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Star Trek Discovery (DIS) Season 4 Guest Reviews

Season 1Season 2Season 3Season 4Season 5

Kobayashi MaruAll Is PossibleThe ExamplesStormy Weather...But to ConnectAll InRubiconThe Galactic Barrier

 

Kobayashi Maru

Synopsis

"Kobayashi Maru"

Stardate not given: Synopsis in main DIS listing

Commentary

Taking up some months after the end of season three's climactic finale, this sees Burnham fully ensconsed as captain of the Discovery, on a mission to reunite the disparate worlds of the Federation and spread a little goodwill. The opening act sees Burnham and Book (there for his special empathic skills) visit the planet Alshain Four, where the native population are struggling for dilithium but are very hostile towards the Federation due to previous bad experiences pre- and post-Burn. It's a very fun, over-the-top and visually spectacular opening, ending with Burnham and crew making things good with the Alshain and gifting them some dilithium. "We're the Federation," says Captain B. "It's what we do."

Moving on to Starfleet HQ, where Starfleet Academy is re-opening for the first time in over a century, and the brand new Federation President is on-hand to speechify about the importance of it all. Twenty-one worlds have rejoined the Federation in the last five months, a new experimental Pathfinder Drive is being worked on, and missions of exploration are starting again. A new spacedock named Archer is commissioned, and to hammer home the symbolism, we get a refrain from Archer's Theme from Enterprise. It's all rather moving. There are little, subtle asides to other historic Trek series as well - mention of the new USS Voyager and a line about "what was left behind," plus a paraphrase of the classic "strange new worlds" opening, just to bring everything full circle.

It's rather more feelgood than the immediate crises the show has previously dropped us in. This doesn't last long, of course, and before the episode is done a new, unforeseen and unprecedented catastrophe is heading for the galaxy. Discovery is called out to help space station Deep Space Beta 6 when it's hit by a gravitational anomaly, and just so happens to be in the general vicinity of Kwejian, where Book is enjoying a space coming-of-age ceremony with his brother and nephew. Without going into massive spoilers for the whole episode, it's leads to a thrilling rescue mission at the space station, where Adira and now Lieutenant Tilly face a panicky and proprietory commander alongside a catastrophic collision with some Oort cloud debris. Burnham, none-too-happy to have the President along for the ride, takes matters into her own hands and goes on a breakneck, death-defying one-woman mission to fix the station from the outside. Meanwhile, similarly catastrophic gravitational effects begin around Kwejian.

I had thought that the icy debris heading for the station was evidence of the whole of Kwejian's system shifting across space due to the gravitational anomaly, but this doesn't seem to be the case. Nonetheless, planets were left dislocated and it's clear the galaxy is in for some serious trouble in the near future.

In a side-plot, Saru remains on Kaminar, doing his best to lead the Ba'ul-Kelpien alliance back into the wider galaxy while also looking after his young protege Su'Kal. There are some lovely moments here, with a genuinely touching scene in which Su'Kal reassures Saru that he now has new friends and family on Kaminar, even as some people still fear him, and that the Kelpien captain should return to Starfleet where he clearly belongs. Another little sideline is Adira's relationship with Gray, who's still hanging around as a ghost in want of a physical body. There's not much time spent on it, but it gets its moment so we know this storyline hasn't been forgotten. Stamets and Culber remain devoted space dads to Adira, who is struggling with being both the youngest crewmember on her first away mission, and having centuries of experience no one expects.

The main thread of the story, though, is Burnham's messiah complex, seemingly even worse than ever now she's captain. As the President points out, her inflexible commitment to ensuring everyone lives could one day mean that everyone dies, and her inability to delegate during major crises risks missions failing. In Burnham's defence, it did, as she says, work, and she can probably be forgiven for acting like the universe revolves around her when events so far in Discovery suggest it does. Martin-Green (now also listed as producer) gives a great performance, fun when she needs to be and stubbornly rigid otherwise. She has a great foil in David Ajala's Book, and their chemistry hasn't lessened in the time between seasons. More interesting though is her interplay with Chelah Horsdal as President Laira Rillak, who muscles her way onto the bridge and questions the captain's decisions at every turn. Clearly a charming and resourceful leader, Rillak is also canny enough to research the people she's dealing with, memorising key details she can use to get them on side.

It looks to me that the writers are trying to set Burnham up as a new Kirk. The opening is very much the sort of adventure we might see Kirk on, with Book providing the common sense of Bones while Burnham wings it on guts and charm and ends up with a precarious situation that eventually comes good. Watching here we were reminded very much of the Teenaxi at the beginning of Star Trek Beyond, physically very different but equally paranoid and aggressive aliens who went for Kirk the same way the Alshain went for Burnham. Her fractious relationship with the President also recalls any number of arrogant and officious VIPs that Kirk had to put up with on his bridge on TOS, questioning his sometimes impulsive command decisions.

The rest of the cast remain strong, with Mary Wiseman giving us a more assured Tilly, Blu del Barrio and Ian Alexander remain adorable and Oded Fehr is a solid presence as Admiral Vance. Perhaps the most impressive remain Doug Jones and Bill Irwin as Saru and Su'Kal, providing extraordinarily nuanced performances under layers of make-up. With some fascinatingly strange new worlds and some gripping action, this is an excellent season opener.

Annotations

Rating: 8 (Daniel Tessier)

 

All Is Possible

Synopsis

"All is Possible"

Stardate 865661.2: Synopsis in main DIS listing

Commentary

Catching up with my Disco reviews, watching now week-by-week on Pluto TV, which is both perfectly legal and charmingly retro. I haven't had to actually tune in at a particular time to watch Star Trek since 2005. We even had to stop watching something else to switch over, or we'd have missed it.

As such, it's nice that we have an episode with a solidly old-fashioned Trek feel to it in Disco week four. Tilly's story, while visually riffing heavily on 2009's Star Trek movie (and unsurprisingly, given the same visual artist, Neville Page, was involved) is a meat-and-potatoes story that harks right back to "The Galileo Seven" with Tilly as the Spock figure, testing out her command (and teaching) skills. Thinking on it, Tilly's path seems to be quite similar to Spock's, in that they're both heading from the command path into the training path. I could easily see a future series one day in which an older Tilly is captaining a training ship, pulled to the frontline suddenly like in "The Wrath of Khan".

Tilly's leaving the show is a bit of a surprise, not because it wasn't signposted, but because it's come so quickly. I fully expected this storyline to run through the season and culminate with her leaving at the end. While it's clear Tilly's new academy posting will keep her close at hand for guest appearances, it's also a big change to core line-up of the series. Since she arrived on the scene in season one, Tilly has been an essential part of the show and of Burnham's life.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if we get a Starfleet Academy spin-off - after all, there have been on-off plans for that for at least thirty years. I'm not sure the characters we have set-up this episode would carry a series themselves. Adira aside, none of the cadets say main character to me. There's promise in the simmering rivalry between Harrall and Gorev, the young Orion and Tellarite cadets, but it's resolved by the end of the episode. Still, applause for Adrian Walters for his decision to play the Tellarite with a Caribbean accent. Sasha is cute, but doesn't have much character beyond the quiet nervous one. Still, there's promise in the idea, with the nurturing, understanding, but surprisingly steely Tilly taking wet-behind-the-ears cadets on various ill-advised missions.

The events on the moon Kokytos are fun and gripping, with spectacular visuals. The new virtual sets are really justifying their expense this season. The alien monster, referred to here as a Tuscadian pyrosome, is a wonderfully odd bit of random science extrapolation; pyrosomes on Earth are bioluminescent filter feeders, not carnivorous monsters that hunt people down, but they got the colony creature part right. Equally questionable science comes with the gamma-ray burst that knocks the shuttle out of flight in the first place; if you get hit by a gamma-ray burst then you'll be pretty much vapourised, and crashing is the least of your worries.

The other two main plotlines aren't as exciting, but work solidly well. Book's ongoing therapy is starting to lose its appeal as a storyline, but is saved by the ever-impressive performances of Ajala and Cruz. The more interesting part of the storyline is how Culber's own trauma is gradually coming to the fore, beyond time given how much he's been through even since he was resurrected. More interesting is the diplomatic incident to Ni'Var, with Burnham and Saru drafted in to sit and look official while Admiral Vance is off with political gutrot. Of course, this all part of the canny Federation President's plan, knowing she and Vulcan President T'Rina are both stuck in non-compromisable positions. Michael's a big mouth who can't help but get involved and Saru's the wisest old man in the galaxy, let's get them involved. I'm starting to really like Tara Rosling as the quiet, measured T'Rina, and particularly her gentle, well-mannered romance with Saru.

With Ni'Var demanding its own Article 50 Brexit clause before it rejoins the Federation, there are clear parallels with the political situation today, and we can see that neither the Federation nor the Ni'Vari can back down without angering way too many voters. Burnham and Saru's compromise seems a little too easy, but overall this is a strong diplomacy storyline of the kind TNG and DS9 used to do so well. Altogether, there's a strong theme of compromise and understanding running through the episode, both understanding of ones rivals and oneself. Burnham points out the Romulan and Vulcan reunification, and President Rilak's mixed heritage, as examples of civilisations moving past their differences, and Saru joins in with his own acceptance of the Ba'ul (who used to eat his friends, let's remind ourselves, so there's no one more willing to let past sins go than him). Meanwhile, Tilly makes her cadets stop and get to know each other, even while they're being hunted by a killer blob monster, forcing them to understand that not everyone who looks like your enemy is your enemy, and Culber helps Book understand that he'll need to find new ways beyond his homeworld to accept its loss. It's a thematically strong episode that holds together very well.

Annotations

Rating: 7 (Daniel Tessier)

 

The Examples

Synopsis

"The Examples"

Stardate not given: Synopsis in main DIS listing

Commentary

The mystery of the DMA steps up a gear when it's finally confirmed that the anomaly is not a natural phenomenon. We might have assumed this, given that it appeared to be steering itself round the galaxy, but the drip-drip of new information about it is tantalising. With some kind of advanced technology at its centre, and the ability to appear virtually anywhere by dint of a tame wormhole, it's tremendously dangerous and threatens and anyone and anything in the known universe.

Naturally, it's all hands on deck trying to work out who made this thing and what makes it tick. Now that Discovery has lost one of its best scientists in Tilly, Admiral Vance assigns a famed scientist, one Ruon Tarka, to assist. Meanwhile, the DMA is threatening a former Emerald Chain colony, so Discovery also heads there to mount an evacuation effort. The colonists prefer to leave their criminals behind to die in their prison, so Burnham and Book, the latter needing to make some amends for his survivor's guilt, mount a rescue mission. Meanwhile again, Culber is finding the sheer ongoing pressure of helping the many people struggling through this crisis overwhelming.

Three distinct storylines again this week, all with something important to say about how we face crises. Of the three, it's the scientific discourse that's actually the most fun. Shawn Doyle is wonderfully watchable as Tarka, an arrogant but charismatic scientist. Making him a Risian is a nice touch, with the scientist still annoyed at his upbringing on a pleasure planet, but that Risian "do whatever you want" attitude is still with him. He's a hedonistic scientist, with little regard for rules or risk. I was reminded a little of Richard Kiley's Gideon Seyetik (from the DS9 episode "Second Sight") by the character and performance, but while the same arrogance, self-aggrandisement and lust for knowledge is there, Tarka is a much more dangerous character. He clearly knows more than he's letting on, and it's heavily implied he was once enslaved by the Emerald Chain, so there's a lot of interesting backstory there. Stamets immediately dislikes him, although a lot of that is because the man has been heading up the spore drive research and cutting him out, but Tarka's sheer brilliance begins to win him over.

Once they start experimenting with the creation of a tiny DMA as a simulation, things get potentially dangerous. Leaving Saru in charge while Burnham is off on a rescue mission works in the ship's favour, for even when the Kelpien is won over by Tarka's charismatic pleas, he's still intrinsically cautious and probably responsible for the ship not being sucked into a black hole of its own creation. The reappearance of the long-missed Tig Notaro as engineer Jett Reno adds another spiky personality to this heady mix. You have to let slide the obvious idiocy of undertaking this experiment in the middle of a rescue mission on the edge of the most dangerous spatial event in the universe - it's absolute madness they wouldn't put it off until they were a safe distance away - but it's heady sci-fi and really sparks.

The mission to the colony, spread over a string of asteroids, is the action-packed side of the episode, but oddly the least engaging. This is classic Trek stuff but the unjustly imprisoned criminals - the Examples of the title - are a bit of an uninteresting bunch, and I struggled to remember who was in prison for what. Still, Burnham an Book remain a great team when it comes to this daring missions. The genuinely criminal Felix - the only guilty man on Radvek, if you will - stands out a little better, mostly thanks to Michael Greyeyes, but he's still not the most interesting character. Clichéd characters are fine, but the noble prisoner is harder to pull off than the self-serving scientist or the stalwart captain and the whole storyline just fails to gel for me. Still, it's a very nice touch making the colony's founders the Akaali. Previously seen in the Enterprise episode "Civilization," the Akaali were at a roughly twentieth century level when we met them. A thousand and forty years later, they are, of course, much more advanced. (Annoyingly, I almost put the Akaali in my Discovery season four article, but decided on the Crepusculans and the Romans as my pre-warp follow-ups instead.)

Wilson Cruz is a shining star this season, bringing such humanity and warmth to the increasingly troubled Culber. Deliberately throwing himself into the task of maintaining the crew's mental health, he has refused to spend time looking after his own. Given that not long ago he was mudered, resurrected through interdimensional mulch and then thrown out of his own timezone, it's fair to say he has some issues to work through. Pairing him with David Cronenberg's blunt and pragmatic Kovich is a brilliant choice, perhaps not making a great deal of logistical sense but providing some tremendously entertaining interplay between the two characters. There's an effective coda between Culber and Stamets where they recognise that they are frankly just as bad as each other when it comes to looking after themselves.

The episode ends with ominous rumblings of future developments regarding the DMA, plus a briefly explored plotline looking at the computer Zora's gradual evolution, something which demands more attention further along. More important to the episode itself are the themes carried throughout. A lot has been made in the real world about how this season is a response to the events of the ongoing pandemic, with the Federation and its neighbours facing an implacable natural threat that they cannot reason with but must work together to understand and survive. This carries through with this episode, reflecting the general attitude of many government to ignore their prison populations safety when it came to the virus, and of course Culber's focus on the huge, ongoing stress that the situation is causing. On the other hand, this allegory is broken by the revelation, however expected, that the DMA has been constructed. If it is meant to be a parallel for COVID-19, what is that supposed to signify? Surely the scriptwriters aren't suggesting they think the virus was engineered by the Chinese or something?

More likely it's just a case of not fully thinking the allegory through. The episode equally takes a look at society's collective responsibility for its less privlileged members. The plight of the various Examples, mostly imprisoned for minor crimes, suggests the treatment of minority groups who are targeted disproportionately by legal systems, although having them be a varied group perhaps lessens this parallel. More up-front is Burnham's reprimand of the Akaali governor, pointing out that he's a refugee now and hoping for his sake that whoever takes his people in is fairer than he was. Some very clear parallels to recent attitudes by some western governments there. Altogether, this is some classic Star Trek material.

Annotations

Rating: 7 (Daniel Tessier)

 

Stormy Weather

Synopsis

"Stormy Weather"

Stardate not given: Synopsis in main DIS listing

Commentary

In an episode that could have been called "Book's Brain," the Starship Discovery is catapulted into the great beyond as it enters a subspace rift in an attempt to find out something about the mysterious power behind the DMA. Straight away, there's a new tension between Book and Burnham, as the former is more concerned about contacting other civilisations to see what they know about the DMA. Plus, it's his dad's birthday, which brings up some difficult emotions even before the disagreeable old man starts appearing to him to tell him just how disappointed he is in his son.

Meanwhile, Zora's burgeoning sentience and emotional awareness spirals into a full-blown anxiety attack when the ship is trapped on the other side of the rift, a region of absolute nothingness. DOT probes immediately disintegrate, the warp drive won't function, even the mycelial network doesn't fully penetrate the region so there's not even the option of mushrooming away. With not only the crew but the ship freaking out, getting back to civilisation is going to be rather a challenge.

Booker's hallucinations of his father are caused by a power surge of particles from the void, seemingly the same as those that make up the galactic barrier. Of course, that's assuming they are hallucinations; given the near magical empathic powers that the Kwejian show, a zap from the psychically-charged barrier could surely trigger even greater powers in Book. Perhaps he really is speaking to his late father beyond the veil? In any case, it seems that the particles are the key to finding a way home. Unfortunately, Discovery's shields won't last long enough to keep the crew alive through the journey.

"Stormy Weather" is quite the bottle episode, with just one new face in the speaking cast - Rotherford Grey as Book's father Tarecx. Given that everything is confined to the ship and the briefest glimpses of blackness outside, director Jonathan Frakes hasn't a huge amount to work with so it's impressive how much tension he and the cast manage to generate. Still, it's perhaps appropriate that this episode feels rather like it's treading water, existing to bridge a gap between the previous episode and the next rather than tell its own story. Sure, this is serial television, but when it comes out a week at a time, this lack of motion is frustrating. I imagine it will play better upon a season-long rewatch.

The effective parts of the episode are the various characters' emotional journeys and their changing relationships. Gray is able to comfort and reassure Zora through mindfulness and game-playing, likening the AI's awakening to his own adjustment to his rebirth in an artificial body. He sure points a lot of the obvious, but it does the trick with the computer, and it's nice to see Gray get to do something except look pretty now he's present again. There's a great deal here to do with identity, with Gray's further exploration of his self, Zora's continued evolution, Book's rejection of parts of his background against his father's expectations and even Burnham's family tree. For her part, Burnham is able to both survive the ravages of radiation and fiery heat as Discovery returns through the rift, and keep Zora together emotionally as they complete the journey, because it's still Michael's show and she has to help save the day.

What she can't do, it seems, it help keep Book together. He ends up discussing his internalised rage - either the cause of his hallucinations, or made worse by his dad's visit - with Saru, but he's very clearly coming apart and Burnham's continued reliance on him isn't helping him get to grips with his loss. Book chooses his love and trust for Michael ahead of his need for retribution for his people, but the increasing tension between them shows that this won't be the case for long.

The DMA plot though creeps forward barely a jot. The revelation that the uninspiringly-named Species 10-C are from outside the galaxy isn't nearly as remarkable as the writers seem to think it is, and while it narrows down previously known races to a mere handful it's clear they're brining in someone new (unless this is all misdirection). Either way, after all the loss and struggles of the episode the crew end up in almost exactly the position they were when they started.

Annotations

Rating: 6 (Daniel Tessier)

 

...But to Connect

Synopsis

"...But to Connect"

Stardate not given: Synopsis in main DIS listing

Commentary

A talky but effective episode that acts as the mid-season finale, heralding something of a change of direction for the series. Following "Stormy Weather," Discovery's crew and the UFP have two major dilemmas: what to do about Species 10-C and what to do about Zora, which come to a crunch together when Zora reveals she can locate the origins of the DMA but then refuses to do so.

It's an intriguing follow-up to Zora's previous crisis of confidence, with her new found reassurance still vying with her anxiety, this time concerning the crew's wellbeing. It's the classic First Rule of Robotics: Zora can't allow her crew to come to harm, so refuses to give them information she believes will out them in harm's way. In spite of her altruistic reasons for doing so, unsurprisingly this is a cause of concern to the crew and the UFP in general. Stamets is in particular freaked out, but everyone from the 23rd century has unpleasant memories of Control and it's brutal reign of terror.

The idea of a sentient AI is less shocking in the 32nd century, although the rights of AI's now isn't entirely a clear issue for the viewer. Dr. Kovich undergoes an investigation of Zora to decide whether she is, in fact, a life form, and from there discuss the situation. While it's clear that things have moved on from the days of "The Measure of a Man," it's a similar set-up, but one really has to wonder why Kovich has the overall ruling here. Who exactly is he and why does he has so much power in so many matters? Naturally, things turn out alright in the end, with Zora's being recognised as a living being and given a Starfleet commission, which seems to resolve her issues of responsibility enough to get on with the mission.

The bigger picture concerns the DMA and the alien powers themselves, with a host of civilisations sending representatives to decide what the best course of action is. The meeting of the various cultures feels like classic Star Trek, and there are some nice nods to the ongoing storyline. General Ndoye from United Earth makes a return appearance, and while they've not rejoined the Federation, they have reunified with Titan thanks to Discovery's efforts. The Alshain, having accepted Burnham's olive branch, are now willing to look past their own concerns and open up dialogue. It's nice to see both familiar faces and new creations, although given that representatives "from all four quadrants" are said to be present, it's a shame we don't see any recognisable Gamma or Delta species. Also notable in their absense are the Klingons. There are still a lot of unanswered questions about the 32nd century.

On one side, Burnham argues that it's the Starfleet way to open communication and try to understand them. They don't even know if they're destroying worlds deliberately or are even aware that they're doing so. On the opposing side, backed by vengeful Book, is the argument to attack the 10-C to stop them destroying anything else. Ruon Tarka is also present, providing the means for attack should it be chosen: an isolytic burst based on his experiments on Discovery, which could destroy the DMA, but also subspace across light years and cause untold "collateral damage." I'm glad Burnham also pointed out that attacking something as powerful as the 10-C is likely to get you wiped out anyway, but nonetheless, it came to a two-option vote, with the benefit of the doubt ultimately swinging it.

This is ultimately it for Book and Burnham's relationship, seeing them at loggerheads in a way they haven't been since their first encounter. In an older episode of Trek, we might have expected them to come to terms with their differing opinions or for Book to come round and swear of his desire for vengeance against the people who destroyed his planet. Not in this instance, though. Tarka whips out his piece de resistance: the new, next-gen spore drive he's been working on, which he just needs a ship and a navigator to make work. He and Book team up and jump towards the unknown, determined to take matters into their own hands, leaving Burnham to go after her (now presumably ex) boyfriend to stop all-out galactic war, or worse.

"...But to Connect" is another episode that serves primarily to push the overall plot ahead rather than tell its own story, but this time it feels more expansive thanks to an array of colourful guest aliens, some more concrete developments regarding Zora and the DMA and a decent cliffhanger that brings back some of the urgency from the beginning of the season.

In the background, other character threads get prodded along. Gray decides to go back to Trill to become a Guardian, an obvious role for him but also perhaps a tacit admittance that, now he's back in the land of the living, his storyline has run out of steam. Saru and T'Rina continue their sweet, gentle romance. Most unexpected is Tarka's revelation: that he intends to use the enormous energies of the DMA to jump into another universe, one that's apparently far nicer than this one and distinct from the Mirror Universe. It's just possible this is the future of the Kelvin Timeline, but I imagine that this is something new altogether. With sci-fi TV and film going multiverse crazy lately, we could be looking at a whole new avenue for exploration. Perhaps Discovery's recently confirmed fifth season will see another change in direction?

While it leaves us, still, with more questions than answers, this episode is overall more satisfying than the previous and bodes well for the season's second half.

Annotations

Rating: 7 (Daniel Tessier)

 

All In

Synopsis

"All In"

Stardate not given: Synopsis in main DIS listing

Commentary

4-8 - All In

Discovery comes back from its mid-season break with a slice of good, solid fun. As with much of the preceding few episodes, the overarching plot doesn't move forward much, although we do have a fairly significant revelation towards the end. However, this week's adventure is full of colour, incident and fisticuffs, enough to keep the attention from wandering.

Chasing Book beyond the bounds of the Federation's influence, Burnham leads her crew into the kind of rough-and-tumble adventure that she and her runaway beau used to enjoy before Discovery caught up with them. It has to be said, Michael is a lot more fun in this environment, trolling and trash-talking her way into and out of trouble, without the Starfleet stuffed shirt to constrain her. I feel we should have spent more time with her and Book during the gap year before responsibility caught up with them. Still, at least we get a glimpse of it now, with the pair of them separately trying their luck at getting ahold of some isolynium, a powerful substance required for the building of isolytic weapons.

The result is an old-fashioned romp seeing two double-acts scheme and swagger their way through a distinctly Star Wars-esque den of iniquity. Yes, every galaxy has its dodgy alien bars and casinos, and this one is run by a colourful character by the name of Haz Mazaro. He's from a species we haven't seen before, but his character is easily recognisable: overly friendly, untrustworthy, larger than life and puts profits over pals. It's a fun turn by Daniel Kash, displaying a fun rapport with both Book and Michael. It's a much stronger rapport than Book is managing with Tarka, whose ego is not endearing him to anyone (except me, I think he's hilarious). I don't think we can trust anything he says, or at the least we're only getting fragments of the truth from him. Still, his talk about terrible loss has the ring of sincerity.

For her part, Burnham picks a much more suitable partner in crime. Oyin Oladejo shines as "Ow Wow" Owosekun, getting more character development and, well, character in one episode than she's received in the whole series so far. And it turns out that this officer can really handle herself. This is the sort of rough-and-tumble we could easily see Kirk and McCoy getting themselves involved in; although Bones would no doubt be trying to talk Kirk out of wagering their mission on a pit fight, not bigging him up to the crowd.

Burnham and Owo are so obviously hustling, it's amazing the assembled aliens fall for it. It's almost as obvious as Burnham and Book's outrageous cheating as they play a pair of Emerald Chain non-entities at galactic poker for the isolynium. For all their chemistry and cleverness working together though, the two ex-couriers find themselves at irreconcilable odds. It doesn't look like Book is coming back to his ex anytime soon.

Back on Discovery, there's a reasonable B-plot that sees Stamets console his husband for his apparent failure to help Book through his trauma, or at least predict he was about to go off the rails. These quieter moments work nicely in this episode in contrast to the more gung-ho stuff at the casino. In the final moments, we find out that Burnham's been cleverer than Book after all, pinning a tracker on him. Not only that, but Mazaro, who can apparently get his hands on anything, also picked up some handy star charts for her, which helps them narrow down Species 10-C's location. It turns out whoever they are hidden by a truly gigantic energy field in an extragalactic star system. It also turns out that the DMA isn't a weapon at all; it's a dredge, dragging up a rare element that may be very significant. Whoever the 10-C are, they either don't know or don't care about the millions of lives they're destroying.

Annotations

Rating: 8 (Daniel Tessier)

 

Rubicon

Synopsis

"Rubicon"

Stardate not given: Synopsis in main DIS listing

Commentary

After a pacey opening episode for this semi-season, Discovery settles down for the slow grind again. This season has suffered from real pacing issues so far; bursts of exciting adventure but very gradual progress in the overall story. Again, I think this will play better in a season-long rewatch, and there's the inescapable feeling that this season was written for the Netflix-style bingewatch then scuppered by being released weekly.

"Rubicon" is an episode that exists purely to push the overall arc along a step, and doesn't do much beyond that. There's never any real sense of jeopardy or tension in the pursuit of Book and the tactic of proving that he has some thinking time before the DMA leaps away again is, while reasonable, not the most gripping approach. There are some nice touches - the scene between Michael and Book, separated by starship hulls, is lovely - but there's still a unshakeable feeling that this episode is filler material. After all, essentially nothing changes as a result of the events of the episode. Tarka proves that he is ruthless and can't be trusted, threatening the Discovery diplomatic team and using his isolytic bomb in spite of Book's reluctance, but this is hardly a major shock and doesn't, in the long run, change the dynamic. Tarka uses the bomb, destroying the DMA... and there's another one along to replace it in moments. Did it really not occur to the genius scientist that a culture that advanced wouldn't have back-up systems they could put in place, or that they'd keep the ever-so-tempting power source safely remote?

While it's understandable for dramatic purposes, allowing Burnham to lead the mission is obviously a terrible idea. She is far too close to Book to be allowed to take command of such a delicate point of the mission, even if she did hold it together and put the tracker on him before. Yes, Discovery is the only ship currently equipped to chase after Book via spore drive jumps, but surely someone else could have taken command? Saru, although still involved, would have been a more sensible choice, as a captain with seniority who knows the ship and crew and hasn't been sleeping with the enemy, as it were.

Assigning an officer to provide oversight and override if necessary is a reasonable compromise, but it's a hell of a conceit having Nhan take the role. As good as it is to see the gorgeous Rachael Ancheril back, Nhan's return doesn't really add much to the story and lacks the dramatic conflict of interest that the writers seem to think it provides. Visually, the episode is absolutely stunning, with events playing out against the backdrop of a complex nebula-like structure within the DMA, and there are some inarguably tense moments, altogether it just feels like we're treading water.

Annotations

Rating: 5 (Daniel Tessier)

 

The Galactic Barrier

Synopsis

"The Galactic Barrier"

Stardate not given: Synopsis in main DIS listing

Commentary

Things push on a little further in "The Galactic Barrier," although the main beneficiary of this episode's development is Tarka, who finally sits down and opens up about his past to Book. Indeed, this episode, while moving the plot along a touch, is mainly concerned with the characters' personal relationships. Saru and Ni'Var President T'Rina move along in their cautious romance, now that Culber's given the Kelpien suitor a touch of courage. Michael and Federation President Rillak finally learn to see eye-to-eye, developing a mutual respect of each other's approach and a willingness to work together. Is it stretching things to have both presidents along for the ride on a ship with a significant chance of never returning? Well, yes, but it adds something to the feeling of danger. We're unlikely to see any members of the main crew bite the dust, but the second-tier crew and characters could be useful if the writers want to kill someone off with a bit of impact.

But yes, it's Tarka who benefits from this episode the most. Shawn Doyle has been one of the highlights of this season, but Tarka's ruthless and closed persona, combined with his arrogant self-assurance, was beginning to become annoying. This episode humanises him just in time, and explores his background in enough depth that, while keeping him mysterious and not entirely trustworthy, at least makes his attitude understandable.

The scenes set in the past in the Emerald Chain prison colony are the strongest in this episode. The chemistry between Doyle as Tarka and Osric Chau as Oros (the latter absolutely swamped with make-up and prosthetics) makes these scenes, and they both put in beautiful performances. The exact nature of their relationship remains uncertain; while Tarka describes them as friends, their physical closeness as time goes on suggests something more than that. In either case, it's a believable look at two people who have adjusted to isolation and brutality, slowly learning to bond with and rely on each other. As much as I hope Tarka finds Oros, it's slightly hard to accept that the alien has made his way to his perfect parallel universe. Kayalise, the optimal possible universe, is a fascinating idea, the sort of religious belief I can imagine a highly scientifically advanced culture developing. However, the certainty that this universe exists and can be reached seems like the wishful thinking of someone desperate to escape their unhappy life. I fear Tarka may be destined for a disappointing truth.

On the more action-based side of the episode, Discovery makes its way through the Galactic Barrier, taking back to territory from the very beginning of Star Trek. It's a very different region what we saw in those heady days though. Visually, just like this entire season, it's remarkable, a complex and alien region, but I can't help but wish they'd kept something of the pinky-purple cloud. Thanks to 32nd century shield tech, the psychic supercharging that sent Gary Mitchell off the deep end is no longer a problem. However, the volatile phenomenon is still full of dangerous energies, with Discovery forced to bunny-hop between semi-stable bubbles of safe space. It's suitably tense, but again, it seems far removed from the Galactic Barrier we saw back in the TOS days.

Overall, the episode works, but with only three episodes left in the season, there remains the sense that we really need to get moving with the arc plot now.

Annotations

Rating: 7 (Daniel Tessier)

 


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Last modified: 11 Dec 2023

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