Good to see Airiam again. Burnham vs. Burnham is something I never knew I wanted to see. People have mentioned "Shattered" but this also reminds me a little bit of "Relativity". Rillak's "use 20 words to tell me something not in your file" approach from last week paid off here. Glad to see more of the Burnham/Rayner dynamic and the Stamets/Rayner dynamic.
Before Rayner, I made peace with DSC ending after five seasons. But now, especially after this week, I'm hoping for a Discovery TV Movie down the road or that someone someway un-cancels Discovery later on ("not going to happen!" I know, I know... ) Rayner kicks ass and takes names. I could see him in SFA as a Red Forman type. "I'm going to put my foot in your ass, Cadet!"
Another rocket blast of an episode!
It's ironic they went with segments of history with this episode, because in doing that, they also reminded viewers of a fan favorite season 1 episode, and also covered some ground that felt like a reminiscence of this great series. It made me feel nostalgic, also felt appropriate for what was apparently not intended to be the final season. You couldn't tell. It feels expertly planned.
The moment Burnham met Burnham my jaw dropped open. Not just because we hadn't seen that sort of thing in contemporary Trek, but because we know how much she's changed! Those scenes bring it home, her thought process is so different. Huge props for the writing here. Burnham said she almost forgot how she was in this period, her development was not linear and she did give up at one time...potent reminder.
The time travel shenanigans was not the most original, we've seen those discrete time jumps before, but as a mechanism for character building...wow.
Rayner literally gets to see Discovery's trials and tribulations first hand...all those history making moments. He understands individual traits and has enough information to appeal to those. Discovery has spent time letting Burnham learn things, now it's Rayner's turn. Shaw done right as a fully formed character and not a wild card!
Stamets also is a nice part of the triad. His technical knowledge is helpful, and it's amusing seeing himself constrained by the different time periods and making a wisecrack at his crustier past.
Plusses for mentioning the time war again. We also we get to hear the Krenim were messing around with time weapon-building again. More future world-building. I'm guessing the spiders were some scientists' clever stab at stealth and humor?
L'ak and Moll are turning out to be great antagonists, using intelligence and the means at hand from their work to stay ahead of the Discovery. Who needs a big bad, we have a clever, small bad.
If all this wasn't enough, we have a hint of Calypso as an alternate future. Are the Breen going to side with L'ak and Moll?
I think that one clinches it, it's 10 out of 10. It's not even close to being less than that.
