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Star Trek Discovery (DIS) Season 5

Season 1Season 2Season 3Season 4Season 5

Red DirectiveUnder the Twin MoonsJinaalFace the StrangeMirrors

 

Red Directive

Synopsis

"Red Directive"

Mr. Kovich requires the USS Discovery for a top secret "Red Directive". He only reveals that an 800-year old Romulan science vessel has been discovered in a debris field, and that an artifact stored aboard needs to be recovered by any means necessary. As an away team explores the derelict vessel, suddenly the two former couriers L'ak and Moll decloak and begin to fire. They encase Rhys and Owosekun in forcefields and then detonate a bomb, by which Burnham gets blown into space. As she is drifting through the debris, she sees a cloaked vessel and activates her magnetic boots to lock onto its hull before it goes to warp. Burnham uses her phaser to break into the propulsion system. Meanwhile, the USS Antares under Captain Rayner has caught up with them and locks a tractor beam on L'ak and Moll's ship. Without the tractor beam, they would escape, whereas if the warp field collapsed around the ship, it could destroy the Antares. Rayner finally stands down, but Burnham's sabotage was not enough. Moll and L'ak restart the engines and create 20 warp trails in different directions. In order to find the right trace, Burnham enlists Book's help. He suspects that they are going to the planet Q'mau, to meet with a dealer called Fred. On Q'mau, Moll and L'ak offer the Romulan artifact, an ancient puzzle, to Fred as expected. But they only need the android to open the device, which contains an old diary, upon which they kill him. Burnham, Book and Rayner find Fred's body and beam him up the the Discovery, in the hope of recovering his memory. L'ak and Moll escape with their ship, which was hidden underneath the planet's sand, pursued by Burnham, Book and Rayner on sandrunners. Against Burnham's objections, Rayner has the Antares destroy the entrance of their mountain retreat. L'ak and Moll are forced to turn around and fire torpedoes, which releases a sand avalanche that is about to obliterate the settlement. The two Federation ships descend and block the avalanche to save the city, upon which the couriers can escape. Meanwhile at the Academy, Tilly has encrypted an ancient message left behind by a Romulan named Dr. Vellek about something enormously powerful that is hidden somewhere. On the Discovery, Stamets and Culber recover a symbol from Fred's memory that he saw in the diary. Additionally, there is a mention of the "twin moons". Burnham suspects that this refers to a planet in the Vileen system. Dr. Kovich finally lets her in on the secret. Dr. Vellek was part of the Romulan crew that witnessed the message from the Progenitors in the 24th century. He somehow found their technology or clues about it. In the meantime, Saru has decided to accept an offer from President Rillak to become a Federation ambassador. He can be close to T'Rina this way. The two decide to marry.

Commentary

Discovery is back for its fifth and final season. And as much as things have changed for Michael Burnham and her crew, one thing always remains the same: her traditional space dive in a debris field, as in every single season opener so far!

The story of "Red Directive" chronologically begins at a Federation Day party and with a lot of exposition. The work on the spore drive has been discontinued. Stamets is an official "Science Luminary" with a perhaps intentionally corny holographic badge. Book has not been heard of for many months. Saru has an offer to become a Federation ambassador. The Tholian Republic and the Breen Imperium are considered threat forces. I don't think any of that is bland. Yet, someone decided to spice up the very beginning of the episode with a flashforward (like already in PIC: "The Star Gazer") to said space ride, only to jump back four hours again. This annoyed, rather than entertained me. It turned out to have no merit in the way of revealing something that makes more sense as the story catches up with the flashforward (which, for me, is the only cause that could justify such a disruptive storytelling device).

Aynway, a solid story unfolds for Burnham after she and her away team have boarded the Romulan ship on the search for something they are not told anything about and which they are to defend against an unknown enemy they are authorized to kill. I like that Burnham decides to keep phasers on stun nonetheless. Later in the episode, she cares for the dead android Fred and wonders if he has family that should be notified. This, and her insistence to learn what the "Red Directive" is all about (that her crew are supposed to risk their lives for), gives the otherwise action- and mystery-driven episode a human touch. On the downside, once again it doesn't have any consequences for her or for Tilly to hack into an encrypted database to acquire highly classified information.

Discovery has a long record of the ship's crew not following orders because they somehow can rely on Vance or Rillak to cover it up. In "Red Directive", it is additionally unjust that Rayner's reckless but legal actions on Q'mau will get him discharged in the next episode, whereas Tilly's (and indirectly Burnham's) criminal act of stealing top secret information gets handwaved. I understand that the intention is to establish Rayner as an even more daring character than Burnham and the probably only one in 32nd century Starfleet who holds a candle to her. Although it won't have any notable action for him, the next episode will push this idea even harder. Still, the story could have been told with more realism regarding actions and their consequences.

Actually, as I am writing the summary and rethinking the course of the plot, it occurs to me that Tilly decrypts the Romulan message at about the same time as Culber and Stamets read out Fred's memory. Fred reveals everything that Tilly finds out about the "twin moons" and more, such as the shape of the puzzle from the diary. Tilly's contribution to the solution is practically non-existent. If it was just about showing the garbled message from the Romulan, that's something Kovich may have done anyway to let in Burnham on the secret.

The plot is initially all about action but increasingly about the mystery. There isn't so much new about the concept, remembering that it was the defining theme of all previous Discovery seasons and of all of Picard as well. The Romulan connection with the literal mystery box (the tan zhekran) initially even appears like a carbon copy of what happened in Picard's first season. But rather than a reissue, it turns out to be a sequel to an already known mystery story, and one from classic Trek no less. I noticed the similarities to TNG: "The Chase" while I was watching and made an according note after pausing for the supper break (slightly rephrased and extended because my raw notes suck): "So far the story is decent - aside from the usual problem of a TV/movie treasure hunt that no one knows what's to gain and still everyone does everything to get hold of it - much like already in TNG: 'The Chase'. In the classic episode the outcome was a reward for a bumpy plot, and I feel this too could go into the same direction." I had no idea the story was more than only inspired by "The Chase". Just before the whole truth was revealed, I wrote down another note (I paused a lot this time it seems): "So there is a technology from ancient times that has been a well-kept secret for centuries? Sounds like Illuminati and the likes..." The connection to what happened in "The Chase" makes this a bit more acceptable because at least it is not yet another unrelated galactic secret.

Anyway, for a second time after "Unification III" with its reference to Spock's stay on Romulus, Discovery forges strong ties with classic Trek, this time with the direct mention of TNG events and a picture of Jean-Luc Picard. The series thereby strives to make up for the huge errors of ignoring canon in its first two seasons and somehow attempts to appear as more relevant. Irrespective of how the story about the technology of the Progenitors turns out, I like this development, although I don't think it can retroactively repair what was wrong with the series when it was in self-imposed isolation.

"Red Directive" is a very enjoyable story with a good amount of action, decent character interaction without misplaced emotional moments and a strong new character (Rayner) that many will relate to. It comes with yet another big mystery (which at least has a surprising connection to classic Trek), with small annoyances (the flashforward) and with some story elements that simply don't work (everything that involves Tilly).

Annotations

Rating: 7

 

Under the Twin Moons

Synopsis

"Under the Twin Moons"

Stardate 866274.3: As the Discovery is being cleaned from the sand, Burnham and Rayner are debriefed by President Rillak. This doesn't go well for Rayner, who clashes with Rillak over his actions on Q'mau. The Discovery then departs for Lyrek, the planet in the Vileen system with the twin moons. This planet used to be a burial ground of the ancient Promellians. Burnham and Saru hope to find a message from Dr. Vellek at a structure, which the Promellians protected by a still operational EM field. As they approach the place, drones begin to attack them. Adira and Tilly try in vain to find out what powers the devices, until Rayner hacks into their communication and gives them the hint that they should search for something the ancient Promellians already possessed. While Saru is distracting the drones, Burnham manages to blow up the power source, upon which they are free to proceed and find the message. Phaser scorches in a stone pillar, however, reveal that L'ak and Moll beat them to it. It is still possible to decipher the four first verses of a Romulan poem though, which seems to indicate there is a further message on Betazed. Burnham and Saru have little time left as the drones begin to reactivate. But they find a "backdoor" underneath the pillar with the remainder about "where two souls entwine, joined as one" that points to Trill. There is also an artifact, whose shape matches with the drawing from Vellek's diary - apparently the first one of five parts of a puzzle. On the Discovery, Book uses an untraceable transmitter to talk to Moll and L'ak. He realizes that he has seen Moll before - she is Malinne, the daughter of his mentor Cleveland Booker IV. As Saru has left the ship, Burnham finds a new first officer in Rayner. He was forced to resign but his reinstatement was approved of by Admiral Vance.

Commentary

With the exception of Burnham and Saru's fight against the Promellian drones, "Under the Twin Moons" is a much calmer episode than the adrenaline-filled "Red Directive". I appreciate that the pace slows down. The time for character interaction is mostly used well. I especially like the way that Burnham and Saru take on their prospectively last common mission and reflect on the past while walking through the woods, although Saru says something odd that he probably didn't mean this way and that I comment on in the annotations.

It was foreshadowed in the previous episode, and now Rayner faces the wrath of his superiors. As it happens off-screen, we can't tell whether he was forced to resign only because of his allegedly reckless actions on Q'mau or whether there was something else on his record that leads up to the end of his career. We also don't know how much his confrontation with Rillak contributed to the decision. In any case, as I already mentioned, it leaves a bad taste. He gets penalized for something he didn't actually do, whereas Burnham and Tilly did do something wrong but are protected from prosecution as usual. This all serves to "prepare" Rayner to become Burnham's new XO (no one would have seriously expected Owo or Detmer in that capacity!), but it could have been done in a more plausible fashion.

"Red Directive" gratuitously involved Tilly, who needed an excuse to take a break from the Academy routine. What she found out after cracking that file was redundant. This feigned usefulness of her character continues in "Under the Twin Moons". She and Adira desperately try to find information on Promellian power sources that is ostensibly relevant but actually doesn't help Burnham and Saru against the drones on the planet. Then even Rayner chimes in and hacks their comm channel, apparently because someone felt the new character with the potential to become a fan favorite would otherwise have been too passive in this episode. If this were all half-way realistic, his interference would make them still more nervous. Anyway, the advice he gives Adira and Tilly about searching for technology the Promellians could have possessed is correct, but eventually doesn't help in any way either. Saru and Burnham have run out of options, and blowing up the launch base of the drones is about the only thing that is still left - with or without the tips from the jerks on the ship and on hacked subspace channels. This all is a textbook example of how not to write a race against time. If you do it right, you either involve everyone in a useful capacity, or you focus on those in danger and let them follow their instincts.

There is yet another plausibility problem pertaining to Rayner. When he talks to Burnham about the old days, Vance speaks of the many firefights he and Rayner were involved in. Rayner later insinuates that the reformed Starfleet wouldn't need unconventional officers or warriors like him any longer. This is not necessarily inconsistent, yet it makes me wonder if I got it all wrong in the third season. It was my clear impression that the post-Burn and pre-Burnham 32nd century Starfleet was seclusive. The ships were hiding behind the shield around Federation Headquarters most of the time. They would avoid battles and risky rescue missions. They had effectively stopped exploring - also because of the dilithium shortage, of course. The whole organization definitely was rather more than less politically correct than after Burnham turned it on its head. Is it just me, or are both Vance and Rayner telling a completely different story?

Bonnie and Clyde only appear in the communication with Book this time. It is not yet clear what kind of a role they will have for the rest of the season. My impression is that they won't remain the main antagonists. Although Moll and L'ak kill in cold blood if necessary, it seems more likely that someone else, someone bigger, is pulling the strings. It is well possible that they will even switch sides, especially since Book knows Moll. (On the other hand, he seems to know everyone in the galaxy anyway, like Fred last week.)

"Under the Twin Moons" does not quite live up to "Red Directive". But this is not primarily because the lack of excitement but because of the awkward ways that characters get involved and changes are brought about. I like that the episode doesn't lose focus of the mission to find the old artifacts. And I really dig Rayner, although the character is not written well in this episode.

Annotations

Rating: 5

 

Jinaal

Synopsis

"Jinaal"

After analyzing the artifact from Lyrek, Adira and Tilly find that the spots on it match with those of a Trill scientist named Jinaal Bix, who lived 800 years ago. As the Discovery arrives at Trill, Guardian Xi only permits the away team to beam down after Burnham has answered the question that the fourth stanza of the Romulan poem leads to Betazed. Kalzara, the current host of the Bix symbiont, and Hugh Culber undergo the zhian'tara in the Caves of Mak'ala, so Jinaal can lead Book and Burnham to the clue. Jinaal, Vellek and four other scientists found the Progenitors' technology but it was so overwhelmingly powerful that they decided the galaxy was not yet ready for it. In the meantime, Rayner gets acquainted with the crew of the Discovery on Burnham's orders, but he doesn't make friends among them with his callousness. After talking to Duvin, a Vulcan advisor, Saru is concerned that her engagement to an outworlder may endanger T'Rina's political career and Vulcan purists could gain influence. Saru suggests to postpone the announcement. Yet, T'Rina says she has nothing to hide and convinces him to proceed regardless. As Book, Burnham and Jinaal, in Culber's body, proceed to the stash, they are attacked by indigenous predators. Jinaal chooses to retreat. Book and Burnham keep trying and get trapped. They recognize that the creatures only try to protect their clutch and are free to leave after successfully communicating that they mean no harm. They return to Jinaal with the intention to try again later, but Jinaal says this was a test and hands them the next puzzle piece (which leads into Tzenkethi space). As Adira is still on Trill to say goodbye, Moll sneaks in and secretly attaches something to their uniform.

Commentary

I was pleasantly surprised about "Red Notice". I still thought the storyline about the Progenitor technology had potential when I watched "Under the Twin Moons" right after the season premiere. Unfortunately, as one week has gone by, things fall apart in "Jinaal".

This negative impression is in part because the story is more diversified this time and involves several other characters besides Burnham. What sounds like a good idea is not to the episode's benefit in my view.

Whether we like it or not, Michael Burnham is the one character that carries the whole storyline of the season. Not only does she have the most screen time and the most lines of dialogue. She is usually the one who recognizes the truth when everyone else does not see it and who takes action when everyone else falters. We can call her a Mary-Sue but Discovery would not be possible without her always being in the focus. Everyone else pales in comparison by default, and this is all the more noticeable in this particular episode where various other people are strongly involved too. Their plot threads are trite and their lines are clumsy. Well, we see a lot of Wilson Cruz with a strong performance in a key role, but he appears as Jinaal in Culber's body most of the time, leaving the regular character underdeveloped. At least, Culber gets involved, other than his husband Stamets, who still has no purpose in this season.

Rayner already had some decent action, then slipped into a conflict with his superiors that he lost and was given a second chance, all in the course of the first two episodes. His character got so well established in such a short time. The writers probably felt that he needed a setback and decided to let him appear as edgier and less likable this time. But the way how they push it, with Rayner out-Jellicoing and out-Shawing other callous Starfleet captains, is too much. At least, it gives some of the otherwise silent rest of the bridge crew 20 words of dialogue that he concedes to them. And in the tradition of the first two episodes, it provides this week's excuse for Tilly to be aboard the ship when she calls out Rayner's being a giant [sorry, 20 words limit exceeded]. I admit that bit was funny, but one punchline doesn't justify the plot. Neither does the voice-over at the end of the episode that once again emphasizes how important it is to connect (and how poor Rayner fails in this regard), like all through seasons 3 and 4. I almost missed this reminder in the first two episodes. No, just kidding!

Anyway, speaking of character interaction that feels off, we also have the not-so-glorious return of Jett Reno. When she tries to insinuate that not all may be well in Adira and Gray's relationship after being separated for six months, why does she have to speak in riddles to "space dad" Stamets (who reacts with his usual grimaces, which in this case are understandable)? The foreshadowed breakup itself is awkward too, but more relatably so and more like it could happen in real life. Although Adira and Gray come to that decision without having reasons and essentially because they talk one another into it, it is something that comes across as familiar (and that has something of the Abilene paradox). It just isn't interesting and probably will not have consequences (other than it may be undone towards the series finale).

I would also have hoped for a more engaging plot line (pun alert!) about Saru and T'Rina. I like these two a lot. But even though the Vulcan purists may be a thing and may play a role later in the season, the question of when to announce their engagement is even more trivial than Adira and Gray's breakup and further distracts from the main plot.

Coming back to Burnham, she is also an immensely valuable asset because she often speaks through the fourth wall and voices possible objections of the audience. Burnham does it at least twice in this episode. The first time is when she suggests to skip to the end of the level and get the clue right away, the second time is when she objects that Jinaal and company would have destroyed all evidence if they had no trust in people. I like Burnham as a "fans' advocate" that occasionally provides reason in a confounding story, even when it's merely lampshading. On the other hand, some time later we have to question Burnham's sanity because she seriously expects that the predators could recognize her phaser and would not attack once it is dereplicated (is that a word?).

The perhaps biggest disappointment about "Jinaal" is that everything that happens on Trill after the zhian'tara, on the search for the second puzzle piece, is essentially a carbon copy of the events on Lyrek where the first one was found. It was drones last week, now it's deadly predators that can shoot likewise. The only difference is that, for some reason, no one thinks about asking anyone on the ship for help. Anyway, the outcome that devils in the dark protect their eggs and can be appeased with a mind-meld is just as clichéd as the idea to blow up the central control unit to disable a decentralized system. On the top of that, in both cases there is a built-in deception, then a backdoor and now a red herring.

It doesn't have to be a bad thing that the storyline is formulaic and procrastinative by design. 800 years ago, some scientists decided the galaxy was not yet ready for an ancient technology. And so they created an adventure game that would test the players whether they are "worthy seekers", as Jinaal puts it (which sounds like an Indiana Jones reference, although I don't think it's one). With backdoors to test intelligence and with a red herring involving hatching monsters to test their moral standards. If this were a single episode like "The Chase", it could be a fun trip despite the many issues of logic and probability. And if the treasure hunt hadn't been done in similar ways in like six seasons since 2017, it would still have an air of originality.

It could all have been a little more captivating, had it been more about analyzing the clues and less about mindless action and passing character tests, a bit like it would have been in TNG (and was most notably in "The Chase"). But the arguably more interesting part about discovering how the spots on the artifact match with those of Jinaal is sidelined and condensed to like half a minute at the very beginning of the episode.

I am a bit sorry for this episode to draw my wrath because I did not recognize the weaknesses of the premise sooner, although they were already present in "Red Notice" and "Under the Twin Moons". But as the storyline turns out to be that of an average adventure game, with "Jinaal" being merely another level to be played by the book, interrupted by sitcom-like side plots, it comes as a disillusionment.

Annotations

Rating: 3

 

Face the Strange

Synopsis

"Face the Strange"

15 hours earlier, L'ak and Moll met with a trader to acquire an item, upon which they killed the man. Moll would later attach this device to Adira's uniform while on Trill. In the meantime the Discovery has arrived at the coordinates provided by Jinaal, but the crew doesn't find anything of note. While Burnham is talking to Rayner in her ready room, there are fluctuations aboard the ship, upon which they try in vain to beam to the bridge. The two suddenly find themselves in the past, during the Discovery's travel to the 32nd century through the wormhole. Then the phenomenon occurs again and takes them to the time when the ship was still under construction. The next leap leads to the battle against Control. Rayner concludes that Moll and L'ak use a Krenim-made chronophage, informally known as a "time bug" as a weapon against them. Left over from the Temporal Wars, it is designed to cycle the ship and crew through time. He and Burnham may be the only ones aboard aware of the phenomenon because they were in the transporter beam when the first leap happened. But Burnham thinks Stamets should know about it too because he lives outside space-time thanks to his tardigrade DNA. When they arrive in a future and everyone is dead after the Progenitor tech has fallen into the hands of the Breen, Zora recognizes a pattern that all destinations are located on a cone in space-time. At some point in the past, they meet with Stamets, but they run out of time. When they attempt to disable the time bug with a device that Stamets built according to Burnham's specifications after another leap to the future, it turns out that the bug possesses temporal shielding, inside which everything ages extremely fast. Back at a time when Michael Burnham just arrived on the ship as a prisoner, the three decide to go to maximum warp and then break the warp bubble to counteract the effects of the temporal shield. After getting into a fight with her past self, Burnham arrives on the bridge and convinces her crewmates that she really is Michael Burnham from the future. But past Burnham and Rhys enter engineering with their phasers drawn before Stamets and Rayner can destroy the bug. Rayner talks to them and finally gets them to lower their weapons. By disabling the bug, everything that happened in the past gets erased from the timeline. The Discovery is now in the present again. However, six hours have passed and Moll and L'ak are in the lead now...

Commentary

What was Paul doing while he was dead? Well, more about this question and a few other problems later.

I just love time travel episodes and I am willing to overlook a few logical flaws if it is entertaining or thought-provoking (or preferably both).

"Face the Strange" is reminiscent of VOY: "Shattered" as the idea of revisiting the ship at various other points in time is concerned. It also borrows heavily from DIS: "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad", both because of the involvement of Stamets as the only one who somehow lives outside of space-time and because of the way that the series provides a welcome break from heavily serialized storytelling. But these are just the most obvious similarities. Actually, "Face the Strange" references so many other time travel episodes in one way or another that it may be labeled as a "best of". The "temporal eddy" that Rayner mentions - first seen in TNG: "Time Squared". The Krenim and their temporal technology - known from VOY: "Before and After" and, of course, from "Year of Hell". The Temporal Wars - a recurring element of Star Trek Enterprise. Putting the hand into a zone where time passes at a different rate (and which accordingly hurts) - as seen in TNG: "Timescape". Motivating a crew member in the past by mentioning his passion for starships - yeah, just what Picard did in TNG: "All Good Things".

At one point, I even thought that Burnham and Rayner may have traveled to the very future of SHO: "Calypso", in which the ship, with Zora still operating, would be deserted likewise. I was waiting for the story to try to explain the events that led up to the Short Treks episode, and I think this is a deliberate red herring. The truth is revealed when Zora opens the blinds of the bridge window and shows the results of the Breen gaining control of the Progenitor technology, which does not comply with SHO: "Calypso".

I just love time travel episodes, and this one doesn't leave me disappointed, although or just because all of its elements are familiar.

Despite some set redecoration, "Face the Strange" is a bottle show. In the greater context of this season's story arc, it could be rated as a filler episode. It ends just as it begins and doesn't bring the crew of the Discovery any closer to finding the Progenitor tech. Who knows, perhaps it will even make it to some people's skip lists because of that. Still, it accomplishes a lot. Firstly and perhaps most importantly, it is entertaining like few other installments of the series, in the best tradition of standalone episodes (similarly as already "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad" in the deplorable first season but better written). Secondly, it is a good intermediate pay-off for a few things set up in the first three episodes, especially regarding the way that Burnham and later Rayner too earn the crew's trust.

I just love time travel episodes, and it is good that the story arc takes a break for standalone story.

Once again, Burnham is the driving force of the episode. It was a no-brainer that at some point she would run into her angry younger self and thereby into the demons of her past. I like what the story makes of it. Rayner contributes his share to the solution and makes up for his reluctance to "connect" with his new crew. Even though it is obtrusive how the series always capitalizes on "connections", it works for me this time. I only don't like how Burnham and Rayner and later Rayner and Stamets take time to discuss their feelings although time is pressing, which is a quirk Discovery simply cannot let go. Anyway, I am glad that Stamets finally gets some action, although it is something very obvious, something he was more or less destined to do. Even Jett Reno has a nice scene when Rayner runs into her at some time in the past.

One issue that shouldn't remain unmentioned is the way Burnham gets Airiam to believe her. It isn't reasonable and doesn't feel right that Airiam apparently knows which decision she would take in the case of an unlikely situation, and without being told anything about the circumstances. This awkward reappraisal/foreshadowing is just as pointless as Airiam's death in "Project Daedalus" was in the first place.

I just love time travel episodes, and I don't mind that this one is a bit "business as usual" and maybe "paint by numbers" as character stories are concerned.

Annotations

Rating: 7

 

Mirrors

Synopsis

"Mirrors"

Stardate 866282.9: After realigning the sensors, Tilly and Stamets find out that Moll and L'ak vanished in a wormhole that is a gate to interdimensional space. Burnham and Book take a shuttle into the anomaly where they run into the debris of their ship - and another vessel that is still fairly intact, the ISS Enterprise. They dock with the Terran ship and try to retrieve some data but the captain's log has been erased and all shuttles and escape pods are gone. The crew apparently used the ISS Enterprise to escape with their families from the desolate Mirror Universe, and the ship is stuck in the anomaly ever since. There are no records of what happened to them. Book and Burnham find L'ak and Moll in sickbay and manage to disable the emitters that they use to create holographic duplicates of themselves. As they are all pointing weapons at each other, Burnham offers to rescue the two couriers from interdimensional space. Book tries to gain the trust of Moll, whose father was his mentor. It turns out that L'ak is Breen, and that there is an erigah on him, a Breen blood bounty, because he fell in love with Moll, a "lesser being" according to his uncle. As they continue their fight, Burnham and L'ak get trapped behind a confinement field in sickbay. Book and Moll agree to a ceasefire, proceed to the bridge and try to deactivate the field. After all other attempts have failed, Moll causes a power surge. Burnham and L'ak are free now and resume their fight, in the course of which Burnham gets hold of the next piece of the Progenitor puzzle and L'ak is injured. The shuttle is lost, and the ISS Enterprise drifts toward the opening of the wormhole where it would be crushed. Burnham activates the tractor beam and uses it to send Rayner a message. Rayner, who understands the reference to a Kellerun poem, asks the crew for options to widen the aperture, upon which they come up with the solution to use photon torpedoes to enhance a matter-antimatter reaction at the periphery of the anomaly. This is successful, and the Discovery tractors the ISS Enterprise into normal space. L'ak and Moll, however, were prepared and escape with a warp pod. It turns out that the clue on the ISS Enterprise was placed there by a science officer from that ship, who went on living in the 24th century.

Commentary

When Michael Burnham decides to go on the shuttle mission herself and Rayner wants to have a word with her, it initially comes across as lamentation, a bit like last week when he had a problem with his captain making the rules. He reasons along the lines that Burnham is too important to go on dangerous away missions much like Riker would have done in his place, but it has an undertone of "It's not fair if you have all the fun." And just as he is about to get across that he not only cares a lot for the mission but also for his captain, Burnham changes the direction of their talk and brings up the subject of Rayner's difficulties to get accepted by the crew. Among the many debates of this kind that Discovery has almost every week and that often turn out pointless, this one stands out as surprisingly multifaceted.

It was foreshadowed last week and becomes obvious now: Hugh Culber has Hugh Culber problems again. As much as I like the good doctor as a person, he disappoints as a character as his development is more or less determined by the traumatic experience of the season. The trouble he had after his premature death in season 1 and unwarranted resurrection in season 2 still resonated with me. In season 4, Culber didn't seem to have any purpose after accomplishing the transfer of Gray's soul into a new body. And so the writers made up a reason for him to be sorrowful when he acts as Book's counselor and fails to prevent his patient from running amuck, a sentiment that came out of the blue and vanished just as quickly, without having any repercussions. We will still have to wait if and what kind of emotional trouble remains after carrying the mind of Jinaal and whether there will be more about it than Culber speaking about his intellectual and emotional journey in thoughtful but also banal words to Tilly.

The appearance of the ISS Enterprise in the anomaly was teased in the season trailer and through the repeated mentions of the Constitution class in dialogue. However, this fan service turns out to be rather disappointing. There is no reason in the story for this ship to be the ISS Enterprise except for the one one moment when Burnham sees Booker working at what would have been Spock's console on the USS Enterprise (in an attempt to contribute to the "family reunion" theme). And considering that all ships of one class are alike, it could have been any other Connie of the Terran fleet, if saving costs by using SNW sets was the principal goal. We get a lot of exposition about what happened in the Terran Empire and on the ship, but the back story is pure "Tell, don't show". Perhaps I should be glad that Ethan Peck doesn't appear as Mirror Spock with a goatee, which would have been corny (and which I'm afraid may still happen on SNW). Yet, I would have expected the Enterprise to be more than an interchangeable set. On the other hand, it is quite possible that the ship will reappear in some capacity.

Rather than the ISS Enterprise, the big reward in this episode is the revelation of L'ak's true identity (which too was foreshadowed, by multiple mentions of the Breen) and the flashback to the beginning of his and Moll's amour fou. I like the idea that the Breen don't need their facial masks to breathe or to cool down but rather as an enhancement that has become part of their identity. It is quite clear now that this and the erigah will continue to play a major role in the story arc. For the first time in Discovery, I am looking forward to further revelations about a rebooted species.

Although I anticipated that Moll may change her mind, I never expected Book to be successful with his first attempt to get through to her. It was obvious that he would fail and that after listening to him, she would run away with L'ak regardless. Yet, there could have been somewhat more about their interaction. They essentially just agree to disagree that Cleveland Booker was a shit dad to her but a great mentor to him. This is a realistic assessment but it is also rather trivial because no one is perfect and everyone disappoints a few people in their life. Also, this is about a person that we have never seen and hence more "Tell, don't show". Other than that, Booker makes it a big deal that Moll is about the only family that is left to him after losing Kwejian. In my view, this is a reasoning he makes up for himself to somehow find salvation. Sure, he lost his home planet and most of his friends and relatives, which is an unfathomable tragedy. But he never actually met Moll, and only because she is his mentor's daughter he feels a responsibility for her that I think he doesn't have. Book does have friends in Starfleet, and at this point it is possible that he may jeopardize this (again) in the course of the remaining episodes. If this suspicion is true, it would be like an unfortunate reissue of what he did last season, for similar reasons.

This episode is a mixed bag. It comes with loads of technobabble and plot clichés. The ISS Enterprise has no real significance in the story aside from being easy to create by adding stickers to SNW sets and being an opportunity for namedropping. The back story of L'ak and Moll works a lot better, and so much better that the powerful flashbacks outperform the action on the ISS Enterprise. On the Discovery, Rayner further learns to trust his crew (and vice versa), whereas everything about Culber remains dull. Overall, this is a bit below average (although I admit the average keeps rising).

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Rating: 4

 


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