Ups & Downs From Star Trek: Discovery 5.4 - Face The Strange 

My Latinum up was when Stamets asks Reno about some temporal theory and she asks "Are you stuck in a Time Loop right now, Stamets" and the look of shock on his face.

I found stamets clearing engineering funny. Spore breach. Calm retreat. Spore breach. Calm retreat. I'm grumpy. FLEE

When Burnham said to her younger self "It's been a long road" I reflexively said "Getting from there to here" out loud to myself

If we don't' get a scene before the end of the season where Rayner "buys" Reno a drink, I'm going to be slightly annoyed.

The one thing that was missing was Rayner giving Jett her well deserved drink she mentioned 😅

Would have loved to see lorca. He's in the captain's chair. He asks why he should believe her, she whispers about him getting back to the mirror dimensions

Add an up for how Stammets keeps clearing Engineering (between the ‘I was more surly in this time’ and the disappointment that “his” staff doesn’t know that a “spore leak” isn’t a thing). Add a down for the needlessly flashing lighting during the hallway fight - made it almost impossible to follow what was going on. Add an up just for the shot of Grudge (we haven’t had much of the queen this season) - but I might be biased.

The whole Jet Reno scene deserves an up

Stamets *heard* the Krenim Barking Spider. He knows what his Engineering section is supposed to sound like and that thing made a lot of noise for its size.

I don’t think 2 of the downs are warranted. The first one about how rayner has a go at Rhys is kinda the whole point of the episode to teach him how to trust the crew. The second one about mentioning Lorca is simply a point of reference if stamets would have said a year or star date i would have been lost and had no idea. By saying Lorca is in command although on an away mission tells us its somewhere in the first 6-8 months of the klingon war before the jaunt to the mirror universe.

Another great Episode. I love when a captain and the First Officer gets an episode to themselves. Pure skills on display, it was sooooooooooo cool seeing the Disco crew from back in the day and showing Arishem again.

I really liked this episode. We see Rayner go through some personal growth, and we’re reminded through Burnham’s earlier self, her growth. In fact, she seems to matured even more, between the 4th and 5th seasons.

No mention of Reno? Her comment about “get better helmets” should have been the latinum up!

If someone told em 4 years ago, that Discovery would do a flashback episode to Season 1, that hits an emotional nerve, I would have been very sceptical. That just shows how much the show has improved...

I thought this was one of the cleverest "clip show" episodes thst I can recall, for any show honestly. Awesome spin, DISCO

Linus getting more screen time. Up.

I saw this episode as very reminiscent of Voyager episodes Relativity, and Shattered. Not time loops but jumping to parts of your own past, and in the same way relying and trusting each other to have their own unique insights and experiences to complete the mission, a sum is greater than the parts kind of deal, very Trek.

The Krenim time bug had the same temporal effects in this episode as the Krenim torpedo had on Kes that time, jumping through time points.

Zora asks Michael if it is really her, or "am I dreaming, again." What if Calypso was all a dream created by Zora in her grief and loneliness?

I can find it in my heart to forgive them for not having the scheduling power or the money to get a guy whose name is on posters at the multiplex in for a cameo. If they couldn’t get him, I’m glad to have at least gotten a reference. Remember how excited we were when an alternate universe just barely mentioned a General Sisko? I was more surprised not to get a Pike or Spock cameo, really, but revisiting the first two seasons was neat nonetheless. My latinum up was Stamets storming into season 1 engineering and clearing it in seconds by declaring, “I am very grumpy today.” There’s a decent reason for the shipyard guy not to flag the uniforms, I think. There were already radically different uniforms in circulation at the point, between the blue jumpsuits and the modern colors that Pike and Enterprise had. He probably just thought the brass was getting a new uniform. I mean it’s no way to run a fleet, but they did nonetheless. Stamets landing in the past when he’d been impaled, gotta admit that also made me laugh a horrified little laugh.

What I really loved on scene with the worker is that red uniforms on that timeline are related to security and engineering. So makes all sense their dialog.

I'm glad we're getting more Linus this season.

TBH - I was disappointed there was no Jason Isaacs cameo 😢

I want to thank you Sean, for the kind words you signed the video off with. My sweet dog lost his life this week due to heart failure and your lovely words spoken with your lovely Irish accent gave me a bit of comfort. Again, thank you kind sir.

This episode reminded me of the Voyager episode "Shattered". In all honesty, I really thought that we gonna see either Lorca or Ash Tyler, but I'm happy it was Airiam. Up until now I still imagining what kind of upgrades she'll received in the 32nd century if she's alive.

I disagree about the Airiam down. She was exhibiting a knowledge of the person in charge that only someone that had lived in that moment would know and with it knew exactly what Airiam would do in that situation. Her telling the others "She's right, that's exactly what I would do." was her letting the others know that she was telling the truth.

I thought this was great because whilst it did move the story in, it also was the sort of contained episode from the TNG era that we've missed

It was a good way to make a clip show episode without making it a clip show. But it was a lot like that Voyager Episode, where different parts of the ship existed in different times.

I actually thought the whole Airiam thing worked really well and was very moving. I did pick up on the fact though that they got Hannah Cheesman back to play her. I can’t remember the exact reason (possibly not liking the makeup), but they changed actors between Seasons 1 & 2. Sara Mitich was originally Airiam in Season 1 but then switched to playing Nilsson and we got that touching but sneaky meta scene where Nilsson replaced Airiam on the Bridge after she died. Hannah Cheesman played Airiam in Season 2. So, I’m guessing they asked her to play Season 1 Airiam in this episode. Secondly, a couple of Cetacean Observations in one scene. When Burnham and Rayner go back to the construction of Discovery, the two light panels either side of the gap in the bulkhead are unusually pulsing upwards in sequence. I thought this looked very much like those light columns/conduits around DS9’s Ops, which used to either have white pulses going up, during normal functions, or red pulses going down, during a red alert. I don’t know if this was an intentional nod on Discovery, but I just noted the similarity as they don’t normally do that. The other Observation was the fact the ship’s being built near the Golden Gate Bridge. That must mean it’s in the “San Francisco Fleet Yards”, which I swear is exactly where the original TOS Enterprise was built (it says so on the dedication plaque on the Bridge). So, that’s another neat connection between the two 23rd century ships. Lastly, I loved the two Reno scenes, especially her asking Stamets if he’s stuck in a time loop!😂 But, the second appearance, during the takeover by Osyraa, is a neat Easter Egg that rectifies a complaint some fans had back when that originally happened. Reno’s seen on Discovery before Osyraa took control but is then weirdly absent throughout the entire takeover episode arc and everyone’s trying to retake the ship. She then suddenly simply reappears after everything’s back to normal, as if she’d been there the whole time. Obviously, the off-screen reason’s probably that Tig Notaro wasn’t available to shoot any of the scenes with Tilly and the others originally. But, at least this week’s episode now shows she WAS on the ship during the takeover and was actually doing her own solo thing, running around the ship trying to stay alive and safe.👍

Convincing Aerium worked for me, because it is not about how she dies, but the fact, that she will sacrifice herself for the crew and the greater good. Only someone who will have been there, can know that. It is a clear "I know somehting about you, that you have never told anyone" moment. And let's be honest: The "You are right, this is somehting I would do." line hit harder, then expected.

Ironically enough this was probably my favorite episode of the season. It also felt very similar to Relativity from Voyager which is probably why I liked it so much.

You missed the fact that the title of the episode seems to be a David Bowie reference. "Turn and face the strange" from Changes.

I'm downing this week's ups and downs for not giving Reno and Stamitz ups! They were great this week. I loved this episode, surprised you were so harsh on it!

I did not expect them to go into the future and reference the Short Trek Calypso with Aldis Hodge.

The second Bernham scene was necessary for Rayner’s character growth. To show that he does listen to his crew, and that he is trying to do things differently. He connected with them in a way that was atypical for him and that is what ended up saving things.

What? No love for how Tig Notaro pulled off "she knows, or does she?" with Reno's comment to Stamets?

Are you even going to talk about the three BEST scenes in the entire episode? Two of which involve Tig Notaro's engineer Reno, and the third when Stamets clears the room by telling everyone he needs his space, then says he was a different person before the tardigrade DNA? There should be at least 3 more "Ups" on your list... This episode was so much fun!

Too bad you didn't mention Stamets meeting Reno in engineering, and Reynar "meeting" Reno in deck 13. For me, this show definitely need more Reno !!!

The scene between Reno and Rayner should have gotten an up.

It wasn't just that he happened to be looking at the right wall at the right time as it was that he had heard the little critter skittering up said wall and was looking in the direction of the noise. ~Chris

I'm sorry Stamins being impaled AGAIN and saying he forgot that this hurt so badly was my latinum up for the week 😂

Big problem Rayner having is not accepting he is now a first officer not a captain. He finally seems to get it toward the end keeping track and knowing the crew is part of being 1st officer.

17:40 Right there, that's the moment, yeah. She said it. It has been a long road. 😅🥰 Yeah, most beloved opening song.

Timeclone and two different types of temporal loops. Rayner having to see that Burnhams collaborative approach did in fact work made a lot of sense. His way has worked for him for years, he can't just be told to do things another way, he has to see that it works.

Can’t believe you never gave a nod to the Ian Fleming/James Bond reference/easter egg. Vesper Martini anyone? 🤣

Seeing Detmer face down on her console with her eyes open; spooks me every time

it is gonna take a bit longer to see rainer as anything other than the metoo cylon great actor. he managed to be the scariest dude in all of bsg and that is a feat. as for ayriam (sp?) it isnt about logic- it is about empathy. she is basically telling this lady she is the bravest person on disco. that reaonates

This seemed like a "ship in a bottle" episode, meaning all the action took place on the ship with less exterior, expensive sets. The intrigue was sustaining and I enjoyed the story.

The scene in engineering was required in order to show that both the Captain & first officer truly understand each other. 17:32

I want you all to know that I look forward to these Ups and Downs videos just as much as the actual Star Trek episodes! You all do a wonderful job on them!

The hand thing was great. It was a quiet communication between them.

The Burnham fight scene between the older and younger versions, along with the resolution to the fight, deserved the Latinum Up for this week, imho.

You leave out grudge and the two appearances of Reno

The down about the fact that Airiam trusts her after she is told how she will die, I disagree with that. She is cybernetically augmented and is a being of knowledge of what she would do in that extreme situation. She would absolutely sacrifice herself in order to protect her family on Discovery.

Airiam made sense. If Rayner hadn't said what he did on the bridge, then he and Michael would not have been together. Plus it gave him time to see how he was wrong. Plus, no love for Reno in this video?

I really enjoyed this episode, Relativity is one of my favorite episodes and loved how it felt like a nod towards it.

I'm surprised that this episode didn't get more ups, brother Seán. This was damned good Trek, top to bottom. I don't disagree with your downs, well, except the Ariam down. Dude, that's harsh! But I thought this was one of the strongest episodes of the series, not just the season. God bless from the Ozarks!

I really hated the way this episode started but by the time Airiam appeared I was pretty locked in.

I was a little disappointed that there was no mention of Reno (Tig Notaro) showing up to help fight off "Bucket heads" We haven't seen much of her, so far, and it was a good nod that she's still there... and as funny as ever.

“Wibbly wobbly” and “buggy wuggy” are two phrases that need to be said more often during ups and downs cuz…why not? 😂

This episode reminds me a lot of the Voyager episode, "Shattered"...

I miss the days of an actual walk of shame from the bridge into the ready room.

This and episode 3 feel like they should be watched Together. I waited until this episode came out to watch episode 3, and they pair together soooooooooo incredibly well and shows how they are building Rayner up each episode. 8/10

“I’m a Golden Gate Bridge fan” -Me, who is visiting family atm in San Francisco: Me too!

When they went 30 years into the future to the barren ship, I observed the frost (or perhaps dust) on the window. I immediately said "Timeless" in reference to the Voyager episode

This kind of reminded me of Voyagers episode "shattered" with all the time jump.

I don’t think the scene with Burnham in engineering was unnecessary. It was my first thought when the scene started but as it went on I saw that while the scene was good for S1 Burnham, it was necessary for Rayner, to be able to reach her of all people was very important for his character

Small weird thing - I loved the hand reference (however stretched) to TNG time jumps.

This was the best episode of the season so far.

I disagree with the Lorca down. He had to be the captain given where the story needed Past Burnham to be in her arc. But if he was on the ship and someone claiming to be Captain Burnham from the future arrived on the bridge, it would have been criminal to not immediately interrupt whatever he was currently doing. So by having him, chief of security and Saru off the ship, it gives Ariam the authority she needs to be able to go with Burnham’s plan, whatever you think about her logic later.

Congrats!!! Love your ups and downs!!!400k you’ll get there in no time at all!!!

You say "the Breen somehow came into control of the Progenitor technology". They clearly stated in the episode that is that version of time Mol and Lak sold them the technology. They were the highest bidder. It's not just "somehow". They clearly said what happened. And as much as you go on about how the Short Treks weren't ever alluded to again, I expected you to get much more excited about them showing to that.

22:24 LMAO 🤣 I love the voice-over "operations" LoL 🤣

What? No callout for the 2 scenes featuring Jett? Both were great!

I was a bit confused at the end when the crew knew what happened in the past. I thought they retained their memories of Captain Burnham giving them instructions. Burnham told them the story off screen.

They had to mention that Lorca was somewhere else; otherwise, it would not have been plausible that he wasn't on the bridge. To meet him would have complicated everything unnecessarily. As for dressing down Rhys, while it was unpleasant, it was no down for me because it emphasized the later development of Rayner. Rayner made up for it at the end by acknowledging that Rhys' theory was correct. Burnham meeting her younger self was the latinum up for me. The scene with the younger Burnham in the engineering room was admittedly a bit much, but then again it showed Rayner's development. And it was performed beautifully by Sonequa Martin-Green.

The point of Book was that he took his shirt off. That was surely worth an 'Up'.

There were a few oddities and things u didn't love in the episode, but I liked it. Disco isn't perfect but it's bold and I like that

Your down on Airiam is flawed.... It wasn't about convincing her because of the death, it was about proving she knows her at a psychological level nobody did at that time (underhanded acknowledgement of poor character development?)

I disagree with the Ariam down completely. It wasn’t that she convinced her that she died. It’s the fact that the absolutely only way she would give up her life is for that exact circumstance is why she is convinced.

I don't think you mentioned at the end where Reyner gives Reese proper credit for the idea he shot down eariler

I cannot believe, in all your summary, you skipped both of Reno's awesome scenes. For shame, Sean, for shame! I loved this ep--the only thing that would have made it better would have been a third Reno scene at the end, who had put it all together based on her memory of Stemmets acting weird and meeting Reyner out of sequence, and waited patiently for the time shenanigans to resolve themselves so she could get her drink order in.

Missing scene from when they first got to the 32nd century: "Hey we finally fixed that thing where the transporter kills you and makes a copy, you actually just get transported now!" "..."

Thanks for excellent content Linus! You know, there are no shortage of reviewers breaking episodes down, but there are NONE who do as awesome as you do at comments within the actual context of the story itself. Like, for example, your discussion of the Captain correcting Rayner. Pure mastery. Thanks for being really good at your art! Please keep it UP! 😊

Cogratz on 300k subscribers. You deserve it. Great RU-vid channel.

Scenes between Stammets, Rino, and Rayner should have gotten ups. Rino knew.... they knew and they were like I get it man, carry on. Loved it.

Congratulations on 300k

I think the Aryum scene works for yrust because Burnham tells her she will sacrifice herself, no one else would know she'd do so. Thats how she convinced her.

The future jump was not a reference to Calypso. The crew and federation were killed in the ensuing war with the Breen and their Progenitor weapons, that's not the same future as we saw in Calypso, plus they undid the time bug and as long as they retain the Progenitor tech and Moll and L'ak don't get it to sell on, that future they just saw won't happen at all. At this point I'm seeing the short trek Calypso as more a "what if" episode rather than a future episode, maybe one where they hide the ship/sphere data rather than continue to use it.

Jörg H. deserves his own panel at every convention.

We're a community of Armed Forces Veterans that do "funny" for recovery... Trust us...! An officer that admits that he's messed up...!!!!! And admits it to a senior Officer... We rock Rayner!

I disagree with your down regarding Lorca... They previously referenced the time jumps, with who was captain at that stardate. It makes legit sense.

After Emperor Georgiou left Discovery in Season 3, it had been hard following Discovery thru Season 4. Now I am glad Season 5 actually has a 'Shattered'-like episode, which others also commented reminded them of 'Relativity' and 'Before and After'. Is it coincidence that all those 3 episodes came from Voyager? Which was also coincidentally the 2nd Star Trek series I watched after I finished Discovery seasons 1 and 2.

It was so cool seeing Season 1 Burnham fighting Season 5 Burnham, and possibly getting where calypso takes place during an alternate timeline.

The Discovery in Calypso is probably a version of the ship that didn't travel to the 32nd Century. There was probably a duplication of Discovery as it went through thee wormhole, like with Voyager in Deadlock.

I disagree with the first down for Rayner. Yes he did shut Rhys down abruptly, but that also leads in to his character development and growth, and shows he's lerning to adapt because near the end of the episode, he conceides Rhys was correct and credits him.

As always thank you all so very much for the videos. 🖖Peace And Long Life

Wow! I think this is the first time I have to disagree with you bud. I absolutely loved this episode. Take it as a major "UP" from me that we finally disagree!

6:28 Stamets's Timey-Wimey Sense was tingling, that was fairly well telegraphed. The back of his neck prickled as the time bug skittered behind him, so he turned.

You completely missed the point of the scene with Arriam. It's not the fact that Burnham tells her how she's going to die that makes her believe. It's the sincerity and the showing that Butnham knows Arriam and the choice that she would make to save her crewmates. Not "Oh I know you're going to die in 3 weeks". Come on, please read between the lines a little bit!