Discovery 1x13 "What's Past is Prologue"

rating: **

the story: Burnham confronts Mirror Georgiou and Lorca.

what it's all about: Well, it had to end.  My enthusiasm for Discovery had been riding pretty high.  It would have been truly remarkable if that had been maintained through the end of the season.  Turns out it didn't.  The very serialized storytelling that's been working so well is actually what did it.  "What's Past is Prologue," to my mind, once again indicates there are limits to this style.

Even though Deep Space Nine in part reached its greatness thanks to its pioneering use of the style, and Enterprise received its only acclaim from employing it, serialized storytelling itself is not automatically good.  Storytelling is still storytelling, and must be judged on its own merits, not the way it's presented.  Today it's called "binge" storytelling, and there are a lot of people who seem to like it for the mere fact of its addictiveness. 

Which is to say, each episode still has to stand on its own, and must be able to justify what adds or doesn't add to the overall storytelling arc.  "Prologue" attempts to once again twist the knife of constant twists in this series.  For me it doesn't work.  And it works, as presented, about as poorly as anything has in Discovery (read: "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum").

As with a lot of Discovery material, the viewer is expected to carry previous events in mind, and judge the new material based on these previous memories.  This is the third episode in thirteen in which there's a big action sequence with Burnham being asked to confront the villain.  And this time, inarguably, the villain, for the first time, is someone we should reasonably be expected to care about.  With the two times it's happened with Klingons, we've known both times that it didn't matter, because we still had the Torchbearer, we still had (and as of this episode, have) L'Rell.  In a manner of speaking, that dynamic remains, because we still have Georgiou.  Well, Mirror Georgiou, anyway.  But that only makes things unnecessarily complicated.

Because the villain this time is Lorca.  We've just discovered that a character we've known throughout the season has been someone else all along (and hardly the only character like that), that he was from the Mirror Universe.  "Prologue" not only confirms this, but confirms that he's as bad as anyone has ever been in the Mirror Universe.  This feels like a development that can't be judged, entirely, on one episode, that it might be counterbalanced, once we see where Tyler/Torchbearer settles.  We can't use Burnham as the control element, because she's the only character in this series being allowed to operate on more than one level at a time.  Which turns out to be unfair, and part of what's slipping off the scales of what keeps Discovery feel like traditional Star Trek, despite everything else.

Because the episode ends with her believing she has a chance at redeeming Mirror Georgiou.  And not because Mirror Georgiou is redeemable, but because Burnham feels guilt about what happened with her Georgiou at the start of the series.  The series wants us to believe we care about what happens to Georgiou, any Georgiou, more than what happens with Lorca, and yet this is not really a Star Trek question at all.  If all we care about is Burnham, and whether or not those wacky people around her stop stumbling into dramatic situations, sort of tangential to her adventures but constantly defining them (Stamets and the spore drive has basically been confirmed to be a Maguffin)...

Sorry, I don't want to be flippant or negative.  My point is, "Prologue," even in that title, desperately wants to be evocative and climactic.  If you accept it to be a dramatic conclusion to Lorca's story, and that alone, it probably works the way it wants to.  If you wish Mirror Georgiou's arc concluded here, too, as I do, then it probably doesn't.  To my mind, it doesn't work because it weakens Burnham, and it strains the credibility of the storytelling.  Burnham's guilt doesn't outweigh Mirror Georgiou's character.  We don't need another episode to decide this.  Suggesting we do is a slap in the face of "Prologue" itself, which is all about reconciling the facts and what we want to believe.  Except in the matter where it really matters.  That's not good serialized storytelling.  It's deliberately prolonged storytelling, and not because it produces good storytelling.  Far too much serialized storytelling is like that.  Until now Discovery had avoided that trap.

Well, hopefully the rest of the season can make up for this.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Reflects poorly on Star Trek ideals.
• series - Regardless of its merit, this is relevant Discovery material.
• character - And relevant to Burnham and certainly to Lorca.
• essential - The death of a major character has rarely been this disappointing.

notable guest-stars:
Michelle Yeoh (Mirror Georgiou)
Rekha Sharma (Mirror Landry)

Voyager 7x15 "The Void"

rating: **

the story: The ship ends up trapped in a region of space, and the only way out is to forge alliances with other stranded crews.

 what it's all about: "The Void," despite a painfully straightforward title (of the wrong concept, as you'll see), is actually pretty interesting.  You can see the third and fourth seasons of Enterprise sort of germinate in it, and it also reflects the idealism Janeway always sought to embody, which was always at the core of the series premise.

Now, just to get the metaphor out of the way, in Enterprise's third season, Archer's crew is stranded in a region of space where they're often forced to confront desperate measures in order to survive, having to decide how to handle other ships that have resources they need.  And of course, in the fourth, Archer lays the most deliberate foundations of the Federation as he helps Andorians and Tellarites overcome their differences, paving the way for them to join humans and Vulcans at the core of a powerful alliance.

There's no Federation being formed in "The Void," but the idea is much the same, mutual cooperation to mutual benefit.  And like Archer, Janeway encounters plenty of complications in her efforts to forge alliances.  The whole thing is an exercise in exploring just how Janeway was able to maintain a Starfleet outlook despite difficult circumstances.  Where fans saw only hardship (and that's much how it played out in Ron Moore's sort of response to Voyager, Battlestar Galactica), and that kind of pessimism was in fact indulged in "Year of Hell," "The Void" embodies the kind of resourcefulness and optimism that's at the heart of Star Trek.

There's a subplot involving a "vermin" species the crew discovers among the alien ships, which is eventually used to disable uncooperative (and treacherous) crews, which I'm not sure was given enough time to properly consider.  It's like an entirely separate story that was mashed into the main plot, and sits uncomfortably beside it.  And for its focus on Janeway's significance, Janeway herself doesn't really seem essential to how everything play out.  There's no specific focus on her.  It's more like business as usual.  Seems like a missed opportunity.  Plotwise, "Void" is almost a response to "Night," the fifth season premiere where the crew was similarly stranded in a desolate region.  "Night" was a terrific Janeway spotlight. 

criteria analysis:

• franchise - These echoes of Enterprise are all in hindsight. 
• series - Demonstrates the viewpoint of the crew exceptionally well.
• character - It's the Janeway ethos minus any real spotlight on Janeway.
• essential - And yet, I use the word "exceptionally."  Even if the center is missing, the puzzle is complete in that regard.

notable guest-stars:
Jonathan del Arco

Voyager 7x14 "Prophecy"

rating: ***

the story: The crew encounters a generational Klingon ship.

what it's all about: Now, technically, the story is about, well, a prophecy (there would be little reason to call the episode that otherwise), and while that's certainly central to the story, seemingly the whole point...there's a layer of cleverness to it that speaks to the plight of the crew, the premise of the series, too.

And that's why I consider it first and foremost an encounter with a generational ship.

Because isn't that the theoretical fate of the crew?  If they don't find a shortcut?  In the final episode ("Endgame"), we in fact encounter an alternate future where Miral (more on her later) and Sabrina (the daughter of Naomi Wildman, who herself has already long represented the possibility) represent another generation of the crew.  And so to encounter a ship with a generational crew must be considered a fairly deliberate plot device on the part of the producers, something that harkens back to the wide range of stories in previous seasons about the nature of the series, previously featured most heavily in all the potential shortcuts, as well as potential new homes, should the crew ever decide to abandon its journey.  Neelix, in "Homestead," ends up taking that option, and "Prophecy" predicts that, too.

So that's whole level on which the episode works exceptionally.  There's also Miral.  Miral is the future daughter of Torres and Paris.  Previously, in "Lineage," we saw Torres tormented by the idea of her, but in "Prophecy" she has a chance to welcome the possibilities.  And ironically, it has everything to do with Klingons.  Now, you can actually enjoy "Prophecy" purely as a Klingon episode, and unlike most Torres episodes, you don't have to be filled with angst about it (such as "Barge of the Dead," "Day of Honor").  That in itself is a remarkable accomplishment, just another of the many things Voyager did that few fans would ever have imagined possible, a true testament to the approach the series stuck to despite massive backlash among the more intransigent. 

And as a final spotlight for Torres, it's wonderfully understated in its poetic impact.  It might seem strange, to give such a famously conflicted character such a personal story that really belongs to someone else, and yet...that's what makes it work so well.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Fans of Klingons will enjoy this unexpected new cultural meditation.
• series - Wonderfully evocative of the premise.
• character - A fitting final spotlight for B'Elanna Torres.
• essential - Sometimes perfection seems incomplete.  You just really kind of wish it had been one final existential crisis for her.

notable guest-stars:
Sherman Howard

Discovery 1x12 "Vaulting Ambition"

rating: ****

the story: Burnham confronts the Emperor.

what it's all about: The biggest and really only problem I had with Deep Space Nine's serialized storytelling was that when it counted, during those six- and ten-episode arcs at the start of the sixth season and end of the series, respectively, there didn't seem to be a lot of narrative clarity.  Things happened, and they kept happening, but the stories the series wove with such precision in its episodic tales vanished, and big moments ended up buried or marginalized.  Discovery certainly doesn't have that problem.  Its solution?  To have big reveals, and to keep them at a slow burn.  "Vaulting Ambition" is the latest climax in a series of climactic reveals.  It's almost like Star Trek is suddenly embracing the false face flair of Mission: Impossible, another iconic series Leonard Nimoy acted in.

Which is to say, everything I was saying about the last episode is once again true this episode.  Discovery has definitely reclaimed its narrative momentum.  With that strong three-episode suite at the start of the series, and now with three of the past four episodes, there's a stronger sense of impact than at just about any other point in TV franchise lore going on.  I have no idea how long this lasts, because there have always been strong seasons in Star Trek that don't necessarily carry on to succeeding seasons.  Momentum of this kind is easier to continue within a season than outside of it. 

But anyway, momentum does continue here, and in a number of fruitful ways.  Tyler/Torchbearer reaches a climax (is Torchbearer permanently gone? we'll see!).  Stamets and Mirror Stamets (in an echo of Bashir's experiences, after a fashion, in Deep Space Nine's "Distant Voices")  figure things out, and Burnham, as I said in a woefully in inadequate summary of the episode above, hashes it out with Mirror Georgiou.  That sequence is a nice way of bringing Burnham back to the center of the series, with everything else revolving around her, something that hasn't seem as true for a while. 

Oh, and Lorca comes from the Mirror Universe.  Yeah.

Apparently there was some speculation about this, just as there had been with Tyler/Torchbearer.  Doesn't diminish the impact of the revelations, though.  These moments are pitch-perfect.  Hopefully fans in an era where chatter is instantaneous can keep the storytelling itself in perspective, how it's executed.  Of course, that's another story that continues in other episodes.

One element that definitely is episode-specific is resolution for Stamets and Culber.  Arguably this is Culber's best moment.  Arguably?  Let's just agree that it is.  It's enough to be able to see Stamets be Stamets again.  The episode in part serves as a reminder of just how engaging the character is.  It also reminds us that he is capable of connecting with someone on a deep level (he seems to fail this with just about everyone else, but Tilly comes closest to filling that void, as she likely will in the future).

And?  This is Saru's best appearance in a long time, too.  Certainly, better than the ham-fisted spotlight "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum."  At exactly the same time the series offers up its creepiest moment, when Mirror Georgiou reveals Burnham is...eating Kelpian.  (She's not eating Mirror Saru, but...on any level this is just wrong.)

So, this is a very good episode.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - A huge development in the Mirror Universe mythos.
• series - Huge moments seemingly every few minutes for Discovery fans.
• character - I think just about every main character had a huge moment in this one.
• essential - So many huge moments!  Is this in fact a leading contender for best episode of the series so far?

notable guest-stars:
Michelle Yeoh (Mirror Georgiou)

Discovery 1x11 "The Wolf Inside"

rating: ****

the story: The journey to the Mirror Universe gets real in a most unexpected way when Tyler's secret is exposed.

what it's all about: "The Wolf Inside" is everything "Despite Yourself" wasn't quite.  Where "Despite" was almost completely setup, "Wolf" cuts deep.  It's essential in just about every way, and once again proves the strength of Discovery's storytelling.  This is a series that has embraced serialized storytelling from the start, something Star Trek has been working on since Next Generation but most enthusiastically in Deep Space Nine and Enterprise.  At times Discovery has slipped into episodic mode, the franchise's old wheelhouse, even if it's been an awkward fit.  "Wolf" proves how rousing the series is in its natural serialized mode, moving forward with big dramatic moments that in any other Star Trek would've been the subject of a reset button after one story. 

So yeah, Tyler really is the Torchbearer.  "Wolf" is almost a direct sequel to the first two episodes of the series, with effective use of flashback so we know exactly what we're dealing with.  In all previous iterations of the franchise, this would've been exiled to a "previous in" pre-episode recap.  It's refreshing to see so many of the old rules broken, in ways that benefit the storytelling.

But there's a lot of tradition in the episode, too.  Even more than "Despite," "Wolf" feels like it's carrying on the storytelling tradition of the Mirror Universe, picking right back up where Enterprise left off.  In more ways than one!  This happens to be the first time Discovery features Tellarites and Andorians, both of whom appeared in Enterprise (the latter quite extensively), for the first time since the original series.  The rebellion featuring them as well as Vulcans and Klingons also serves as an ironic nod to the Deep Space Nine episodes that followed up on "Mirror, Mirror," where Kirk is able to convince Mirror Spock to end the tyrannical grip of the Empire...to disastrous results for humans. 

Beyond the big reveal of the Emperor at the end of the episode (which again follows tradition, where Hoshi Sato in Enterprise and Worf in Deep Space Nine kept the role in the family), is how Tyler's drama plays out, in parallel aboard Discovery and with Burnham in the enemy ship.  I can't state how much Tyler has turned around from his inauspicious, seemingly random origins in the series.  The more we've seen of him, the more he's been given exactly the development he's needed.  By the time we're asked to reconcile the truth about him, we feel just as betrayed as everyone else, and paradoxically we want him to survive his execution, too.  How else does Tyler find redemption?  Or will there be some even juicier results from the nature of his existence?  It's Seska redux (Voyager), what we never got to see from Ro Laren in Next Generation, and what Deep Space Nine tried to pull in a single episode ("Defiant") with Thomas Riker (the transporter duplicate).  Seska had a whole season to let the dagger sink in, plus several rewarding surprise appearances later.  Tyler is Seska as if we care as much about her, before learning the truth, as we did about Ro Laren.  See where this is a good thing?

Also?  Stamets meets Mirror Stamets.  And that's the biggest tease of the episode...

criteria analysis:

• franchise - The Mirror Universe just keeps getting better.
• series - This crew's journey in it just keeps getting more complicated.
• character - Tyler reaches one climax of his existence(s).
• essential - Reaching immersive depths not really seen since the start of the series.

notable guest-stars:
James Frain (Mirror Sarek)
Michelle Yeoh (Mirror Georgiou)

Discovery 1x10 "Despite Yourself"

rating: ***

the story: The crew finds itself stranded in the Mirror Universe.

what it's all about: So, the serialized story continues, in an unexpected new direction.  Or, new for Discovery, but hugely familiar in the franchise at large.  Mirror Universe?  Does that mean nothing to you?  In the original series, "Mirror, Mirror" introduced the Mirror Universe (and that explains the name, too), which famously featured Goatee Spock, where the gimmick was everyone there was basically the evil counterpart of everyone here.  Flash-forward to Deep Space Nine's "Crossover," where the story picks up again, and then continues throughout the rest of that series, mostly one episode a season.  And then Enterprise had the two-part "In a Mirror, Darkly," where the origin of the Mirror Universe is revealed (and ties in with First Contact), among other things.

"Despite Yourself" actually has a tie-in to that one, which is also a tie-in to the original series episode "The Tholian Web," where a lost ship called the Defiant is found.  "Web" didn't state that the ship was in the Mirror Universe, but "Mirror, Darkly" established that.  And so now Discovery does, too. 

There's plenty of Discovery-specific material, too.  "Despite Yourself" is a direct continuation of "Into the Forest I Go," which means Lorca and Stamets are responsible, indirectly (or was Lorca deliberately leading the ship there?  fans wonder!), for getting everyone to the Mirror Universe.  Speaking of Stamets, he's beginning to look, more and more, like he's going to be the latest Star Trek character to flirt with godhood, a tradition that also goes all the way to the original series.  Seeing him with the pupil-less eyes is spooky!  And just another thing being serialized.  We'll see.

And what about Tyler?  We find out that he's been overwritten (or underwritten?) by the Torchbearer from the early episodes of the series.  That's another fan theory confirmed after a fashion.  To finally have that mystery solved is pretty huge, and arguably the most important element of the episode. 

My only gripe?  That this is the kind of episode that needed to hit harder than it did.  Serialization has its drawbacks.  The biggest one is that when a story doesn't have resolution within a single episode, a given episode can't stand on its own as well as it might otherwise seem it does.  A different series would've dealt with Tyler's revelation as the whole episode, and yet here it's just a subplot being explored across multiple episodes. 

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Return to the Mirror Universe!
• series - The latest twist in the journey!
• character - But the big reveal?  Tyler is basically the Torchbearer.
• essential - Juggling these elements, in this case, diminishes the impact of the whole.

Voyager 7x13 "Repentance"

rating: ***

the story: The ship temporarily houses alien convicts.

what it's all about: "Repentance" is basically the Dead Man Walking of Star Trek episodes.  It's not really about a member of the crew at all, but the guest character played by Jeff Kober, a convict who undergoes an operation that cure him of the impulses that led him to murder, but leaves him with unbearable remorse.  The family of his victim has a chance to grant him an appeal, based on this development, but ultimately chooses against it.  It works as a tragedy, whether or not the viewer carries the idea into the real world, and that's all due to Kober's sympathetic performance.

There's other shenanigans going on around this plot, including a formulaic fellow convict played by F.J. Rio (playing a far less sympathetic character, certainly compared to the last time we saw him, in Deep Space Nine), basically padding.  Seven is loosely tied into the plot, a Borg parallel concerning her lingering guilt over her actions while a drone, but it's not terribly memorable.

What "Repentance" does is affirm the strength of Star Trek's original episodic mandate, in a way Voyager had in particular come to master, so that guest characters were capable of carrying whole hours, as in the masterful "Distant Origin."  This one's comparatively minor, but as a late addition in the final season, it's a great reminder of what Voyager was capable of, regardless of persistent fan criticism to the contrary.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - A testament to Star Trek's original episodic format.
• series - And how Voyager could so masterfully employ it.
• character - A weak effort to tie Seven into the plot.
• essential - A compelling guest character effortlessly sells his own case.

notable guest-stars:
Jeff Kober
F.J. Rio