Philip Bates

'Die Trying' - Star Trek: Discovery Season Three, Episode Five. Reviewed by Philip Bates. Sometimes, you need the benefit of hindsight. Especially with TV shows: seeing the wider arc can soothe the things that troubled you in the early days. Or exacerbate them. Right now, I have concerns about Star Trek: Discovery, but they're being overshadowed by all the good stuff … [Read more...] about Review: Die Trying – Star Trek Discovery Season 3

'Forget Me Not' - Star Trek: Discovery Season Three, Episode Four. Reviewed by Philip Bates. Join the crew of the Discovery for a dinner party. Here, they'll be reminiscing about the past and cornering the market on pain. Starters 'Forget Me Not' begins with Dr Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz) being concerned about the mental wellbeing of his peers, and he advises Saru … [Read more...] about Review: Forget Me Not – Star Trek Discovery Season 3

This review contains minor spoilers for the Star Trek Discovery episode 'People of Earth.' Trees. They're pretty underrated. Not in a "actually, I like 'Spock's Brain'" way, but in a "they give us oxygen which we use to breathe, yet we continue to chop them down" sort of way. For much of the time, trees are just there. They exist. Our experiences of trees are piqued by … [Read more...] about Review: People of Earth – Star Trek Discovery Season 3

Minor spoilers follow. The second episode of Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 - 'Far from Home' - opens with a crash. It's all hands on deck as the Discovery bursts into the 32nd Century, onto an icy planet beautifully rendered with large chunks of rock floating in the atmosphere. And it hits you immediately: Discovery looks amazing. The show is doing Star Wars on a TV … [Read more...] about Review: Far from Home – Star Trek Discovery Season 3

Minor spoilers follow. Star Trek Discovery Season 3 picks up seconds after Season 2 concluded. Or some 900 years later, depending on your point of view. Discovery has always had an exciting conceit that cuts to Trek's core: the need to discover. You'd think the spore drive would facilitate this, allowing the NCC-1031 to jump into unknown sectors. But that was rarely … [Read more...] about Review: That Hope is You (Part 1) – Star Trek Discovery Season 3