Screengrab
The first two episodes of Star Trek: Discovery were, in my opinion, really bad. But the fandom really seems divided because while I felt Episode 3, ‘Choose to Live’, was the best of the bunch so far — and by ‘best’ I just mean slightly better than the previous two so let’s not get carried away — many felt it was the worst. Yes, it was not great but at least the main storyline was intriguing, even if it seemed to borrow too heavily from other sci-fi works of art like Star Wars and Alien. Then there were the side stories that just added nothing to the drama.
My main quibble thus far with Season 4 is Tilly. Tilly used to be an endearing, if sometimes annoying (but in a quirky way), character but they minute she was thrust into a position of great responsibility — with zero qualifications — there was nowhere for her to go but into an emotional spiral downward into self doubt. It probably didn’t help things when Saru returned and offered himself to Captain Burnham as her Number 1 … and no one seemed to bother to tell Tilly, which led to some painfully awkward moments between them. So now she’s trying to ‘find herself’ through counseling with Dr. Culber (now all of a sudden taking on the role as ship’s counselor) who suggests she try to step out of her comfort zone and accompany Michael on a mission. While Tilly was helpful, it still didn’t help her gain an ounce of confidence.
The other secondary story in ‘Choose to Live’ was the transference of the symbiont into the artificial body of Gray created by the multi-talented Dr. Culber. With the help of a holographic Trill guardian, Xi, the transference goes well but Xi warns that since this is a synthetic body, the symbiont may not be able to access the previous biological hosts memories. But they all agree to forge ahead and while it all goes without incident, Gray takes longer than usual to wake up, causing Adira all kinds of worry. But by the end of the episode all is well, Gray is Gray and that’s that. Not even a moment of ‘where am I, who are you’ drama. Meh.
Meanwhile on Ni’Var, Stamets and Book are working with the Ni’Varian scientists to figure out what exactly happened to Book’s planet Kwejian. T’Rina could sense the emotional pain Book was suffering over the death of his family, so she performed a mind meld with him that allowed him to reconcile his emotions and know that his nephew knew he loved him. That seemed to ease Book’s mind considerably, but would it last?
The main story involved a band of thieves popping up on Federation ships to steal dilithium … which the Federation is giving away freely. One such attack leads to the accidental death of a Starfleet officer and that sets off all the alarms, and leads to the revelation that the killer is a member of the Qowat Milat, which now brings Ni’Var into the equation. The Federation wants justice and President T’Rina is adamant that they will handle the situation with the help of Michael’s mother Gabrielle, who of course is from the order of Qowat Milat. The Federation, however, insists that Michael accompany them to make sure things are handled properly and justice is served.
They chase J’Vini to a moon — ‘That’s not a moon’ — which is actually a ship full of unhatched eggs, just waiting to arrive at their destination. J’Vini was tasked with protecting these eggs and needed the dilithium to power their ship (Tilly points out the Federation actually would not have just handed them the dilithium without proper protocols thus J’Vini had no choice but to steal it). But because the eggs have been dormant for so long, Burnham essentially tells J’Vini this is a lost cause she’s serving but when J’Vini threatens to kill Gabrielle, Michael gets things fixed real quick, and the eggs hatch. With J’Vini turned over to President T’Rina, the question remains if she will receive true justice. Complicating matters is the fact that J’Vini is the one who helped Gabrielle acclimate to the future after her time jump, so can she mete out the justice that is warranted?
Screengrab
Episode 4, ‘All is Possible’, also juggles a few storylines and ends up being the best yet of the four episodes, mainly because they finally deal with the problem that is Tilly. Maybe. Tilly has finally been honest enough with herself to reveal that the day she became an ensign was the worst day of her life, and her life literally a thousand years away from the one she left behind has left her feeling without purpose. But when an opportunity arises to share some of her talents with a group of Starfleet Academy cadets, Culber urges her to seize it. And Gray also pushes Adira into going along so they can be a bit less socially awkward.
At Starfleet, Tilly and Adira are met by Kovich (lovely to see David Cronenberg back) who gives them their assignment and crew of four cadets – Val Sasha, Harral and Taahz Gorev. Val Sasha had never seen a non-humanoid before joining the Academy, and Harral (an Orion) and Taahz Gorev have personal issues because Taahz’s family were living under miserable conditions while the Emerald Chain was ruling the universe. Tilly does her best to get the three to communicate, while also trying to get Adira to participate and not just be her assistant, but they refuse until their shuttle is knocked out of orbit and onto the wrong moon (killing one cadet), a habitable but hostile location. And deep in a valley which is preventing their signals from reaching the starship that is supposed to pick them up … but the signals do awaken two beasts that want to feast on them.
Tilly finally gets everyone to make introductions and then snaps into leader mode and informs them then only way they can get to safety is to turn off the equipment so the monsters can’t ‘see’ them, and to make their way to the top of a ridge so they’ll be at a higher point to get a signal out. Of course the cadets bicker, and when Harral suggests they hide in a cave, it only escalates the tension between him and Taazh. And while Taazh reveals how his grandparents starved to death because of the Emerald Chain, Harrel reveals that his father was actually a rebel who fought against the EC, and that immediately bonded the two cadets. Tilly demonstrated that communication and talking to your fellow cadets can lead to good relationships.
Once atop the ridge, they knew the beasts would hone in on them the moment they turned on their equipment so Adira offered to act as bait, luring the beasties away while the group attempted to communicate with the starship. But Tilly stepped in and said she would do it — is she really the strongest runner? — and she did. The cadets locked on to the starship and everyone was beamed out right before Tilly was consumed, and back at the Academy she was offered a teaching position any time she wanted it. And she took it, taking leave of Discovery by episode’s end. So does this mean we’ve seen the last of Tilly, at least as a regular? At least she left on a good note after three episodes of just being annoying and indecisive. I finally liked her again as she showed us, and herself, that she did have what it took to be in charge.
Meanwhile, Michael and Saru were asked to put in an appearance at the final talks between Ni’Var and the Federation about rejoining the group. Neither could fathom why they were asked to be there, especially when it seemed like the story of Admiral Vance’s stomach bug (a literal bug, mind you) felt a bit bogus. And just before Ni’Var was to sign the contracts to rejoin the Federation, President T’Rina dropped a bomb on them — Ni’Var would only rejoin if they also had the option to withdraw without any repercussions. President Rillak said this was not part of the original deal, and if they allowed Ni’Var to do this then they’d have to allow everyone else to do it and that would only make for a weaker Federation.
The two sides seemed to be at an impasse with Ni’Var not rejoining the Federation and Michael and Saru finally began to see what was going on. Saru went to talk with President T’Rina (does she have the hots for him?) and Michael went to speak with Rillak, offering the only option they had to keep Ni’Var from opting out — compromise. And as the parties reconvened, Michael stepped up, urging T’Rina to reconsider her stance. T’Rina said they have gotten by for a century without the Federation and they will continue to do so, but Michael said there is a difference in just getting by and thriving. Instead of allowing Ni’Var to have their escape clause, a neutral oversight committee will be created to make sure things remain steady between the two parties … with Michael, a citizen of both Ni’Var and the Federation, at the head of the table. T’Rina thought it was an ‘elegant solution’ and Rillak also agreed, so Ni’Var is now back in the Federation. Michael also learned from Rillak that she knew this wrinkle in the negotiations was coming — which was way the Admiral was ‘ill’ — and the source was T’Rina herself. Both sides knew Michael would be the one to help bring balance to the negotiations and she succeeded. Even if Rillak didn’t trust her at first. No one in the Federation did. And who could blame them? A 930 year old Starship shows up with no knowledge of The Burn, and they should be welcome with open arms? But Michael and her crew have proven themselves more than capable and trustworthy at this point.
As for Book, the mind meld worked for a short time, but he’s still having a hard time dealing with the death of his family and his planet. While Dr. Culber tries to get into Book’s head, using some exercises that at first upset Book because they are just simulations of things he had to do on his planet, he finally began to lean into what Culber was doing, while Culber violated his own protocols about sharing personal information with a patient. But as he noted, on a starship, they already know too much about each other’s business so he knew he could share with Book. And in the end, it was Book who offered to be an ear for Culber, when he’s ready.
Over all, we’ve gone from bad to okay to pretty good over the course of four episodes and hopefully this positive trajectory will continue.
New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery premiere Thursdays on Paramount Plus. Subscribe using our affiliate link.
Share this post
