The most recent episode of Star Trek: Discovery, “An Obol For Charon,” reveals that all beings, human or otherwise, want to be remembered after death. This entire episode feels very old school Trek, in that the Discovery is trapped by a mysterious alien being and the entire crew is engaged in freeing themselves from the grasp of the unknown, and then leaving with a little more understanding and knowledge of the universe around them.
1. Number One
Nope. We’re not talking about Commander William Riker, but in fact a nameless Number One that has appeared in past Trek worlds and series. There is very little development in her character that is canon, which means Discovery has the chance to do just that right now. What we see is Rebecca Romijn in the role and we see that she and Pike obviously trust one another implicitly; this is shown through their familiar dialogue, personal level of joking – about Number One’s food choices – and the top secret information she shares regarding their Science Officer, Spock, with her captain. Get this, Number One is wearing an (updated) old school uniform – command gold. We don’t get much more about new character within the universe of Discovery, but something about the way Romijn plays Number One makes her feel old and familiar.
2. The Sphere and Saru
As the crew of Discovery tracks Spock through his warp signal, they encounter a sphere of mysterious origin which stops Discovery in its tracks, like a fly in a web, according to Pike. The sphere infects Discovery with a virus, one that disrupts the universal translator and sends every crew member’s speech into utter disarray, whether it’s Klingon, French, Arabic, or Spanish. As time passes, the sphere appears to parasitically feed off of Discovery, sucking her dry: low shields, low life support, lack of control over the ship’s main functions. As Saru begins his descent into inevitable death, he asks his good friend, his friend so close he calls her sister, to make sure his personal logs are saved, so he can be remembered. But isn’t this what we all want in death, to be remembered. And Saru realizes this. The sphere isn’t trying to destroy the Discovery, it’s simply trying to communicate its 100,000 years of memories and knowledge to the ship’s computers – to be remembered – and Saru’s innate empathy helps accomplish this dream, or scientific breakthrough. In order to obtain this almost unbelievable record of knowledge, the Discovery must render itself vulnerable, and drop its shields. Just as Michael Burnham must render herself vulnerable to accept what her friend Saru asks of her at the conclusion of the episode, to end his life so as to avoid the inevitable suffering that comes with the death of a Kelpien.
3. Knowledge
Despite being convinced of the contrary, Saru lives. In a powerful realization, he sees that his entire species way of life and processes of beliefs are a lie. They have accepted a false truth. Saru no longer feels fear, he feels power; he was not suffering from a terminal illness signaling the end of his life as he assumed, he is experiencing a different phase in his life, one free of fear. Saru once promised Captain Georgiou he would not return to his home planet because his knowledge of Starfleet would change Kaminar and violate all that Starfleet holds dear. But now, Saru is faced with knowledge that could change his people forever, and that knowledge will inevitable lead Saru to more questioning and more suffering.
4. Tilly and May
Turns out the life form connected to Tilly is sentient; according to Stamets, it contains life. After the sphere “attacks” Discovery, this life form, which appeared to Tilly as May, escapes and reattaches itself to Tilly. It wants something. Turns out, what it wants is to tell Stamets that a destructive alien presence is destroying their way of life, and that the alien presence is Stamets and Discovery. The spore drive is destroying them. Stamets does ask for forgiveness, but in the end Tilly is consumed by May. Just as the sphere is involved in a symbiotic relationship with the Discovery, May is involved in a symbiotic relationship with Tilly. They both need something; we just don’t know what it is May needs yet. There are some truly trippy scenes within this storyline as well as…
Continued below5. Jet Reno
SHE’S BACK. Tig Notaro that is. Reno is embroiled in some serious wordplay with Stamets over the past of space travel and the future of space travel. Dilithium vs. spore drive. Pollution vs. renewable energy. She’s also involved in attempts to free Tilly from May; incidents which are filled with dry wit. I’m so glad she’s back.
This was a tightly written episode with multiple interlocking story elements, which seemed to leave less than usual to be analyzed. Ultimately, this episode is about friendship and death, and how the two intertwine in multiple ways.
