S01.E06: Kobayashi

[AnimeMania]

As Gwyn struggles to find her role aboard the U.S.S. Protostar, Dal tests his leadership skills in the newly discovered holodeck.

Original Airdate: Thursday, January 6, 2022 on Paramount+

[dwmarch]

Well, I enjoyed that more than Disco's take on the no-win scenario.

Interesting to note that if you defeat the Kobayashi Maru scenario the holodeck will arbitrarily hand you a loss anyhow. Also interesting that you can pick crew members from outside of Starfleet (unless we want to reach into the novel-verse and say that Odo was given a Starfleet-equivalent rank when Bajor joined the Federation).

This probably isn't the show to explore it in but I also think that the Kobayashi Maru test should come in a variety of flavors rather than the very specific one we have seen over and over again.

So Murph can swallow crates of explosives with the only consequence being that they will fart a rainbow after. Wonder if we'll be seeing that again? 🙄 Well, it is still a kids show.

I wish I had some idea what was going on here timeline-wise. It's post-Voyager but not too far from the look of Chakotay. But who knows how long ago that might have been? The tech on this show looks a lot newer than what we saw around VOY's time.

[Starchild]

I would have preferred to see McCoy over Crusher in the sim.

Edited January 7, 2022 by Starchild

[starri]

2 hours ago, Starchild said:

I would have preferred to see McCoy over Crusher in the sim.

The archival audio could probably only take them so far.  Dee Kelley probably only said so much that could apply to the situation.  Gates sounded like she was having fun with it.

This was by far the show's best episode.  Not only because the bonding between Gwyn and Zero was nice, but because that's the most actual growth we've seen out of Dal--especially learning that he made the decision to go back for her.  I just hope it sticks.

[SnarkShark]

I truly don't know how to feel about this episode.

 

I hated they sent Dal down the same egotistical prick path once again.  But appreciated his own conclusion he was being selfish.

I hated the choppy audio of old voice clips used for Holo characters.  But appreciated seeing an attempt to use them.

I hated that they actually let him win the unwinnable scenario, and used a copout physical movement to force a last second reversal.   No counterpoint to this objection.

The other two plots were fine.  I don't mind the kiddie comedy plot with Murph and  Rok. This IS a kids show, and it wasn't badly done.

Gwyn's plot, both the past and present parts of it, were great.  I DO wonder though how the show will deal with justifying slavery of innocents, a lot of them, as an appropriate action for saving one's race.   

The actual plan probably is as simple as The Diviner assuming if he could reach the Federation, they'd assist him.  Since he likely knows little of the Federation, that means he is unaware they'd probably not be happy about slavery.  

This set of events does give us the dire possibility that Chakotay (and crew) are dead.  I'm getting the idea they used an experimental drive, wound up in that quadrant, communicated a peaceful offer to help a dying race, then suffered some unrelated catastrophy.  I'm dubious of the idea The Diviner himself is responsible, because as a sole representative left of his race (before his single offspring) I can't see what else The Protostar gives him besides the ability to go really fast or really far. Alone. So his motives have to align with going somewhere.  Taking it seems unlikely with other logical motives I can think of with saving his race other than getting help.  I may be missing something obvious here.

I'm also confused why Hologram Janeway was on that bridge.  It was clearly her and not Admiral Janeway.  It makes no sense her training Hologram would be deployed with a full crew around. 

Edited January 8, 2022 by SnarkShark

[AnimeMania]

4 hours ago, SnarkShark said:

This set of events does give us the dire possibility that Chakotay (and crew) are dead.  I'm getting the idea they used an experimental drive, wound up in that quadrant, communicated a peaceful offer to help a dying race, then suffered some unrelated catastrophy.  I'm dubious of the idea The Diviner himself is responsible, because as a sole representative left of his race (before his single offspring) I can't see what else The Protostar gives him besides the ability to go really fast or really far. Alone. So his motives have to align with going somewhere.  Taking it seems unlikely with other logical motives I can think of with saving his race other than getting help.  I may be missing something obvious here.

Is it possible that The Diviner's homeworld was threatened by some slowly advancing cataclysmic event and The Protostar agreed to take them to a new location in a different quadrant of the galaxy. A large percentage of The Diviner's kind was taken somewhere far away that can only be reached in a lifetime by The Protostar. The Diviner knows this, but The Protostar met with some kind of accident coming back to transfer more of The Diviner's people to that new location. 

Another possible scenario is The Diviner is a terrible ruler of the planet and his people want him gone, but for some reason they are not allowed to kill him, so they banish him instead using The Protostar to transport him to a new location in a different quadrant of the galaxy, somewhere so far away that the return trip to the planet can only be reached in a lifetime using The Protostar. During the journey, The Diviner escapes and causes the ship to be stuck inside of a planet. The only way The Diviner can return to his people to exact his revenge is if he can somehow pry the coordinates of his homeworld from the computer system that the crew of The Protostar wiped "completely" clean (there is always some residual data) and returned the Ship's computer to it's "Original Factory Settings", eagerly awaiting the boarding of it's new crew, with no memory of every having a previous crew or ever having traveled to any previous locations. Maybe The Diviner's people created and installed the advancements to the drive engines, which is why the factory reset "Janeway" doesn't know or understand anything about them.

Long story short, The Diviner isn't the last of his kind, there is an entire world filled with them and they will welcome Gywn with open arms, she just has to find them.

[DrBriCa]

5 hours ago, SnarkShark said:

I'm also confused why Hologram Janeway was on that bridge.  It was clearly her and not Admiral Janeway.  It makes no sense her training Hologram would be deployed with a full crew around. 

I found that odd, as well. I can't imagine a captain being that pleased with a holo-replica of their former commanding officer just appearing on the bridge any time. (It'd be the same as trying to imagine a holo-Picard alerting Riker to something on Titan.) Plus, a part of me can't help but wonder if Chakotay wouldn't be tempted by a Geordi/Leah Brahms scenario if he always had access to a holo Kathryn. 😉

10 hours ago, dwmarch said:

I wish I had some idea what was going on here timeline-wise. It's post-Voyager but not too far from the look of Chakotay. But who knows how long ago that might have been? The tech on this show looks a lot newer than what we saw around VOY's time.

Most sources I've read say the show is happening in 2383 (so about 3-4 years after Nemesis and only 1-2 ahead of Lower Decks). I definitely wonder if something caused the Protostar (likely developed in the future) to travel back in time, since I believe the flashback in this episode said that the Diviner created his progeny seventeen years earlier, which would also explain how Gwyn was raised with so much knowledge of languages and computer tech.

Edited January 8, 2022 by DrBriCa

[ottoDbusdriver]

12 hours ago, DrBriCa said:

Most sources I've read say the show is happening in 2383 (so about 3-4 years after Nemesis and only 1-2 ahead of Lower Decks). I definitely wonder if something caused the Protostar (likely developed in the future) to travel back in time, since I believe the flashback in this episode said that the Diviner created his progeny seventeen years earlier, which would also explain how Gwyn was raised with so much knowledge of languages and computer tech.

Here's what makes things even more confusing timeline-wise -- in the 17 years ago flashback, it is stated that "many failed before, years wasted, even if the Protostar is here".

That means that the Protostar has been trapped and waiting to be found for many years longer than even 17 years ago.  Sufficiently long enough time to build an almost mythical quality about it and what it can do.

Dal is still insufferable - makes this show tough to watch.

[SnarkShark]

22 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

Another possible scenario is The Diviner is a terrible ruler of the planet and his people want him gone, but for some reason they are not allowed to kill him, so they banish him instead using The Protostar to transport him to a new location in a different quadrant of the galaxy, somewhere so far away that the return trip to the planet can only be reached in a lifetime using The Protostar. During the journey, The Diviner escapes and causes the ship to be stuck inside of a planet. The only way The Diviner can return to his people to exact his revenge is if he can somehow pry the coordinates of his homeworld from the computer system that the crew of The Protostar wiped "completely" clean (there is always some residual data) and returned the Ship's computer to it's "Original Factory Settings", eagerly awaiting the boarding of it's new crew, with no memory of every having a previous crew or ever having traveled to any previous locations. Maybe The Diviner's people created and installed the advancements to the drive engines, which is why the factory reset "Janeway" doesn't know or understand anything about them.

Long story short, The Diviner isn't the last of his kind, there is an entire world filled with them and they will welcome Gywn with open arms, she just has to find them.

The problem with this scenario is we see The Diviner speak of saving his people when there's nobody around he'd need to lie to.  The only one present being a robot that clearly is already in his pocket.

[MissLucas]

8 hours ago, SnarkShark said:

The problem with this scenario is we see The Diviner speak of saving his people when there's nobody around he'd need to lie to.  The only one present being a robot that clearly is already in his pocket.

Is the robot really in his pocket? He had to beg to get the robot to agree with the procedure to produce a progeny. And there's also 'the Order' they both talked about - does it mean an order as in a command given (and who gave it?) or is the Order a group that issues commands?

I keep watching this show hoping for the writers to finally course-correct whatever they are doing with Dal - but no luck. Little prick even managed to crack the Kobayashi Maru test (he only failed due to a dirty holo-trick). Meanwhile Gwyn and Zero are both much more compelling and competent characters. Both together would make a perfect team to command the Protostar yet we are being told that a belligerent, stubborn, testosterone poisoned Dal is needed at the the top of the chain of command.

I also consider the bit about Dal being the one who decided to get back to save Gwyn as retconning. Dal had refused to save her when the others asked about her. Again, why are they allowing him to dictate such decisions? When Dal and the others arrived the Protostar we see Janeway asking 'Where's Gwyn?'. In the next scene we see Dal being lowered to get to Gwyn. To me that read as if Janeway had been the deciding voice to save Gwyn and not Dal. If he really had had a change of mind they should have shown us.

[akg]

On 1/7/2022 at 3:43 PM, dwmarch said:

This probably isn't the show to explore it in but I also think that the Kobayashi Maru test should come in a variety of flavors rather than the very specific one we have seen over and over again.

They could have at least introduced some variations into the one flavor. Dal being able to predict exactly what was going to happen when completely defeated the purpose of it being a test. Of course he was able to find a solution.

On 1/8/2022 at 3:16 PM, ottoDbusdriver said:

Dal is still insufferable - makes this show tough to watch.

 

On 1/9/2022 at 9:26 AM, MissLucas said:

Meanwhile Gwyn and Zero are both much more compelling and competent characters. Both together would make a perfect team to command the Protostar yet we are being told that a belligerent, stubborn, testosterone poisoned Dal is needed at the the top of the chain of command.

He needs to learn some humility or be thrown off the ship soon. I'd much rather watch Gwyn as captain. Just because tptb disguised the usual white boy stand in with a purple alien doesn't hide the sexism (and racism/species-ism when he's the most human of the crew).

 

[Wouter]

On 1/9/2022 at 3:26 PM, MissLucas said:

I also consider the bit about Dal being the one who decided to get back to save Gwyn as retconning. Dal had refused to save her when the others asked about her. Again, why are they allowing him to dictate such decisions? When Dal and the others arrived the Protostar we see Janeway asking 'Where's Gwyn?'. In the next scene we see Dal being lowered to get to Gwyn. To me that read as if Janeway had been the deciding voice to save Gwyn and not Dal. If he really had had a change of mind they should have shown us.

The relation between Gwyn and Dal is fascinating. Really liked how it was played out in this episode, with Dal pointedly not taking credit but Jankom giving it anyway, to Gwyn's obvious delight. What I think happened: holo-Janeway asked Dal "where's Gwyn?" and Dal then took it from there, without further encouragement needed from Janeway (who had earlier manipulated Gwyn off the ship by exagerating the danger of crashing, and not offering any help beyond responding to direct commands, because she didn't want to leave without everybody on board). From Jankom's perspective, it would have been entirely Dal's idea.

I don't see it as a retcon in the other sense either (Dal "suddenly" caring about Gwyn), due to something that struck me when I rewatched "Dreamcatcher". At the end of that episode, the group in the "runaway" buggy see the shuttle and Protostar crashing down. It's clear they realise Gwyn has broken out again and must have been on the shuttle. Dal drives to the shuttle crash site (rather than directly to the Protostar) and when they arrive, he jumps out and runs to the shuttle in a fashion that suggests he fears to find a dead or severely wounded Gwyn. Directly after he sees she is more or less OK, his anger at her comes out again and early in the next episode he is at his meanest again. But I don't think he ever wanted her to die (he would have asked Rok to carry her if need be I think, but at that time he would not admit that he cared one iota about her unless it was absolutely necessary for survival).

When they were still at Tars Lamora (before Rok activated the magic translator), Dal had almost nobody to talk to. His options seem to have been limited to Drednok and Gwyn (not entirely sure if anybody else speaks a language Dal would understand), and Gwyn obviously the more pleasant option. When Gwyn and The Diviner discuss Dal, she notes that "he talks a lot" and it is clear that she (usually) is happy to listen, though she doesn't think very highly of his intelligence. Especially the stories about the stars entice her, and Dal does seem to have a certain winning charm to him in this regard. Gwyn in turn was likely looking for affection among the captives, as she didn't get any from her own "family", and thus easily charmed.

In the scene of the interrogation of Dal regarding "fugitive zero", the signals we get from Gwyn and Dal are complex and sometimes seem contradictory. It demonstrates that the balance of power in the relation is not healthy, with Dal brought in handcuffed and under guard. As we see in later scenes also, Dal likes to play it cool in such situations to show that he is not intimidated (and Zero isn't there to point out he actually is), and puts his boots on the table to the annoyance of Gwyn. She gives him the Lychees, but she does not order the removal of his handcuffs so he can eat normally, which no doubt annoys him in turn. Over the entire conversation hangs the loyalty conflict within Gwyn, as she wants to please the Diviner but also spare Dal at the same time. I imagine Dal came out of this with a bit of resentment, being send off to deep mining with a threat hanging over his head. Yet, I suppose Gwyn feels she is trying to protect him from harm and she blames Zero for involving Dal in a rebellion against her father.

Gwyn is quite shocked when she cannot protect Dal from being sent to the surface, with the Diviner taking entirely Drednok's side. And she helps Drednok with the plan to let Dal escape so that he leads them to Zero. When she arrives at the Protostar, Dal reaches out to her and offers to take her along on the ride (it is of course possible he does this merely out of desperation, but I think he genuinely wants her to come with him). Her refusal (to go willingly) probably does not sit well with him, as he  - and even her dream of the stars - are dejected in favour of the Diviner. During the escape of the Protostar, there is again a sign that Gwyn does not want harm to come to Dal as the editing implies she somehow realises that Drednok is going to strike a fatal blow at Dal, as she cringes at that very moment (but he is obviously not aware of that). 

After the escape, Dal's demeanor towards Gwyn changes and the viewer is left to wonder if the "friendship" from his side was only there out of calculation and necessity. However, I think Dal is angry with Gwyn (whom he otherwise likes well enough) and pointedly wants to demonstrate his anger because of three reasons:

-her refusal to go with the escaping group when offered, and active resistance when taken by force indicating she chooses loyalty to the Diviner over him, even when she has the chance to chase her dream of going to see the stars

-her cooperation with Drednok in setting up a trap for Zero and him

-build-up anger over the uneven power balance, as he often seems to have been in detention and was demonstrated in the interrogation scene, which he couldn't express before since she is the daughter of the boss

Dal then apparently wants to show Gwyn how that made him feel by treating her like dirt in return. However, as self-appointed "captain" this was a very bad choice because this leads to an angry Gwyn being reinforced in her loyalty for the Divinier and not only plotting her escape, but eventually even choosing to take off with the Protostar and leaving everybody behind. Luckily, Janeway interferes. Dal really should have put his feelings on hold and negotiated some sort of terms with her to avoid that as well as the escape attempts that actually happened, instead of getting "even" with her for perceived or real mistreatment.

Once Gwin has finally made her choice, all this balast seems to have been jettisoned and the positive aspects of their relationship come to the fore again.

Incidentally, I think Gwyn could quite easily have escaped or taken control of the Protostar at any point in the episodes 2-3-4 before she actually did it - IF she had been willing to use her multitool/weapon in a configuration to actually kill rather than deflect or incapacitate, especially as really she only needs to take out Rok and the others can't stop her.

Edited August 29, 2022 by Wouter
Correction of a factual error