Such Sweet Sorrow Part 2
The finale of season 2, continuing from where the previous episode left off. There is a lot here, to break down. It's a foregone conclusion that Spock wouldn't end up in the future, or that the Enterprise wouldn't be destroyed. Like the rest of the season there are many plot threads running through the episode. There is the overall battle, the events on Discovery, the events on Enterprise and Spock and Burnham. And there's more there too, Control attempting to gain the Sphere Data by infiltrating Discovery.
And the Klingons and Kelpians showing up to help fight against Control. Certainly interesting. Discovery. The beginning scenes, where the suit is being built were appropriately hectic, given that the battle had begun. However, what doesn't work was where the injured Stamets finds that Culbur had come back to Discovery to be with him. He'd still be working out his identity issues. Such wouldn't be resolved very quickly. In any case, the battle between Georgiou and Leland was done very well.
Excellent choreography. On the Enterprise, there was appropriate tension around the torpedo being stuck in the hull. The tension was in how much damage would be done to the ship as a result of the torpedo detonating. However, I'm not sure why Admiral Cornwell wanted to sacrifice herself. Surely one of those repair drones could have beamed into the room to pull the manual release? There wasn't any hint in the Admiral's actions as to why she would want to sacrifice herself. A big mystery.
As big a mystery that is Number One's name still is. (That's all she gives the debriefing officer?) Burnham and Spock. Did we need to see the previous Red Angel encounters from her point of view? Certainly, it explained some things, but it distracted from the battle scenes. Spock's farewell to Burnham was well written. That Burnham was his balance, seems interesting, but likely will go nowhere, given that the next season will be in the future (and a Pike series seems unlikely.) But that was a good scene.
Then there were the concluding scenes. It is reasonable to expect the Enterprise crew to come up with a cover story. (But whether Starfleet believes it is another thing.) Discovery and it's technology (like the Spore Drive) being classified was a foregone conclusion. However, the ending with the Enterprise crew beginning another mission was a rather good ending (leading into the unlikely Pike series). 7.8/10.
Season 2 Overall
While I did like this season better than season 1, I admit that it was a mess. Deep Space Nine season 1 was more consistent and better written, with Move Along Home (and potentially If Wishes Were Horses) being the outlier(s) there. (Clearly, I did a simultaneous re-watch, so as to compare the faith storylines. Terralysium vs. Bajor, but the series diverged. One can't compare CONTROL with the Dominion.) In any case, the faith-Red Angel storyline was convoluted, to say the least. The storylines in Doctor Who series 6 were easier to follow.
Then there's what happened with Spock and his relationship with Burnham. Unlike others I don't think his character was assassinated. It was expanded. More on that later. Then there's Pike and his fate, with If Memory Serves being the highlight there (as well as the season overall) rather than Through the Valley of Shadows. It's not all about Burnham. Talking about Michael, her plotline was interesting. It was good to see her working out how the overall scenario with the Red Angel and the signals.
There is also her family issues, not just with Spock, but also with Amanda and her actual mother, Gabriel. More on that below. The Tilly/May storyline may have gone over several episodes, but it seems to have been resolved in Saints of Imperfection. Still a bit unresolved. Then from that episode, it is replaced with the Stamets/Culbur storyline, which doesn't seem that realistic, beyond Culbur's identity struggles. Trying to squeeze too much into the storylines most likely. Of course there's Section 31 and their hubris leading to the situation with Control.
(Not outlined explicitly of course, just implicitly, and possibly by mistake). There's also the Klingon storyline. Not much to say about that. Anyhow, Spock. I wasn't sure what to make of the psychopathic implications to begin with, nor the dyslexia (the latter of which was probably not accurate from a human point of view. But who knows what the interaction with Vulcan traits could cause with such a disorder.) But more importantly, he's a younger Spock, who is still maturing. And he seems to be well on the way as the series end's.
(Clearly the implication is that Kirk replaces Burnham as his balance as that particular 5 year mission goes on.) Back to Burnham. Her trying to reconnect with her mother is what drives her as time goes on. Not only does she want to defeat CONTROL, she wants to reconnect with her mother. The events of Perpetual Infinity only serve to intensify that desire. There are many unresolved plot issues (not the least of which is Number One's name, possible subtitles aside), but overall a season worth watching, just not as good as a certain series of Star Trek produced in the 1990's.
7.68/10.
