S01E03. The Vulcan Hello and Battle at the Binary Stars

Content Warnings: discussion of war and war crimes, cannibalism, traumatic brain injury resulting in disorientation, untreated PTSD, desecration of corpses

Spoiler Warning: From 1:18:30 to 1:23:34, we discuss a plot point that is revealed in Discovery S01E11, "The Wolf Inside."

We come in peace! Lucy brings "The Vulcan Hello" and "Battle at the Binary Stars," the two-part premiere of Star Trek: Discovery, written by Bryan Fuller, Gretchen J. Berg, and Aaron Harberts and directed by Adam Kane. Like "Relativity," these episodes feature a mentor relationship between two women. We discuss the framing of Burnham as a protagonist, the ambiguous morality of her actions, and the Federation as a colonialist threat. We also talk about war and honor, whether Sarek is a good dad, the show's difficulty with morality, Klingons, space battles, and Javid Iqbal.

(The transcript for this episode is in progress and will be added to this post when it's ready.)

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Connections:

• Discovery premiered in 2015, making it the first Star Trek series since Enterprise ended in 2005: over ten years.
• Lorca gives a sinister speech in Discovery S01E03, "Context Is for Kings."
• Sarek's fraught relationship with his son Spock is first portrayed in The Original Series S02E15, "Journey to Babel."
• It's revealed that Sarek gave Burnham's opportunity with the Vulcan Expeditionary Group to Spock in Discovery S01E06, "Lethe."
• It's not Jadzia who tells Worf that Klingons laugh, but Guinan, in The Next Generation S04E26, "Redemption."
• Tuvix appears in Voyager S02E24, "Tuvix."

Works cited:

• Benedict, R. (1946). The Chrysanthemum and the Sword: Patterns of Japanese Culture. Houghton Mifflin.
• Iino, S. & Matsushita, S. (Directors). (2019-present). Dr. Stone [TV series]. TMS Entertainment.
• Kōjina, H. (Director). (2011-2014). Hunter x Hunter [TV series]. Nippon TV, VAP, Shueisha, & Madhouse.

Our next episode will cover Deep Space Nine S04E09: "The Sword of Kahless," written by Hans Beimler and Richard Danus and directed by LeVar Burton.

Before the Future Came is edited by Lucy Arnold, transcribed by Melissa Avery-Weir, and webmavened by Gregory Avery-Weir.

Our theme is “Let’s Pretend” by Josh Woodward, available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.