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matt_zimmerAlso a review for the latest episode of Star Trek: Discovery.
Mr. Mercedes "Pilot"
I have to confess I was expecting the worst. David E Kelley is my least favorite television writer of all time. I hold Brannon Braga and Diane English in similarly low esteem, but I think Kelley is worse. But I will say this. This was not written like a typical David E Kelley show with obnoxious quirky characters the audience is supposed to hate while they charm the main character. Ida's stunt with the nude picture on the phone is actually treated as crazy and as off-putting as it actually is by Bill Hodges. Kelley's worst fault is making every bit of drama cutesy and cloying, and I think Brendan Gleesan's frustrated expressions mitigated that a LOT.
Brady's mother is too pretty here. I understand the needs of Hollywood to cast decent looking actors in all roles, but I specifically think Brady's mother being titanic and revolting is one of the biggest reason's Brady's attraction to her is so messed up. I'm not saying it's okay. I'm saying it's more understandable and relatable than it should be. Brady having dirty picture of his gigantic mother in the book is just crazy. They actually give Brady and his mother legit sexual chemistry, which I think makes the PRODUCERS crazy.
For the record, Holland Taylor still looks like a million bucks. I would have rejected her too under those circumstances because her behavior is outright vulgar. But it's not because she's unattractive. She's still got it. And she's been playing aging women since Bosom Buddies in the 1980's. You'd never know it. She still looks great.
I am very relieved that Kelley (so far at least) does not seem to be all about showing off flashy writers' tricks to beg the audience to love him. It's the first episode, and the first episode of The Practice was grounded too. But it wasn't as grounded as this (although people will still swear by that Pilot). But it was still the typical David E Kelley lawyer nonsense. If we are very lucky we will not see a single scene in court on this show. And the show will be better for it.
Brendan Gleeson as Bill Hodges reminds me strongly of Donal Logue as Harvey Bullock in Gotham. It's actually kind of eerie.
A surprisingly promising opener. I was expecting to absolutely hate it. ****.
Mr. Mercedes "On Your Mark"
I love Lou. Way better than her version in the book. She is SO funny. She survived the book and I hope she does the show. She's easily my favorite character.
It's interesting they've made Hodges Irish. That's actually a change I'm supportive of. This way Brendan Gleesan can just give the realest performance he can without worrying about doing a fake American accent on top of it. Hodge's heritage in the book is not mentioned or relevant. It's totally fine to change it for the show.
Gleesan did a very good job of portraying an on-screen breakdown. Excellent performance there.
Bill asking the security guard for credentials was one of the coolest scenes in the book, and it's a way he got the guard to respect him and do him a favor. I am very glad to see it included on the TV show. It's not an essential scene by any means, but it is a very good demonstration of how Hodges operates and why he is relatively effective.
I'm surprised at both how much I like the show, but how accessible it is compared to Kelley's other nonsense. I am happy because it's telling a good Stephen King story and it's not in my face with self-referential stuff and insufferable meta dialogue. I'm as shocked as anyone how easy this show is to like. ****.
Mr. Mercedes "Cloudy, With A Chance Of Mayhem"
Hodges is a lot more ornery and angrier here than in the book. In the book he's utterly broken. For some reason I think because he's a fighter here I feel less sorry for him. Which I'm not 100% convinced is the right move for this specific character. We'll see.
Jerome's father doesn't mess around. You know what? He's right.
I dispute the idea that Brady is old enough to have seen Willy Whistle on TV as a kid. That was MY childhood, not his.
I don't feel Hodges email taunts here are as effective as in the book. Why? Because they were full of explanations, which is the actual thing Brady would relish. In the book, the emails are brief, dismissal, and tantalizing lacking in clues as to why Hodges believes he's a fake. Hodges offering proof of a wrong theory seems less outrageous to me than dismissing Brady out of hand as a crank without explanation. Granted, this makes Brady furious here. But I think he had a LOT better reason to be mad in the book.
For the record, his mom may be hot now. She's still super gross.
Solid. ***1/2.
Mr. Mercedes "Gods Who Fall"
In the book all of Brady's victims are purely innocent. Here, just based on the abuse Lou endures, this Ryan guy sort of deserves it. I mean, even the horrible boss seems a bit shocked by the leashed comment. But if you ask me he wasn't shocked enough.
Here's an irony: Ryan is a white supremacist and that's why the audience is permitted to hate him. But Brady is a loathsome, shockingly disgusting racist in the book. If this version of Brady has the same thoughts he doesn't say out-loud as the version from the book, it is very ironic this guy has raised his ire. They should be birds of a feather.
Also different in the book is that Hodge's daughter isn't in rehab or troubled at all. Also despite the fact that we don't meet her there they aren't actually estranged.
Pretty good episode. ***1/2.
Mr. Mercedes "The Suicide Hour"
Hodges is a LOT worse and more unlikable on the show than he was in the book. He never had a falling out with Janey in the book because he never pulled that stunt with the media on Olivia. He's also never treated Jerome as badly in the book as he treats him here.
I like that he correctly guessed that Brady has sex with his mother. And that's all it was. A wild guess. Which Brady was dumb enough to confirm. Sometimes I feel like Brady Hartsfield's claim to fame as a criminal mastermind is overstated.
Liked hearing the entire song "I Shall Not Be Moved" at the end.
I was a bit ambivalent about this episode. ***.
Mr. Mercedes "People In The Rain"
I am very impressed with this version of Holly Gibney, especially because HBO's The Outsider got her all wrong. It probably helps that Stephen King is an executive producer on this show (and his cameo as the dead cook was great). But The Outsider's Holly was a bit too sexual, aloof, and off-putting to strangers. I like the idea that Holly is lovable and the actual problem is that her mother doesn't understand that. Her entire problem is her mother. And The Outsider made Holly look especially weak and crazy when they never should have done that.
Holly is a bit younger here than in the books but that's okay. What's great is they brilliantly get across how and why she instantly idolizes Bill. I think the show does something better with their relationship than the book did. In their first meeting Bill is nice, but he doesn't actually like her. The show sort of says he does. And it always bothered me that Holly idolized Bill Hodges as the greatest guy ever when he didn't like her at first and only to grew to like her in time. That was the one thing about their relationship in the book I didn't like and the show fixed it.
Brady's boss has a far bigger role on the show, and Brady was never up for a promotion in the book. Likewise his mother never quits drinking or goes on this side-trip in the book. I sense the show may be stretching things a little bit.
Chaz is a pretty gross dude. He repels me completely.
That was pretty great. Brady may have the worst mom ever but it's not like he isn't also the worst son ever. ****1/2.
Mr. Mercedes "Willow Lake"
Robi's boss is a total monster until you realize he coordinated that spectacle with Robi to begin with, and suddenly you realize Robi is just as big an ahole as the guy who had Lou dragged away by security.
Brady's mother never suspected what he was in the book. It made for an interesting scene on the show.
One of the things the book does better is that Janey dying in the car bombing amounted to an accident there. Brady intended that to happen to Bill, and she got to the car at the last second. It made Bill taunting Brady that he missed him something that drove Brady crazy. He was actually surprised Bill was still alive. And one of the things I admired about Bill from the book is that he set aside his feelings of loss and grief to rub Brady's face in it so he'd make a mistake. I miss that aspect being in the show. It was one of the most interesting things about the book.
The ending was sad, but also inevitable. That's what made it work. We knew it was coming, but it still hurt. Which made this a good episode. ****.
Mr. Mercedes "From The Ashes"
Deborah's death was a LOT worse on the show. Brady came upon her body after the fact in the book, and here he witnesses her agony and chooses NOT to call 9/11.
Bill also didn't betray Holly in the book. I'm guessing that only happened here because the season was running a little long, and they needed an extra thing to fill the episode. It's actually out of character.
I love that Holly says she's 31 and a half years old.
Robi is showing his true colors more and more. He is a nothing character in the book who doesn't effect anything or matter in the least. This particular guy I want to see something bad happen to.
I love that Bill spends almost the entire main titles depressed in bed. I love the notion of the title sequence being a little different every episode.
Another good episode. ****.
Mr. Mercedes "Ice Cream, You Scream, We All Scream"
Holly had a couple of really great observations this episode. They weren't in the book but they were totally in character.
The first observation is that her taking religious comfort from the bulldog statue is exactly as valid as people who believe God is everywhere. The only difference is that a lot of people believe the second thing and only Holly believes the first. But they are equally irrational and Holly's belief is no more ridiculous than the traditional fundamentalist. I have a very different belief system from most people. And one of things I believe is that in society who is and isn't considered crazy is largely decided by what superstitions are in fashion. Almost all people believe crazy irrational things. We only separate and punish those whose irrational beliefs are markedly different than everyone else's irrational beliefs.
If you say God told you to run for President you enjoy two terms in the White House. You say God talked to you through your toaster you get locked up as a danger to yourself and others. But the first thing is exactly as crazy as the second. The only difference that is a large amount of people have wackily decided it isn't. But there is no rational basis for that decision and that all irrational belief boils down to. A popularity contest. Which Holly can SO relate to.
I personally believe many "irrational" things. But I feel no obligation to justify them to other people while society gives other supposedly sane people free passes for believing irrational things that are simply different and less unusual than mine.
The second interesting thing she said is that the dude who randomly tormented her in high school and ruined her life did it on the spur of the moment. And she's thought about this for years. But it was a defining moment of her life and it largely ruined her. But it didn't matter to him. It mattered so little that if he hadn't done it, absolutely nothing about his life would change. And that's the worst thing about random cruelty. It hurts and devastates the people it is directed against but it never bothers or changes the bully. And the bully's life would not be worse if they had chosen not to do that. It makes random cruelty feel especially pointless and it's cool Holly has figured this out for herself. Because she's had a lot of time to think about it. Speaking as a Aspie, we aren't necessarily incapable of reading human beings and their emotions. But I think that describes everyone on Earth. The difference for us Aspies is that we are unable to hide the fact that other people confuse us. All of you "normal" people out there are exactly as clueless about human nature as we are. You are just cooler at covering up what you don't know. And I think that's really the only difference, or the only one that matters.
I felt bad for Lou because Brady has done such a number on her. It angers me to hear a clearly good person defending a monsters like Brady as such. Considering I like her much more on the show than I did the book it hurts especially more. Hopefully if and when they adapt her return and uneasy alliance with Brady from End Of Watch they develop these mixed feelings more.
My favorite episode so far. *****.
Mr. Mercedes "Jibber-Jibber Chicken Dinner"
Reasonably satisfying finale that I note was NOT written by David E Kelley.
Good callback to have Holly use the brass bulldog to smash Brady's skull. The Happy Slapper from the book would have meant nothing to the reader.
So I guess this means Lou WON'T be working for Brady in a future season. If she does, she's nuts, and I don't like thinking that about this version.
The "shave your head and disguise yourself as a wheelchair guy" is a trope Stephen King has used before. Psychopathic cop Norman Daniels pulled the same scam in Rose Madder.
I really think Ida has been a welcome addition to the show. She is not in the books. Maybe she should have been.
Good stopping point this year. ****1/2.
Star Trek: Discovery "Far From Home"
I love Burnham's new hair. Awesome.
Jett Reno continues to be the best character on the show. Her stuff with Stamets was priceless.
And yay, Paul and Hugh are back together! Who says the future isn't bright?
That Zaru guy is literally the worst future human being we have ever seen in Star Trek. We have met some sociopaths set during our past, but this is the first absolute psycho we've seen for an "evolved" future human. And it's like Picard and friends essentially evolved into guys like him. I personally think Gene Roddenberry would be having conniptions. I personally don't object because sociopaths aren't something you can evolve away from or breed out of a species. I like that we've never seen a future human this bad before. But it's unrealistic we hadn't.
Once Georgiou shows up in the bar I was like "These guys are toast". What's amazing is that while her advising the flunky to shoot Zaru doesn't get anywhere, everyone's shocked she not only said the idea out loud, but that it sounds rational. It's at this point Zaru needs to shoot her so the issue isn't confused further. But I like that she noted the precise reason Zaru was gonna get his crew killed before anyone else. She's also a sociopath, but an insightful high-functioning one.
For the record, I'm disappointed they brought Georgiou into the future. The one good thing is it makes a Section 31 series unlikely, because she's a literal cannibal, and the worst choice for a series lead ever. But I don't want to have to see her every week on THIS show too. It's fun to watch her take down bad guys worse than her. But I hate her every second she's the worst person in the room. And that's usually.
Saru is quite a competent captain. Maybe somebody should note that somewhere.
I agree with Saru that Tilly makes a good first impression. She was in fact the only main character on the show I immediately liked in her first appearance. Everyone else I had to get used to (or they improved the character later on like Stamets).
SO looking forward to next week and everybody comparing notes. I want to get the lowdown what Burnham and the Federation have been up to. ****1/2.
Mr. Mercedes "Pilot"
I have to confess I was expecting the worst. David E Kelley is my least favorite television writer of all time. I hold Brannon Braga and Diane English in similarly low esteem, but I think Kelley is worse. But I will say this. This was not written like a typical David E Kelley show with obnoxious quirky characters the audience is supposed to hate while they charm the main character. Ida's stunt with the nude picture on the phone is actually treated as crazy and as off-putting as it actually is by Bill Hodges. Kelley's worst fault is making every bit of drama cutesy and cloying, and I think Brendan Gleesan's frustrated expressions mitigated that a LOT.
Brady's mother is too pretty here. I understand the needs of Hollywood to cast decent looking actors in all roles, but I specifically think Brady's mother being titanic and revolting is one of the biggest reason's Brady's attraction to her is so messed up. I'm not saying it's okay. I'm saying it's more understandable and relatable than it should be. Brady having dirty picture of his gigantic mother in the book is just crazy. They actually give Brady and his mother legit sexual chemistry, which I think makes the PRODUCERS crazy.
For the record, Holland Taylor still looks like a million bucks. I would have rejected her too under those circumstances because her behavior is outright vulgar. But it's not because she's unattractive. She's still got it. And she's been playing aging women since Bosom Buddies in the 1980's. You'd never know it. She still looks great.
I am very relieved that Kelley (so far at least) does not seem to be all about showing off flashy writers' tricks to beg the audience to love him. It's the first episode, and the first episode of The Practice was grounded too. But it wasn't as grounded as this (although people will still swear by that Pilot). But it was still the typical David E Kelley lawyer nonsense. If we are very lucky we will not see a single scene in court on this show. And the show will be better for it.
Brendan Gleeson as Bill Hodges reminds me strongly of Donal Logue as Harvey Bullock in Gotham. It's actually kind of eerie.
A surprisingly promising opener. I was expecting to absolutely hate it. ****.
Mr. Mercedes "On Your Mark"
I love Lou. Way better than her version in the book. She is SO funny. She survived the book and I hope she does the show. She's easily my favorite character.
It's interesting they've made Hodges Irish. That's actually a change I'm supportive of. This way Brendan Gleesan can just give the realest performance he can without worrying about doing a fake American accent on top of it. Hodge's heritage in the book is not mentioned or relevant. It's totally fine to change it for the show.
Gleesan did a very good job of portraying an on-screen breakdown. Excellent performance there.
Bill asking the security guard for credentials was one of the coolest scenes in the book, and it's a way he got the guard to respect him and do him a favor. I am very glad to see it included on the TV show. It's not an essential scene by any means, but it is a very good demonstration of how Hodges operates and why he is relatively effective.
I'm surprised at both how much I like the show, but how accessible it is compared to Kelley's other nonsense. I am happy because it's telling a good Stephen King story and it's not in my face with self-referential stuff and insufferable meta dialogue. I'm as shocked as anyone how easy this show is to like. ****.
Mr. Mercedes "Cloudy, With A Chance Of Mayhem"
Hodges is a lot more ornery and angrier here than in the book. In the book he's utterly broken. For some reason I think because he's a fighter here I feel less sorry for him. Which I'm not 100% convinced is the right move for this specific character. We'll see.
Jerome's father doesn't mess around. You know what? He's right.
I dispute the idea that Brady is old enough to have seen Willy Whistle on TV as a kid. That was MY childhood, not his.
I don't feel Hodges email taunts here are as effective as in the book. Why? Because they were full of explanations, which is the actual thing Brady would relish. In the book, the emails are brief, dismissal, and tantalizing lacking in clues as to why Hodges believes he's a fake. Hodges offering proof of a wrong theory seems less outrageous to me than dismissing Brady out of hand as a crank without explanation. Granted, this makes Brady furious here. But I think he had a LOT better reason to be mad in the book.
For the record, his mom may be hot now. She's still super gross.
Solid. ***1/2.
Mr. Mercedes "Gods Who Fall"
In the book all of Brady's victims are purely innocent. Here, just based on the abuse Lou endures, this Ryan guy sort of deserves it. I mean, even the horrible boss seems a bit shocked by the leashed comment. But if you ask me he wasn't shocked enough.
Here's an irony: Ryan is a white supremacist and that's why the audience is permitted to hate him. But Brady is a loathsome, shockingly disgusting racist in the book. If this version of Brady has the same thoughts he doesn't say out-loud as the version from the book, it is very ironic this guy has raised his ire. They should be birds of a feather.
Also different in the book is that Hodge's daughter isn't in rehab or troubled at all. Also despite the fact that we don't meet her there they aren't actually estranged.
Pretty good episode. ***1/2.
Mr. Mercedes "The Suicide Hour"
Hodges is a LOT worse and more unlikable on the show than he was in the book. He never had a falling out with Janey in the book because he never pulled that stunt with the media on Olivia. He's also never treated Jerome as badly in the book as he treats him here.
I like that he correctly guessed that Brady has sex with his mother. And that's all it was. A wild guess. Which Brady was dumb enough to confirm. Sometimes I feel like Brady Hartsfield's claim to fame as a criminal mastermind is overstated.
Liked hearing the entire song "I Shall Not Be Moved" at the end.
I was a bit ambivalent about this episode. ***.
Mr. Mercedes "People In The Rain"
I am very impressed with this version of Holly Gibney, especially because HBO's The Outsider got her all wrong. It probably helps that Stephen King is an executive producer on this show (and his cameo as the dead cook was great). But The Outsider's Holly was a bit too sexual, aloof, and off-putting to strangers. I like the idea that Holly is lovable and the actual problem is that her mother doesn't understand that. Her entire problem is her mother. And The Outsider made Holly look especially weak and crazy when they never should have done that.
Holly is a bit younger here than in the books but that's okay. What's great is they brilliantly get across how and why she instantly idolizes Bill. I think the show does something better with their relationship than the book did. In their first meeting Bill is nice, but he doesn't actually like her. The show sort of says he does. And it always bothered me that Holly idolized Bill Hodges as the greatest guy ever when he didn't like her at first and only to grew to like her in time. That was the one thing about their relationship in the book I didn't like and the show fixed it.
Brady's boss has a far bigger role on the show, and Brady was never up for a promotion in the book. Likewise his mother never quits drinking or goes on this side-trip in the book. I sense the show may be stretching things a little bit.
Chaz is a pretty gross dude. He repels me completely.
That was pretty great. Brady may have the worst mom ever but it's not like he isn't also the worst son ever. ****1/2.
Mr. Mercedes "Willow Lake"
Robi's boss is a total monster until you realize he coordinated that spectacle with Robi to begin with, and suddenly you realize Robi is just as big an ahole as the guy who had Lou dragged away by security.
Brady's mother never suspected what he was in the book. It made for an interesting scene on the show.
One of the things the book does better is that Janey dying in the car bombing amounted to an accident there. Brady intended that to happen to Bill, and she got to the car at the last second. It made Bill taunting Brady that he missed him something that drove Brady crazy. He was actually surprised Bill was still alive. And one of the things I admired about Bill from the book is that he set aside his feelings of loss and grief to rub Brady's face in it so he'd make a mistake. I miss that aspect being in the show. It was one of the most interesting things about the book.
The ending was sad, but also inevitable. That's what made it work. We knew it was coming, but it still hurt. Which made this a good episode. ****.
Mr. Mercedes "From The Ashes"
Deborah's death was a LOT worse on the show. Brady came upon her body after the fact in the book, and here he witnesses her agony and chooses NOT to call 9/11.
Bill also didn't betray Holly in the book. I'm guessing that only happened here because the season was running a little long, and they needed an extra thing to fill the episode. It's actually out of character.
I love that Holly says she's 31 and a half years old.
Robi is showing his true colors more and more. He is a nothing character in the book who doesn't effect anything or matter in the least. This particular guy I want to see something bad happen to.
I love that Bill spends almost the entire main titles depressed in bed. I love the notion of the title sequence being a little different every episode.
Another good episode. ****.
Mr. Mercedes "Ice Cream, You Scream, We All Scream"
Holly had a couple of really great observations this episode. They weren't in the book but they were totally in character.
The first observation is that her taking religious comfort from the bulldog statue is exactly as valid as people who believe God is everywhere. The only difference is that a lot of people believe the second thing and only Holly believes the first. But they are equally irrational and Holly's belief is no more ridiculous than the traditional fundamentalist. I have a very different belief system from most people. And one of things I believe is that in society who is and isn't considered crazy is largely decided by what superstitions are in fashion. Almost all people believe crazy irrational things. We only separate and punish those whose irrational beliefs are markedly different than everyone else's irrational beliefs.
If you say God told you to run for President you enjoy two terms in the White House. You say God talked to you through your toaster you get locked up as a danger to yourself and others. But the first thing is exactly as crazy as the second. The only difference that is a large amount of people have wackily decided it isn't. But there is no rational basis for that decision and that all irrational belief boils down to. A popularity contest. Which Holly can SO relate to.
I personally believe many "irrational" things. But I feel no obligation to justify them to other people while society gives other supposedly sane people free passes for believing irrational things that are simply different and less unusual than mine.
The second interesting thing she said is that the dude who randomly tormented her in high school and ruined her life did it on the spur of the moment. And she's thought about this for years. But it was a defining moment of her life and it largely ruined her. But it didn't matter to him. It mattered so little that if he hadn't done it, absolutely nothing about his life would change. And that's the worst thing about random cruelty. It hurts and devastates the people it is directed against but it never bothers or changes the bully. And the bully's life would not be worse if they had chosen not to do that. It makes random cruelty feel especially pointless and it's cool Holly has figured this out for herself. Because she's had a lot of time to think about it. Speaking as a Aspie, we aren't necessarily incapable of reading human beings and their emotions. But I think that describes everyone on Earth. The difference for us Aspies is that we are unable to hide the fact that other people confuse us. All of you "normal" people out there are exactly as clueless about human nature as we are. You are just cooler at covering up what you don't know. And I think that's really the only difference, or the only one that matters.
I felt bad for Lou because Brady has done such a number on her. It angers me to hear a clearly good person defending a monsters like Brady as such. Considering I like her much more on the show than I did the book it hurts especially more. Hopefully if and when they adapt her return and uneasy alliance with Brady from End Of Watch they develop these mixed feelings more.
My favorite episode so far. *****.
Mr. Mercedes "Jibber-Jibber Chicken Dinner"
Reasonably satisfying finale that I note was NOT written by David E Kelley.
Good callback to have Holly use the brass bulldog to smash Brady's skull. The Happy Slapper from the book would have meant nothing to the reader.
So I guess this means Lou WON'T be working for Brady in a future season. If she does, she's nuts, and I don't like thinking that about this version.
The "shave your head and disguise yourself as a wheelchair guy" is a trope Stephen King has used before. Psychopathic cop Norman Daniels pulled the same scam in Rose Madder.
I really think Ida has been a welcome addition to the show. She is not in the books. Maybe she should have been.
Good stopping point this year. ****1/2.
Star Trek: Discovery "Far From Home"
I love Burnham's new hair. Awesome.
Jett Reno continues to be the best character on the show. Her stuff with Stamets was priceless.
And yay, Paul and Hugh are back together! Who says the future isn't bright?
That Zaru guy is literally the worst future human being we have ever seen in Star Trek. We have met some sociopaths set during our past, but this is the first absolute psycho we've seen for an "evolved" future human. And it's like Picard and friends essentially evolved into guys like him. I personally think Gene Roddenberry would be having conniptions. I personally don't object because sociopaths aren't something you can evolve away from or breed out of a species. I like that we've never seen a future human this bad before. But it's unrealistic we hadn't.
Once Georgiou shows up in the bar I was like "These guys are toast". What's amazing is that while her advising the flunky to shoot Zaru doesn't get anywhere, everyone's shocked she not only said the idea out loud, but that it sounds rational. It's at this point Zaru needs to shoot her so the issue isn't confused further. But I like that she noted the precise reason Zaru was gonna get his crew killed before anyone else. She's also a sociopath, but an insightful high-functioning one.
For the record, I'm disappointed they brought Georgiou into the future. The one good thing is it makes a Section 31 series unlikely, because she's a literal cannibal, and the worst choice for a series lead ever. But I don't want to have to see her every week on THIS show too. It's fun to watch her take down bad guys worse than her. But I hate her every second she's the worst person in the room. And that's usually.
Saru is quite a competent captain. Maybe somebody should note that somewhere.
I agree with Saru that Tilly makes a good first impression. She was in fact the only main character on the show I immediately liked in her first appearance. Everyone else I had to get used to (or they improved the character later on like Stamets).
SO looking forward to next week and everybody comparing notes. I want to get the lowdown what Burnham and the Federation have been up to. ****1/2.
