Star Trek: Discovery (TV Series) Terra Firma, Part 1 (2020) User Reviews

For me it was an enjoyable episode

[snoozejonc · 7/10 · 24 April 2021]

Georgiou and Burnham search for a cure for Georgiou's condition.

This is an entertaining episode with some good character moments.

The plot is pretty simple, but it's difficult to comment on specifics without spoilers. For me it does not deserve the negativity, especially as it is at the half way point of a story.

Star Trek has done several of this type of episode in the past and they are meant to be over the top, in a darkly funny way. As ever with this premise you have to suspend the disbelief. This one felt no worse than any other placed in this setting. For me, if you don't take television shows and Star Trek more seriously than you should, this is an enjoyable episode.

The visuals are as strong as ever, with great cinematography, lighting, colours and costuming.

All performances are great with Michelle Yeoh on good form and Sonequa Martin-Green excellent. Doug Jones is also quite prominent.

Terra Firma, Part 1

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 16 December 2020]

First episode of a two parter. It is all about Georgiou's condition.

David Cronenberg returns as Kovich and he has a theory as to why Georgiou is deterotiating. Her molecules are being pulled as she is from a different universe and travelled in time.

However a planet near the Gamma Quadrant may offer a possible cure. Georgiou meets a strange character called Carl who shows her a door that leads to a Mirror Universe.

There is a lot of speculation about Carl, could he be Q? I thought he reminded me of an eccentric from Doctor Who.

The mirror universe allows the other bridge crew to let their hair down a bit as they get to be a bit nasty. It also upped the show's mascara budget.

One thing this episode does do is give Michelle Yeoh some kick ass action. When you have one of the best female martial arts artist in the world. Do not saddle her with cynical lines. We want to see her in action.

Filler episode

[oszajcakk · 5/10 · 11 December 2020]

There are only four episodes left and one is going to be dedicated to whatever is happening with Phillippa. We know nothing about the Burn, the plot is going nowhere. First episode of new season was very refreshing. New world, new story, no constraints from older shows. I think that potential was wasted.

Contains the best line ever in the series: "God, Michael, know when to shut the h*** up." (whispered out, of course)

[majorbonobo · 10 December 2020]

The Mirror/Terran Universe scenes seem taken out from an Austin Powers parody. Is the hilarity intentional? Nope.

Each new episode of Discovery reaches new levels of cheesiness! That's what it accomplishes well.

Not the most terrible episode

[muchobliged · 6/10 · 11 December 2020]

I'm not saying this was a good episode, but at least it was entertaining. Best one of the season I guess. Sonequa Martin-Green's acting seems more palatable when she's playing evil. The thing with the guy and the door felt like the most Trek thing they've done in this show. Was that Carl guy a Q? Qarl?

Wtf

[elvis-11986 · 9/10 · 11 December 2020]

Why do you people every week say you'll stop watching this, that this is a waste of time but every week come back and sing the same song. Lmao people you have nothing better to do?? Get a job or a hobby for the forks sake and stop hate watching and spamming this series!!!!!

Burnham show

[thomasleejensen · 6/10 · 11 December 2020]

I have watched all of DS 9, next generation and so on. I was happy with the a new star trek show and I loved the new klingons since the old got a bit boring. After several episodes with blood wine they became a parody and we had explored most of their culture so a fresh view was welcome. Season 3 of discovery started well and it gave the opportunity for the show to grow. Maybe a 2020 version of star trek voyager but with better aliens and special effects? But now it its turning into a Burnham show. What I liked about the old trek is that they gave room for character developement. It felt like everybody was the main protagonist. It was never the Picard or the Sisko show. As an example Tilly is the acting first officer so why is Burnham,who has been depromoted,continuing to act like a first officer. No, I did not watch all of episode 9 since I turned it of as soon as we saw the same scenario Burnham, Suru and admiral Vance. Maybe I will watch it again later.

New Writers Needed

[gjkey · 1/10 · 12 December 2020]

I love Star Trek and have enjoyed Discovery but why leave an ongoing story sorting out the burn and have two episodes in the mirror universe where oddly all the characters miraculously end up on the same ship but are all evil. Over thousands of years of development and there they are. Idiotic. There has to be writers better than we are getting.

My favourite Mirror Disco episode so far

[MagicCJK · 9/10 · 11 December 2020]

I loved everything about this episode. The tension was palpable on the Disco. Even more than the S01 eps, you constantly worry who's plotting against whom. The prior scene with Carl was so weird that you can't even question the plausibility of what's going on. It was the kind of thing TOS and TNG would do, and I love it.

Hey, I'm Carl, here is a magic door. No, I'm not going to explain anything 😂

I thoroughly enjoyed this one

"God, Michael, know when to shut the hell up!"

[wetmars · 6/10 · 11 December 2020]

The U.S.S. Discovery crew journey to a mysterious planet in hopes of finding a cure for Georgiou's deteriorating condition. Stamets and Adira make a stunning breakthrough with the newly acquired Burn data.

I must say, that gentlemen in the middle of a snow planet had some Q vibes, I swear. The mirror universe is sure as well interesting, it seems to be the perfect place for Georgiou if I got that name right. Pretty interesting.

6/10.

More like Flash Gordon than Startrek

[k-94538 · 1/10 · 12 December 2020]

Mirror universe where everyone is evil, so evil they do Nazi salutes and then go off to watch cirque du soleil. Its hilarious. But the show takes itself seriously. Costumes from Power Rangers.

A little off

[bnevs18 · 9/10 · 10 December 2020]

I love the mirror universe...going there is what finally got Discovery going in season 1, and Id love for there to be a series set in it. But the leadup to Georgiou should have been teased a little more than the title of the episode and the brief flashes. That said, I think that a series of Georgiou reforming the Terran empire would be immeasurably more interesting than the planned Section 31 series. This could be a great launching of that idea. Finally, when looking through these reviews, take note of some of the reviewers who gave Discovery crap for being too much like a estrogen laden drama...now they got what they wanted and are still hating. Yes, the mirror universe is overblown and cheesy...thats the point of it. Just make a point to differentiate between the people giving Discovery negative reviews because of its actual deficiencies, and those who are seeing themselves as the warriors of a dying political movement.

Can We Have A Mirror Universe Series Instead?

[machina22 · 7/10 · 8 January 2021]

What sweet relief. After several atrocious episodes in a row - ones so bad I was starting to question whether I really wanted to carry on watching, despite loving sci-fi and Trek in particular - we're treated to a very strong Mirror Universe-centric episode.

It's a welcome relief, although the fact that it *is* Mirror Universe and therefore just a one-off (or two-off), means we're likely to return to normal once this two-parter is over. Normal in Discovery's case being soap opera Trek, with Burnham, the crying whisperer in the starring role.

It makes me wish we could have a Mirror Universe Trek series, instead of, well, anything they've produced in the last decade and a half. Too dark and non-PC for the current minds behind Trek, alas; limited room for emotional motivational speeches, crying, and tiresome box ticking in the Mirror Universe. But there's certainly a gap in the market for a ruthless, Game of Thrones-esque space opera sci-fi show. Maybe someone will make it one day.

Tiresome, even more (updated, I couldn't finish it in one sitting)

[Rob-O-Cop · 4/10 · 11 December 2020]

A struggle to sit through. Georgiou's dull arch, ridiculous and nonsensical one liners find no target. No wonder she's leaving the show. Did she jump or was she pushed. I'd say jumped.

The whole alternate universe thing lacks reason. It's looks like the show runners decided to give the cast a chance to play dress up (in a show that's already 4 parts dress up) to show their acting range, and they all show they have none. Utterly unconvincing and nonsensical translation of what was probably on a hand scrawled script written in crayon.

This is an ensemble cast of bad actors, delivering terrible story arcs and dialog. The only saving grace is it looks good, sort of, which is the flaw of much of tv content, great cinematography/FX and nothing else, and it does appear that firing all your resources into glossy garbage isn't enough.

All the budget was spent on costumes and fx, the script department was staffed with work experience school leavers.

Add to that all the ridiculous plot holes (is there really a plot though? This is just aimless ambling with a budget).

• They've got transporters that can take you exactly to where you need to be but for some reason they decide to walk for miles in the snow and cold, maybe they needed the exercise, and they meet a guy from the 20th century smoking a cigar and reading a newspaper in the middle of a winter time in a somewhere on earth setting, and nobody bats an eyelid, this passes for plot. Magic. Obviously there are too many drugs available to this production, and not the ones that lead to creative insight, just the nonsensical bad dream ones, and they've pulled the Star Trek universe down in there with them.

To those saying if you don' like it don't watch it, remember this is a universe built for fans of the genre. It's just not that simple when you see a production team hijack the franchise to deliver what amounts to bad pantomime children's theatre.

One of the better episodes

[Ashitaka137 · 7/10 · 18 December 2020]

I kinda find the crew of the other reality more interesting; and it's a good change to see the actors play different versions of their characters.

Let's make it count, shall we?

[XweAponX · 10/10 · 11 December 2020]

The unwritten future, that is.

I was wondering why "Jim Brass" was guarding a door into the past and across universes? Maybe we will get an explanation of who this guy is later. A mini-guardian of forever? A Lost member of the time ship relativity? In discovery, the Temporal agents are not quite like the ones that we met in Enterprise and Voyager, some of who could only create an image of themselves and transmit it back to various Sulliban (and in another nod to CSI, Lady Heather played one of the first Suliban Archer met). Apparently this trip was meant only for Georgiou, Burnham must sit on her hands and twiddle her thumbs, (and then maybe William Pederson will show up).

So now they are stirring elements of "Enterprise" into the pot, including the temporal Cold Wars.

This deals with why Giorgiou is going cuckoo. And no, David Cronenberg didn't really have much to do with it, as he was the only one who noticed it at the time.

The second clue which Adira-Tal found, this appears to be meant for Saru. Unfortunately the whole thing was not available.

Both stories have to do with going back and making a different choice, One choice affecting mirror universe past events, perhaps another one dealing directly with "the burn". And now another clue is added to the burn conundrum.

Meanwhile, Osyyra is preparing an attack and we don't know what form that is going to take. So "it will be hitting the fan" from several different directions. And maybe Book (and his cat, if it is actually a cat and not some Tentacled Tesseract gobbling thing) is most equipped to deal with her.

The right character.

[sugasolineria · 7/10 · 13 December 2020]

Michelle Yeoh is by far the best actress and character right know in the boring third season of the Michael Burnham drama hour. This one shows how only one good actress ( very good in this case) can save at least this chapter. I know all the season its already written but if the show its no canceled please give her most screen time and dialogues in the future.

What is happening with this season?

[stjhagens · 1/10 · 13 December 2020]

I'm a huge ST fan, have been since I first saw reruns of TOS as a little boy. I loved TNG too , but I became a true Trekker when Voyager started. It was the first series I got to experience with a new episode every week. I liked the occasional ep of DS9 too but I only discovered it's greatness until I bought all dvd box sets. The Dominion War is IMO the best storyline in all of ST history.

Enterprise was just decent in seasons 1 and 2 but 3 and 4 were terrific. It ended just when it became great. I was really looking forward to Disco, I missed new ST so badly. I enjoyed S1 very much: the mystery of Lorca and Voq, the mirror eps and the Klingon war. I liked the darker toon but disliked the new Klingons. S2 was much better and Pike was just great, really looking forward to SNW! I disliked the fact that Burnham has to be at the center of everything.

Before S3 started I adored Lower Decks, it was a true love letter to ST. Picard was decent, I would give it a 6.5-7 out of 10. This new season of Disco is something else... it started great but it went downhill in the last episodes. It's not a good sign when I'm on my phone for most of the episode. The stories are medium sci-fi at best, the mystery of the Burn is being drawn out way too long. I remember the last few eps for some highlights: voyager J, Saru's search for a catchphrase, prime Spock's cameo to name some. The rest has been so boring. I this the best you can do with this undiscovered time and place? I enjoyed the moments without burnham the most and I'm tired of the whispering and crying. ST of old gave everyone an episode in the spotlight, I really miss that. Give us a chance to get to know the bridge crew! This is just Star Trek: Burnham, to boldly whisper and cry where no one has gone before.

I like it that this ep is not about Burnham but the timing is horribly wrong. Eps like this belong in the beginning of the season, not near the end. Normally I would have enjoyed this ep greatly but I have been sighing and annoying myself during the whole thing. Maybe it gets better in a rewatch after we got a terrific and redeeming finale to this season. Make it so!

Mirror > Prime

[jackdeth_2006 · 8/10 · 13 December 2020]

After last weeks episode of filler, I wasn't expecting much. Yet this episode was a huge improvement.

I'm not sure if it says much for the current ST Universe, that the show is at its most impressive whenever its no longer set in the Prime universe.

Yes, DS9 enjoyed its share of forays to the Mirror Universe, but that show was consistently impressive outside of it. DIS doesn't seem to have that luxury; and always performs at its best here.

Maybe it's the dark side of the Mirror universe and it's ability something new; but maybe its because Georgiou, Tilly and Saru are probably the most developed and interesting characters, and they simply get more time to shine in the Mirror Universe.

But either way, it left me wanting more next week.

Jump the gun much?

[meggerola · 7/10 · 14 December 2020]

It's a two-parter, people! How about seeing the whole story before deciding whether you like it or not? Then you can slam it to your hearts content with a clear conscience.

double stars for no crying

[rodmunk · 2/10 · 16 December 2020]

At least there was no crying this episode...but they really really wanted to

Great star trek!

[andytaylor-36100 · 9/10 · 15 December 2020]

What's going on with all the daft 1* and 2* reviews?! They seem to be all written by the same person, just repeating the same lines on every episode. It's getting worse, the writers need replacing, Burnham is rubbish, it isn't star trek etc etc etc. Just actually stop watching and move on with your life, everyone's bored of you! Fair enough to the people who think this is average, it can't excite everyone and there were certainly some ups and downs in every season of every Star Trek. BUT - in my opinion Discovery is a wonderful new take and it's star trek at its core. Another good, exciting episode in a nicely developing series. Loved it.

Episode 309

[bobcobb301 · 6/10 · 25 February 2022]

The opening scene was good and we had some interesting situations that Burnham was put in here. My standards are low for Star Trek Discovery right now so I'll write this off as a win.

Who cares?

[filipeafriedrich · 3/10 · 11 December 2020]

The idea that anyone care about Georgiou amazes me

Who thought this was a good idea?

[mrtempestwood · 17 December 2020]

Already not a fan of the Terran universe storylines. This one is the "you think that's bad? Hold my beer..." this show deserves to be cancelled.