Star Trek Discovery: 2x13/2x14 (Such Sweet Sorrow, Parts One and Two)
In which we see the bridge of the Enterprise, no bloody A, B, C or D.
So hey, it wasn't the Borg! I feel like a bit of a coward for not calling it earlier, but let's face it, the Borg theories never made much sense. Control doesn't act like the Borg, the timeline never matched up, and I always had a feeling the writers were just trolling us with 'struggle is pointless'. Star Trek, particularly the original series, has had a ton of rogue AI stories, and there was never much reason to assume Control wasn't exactly what it appeared to be.
If Discovery's show one thing this season, it's that it can do great emotional, character based scenes. If it's shown two things, its that it struggles to use those scenes to create coherent overarching storylines. The second season finale really sums up Discovery so far - a lot of really great scenes that needed just a little more work done to them to tie them together. It's very much a successor to Voyager in that way - you have to like the characters, accept that the plots won't quite add up, and do a little work yourself making everything make sense afterwards.
But let's look at what did work. Michael and Spock were, as always, the emotional heart of the episode; it's a relationship I'm glad we got to see and that I'm going to miss in season three. Paul and Hugh's breakup and then reunion was very moving. Tilly and Po's interactions were delightful - Tilly's been more irritating than charming the last few episodes, so it was good to see her back in form again. Any chance to see Saru in command is always welcome, while Rebecca Romijn does an excellent job bringing Number One to life. And the Emperor's seemingly well-meaning but utterly ruthless attempts to contribute brought some much needed humor to an otherwise fairly sombre part one.
And, of course, the recreation of the Enterprise's interiors was a delight! Striking the perfect balance of nostalgia and modern design; if there's one area where Discovery never puts a foot wrong, it's in its visuals. It's the Enterprise we never saw but always imagined really existed behind the limitations of nineteen sixties budgets and television limitations. I really hope we at least get another Short Trek to show off the sets properly.
As for the plot - oh, man. It's a mess. I don't know what triggered the original seven signals, or why the Federation couldn't track them when they first appeared. I'm not entirely sure what the time crystal actually did; nor do I really know why sending Discovery into the future was necessary in the end. I'm baffled as to how the Angel suit went from inexplicably advanced technology to something the Discovery could replicate overnight. It's very much visuals and emotion picking up the slack where the script fails. And, hell, it worked, for me at least. I got the idea of what they were going for, even if the actual execution fails more often than not to properly communicate how they're getting from point a to point b.
But again, I came out of the episode satisfied. Last season's resolution had the problem that it reiterated the mantra of 'we are Starfleet', without ever properly defining it. Here, we saw what that means. We saw old enemies united against a common foe. We saw friends standing together rather than letting one of their number meet an uncertain fate alone. We saw Enterprise serving as a physical shield to buy Discovery time.
And in the end, we got a blank slate again, a single ship in an unfamiliar world, without the weight of history or canon or continuity dragging it down any more. It was, I think, a bold choice to end the season without giving us any final scene with Discovery itself or the crew, but I think it was a good one. Next season, there are no limits on where the story can go. It's been a long strange road, through reboots and prequels and remakes, but finally, Star Trek is set in the future again.
Minor notes:
I'm not a fan of killing of Cornwell, just because it can't have any weight. From Discovery's point of view, everyone they knew is centuries dead, so it's not like her loss will have any special meaning going forward. On the other hand, part one left me all but certain that Reno was going to die dealing with the torpedo, so I'm willing to accept it as a fair trade. And Pike and Cornwell all but fighting over who gets to sacrifice themselves was very Star Trek.
(I also had the odd sense that Nhaan wasn't going to survive, so glad she made it to the end too...)
I was skeptical about bringing in Pike, but both the writers and Anson Mount did a phenomenal job, transforming him from a weird footnote in Star Trek history into a truly enteraining and fascinating character. It's no surprise there's already calls for him to lead a spin-off, but I don't know - a whole show about the Enterprise? It'd never work...
I love that the Emperor basically constructs an agony booth to deal with Leyland/Control. She's trying to fit in, but her instincts are still Terran, and she can't resist tormenting an enemy when given the chance.
That red, vaguely Jem'hadar looking woman on the Enterprise is a reference to the original plan that Spock would be a red-skinned demonic alien, right?
So hey, it wasn't the Borg! I feel like a bit of a coward for not calling it earlier, but let's face it, the Borg theories never made much sense. Control doesn't act like the Borg, the timeline never matched up, and I always had a feeling the writers were just trolling us with 'struggle is pointless'. Star Trek, particularly the original series, has had a ton of rogue AI stories, and there was never much reason to assume Control wasn't exactly what it appeared to be.
If Discovery's show one thing this season, it's that it can do great emotional, character based scenes. If it's shown two things, its that it struggles to use those scenes to create coherent overarching storylines. The second season finale really sums up Discovery so far - a lot of really great scenes that needed just a little more work done to them to tie them together. It's very much a successor to Voyager in that way - you have to like the characters, accept that the plots won't quite add up, and do a little work yourself making everything make sense afterwards.
But let's look at what did work. Michael and Spock were, as always, the emotional heart of the episode; it's a relationship I'm glad we got to see and that I'm going to miss in season three. Paul and Hugh's breakup and then reunion was very moving. Tilly and Po's interactions were delightful - Tilly's been more irritating than charming the last few episodes, so it was good to see her back in form again. Any chance to see Saru in command is always welcome, while Rebecca Romijn does an excellent job bringing Number One to life. And the Emperor's seemingly well-meaning but utterly ruthless attempts to contribute brought some much needed humor to an otherwise fairly sombre part one.
And, of course, the recreation of the Enterprise's interiors was a delight! Striking the perfect balance of nostalgia and modern design; if there's one area where Discovery never puts a foot wrong, it's in its visuals. It's the Enterprise we never saw but always imagined really existed behind the limitations of nineteen sixties budgets and television limitations. I really hope we at least get another Short Trek to show off the sets properly.
As for the plot - oh, man. It's a mess. I don't know what triggered the original seven signals, or why the Federation couldn't track them when they first appeared. I'm not entirely sure what the time crystal actually did; nor do I really know why sending Discovery into the future was necessary in the end. I'm baffled as to how the Angel suit went from inexplicably advanced technology to something the Discovery could replicate overnight. It's very much visuals and emotion picking up the slack where the script fails. And, hell, it worked, for me at least. I got the idea of what they were going for, even if the actual execution fails more often than not to properly communicate how they're getting from point a to point b.
But again, I came out of the episode satisfied. Last season's resolution had the problem that it reiterated the mantra of 'we are Starfleet', without ever properly defining it. Here, we saw what that means. We saw old enemies united against a common foe. We saw friends standing together rather than letting one of their number meet an uncertain fate alone. We saw Enterprise serving as a physical shield to buy Discovery time.
And in the end, we got a blank slate again, a single ship in an unfamiliar world, without the weight of history or canon or continuity dragging it down any more. It was, I think, a bold choice to end the season without giving us any final scene with Discovery itself or the crew, but I think it was a good one. Next season, there are no limits on where the story can go. It's been a long strange road, through reboots and prequels and remakes, but finally, Star Trek is set in the future again.
Minor notes:
I'm not a fan of killing of Cornwell, just because it can't have any weight. From Discovery's point of view, everyone they knew is centuries dead, so it's not like her loss will have any special meaning going forward. On the other hand, part one left me all but certain that Reno was going to die dealing with the torpedo, so I'm willing to accept it as a fair trade. And Pike and Cornwell all but fighting over who gets to sacrifice themselves was very Star Trek.
(I also had the odd sense that Nhaan wasn't going to survive, so glad she made it to the end too...)
I was skeptical about bringing in Pike, but both the writers and Anson Mount did a phenomenal job, transforming him from a weird footnote in Star Trek history into a truly enteraining and fascinating character. It's no surprise there's already calls for him to lead a spin-off, but I don't know - a whole show about the Enterprise? It'd never work...
I love that the Emperor basically constructs an agony booth to deal with Leyland/Control. She's trying to fit in, but her instincts are still Terran, and she can't resist tormenting an enemy when given the chance.
That red, vaguely Jem'hadar looking woman on the Enterprise is a reference to the original plan that Spock would be a red-skinned demonic alien, right?