Even numbered sequels are the good ones, right? Spoilers.
It’s a bad sign when a throwaway joke about something hurting themselves on the warp core twice in one day is the most you laugh in the whole episode. This one just didn’t grab me. The framing device is an uphill battle, as the lack of stakes makes it very flat. The idea of Boimler having a reaction to the death of his clone is a strong idea, but it’s undermined by a lack of setup.- there’s never any sign from before that he might care.
There’s also a little too much clever reference and framing, not enough actual plot or fun. There are a lot of references to movie ear Trek, I definitely saw something from nearly every movie, from TMP to Generations or even Nemesis. But it’s not fun, and it doesn’t make a lot of sense as an overall plot.
Tendi wants to be a Captain both comes out of nowhere, but also makes a lot of sense. But it would have been nice to have that be more of a plot on its own, rather than sandwiched into a bit of a by-the-numbers mental breakdown.
Quick hits:
– Hah! Abrams-verse slam!
– There are some great movie-era graphics.
– The paranoid hologram in the city was a good joke.
– OK, that’s definitely some additional gratuitous lens flare.
– It’s nice to see a major historical event that isn’t set on Earth.
– I kind of hope that Boimler’s clone isn’t dead.
– OMG, Sydney! Is the the first appearance of Australia in Star Trek?
– Yay, George Takei!
– Yep, still alive and now in Section 31. Good.
817 down.