Star Trek Discovery - Will You Take My Hand?

What a relief.

Everyone lives and everyone's happy.

Burnham has her commission back. Tyler lives.  Terran Georgiou lives.  The Klingons live.  L'Rell is free and the Federation has not lost it's soul.  Thank goodness.

Oh, and the fandom should be happy too.

Remember all those naysayers about "Discovery" not being their Star Trek?

Fixed!

So why do I feel so blue?

Ouch, never share your feelings with a Klingon.

I know what it is, I miss the old dark Discovery.  Betraying your mentor and friend.  The sadistic Captain, Tilly dropping F-bombs, the morose Tyler and his murderous ways.  Pulling a phaser on your bedmate. Snacking on Kelpien! 

Those were the days.  Ah, those were the days.  

Frankly, I don't know what going to shake me out this funk.

Yeah, maybe that'll help.  Those Orions sure know how to party.  I suppose I could snuff a little volcanic ash to pass the time.

Hey, that reminds me...

Clint Howard, what are you doing here?!!!

In case you young'uns don't know, Clint Howard is practically Star Trek royalty.  When I saw him on screen for this episode I blinked in disbelief, "You've got to be kidding me?" I thought.   

Clint's Star Trek resume goes all the way back to the original series.  He was famously in "The Corbomite Maneuver" where he played "Balok".  Now, he has the distinction of being the only actor to appear in both the original series and Discovery.  Go to Memory Alpha for more.  By the way, "Apollo 13" wouldn't be the same without him.


So where was I?

 

Ah yes, how wonderfully everything turned out for Discovery.

Am I glad Michael and Ash have made up?  Of course I am.  I particularly liked how the writers made sure Burnham said she could see Ash Tyler in his eyes.  Sentiments like that go a long way towards healing old wounds.  It was poignant and powerful.  

But boy, I thought Tyler was a goner for sure.  He seemed so broken I thought for sure he was going to do something rash.  Hopefully, we'll see his character down the road. 

I was totally surprised when he walked off with L'Rell.  They do share a past and the Voq/L'Rell romance was one of the hottest in the Alpha quadrant. Still, the closure was a little too pat.  I would have liked to a little more conflict.  

Maybe that's the Terran in me.



Speaking of Terrans 

How fortunate were we to have Michelle Yeoh in this series.  Even as brief as it was.  She steals practically every scene she's in.  She's a fashion plate. (I loved the duds they had her wear in order to "blend in" on Qo'noS.  She still looked like royalty!)  And she can still kick a** at her age.  (Which, by the way, makes her younger than me.)  

Yeoh does nasty so well.  Her character is still haranguing Saru.  Still finding outlet for her sadistic pleasure.  (Kicking the crap out of the helpless L'Rell.) Oh, and of course, selling her plan for balancing the playing field with the Klingons by committing genocide!

What a woman.

Having her capitulate so quickly to Burnham's ultimatum was a head scratcher though.  How did you get to be the Emperor again?  I guess I'm okay with her not killing the "Daughter who is not my daughter".  But she could have just stunned her (if that weapon had a stun setting, maybe a roundhouse kick then) and taken both the agreement and the weapon tablet.

Her line, "Worth a try" got a chuckle out of me.  Did she say that as Phillipa Prime?  It sounds so familiar.

We may as well get to the last member of the landing party.  The incomparable Cadet Tilly played by the amazing Mary Wiseman.  

Man, does Wiseman have this character nailed or what?

Tilly can be seen as bumbling at point and then go on to display uncommon valor the next.  Her grasp of the situation led her to investigate the "Drone" she was carrying and realize it was a bomb instead.

All this while being high as a kite and in the company of a creepy Orion.  

We can't go on without mentioning Tilly's comedic turn when she met the Emperor impersonating Captain Georgiou.  Tilly becomes self-conscious and then flinches when she realizes it's the Terran Emperor reaching out to her.  Of course, the best part was when she attempted the half-hearted Terran salute for which she was immediately admonished for by Burnham.

Earlier in the season,I had successfully predicted Tilly would end up in the Captains chair.  My next prediction won't be so hard.  Tilly will be stranded alone on an away mission having to fend for herself in a Tilly-centric episode.  Can't wait. 

 

I should have mentioned earlier this was a wonderful "Female-empowerment" episode.  All the ladies had terrific turns as competent and powerful women.  The only one that didn't excel was Admiral Cornwell.  This happened when she gave into temptation by agreeing to demolish the Klingon home world.  We'll give her a pass just this once.  She was trying to save the Federation and planet Earth after all.

L'Rell deserves special mention too.  Mary Chieffo did exemplary work as our new favorite Klingon.  She was especially effective beneath all that makeup with how expressive she was with her eyes.

Both nervous and confident when she faced all the Klingon Houses.  Compassionate and sad when she saw the fate of Tyler/Voq.   Angry and bitter when imprisoned.  Like Wiseman's Tilly, Chieffo was on of the surprise stars of this first season.  Word is, she'll make her return along with Tyler for season two.

So, in closing, Star Trek Discovery did play it a little safe in their season finale.  As I said, things were a little too pat.  Perhaps, they grew aware of the pressure of being a "non-canon" like series with the burden of being, "Not your daddy's Star Trek".  So, perhaps, they felt the pressure of "Fan service" in advance of their close and decided they better make sure everyone was happy.

That's fine.  It's only season one and anyone who remembers season one of "Star Trek The Next Generation" knows there are big shoes to fill in this franchise and a little time for growth is always allowed.


Odds and Ends

Interesting imagery of Michelle Yeoh's character with the star chart superimposed in the foreground.  It's like they are saying, she's a creature of many worlds but not belonging to any one of them.  Adrift in space perhaps.  If she has no home will she feel compelled to seek out Discovery once again?

What did they say on "Ghostbusters", never cross the streams?  This alien seems to have things well in hand.

The "Ceti Eels" from "The Wrath of Khan" make a cameo.  Don't tell me these things are a delicacy?  Ugh, no thanks, you never know whose ear they've been in. 

Sarek didn't exactly distinguish himself of late.  It probably wasn't easy for this Vulcan to admit he had made the wrong decision to eliminate Qo'noS.  But, as much as he could, he did seem to play the role of the proud parent.  He was also willing to concede a parent could learn from the child as well.  Hopefully we'll see more of James Frain's Sarek next season.  I thought he was excellent.

Mia Kirshner's Amanda Grayson made a brief return.   Kirshner's Amanda seems a little more self assured than Jane Wyatt's earlier version from the original Star Trek.  Maybe it's because Wyatt's version always felt so badly for Spock and her character was always tinged with sadness.  Not a bad thing. Both actresses still imbue their character with a regal bearing.

What to say about this?  A lot.  The Enterprise meets Discovery!  Captain Pike.  Science officer Spock.  Trouble with Talosians???

The mind reels.  I think I'll devote an entire speculative blog to this one.  After watching the Menagerie episodes once again that is.  See you soon.