Star Trek: Discovery: Rubicon
February 17, 2022 2:08 PM - Season 4, Episode 9 - Subscribe
Captain Burnham and the USS Discovery race to stop Book and Ruon Tarka from launching a rogue plan that could inadvertently endanger the galaxy.
Memory Alpha
Really don't know what to say about this one. With all the tension built up over what to do about Book and Tarka's attempt to blow up the DMA, with Nhan (hey, Nhan) ready to jump in the big chair if Burnham's plan doesn't work, with all the frantic work to get the data to convince Book to stand down, and they get it, and Book agrees...
...Tarka goes ahead and fires the damn thing because Book didn't think to lock Tarka out of functions like that, even though Tarka's unannounced security thingy nearly killed some Disco people.
And Tarka didn't get his dimension-hopping power supply anyway.
And the big whatsit on the edge of the galaxy replaced the DMA in seconds.
Welp. Guess they'd better hope that the Big Whatsit feels like talkin'.
(At least Saru might be getting some, if they survive all this)
Memory Alpha
Really don't know what to say about this one. With all the tension built up over what to do about Book and Tarka's attempt to blow up the DMA, with Nhan (hey, Nhan) ready to jump in the big chair if Burnham's plan doesn't work, with all the frantic work to get the data to convince Book to stand down, and they get it, and Book agrees...
...Tarka goes ahead and fires the damn thing because Book didn't think to lock Tarka out of functions like that, even though Tarka's unannounced security thingy nearly killed some Disco people.
And Tarka didn't get his dimension-hopping power supply anyway.
And the big whatsit on the edge of the galaxy replaced the DMA in seconds.
Welp. Guess they'd better hope that the Big Whatsit feels like talkin'.
(At least Saru might be getting some, if they survive all this)
Liked this episode too! They seem to have gotten over whatever hump was annoying me in the first episodes this season. They're still talking a lot about feelings, in this case the heavy-handed "meet in the middle" messaging. (And boy that's out of step in Trump coup America.) But it works much better because it's in the context of an interesting plot that has heavy stakes.
A big part of what made this episode work was the reliance on Book and Michael's relationship, their trust and understanding of each other. It was also a bit heavy handed but it totally worked for me. David Ajala is such a good actor. It must have been very hard to find someone who could shine on screen next to Sonequa Martin-Green's bright light.
I was totally expecting the moment when Tarka discarded Book and just did what he wanted on his own. A little annoyed with Book he didn't see that coming and get his ship to better to protect itself from Tarka. I agree with hanov3r that Book should have reacted much more angrily. It's not just that Tarka sabotaged the mission, Tarka did it with Book's ship.
Not so happy to see Nhan back; it felt like maybe the show was scrambling to replace Mary Wiseman. Although I guess the way it's been written Tilly will be back too? Still confused when Bill Jones left the show last season in the most confusing way possible and is now just back, albeit in a new role. Looking forward to the Most Awkward Romance with T'Rina.
posted by Nelson at 7:55 AM on February 18, 2022 [3 favorites]
A big part of what made this episode work was the reliance on Book and Michael's relationship, their trust and understanding of each other. It was also a bit heavy handed but it totally worked for me. David Ajala is such a good actor. It must have been very hard to find someone who could shine on screen next to Sonequa Martin-Green's bright light.
I was totally expecting the moment when Tarka discarded Book and just did what he wanted on his own. A little annoyed with Book he didn't see that coming and get his ship to better to protect itself from Tarka. I agree with hanov3r that Book should have reacted much more angrily. It's not just that Tarka sabotaged the mission, Tarka did it with Book's ship.
Not so happy to see Nhan back; it felt like maybe the show was scrambling to replace Mary Wiseman. Although I guess the way it's been written Tilly will be back too? Still confused when Bill Jones left the show last season in the most confusing way possible and is now just back, albeit in a new role. Looking forward to the Most Awkward Romance with T'Rina.
posted by Nelson at 7:55 AM on February 18, 2022 [3 favorites]
Still confused when Bill Jones left the show last season in the most confusing way possible and is now just back, albeit in a new role.
I assume that you mean Doug Jones? And yeah, I get that a lot with some of the revolving-door changes. Maybe some of it is the stop-start nature of production in the pandemic (PIC had a lot of people--like, 50 members of the crew--test positive at one point).
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:45 AM on February 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
I assume that you mean Doug Jones? And yeah, I get that a lot with some of the revolving-door changes. Maybe some of it is the stop-start nature of production in the pandemic (PIC had a lot of people--like, 50 members of the crew--test positive at one point).
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:45 AM on February 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
The mission was to stop Book & Tarka at all costs from using the bomb, even sending Nhan to pull the trigger on the last resort plan if Burnham hesitated. The DMA controller being destroyed anyway despite all this feels like a pretty serious fuckup that didn’t get adequate screen time from Vance dressing down everyone involved. I guess the quick reappearance of a new DMA suggests that this wasn’t a big deal to the majorly advanced beings from outside the galaxy, they’ve apparently got a ton of these just lying around.
posted by dr_dank at 8:59 AM on February 18, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by dr_dank at 8:59 AM on February 18, 2022 [3 favorites]
NHAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!
A little annoyed with Book he didn't see that coming and get his ship to better to protect itself from Tarka.
Yes. It frustrates me when these characters are written to be smart only when the plot beats require it. It makes this show feel formulaic, and when you think about what this show is, it should be as far from formulaic as genre TV can friggin' get.
The two best lines, though, both came from the same scene. First, Saru talking about meeting T'Rina for dinner with the hesitant qualifier "...socially"; I restate what I said last season, that the day Saru leaves this show is the day I do.
The other line, one that I found quite resonant in the current moment of pandemic-induced isolation and political division, was Culber's line about how the risks of connecting aren't such a big deal compared with everything else we're dealing with, so just go for it. Now and then, this show is profound.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 5:35 AM on February 19, 2022 [6 favorites]
A little annoyed with Book he didn't see that coming and get his ship to better to protect itself from Tarka.
Yes. It frustrates me when these characters are written to be smart only when the plot beats require it. It makes this show feel formulaic, and when you think about what this show is, it should be as far from formulaic as genre TV can friggin' get.
The two best lines, though, both came from the same scene. First, Saru talking about meeting T'Rina for dinner with the hesitant qualifier "...socially"; I restate what I said last season, that the day Saru leaves this show is the day I do.
The other line, one that I found quite resonant in the current moment of pandemic-induced isolation and political division, was Culber's line about how the risks of connecting aren't such a big deal compared with everything else we're dealing with, so just go for it. Now and then, this show is profound.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 5:35 AM on February 19, 2022 [6 favorites]
I was totally expecting the moment when Tarka discarded Book and just did what he wanted on his own. A little annoyed with Book he didn't see that coming and get his ship to better to protect itself from Tarka. I agree with hanov3r that Book should have reacted much more angrily. It's not just that Tarka sabotaged the mission, Tarka did it with Book's ship.
THREE TIMES he fucked with Book's ship. Ok, maybe after the first you don't deck him and lock him out of the controls, but after he tries to kill the ship with your beloved on it surely you enact the parental controls for anything other than the pisser.
I mean, dude has a fucking ship panther sitting on the control panel half the time, don't try telling me it doesn't have an auto-keylock function.
posted by coriolisdave at 1:17 PM on February 24, 2022 [4 favorites]
THREE TIMES he fucked with Book's ship. Ok, maybe after the first you don't deck him and lock him out of the controls, but after he tries to kill the ship with your beloved on it surely you enact the parental controls for anything other than the pisser.
I mean, dude has a fucking ship panther sitting on the control panel half the time, don't try telling me it doesn't have an auto-keylock function.
posted by coriolisdave at 1:17 PM on February 24, 2022 [4 favorites]
“Dang, dude! I mean I know that your entire thing is that you do not recognize authority and will go to any lengths to achieve your personal goals, but I really thought you'd recognize my authority instead of going to any lengths to achieve your personal goals!”
posted by DoctorFedora at 3:58 PM on February 24, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by DoctorFedora at 3:58 PM on February 24, 2022 [3 favorites]
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Grammatically, I found it kinda interesting that Saru refers to "Mr. Booker and Tarka". Shouldn't that either be "Misters Booker and Tarka", "Mister Booker and Mister Tarka", or "Book and Tarka"? The formality for the guy you know and familiarity for the stranger rings weird to me.
I dunno. This one felt like a slump from last week, but I'm happy to see Nhan and there was some plot advancement.
posted by hanov3r at 4:06 PM on February 17, 2022 [2 favorites]