Star Trek: Discovery (TV Series) The Sanctuary (2020) User Reviews

There is slightly more good than bad in this for me

[snoozejonc · 6/10 · 21 April 2021]

Booker receives a distress call from his brother on their home world.

This is mixed bag of an episode with fairly uninspired storytelling, clunky dialogue, a naff villain, but it does have some decent character moments and great visuals. For me it definitely doesn't deserve the level of negativity it has received, however each person to their own opinion as ever.

I enjoyed all the scenes involving Georgiou, Culiber, Stamets, Adira, Saru and Tilly, as these contain some nice character moments and some development, particularly with Adira. I do not wish to overstate the case by implying these are fantastic examples of filmmaking, but for me they do work.

Where I struggle is the main plot, which is very predictable and has no credible intrigue or suspense. I have no problem with the content, you just know everything will be sorted out easily as these types of things always are on Star Trek. The villain feels no more threatening than a bog-standard villain of the week and unfortunately it looks like we are going to see her again.

There are also some ropey scenes with Detmer. As much as I dislike Star Wars inspired dog-fight sequences in this franchise, one sequence had the potential to work very well for her character development. Unfortunately the writers ruin it in a later scene by making her act like an annoyingly sassy teenage girl whilst talking to her colleagues in the mess hall. She feels more like someone who has just posted something controversial on Facebook rather than a Starfleet officer who just expertly piloted a starship.

The visuals are a great as ever. I loved the cinematography, lighting, colours and effects.

All performances were good considering the dialogue wasn't the best for the actors to deliver.

As with all Star Trek shows episodes vary in quality. This is fairly mediocre in the grand scheme and I have seen far worse episodes in The Original Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise.

For me it's a 5.5/10.

Finally! No crying, sobbing, hugging and teared smiles!

[jeroen-106 · 5/10 · 10 December 2020]

The past episodes have been unbearable to watch - many eye-roll moments of Star Trek Discovery crew members crying, sobbing and smiling satisfyingly over their heroic values and actions. I wanted to slap them in the face. This was yet another weak episode - like most - with nonsensical blue flying locusts controlled by two brothers who can control their mind, with their signal amplified by a star ship. Yup. Oh, and a patch of brown forest representing the entire planet. But at least not so much of the crying and sobbing this time.

Tolerable

[ruff1969 · 5/10 · 5 December 2020]

At least there was no ridiculous tears or overly dramatic whispering in this episode. But this show is really getting boring.

Why am I wasting my time?

[jAPHEY4 · 5 December 2020]

This show is almost unbearable to watch this season. I came on here to see if I was the only one who felt this way, and thankfully I'm not. Detmer and Dr. Culber finally get a chance to shine, but it took almost 3 entire seasons for it to happen. It would be nice to get to know them and some of the other side characters a little more, but at this point it's probably too little, too late. The insistence of the writers to make it the Burnham/Saru/Tilly show has, frankly, run out of steam. Then, there is Adira. My problem with her has nothing to do with the whole pronoun/woke controversy that everyone is all worked up about. No, the problem with them is that they are just a REALLY boring character. They traded in Captain Pike, Spock, and Ash Tyler last season for this new character that gets an inordinate amount of screen time at the expense of all the other actors that have paid their dues for 3 years on this sinking ship. Pike, Spock, and Tyler for Adira is a shocking downgrade in quality and one of the main reasons for the sheer awfulness on display this season. I do like the Book character, but they don't really give him much to do, relegating him to the same background duties as the rest of the cast. I'm really trying to be understanding of the difficulties involved in producing content in the middle of a pandemic. But, it seems almost like the attitude with this and many other shows this season is "something is better than nothing". I just want to say that it's not. I would rather wait an extra year for a quality show than have to sit around and watch any more ruined.

Laboured Storytelling

[gbkimberley · 6/10 · 5 December 2020]

Have you ever dreamt that you're in a race? That you're trying your best to run as fast as you can, but it feels like you're running in knee deep treacle and you're getting nowhere? That's how Star Trek Discovery is feeling, but in a visual sense.

Is this the future?

[evakovacsmail · 4/10 · 6 December 2020]

Aren't primetime show writers supposed to be more creative than just taking an issue as it is from the present and insert it in a scenery filled with holografic screens and spaceships and call it the future?! Am I supposed to believe that in hundreds of years it still has to be spelled out what pronouns are to be used to address a trans person? When there are actual alien species (plural!) and warp drives and what not... There was seriously no way to portray this issue in a manner that is less in-your-face? The Paul and Hugh relationship is also a 'woke' topic but that never felt forced to me but this is way over the top. I can understand why they would want to include this but for heaven's sake, be more creative about it! Also, I am a woman but God, one more female character, princess, security advisor or multi-planetery villain lady and I am out - who needs everyone, even the aliens, to be female?! I miss Captain Pike, he was a sight for sore eyes...

Dont hate it for the wrong reasons.

[bnevs18 · 7/10 · 4 December 2020]

First, the gender issue. Dont act like you are surprised or offended that Star Trek went there...DS9 had one of the first lesbian kisses on US air, and Discovery had the gay kisses. I dont like it when such things are forced or shoehorned either, but to act like this doesnt fall in the normal course of events is disingenuous...you dont have to like it, but dont act like this is what makes you quit watching. And yes, "they" makes perfect sense for a Trill with multiple personalities. Then, the pacing issue...I agree with it...a reset to the 30th century should have given the writers enough so that they didnt need to have such plodding pacing over this season. That being said, THIS episode wasnt that bad in that regard. Overall, yes, this season is a big disappointment, but ill bet that alot of the really bad reviews for this episode are more about the alt-right snowflakes rather than anything to do with the actual show.

Ridiculous conclusion

[che-233416 · 1/10 · 10 December 2020]

I won't get going on yet another Discovery rant. They are so inconsistent, it drives me mad. Just when I'm ready to give up, they pull off a surprisingly great episode, which convinces me to give it another try. And then a few episodes later, this...

The biggest issue I have with this episode is its climax. So Book's planet has been suffering from a blight of sea locusts. All the technology of the 32nd century (Burn ravaged communities aside) can't solve this crisis. And yet Discovery, an antique of a ship with primitive technology, is the one to save the day.

Just imagine, a temporal rift in the space time continuum hurls a medieval collection of overly-emotional geniuses (of their day) into the 21st century. Somehow, using their 900-year-old know-how and technology, they are able to fix global warming or cure cancer (problems all of our 21st century brilliant minds and our best technology are unable to solve). It's just laughable at this point, sadly. And I really do mean sadly. I love Star Trek. I want to love this, but it's just not intelligent or engaging.

Ignore the 1 STAR reviews. An exciting episode, with an important discussion at the core.

[nickster05 · 10/10 · 5 December 2020]

90% of the comments here are complaining about the necessary and wonderful scene where Adira changes their pronouns and Stamets gladly adapts. Adira uses they/them and most of negatives comments in these reviews are taking issue with that.

Star Trek has always been at the forefront of conversations about social change. From the diverse cast of TOS, to even more diversity in TNG, to the significance of Sisko and Janeway as leads in DS9 and Voyager. Even Dax and the Trill in general have had conversations about gender and identity since the 90s.

Those who take fault in Adria's pronouns take fault with the very core of Trek's ideologies. Infinite Diversity and Infinite Combinations. If you dislike Disco for the story or plot, that's fine. But if you take issue with pronouns, this maybe wasn't the show for you in the first place.

This was an exciting, fun episode that developed Book, and his interest in the Federation. I'm eager to see the next step, especially as we are about to learn more about the Mirror Universe. An exciting season, with lots to love.

Great episode, doing what Trek has always done

[anthonycook-02817 · 7/10 · 4 December 2020]

I thought this was a really good episode, it continued ticking the overall story along nicely, and there were some excellent character developments, which I won't spoil. I really enjoyed Saru pondering over what should be his go to line on the bridge, personally I think he should steal Pike's "hit it". It packed a lot with some good action sequences and quieter moments.

For those of you that just can't get over the pronoun discussion, I'd suggest you find a new franchise because Star Trek has always, and will always be about acceptance and inclusivity. Indeed this isn't the first Star Trek episode that has tackled this subject - look up an episode of Star Trek The Next Generation called "The Outcast" - and it sure as heck won't be the last, and that's why we all love it!

Overall a great episode, and more than that a superb STAR TREK episode.

The absolute nadir of Star Trek...

[adamcek-robert · 1/10 · 9 December 2020]

Yet, somehow, I'm sure they'll make it even worse. They were saying this season is when Discovery will finally take off, being in future helps and creates immense opportunities for the show...well, it started off okay, and just when the story is suppposed to get going...nothing. These writers are shi... We're in a far future, talking about pronouns that matter today. Two thirds of a season gone, and all these 8 episodes could fit in 2 to make them interesting. Lazyass writers with no imagination. Of 13 episodes in a season, to make fillers out of two thirds ofthem is outrageous. The day Kurtzmann gets fired can't come fast enough.

A bunch of people seem pretty down on this ep, but I loved it

[MagicCJK · 9/10 · 4 December 2020]

I love Burnham and all, but it's something of a relief to have her take a small step back and for other members of the bridge crew to show their stuff Getting to know the bridge crew - check MU Georgiou glitching out - check Respectful handling of a non-binary actor / character establishing who they are - big check My only complaint is that there are not that many episodes left this season, it feels like there isn't anywhere near as much going on as there was in seasons 1 & 2. I think it's time they pick up the pace and raise the stakes a little.

Sea Locusts and the "Emerald Chain"

[WKYanks · 7/10 · 4 December 2020]

Well, this was interesting.

I enjoyed the Culber/Georgiou exchanges... from the Culber point of view. He is my Garak of Discovery. Every scene he is in is better because he is in it. He never backs down to her. I'm totally tired of the asinine quips and barbs that Georgiou keeps spouting out. The writing here is tiresome and Yeoh can't deliver them. Thank goodness we are going to get to the bottom of this next episode. I'm hoping Phillipa will break and become more like Captain Philippa Georgiou as a result of all this. She is dying I guess. I'm sticking with my "it's the sunglasses" prediction.

Saru and Tilly trying to figure out "his" execute command was sort of funny. This was a good Tilly performance. That still doesn't change the fact that she in no way should be filling the #1 position.

I'm a Book fan, so I was going to enjoy this at some level, but I had to watch the damn thing twice to figure out what the real dilemma was on the planet. The actor that played his "brother" was horrible. The fight scenes on the planet seemed forced and not very well choreographed.

Osyraa seems menacing enough, I just wish we knew more about the "Emerald Chain". Vance has made the point they are bad, but that's about it. I'm not a fan of the Orion make-up. I much prefer the Orions from Enterprise. The only thing we really got out of this was that they are running out of dilithium.

Saru's plan and decisions on the bridge were fine. At some point he is going to have to stop explaining himself to the bridge crew.

I guess this is Detmer's "I'm fine now" episode. Nice to see her be confident in her actions although going to manual to maneuver at those speeds and close proximity is stretching it. I found the space fight with the cruiser hard to follow visually. At times it was good and others just a meaningless blur. Boy, Books ship packs a lot of firepower... that doesn't bode well for an indicator of how strong the chain is. This battle scene reminded me of the Millennial Falcon. (can't remember which movie)

I loved Saru's comment to Osyraa... "Seems your ship has been damaged..." haha.

I really didn't feel anything between Book and Michael in this episode. They tried to sell it a couple of times but it didn't work for me. I didn't think SMG's performance was very impressive here either.

I really love Adira. I think the actress is really performing well and giving us a very unique and wonderful character, but the "woke" writers really screwed the pooch here. "I never really felt comfortable with she/her" and then admitted she had only revealed this to Gray does nothing but reinforce exactly the opposite of what they are trying to sell. 1000 years in the future and this pronoun thing still has a stigma to it? That can only mean that "gender-neutral" is a baseless and empty claim. They aren't even smart enough to be woke correctly. Still, all the scenes with her and Stamets are very enjoyable. It will be interesting to find out why Adira isn't hearing Gray.

In the end, Discovery saves Kwejian(?) - completely putting to shame all the planet's best scientists (how long were they working on this?) by amplifying the Betizoid like "signal" created by Book and his brother. I think Saru should have had to ask the computer for a solution here and we should have gotten another computer glitch (sphere data) with a solution. (the fix was too easy) I'm not even really sure what the solution was. They convinced the sea locust to go out to sea, but what's keeping them from returning to land? I don't know.

"The Burn" progress was made. We now know where it originated. Our "tune" comes into play again and I guess we'll see where this leads next episode. I don't have any guesses on this one.

A filler episode I know, but not Discovery's finest moment. Not horrible, but not good either.

Ridiculous woke Trek

[StarbucksBatman · 1/10 · 4 December 2020]

When you think the next episode cannot be worse than the previous one, Star Trek: Discovery can always surprise you. What did the they/them pronoun scene have to do with the story? Absolutely nothing. I'm getting to have very very low opinion of the script writers.

At least Michael Burnham wasn't whispering in this episode.

Prime directive apparently only applies to crop destroying creatures?!

[rsvp321 · 4 December 2020]

In the meantime, the Discovery is interfering with events on non-Federation planets' civilizations and spaceships across the galaxy without authority lol

What a boring, pc loaded failed episode. More whispering, tilted head, "deer-in-the-headlights big eyes" Burnham, filler episode!

**I certainly hope that this extremely slow plod of the Big Burn plot won't be a cheap, lazy leech off ST:TNG S7E9, Force of Nature, where it was discovered that warp drive was harming the fabric of space. Unfortunately, these writers have so far shown that they lack skills and imagination, so I know we're all going to be very disappointed, nonetheless

The Sanctuary

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 8 December 2020]

Book has a kind of a brother. He sends a message to Book and Discovery goes to their home planet which is being plagued by some space locusts.

There is a big bad emerging. Osyraa, the leader of the Emerald Chain. She wants Ryn, the Andorian refugee from the previous episode.

It is a busy episode. There is the Burn, there is Giorgiou's medical problem and the puzzle regarding that tune.

The special effects were very good with the battle scenes courtesy of director Jonathan Frakes.

However there is a feeling that the writers are using a scattergun approach. 900 years in the future and the aliens are the ones encountered in original Star Trek.

The main story of Book and his planet making a deal with Osyraa was not that interesting.

As for Giorgiou. I wished she just shut up for a moment when the doctor was examining her.

Usually Trek shows get better with each season. This show doesn't.

[yoshimo-13129 · 1/10 · 4 December 2020]

"The Sanctuary" replaces "Point of Light" as the weakest episode of STD.

The dull, uninspired story arc is served slower and slower with each episode. It's like every episode is a filler. Moreover, everything is artificial, plastic and feels "injected".

Not to mention all the plot holes, inconsistencies and canon violations. And the visual style sucks as well: The lens flares. The blurry special effects. The chromatic aberration. The lighting. The camerawork.

Oh, boohoo! There are people different than you. Waah.

[MasterJediLuke_ · 6/10 · 4 December 2020]

A character not identifying with a gender has nothing to do with politics. Morons. It's called character development. God forbid you should ever be exposed to any person who isn't exactly like your white boring bigoted ass. Do you sit there in your MAGA hats getting all triggered and then claim it's some liberal conspiracy? Idiots. "Oh no! Two dudes kissed! I'm frightened and will take to Twitter to spew my verbal diarrhea onto the world!" Why do you even watch Star Trek? Seriously. Everyone hates you Karen.

So boring

[tsm_pi · 2/10 · 19 December 2020]

Man, I think this is it for me.

It's really hard to sit through with my wife.

At least I was lectured about proper pronouns.

Now I won't misgender anyone for sure. *eyeroll*

Trying to raise the score

[PatrickGSR94 · 10/10 · 4 December 2020]

I'll go ahead and give it a 10 to try to offset some of these other ridiculous low scores. Star Trek has always been about pushing and breaking social boundaries and going against what most consider "normal", going all the way back to the first interracial on screen kiss in TOS. If you can't accept these types of things then why even watch in the first place?

old school episode

[kokomo123 · 7/10 · 4 December 2020]

I like this season the most because it doesn't have dominant plotline. But this episode is bad by all means. Like something from the past, cheap past. Trick photography, lots of pew-pew, ridiculous creatures and enemies. Anyway gl next time :)

Star Trek: Disappointing

[marccoulson0 · 2/10 · 4 December 2020]

Each episode of this season seems to slip further downhill. Ugly sets, poor special effects and fake, childish emotions.

Parts of this episode actually looked like the fan made stuff online. Hardly primetime TV stuff. The writers and producers seem like they are trying to create some kind of parody of Star Trek now.

The acting also seems to be getting worse. As if the actors are embarrassed by the lines they are trying to give depth to. I've seen these actors in other stuff and they haven't been as bad as they are in this, so it has to be a fault of the amateurish scripts giving them nothing to work with.

This series cannot continue much longer at this horribly low level of quality. Better to put it out of it's misery before it permanently damages Treks legacy.

Great step for the story

[dragonzinga · 10/10 · 4 December 2020]

The characterization was great in this episode, and the advancement of plot points and more introduction to how things are across the universe in this future. As for the nonbinary character and their new pronouns being revealed and more rounding of the relationship between them and Stamets; it did a fantastic job. And for those that didn't understand the significance of those scenes; Star Trek media has been making people that felt like they didn't belong, feel comfortable for multiple generations. And I have never felt like someone like me could actually fit into a world like this, until tonight. Star Trek is just continuing on with what they have been doing for decades, bringing concepts to a mainstream audience and including it in their world to attempt to help advance our world whether it be with technology or social issues. Sorry this was long the other comments kind of irked me.

Toxic fan base

[jnathanjones · 7/10 · 5 December 2020]

Enjoyed the season so far feel the show gets a lot of unnecessary hate, if you you don't like it don't watch it, simple.

I'm loving the story so far although it did feel the episode was a slow "burn".

Definitely loving Georgiou and the doctor's banter, Linus and his new badge is a rising favourite of mine.

Looking forward to many more season of discovery!

Watch your pronouns in the future

[allen_pagent · 1/10 · 25 December 2020]

Easily the most stupid episode of Star Trek I've ever seen. Who had the brain fart and thought it would be a good idea to bring up the use of pronouns? "Hey...let's put a ridiculous contemporary subject in an episode!" What's next? An episode about Antifa, the Proud Boys, maybe the US Senate and Congress not agreeing on a budget plan? This show has tanked. Get new writers.