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Okay, maybe my suspicions about the Michael Burnham the crew of Discovery were greeted by in the last episode were off base … or not, because it seems others on the ship from Saru to Tilly to Georgiou also sense that this Michael Burnham seems different than the one they were separated from in the journey through the wormhole. At time, even Burnham seemed unsure of herself, unsure of the ship itself, as she attempted to acclimate herself back into the Discovery family. When she did light up was when she was with Book, even though the two definitely aren’t a couple which Booker awkwardly tried to explain to Georgiou like he was meeting Michael’s mother for the first time.
But Burnham brings with her some news in the form of a transmission from a Starfleet admiral … that’s twelve years old and apparently came from Earth. After Michael explained all of the details of ‘The Burn’, how all of the dilithium in Federations ships exploded at the same time, and how the Federation collapsed right after that event, the fact that they had a message from someone in Starfleet was of great importance to help them understand what happened and try to re-establish the Federation. Because their trip into the future would have been all for nought, trying to protect the sphere data from something that no longer exists.
So, with Michael graciously handing the captain’s chair to Saru without any conversation — something that Saru found odd — they booked it to Earth using the spore drive. Okay, I have to stop right here because wasn’t the whole point of traveling to the future and basically erasing their existence from history with the help of Pike, Spock and Number 1 to keep the universe and the Federation safe from the knowledge their ship holds? Federation or no Federation, traveling back to Earth seems to be a recipe for disaster. Also, the plan was to get close enough to Earth but far enough away so they couldn’t be scanned, but they just drove right up to the edge of the atmosphere. Huh?
And they were immediately confronted with a force field around Earth and a representative from the United Earth Defense, some new entity that seems to have replaced the Federation. And Captain Ndoye and her people waste no time in boarding Discovery for inspection, rather confused as to why this Starfleet vehicle is still in service. Just how far away from Earth were they, and why was their dilithium not affected by ‘the burn’? Burnham quickly established that they weren’t in warp drive when ‘the burn’ occurred. But the fact that they have so much dilithium is a problem because a pirate named Wen has been attacking any ship with dilithium and now their arrival has put them all in danger.
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Stamets and Tilly are also having some issues with the inspectors, one in particular who seems to know a lot more about the ship than would be expected, poking around the spore drive, doing more exploring than inspecting. And before long, Wen and his men show up demanding Discovery’s dilithium. Captain Ndoye strongly advises Saru not to respond to Wen, but she has no authority on Discovery and he opens communications. Burnham tells Wen to scan the ship and he’ll find no dilithium (because it’s cloaked). Wen, however, isn’t buying it, and Ndoye knows that unless Discovery leaves Earth, there will be violence. The only problem is thet Ndoye and her people can’t leave the ship as something is blocking their transporter signals. Ndoye immediately assumes Saru is sabotaging them.
As tensions begin to rise, Burnham and Book slip away from the bridge and fly Book’s ship out of the bay … with Discovery’s dilithium. Ndoye tells Saru that it will be catastrophic if Wen gets ahold of the dilithium and wants him to shoot Burnham and Book out of the sky. Saru will do no such thing but he seems rather flustered by the situation, and Georgiou’s comments that he’s an immovable object to Burnham’s irresistible force isn’t helping matters. Saru must know that Burnham has a plan, but he just doesn’t seem to know what it is. All anyone knows at this point is that Burnham is offering Wen the dilithium. What she and Book are really doing is planning to snag Wen as he lets down his shields to accept the ransom.
When Burnham returns to Discovery, with the dilithium and Wen, the episode gives us probably the most Star Trek resolution to a problem — Saru and Burnham force Ndoye and Wen to … talk, exercising diplomacy over violence. But Georgiou has no time for this slow-moving diplomatic process of all talk and no action, so she knocks Wen down and removes his helmet. He’s human, something that comes as a shock to almost everyone. Turns out he and his people were on Titan, there was a catastrophic event, and Earth just basically left them to fend for themselves. Saru helped the two sides mediate a truce and an agreement for help in exchange for an end to the marauding, and all’s well that ends well. Except for the little problem that the man who sent the signal is dead, and the Federation is no longer on Earth, scattered to parts unknown at least a hundred years earlier. But because of their help with Wen, Ndoye allows those from Discovery who wish to travel to the surface to do so. Tilly and some of the bridge crew find an old tree at the former Starfleet Academy they all used to sit under and study.
Stamets seems intrigued by the explorer in the science bay and begins to reveal what seems to be a bit too much about Discovery, the spore drive, their time travel experience and himself to Adira. But Adira reveals that they may know how to locate the man who sent the message Burnham is tracking. After speaking with Captain Ndoye, it is agreed that Adira may stay aboard Discovery. Saru also discovers that Adira is joined with a Trill symbiont and has access to the knowledge of all the other hosts that symbiont had, which may include the man they are looking for (Adira admits as much). In the end, Book leaves now with a new quadrant to explore, and it’s obvious that Burnham has feelings for him. But after a heart-to-heart with Saru — who’s a little miffed still that Michael didn’t tell him of her plan — the two agree that they will have to begin to trust one another again, and with the air cleared Burnham proudly accepts the position as Saru’s Number 1. But will their little jaunt to Earth have any lasting repercussions?
This episode of Star Trek: Discovery was entertaining enough but in the end it felt more like a bridge episode for what’s yet to come than anything that has any real importance to the overall season story arc. The biggest question it leaves us with is will Book return?
New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery stream every Thursday on CBS All Access.
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