the idea that their kid grows up to be a menace to the Klingon empire.

I'm not sure how I feel about the whole thing where a fungus tries to manipulate Tilly for reasons we don't understand yet, except that I am HUGELY RELIEVED that she wasn't possessed by the mycelial ghost of Culbert as I had feared.

Next week: Saru is dying of Kelpien plot device

I hear that plot devices are often complicated, but rarely fatal.

Date: 2019-02-02 12:10 am (UTC)
ironed_orchid: comic of monster saying "i don't want to be just friends, I want to eat you" (don't want to be 'just friends')
From: [personal profile] ironed_orchid
I dunno, there were a few minutes where I thought Empress Georgiou might eat him.

Date: 2019-02-03 10:46 pm (UTC)
nenya_kanadka: Lt Saru, Star Trek Discovery (ST Saru)
From: [personal profile] nenya_kanadka
I'm guessing/hoping that the Kelpian plot device might give us more info on that "Harvest" thing that was going on with their predators in the Saru short? Like I had the vague sense from that that possibly there was some kind of terminal illness they all got, but then it turned out that no, they got beamed up by the baddies instead, but maybe it's both? And maybe now it's time for Saru to have Kelpian pon farr the disease that everyone gets? Idk, I'm just spitballing here. If it gives us more with his sister and the Kelpians generally, though, I'm happy. I don't expect to actually fear for his life. I mean, if they kill him I'll be pissed, but I don't think they will.
Edited Date: 2019-02-03 10:47 pm (UTC)

Date: 2019-02-04 06:32 am (UTC)
kore: (Default)
From: [personal profile] kore
I'll be really happy if we get his sister! It bugged me that he just left her on the planet presumably to maybe die.

Date: 2019-02-04 06:29 am (UTC)
kore: (Default)
From: [personal profile] kore
....did anyone think that maybe that was Georgiou disguised as L'Rell giving that big speech? T and I did.

Date: 2019-02-02 01:29 am (UTC)
lynnenne: (discovery: badge of honour)
From: [personal profile] lynnenne
Meanwhile, back on Discovery, Michael Burnham has no close relationships with anyone who has never had severe mental health issues (except possibly Amanda, but I'm going to say that an immense guilt complex over how she raised her son and, well, being in love with Sarek... counts).

BWAH. Agreed, especially about the being in love with Sarek part.

there is no fucking way that "call me a more dangerous name, call me mother" speech was not penned by the hand of The Mother of the Fatherland.

You're right, it's Emperor Phillipa through and through!

I'm totally blanking on my Trek canon because I haven't seen the other shows in years. What's Section 31?

Date: 2019-02-02 01:50 am (UTC)
lynnenne: (discovery: badge of honour)
From: [personal profile] lynnenne
Cool, thanks for that primer! Funny I don't remember them in the slightest, but then I can barely remember what happened on Disco last season. :D

Date: 2019-02-04 06:31 am (UTC)
kore: (Default)
From: [personal profile] kore
....sooooo, kind of like Agents of Trek?

Date: 2019-02-03 10:38 pm (UTC)
nenya_kanadka: thin elegant black cartoon cat (ST Emperor Georgiou closeup)
From: [personal profile] nenya_kanadka
Lol, I love this entire review. I hadn't caught on that the speech was obviously ghost-written by Georgiou, but of course it was. LMAO.

So much dramz. I am here for it. These poor assholes. (I twigged to The Albino as soon as L'Rell said "he has his father's skin", because people had been speculating that *Voq* might be the Albino, ages ago. I feel terrible for L'Rell but I am also convinced it's him, so.)

Everything about Pippa's everything in this was delightful. If this is what the Section 31 show is gonna be like, consider at least half of my objections to that as a show setting withdrawn. Gah, she's amazing (and terrible). She totally saved Ash's ass for Michael, not the good of galactic politics. I kind of love how Emperor "Klingons are animals" Georgiou is all "freaks have more fun!" when she's trying to recruit the bi-species guy with mega issues over not fitting in. She's SO much better at this than a) Leland, b) L'Rell. L'Rell at least has a suitable sense of the dramatic, and might be able to learn? Maybe? ???

Also: JET! YES!

Date: 2019-02-04 11:12 am (UTC)
nenya_kanadka: Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal! (Firefly curse your betrayal)
From: [personal profile] nenya_kanadka
Those are my EXACT thoughts on Georgiou--like, with the baby, was the cooing fake? was the cooing real and the "nope you didn't see that" face real? was the whole sequence a performance for Ash?

I mean, somewhere under there somewhere she must have genuine reactions. And the most complicated explanation is not always the real one. But, given that she rose to the absolute top in the cut-throat (literally!!) Terran Empire, she must be thinking seventeen moves ahead at all times and be extremely aware of every signal she's sending out. She doesn't do things casually or thoughtlessly.

And then I think, has being in Section 31 actually let her relax slightly? It's kind of ridic that I'm concerned for the mental health of the evil cannibal slaver queen of evil, but hey, the show called her Philippa Georgiou so they started it. :P But like...if she's ever going to make slightly less terrible choices (which I do hope for), I think living in an environment where she doesn't have to be hyperalert every single second would probably help. She's already someone who seems to make pragmatic choices rather than cackling-evil choices, which is a start. And I do actually believe in her affection for Michael and her occasional ability for limited emotional honesty. And also she's playing everyone all the time--she saved Ash for Michael and because she thought she could use him in Section 31 and to remove a destabilizing factor from Q'onoS...

TL;DR: Everything is Georgiou and nothing hurts. Well, not much. Well, today... XD

Date: 2019-02-07 11:35 am (UTC)
nenya_kanadka: Spock says "srsly" (ST Spock srsly)
From: [personal profile] nenya_kanadka
They knew we would love her, they set us UP to love her, and they have succeeded so hard it hurts.

Perzactly!!

...I need S2 Georgiou icons. Clearly. The Mirrorverse ones with the weird hair aren't doing it for me anymore. :D Hopefully something will come out of this week's episode.

("Ssssss." XD)

Date: 2019-02-04 11:14 am (UTC)
nenya_kanadka: Emperor Georgiou & Admiral Cornwell (ST Emperor/Katrina 2)
From: [personal profile] nenya_kanadka
ALSO: Yes to everything you said about L'Rell. I really want her to succeed, and I really hope the show knows WTF it's doing and doesn't currently actually think she's good at it. LOL.

I don't know if I'm more afraid of her not being tough enough to stay alive, or if I'm more afraid of her going too far with the Emperor's way and becoming someone totally different.

^^^ This. ^^^

Date: 2019-02-07 11:30 am (UTC)
nenya_kanadka: Emperor Georgiou & Admiral Cornwell (ST Emperor/Katrina 2)
From: [personal profile] nenya_kanadka
Philippa Georgiou is also a foot shorter than her, but can do all the shaking we can't. Yet another reason to swoon. XD

Date: 2019-02-04 06:28 am (UTC)
kore: (Default)
From: [personal profile] kore
And then, apparently, write out the whole script for you, because there is no fucking way that "call me a more dangerous name, call me mother" speech was not penned by the hand of The Mother of the Fatherland. I know her style when I hear it, and L'Rell's whole final scene has "EMPEROR PHILIPPA AUGUSTUS IAPONIOUS GEORGIOU" written on it in solid gold ink and a big flourish. Watch the queen conquer, indeed. I had thought that L'Rell would want to look to Admiral Cornwell for mentoring in female leadership -- it had not occurred to me that an even better, more terrifying, and more appropriate guide for her might exist. And yet here we are. (Do I ship it? Let me think about it for a bit, but, Reader, I might.)

I didn't like the episode, but I love the way you recounted it.

Date: 2019-02-07 03:17 am (UTC)
gaslightgallows: (Getting drunk with the other aliens)
From: [personal profile] gaslightgallows
I FINALLY WATCHED IT!!! And A) holy shit OF COURSE Ash and L'Rell's kid is the Albino from DS9! (Continuity: my favorite!) and B) that fight has been dramatised in Klingon soap operas so many times goddamn.

I will flail at you more in emails tomorrow. :D

Date: 2019-02-08 02:19 pm (UTC)
gaslightgallows: (UFOs gotta oof)
From: [personal profile] gaslightgallows
Worf hates this storyline for Reasons, but Jadzia finds that third opera pretty personally compelling (also for Reasons). It's a bone of contention when the Imperial Klingon Operatic Touring Company rolls around and they have to decide on a show to see.

Date: 2019-02-07 07:26 am (UTC)
jazzfic: (Default)
From: [personal profile] jazzfic
I love this recap.

I admit, when I was watching I was mostly hiding my face at it all because I'm too much of a sensitive soul... but I did cheer when Philippa deus ex machina'd into the fray for some puppet-stringing (and to whisk Ash away from the soap opera).

So, thank you - I can appreciate some things a LOT more in hindsight after reading this.

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