Discovery 2x8 "If Memory Serves"

rating: ****

the story: Burnham and Spock go to Talos IV.

review: "If Memory Serves" opens with clips from the original Star Trek pilot, "The Cage" (later refashioned into the two-part "Menagerie").  The episode establishes that these events happened in Discovery's past, and so it ends up serving as a sequel (I suppose the second one).  Burnham brings Spock there thanks to the Red Angel mystery, and because she hopes the Talosians will help awaken Spock from his fractured state of mind.

Long story short, this is the episode where Spock finally gets to be Spock again.

Not only that, but Burnham and Spock, as adopted siblings, have a dramatic memory of their childhood revisited, and I'm stating now that it's one of the great scenes of franchise history, a must-see for fans of either character, and hopefully as of now, both.  They are now inextricably intertwined.  (The only thing that could make all this better?  Bring in Sybok.  But what're the chances of that happening?)  You know how the Abrams movies put a hard focus on Spock's difficult formative years, how he struggled to reconcile his human and Vulcan sides, and how his Vulcan peers made things worse?  That's the level of material we get here.  Burnham's younger self attempts to distance herself from Spock in the most logical way possible.  In a lot of ways, the results are what define Spock for years to come, his obsessive devotion to his Vulcan side over his human half that resonated so strongly in all the classic material. 

But that's not all!  There's more Section 31 drama, not just the emerging power struggle between Georgiou and Leland, but Tyler still trying to be taken seriously by Pike.

But that's the least of Tyler's worries!  He also has a big confrontation with Culber, who's having a difficult time adjusting to his return from the dead, finally even pushing Stamets away.  It's by far the best material Culber has ever gotten (a different era would've given him a whole episode to himself, and maybe that still happens later in the season?), given something other than his romantic relationship with Stamets to distinguish himself. 

It's a strong character episode all around, because of course even Pike gets in on the action, with a complicated reunion with Vina (we know that by the end of "Menagerie" they'll get a more satisfying one).  It was absolutely the right call to do this, if they were going to use Pike at all.  This might be the essential episode of the season, and an overall series highlight.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Talos IV's legacy continues to expand, and of course Spock.
• series - Spock becomes thoroughly a part of Discovery mythos.
• character - There's strong work in this regard everywhere!
• essential - Absolutely!

notable guest-stars:
Ethan Peck (Spock)
Wilson Cruz (Culber)
Michelle Yeoh (Georgiou)
Shazad Latif (Tyler)