Star Trek: Discovery (TV Series) Such Sweet Sorrow (2019) User Reviews

The Emotional Farewell Episode

[Hughmanity · 6/10 · 15 August 2021]

Sometimes the writers like to play the trick of acting like someone is dying/dead/gone forever so they can have the fond farewell or funeral speech to elicit all the feels. Everyone speaking eloquently and emotionally about what they thought of a certain character. It's a neat trick and works at times, but it has to be earned.

In this episode the writers go all in and basically every major character gets to write and speak their fond farewells because they're going to the future with no way back, supposedly. The problem is we all know there is a way back because this is Star Trek. The other problem is this isn't earned in season 2. Game of Thrones pulled this off Season 8, and it was earned and great. This felt a bit cheap and overdone.

To add insult to injury, how is Control and Enterprise an hour away from Discovery, racing full tilt to get there, and yet Spock and Michael's parents somehow manage to get there from Vulcan in 20 minutes so they can say their fond farewell in person with plenty of time to spare? Ridiculous.

Anyway, it had some moments and set up the finale which was much better, so I still gave this episode a 6, but it felt like a reach.

Lots of teary goodbyes, not enough plot.

[giongalini · 6/10 · 12 April 2019]

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for sentimentality, but only when it is justified and carefully dosed.

And the saddest thing about all of this is that despite this episode being almost entirely dedicated to the Burnham/crew saying goodbye to each other repeatedly and making teary promises, it still doesnt go beyond the general level. There is a scene between Ash and Michael, but we've seen the exact same scene between these characters for the past several episodes. Same goes for Stamets and Hugh. Nothing changes, nothing evolves in this episode.

Discovery has a serious problem with pacing. This weeks episode sadly joins the list of those episodes that you watch and just can't wait for all the talk and tears to stop and action to begin.

There were a lot of conversations and teary speeches and not nearly enough to move the plot along. I expected a battle between Discovery and Enterprise and Control's Section 31 ships becase thats what the last week trailer teased.

Another thing that keeps bothering me is that it seems that every important decision that it taken on Discovery is taken by Burnham with Pike serving only to give the final orders to the crew. It leaves one baffled as to who is the comanding officer here and if Pike is even needed considering that Burnham is enough to solve any problem and make every choice and decision.

The show is beautiful, the actors are amazing -- esp SMG, Ethan Peck, Anson Mount and Michelle Yeoh (I was also happy to see Rebecca Romijn return in this episode) -- but when the episode leaves you annoyed and baffled, instead of amazed and excited, the show has problem. And sadly there are too many episodes in this show that fall under the former category.

The last weeks episode was amaing, this one is a pass.

Hang on, here we go!!!

[WKYanks · 9/10 · 12 April 2019]

I liked the Enterprise bridge, meeting room and interiors. More than arbitrary nods; I think the set designers really thought hard about how to make as many aspects of the Matt Jeffries designs fit within the Disco design language. They added an outer layer to the bridge to make it small like TOS and large like Discovery at the same time, which, even though a little strange, I understand. I loved the grilled light on the top of the turbolift, the Enterprise plaque, and many more specific design details. I missed the chronometer. Where's the chronometer? I will undoubtedly notice more nods in subsequent viewings but it was easy to see they did their homework and respected the Connie and the era she was brought to life.

SMG's acting was not repetitive and stunted in this episode. Her emotions felt genuine, appropriate and diverse. I think she is a director's actor, unlike, say Shatner or Stewart. I hope future directors figure this out. I've noticed significant changes in her acting (quality?) from episode to episode sometimes. Maybe it's the director that isn't good sometimes? That could explain many of my issues with her in season 1.

I have been asking for the past many episodes how data can protect itself. They kinda explained it in this episode - the data had been a computer virus from the start: it had "merged with" or infected Discovery's computer a long time ago. They should have realized it in the first five minutes, not taken three episodes to come to that conclusion, but oh well, ok. I'm wondering how they beamed over (through shields?) and why Control allowed them to jump?

I liked the depiction of the technobabble parts. The characters seemed to be actual engineers working things out rather than throwing random statements at each other at high speed. Nice to see another short-trek meld into this season. A more significant and relevant contribution this time.

Spock, in his non-uniform and his hands-behind-back erect position seems to be mostly standing around in this (and many previous) episodes. No wonder Pike has no words for him. (In a well-directed episode, I wonder if the no-words dialogue was a directorial misfire or the director trying to convey a layered meaning.) I'll take this opportunity to say Pike ROCKS!! The guy really hasn't missed a moment since coming on Discovery. I thought his comment to Spock was the most moving moment in that great bridge scene. I liked how he called out each by name and complemented different traits in all of them.

Even though there was no story (and good that they didn't try to shoe-horn one in), I liked this episode. I'm sure that was probably a tempting urg, but the right choice was made.

Like I said initially, this episode was a little sappy... much more than we are used to in trek for sure, but other than the Michael/Ash scene - I thought they did it well. I would have much preferred Michael to just walk away when he told her he wasn't going. I guess your sappiness-o-meter varies depending how much you have grown to enjoy/accept these characters. I found myself really caring for this crew as season 2 progressed. So this episode was an emotional ride for me.

Just to beat a dead horse - They could run a series centered on the Enterprise and Pike, still remain within canon and I'm certain it would be well received. All in favor?!?!?!? (Hoss raises his hand 😀)

It was nice to see Me Hani Ika Hali Ka Po again. I like the actress and the character. Tilly's short was a good one in my view... as was Tilly's contribution in this episode.

Nice to see Jet again in engineering. I'm betting she is going to play a significant part in the season ender. Maybe take over as Chief Engineer as Stamets has said he wants to leave when this is all over?

I found the time-crystal treknobabble followable.

Have we seen the end of the Culber/Stamets relationship?

Hey, I think this is about as good a set-up for a finale as you could ask for here... could the stakes be any higher? I think they accomplished alot in 1 episode here.... hell, DS9 drew it out for 6 episodes before they got to it.... I really wanted to watch the final episode last night!

There really not much to gig this one on.

Here's hoping the finale episode doesn't disappoint me like it did in season 1.

14 episodes are not enough

[XweAponX · 10/10 · 12 April 2019]

But what episodes... Although this episode was not as densely packed as the previous 12, it is relevant.

We get to see a familiar bridge on a familiar ship, but it looks slightly... unfamiliar.

Ah, so what! It looks great.

Tilly's little visitation during Short Treks becomes relevant here. There is also reference to "Calypso" to some extent, because at some point Discovery exists in the distant future with an AI running things. The question about how this happens might be answered in this episode, or maybe not.

We have seen technology that may evolve into the Borg in this season, we even visited Talos IV. We even saw Pike come face to face with that man from The Menagerie, and he accepts this. Spock went through The Mutara Sector before Michael caught up with him, an area that will have special significance to him at a later time.

But this is merely the calm before a huge storm, and the Enterprise and Discovery are right in the middle of it, preparing for what could be another Wolf 359, before Wolf 359 ever happened. And long before Locutus, there was Leland. Is there a shred of humanity left there?

Meanwhile, The Red Angel still has two more signals to go, but which Red Angel?

JAW DROPPING

[jenabraham-43312 · 10/10 · 12 April 2019]

This episode is just the first part of the finale Season 2 has been outstanding and this episode is just brilliant Well written great acting spectacular visuals The Enterprise 1701 bridge -EPIC brilliant nod to the original bridge Love is in the details and this episode was just brilliant I was in tears. Star Trek is such an ride of emotions and this episode did that To all the haters and people that give low scores this season was outstanding and I have two words to say to them ..season three

Nearly there..

[pete-470 · 6/10 · 13 April 2019]

An episode with long drawn out goodbyes with the occasional bit of excitement and tension..

I hope that Discovery DOES get stuck in the future so that the minimal crew can go exploring a universe vastly different from the one they left. My guess is though that they'll somehow make it back so the third series can continue it's weaknesses by exploring relationships instead, which can be done in any genre. I'm not saying that relationships shouldn't play a part in sci-fi, but in the future they probably won't be based around 21st century morals and standards.

Oh, and would the 17 year old queen of a whole planet be beamed aboard an orbiting starship all by herself??

A superb episode

[jorge-30143 · 9/10 · 12 April 2019]

This whole entire 2nd Season has been absolutely brilliant. And for those of you new to the whole Star Trek Tv franchises please just make sure that you totally ignore all of the negative naysayers and review bombers. Because Star Trek Discovery continues to be one of the very best Sci-fi/fantasy shows of certainly the last few years.

Not only does Discovery pay a respectful nod and homage to the past - with it's many clever easter eggs. But it also continues Gene Roddenberry's original ethos, themes and ideology's.... Of being forward thinking, positive and extremely progressive in it's storytelling and an incredible cast of very talented, diverse of actor's, writer's and director's. And this 2nd Season features a number episodes that are directed by women.

Also.... The CGI visual effects (all through out) this series are absolutely fantastic.

I am very much looking forwards to the Season Finale and what exciting new adventures await us all in Season 3. Especially since the Star Trek movie franchise has now well and truly stalled. It is just great to see Discovery and the whole Trekkie Universe, still alive & kicking, flourishing very successfully on the small screen.

Short for PO

[d.rust · 12 April 2019]

It's Disgustery's Po' Epidose. (That's EPIC+DOSE.)

This is Half & Half: in one sense, fans finally get the kind of Trekery they've been waiting for since the 60s. In another sense, more STD less Trek.

From the moment those classic sound effects started, from the BATHWEEP of the door to the bridge, to that loud BLEEP that sounds very occasionally. Number One with her beautiful black hair and blondie Yeoman Colt. This is the Trek we always craved.

We don't want to see thirty minutes of contrived good-byes. Good-byes that are repeated again and again, and then negated because everyone wants to come along. HOLEY UNDERWEAR!

We want to see more VISIONS from minty fresh time crystals, that we got to see already from Pike & the girl with a boy's name, as well as a stern looking lesbian. We want those visions from EVERYBODY! We want THOSE conflicts and freak-outs. We don't give a RAT'S ASS about feeeeelings.

We really want ST:P, as in STAR TREK: PIKE! But the morons at STD decided to name the show after the ship in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Goodbye, already!!

[cjde341-736-330208 · 6/10 · 14 April 2019]

This could have been a great extended episode as a season finale, but instead it is an overly sentimental and inconsistent mess. So much action and time wasted on goodbyes and technobabble instead of hitting us with a balls-out, action-packed 60- or 70-minute season ender. I get that Sonequa Martin-Green's the focal point/star, but an episode devoted almost entirely to her emoting for the camera really kills the tension - proving that Star Trek always should be bigger and more than just one single character. And Po? Really? Too bad the writers couldn't think of a way to get L'Rell and/or her son to rally the Klingons into joining the fray, other than relying on Po and Tilley and Jet Reno (whose character is criminally underwritten) to cobble together yet another time trope to push the plot along. Now that would be a worthy, honourable Star Trek finale. But I guess we have to wait . . . .

Plot just doesn't make sense.

[jacob6875 · 3/10 · 7 January 2020]

1. So the data from the sphere doesn't want to be destroyed so it turns off the self destruct. Pike takes the next obvious step to just blow it up using the Enterprise. But because Discovery has it's shields up this suddenly becomes impossible for some reason. Enterprise which is the Federation flagship could have unloaded weapons on this Discovery for 56 minutes which would have destroyed this ship shields or no shields.

2. Somehow Michael's parents heard about what is happening and managed to get to her to say goodbye. I thought all transmissions were jammed ? And if they knew the situation why didn't her parents notify Starfleet to send the Enterprise/Discovery some help ?

3. Discovery used the spore drive to jump. Why don't they just jump back to Earth to get away from Section 31 and then have the entire Federation protecting them ? Or just jump to the other side of the galaxy.

4. They somehow manage to outfit a million shuttles with weapons and build this time-suit for Michael in less than an hour.

5. If they are building a brand new suit why can't they code it to whoever's DNA they want ? Why does it have to be Michael ?

Why is this show only rated at 7.4?

[ekayrouz · 9/10 · 12 April 2019]

As u may have noticed, I am a big fan of this Star Trek, so this review is favorable to the series and to this episode. To start off with, this episode was amazing. All the emotions you've invested in this show, in its characters, in its complicated plot, are brought to fruition in a tear dropping and well-written way... And it's so good to invest in this show because no emotion is left behind... Moreover, I find myself wanting to explain that this is just the prologue to the much bigger finale, and it is a wonderful prologue which makes it a wonderful slower paced episode. As one reviewer put it, it's the calm before the storm. Digest all the emotions of the series, digest all the story plots, digest all the relationships, digest them with this episode and brace yourself for a great finale. Furthermore, this show is all about honor, sacrifice, doing the right thing, being the best human, and these are all given to you straight up, in a direct way as if, you the viewer, must know that these are the traits upon which the characters revolve, and I guess this is what Star Trek is about, the best of humanity still facing existential crisis in a future of technology..... If you don't like that, then this series is not for you... Finally, I would reiterate my initial statement, why is this show only rated at 7.4?

Such Sweet Sorrow

[Prismark10 · 7/10 · 12 October 2019]

The penultimate episode of Season two and Discovery raises the stakes with an action packed episode.

It is all excitingly heading for the finale and it all looks very cinematic. This is what Star Trek should be.

One confusing point was a character appears and I had no recollection of her and thought I had missed an episode. Po is a friend of Tilly and the new Queen of Xahia. She appeared in the Star Trek shorts that I have not watched.

The only way to prevent Control from obtaining the sphere data is to destroy Discovery. It means everyone is transferred to the Enterprise. We also see Captain Pike showing up in his gold uniform and comments are made about the colour scheme of the classic Star Trek look. This is the first indication that the producers are trying to align Discovery with original Star Trek.

However the sphere data has fused with the ship will not let Discovery be destroyed. That was rather obvious and it was a surprise no one thought this was a probable outcome. Burnham devises a plan to build a new time traveling Red Angel suit to open a wormhole into the future and send Discovery into another time and place. Somewhere where Control cannot find it. It means Burnham could be away for good.

It is a time for goodbyes, even Sarek senses something is wrong and goes to see Burnham and Spock. Pike says his farewells to the Discovery crew. It is rather understated but powerful all the same. What an impact Anson Mount has made.

As a Trekkie, I keep watching, trying...but it is.. trying.

[berkovich-76592 · 5/10 · 12 April 2019]

Not going to get into it too much but 2 main things bug me about this show and though a fan from the very beginning of Trek and old enough to remember it airing live...and there have been some good/decent episodes this season - and I honestly don't are about 'canon' so much - but again the series is wildly inconsistent more than any previous series ever was.

1. why does Burnham constantly put down/seem to know more/usurp the captain? sure, subordinates often have better ideas because they are often experts in a given field, as in any workplace, but seemingly in EVERY episode (this season, Pike) winds up asking of Burnham 'what is your recommendation?" so then why not just put Burnham in charge since she apparently has all the answers? What's the point, otherwise? Spock (original Spock), Riker, etc could have been in charge but weren't; but while offering insights they also didn't continually blatantly and publicly embarrass their commanders with the 'smarter' answer to whatever. Even in a current century office there are protocols around that, the second in command goes to the commander privately yet we are led to assume that in this advanced century you just publicly countermand your commander? 2. more tellingly, where is the HUMOR in this show? unlike every other Trek preceding this series there appears to be (unless I've missed it) NO sense of humor to this series. Zero. None. There's never a fun episode, or fun parts in any episode, things like the old Spock-McCoy banter, or Worf's dry wit, etc. etc. there seem to be attempts at it but so poorly executed as to be just pathetic.

fix that up and it might be worth watching. I continue to watch, hoping.

Haters... move away, ST:DSC rocks!

[gutielua · 10/10 · 13 April 2019]

If you aren't agree with this series, well...

ST:DSC becomes stronger and stronger; the actor behind of Capt. Pike deserves a Emmy Award!

Loved the episode but confused by the options that the characters had

[sgriff-11502 · 9/10 · 12 April 2019]

I really loved this episode but was confused by the lack of options that the characters faced. When they discovered that they couldn't destroy the ship they could have tried driving it into the nearest sun or black hole. Also, and I might be missing something here, but why would it be so terrible if Control went into the future. At one point when they were discussing going into the future they said they couldn't let any of Control get into the wormhole. When I heard that it got me thinking. Tricking Control to go through the wormhole may actually be the best idea. If you think about it the future they're thinking off is void of any technology or sentient life due to what Control will do, so if Control go they wouldn't be able to cause any harm. Also if they go then that wouldn't lead to them destroying all sentient life, which in turn means that future would never happen. Therefore Control would cease to exist. Boom job done.

Time Travel gone wrong

[Mardolin · 9/10 · 15 April 2019]

Well, they did it again.

The whole point of this episode was, that michael is gonna jump the ship into the future, sure.

My whole problem is, that just 10 minutes earlier, they said, that michael set up the signals, but then they said that they can charge the time crystal only for 1 jump into the future. The Inconsistency of this is really baffling, did they think we wouldn't notice or what's happening?

Do they think they can recharge the time crystal again once they're in the future? I mean, it is probably possible to do that, but why not just fly the ship into a supermassive black hole? Or just jump to the edge of the universe, billions of lightyears away? Control would be able to get it, but only after thousands of years. Where the federation probably would've figured out another way to fight off control easily.

It's just too many plotholes, but I enjoy it deeply. People make mistakes, people don't always think clearly.

Also.. Just overload the warp core manually, beam the guy out before it explodes, gg.

So many possibilities :D But they want to keep the sphere data, I get it.

Such Sweet Sorrow

[bobcobb301 · 7/10 · 26 August 2019]

This may not be what the old Star Trek was light or used to be about, but this was still a fairly decent episode. They managed to take one of the things they were building up to and give us a decent payoff for it, but this season needed a big baddie like in Season 1 and we just never got it.

Hole Star Trek!!!!

[mobilen-51059 · 10/10 · 13 April 2019]

I just want to say this espisode is what Star Trek should have been all about, make every episode like this and see people flood back to it, the emotion, the plot, the awesome mixup...I am deep deep Star Trek Fan and I been missing these kinds of episodes.... Keep it up!!!

Get rid of Po

[iGlad · 7/10 · 12 April 2019]

I don't know who decided to give us that PO character but she's a big mistake in such a great show. I cannot abide her.

Quick someone kill her off now.

Spore drive

[jtkirk161 · 2/10 · 14 April 2019]

Oh come on. They can jump anywhere in the Universe and the first thought is to blow up the ship? These are the dumbest crew members ever in all of Starfleet. And then we are treated to 50 minutes of soap opera good byes. Oh Star Trek, my Star Trek. What have they done to you?

A thrilling penultimate season closer

[paul-m-kerrigan · 10/10 · 13 April 2019]

This is fantastic Trek. I'm a fan of ALL the series and have been since I was old enough to be. The haters really need to stop watching and just leave the majority of us to enjoy it. And the negative review bots are just ridiculous. It seems Discovery is right that artificial intelligence is not a great idea!

Short Treks episodes actually mattered!

[isabellacheng · 7/10 · 13 April 2019]

Just as I thought canon was restored... Having Michael and Discovery going to the future would have restored the canon as to why there is no spore drive in the future. Instead, at the end Spock said he too will go. Bummer. Maybe things will change in Part 2, but my hopes aren't up. Rian Johnson will be delighted.

Adding one extra star to my review, is that the Short Treks episode actually mattered. Now I can't help but expect Part 2 to tie in with the episode "Calypso". Feel free to destroy my expectations, screenwriters.

Now for some HISHE stuff:

• Speaking of evading Control, who is limited by Star Fleet technology, couldn't Discovery just jump to another quadrant to buy more time before charging the crystal? Heck, to another galaxy even.
• Furthermore, despite having Control disabled long range communications, Discovery could easily have jumped to all Federation outposts and colonies to rally the fleet personally. The scene would look pretty awesome cinematically. We've seen rapid precision jumps in their fight against the Klingon flagship before, right?
• Lastly, Control being a software, could easily lie dormant a thousand years to meet discovery in the future. Control is already pretty sentient now that it has command over all Section 31 ships. Is hacking "normal" starships more difficult? Control's been faking commands via holograms for quite a while. Could easily have told the captains "would you kindly download this email attachment?"

Edit after Part 2: {Spoiler} Canon was restored! Yay! {/Spoiler}

The Burnham Show

[freshorange · 1/10 · 13 April 2019]

Time and again, I gave Star Trek Discovery a chance. In retrospect, probably for a simple reason: I did not want to believe that this series fails! Now the time has come - I just can not bear to see Comander Michael Burnahm cry, look meaningful, solve any difficult task, play a major role in almost every scene and save the universe every 5 minutes. This character is so overused that I just do not want to watch the next episodes. That by chance HER, then HER MOTHER and then HERSELF AGAIN are the Red Angel has given me the rest in this melodramatic, humorless farce of a show. This is not Star Trek, that's The Burnham Show. And she is annoying!

Why are most reviewers still watching?

[nznngwzxj · 8/10 · 24 May 2022]

Two seasons in and still you come here to gripe. That's surely the definition of insanity? There are other shows, try one of them.

Yes there are plot holes in many episodes. Yes the main character (shock!) gets most airtime (what did you expect?). But we're dealing with Star Trek here, not a documentary. You happily accept warp drive so really all bets are off for realism.

This is good quality escapist TV. Hence my score of 8. Not 1 (seriously, you think it has no redeeming features whatsoever?) or 10 (you need to watch some other shows, this really isn't perfect).