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Star Trek: Discovery delivers an emotionally charged episode this week that told two stories about families, of a sort.
For Adira, being the host to a Trill symbiont means she has chosen a family in a way as the symbiont carries the memories of all of its previous hosts. The problem Adira is facing is that she has access to some, but not all, of the previous hosts and in particular Senna Tal, who has information about the location of what’s left of the Federation. There’s also the issue of Adira being human, and no Trill symbiont has ever had a human host. So it only seems natural that going to Trill to seek help would be the best solution.
Dr. Culber is assigned to accompany Adira to the planet but he suggests that Michael would be the better chaperon since her experience of coming through the wormhole into the future and being alone for a year is more relatable to Adira’s situation. Michael reluctantly goes with Adira, and it was probably the right move because the Trill were welcoming enough but when they learned a human was host to a symbiont, Adira was seen as an aberration and they were ordered off the planet. One of the priests felt that learning what they could from this new relationship would benefit their species, which had been decimated after The Burn but the others want nothing to do with Adira if Michael won’t allow them to extract the symbiont.
Michael notices they are not being escorted back to the shuttle, and they are ambushed by the Trill intent on removing the symbiont. Michael kicks into gear and shoots the one priest and the guards (phaser set to stun, of course), and are helped to the sacred caves by the other priest, Xi, who believes the knowledge Adira has can be accessed and helpful to them all. As she enters the waters and becomes connected, they are discovered by the others but something goes wrong as Adira is dragged underwater. Michael is given permission to enter the water to save Adira but she is dragged down too.
The two are joined in some sort of mental netherworld where odd tendrils keep trying to attach to Adira. Michael figures out that this is what Adira needs to be able to communicate with her symbiont and unlock her mind. Michael is able to see what Adira is remembering, including her boyfriend Gray, a Trill who was about to undergo the implantation process with the symbiont. The two were obviously very much in love, but Adira had some walls up that Michael had to force her to break down. Adira was an artist who could actually craft things, not just replicate them. Adira made Gray a quilt with squares that symbolized their relationship. After the process was complete, Adira was a bit unsure of the new Gray who could suddenly play the cello, wondering if he was the same person she loved. But their ship was struck by an asteroid and Gray was mortally wounded, however the symbiont was fine. It needed a new host to survive and Adira offered to accept the symbiont for Gray. It really was an act of love on her part, knowing she’d be carrying Gray with her for as long as she lived.
Once this barrier was broken down and Adira accepted what had happened, all of the hosts materialized to thank her for accepting the symbiont. As they all faded away, Adira and Michael resurfaced in the cave and Adira was able to name all of the hosts of the symbiont Tal. It was a profound moment for the Trill who were now ready to accept the notion of humans as host and offered to allow Adira to stay so they could all learn from each other. But Adira told them that she believed she was chosen as a host for a reason, and that was to stay on Discovery. The Trill accepted that answer and asked to be kept apprised of Adira’s well-being, and perhaps when they find their Federation, discussions could be conducted with the Trill about joining. It ended up being a win-win for everyone. Adira was able to access the memories of the previous hosts, who are now basically her family, she gave Michael the coordinates for the remnants of the Federation and … somehow Gray is with her in what appears to be a physical sense, pushing Adira to reveal this secret to Michael. For now, Adira is content learning to play the cello.
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The other family of concern is the crew of Discovery. Hugh has been doing routine medical exams on everyone and he’s found they are in perfect physical condition. It’s the mental state most of them are in that is of grave concern. We’ve already seen a bit of that mental fatigue bearing down on Detmer, but other members of the crew are becoming a bit more snappy with each other than usual, including Stamets and Tilly after Saru asked Paul to consider some other way to power and steer the spore drive other than himself should he become incapacitated again. Tilly has an idea about using dark matter, but Paul wants to hear nothing but himself talk.
Hugh suggests to Saru to come up with something to make the crew feel more at ease because what the real issue is comes from their mutual decision to follow Michael into the future. With over 900 years behind them, they have nothing to go back to and should something happen to Discovery, no one will even know they’re gone. The thought of not being remembered, not having a legacy to leave behind is weighing heavily on everyone, including Saru and Hugh. Asking the computer for suggestions on how to deal with the crew’s mental health, Saru gets nothing but clinical answers … until there’s a blip and suddenly the computer is speaking in a slightly different voice and in a more conversational tone, suggesting some sort of recreational activities like showing a movie of Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton, putting the ship on auto-pilot and giving the crew a night off, and having a ‘family dinner’ with the bridge crew.
Saru does attempt the dinner and it seems to be going well, but it turns into the worst family Thanksgiving dinner ever after Georgiou makes a jokey haiku and then everyone tries to get in on the game. Except Detmer picks the topic of Stamets’ blood staining the deck for a few laughs and the two blow up at each other, then Tilly blows up at Stamets and before dessert is served, the party is over.
It isn’t long though until Stamets returns to apologize to Saru, and Tilly also returns and he apologizes to her as well, and is finally ready to entertain her suggestions about using the dark matter. After Michael and Adira return from Trill, an announcement is made for the crew to gather in the shuttle bay for a surprise — a Buster Keaton movie is being projected in the bay and the crew is laughing heartily. Hugh tells Saru this was a great idea because the room is filled with such joy, but Saru does not take credit for the surprise. He deduces that the sphere data has actually come to the forefront and that perhaps as they have been protecting it, it is now protecting them.
This was a wonderful, deeply emotional episode of the series and it’s so nice that the show can finally tell its own stories without having to adhere to Star Trek canon. And now we’ve got the mystery of Gray with Adira and the possibility of the sphere data completely overtaking Discovery. It will be interesting to see where things go from here.
New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery stream every Thursday on CBS All Access.
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