# Star Trek Discovery Episode 6 (Week of 10/22/17) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 22, 2017, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-discovery-episode-6-week-of-10-22-17/799542 "2017-10-22T14:26:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-discovery-episode-6-week-of-10-22-17/799542/21 "2017-10-24T18:59:56Z")
> [@gregorio](#): > > Was there shilling on the air for the shirts? I watch on Space (as I’m guessing you do based on your location), but zip through the commercials with my PVR. I didn’t even think of official merchandise when I googled for a photo of Burnham and Tilly to get a better look at the shirts. Seeing the results, I was all, “of course there’s merch.” Blatant or insidious, which is worse? There wasn’t “shilling” so much, but it seemed pretty obvious that those shirts would be on sale somewhere. And this is different from the Vulcan item posted earlier. We have to expect that they would try to produce some “cultural artifacts” to fill out the characterization of alien species, and those items are pretty inevitably going to be be sold as reproductions (b’atleths, anyone?). Where this is different is that the shirts are clearly merch _in the Star Trek universe_. Somewhere on the ship there’s a gift shop where you can buy matching “Disco” shirts, and probably ball caps, shotglasses and fridge magnets too. And now we have to wonder, do they have shops like that on all the major Star Fleet ships? Do they all make bad puns based on the ship’s names? Is there “First 'Prize” merch on the Enterprise? Does the Reliant have a cartoon ant as a mascot? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-discovery-episode-6-week-of-10-22-17/799542/22 "2017-10-24T19:07:59Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > And now we have to wonder, do they have shops like that on all the major Star Fleet ships? Do they all make bad puns based on the ship’s names? Is there “First 'Prize” merch on the Enterprise? Does the Reliant have a cartoon ant as a mascot? The Enterprise shirts all say “Enter” and aren’t very popular–which is why you never see them on screen. ---
**Author:** ![gregorio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@gregorio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregorio)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-discovery-episode-6-week-of-10-22-17/799542/23 "2017-10-24T19:30:58Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > There wasn’t “shilling” so much, but it seemed pretty obvious that those shirts would be on sale somewhere. > > And this is different from the Vulcan item posted earlier. We have to expect that they would try to produce some “cultural artifacts” to fill out the characterization of alien species, and those items are pretty inevitably going to be be sold as reproductions (b’atleths, anyone?). Where this is different is that the shirts are clearly merch _in the Star Trek universe_. Somewhere on the ship there’s a gift shop where you can buy matching “Disco” shirts, and probably ball caps, shotglasses and fridge magnets too. IIRC (from “I Am Spock”) there was no previous mention in the series about the medal. Nimoy argued Spock would not decorate himself in that manner and Rodenberry wanted to cash in on Spock’s popularity. I guess what they did after the original series provides back story, but that’s not how it was presented originally. Making shirts from the Star Trek universe is fun! I want a DEVO, EXIT (to go along with ENTER), SALAD, S M, YAM, SARA, GOD, SIT, KHIT (I am the Knight Industries Three Thousand. You may call me "K.(h)I.T.T.), BUD. From here. Feel free to make your own: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_Star\_Trek\_Starfleet\_starships\_ordered\_by\_class](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Star_Trek_Starfleet_starships_ordered_by_class) ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-discovery-episode-6-week-of-10-22-17/799542/24 "2017-10-24T19:37:01Z")
> [@gregorio](#): > > Making shirts from the Star Trek universe is fun! I want a DEVO, EXIT (to go along with ENTER), SALAD, S M, YAM, SARA, GOD, SIT, KHIT (I am the Knight Industries Three Thousand. You may call me "K.(h)I.T.T.), BUD. Now I want to see an episode of _The Orville_ in which the navigator guy comes in for his shift in an Orville T-shirt, with an Orville hat, an Orville giant soda cup, and an Orville seat cushion. All of them featuring Orville Redenbacher, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-discovery-episode-6-week-of-10-22-17/799542/25 "2017-10-24T19:49:56Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > The Enterprise shirts all say “Enter” and aren’t very popular–which is why you never see them on screen. Which is silly, when they could have sold a TON of shirts with, “Ent” on them. /Slang for a pot-smoker, as well as its Tolkien-esque meanings. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-discovery-episode-6-week-of-10-22-17/799542/26 "2017-10-24T19:56:47Z")
I heard over on the Defiant, the DEF shirts are all the rage. (Mos- or -Leppard… not sure which joke to go with…) ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-discovery-episode-6-week-of-10-22-17/799542/27 "2017-10-24T21:10:16Z")
Pretty sure even the Federation would get in trouble for the EXCEL t-shirts. ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-discovery-episode-6-week-of-10-22-17/799542/28 "2017-10-24T21:55:58Z")
I am fearing that Cadet Tilly is not long for the world. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-discovery-episode-6-week-of-10-22-17/799542/29 "2017-10-25T00:25:24Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > So, is no one going to comment on what I believe is the first example of [blatant product placement](https://shop.startrek.com/product/Z1CTSTK221/star-trek-discovery-disco-tshirt?cp=null) in Star Trek history? I take it your school didn’t have gym uniforms? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-discovery-episode-6-week-of-10-22-17/799542/30 "2017-10-25T00:53:58Z")
> [@gregorio](#): > > From here. Feel free to make your own: > > [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_Star\_Trek\_Starfleet\_starships\_ordered\_by\_class](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Star_Trek_Starfleet_starships_ordered_by_class) Oh! You could have Santa, and Crazy, and Crock, and Fear, and Gal, and Tit, and… ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-discovery-episode-6-week-of-10-22-17/799542/31 "2017-10-25T00:58:25Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > They hate and despise the federation, what good info would they have on social interaction? The T’Kuvma fanatics hate the Federation and despise it and believe they’re trying to assimilate the Klingon race, hence the motto “Remain Klingon,” but the other families don’t necessarily feel the same way. Despite the cliché of Star Trek ‘there-are-no-variants-in-a-species’ there are, in fact, precedents for variations. Even in TOS The Trouble with Tribbles, we see a Klingon that has been working undercover as a human for months, if not years. We know Voq can read English, since he’s seen going through the captain’s records. Other Klingons know English as well. L’Rell has specifically dropped that her mother’s clan is known for spying, espionage, and other ‘distasteful’ (to a Klingon) tactics. Aaand last but not least, there is no better terrorist than a converted zealot. We know Voq was an outcast from Klingon society because he’s albino. A backstory of what happened before he joined the Torchbearer’s fleet could easily explain his knowledge of the Feddies – and why he dislikes them so much. That said… there is a Javid Iqbal from Chicago who is an actor, so maybe those folks at the AV Club just haven’t looked hard enough. [https://www.laughoutloudtheater.com/schaumburg/cast/12-javid-iqbal](https://www.laughoutloudtheater.com/schaumburg/cast/12-javid-iqbal) [https://twitter.com/therealjavid](https://twitter.com/therealjavid) Failing that, the Iqbal in the show is from Canada, so perhaps he’s an unknown actor in his first big role – which isn’t unheard of, it’s what happened with X Men Apocalypse – which is why they keep making him speak a foreign language so his acting has a reason to be stiff. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-discovery-episode-6-week-of-10-22-17/799542/32 "2017-10-25T01:14:57Z")
> [@Barbarian](#): > > The T’Kuvma fanatics hate the Federation and despise it and believe they’re trying to assimilate the Klingon race, hence the motto “Remain Klingon,” but the other families don’t necessarily feel the same way. I guess I’ll go back and watch the first episode, but I thought they said that they have hardly had contact with the Klingons. They were at such a loss as to what to do that Michael talked with Sarek, and he told her of how the Vulcans simply fired upon them at every meeting until the Klingons finally agreed to talk. Prior to that, the Klingons invariably attacked them anyway. If I have time later, I’ll watch it again and see if I remember right, and if I learn something else. > [@Barbarian](#): > > L’Rell has specifically dropped that her mother’s clan is known for spying, espionage, and other ‘distasteful’ (to a Klingon) tactics. THIS is the only thing that give an ounce of credibility to a Klingon being able to so convincingly portray a Federation officer. Just an ounce though. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-discovery-episode-6-week-of-10-22-17/799542/33 "2017-10-29T14:22:39Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > possibly spoiler-ish plot theory > > [spoiler]So. . .new chief of security, against all reason, is the white-faced Klingon, right? > > White-faced Klingon disappears from show after his 2nd-in-command/girlfriend says she will take him somewhere to show him things he never knew possible, but that he will have to sacrifice, “everything.” > > Klingon 2nd-in-command chases after escaping prisoner, saying “Do you think you could leave me after we’ve been through?” > > There’s something else I’m forgetting. . .but he somehow, in a very short time, turned himself so human that medical scans don’t detect it, and even MORE improbably, he turned himself into a likable, respectable Starfleet officer that people interact with frequently, even earning a position of authority. Captain made a point of saying to the Admiral that he checked him out, and the holodeck exercise showed him getting to know his new chief of security. > > Oh yes. . . Checkov’s tribble. The captain’s pet will come into play. > > I wouldn’t mind if he turned himself human-ish long enough to get on the Discovery and do mischief, but it just doesn’t seem possible that an alien race that dismisses and hates humans as much as the Klingons could infiltrate this completely, this quickly.[/spoiler] I had the same thought, but more along the line of ‘you know what would be incredibly lame?’. Of course, that probably just increases the likelihood of this being right… Plus, the way Michael just basically burped up her whole personal history at Ash just seemed way too constructed. As for the episode, I think I’m beginning to like it a little more. Granted, there was some fair share of silliness (Logic extremists? What, do they kill each other over what the correct semantics for relevance logic is? And come on, ‘soul grafts’, really?), but I did like the character development, in particular regarding Lorca. It was kind of heavy handed the way they got rid of the admiral—however, I did think for a moment that this would be Lorca’s final descent into villainy, orchestrating her demise either at the hands of the Klingons or due to a tragic accident, but he didn’t even have to bother, as she was taken off the board by plot convenience. I did like how he basically used her lines to justify not immediately mounting a rescue mission, after doing exactly that for Sarek, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-discovery-episode-6-week-of-10-22-17/799542.md?page=1)