[Petrarch]

Episode Discussion

"...But To Connect"

US Airdate: 30/12/2021 (Paramount+)
International: 31/12/21 from various sources, may be available to buy/rent on Amazon Prime - moving to Paramount+ in 2022

This thread is for the pre and post discussion of the Season 4 episode "...But To Connect" - this will be a spoiler filled discussion so if you've found your way past the warnings in the activity stream and the spoiler tag on the thread, this is your last chance to turn back, or at least it will be at the end of this first post. You have been warned!

With the announcement that CBS pulled Discovery from a uniform international distribution until early-mid 2022, I'll keep making the threads for those that can see it, but I'll not be including polls for this season.

As representatives meet at Federation Headquarters to discuss the Dark Matter Anomaly, tensions begin to rise. Aboard Discovery, the newly acquired sentience of Zora starts to raise questions.

Some promo shots of the upcoming episode can be found here. In an unusual move, despite the fact it's on a streaming service, this episode will see Discovery take a mid-season break normally seen on series which are broadcast on regular TV. The show will return with Episode 8 in February 2022.

"...But To Connect" is the seventh episode, 7 of 13.

Written by: Terri Hughes Burton & Carlos Cisco
Directed by: Lee Rose

[Jestersmith]

Liked this episode was good to see that they have eventually got representation from Earth and Jupiter to show up, lots of moral questions in this episode regarding actions to take on two fronts both dealt with quite well, gutted now that the next ep is not on till the 10th Feb but the trailer preview for the next ep looked good hopefully looking at it we get to find out who species 10 are in this episode.

[laibcoms]

The other thing I love about this episode, other than United Earth showing up, is that U.E. is still not a member of the Federation. All throughout the franchise, the UFP and Starfleet, are Earth-centric and because of it, humans were given treatment a little higher than all the other members.

With how they setup the Federation of the future, that unwritten treatment for humans and the Earth-centric Federation and Starfleet, is now out of the picture. Humans are still active--but they're from former U.E. colonies given independent membership in the Federation. The Federation and Starfleet now have more non-Earthling representation, we can probably say non-human at that.

I also love how United Earth is pro-war. There is a story to be told there and also there are more stories that can be cooked up from that new Earthling approach to things. Are Earthlings starting to touch on their "war" side? Is United Earth threading some version of the path to "Terran Empire"? Or, are Earthlings experiencing something the Vulcans experienced--denying their true nature and history which led to the split and "birth" of the Romulans centuries ago?

How would the Earthlings embrace their history and their true selves? They can not just copy how the Vulcans and Romulans let go of their division. How the Vulcans, and Romulans for that matter, embraced their true identity. Would Earthlings eventually thread some version which led to the Terran Empire in the Mirror Universe? Or, will they be able to embrace it and be true to their selves without succumbing to becoming some version of the Terran Empire?

I hope the writers realize the opportunities they opened up in this episode. I would hate to see it that everything the United Earth went through--from leaving the Federation, trying to survive on their own, the Inner Worlds waging a war with the other colonies within Sol System--just disappear by joining the Federation without a fuss.

^_^