Discovery 2x12 "Through the Valley of Shadows"

rating: ****

the story: Burnham has a showdown with another Control avatar.

review: This is a series that's at its best when it needs to be.  There are rough patches at times, but there are in books, too, which any reader ought to be able to acknowledge.  When a long-form TV story is being told, there will be episodes where things that have to happen won't resonate as well as they should, especially if the complexity of the story is sufficient where risks have to be taken.  This season of Discovery has had considerable complexity, and considerable risks have been taken.  Much of the complexity has taken the shape of applying parallel structures to successive arcs.  Much of the storytelling itself has as a result become familiar.  If one version hasn't worked as well as another, there's always a chance to see it again.

The Section 31 threat, as the season has crystalized around, finds a new mode of expression in "Through the Valley of Shadows," in a single episode repeating the Leland arc but with greater focus and clarity, and as a result, execution, with a colleague Burnham knew from the Shinzou (the ship she served aboard at the beginning of the series, with the original Georgiou).

But most significantly, what helps the episode succeed so well is how it allows Discovery's eclectic cast of characters do what they do best, which is work together to solve problems.  For instance, we get to see Reno again, and her relationship with Stamets has now reached the point where she's willing to speak on his behalf to Culber, and that in itself is satisfying for all three characters.  These are characters who rarely mince words.  They take risks at alarming rates, in a very classic franchise tradition, both in their willingness to try and save the whole universe at great personal sacrifice, and they don't mind doing so at the personal level, either.  That was kind of the whole point of the series, looking beyond the Roddenberry template of a unified front, and discovering that it still exists anyway.  The Reno/Stamets/Culber sequence demonstrates that in spades.

Does it get better than that?  Wow it does!  It's Pike's second big moment of the season, and second direct acknowledgement of his ultimate fate.  And to do so, Discovery handles even niftier Star Trek continuity, digging deep to showcase Klingon time crystals (and Tyler's son!).  You'd have to be willing to remember Voyager and its series finale ("Endgame") to grin about that one.  I'm glad Pike has had this chance to shine, and his role in the season has been the most rewarding element of it.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - There's a satisfying deep cut of lore to savor here.
• series - But it's also satisfying for Discovery fans.
• character - Pike gets the nod as biggest beneficiary of the episode.
• essential - But really, everyone wins.

notable guest-stars:
Ethan Peck (Spock)
Tig Notaro (Reno)
Shazad Latif (Tyler)
Wilson Cruz (Culber)
Mia Kirshner (Amanda)