DIS: Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum

[Linkara]

http://sfdebris.com/videos/startrek/c108.php

This is another one that I quite liked, especially because it both feels like Star Trek AND because it does something different. One could compare it to "This Side of Paradise" from TOS, but in this case the spores are focused on one crew member only and it gives us some character development for Saru and explains his species more. Instead of that goofy "I can sense death" thing, they go for the more logical evolutionary explanation - his species developed to resist predators on his world by getting faster, being constantly alert, and especially sensitive to potential danger. The idea is more that his species has a kind of constant anxiety eating at them is pretty interesting and I can see why, when he's confronted with the first time of not having that fear nagging at him he'd want to embrace it and never let it go. Add on how he already feels bitter concerning Michael and it makes for some interesting stuff, plus the lead-in to the mid-season finale.

[locuas]

I also liked that, for once, the seemingly peaceful and helpful alien race WAS genuinely peaceful and helpful (to a point). Rather than Saru being mind controlled or tricked by them, it was Saru acting on his own and the race actually was on Michael's side.

It was a nice change of pace.

I do remember people were worried they had killed yet another female character this episode. Though next one does confirm she is alive.

[MixedDrops]

I thought it was a great bit of development for Saru. It's hard to imagine how liberating it would be if you were suddenly free of a fear you lived with your whole life. Along with where they took the character towards the end of the season, Saru probably had the most satisfying character development in the show for me so far.

Also one little detail I really liked is how Saru's choice to get Michael out of the way was by kicking backwards, similar to bucking. If a horse kicked you square in the chest you'd probably have a good chance of landing in the emergency room, if not just outright die.

[AlucardNoir]

See, I'm actually on the other side of the argument. I hate the episode because it went into the godlike alien trope - maybe not Q/Trelene/Prophets level but close enough. While you guys praise Suru's development as a character and the development they gave to his species, I'm more concerned with the particle like aliens that had no problem building a subspace beacon so powerful you can use it to map the location of invisible spaceships from many, many light years away but who never thought of leaving their homeworld.

Oh, and did I mention they aren't mentioned again, ever. They did invite both the Klingons and the Federation to their world right? not just two ships? or am I misremembering?

While you guys enjoyed the episode for it's character development I was rolling my eyes at the blue ... and I just realized we're talking about force ghosts in Star Trek for a second time...first time ... sigh, fucking STD.

Oh, and before I forget, mind if you edit your post linkara? Just add the following at the start of the post: http://sfdebris.com/videos/startrek/c108.php

It seems to be somewhat of a "standard" on here that the first post link to the review or the first video in a review playlist.

[Anacronian]

IKEA torture beyond evil!

[clearspira]

I on the other hand think that STD is going from bad to worse. This show is the Stargate Universe of Trek: darker, edgier, soap opera plots, barely any similarity with what came before, strong women that come off as irrational more than equal, and cancelled at the end of season 2 (hopefully).

[Darth Wedgius]

I do like that they at least touched on the whole strange new worlds, new life forms and new civilizations thing. Even if it's not "seeking out" so much as "stumbling into."

[Ikiry0]

This episode makes me wonder of anti-anxiety medication doesn't exist in the Federation. Saru needs to get himself hooked up with whatever Bones was prescribing people in Wolf in the Fold.

[Formless One]

This episode makes me wonder of anti-anxiety medication doesn't exist in the Federation. Saru needs to get himself hooked up with whatever Bones was prescribing people in Wolf in the Fold.

If Saru's species experiences anxiety all or most of the time as a survival instinct, they probably have a higher tolerance to it than humans, and the mental health field would be less inclined to label it as a problem in their case. After all, it doesn't appear to cause him behavioral problems under normal conditions-- in fact, it was after Saru's anxiety was taken away that he began acting irrationally and violently towards his coworkers, which would probably be a known issue and a good reason specifically not to try and treat their fears the same way human anxiety is treated. Its like why humans aren't considered abnormal by Vulcans for experiencing and acting on emotions-- our survival instincts are tied to those emotions, and because they are actually not felt as strongly as a Vulcan's emotions are there is less need to exert conscious control over them. Different neural systems, different instincts, different mental norms. It all makes perfect sense.

[proporRocket]

The thing that bugs me about this episode:
At the end of the episode it revealed that Saru wasn't mind controlled but that he did every thing of his own free will. That's an interesting plot twist, but...shouldn't he be in the brig? I mean, just off the top of my head, we've got assault of fellow officers, destruction of Star Fleet property, dereliction of duty, and attempted desertion in a time of war.
It's the equivalent of Riker refusing to leave Risa because, hell, were else are you going to find a planet were you can trade statues for orgies?