Let’s call this the “I spoke too soon” review.
After last week’s “Choose Your Pain,” I was frustrated with Discovery. Its problems were mounting, and the series seemed committed to its perpetually murky narrative and grim tone. This week’s episode “Lethe” doesn’t so much solve these problems as sweep them under the rug and start over. Let’s list the annoying or problematic elements from previous episodes that “Lethe” completely ignores:
- The tardigrade / spore drive plot
- Tyler’s sexual abuse
- In fact, the entire Klingon storyline
- The Georgieu hero worship and strained Burnham / Saru relationship
Not only that, but this episode is completely free of gratuitous references to the Original Series! It’s almost as if it came from a different writing staff. (Which may not be far from the truth. We know that creator Bryan Fuller left the show early on, partly due to scheduling conflicts, partly due to creative differences, and after that, reports trickled in of Trek veterans like Joe Menosky, Kirsten Beyer, and Nicholas Meyer being hired. Perhaps this episode is when the cavalry arrived, though that’s just an educated guess.)
At long last for Discovery, “Lethe” makes sense all the way through and is grounded in real substance. We get an A/B story structure where both stories are based in character and mostly work in a self-contained fashion.
Sarek’s Sophie’s Choice
Last week, I noted that Burnham had gotten a little two-dimensional, without a clear objective to define her. This week puts the character back on solid ground with a very strong A-story about her relationship with Sarek. The episode makes good use of the mind-meld relationship between the two established in “Battle at the Binary Stars.” When Sarek’s shuttle is damaged by a Vulcan extremist suicide bomber (more below), Burnham senses that he’s in danger and helps guide the Discovery crew to rescue him, all while reliving one of her and Sarek’s most painful memories.
On paper, this sounds like classic Trek. Change the names, and this story could’ve been done on The Next Generation, Voyager, etc. That’s not a complaint, though. The mind-meld scenes are executed with 21st century visual flair, and what we learn about Burnham and Sarek is strongly rooted in the themes of this series. The big reveal, and it’s a good one, is that Sarek was pressured into making a choice between Spock, his son, and Burnham, his adopted daughter. In scenes of intriguing implicit racism, a Vulcan bigwig makes it clear to Sarek that the Vulcan Expeditionary Force, their equivalent of Starfleet, will only accept one human or part-human member. Sarek chooses Spock, a decision made all the more painful when Spock defies his wishes and joins Starfleet. So Sarek and Burnham both lose. This leads Burnham to an important realization: she’ll never be the person Sarek wants, and she’ll never get out of him what she needs. It’s a solid, emotional character core that really helps Burnham grow. It’s not just her logic and emotions that are in conflict, she realizes. It’s her emotions themselves. That’s just part of being human, Tyler says with a dashing shrug. Finally, Discovery gets around to that “exploring-the-human-condition” thing that’s such an important part of what Star Trek is.
Captain Paranoid
What’s Lorca’s deal, anyway? His B-plot in “Lethe” is intriguing, but retains the murkiness of previous episodes. Lorca’s air of mystery is beginning to move from fascinating to frustrating. Even his Serious Dark Backstory from last week (apparently leaving his crew to die) isn’t mentioned. The conflict plays out between Lorca and Admiral Cornwell, who pays Discovery a visit. We learn the two were romantically involved, and they hook up, which is refreshing if only due to how awkwardly previous Trek series have dealt with sex. What doesn’t work so well is the subsequent scene where Lorca starts awake and pulls a phaser on Cornwell. She’s shocked that he keeps a phaser under his pillow and swears to have him removed from command since he’s a “broken man.” The scene is jarring, perhaps unintentionally (a problem more in the directing than the writing). The onscreen drama works fine, but underneath it, there’s still the unresolved question: why is Lorca so paranoid that he keeps a phaser under his pillow? There’s withholding information to create tension, and then there’s stalling for time. Discovery has played the “Lorca-might-be-crazy” card one too many times. Whatever dark secret he’s carrying, I guarantee it would be more interesting to learn it than to continue dancing around the point.
The rest of the characters, though, get good showings:
- Each episode seems to make Tilly more earnest, disciplined, and endearing. I’m almost embarrassed that I complained about her so much in “Context is for Kings.” This episode features a nice mini-arc of Burnham teaching Tilly to excel. There’s a great scene at the end where a newly humbled Burnham admits, “There are many ways to the captain’s chair.” Tilly: “I know. I’ve found my own way.”
- Last week, Stamets injected himself with a substance that allowed him to commune with the spores. So this week, we get Spore Stamets, who’s a lot more blissed-out and giggly than regular Stamets. His scene is a delight.
- Though Shazad Latif is quite charming, I’m still not sure what to make of Tyler’s character. Young and dashing…? The episode is clearly setting up a romance between him and Burnham. Though the actors have good chemistry, I don’t see where this comes from on a character level.
The big plot development at the episode’s end is that Cornwell takes over Sarek’s secret negotiations with the Klingons, then gets kidnapped. Though I saw that coming a mile away, it’s interesting to see Lorca’s non-reaction. He makes the rational choice not to go rushing after her, though the audience’s instinct may be to hate him for abandoning her. From the trailer, next week’s episode looks to be unrelated to the ongoing story. A time loop! Harry Mudd returns! If it’s at least fun and delivers more solid character work along the lines of the Burnham / Sarek A-story, then I’m looking forward to it.
Miscellaneous Notes
- Sarek’s shuttle is nearly destroyed by a young Vulcan suicide bomber who announces that he’s part of a Vulcan isolationist group who wants to leave the “failed experiment” of the Federation. Make Vulcan Great Again! Combined with the subtle but firm xenophobia of the Vulcan bigwig (he refers to Sarek’s children as “experiments” and has the memorable line “diversity must be titrated”), this episode reveals an interesting new facet to the Vulcans. Characters like Spock may follow the IDIC (Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations) philosophy, but it turns out you can twist logic to justify racism. In classic Trek tradition, Discovery is mirroring our times, and the rise of far-right anti-immigrant movements in the US and Europe today. I hope the series draws the thematic connection between the Vulcans’ and Klingons’ calls for “racial purity.”
- The episode is visually gorgeous. The Vulcan vistas, the stylish mind-meld effects, the candy-colored nebula. In this aspect at least, Discovery has excelled.
- It’s hilarious that the replicator chips in with the nutritional benefits of whatever the crew orders.
- It’s also hilarious that almost every Trek episode that shows the crewmembers “training” has them running through the halls. Are there no treadmills in the future?
- The episode is co-written by Joe Menosky, who wrote for The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager, including the all-time classic “Darmok.” It’s tough to guess, but the episode’s writing has a sure hand that could’ve come from a Trek veteran.
Previous episode: “Choose Your Pain”
Next episode: “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad”