TV Show Review

TV Review: STAR TREK: DISCOVERY: Season 1, Episode 14: The War Without, The War Within [CBS]

Doug Jones Michelle Yeoh Star Trek Discovery

Star Trek: Discovery The War Without, The War Within Review

Star Trek: Discovery: Season 1, Episode 14: The War Without, The War Within. This Star Trek: Discovery The War Without, The War Within review finds Sunday night’s episode to be talkier than previous entries but it works well.

Funnily enough, this dovetails neatly into a criticism frequently thrown at the JJ Abrams Star Trek films. While many critics claimed that the high-octane action of the movies felt more like Star Wars than Star Trek, the weightier, more dialogue-driven nature of War Without calls to mind any number of cerebral conversations to say nothing of heated back-and-forths on TOS, TNG, and the rest of the series’. Considering that some fans have complained that Star Trek: Discovery doesn’t feel like Trek either, it will be interesting to see how said fans receive this aspect of the program.

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While we’re on the subject of the other series’, I thought it was nice that the episode acknowledged Enterprise, with a brief-but-potent reference to Captain Archer and his crew’s attempts to navigate the Klingon homeward of Qonos. Readers who have been following my coverage of the show might remember that I noted the uniforms worn by the crew of the Discovery are somewhat reminiscent of those worn on Enterprise, making it even cooler (at least for me) that the writers went out of their way to make this connection between the two shows.

Moving on back to the dialogue, some of the exchanges here stand out in how much they emphasize the friction between the characters. Stamets’ (Anthony Rapp) confrontation with Tyler (Shazad Latif) is a strong, if not the best, example, struggling to balance his outrage at Tyler’s killing of Culber with his understanding that Tyler was not Tyler when he murdered his partner. The frustration is clear in Stamets’ eyes, but it turns to bitter resignation when he tells Tyler “maybe you’re still human after all” when the latter describes the guilt he feels.

I still find it weird that they killed off Lorca (Jason Isaacs) so easily in the preceding episode. Considering how big of a role he played in driving the story, it’s just strange to me that they would dispose of him so soon into the show’s first season. Then again, I was taken aback by Captain Georgiou’s (Michelle Yeoh) death in the first episode, and they brought her back in Terran form, so who knows, maybe Lorca will return in some other form.

Leave your thoughts on this Star Trek: Discovery The War Without, The War Within 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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