Hope you had a lovely Christmas Trekkies! So on this week’s antepenultimate episode of Discovery season 3, the crew detected a life sign in the nebula where the Burn began, and set out to rescue them. As Saru, Burnham and Culber went down to a dilithium planet inside the radioactive storm, Tilly took command of the ship for the first time, and immediately found herself faced by Osyraa.
“Su’Kal”
Written by Anne Cofell Saunders
Directed by Norma Bailey
1. A Strange, Silly Twist
Let’s get the episode’s stumbling block (and what will hopefully be the only one of the whole season) out of the way: the heavily implied origin of the Burn here is overtly fantastical, resembling something out of Marvel Comics rather than Star Trek. On the hidden world, Saru, Burnham and Culber discover Su’Kal (Bill Irwin) — the child-like Kelpien born on the Khi’eth after it crashed — was exposed to so much radiation in utero that when stressed or scared, he can unleash violent bursts of energy: he caused the Burn as a child. I’m quite sure that’s now how evolution works, and it’s such a bizarre turn of events that it makes me wish the Burn hadn’t been this season-long mystery.
2. Body Swap Shenanigans
Something that is silly but fun in the episode is the entire premise of Su’Kal living inside a giant hologram on the shipwreck, which turns Burnham into a Trill, Culber into a Bajoran, and… Saru into a human! Seeing Doug Jones out of make-up brought a huge grin to my face, because he’s absolutely earned a time out from the prosthetics, and it was also hilarious seeing Saru with such a full head of hair (perhaps he should start wearing a toupee on the bridge). The fancy dress (so to speak), and the spooky, Escher-esque setting of a crumbling castle populated by glitching, ghostly holograms, would’ve made this a perfect episode for Halloween — I can’t help but hope Bryan Fuller, the series’ original showrunner and lover of all things Gothic, enjoyed it.
3. Booker the (Worryingly) Brave
Booker keeps making himself useful this week, first by using his morphing ship to navigate the radiation storms and locate Su’Kal, and again when Osyraa showed up, and he was forced to retrieve the landing party by himself. He’s really proven himself to be a selfless, totally supportive partner for Burnham and the whole crew, which leaves me really worried he’s gonna bite it at some point during this three-season finale. Don’t get me wrong, it’d be a poignant natural end point to his arc, but he and Burnham deserve to be happy at the end of all this.
4. Why Adira Got Ghosted
Adira’s storyline progresses a bit this week when Gray returns to their subconscious, and explains he’d been absent as he felt trapped, unable to speak or interact with anyone other than them. Now here’s an opportunity the episode opens up: Adira stows away with Booker to ensure Saru and Culber will continue to survive on the radioactive planet, and I can’t help but think the Khi’eth‘s computer will pick up Gray’s brain patterns, and construct a holographic body for him when Adira enters the derelict — a relationship with someone made of photons could be a very Trek-ish way of advancing the transhumanist themes we started to see in Picard.
5. Baptism of Fire
Tilly’s first time in the captain’s chair (while not posing as her mirror counterpart) was great, it was a delight seeing her make sure Osyraa didn’t get under her skin — her tendency to overanalyze and think out loud really came in handy there. Unfortunately, perhaps she’s so focused on her composure that it doesn’t occur to her that Osyraa’s thugs were finding a way to bypass Discovery‘s shields, and beam in to take over the ship themselves. Well, as first voyages go — no, this was probably the worst first time anyone’s ever had as a captain.
Bonus Thoughts:
– As mentioned last week, this episode was originally titled “The Citadel,” after the fortress hologram Su’Kal retreats into when frightened.
– Speaking of toupees, Saru’s decision to beam down to the planet is a throwback to 23rd century captains like Pike and Kirk, something Vance appears consciously aware of.
Continued below– Really liked the dramatic irony of Burnham being worried that Saru would be emotionally compromised by whatever they find on the planet, and then encouraging him at the end to stay and help Su’Kal.
– The headgear the Chain use to force Stamets to use the spore drive — “Spock’s Brain” anyone?
Well, see you all next week when Burnham and Booker retrieve Discovery from Osyraa (I hope). In the meantime, happy new year!
