Discovery 1x08 – "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum" [** SPOILERS **]

AMKC

Warning: This thread will contain spoilers for the episode "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum" . Spoiler tags will not be used, so if you don't want to be spoiled read no further.

hal9550

I thought it was decent tbh, but i think in reality its 'Part 1' of a 2 part mid season finale.. and even then it might be part 1 of a 3 or more part episode ark

It kept me gripped, for sure. And there were several things i genuinely didnt see coming.. The Signal at the end... The female klingon 'apparently' helping the Admiral

LORCA AS KLINGON: Disproved as he has the tribble on desk
ASH as KLINGON: In my mind this is not a runner now.. If he is klingon surely the doctor and medical staff who we see at the end examining him would have detected something.. the ONLY remaining possibility is that rather than 'surgical cosmetic alteration', VOQ has been totally turned into a human, genetically i mean.. i REALLY dont see this as a possibility

NEW TOPIC! Kol of house KOR! ???? he isnt Kors father but there may be a link?!!?

AMKC

Well it looks like the Klingons have got a new weapon thats a match for the Discovery. Why was that other Starfleet ship out there by itself? I think the Klingon bop,s in this look more like a Cylon ship from Battlestar Galactica than a real klingon ship. It will never be the classic that the Primetime line bop is.

hal9550

AMKC wrote: »

Well it looks like the Klingons have got a new weapon thats a match for the Discovery. Why was that other Starfleet ship out there by itself? I think the Klingon bop,s in this look more like a Cylon ship from Battlestar Galactica than a real klingon ship. It will never be the classic that the Primetime line bop is.

well until proof to the contrary, i am still taking discovery as prime universe.. THAT SAID, i would agree with you, i dont like the ships.. I have no issue with the star fleet vessels, but the klingon ships are poor.. but then perhaps these ships are older models, and perhaps we will see a move toward more traditional designed vessels

Spear

Well, exit the admiral stage left. I thought they'd get more milage out of her story-wise.

At least this episode made more of an effort to advance the overall arc, something that's been lacking later.

And since the next episode isn't a mirror universe one, it seems we need to wait until January for that, with the second chapter.

And I dislike the Klingon ship design. With the dark and muddy rendering of them, they're just indistinct shapes visually. The established designs were iconic and didn't need messing with.

smunchkins

I thought the admiral "being killed" might have been a trick they agreed upon.
Then the plan was to make off in the defecting Klingon's ship, but she was captured.
So maybe the admiral is sitting back at the Klingon morgue wondering what to do next?

AMKC

Well that was disappointing. I liked the start of it but did not like that planet Pahvo and its magic crystals and whatever they were. That was more like something out of Stargate than Star Trek.
I thought Voq done poorly. Surely she should have had suspicion that Kol might be watching and planned her and the admirals escape better.
We did learn a bit more about Saru and his race do so I suppose that was good.

If the Discovery was so worried about the transmitter on the planet sending signals to the Klingon,s they should have (A) destroyed it or (B) get out of there or (C) they have the advantage as the Klingon,s do not know they are there so spore drive out and then come back and attack the Klingon,s before they get a chance to attack them.

Spear

smunchkins wrote: »

I thought the admiral "being killed" might have been a trick they agreed upon.
Then the plan was to make off in the defecting Klingon's ship, but she was captured.
So maybe the admiral is sitting back at the Klingon morgue wondering what to do next?

I could see that happening. It'd be consistent with L'Rell's background. And more practical then the two of them fighting their way out. Plus L'Rell commented about how well she knew the ship, and thus wanted an audience for it, which she got.

It'd be more consistent writing then Ash is Voq at least.

FutureGuy

AMKC wrote: »

Well it looks like the Klingons have got a new weapon thats a match for the Discovery. Why was that other Starfleet ship out there by itself? I think the Klingon bop,s in this look more like a Cylon ship from Battlestar Galactica than a real klingon ship. It will never be the classic that the Primetime line bop is.

We don't know what Klingon ships look like 10 years before Kirk. What we do know is that Kol's ship looks very like a Klingon ship and that, right now, Kol looks to be leading the empire. Yes, the D7 was namechecked and looks nothing like what we know the D7 is like, but that does not mean another D7 will be created in Kol's ideals.

Who is to say that, under Kol, we will see a move back towards what we know to be Klingon vessels. I full believe that this will be the case.

Also, it was explained very clearly in the episode that the single ship you refer to (USS Gargarin) was with two other ships before they were destroyed.

FutureGuy

AMKC wrote: »

Well that was disappointing. I liked the start of it but did not like that planet Pahvo and its magic crystals and whatever they were. That was more like something out of Stargate than Star Trek.
I thought Voq done poorly. Surely she should have had suspicion that Kol might be watching and planned her and the admirals escape better.
We did learn a bit more about Saru and his race do so I suppose that was good.

If the Discovery was so worried about the transmitter on the planet sending signals to the Klingon,s they should have (A) destroyed it or (B) get out of there or (C) they have the advantage as the Klingon,s do not know they are there so spore drive out and then come back and attack the Klingon,s before they get a chance to attack them.

I really am not sure what to say regarding it being more like Stargate? I thought it was perfectly Star Trek

As for Voq, I presume you mean L'Rell? I'm sure she was suspicious, but she cannot control whether a guard is going to come across them or not.

As for the planet, how on earth could they have thought that the planet and it's lifeform would have contacted the Klingons? It's like deciding to not go outdoors in case a deck nosedived you and killed you. You cannot predict something like that would happen.

hal9550

The theory we have on the mirror universe being accessed via the spores, is starting to look likely.. Seems when he uses it there is some sort of bridging going on, which we could assume is to the mirrorverse.. he is disoriented a great deal

However i became very worried:eek: when Stamets looked at Tilly and thought she was the Captain:eek::eek::eek::eek:



Im never one to say 'if they do this and this, im quitting the show'

but if TILLY IS CAPTAIN OF THE ISS DISCOVERY IM QUITTING THE SHOW!!!:eek::mad::eek::pac::P

pah

hal9550 wrote: »

The theory we have on the mirror universe being accessed via the spores, is starting to look likely.. Seems when he uses it there is some sort of bridging going on, which we could assume is to the mirrorverse.. he is disoriented a great deal

However i became very worried:eek: when Stamets looked at Tilly and thought she was the Captain:eek::eek::eek::eek:



Im never one to say 'if they do this and this, im quitting the show'

but if TILLY IS CAPTAIN OF THE ISS DISCOVERY IM QUITTING THE SHOW!!!:eek::mad::eek::pac::P

I would think it's more likely she is a captain in the future and Stamens has somehow seen this

hal9550

pah wrote: »

I would think it's more likely she is a captain in the future and Stamens has somehow seen this

Oh thats much better:eek::mad::o:p

Zillah

Typical. Discovery starts getting pretty good on the last episode of the season and leaves me with a cliff hanger (edit: false alarm, there is a ninth episode, I got confused). Pahvans were good, opening fight was the best we've seen so far; Saru's freak out was fun. His danger sense confirmed as being pretty much just plot magic.

My only significant gripe is that I really have no idea what happened with the Klingons. Her plan was to take the Admiral to her own ship by just walking openly down the corridors? And of course they ran into other Klingons - why did she think they wouldn't? And what was their fight about? At first I assumed they decided to improvise after they got caught, but it seems like she is dead. Who were all the dead Klingons in that room? Was that her ship? Why were they dead? Had she actually decided to be loyal to Kor? Why did Kor go through with the whole farce if he thought she was pretending?

Total mess.

Zillah

Spear wrote: »

And I dislike the Klingon ship design. With the dark and muddy rendering of them, they're just indistinct shapes visually. The established designs were iconic and didn't need messing with.

Yeah I have no idea why anyone ever went with this recent trend of CGI being so choppy and gritty that you can hardly see a bloody thing. It was dramatic, but so hard to see.

Give me good old fashioned Trek battles any day:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtYHGqFS18E

Doodah7

We have no evidence that the Admiral is dead? L’Rell at the end said that she escaped? The reason L’Rell went back is to avenge her former crew mates who were piled up in her ship which was clearly a surpise to her.

hal9550

Zillah wrote: »

Yeah I have no idea why anyone ever went with this recent trend of CGI being so choppy and gritty that you can hardly see a bloody thing. It was dramatic, but so hard to see.

Give me good old fashioned Trek battles any day:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtYHGqFS18E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPzJSBHG4pI

Off topic but by far my fav star trek battle

flaneur

She's clearly Janeway's great great great grandmother.

AMKC

Zillah wrote: »

Typical. Discovery starts getting pretty good on the last episode of the season and leaves me with a cliff hanger (edit: false alarm, there is a ninth episode, I got confused). Pahvans were good, opening fight was the best we've seen so far; Saru's freak out was fun. His danger sense confirmed as being pretty much just plot magic.

My only significant gripe is that I really have no idea what happened with the Klingons. Her plan was to take the Admiral to her own ship by just walking openly down the corridors? And of course they ran into other Klingons - why did she think they wouldn't? And what was their fight about? At first I assumed they decided to improvise after they got caught, but it seems like she is dead. Who were all the dead Klingons in that room? Was that her ship? Why were they dead? Had she actually decided to be loyal to Kor? Why did Kor go through with the whole farce if he thought she was pretending?

Total mess.

My only significant gripe is that I really have no idea what happened with the Klingons. Her plan was to take the Admiral to her own ship by just walking openly down the corridors? And of course they ran into other Klingons - why did she think they wouldn't?
Exactly.

At first I assumed they decided to improvise after they got caught, but it seems like she is dead.
Maybe or maybe not we will just have to wait and see.

Was that her ship? Who were all the dead Klingons in that room? Why were they dead?
I don,t know about the ship but all the other but I think all the dead Klingons in the room were the leaders of the other houses and that Kor has killed them so he can control there houses.
Had she actually decided to be loyal to Kor? Why did Kor go through with the whole farce if he thought she was pretending?
I would say she was just playing along hoping to fool him.
I found that strange too.
Maybe he went through with it because he wanted to wreck with her mind or maybe he as not sure either way and a bit conflicted as to what to do.

FutureGuy wrote: »

I really am not sure what to say regarding it being more like Stargate? I thought it was perfectly Star Trek

As for Voq, I presume you mean L'Rell? I'm sure she was suspicious, but she cannot control whether a guard is going to come across them or not.

As for the planet, how on earth could they have thought that the planet and it's lifeform would have contacted the Klingons? It's like deciding to not go outdoors in case a deck nosedived you and killed you. You cannot predict something like that would happen.

I was not saying they should have predicted it just that they should have stopped it the moment they detected it.

As for Voq, I presume you mean L'Rell? I'm sure she was suspicious, but she cannot control whether a guard is going to come across them or not.

Yes thats who I meant. No she should have had on idea there might be some and be ready for them.

pah wrote: »

I would think it's more likely she is a captain in the future and Stamens has somehow seen this

Or maybe she is captain in the mirror universe.

Doodah7 wrote: »

We have no evidence that the Admiral is dead? L’Rell at the end said that she escaped? The reason L’Rell went back is to avenge her former crew mates who were piled up in her ship which was clearly a surpise to her.

Were they not the leaders of the other houses? Actually after looking at the ending again they were her crew and Voq had them killed looks like.

pixelburp

Yeah who's honestly thinking the admiral is dead? It's one of the oldest tropes of TV and film: if there's no body, they ain't dead ( and with scifi, even that's not always true)

L'Rell is obviously in trouble but equally Voq thinks the admiral is dead; it seems set up to me as a nod that perhaps the admiral will rescue her. I don't believe though for one moment that she's dead.

Good episode though, and I see the show slowly taking a stronger, more robust shape as each episode passes. Characters shaping up nicely, and the exploration aspect felt distinctly accurate to Trek of old, albeit with a serialised twist. Gaseous lifeforms are common in the lore, equally so the crewmember going a bit doo-lally after contact with them.

As for Tilly, clearly a marmite figure, cos I bloody love her. She's exactly the sort of innocent enthusiast that something like the Federation would nurture. Stamets mistake at the start could mean something, but given Tilly has already stated a determination to be a captain, you could see the comment rattled her a tad.

The_Valeyard

Good episode.


I think the chief engineer is either travelling to the mirror universe or into the future (Season 2)


I enjoyed the planet alien thing. Was cool and old style Trek.

Admiral is not dead. All part of the plan.

Really not liking the Klingon ships. The raiders are like the attack gliders from Stargate and ships look like the Replicators fleet.

Goodshape

Pretty good! Solid episode. Another one that's a good Trek standalone episode with just enough of the story arc thrown in around it. Great to see them settling into that.

Felt the direction and/or editing were a bit sub par though. Particular the Klingon scenes towards the end felt disjointed.

And is that the same female Klingon that was with Voq, the albino, earlier in the season?

Mitch Connor

when the Discovery was in fight mode - trying to protect the other ships - why in the name of god were there people just strolling around the ship? So that when they got shot, as they inevitably would, they'd be bounced around the place? Why were they not at battle stations? Important questions like this need answering.

I think that Statmets is seeing the Mirror Universe, which is where Tilly is captain. Truthfully - we're only seeing one version of her. If you remember in other mirror universe episodes, we're seeing completely different versions of characters.

Where Kira Nerys is restrained, the Mirror Universe Kira is a sexual deviant, pretty much. And other similar examples.

This Tilly is kind of a nervous wreck, but the Mirror Universe Tilly could be the total opposite -- so there's a chance that she could be the captain too.

I loved the idea of using the planet as a sonar to detect the Klingon ships when they're cloaked.

Also there's no way that the Admiral is dead.

flazio

All this must be setting Stamets up for some catastrophe to his health. I mean they have to come up with some reason that spore drive engines weren't around to help Voyager home for example. Although, I now have this funny image in my head of how it could have turned DS9 into a planet of the week serial. Install a spore drive into the station, watch it spin around and around and relocate.

De Bhál

A bit of a confusing mess that whole episode.

Johnny Storm

IMHO the worst ep so far. The admiral being dead is a waste, and if she is not actually dead it just seems to be bad story telling. I'm beginning to wonder if the writers and directors of this show have any clue. The Klingons are a big drag....

ED E

With the initial prep plot, then the actual plot starting this whole season feels like one big aperitif. Shoulda pushed it out to a 12 parter IMO. TNG started with 26.

flaneur

Mitch Connor wrote: »

when the Discovery was in fight mode - trying to protect the other ships - why in the name of god were there people just strolling around the ship? So that when they got shot, as they inevitably would, they'd be bounced around the place? Why were they not at battle stations? Important questions like this need answering.

I guess for the same reason they don't have seat belts, delicate objects stacked up all over the place in the sick bay and so on. They don't even something to hold on to anywhere on the ship!

The inertial dampers take care of it Except for when they don't...

server down

flaneur wrote: »

I guess for the same reason they don't have seat belts, delicate objects stacked up all over the place in the sick bay and so on. They don't even something to hold on to anywhere on the ship!

The inertial dampers take care of it Except for when they don't...

Yeh. It’s absurd that they get thrown around at all considering the ship can accelerate without a problem.

Goodshape

ED E wrote: »

With the initial prep plot, then the actual plot starting this whole season feels like one big aperitif. Shoulda pushed it out to a 12 parter IMO. TNG started with 26.

This is a mid season break coming up. There's another six episodes of season one, released from January.

Evade

It was pretty meh, but it was mostly build up hopefully the payoff will be good. Is Voq still on the Shenzhou?

hal9550 wrote: »

NEW TOPIC! Kol of house KOR! ???? he isnt Kors father but there may be a link?!!?

The Klingon houses usually seem to be named for the current patriarch so there's a few options.

1. It's Kor from TOS' house and he's in charge.
2. It's Kor from TOS' grandfather, they have the same name and grandad Kor is leader of the house.
3. Klingonese is like Japanese so l and r are interchangeable and Kol is Kor.
4. STD is just namedropping and there's no real relation.

1&2 beg the question why Kor, either one, isn't on screen giving orders so 4 seems most likely.

FutureGuy wrote: »

Also, it was explained very clearly in the episode that the single ship you refer to (USS Gargarin) was with two other ships before they were destroyed.

The admiral said they were ambushed at the same time not that they were together.

Deleted User wrote: »

I loved the idea of using the planet as a sonar to detect the Klingon ships when they're cloaked.

Sonar... in space. If only there was a word for something basically similar to sonar but it uses electromagnetic radiation instead of sound.

silverharp

I cant be arsed following the klingons, my brain switches off when they are on screen. wasnt as good as last week 5/10

server down

server down wrote: »

Yeh. It’s absurd that they get thrown around at all considering the ship can accelerate without a problem.

Planned acceleration Vs external buffering

pixelburp

Goodshape wrote: »

This is a mid season break coming up. There's another six episodes of season one, released from January.

This baffles me so much; what's the point in CBS getting their own shiny streaming service, to only then keep the content beholden to the same US scheduling insanity as material on the 'normal' network. You'd think being on two online services it'd stream each week in one go :rolleyes:

BrookieD

watched last night, felt very old school trek on the planet and the crew member going a bit bonkers. story advanced enough for me so real interested is seeing where next week leaves us. Have to say I am really into this now... love it as a bit of original trek programming on a weekly basis. takes me back to Wednesday 6pm in early 90's ;-)

Mitch Connor

pixelburp wrote: »

This baffles me so much; what's the point in CBS getting their own shiny streaming service, to only then keep the content beholden to the same US scheduling insanity as material on the 'normal' network. You'd think being on two online services it'd stream each week in one go :rolleyes:

Could be down to production schedules, filming schedules, editing requirements or even funding plans.

pixelburp

pixelburp wrote: »

This baffles me so much; what's the point in CBS getting their own shiny streaming service, to only then keep the content beholden to the same US scheduling insanity as material on the 'normal' network. You'd think being on two online services it'd stream each week in one go :rolleyes:

Is it being released solely on CBS All Access (or whatever it's called?).

The more established networks just can't get to grips with the Netflix model of releasing episodes either all-in-one go or weekly, without break.

donspeekinglesh

pixelburp wrote: »

This baffles me so much; what's the point in CBS getting their own shiny streaming service, to only then keep the content beholden to the same US scheduling insanity as material on the 'normal' network. You'd think being on two online services it'd stream each week in one go :rolleyes:

Because they think online streaming is a silly fad that will fail, and everyone will going back to paying their bloated cable bill. So why bother doing anything different?

I think the admiral is still alive - she was clearly moving her head when on the ground in the Dead Klingon Storage Facility.

Johnny Storm

Evade wrote: »

Sonar... in space. If only there was a word for something basically similar to sonar but it uses electromagnetic radiation instead of sound.

+1 :pac:

Presumably the plan is to tow that planet around with them to anywhere that they encounter Klingons and it use it to penetrate their cloaks ........

server down

donspeekinglesh wrote: »

Because they think online streaming is a silly fad that will fail, and everyone will going back to paying their bloated cable bill. So why bother doing anything different?

I think the admiral is still alive - she was clearly moving her head when on the ground in the Dead Klingon Storage Facility.

Why is there even a debate, about that? The Klingon interrogator (can't be assed with Klingon names) said that she escaped.

(Actually that was all a bit confusing. It might be that the fight was planned, but it then looked to the other klingons like the Admiral was killed. So why not continue with that pretence?)

server down

server down wrote: »

Why is there even a debate, about that? The Klingon interrogator (can't be assed with Klingon names) said that she escaped.

(Actually that was all a bit confusing. It might be that the fight was planned, but it then looked to the other klingons like the Admiral was killed. So why not continue with that pretence?)

Or the escape was in relation to her "getting" the knife prior to the hall fight

cython

pixelburp wrote: »

This baffles me so much; what's the point in CBS getting their own shiny streaming service, to only then keep the content beholden to the same US scheduling insanity as material on the 'normal' network. You'd think being on two online services it'd stream each week in one go :rolleyes:

Deleted User wrote: »

Is it being released solely on CBS All Access (or whatever it's called?).

The more established networks just can't get to grips with the Netflix model of releasing episodes either all-in-one go or weekly, without break.

donspeekinglesh wrote: »

Because they think online streaming is a silly fad that will fail, and everyone will going back to paying their bloated cable bill. So why bother doing anything different?

I think the admiral is still alive - she was clearly moving her head when on the ground in the Dead Klingon Storage Facility.

Mitch Connor has it with the below, I'd say, albeit slightly indirectly:

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Could be down to production schedules, filming schedules, editing requirements or even funding plans.

Think about it, if this is a marquee/flagship show for the service for them as an original, by dropping it in one go they might get a glut of one month sign ups, few of whom may stick around beyond that (which may even be a free trial month). By drip feeding it, they retain any subscribers arising directly from the show for longer (simply to get access to the entire series), and may increase their overall attach rate for the service if said subscribers find more material in the existing catalogue while waiting between episodes.

There is next to no incentive for a whole season drop in one go in this situation, and every reason for them to drag it out.

cython

cython wrote: »

Mitch Connor has it with the below, I'd say, albeit slightly indirectly:


Think about it, if this is a marquee/flagship show for the service for them as an original, by dropping it in one go they might get a glut of one month sign ups, few of whom may stick around beyond that (which may even be a free trial month). By drip feeding it, they retain any subscribers arising directly from the show for longer (simply to get access to the entire series), and may increase their overall attach rate for the service if said subscribers find more material in the existing catalogue while waiting between episodes.

There is next to no incentive for a whole season drop in one go in this situation, and every reason for them to drag it out.

That's a pretty sh1tty excuse, in fairness. Netflix does the complete opposite and it doesn't seem to affect their viewership numbers any.

Goodshape

I have to imagine those Klingon scenes suffered from the decision to release an extra episode in this half of the season. They'd originally planned for 8 now, 7 later, but changed it to 9 now, 6 later.

Things felt so disjointed, I'd say they chopped and changed things last-minute, to make way for an additional episode.

flaneur

The Klingons have never been that interesting. They're really one-dimensional : honour, shouting, honour, beating people up, honour, weird looking sharp weapons, honour, fighting and a bit of violence.

Goodshape

flaneur wrote: »

The Klingons have never been that interesting. They're really one-dimensional : honour, shouting, honour, beating people up, honour, weird looking sharp weapons, honour, fighting and a bit of violence.

Ah, that's not true. Klingon's knew how to have a good time in-between battles. Laughing, swigging blood-wine, singing songs, bashing foreheads.

I've yet to see any of them crack a smile on Discovery though :-/

flaneur

No they're a bit of a dry cult-like organisation in Discovery.

cython

Deleted User wrote: »

That's a pretty sh1tty excuse, in fairness. Netflix does the complete opposite and it doesn't seem to affect their viewership numbers any.

I don't disagree about the sh1ttiness, and to be honest if it was Neflix only driving this show I'd expect to see an all in one drop, or at least dropping chunks of the season together, but they are at the point of having new releases of originals every few weeks when you consider all genres, meaning that there's always something on the horizon to keep your subscription for. CBS on the other hand have this, The Good Fight, and they had some Big Brother show last year. They simply don't have the same critical mass yet.

Netflix, as a comparison, started streaming 10 years ago and it took them 6 years from then to get to a point where they were producing originals and dropped House of Cards all in one go - by that point it was an expansion of the service/platform, not the equivalent of the killer app for it - Discovery is, IMHO, the latter for CBS. Perhaps in Ireland we take it for granted that Netflix do it that way, but a big part of that is probably that House of Cards came along basically a year after the launch here.

Anyway, I think we're both digressing far too much at this point

seamus

I enjoyed that, it's really starting to put some meat on bones.

So I too was quite confused about the Klingon storyline. It seemed to just jump around. But then I realised that I just hadn't been putting proper names to faces.

L'Rell was the one who convinced Kol to exile Voq onto the Shenzhou rather than execute him. Then she betrayed Kol and transported onto the Shenzhou to save Voq with a stolen ship.

This was the lie that Kol was talking about when he had her taken away. And the dead Klingons in the hold were L'Rell's former crewmates who had all sworn allegiance to Kol after he gave them food.

This is where it all gets interesting. After L'Rell saved Voq from the ruins of the Shenzhou, the next we see her she's the captain of the "prison ship" that picks up Lorca. Then we meet Ash Tyler who claims to have been on the ship since the Battle of the Binary Stars, which was seven months previous.

He's in good health because he's allegedly been "taken out of rotation". When Lorca remarks that "no-one survives seven months on a Klingon prison ship", Tyler tells him that it's because the Captain has taken a fancy to him.

But L'Rell was adrift in space for at least six of those seven months. So either Tyler got really lucky and L'Rell took command of the ship just in time to save him....or he's not being honest, and perhaps even the crazy theory is true. Perhaps even Mudd is in on the act and L'Rell was the Klingon buyer he had lined up.

Looking back at that prison episode though, it seems likely that Tyler is being honest, but he might be an unwitting plant by L'Rell, had his memories altered or something.

Zillah

The reference to the admiral escaping was definitely referring to her getting out of the interrogation room and needing to be chased down. They're clearly at least pretending she is dead.

flaneur wrote: »

I guess for the same reason they don't have seat belts, delicate objects stacked up all over the place in the sick bay and so on. They don't even something to hold on to anywhere on the ship!

The inertial dampers take care of it Except for when they don't...

Also why their panels don't have any fuses and just explode when there is a power surge.