Mirrors continues the Star Trek pattern of teasing the Mirrorverse this season with out totally diving into it – this time, we see Burnham and E book embark on a stealth mission looking for the subsequent clue and Moll and L’ak – who have gotten there first. It’s a captivating pairing as soon as once more of the present’s core characters – and I actually like that this present is focusing round giving them a while collectively to work out who they’re now. It’s additionally a whole lot of full-circle moments for the each Burnham and E book as we have a look at how far they’ve come; and we be taught what occurred to the ISS Enterprise.
The Enterprise, in fact, being the ship that Spock was on. We’re nicely conscious of their mainline adventures however that is the primary time that we’ve seen Burnham reference her extra well-known brother, Spock, shortly – and it’s the Mirror model of him. But the Enterprise is caught, deserted, which the Terran forces had been sworn by no means to do, solely as a final resort – prompting them to marvel why the ship would have been deserted within the first place. And it’s because of Saru, who’s Motion Saru in each universe – who led the evacuation. We don’t know what occurred to this ship’s crew – however Mirrors suggests a chance that they’re on the market, someplace – though I did really feel like this episode sagged a bit; particularly with a lot of it set on the Enterprise – this felt just like the sort of budget-saving episode the place the writers wished to maintain utilizing the identical set that Unusual New Worlds, the spinoff that has quickly change into the flagship Trek present, and hold it going. Nevertheless it’s cool to see it there – even when there’s not a direct crossover, the nostalgia is lots profitable in drawing us in. There’s a whole lot of nostalgia right here – the reference is clunky to Spock, and it feels rushed exposition at finest. The present might have flowed a bit higher 5 seasons in – I don’t suppose that is considered one of Discovery’s strongest episodes.
We get to learn the way Moll and L’ak met on this one, and the chemistry between Eve Harlow and Elias Toufexis is robust. The best way that E book and Moll confront the truth that they’re associated gave them each some respiratory area – Moll has an excessive amount of happening in her head to completely comprehend the dynamic that E book and her father had, and the connection between Burnham and Spock allowed her to discover their dynamics. Discovery is all about connections in any case – possibly a bit an excessive amount of of them – the older Booker left Moll on her personal at 14, and Moll has solely scars of the previous. It’s an episode that explores the alternatives that they made and the way they form them – Moll and L’ak’s previous selections nearly come near them handing themselves into the Federation so long as they continue to be collectively, and for a second, you suppose it’s doable – however their escape retains the sequence’ established order very a lot the identical. The large reveal this episode comes that L’al is a Breen – and we be taught that it doesn’t matter what the deal is with the Federation, it will probably’t defend them from the Breen blood bounty.
I actually like how we confirmed Rayner taking command of Discovery and you’ll see him stress-free a bit extra. He’s nonetheless the strict Captain he ever was, promising rounds to the quickest crewmember to resolve the case, however that is a part of his attraction – ruthless and environment friendly in getting the job completed. And an excellent primary to have; Saru could also be missed but it surely’s a credit score to Discovery that his absence as an everyday isn’t felt – bringing Tilly again frequently makes the transition simpler.
Star Trek: Discovery 5.06 “Whistlespeak” – Overview:
Whistlespeak is the closest that Trek has come to matching the feels of 90s Trek shortly. It’s a callback to the second sequence episode of New Eden and has Tilly and Burnhm examine a pre-warp expertise the place the prime directive should apply. They tackle board the looks of the natives – looking for an historical Denobulan scientist on a planet of Hemenlo. The clue in direction of the endgame of this puzzle is permitting a pleasant sequence of case of the week narratives for us to observe – and I like that for all of the end-of-the-world potentialities that Discovery is teasing, it *has* saved issues fairly low-key on an episodic nature. This seems like Who Watches the Watchers, a throwback to the period of The Subsequent Technology previous, and Burnham has to speak down a crazed fanatic from sacrificing his daughter.
It is fairly harrowing stuff. We additionally get to see Tilly thrust right into a state of affairs the place she is the one in peril, balancing the information that Starfleet isn’t doing sufficient to take care of her new recruits and studying to let go. It’s thrust her in an issue the place she has to get to bond with Rava, performed nicely by a June Laporte – and I appreciated that they skilled the trials and tribulations of the rituals collectively. Rain will come whether or not sacrifices are made or not and the truth that Tilly opts to refill Rava’s bowl provides Rava a combating probability – and the 2 bond over this to finish the trials, Rava has a chip on her shoulder eager to battle for one thing to show which can be her undoing, but what this episode proves is that the present remembers the Tilly/Burnham bond is so robust – proper again from day one, after they had been bunking collectively, and it exhibits once more – simply how far each of them have come. The present’s remembered Burnham has extra relationships than simply with E book and I like that the present makes use of them to flesh Tilly as a personality out extra – and it exhibits why Burnham is prepared to go above and past to interrupt the Prime Directive. It’s a Captain’s second that Burnham hasn’t had a lot of, and she or he will get to actually take centre-stage right here.
Adira and Rayner are working collectively and I do like that each have strong factors right here – it’s an excellent episode for them each. We’ve seen what Adira can do with out Grey and we’ve seen them come into their very own. Rayner is slowly making a Shaw-like journey – and now that the Adira/Grey relationship has been resolved we get to see extra of a concentrate on the Hugh and Stamets one, the chemistry between Cruz and Rapp on level. It’s good! It’s wholesome! Rapp has been one of many unsung gems of Discovery, he’s the Rayner earlier than Rayner was a factor – and I like that Cruz has allowed him to point out heat and compassion on his arc. All of the relationships at play in Discovery have had their very own completely different journeys – and it is a character-centric present at the start, every with their very own development.
Star Trek: Discovery 5.07 “Erigah” – Overview:
This one felt a bit abrupt however we choose up now with Moll and L’ak now in custody having been captured by the Federation, however L’ak is wounded and handled by the Federation. It’s a method of elevating the stakes and transferring towards the top of the Moll and L’ak plot but it surely did really feel a tad rushed to perform this, and a fusion of the 2 common political construction and the problem-solving pathway of old-school Trek – the mix of the 90s iteration that we noticed a lot of in Whistlespeak, and this day out in Erigah, which places our crew in the course of arising with a method to make use of the Breen in opposition to them.
The dynamic between Moll, L’ak and E book is put to the check right here as L’ak comes up with a approach to get out of the Federation stronghold however Moll doesn’t prefer it – he’s wished by the Breen to allow them to stake their declare to energy over the throne, however by bluffing off the pretense of working with the opposite Breen faction; it’s a scheme to get the higher hand of L’ak that Burnham nearly desires. It’s a fruits of types – the top of the trail we’ve been headed in direction of.
The Breen dreadnaught enters Federation area and places them on a collision course with the imaginative and prescient of the longer term that Rayner and Burnham noticed earlier within the season, and no marvel – Rayner is on edge, he believes that the Breen can’t be reasoned with, can’t be bargained with – there isn’t any negotiation with them. He’s an orphan; any individual whose folks he’s misplaced to them. Rayner’s edge provides him the perspective of a hardliner, and creates additional battle with him and Burnham. Callum Keith Rennie is the MVP of the Discovery crew on this episode – his scenes of a previous stay coming again to hang-out Rayner giving Rennie lots to work with. This present likes to have these characters discuss their emotions – as a result of god forbid, folks don’t discuss them – and Discovery doesn’t let Rayner down.
I actually appreciated simply how shocked I used to be by the present taking L’ak off the desk together with his unintended overdose, pissing off the Breen who had been purported to rescue him and customarily creating an unpredictable gap in Burnham’s plans. It was a final minute switcheroo that labored wonders, and taking the direct descendant of the Breen emperor out of the image actually pushed issues over the sting in the best way they haven’t been earlier than. All that brinkmanship was a pleasure to look at prior although – the stand-off between T’Rina, Vance and Burnham and the Breen troopers was peak Discovery and one of many strongest group moments within the sequence up to now – Tara Rosling acing the character T’Rina to perfection in her confrontation with the Breen.
It’s additionally an actual pleasure to have Tig Notaro again and she or he’s probably the most underused actors on the sequence. That’s as a result of she’s a really busy actor/comic, however she owns the scene each time she exhibits up and that’s no completely different, bluffing her CV with information of uncommon books however discovering a workaround for Burnham and co all the identical: an historical area library is on the agenda, devoted to defending information and floating by means of the celebrities with out one location tied down. Feels like a dream come true actually, and the right alternative for an additional spinoff sequence.
