TV Show Review

TV Review: STAR TREK: DISCOVERY: Season 1, Episode 13: What’s Past Is Prologue [CBS]

Jason Isaacs Star Trek Discovery

Star Trek: Discovery What’s Past Is Prologue Review

Star Trek: Discovery: Season 1, Episode 13: What’s Past Is Prologue. This Star Trek: Discovery What’s Past Is Prologue review isn’t quite sure what to make of the the episode’s stunning decision to kill off one of the show’s most important characters.

Just one show after revealing that Lorca (Jason Isaacs) is actually his Mirror universe counterpart, the program has already decided to dispose of him for the time being. This isn’t a dig at the way in which he was killed – being stabbed quite literally in the back by Empress Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) isn’t probably what I would have picked, but it works – but rather a comment about the suddenness of it all. I can’t say what the writers have in mind for the rest of the season, but I think prolonging this storyline so that it lasts up until the finale would have allowed for more development as well as give Lorca’s death a fitting sense of finality. At this point, it’s feels more weird than anything, and leaves me wondering if they’re already drawing up ways to bring him back similar to how they revived Landry (Rekha Sharma) via her Mirrorverse doppelgänger. How they would pull such a feat off considering that Lorca is already a Mirrorverse counterpart is another question.

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The episode fares much better in its depiction of Saru’s (Doug Jones) commandeering of the Discovery.  A far cry from the dark menace of his former superior, Jones is still able to bring the requisite presence to his character’s newfound position of authority. The writing also helps tremendously here, with Saru’s opening captain’s log demonstrating that he not only appreciates the magnitude of the situation but understands he and the crew will have to take extraordinary measures to make it back safely to their timeline.

Despite my misgivings about the way in which it wrapped up (at least for the foreseeable future) the Mirrorverse plot thread, I am excited to see where the show will take will take us now that the Discovery is back to our reality. More specifically, I am interested in seeing how the Klingons’ apparent victory in their war against the Federation will have changed the culture and appearance of Earth, if we should be so lucky to see what our planet looks like under their rule. I only hope that they resolve this storyline much more smoothly than they did the previous one.

Leave your thoughts on this Star Trek: Discovery What’s Past Is Prologue review and this episode of Star Trek: Discovery in the comments section. Readers seeking more Star Trek: Discovery news can visit our Star Trek: Discovery Page and our Star Trek: Discovery Facebook Page. Readers seeking more TV show reviews can visit our TV Show Review Page, our TV Show Review Twitter Page, our TV Show Review Facebook Page, and our TV Show Review Google+ Page. Want up-to-the-minute notification? FilmBook staff members publish articles by Email, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+, and Facebook.

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Reggie Peralta

**** We hired Reggie, fulfilled our obligations to him, and he quit in the middle of covering two TV series w/ no notice and no explanation. He then ignored our emails asking him to complete his coverage (we had no one else to cover those TV shows). He didn't care. We regret hiring him and we regret putting our trust in him. **** An aspiring writer, longtime film junkie, and former UCLARadio.com disc jockey (where I graduated with a BA in Political Science), I've made the jump from penning book reviews and current events editorials for HonorSociety.org to writing movie and TV news and reviews. When I'm not working towards my certificate in Radio and Television/Video Production at Fullerton College, I enjoy reading (horror, science fiction, and historical/political nonfiction are particular favorites), participating in my school's TV and theatre clubs, attending movie screenings, plays, concerts, and other events, and trying to come up with pithy things to say on social media. Believe it or not, there are occasions where I find time to write for my own leisure.
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