‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Season 1, Episode 6: What’s Up With Sarek?

Have you never watched any Star Trek before? The Vulcans have been arrogant and condescending throughout every series.

Sopan Deb you are so wrong. Please view the episodes again. You are incorrect. 1. Vulcans needlessly xenophobic. No not just xenophobic but cruel, evil, sexist and male-dominated society. Think of them as neo-nazis and alt-righters. Clearly, their society isn't superior because an orphaned human female can achieve entry into their supposedly superior society. 2. Sarek came not just because he sensed her despair. What happened was Burnham was injured prior to being placed in her cell, she was nearly killed. That's what happens when you have an invasive mindmeld. 3. Lorca hasn't been sent everywhere he's gone and when he's been sent he really wasn't prepared to go. He lied about his readiness because of he, Burnham and Tyler know that they are at war. Also, his rescue was done by his 1st officer who would have been punished if he had been a female. Corvan II & The Glenn were following Starfleet orders. They did not document and share their actions with Starfleet. 4. Cornwell is so concerned with Lorca's success and her own failures that she wants to derail his efforts. How dare he use Burnham regardless of his authority to do so. Clearly if you use your authority to act in a way that would embarrass Starfleet then you are clearly unhinged regardless of your successes. Burnham the traitor is now working successfully on the most successful experimental starship in the Federation means that the authorities are and were horribly misguided.

This review is way too Trekkie oriented. I have enjoyed the show since it's third episode without getting too hung up on the Trek world details ( is this a prequel to the 60s show or the new movies? The new movies make more sense.) If I pine for the older Treks, I have The Orville. People really do take things too seriously. This is a good show, which may be killed off by the very people it is trying to please. To paraphrase a former Captain: Get a life people!

I love this series and I look forward to the episodes each week. It has been engaging and the story is building week by week. To my dismay, the Reviewer focused on more negatives each week. I hope the unbalanced review does not turn off viewers and cause this series to be cancelled.

I'm a life long Star Trek fan. The writing is poor, very poor. The acting seems lame, but maybe its the writers' fault. The only relation with the original Star Trek here is the name and props. Further, the vilains are more notable than the crew, maybe the series should be called Klingon. Psychological interplay attempt to replace good story lines. Gene Roddenberry must be turning in his grave!!

BUT....but.... Admiral Cornwell's guards weren't wearing Red Shirts!!!

I found the whole Sarek thing bewildering, but the thing that most disturbed me was Lorca deliberately setting Cornwall up by sending her to the Klingons, and then refusing to go to her aid Very shady. For the most part, I am enjoying Discovery, at least now that I'm over feeling mad that they killed off an amazing Asian woman captain and replaced her with a white guy.

Forcing Sarek to choose between Michael and Spock was definitely an analogy to NBC executives forcing Gene Roddenberry to choose between his original Number One (Majel Barrett) and Spock ("the guy with the ears").

i'm not paying extra for a major network that was always free, so i guess i won't be watching.

Interesting article but these are hardly the most disturbing or egregious canon violations in Discovery or even in this particular episode. I cancelled CBS All-Access. And it feels like a weight off my shoulders.

I hope that the NY Times reviews of Discovery are not going to focus on how Discovery may or may not be violating the canon. That is going to be a dead end. I'm a long time Star Trek fan and I am enjoying the directions that Discovery is taking Star Trek. I agree that too much was shoe-horned into this episode. Battlestar Galactica was successful because it didn't have to touch base with every character in every episode. Discovery needs more focus and depth in it's storytelling. Many series needs to find its way in the first ten episodes. I feel like that is what we are seeing here. I am hopeful in what I am seeing so far. I hope that Discovery keeps working with issues like xenophobia, multiculturalism, PTSD and real-world war related issues. I'm liking Michael Burnham, Captain Lorca -- and most of the cast. And those special effects -- yes, more! I could do with a little less of the Klingons. They have never worked well in any series I have seen. Too much generic bad guy acting.

While viewing the episode, did anyone else experience pixilation with green blocks then a several-second loop back in the scene with the characters repeating what had just been said? I had assumed that this was deliberate, referencing some problem beginning to manifest from using the spore drive and foreshadowing next week's episode rather than an IRL problem with our streaming the episode. But I've seen no comment about this in any of the online reviews of the episode. I *could* go back and replay the episode and look at the elapsed time to check. Nah.

The only “mess” is this review that misunderstands Star Trek canon. Thrpughout the TOS series, its six movies, several episodes of TNG and the series ‘Enterprise’ Vulcans are portrayed not as logic bots but as a highly nuanced race with deep emotions, including xenophobia, which logic does not keep in check at all times. So, it is keeping with canon that Sarak would make a choice to choose blood (Spock) over an adopted Earth daughter. Aside from that it may be completely understandable that Sarak may have thought Burnham may not be the perfect fit living long-term in an all-Vulcan space ship. One other thing that Mr. Deb missed in this episode - the demons in Captain Lorca. Anyone woth the least bit of understanding about PSTD in a soldier might think it is credible for Lorca to be slightly unhinged. Moreover, I do not buy Mr. Deb’s notion that just because Lorca was successful in a handful of missions that he is psychologically fit for duty. That notion is Star Trek - and lazy screenwriting - tripe. Psychologically traumatized people take a long time, if ever to recover. During that recovery time these individuals can appear “normal,” but we know in the real world of corporate plutocrats and mass murderers that assumption is a bit challenged.

Did Lorca not race off to rescue The Admiral b/c she was about to take away his ship or because the other higher ups would say two consecutive unplanned rescues is too much? Probably the former.

I think with 'The new Paul Stamets' what has happened is not the writers trying to make him seem over-the-top happy but rather they are eluding to something which has happened to him after using himself in the Spore Drive. When interpreted in that way it seems far less odd, and opens up new questions directly linked to what happened at the very end of Episode 5.

Y'know, in addition to many other issues about this incarnation of Trek, add this: In the prior shows, the ships were places that you wouldn't have minded spending a few years. They were technological marvels, but they also felt comfortable with a strong sense of community. The new ship feels cold, harsh, and unpleasant. Beam me back to the Enterprise, Scotty.