Discovery Episode 4

[lunabee34]

Captain's will: This is a crucial set of scenes; they let us know how guilty Michael feels, how much the captain cared for her, and they give Tilly a chance to be very kind to Michael.

Lorca: And Lucius Malfoy starts to go off the rails. He seems unhinged to me. Engineer dude hates him, and there's constant tension between them. Lorca continues to be deeply emotionally manipulative (playing the distress signal, really?).

Ripper: Ha! It *is* a tardigrade! And, of course, Lorca wants to use it as a weapon. I feel like the security chief's behavior indicates something about Lorca: either she's so loyal to him that she wants to please him or she's afraid of him and reprisals if they don't get results. Either way, she becomes terminally stupid in this episode in a way I do not expect from Starfleet security officers. I love the way that Michael figures out that Ripper is not naturally aggressive; she starts by not making assumptions about Ripper. Once they figure out that Ripper is the key to making their new form of travel work, they're able to quickly save the colony. But Michael is clearly troubled by the use of the creature against its will. It may even be sentient. I'm surprised that Saru sees her testing his reaction to Ripper as some kind of betrayal, but I think he's primed to see everything she does in a bad light.

Klingons: T'Kuvma's heir (whose name I have forgotten) and crew have been left behind on the derelict ship. He resists scavenging the Shenzhou for parts they need. They ate the captain. :( That deleted scene shows that things are dire enough that they're eating each other, too. Ooooh, looks like L'Rell has the hots for T'Kuvma's heir. Interesting. I like that she stays behind with him to save him when he's marooned. Looks like we're going to find out more about Klingon culture when they go to the matriarchs of Mokai.