Sooo, where should I start?
I'm actually glad that the episode went to some of the places I would've wanted to: Discovery getting involved in low-scale, interplanetary conflicts and reestablishing friendly relationships one at a time, as if rebuilding the Federation, brick by brick. I didn't expect it to take place in the home counties right away though. Earth not being a part of the rump Federation was another thing I've hoped to see. I'm wondering if its isolationism in the wake of the Burn is an allegory of the United States withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, especially with them hoarding dilithium that they don't even use. I've also had pre-Pearl Harbor America First and Brexit vibes, but then again, these are just the most common things that come to mind when you think of isolationism. I just hope that this also means that if and when the Federation is restored to its second golden age, Earth will pay the price of their retreat into splendid isolation and be readmitted as a mere member.
Ultimately, I'm not sure that I'm happy with the show's choice of skimming through Burnham's entire year. She's much more relaxed and emotional, but I kind of feel like I've been cheated and robbed of a whole year of character development. I have a feeling that they're going to reveal what had happened to her gradually, with her deeds coming back to haunt her, but they're treading a very fine line here. This week, her frequent allusions to the adventures she'd had with Book felt like we've been dropped into the middle of a totally different story without any context despite their really superb chemistry, and this hurt the episode for me.
Perhaps because of this, I couldn't quite place her in this one. She was having her doubts about readjusting into her old life, something that both Book and Georgiou caught on to immediately, and which was eventually confirmed when she went behind Saru's back and enacted her own plan without consulting him, forcing him to act in the dark and put the lives of the crew on the line. Did she know Saru would place himself between Book's ship and Earth to shield her? It was really, really reckless (just as reckless on Saru's part, but he
was reacting to Burnham) and I would've wanted more discussion at the end than a "we need to trust each other" from Saru. They should've acknowledged that this could've easily ended with all of them dead. Michael is right about one thing though; Saru
is the perfect captain for the Discovery, and I was very glad to see him immediately trying to broker a peace between Ndoye and Wen. Perhaps Earth will learn from this and return to the galactic stage eventually.
Observations:
- I'm wondering about Adira's pronouns, because the press release used they/them, but everybody seemed to use she/her even in Adira's presence, so I don't know if the character is supposed to be female, meekly accepting being misgendered, or if the show is reserving they/them after successfully accessing Admiral Tal's memories. I actually believed at first that she merely invented the admiral to lure Federation ships so that she could join them, so the Trill symbiont genuinely caught me by surprise.
- The truth about Georgiou's admiral uniform from the trailer was absolutely hilarious. Of course she would do that.
- Michael's hair is gorgeous. And I love that Tilly agrees as well. My shipping heart just grew another size today.
- I was very glad that Tilly was the first to hug Burnham. I wouldn't have accepted it otherwise. She was a great supporting character both for her and Stamets.
- Captain Ndoye. I'm happy that modern Trek is finally starting to diversify the backgrounds of its characters after decades of anglocentrism.
