Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 3x09 - "Terra Firma, Part 1"

Prime Lorca better show up or this story would be completely pointless.
What was with them using “prime” and “mirror” expressions? That’s our name for them, not in universe.
Strangely enough, Kelvin timeline is a in universe name for that as it is used by Daniels in STO. That’s where the name comes from.

 

I couldn't help thinking Bruce McGill should be playing Karl. It was like watching Al the Bartender from "Mirror Image"!

And then Georgiou Leaps in as herself...

 

I think this two-parter is a rehast of "It's a Wonderful Life'' featuring Emperor Georgiou, where Guardian Clarence (ahem Carl) shows her how her future would've looked like had she never met Burnham and Crew and they did not rescue her back in S1. Presumably Mirror Burnham and Lorca would've eventually successful in their coup plan and got rid of her and convinced others to join them because to their mind, her decision to spare Burnham instead of executing her would've been perceived as "soft" and "weak," despite the fact for us it's a character growth on the Emperor's part.

Now that she realizes that she doesn't want to return to her past live as Emperor, but she doesn't belong in Prime Disco-verse either, she decides to jump into her own adventure as a Section 31 operative, because that's the life she enjoys the most .

 

As I stated earlier, I think it's an "It's a Wonderful Life" reenactment featuring Georgiou as the main character in which she was made to realize that her life would've had more meaning after meeting Burnham and the Disco Crew rather than if she had continued on as a Terran Emperor in the Mirror-verse.

But I agree w/you, the episode would've been much more interesting with Prime Lorca's presence. Whether he would've helped her or would've he helped Mirror Burnham's plan to eventually remove her from her throne is another question though

 

I am a little confused here. If this is the past and Georgiou implied that it is then how come Stamets dies, instead of betraying Lorca as we know he did and die later at the hands of Lorca? So is that some kind of retconning or something?

 

Done.

 

I'm unsure how I feel about this one. It started off VERY strong with the Kelvin Timeline time soldier and ended in the Mirror Universe with "Mirror, Mirror(TOS)"-like shenanigans and had the Caretaker-like guy in the bowler hat in the middle but so much of the rest just felt...I dunno, filler. Moments of classic Trek brilliance and others where it just felt like killing time to fill out this week's episode.

I think it's a very soft 6.

 

I like how in 2379 the Kelvin Timeline is using the 2359 Prime Starfleet uniform.

 

Well, that was surprising. And a big step up from the last few episodes. Though I still do have a few quibbles here and there.

Though I suppose the MU tell was right in the title, I still didn't quite expect this. More than that, I was surprised that after Georgiou passes through the doorway, the show stopped cutting back to the real Discovery. It certainly made narrative sense to do so, given the episode was framed from Georgiou's POV. It also made casting sense, because basically the entire main cast can may their MU counterparts.

I thought the episode was very effective for what it was. Obviously the MU is a good excuse for grimdark camp, and we saw that on display here. But there was a surprising level of depth in terms of Georgiou's character here as well. We get to see that even though she's way too comically evil to fit in with the Discovery crew, she's been changed by her experience there to the point she can't just slide comfortably back into her old role. SMG was incredibly effective as MU Michael. In contrast, Mary Wisemen disappointed as Killy. She was just...there. Not adorkable like Tilly, but not campy and evil either.

My main issue with this episode though is in a serialized show with a limited number of episodes this seems...kind of self-indulgent? They are using a two-parter to get Georgiou irrevocably off the show, but by nature of the story they're telling now nothing that happens in the MU will impact the PU characters at all. As far as the Discovery crew are concerned, the relevance of Georgiou ended when she passed through that door. In episodic Trek this would be fine, but here I don't get why you do it when you can write Georgiou out of the series with more economy. And while I enjoyed this episode, they're really just retreading Season 1 plot points (albeit in a better way than was done in Season 1). I think Georgiou going to the 32nd century of the MU would have been more interesting, but undoubtedly it would have been harder to deal with from a casting and set perspective.

 

Mirror Burnham is amazing. I wish Prime Burnham made this much of a joyous impact.

 

Next week's episode preview.

Spoiler

Looks like there's gonna be a rebellion inside the ISS Discovery

 

I guess the huge technology boost the Kelvin universe got didn’t apply to uniforms.

 

The more I think about this episode I wonder if they should've played Mirror Georgiou sort of how they depicted Mirror Spock on TOS or even Mirror T'Pol on ENT and Smiley O'Brien on DS9, that while the Mirror versions are different, they aren't that different from their Prime opposites deep down. Perhaps if they had had a less vicious and Machiavellian Emperor Georgiou in the first season that would've given Mirror Lorca and Burnham the reason to kill her off for weakness (which I feel they just invented this season to soften Georgiou before her own series because they don't want to write a series about a villain or even a really dark antihero now it seems).

If Emperor Georgiou had been more regretful and reluctant in her villainy from the beginning I could've also seen why Prime Burnham could even logically see Prime Georgiou in her, and it would've made her further broadening or softening while trapped in the Prime Universe make more sense.

Though I imagine the next episode will completely overwrite the "Succession" comic, I hope there will be some nods given to that miniseries which I enjoyed. I would like to see Georgiou's cousin Alexander in live-action.

 

On the other hand it's comforting to know that the TOS and TNG styles are appreciated there and embraced.

 

Wished they had used that uniform for ST: Picard instead.

 

Agreed. Love Mirror Burnham's "Joker'' impression when she confessed to her "Mother'' and admitted she and Lorca is plotting against her.

The Mirror-verse characters seem to have more lasting impressions to viewers, probably because they're allowed to step outside of the comfort zone of their Prime character and go pure evil. As a refresher, look at Mirror Detmer's scene back in S1 (starting from 3:52), which made more impression on me than any of her Prime counterpart S1 scenes,

 

I love the Caretaker-like guy at the doorway. I kept expecting him to say something like the Caretaker did in the VOY premiere.

"No, no, you're not what I need!!"

 

I'll give you three guesses which rating I gave this episode, and the first two don't count.

I don't know if this is the best episode of DSC's third season, but is my favorite episode of the season. Great to see the Mirror Universe again in all of its grand design. It's like watching an anime come to life.

It also gives better foundation for Georgiou's character.

Yup. I'm not a Whovian (even though I did binge the first seven modern seasons once) but even I could tell this had a Doctor Who vibe.

 

This may be setting up Georgiou’s exit, but I don’t think this (the MU) is the exit. That Burnham didn’t go with her, or have a teary goodbye, is a big tip-off that Georgiou’s returning to the PU and Discovery. As such, I’m treating this as much-needed and long-overdue character development for a main Discovery cast member, one who soon may be heading up her own show.

The Orion stuff has struck me as pretty limp this season, so I’m not bothered by this detour like some. I’m sure we’ll get back to the Burn soon enough.