Nice thing about the streaming format is that you can watch at any time.
Am playing catch up and am not actually current as episode 12 dropped last Sunday and I haven't seen it yet
Season 1.5 started with episode 10 and the cast and crew in the "mirror" universe introduced in ST-TOS episode, "Mirror, Mirror." I believe this concept was only re-visited in Deep Space Nine and in Star Trek Enterprise. I don't recall any episodes in Star Trek Next Generation or Star Trek Voyager that used this setting.
Stamets remains in his confused state but at the end of episode 11, we get the "cliff-hanger" of him meeting his mirror self in the forrest where the spores grow. Will see how that develops in the remaining episodes.
The death of Dr. Culber was a shocker but unlike the death of Security Chief Landry, it was a plausible development within the story arc.
Lorca doesn't get to do too much in episodes 10-11 as he spends most of the time in the agonizer booth. But he gets in a few lines and is likely to have more screen time in upcoming episodes. The guys at "Engaged: The Official Star Trek Podcast" suspect maybe Lorca is actually the mirror Lorca ... we shall see. The guys on the Podcast did come out strongly in favor of the Voq/Tyler plot twist that turned out to be exactly what the writers went with.
In regards to that plot twist, it is a good story device and paid off in the dramatic showdown between Tyler/Voq and mirror Voq in episode 11. However, there were many holes in the details of how they set it up.
First of all Tyler/Voq was produced by elaborate surgical alteration that Dr. Culber detected in Episode 10. You would think other doctors would have picked it up right after Tyler and Lorca escaped from the Klingon prison ship. Released prisoners of war would/should get pretty thorough medical exams!
Second, a full on personality overlay of a Star Fleet officer onto a Klingon is a stretch. How would the Klingons have that level of detail about the life of Tyler who was a real Star Fleet officer presumably killed in the Battle of the Binary Stars. Not only did they have his personal life details to create false memories they were able to craft his personality components such that Star Fleet medical personnel did not detect something strange was going on.
Third, there is the matter of DNA! Voq would have Klingon DNA and you would think in the 23rd century, every Star Fleet officer has her/his DNA on file. To pull off the Tyler/Voq scheme would mean they would have altered Voq's DNA to perfectly match Tyler's DNA.
So even if the storyline has a nice dramatic payoff, the gymnastics to get there was beyond implausible.
I continue to be a huge fan of Tilly and Saru and they both deliver some fantastic moments in episode 10-11. At some point, I'll probably have to check out Youtube to see if there are clips of the actors Mary Wiseman and Doug Jones talking about how they prepare for their roles.
Meanwhile, Burnham as a character continues to grow on me. SMG's acting chops in playing the good Burnham playing the bad mirror Burnham without losing her identity paired with the performance of SL's good Tyler/bad Voq acting as mirror Tyler with a disappearing good Tyler as the bad Voq emerges was quite the drama. Although, I was a bit surprised that Burnham wasn't more suspicious when Tyler/Voq tried to kill mirror Voq! I suppose Burnham was somewhat "blinded" since Tyler was her only link to her own universe.
The big reveal at the end of episode 11 was the return of Michelle Yeoh as the mirror universe Emperor Georgiou!
All in all, great production values, interesting characters, and the serialized story telling format does leave you wondering what is next?
Was Lorca really the mirror Lorca all along as suggested by the Engage podcast guys?
Will mirror-Stamets turn out to be a good guy and Stamets and mirror-Stamets team up together to help their respective crews return to their correct universes and perhaps plant more seeds (spores!?) of revolution in the mirror universe?!
How will the Burnham vs. mirror Georgiou conflict play itself out?
Will season 2 be a continuation of Discovery in the mirror universe? Or will they be back in their own universe by the end of season 1?
Will there be an episode where the cast and crew will play their mirror-selves in the opposite universe?
Four episodes to go to wrap things up or to wrap most things up but leave some threads for season 2!
Live long and prosper!
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