Image Credit: StarTrek.com

Well, another cast member bites the dust. If it weren’t for the flying starships, talking aliens, and science-fictiony stuff, I’d swear I was watching “The Walking Dead”. At this rate, they’ll be nobody left to pilot the U.S.S. Discovery by season’s end.

R.I.P Commander Ellen Landry. You should have listened to the science officer, ma’am.

Despite my postmortem blues, we were given yet another interesting glimpse into the awfulness that is Captain Lorca. Guess we can add torture to his list of “admiral” traits. This guy is giving Admiral Marcus a serious run for title of “Worst Starfleet Captain” ever. I mean, we’ve seen our fair share of jerk-offs in charge over at Starfleet Command (Admiral Haftel, Admiral Satie, Admiral Pressman, Admiral Jameson….the list goes on and on), but not so much as far as starship captains go, and this Lorca feller is sure turning out to be quite the trendsetter. I’m kind of worried to see what happens to the poor “tardigrade-creature” that’s being used to power the Discovery’s new propulsion system (or as it’s being referred to by our Discovery crew: The Ripper). Considering what we were shown in the preview for next week, nothing too good is in store, especially where nipple-clamps are concerned (no offense to those who enjoy them).

In watching Discovery, I’m finding it really interesting to see Starfleet in the early, 23^rd century days, when future, known allegiances were either non-existent or in a primordial state of being. The Abrams films nicely broadened the scope of these encounters a bit more (albeit in an alternate timeline), as have the current, ongoing Star Trek comics being published through IDW. By the way, if you haven’t jumped on board the Star Trek: Ongoing train already, I highly recommend you do, posthaste. It’s as if the Kelvin Timeline crew had its own series and weren’t solely confined to the celluloid-space of the movie theater. But, I’ve digressed; let’s return….

During the episode’s intro, we were treated to something we’ve never seen before (as far as I know): the inner machinations of a replicator. What, at first, looked like some sort of planetary or deep space lightning storm, with unknown organic or inorganic matter constructing itself into something, actually turned out to be the Discovery’s replicator synthesizing a uniform for Michael Burnham. I’m continually impressed by the production value of the show. The visuals have all been of a movie-quality variety, and scenes like the replicator-synthesis are a really clever way to show fans something they’ve never seen before.

Something else the show is in no short-supply of is surprises. One of the major ones in this episode was when it was revealed by the Klingons that Philippa Georgiou’s deceased body was eaten by their ilk. Let me repeat that again, in case you didn’t catch it: they friggin’ ate the captain! I think – and I believe you would all agree – that Captain Georgiou deserved more than to be murdered and then eaten by the very Klingons that took her life. Not even in death was there peace for her poor, lifeless body. I wonder if they paired her with a nice, warm bloodwine. Kidding.

We also got our first introduction to Doctor Hugh Culber, played by none other than Mr. Wilson Cruz – or “Rickie Vasquez,” for those of you who are old enough to have watched My So-Called Life on ABC back in the nineties. Not much transpired in the way of our first intro (you can’t really be all lovey-dovey with your significant other when you’re on the job and your boss is in the room, now can you?), but I’m looking forward to seeing more of him in upcoming episodes this season.

Before we part ways (until next week, that is), I’ll leave you with this wee piece of good news. I was listening to this week’s Engage podcast recap of Episode 4 with Jordan Hoffman, and he mentioned that, according to Star Trek: Discovery producer, Gretchen Berg, we will see other characters from Trek-canon appear on the show (other than Sarek, Amanda, and Harry Mudd, that is). There’s no mention of when, however, just a slight tease of things yet to pass.  So, there you have it, kids. Think of these teases like pon farr; they’re gonna drive you mad, but it’s up to you to control these emotions. Reach deep down into yourselves and channel your inner Vulcan. Feel it wash over you and through you. Let the blood fever take you….er….I mean, patience! Let the patience take you!