Star Trek: Discovery (TV Series) The Red Angel (2019) User Reviews

The Red Angel

[giongalini · 6/10 · 22 March 2019]

You know, when we all came up with theories about who the Red Angel really was, I was actually considering the idea of it being Michael's real mother.

But I always dismissed it because I thought that making another mother-figure character for Michael would be just too much - there would be Amanda, Michael's adoptive mother who raised her, there would be Phillipa, who loved and was proud of Michael as if she was her own daughter, and now Michael's real mother is here too.

I don't know... I thought making Michael's real mother the Red Angel would be almost as cheesy as making it Michael herself.

To be perfectly honest Im kinda disappointed with how things are turning out as of now. As much as I love the character of Michael and Sonequa Martin-Green, there is just too much of her - she caused the Klingon war, then she ended it and now the future of the Galaxy is all about her again.

Seriously though, by this point the show probably should be renamed into Star Trek: Michael Burnham. It's not about the ship or it's crew, it's all about Michael and her life and her family. And once again, as much as I like and appreciate this character, this is just going too far for my liking.

I've always supported this show, I really don't want to write a negative review by the time it ends. There's still four episodes to go. We'll see how it goes now.

Solid episode that for me does not deserve all the hate

[snoozejonc · 7/10 · 20 March 2021]

The Discovery crew plot to capture the Red Angel.

This is an decent episode with one or two standout moments.

The story overall is one huge information dump, interspersed with moments of emotional drama and it builds up to a fairly spectacular final sequence.

Most of the build up scenes are okay but I can see why the hardcore Trekkies would struggle with the emotion and large focus on Burnham. If you don't like the character or the constant emotional displays you will not like this episode. For me the only scenes of this nature I truly dislike are the ones with Ash Tyler as their romance has generally been quite poorly written like most couples in the franchise history. However, I find the constant, extreme negativity of some reviewers around Burnham's character to be very harsh. If you do not like the main character, stop wasting your time watching a show you do not enjoy and do something else.

Back to the review, I found the final sequence to be pretty compelling and enjoyable. It has great spectacle, reasonable suspense and a decent plot revelation. Yes, there are some plot holes and you might predict what's going to happen but who cares? For me it's all great cinematic escapism if you don't take TV shows too seriously. There is also an awkwardly comic sequence with Georgiou that is quite memorable too.

All performances are great, especially Sonequa Martin-Green who despite having too many overly melodramatic scenes to act out, she does a great job.

Seriously?

[samofnine · 7/10 · 22 March 2019]

A time crystal, seriously?! Are we going to meet Thanos or the Guardians of the Galaxy? And how should this plan have worked if it's not Michael? It makes no logical sense! I really could watch Star Wars now... At least Han Solo and Chewie could have eliminated the mines from last episode with the Millennium Falcon.

Star Trek therapy session

[Kevin-42 · 22 March 2019]

Apart from the glaringly obvious plot hole of discussing the capture of a future version of someone with the present day version of that person (Unless they suffer from massive amnesia , the future version would know that they're trying a capture attempt) it is the way this episodes handles the psychological side of the story which completely ruins it.

Basically, Michael is unstable and highly conflicted, prone to violent outbursts and incapable of making logical decisions expected of a command level officer. By ANY metric she has to be relieved from duty immediately. Maybe people in the future handle things differently but the constant level of insubordination by various members of the crew, breach of the chain of command and disregard for what people today would consider proper debriefing and psychological post-combat evaluation is incredible. This is not a Star Trek ship. This is a teenager angst seminar.

I thought they were on the right track with the last three episodes but this episode was like everything that is wrong with Discovery in distilled form.

Loved it!

[rach_8122 · 9/10 · 22 March 2019]

Ignore the haters this was a great episode! I honestly didn't pick the red angel so I was surprised! This season is better than season one!

Sick of the haters!!!

[teknodevildog · 10/10 · 24 March 2019]

Ok. I'm getting tired of all the people on here crying about how discovery has ruined star trek. This episode was brilliant and only serves as an arc to the next. Remember guys...both these seasons are like big story driven movies and not stand alone alone story episodes. Times have changed so get used to it. I'm a big fan of trek and have always been since a kid. No one seems to be happy these days with a fresh up to date reboot so stop living in the past...no pun intended as this trek is before kirk might i add. Haha. And embrace what these guys have actually done. Enterprise was ok but sometimes quite boring. This series has been excilleratin throughout!!! Yeah the klingons do look orkish but so what. The original ones looked like they had walnuts plastered to their heads anyway! All I've seen is people crying and giving almost zero ratings. Call yourselves true trekkies...i call these creators forward thinkers. Perfect series throughout and i hope it continues for years to come!!!

Not as good as could have been.

[aa-vanille · 8/10 · 23 March 2019]

This episode was a mixed bag of good and not so good.

I'll start with what I loved most:

-Spock. Ethan Peck is fantastic in this role. Loved his interactions with Burnham. -The scene when the Red Angel appears. It was really stunning. -Sonequa Martin Green and Michelle Yeoh acting and dynamics. -The suffocation scene. As weird as it sounds... but yes, I loved this scene. I think Sonequa absolutely killed it. She's amazing.

And now what I wasn't really happy with:

-The whole episode just kind of flew by. I can only really remember a couple of scenes that really stood out for me. Like Spock and Burnham's conversation in the training room and the final scene on Essof Four. -The fact that The Red Angel turned out to be Burnham's real biological mother. I'm sorry but I can't help but feel it's lame turn of events. First of all as many other fans already pointed out, the fact that Michael is the main character (and I love her as the main character) doesn't mean that every single important thing that's going on in the galaxy has to be personally tied with her. I really do like Michael but the creators just seem to be adamant to make a Mary Sue out of her. And now it turns out that the mysterious Red Angel is Michael's mom. I think it would be better if it was Michael who was the Red Angel. Or better yet someone else entirely.

After the last two episodes which I both rated 10/10 this one was a bit of a disappointment.

Solid Episode With Flaws

[timberlnd · 7/10 · 22 March 2019]

Overall a solid episode, but I really begin to dislike Lt. Tyler. What exactly is his role now, apart from kissing and making love with a Klingon woman and Michael (again)? He better gets something important to do, right now I couldn't care less if he died a horrible death.

Tilly's unprofessional behaviour has also become very predictable. It's like the character is forcing herself to be funny so much that it begins to bore me.

I would love to see more of Commander Nhan, but I fear her role is intended to be expendeble. I really thought she would die in the last episode, but I will not be surprised if she bites the dust in the next two episodes.

The ending had a nice plot twist, I certainly didn't see that coming.

Confusing plothole

[sgriff-11502 · 8/10 · 25 March 2019]

I have really been loving this new Star Trek discovery. I find that the writing so far has been very smart so I find it confusing that they don't seem to realise the danger of discussing their plan with Michael if they think the Red angel is future Michael. I found that very bizarre

I like the "twist", but it doesn't make sense

[redbj65 · 6/10 · 24 March 2019]

People here are upset that future Burnham would know what past Burnham was up to and I guess there is some validity to that, but I'm willing to go along for the ride in this one - Wibbily Wobbly Timey Wimey and all that.

No, I have a huge problem that every scientist on the Discovery said it was Burnham's bio signature as the Red Angel. I am no biologist, but I do know that children are not duplicates of their parents, but an amalgamation of both mother and father. Red Angel Mama's signature would look nothing like Burnham's.

Had they dropped the bio signature storyline and just stuck to Spock figuring out that Michael-in-peril was the common theme to the Red Angel's appearance, I'd be totally on board. Instead, I'm 🤔

Plot holes and stupidity galore!

[MartyisGreat · 4/10 · 27 March 2019]

• So stupid, Burnham is rationally informed that your parents died in the line of duty by their own choice. The risk of their mission was underestimated and they got killed. What does she do? Brutally punches the military captain of a vessel in the face who ZERO consequences!! So in the future, violent outbursts are perfectly A-OK!!
• Science must be really bad in the future when doctors say the DNA is a 100% match to Burnham and it turns out to be her mother?! Parents and children don't have identical DNA.
• If Burnham was the variance and angel shows up whenever she's dying, how come angel came to save Saru's homeworld or the other random reasons? THIS SHOW MAKES NO SENSE.
• The plan was the deprive Burnham of oxygen, why is her skin being cooked alive? was torture part of the plan as well?
• Red Angel shows up AFTER burnham dies? I thought time travel lets you time travel to any time you want? And her suit just vaporizes?
• What's with Burnham kissing the Klingon again? I thought they were over each other? Also, who the hell sexually kisses someone on the lips while crying?
• More emotional drama and tears than a soap opera.

Good riddance.

Keep watching

[leecun1701 · 10/10 · 23 March 2019]

Uh oh! Leland is infected with the A.i.! Look out! Another great episode. Keep it coming.

Good job to all the haters out there I just want to say thank you to you all. I don't really care if you hate it, as long as you keep watching. Help me keep those ratings up so they keep making trek!!

The Red Angel

[bobcobb301 · 6/10 · 26 August 2019]

The Burnham backstory was interesting, but it wasn't sure what exactly they hoped to accomplish with it. It did not make Michael more sympathetic, it did not make us care what happens to her in the current state either.

Okay episode, it was just capable of so much more.

Unbelievable, but season 1 was actually better.

[doappel · 5/10 · 22 March 2019]

Somehow they managed to combine all the usual recent disappointments in this episode.

* The events make little to no sense.

* The emotional story elements are too long and frequent but also of too shallow quality. Remarkable achievement, such a combination.

Generally: Besides Saru no character of the first season managed to improve. The season's plot isn't better either. It's pretty rare that a second season falls behind the premiere season.

Painfully boring

[johnnyan · 24 March 2019]

At this moment I don't really care anymore, just finish it already.

This season had some good Star Trek moments that gave us hope but now we are back at over acting useless scenes and bombastic "magic science"...

Wow!

[markusha-79822 · 10/10 · 22 March 2019]

Great episode! I loved it! It just gets better and better!

An Angel on the Head of Two Pins

[XweAponX · 10/10 · 23 March 2019]

Is this the last we'll see of Airiam? Seeing as how sometimes being dead, in Trek, is no guarantee of finality. Why then, a homage to a character that we barely knew until the last 3 episodes? Yet, she was on Discovery since "Context is for Kings". And as Spock has said himself: "I've been dead before". It would not surprise me to see Airiam return- now that we like the character. And the subject is not limited to Spock and Airiam, but includes Ash Tyler (to some degree) and Dr Culber- Through Voq, who is also among those who are gone, but not gone.

But what of the future? There is the possibility that Spock, when shown the future by the Magic Red Angel, was also shown not just Spock Prime's destiny, but Kelvin Spock's as well. Which brings us back to those images of Shattered Planets at the end of the Kelvin movies.

I never really accepted the Kelvin timeline as canon, only as canon within itself. In the "Star Trek: Countdown" comic book series, a definitive connection was made between "Unification I and II", "Nemesis", the the first Kelvin Trek film, and that could be considered canon, up to a point.

Now we have to catch a huge magic Red Angel. It did appear that the being that Spock met- on a distant planet that may have well been "Delta Vega" - not the Delta Vega from "Where No Man has gone Before", but that Delta Vega where Spock Prime meets younger Kirk, that being met with Spock on that very Planet. And our Season 2 Discovery escapades did in fact bring Spock through the Mutara sector. I would imagine, there was still a nebula there, at the "time".

But it's not just about Spock's personal future- it appears it's about Michael's as well. And, the Red Angel they want to entrap- is it really the Red Angel they think it is?

Finally, we get to Section 31- whose misadventures are not irrelevant, even though they were merely a peripheral part of Bashir's fantasies in Deep Space 9- because Bashir wanted to play "spy" in the Holosuite, and he got to actually be one, thanks to "Director Sloan" (William Sadler) in that show. In Discovery, they have been given new life, a history, an identity and finally, a role to play for good or ill. They have not fared well so far in season 2. Except for Georgiou.

As we saw previously, nothing has been what it seemed: other than the fact that The Red Angel has been pointing Discovery to planets where catastrophes were imminent, and sometimes even directly helping to prevent them.

But, now, will the real Magic Red Angel stand up?

I wrote this review at 9:30pm my time the night this episode was broadcast- Thank you IMBd for finally posting it.

ST:DSC becomes stronger!

[gutielua · 10/10 · 23 March 2019]

Honestly, I don't understand all the hate comments, just let everyone decide ... now the new twist around The Red Angel looks great!

Honest opinion, i am just wasting time, i dont care.

[tomnikoleris · 7/10 · 24 March 2019]

I do think this was in a lot of ways a better episode than the previous in character scenes, better spock and Micheal scenes better writing and more believable reactions ,expect the scene with the security officer ,do not get me started...

I hate that this show has the speedy talking CSI thing going, i hate the visual effects added on the screen , all the glare that is not even consistent between shots one character is plain the other covered in glare.

Plot holes are huge, you just say "aha ok" at this point, time crystals , the most stupid plan in all ways (i will keep it spoiler free)

I fully agree with the review that said this show is star trek micheal burnham , once you accept that you can either like it or not.

I did not care for the red angel reveal, also can you guess the gender?

Final thought , TIlly should go to Orville!!

Loved it loved it loved it

[tezlee · 10/10 · 23 March 2019]

Great episode. Annoyed about the cliffhanger but that means they did it right. Can't wait for the next episode!

The Return of Technobabble

[gbkimberley · 7/10 · 25 March 2019]

Just as I was getting to really enjoy this new foray into the Star Trek series universe (the first season really grew on me despite the monotone Michael Burnham) and as I was revelling in the fact that they weren't using the old 'get out of any situation free' technobabble card, they go and ruin it with, of all things, a freaking 'time crystal'. Seriously?

Do these writers understand.....

[primeadministrator · 1/10 · 23 March 2019]

....the concept of continuity?

Not only is there a time-traveling suit that should not exist in the post-ENT/pre-STD timeline, but it is Burnam's MOTHER who invented it? REALLY? And worse yet, the Klingorcs were working on their own version of it? C'MON KURTZMAN! You people aren't even trying at this point. It was awful. I mean, it isn't even coherent within Star Trek Discovery, let alone the rest of Star Trek in general. 1-star, because you can't even keep your own storyline of Star Trek coherent. Ridiculous. I've read fanfictions better written than this.

This is a cool show.

[boborci-81334 · 10/10 · 23 March 2019]

Timothy Peel finally learned how to make something we can recognise on those computers ,Hanelle Culpepper did an outstanding job,even the actors are a little too cringe worthy,(can we have two lesbian girls instead of those two mediocre gay actors,please ?),Sonequa did again an average job,she looks like a huge hipster crybaby ,all the time,but finally someone succeeded to make Tilly to keep her mouth close,so the story is not so bad at all,even if i still not understand why the Barzan girl is feeling so guilty about Airiam's death,because it wasn't her fault at all,the only one who should be feeling guilty is Michael,because she let her to die ,but obviously Burnham doesn't get it,so maybe Spock has good reasons to doubt about her leadership skills.The effects were great,but i still don't understand why their space stations are looking so lame,even the space station from Farpoint (TNG pilot) has more details than the new ones,it's a real shame to see a such an average job with this kind of budget,they should hire the people who worked on Voyager because their designs,costumes and special effects were the best on that time (they were praised for their work all over the world) and they were being made with a very low budget and many of them can surpass the costumes and the special effects from Discovery anytime,or unleast bring the team from The Orville.Well ,i have enough good time watching this episode,although, so i recommend it with pleasure.

What tha...

[bayshore-2 · 6/10 · 25 February 2024]

Having just viewed the episode and it fresh in my mind, I wanted to share a spoiler free sense of what I just saw.

If you were to be tasked with creating the most complicated, convoluted storyline imaginable, not only in the Star Trek universe, or science fiction universe, but the entire universe, you would be hard pressed to top this episode.

If you were to storyboard and flow chart the episode against perhaps the most complicated ToS episode, this one would be pages longer and levels deeper.

It is not simple, elegant storytelling as Star Trek is famous for. It is something else entirely, and entirely not good.

Who writes stuff like this?

[mrksdiehl · 1/10 · 28 March 2019]

It starts of with a five minute funeral about a character who nobody ever cared for. The rest of the episode is Burnham crying and/or having boring emotional dialogues nobody cares about. It's so melodramatic, it's already cringy. Other reviews point already to the stupid plot with it's wholes. I really have to wonder, who gets payed to write trash like that?