Away S01e03 |LINK|
Emma: Lu, there's no excuse for what happened to you out there, and it happened on my watch. But I can promise you this: you will never receive an unwanted look or word from the crew again. Look, I don't know what to say here, except I'm so sorry about Mei. I don't... I don't know the first thing about your relationship, and it's none of my business. But I do know what it feels like to be apart from the people you care about. How you live and die with every phone call. And if... suddenly, those calls were taken away... Lu, I can't even imagine. I didn't know Mei terribly well, but she was the best CAPCOM I ever worked with. And it may sound silly, but I was always so impressed with her English. She speaks it better than most Americans. You speak it well too.
Away s01e03
Lu did not have much wiggle room in her past, either -- she was a year or two away from going to Mars, and she was already in America, learning English for the voyage. It is simply illogical to ask her husband for a divorce when representing her family and all of China on this mission.
"I didn't want Alexis to go away," Miller said. "I was a huge proponent of Alexis from the beginning. She was the first person I thought of for that role, and I loved her for it. It was once again because you want that role to go to someone who really has the America's sweetheart feeling about them, because then it's even more kind of gut-wrenching, not that I need to make it more gut-wrenching."
"The way that they talk about it to [Emily], even in the episode is, 'We're saving you. You have an uncontrollable urge, and we're going to take that away. We're going to make your life so much easier,'" Miller said. "Which is a lot of the underpinning of why it's done traditionally to young girls. It's to take away an unbridled sexual desire, to keep them from being lascivious. Here she's a gay woman, they don't want her to be attracted to women, so they just kind of think, 'Oh, we're going to do her this favor. We're not going execute her. We're going to be nice.'"
And while we're only three episodes into the new Paramount Plus (opens in new tab) series (and making our way through lots of new backstories), there's no denying that this incarnation of "Star Trek" looks utterly gorgeous. The USS Enterprise has never looked better and the pseudo-retro style of the J.J. Abrams' 2009 movie has been seamlessly blended with both the vintage style of "The Original Series" and the new interpretation of that vintage style. Oh, and did you see those away mission jackets this week?! Mmmm.
In episode 3, entitled "Ghosts of Illyria," we join our super-slim Starfleet crew on an away mission to Hetemit IX and an abandoned colony of the Illyrians, a humanoid race considered outcasts by the Federation due to their use of genetic engineering. And one thing's for sure, William Shatner's stomach would never have survived these new Starfleet uniforms.
Unfortunately, the area is frequently bombarded with ion storms and a particularly bad one is fast approaching their position. In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it-moment, one unsuspecting red shirt takes a quick peek into what looks like a storage cupboard with lots of empty glass jars, beakers and flasks ... and the fate of the Enterprise crew is sealed. With the exception of Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and Mr Spock (Ethan Peck), the away team, led by Lt. Cmdr. Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) makes it back safely after some frantic power re-routing by Cmdr. Hemmer (Bruce Horak). Oh, and did you see those engineering graphics this week?! Mmmm.
Much like the whole Picard-is-now-an-android thing, if this is not handled properly, we could be left asking ourselves on every away mission that falls foul, why didn't Chin-Riley carry them, or hold the door, or support that pillar, or throw that car at them. Granted she's reluctant to reveal her true ancestry, but quite a few people witnessed her carrying the 180-pound-plus of Hemmer on her shoulder through the corridors of the Enterprise like he was a medium-sized, rolled Moroccan rug. We'll wager a hundred quatloos that there's an episode coming some time in our future where she reveals her strength in a dire emergency and is forced to trust someone to keep it quiet.
Vi hears undue commotion and tries to look out a small window. Marcus shouts for someone to stop, and a sudden splatter of blood obscures Vi's vision. Grayson and several other enforcers lie dead on the ground, killed by a shimmer-crazed Deckard. The monster disappears as quickly as it had arrived, leaving Marcus, Vander, and Benzo confused and on high alert. Finally, Silco reveals himself and Benzo steps forward to attack him, but Deckard emerges once again to kill Benzo with inhuman strength and speed. Marcus is stunned, shouting that "this wasn't the deal." Silco dismissively replies that the deal has changed and tosses Marcus a sack of coins. Deckard knocks Vander unconscious with a punch to the face and drags him away, following Silco, leaving both Marcus and Vi to stew in distress alone.
Jayce and Viktor are deep in study and arrive at a calculation that could stabilize the hex crystals. Jayce laments that they could test it if only they had access to his equipment, which is currently locked away in Heimerdinger's lab and is set to be destroyed the following day. Viktor brandishes Heimerdinger's keys, but Jayce fervently disapproves of stealing back his equipment, as he knows it would put both of them at risk of banishment from Piltover. Viktor provides encouragement, stating that "this hextech dream of yours" has the potential to make the world a better place. Inspired, Jayce corrects him: "our hextech dream."
The effects of shimmer wear off on Deckard, returning him to a normal yet nauseous state. Vander begins to wake up as a thug drags him across a catwalk overlooking a workshop where Silco's workers are forging metal weapons and mass-producing shimmer. Silco and Vander vehemently argue the merits of a violent revolution. Silco explains that violence is a crude but necessary tool to liberate Zaun, regarding Vander as a traitor the cause; Vander retorts that the sacrifices of war aren't worth the reward. The pair also reflect on Vander's betrayal of Silco, with Vander claiming that he's never forgiven himself for what he did. In the end, Silco's thug takes Vander to be locked away, but before he goes, Vander sees that Sevika is here under Silco's employ.
In the black of night, Viktor and Jayce arrive at Heimerdinger's lab. Viktor begins unlocking the door when a flashlight ignites on them, wielded by Mel, who seems impressed at the mens' "conviction." They scramble to convince Mel of hextech's potential while a security guard is heard approaching. Mel relents, telling them that they have one night to impress her or to expect exile. She then moves to engage the guard in conversation and steer him away from Heimerdinger's lab. Finally, Viktor unlocks the door.
Powder shovels multiple hex crystals into the body of the cymbal-banging monkey toy, while Deckard is beginning to make dents in the door. Claggor is slowly dismantling a weak wall with a metal pipe, and looses a single brick, giving him a tiny window outside. Powder winds up the monkey toy, reaches through a hole in the wall to set it in place. It walks toward Deckard, steadily clapping a crystal between its cymbals. Deckard notices the toy and pauses to examine it, befuddled. Mylo cracks the final lock to release Vander, and Claggor pushes away bricks until there's a human-sized hole in the wall.
Moments later, Powder appears, excitedly proclaiming that her monkey bomb finally worked. However, she sees Vander's body and Claggor's bloodstained goggles on the ground, and slowly realizes what happened. She begins crying, pleading that she only wanted to help. Vi is furious, reminding Powder that she told her to stay away. She hits Powder and after Powder asks and screams why she left her, she tells her she's a "jinx" and that Mylo was right. Powder merely unravels into tears and fragmented begging. Realizing that she's gone too far, Vi walks away to burn off her anger, Powder calling her name all the while, and collapses against a wall in exhaustion.
Believing Vi abandoned her, Powder goes into another mental breakdown, sobbing. Silco turns a corner and finds Powder. When Vi sees Silco standing over her sister, she attempts to rush back to her side, but Marcus catches her from behind. He holds a drugged cloth over her nose and mouth, lulling her unconscious and dragging her away as he assures her that Silco will kill her if he sees her.
As the servants discuss Rahima's punishment, Catherine appears on the kitchen steps to complain about breakfast being late. She warns them that Rahima is under her protection and whisks her away to choose a new dress to celebrate her victory. As they stroll the grounds, a man smiles approvingly at Rahima, and Catherine comments favorably on his interest. But she warns the girl against letting it go to her head. No one warned her of the hazards of love when she was young, and she wished they had.
Young Catherine sighs over Henri's letters, away at war for almost a year. His letters rhapsodize about the air and light of Italy and the honor of serving her, fighting for the lands owed him by her dowry. As she wanders the forest, she finds Ruggieri's lair, complete with a magical mirror. As they discuss if he fulfilled her last request, he says if she asks another, there will be a price to pay, and she doesn't get to choose. But the castle bells ring, which only means one thing: Henri's back! She runs to the palace to primp and meet him.
The King has also become fond of Catherine, realizing she's smarter than her husband and that it was her idea to ally with the Sultan to claim the Italian provinces. Diane might be the one to visit Filippa, admire the baby by an open window, and suggest a nice place in a convent after Filippa tells her Henri, tactless as ever, wants Diane to act as a grandmother. However, it's almost certainly the King's decision to send Filippa and the baby away, to Catherine's relief. 041b061a72