Logline
During the cadets’ first training mission on an abandoned ship, they encounter a dangerous new enemy. As our cadets fight for survival, Nahla must risk everything to save them by seeking help from an unexpected, untrustworthy, source.
Written by: Kenneth Lin & Kiley Rosseter
Directed by: Larry Teng
A little detail I liked was Tarima specifying something about destroying her father’s auditory cortex. It answered the question of why a telepathic species would need sign language. In humans, even when we imagine voices or use an internal voice it goes through the auditory. So, it makes sense that a telepathic species might use it’s auditory context to “hear” thoughts.
Another excellent episode from SFA. Honestly for me the show is firing on all cylinders.
- The opening intimacy between Terima and Caleb was the right combination of sensual and sweet for me. I liked that more attention was paid to the “pillow talk” afterwards with Terima’s story about her experience with a Deltan and Caleb’s reaction to it
- I also feel like the end of this scene shows Caleb’s character growth a bit. We understand why he reacted the way he did to Terima suddenly seeing his childhood. Yes he’s an ass at first as the defenses instinctively trigger, but I like that he quickly stands down and realizes (as Terima is leaving) that he messed up and one of the first things he says to her when they get back into contact is an apology. I don’t think we would have seen that, or at least as quickly, from Episode 1 Caleb.
- Caleb rooms with Ocam, right? I don’t care how supportive Ocam is of Terima’s relationship with Caleb, that had to be an awkward conversation when Caleb asked for the room for the night. Or maybe Betazoids are more open about that kind of thing, they do have naked weddings sooo… Idk
- Nooo!
Bobby!B’avi! - The Kyle/Jay-Den ship is sailing along I see
- I like how the officers on the bridge let the cadets help and didn’t shove them aside when shit hit the fan.
- Paul Giamatti and Holly Hunter were just absolutely amazing this episode. They are both multiple award winning performers and they showed it here. Giamatti in particular is chewing the scenery all over the place. It takes a great actor to make a great villain and Giamatti doesn’t disappoint here. I genuinely hate Braca after this episode.
- Terima thinks Caleb is going to hate her after she went all psychic Black Canary. I don’t think so, I think Caleb (after all the trauma resolves and Terima gets out of a coma) is going to be like “My girlfriend is BADASS”
Paul Giamatti and Holly Hunter were just absolutely amazing this episode.
Couldn’t agree more. Just absolutely riveting scene with little else going on besides his angry ranting and her micro-expressions. So many layers to both of their performances.
I’m with nearly all your other observations too. Even the Kyle Jay Den thing manages to feel natural and awkward in a wholesome realistic way for a character who has had all of ten seconds of screen time.
Yes [Caleb’s] an ass at first as the defenses instinctively trigger
This is the only part I’m not sure I fully agree with you on. I think Caleb’s reaction to having his childhood trauma brought up against is will during a time he is supposed to be feeling safe being vulnerable is completely understandable. “She can’t help it” isn’t an excuse in my book. BUT they both handled it maturely later with cool heads and that’s what matters. He is definitely going to think she’s a badass (maybe because that scene was maybe one of the most badass moments we’ve ever seen on Star Trek).
I think this is the most I’ve despised an enemy since Kai Wynn. I did not expect an episode like that from this show.
And yet, the accusations he launched at Ake? They landed! The Federation has been, and still is culturally imperialistic, and we have seen that aspect in action through Nahla. Braka is being very hammy with the “hate is good” thing, but he’s right at pointing that Starfleet is an institution that very usually takes misfit and vulnerable kids and makes ideologically pure scientist-soldiers out of them, like a futuristic version of the Ottoman janissaries.
I’m not sure what type of episode I was expecting this week but it certainly wasn’t this. What a fantastic episode. Every scene with Ake and Braka was perfect. Holly Hunter did most of the acting this week with her facial expressions instead of words, but you can hear every moment.
Though I wish we would have saw her, Discovery name drop!
Though I wish we would have saw her, Discovery name drop!
Even if we don’t see any of the cast, it would be SO badass to see Disco pop in and save the day during a space battle for a moment then just pop back out.
I thought this was 90210 in space, according to all the haters. Can anyone tell me in which episode of 90210 the cannibals try to eat everyone?
Thought this was a fantastic episode, the setup was good with the practice mission. Not the biggest fan of another sudden ambush after the pilot episode, but I think it worked well enough. Crazy that they actually killed someone from the main supporting cast, but at least it wasn’t Kyle.
My biggest complaint were probably the action scenes. It’s just a fast blurry mess of dark to me.
Oh and I thought B’avi was called Bobby.
Wasn’t Roddenberry’s original concept for the Ferengi closer to the Furies in this episode?
They were supposed to have large bat ears and the cannibalism rings a bell too — at least the rumours Picard mentions about the Ferengi in TNG ‘Encounter at Farpoint’ included cannibalism.
While the “capitalists on steroids” concept for the Ferengi doesn’t align with the Furies, I still can’t help thinking that Secret Hideout and the Roddenberry estate haven’t pulled out another old idea and reworked it.
Roddenberry’s concept was reworked in the posthumous Andromeda tv show that combined a few of his ‘trunk’ of concepts that were never greenlit. According to the fandom wiki, Magog in Andromeda were “a savage bloodthirsty species feared throughout the universe…(with) baser instincts to kill other living beings for food, or forcibly infest them with Magog eggs for reproduction.“
This ForgottenTrek page on the Ferengi does mention cannibalism and big ears, but I don’t see the prosthetics sketch with the big bat ears that I am recalling.
Do [email protected] or [email protected] happen to have any other references for the original Ferengi concept at hand?
