Through 3 seasons of Paramount+’s Star Trek Discovery, it has been firmly established that the creators of the series are not afraid of breaking new ground. In fact, they embrace it! They embrace it with exciting stories that touch on the best of the Federation’s past and the challenges of the future. None more so than the event called “The Burn.” In what seemed like one fell swoop, the Federation had changed forever. However, if History has proven anything, it is the spirit of those afflicted to battle back and rebuild. That is exactly what the Federation intends to do. Attempting to re-establish past relationships and by bringing back Star Fleet Academy.
No Strings Attached
To the former end, Captain Michael Burnham, the newly named Captain of the U.S.S. Discovery has been assigned to establish contact with the Alshain. A race of beings that the Federation had a relationship with in the past, albeit a strained one. Unfortunately, a “minor” misunderstanding about Book’s Cat Grudge, have made the Alshain feel the need to give chase to Captain Burnham and Booker. The difficulty was that while THEY were being fired at, diplomacy made it an absolute necessity that they didn’t return fire. As the chase continued, Burnham realized that the Alshain’s flight patterns were erratic. They were having difficulty navigating amongst their trees due to their navigational satellites being down. So, in a show of good faith, Captain Burnham ordered the Discovery to revive their satellites. Once they accomplished this, they left. But not before leaving them with a case of dilithium. As another show of good faith. If the Alshain needed the Federations help in the future, they would be there. “No Strings Attached.”
Discussing the Future of Kaminar
At the end of Season 3, Saru had returned to his people as a respected elder. Now, thanks the gift of Dilithium from the Federation (they are like Santa with all the gift giving), they are debating the use of the gift. They can use it to once again to travel to other worlds, or they can use it just to benefit their world. The council is split on which direction to take. Some of the hesitancy is based on fear of another “Burn” scenario. Saru is asked his opinion on the matter. As an elder, his opinion carries weight. Saru understands both sides of the argument. But he believes that the people of Kaminar have much to offer other worlds. They are not alone. They share their sun with other planets. Their system is just part of a wide galaxy. The choice is to stretch out and share their knowledge with others, or fold up in reclusion. The choice is theirs.
Reviving the Academy
It had been 125 years since Starfleet Academy had been operating. So it was a huge step back to normalcy to open its doors. To commemorate it’s opening, the ever popular Captain Burnham was invited to address the new cadets and introduce the new Federation President. While this is an honor, Burnham has her concerns that President Rillak is using the event to her own ends. Imagine that, a politician taking advantage of an opportunity. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Regardless, Captain Burnham welcomes the new cadets and expresses hope that they will be the next generation of Starfleet officers to “boldly go.” She then introduces the new President. She thanks the Captain and crew of the U.S.S. Discovery for helping to make this happen and unveils the new Archer Space Dock. Where existing Starfleet ships will be updated and new ones will be built with one main goal: to resume scientific exploration. There are exciting times ahead for the Federation and Starfleet.
Repair Mission
While that is all well and good, as all Star Trek fans know, danger doesn’t take a holiday during the celebrations. They have received a request for aid from Commander Nalas from Deep Space Repair Beta Six. They had lost reactor control thrusters and gravitational stability was also compromised. Essentially, they were spinning around with no way to control the spin. The Discovery is sent to render assistance and President Rillak has decided to tag along. Captain Burnham tried to discourage the President from taking that kind of risk but funny thing about Presidents. They tend to do what they want. (See previous comment about change).
Station Repairs
Once the Discovery approaches the Station, they realize that a gravitational distortion of unknown origin had hit the station. After contacting Commander Nalas, they send Lt. Tilly and Ensign Tal to attempt to stabilize the system. All 10 of the Station inhabitants are in the main control room. Life support has failed in all other areas of the Station. Once beamed in, they see that the situation was as bad as Commander Nalas had said. However, the man is uber-protective of his crew and would not let Tilly or Tal do the main repairs. He was responsible for the crew so HE would do the main repairs. He assigned them to work on secondary systems. It was his party, so they conceded to his wishes.
Becoming a Man
Meanwhile, Book had returned to Kwejian to celebrate his Nephew Leto’s coming of age ceremony. From this day forward, he would be considered a man. It was a beautiful ceremony and Book was proud that Kyheem had asked him to take part in it. But as Leto went to show his friends, the birds in the forest all seemed to scatter. This was not normal for Kwejian.
From Repair to Rescue
Just as they had gotten the Stations thrusters operational, another unforeseen development occurred (how typical). Frozen methane chunks started to hit the station and the Discovery. Captain Burnham ordered the ships shields raised around the ship and the Station. Just in time, but the worst was still coming as the chunks started getting larger. Much larger. Extending the shields to protect the station was draining ships power. They would not be able to continue indefinitely, 15 minutes tops. This repair mission had just became a rescue one. Unfortunately, the ship could not lock on to the Stations crew. Nor could the station lock on to the Discovery. Their only chance was to use the main control room’s escape shuttle. But it was only designed for a one-way trip. Ensign Tal assured Commander Nalas that she could reprogram the shuttle to return. Reluctantly, he agreed to this. But as usual in Star Trek, it’s not that simple.
Captain Burnham: Garbage Removal
The debris from the damage is blocking the Station’s escape shuttle from being useable. It will need to be cleared in order for the Station crew to escape. Captain Burnham prepares to go out and remove the debris herself. Which makes the Federation President question if it is prudent for the ship’s Captain to leave the ship under Red Alert. Burnham explains that the situation leaves no margin for errors. She has the most experience of anyone on the ship with EVA’s. Thus, she is the logical choice. While the President might not agree with Burnham’s decision, she doesn’t stop her from making it.
The Gravitational Distortion Returns
Back on Kwejian, Book is in his ship trying to decipher what it was that spooked the birds. So far, he sees nothing in the forest that would explain their sudden movement en masse. But as he moves through the skies, he runs once again into the birds…almost literally. And they appear to be dead. Something is not right here. He quickly tells Kyheem to take Leto and find some shelter as he pulls his ship into space to see if he can locate the problem. Once outside the planet he runs into the Gravitational Disturbance as it hits Kwejian’s moon. Unable to avoid the debris caused as it hits his ship.
The Best of Both Worlds
Back on Kaminar, Saru is thinking about the Discovery. Su’Kal approaches him, knowing what was on Saru’s mind. He reminds Saru that thanks to him, he is safe on Kaminar. He has friends and family here. If Saru is remaining on Kaminar because of him, he should reconsider. As Saru himself had explained to the council, there are always possibilities. So, it is possible for Saru to be in both worlds. There for the council and also, for the Federation. Balance is possible Su’Kal reminds him.
Clearing off the Debris
Outside the ship, Burnham is removing the derelict pieces. But as she attempts to remove the last remaining ones, a piece of the frozen chunks collided with her vessel, cracking the shield. Fortunately, the back-up systems kicked in and protected her with a helmet, allowing her to escape her work pod. But the job wasn’t completed yet. Commander Nalas, realizing this, intended to take his crew to the next level to enter the escape pod. But there was no life support on the next level. Lt. Tilly attempted to stop him, telling him that to his plan was basically a suicide mission. The conflict escalated when Nalas pulled his phaser and aimed it at Tilly.
This is when President Rillak chimed in over the com. She told him that he needed to give Captain Burnham a bit more time. Burnham would finish the job and help him and his crew. She then acknowledged that she knew all he wanted was to save his crew and go home. She didn’t blame him. His home world was beautiful. They all wanted to get him home. Just give them the time to make it happen. He hesitated a few moments but then capitulated.
More Hard Choices
The few minutes were all Captain Burnham needed to clear the final debris so they could enter the escape pod. Commander Nalas sent the rest of his crew first. He would leave with Tilly and Ensign Tal. But as the first load was safely on board, they realized that a return trip would take more time than the ship’s shields would hold. Regardless, Captain Burnham did not want to leave Tilly, Tal and Commander Nalas behind. Even after the President reminded her that despite her desire to save everyone, sometimes it just isn’t possible and choices needed to be made. While Captain Burnham knew this, unless the President was removing her from the “Big Chair,” SHE would decide when and if Discovery would leave.
Going Home
Back on the Station, Commander Nalas, Lt. Tilly and Ensign Tal await the escape pod’s return. As the Station falls down around them, they discuss what they will do after this is all over. Nalas explains that he will be going home as soon as possible. Tilly wasn’t sure what her plans were and Tal just wanted to unwind. Perhaps with a Bubble Bath. Just then, the Pod returned and the trio scrambled aboard and jettisoned, just as the Station broke apart. On the Discovery, the shields finally failed and the crew scrambled to hold things together until the Pod was accounted for. Once it was confirmed aboard, Discovery jumped.
It was out of harm’s way but the Pod’s entry into Discovery was not without incident. Damage and medical teams made their way to the shuttle bay. Lt. Tilly and Ensign Tal were unharmed but Commander Nalas was not so fortunate and was killed on their crash into the bay. Much to the chagrin of Tilly and Tal but even more so to Captain Burnham. She had hoped to save everyone. But as command school teaches everyone, Rule #1 in Starfleet Command is that eventually people die. Rule #2 is that even Captains can’t change Rule# 1. (paraphrasing line from M.A.S.H.)
Not Ready
As Captain Burnham contemplated what went wrong, she was visited by President Rillak. They discussed the Kobyashi Maru scenario from Starfleet Academy. It was programmed to teach future Captains that eventually they would face a no-win scenario. The best they could hope for was to mitigate the situation and to save as many of their crew as possible. It required hard choices. Burnham reminded the President that the Kobyashi Maru was a rigged test. It was designed to produce failure. Rillak understood this. It was the point of the test. To accept failure when it was inevitable. It was a lesson she believed that Burnham had not learned yet. She still believed it was always possible to save everyone. Current events was evidence otherwise.
But as for the reason that President Rillak came aboard, she was evaluating Captain Burnham as a possible Captain for the newly updated Voyager with a new pathway drive prototype. But she didn’t believe Burnham was ready for such an assignment. And while Burnham had no desire to leave Discovery, she questioned President Rillak’s definition of “ready.” It was Rillak’s opinion that due to Captain Burnham’s reluctance to cut her losses in such scenarios, she was not quite ready for the Voyager. She would be…in time. But it didn’t change her respect for Burnham or her and her crew’s courage. They would agree to disagree about her readiness. However, an alert from the bridge made it a moot point for now. Booker’s ship had arrived on autopilot. Something was wrong.
Tragedy
Book came in telling Captain Burnham that something had hit his ship. The Stars, everything was warped. Burnham knew it had to be the gravitational distortion. But Kwejian was light years away from the station. How could it have traveled so far so fast? Book asked for them to pull up Kwejian on the long range space array. But it was not where it’s coordinates said it should be. Book thought that there must have been some mistake. But when Burnham ordered a wider search, they found something far outside Kwejian’s normal position. When the image was revealed, utter shock filled the faces of the bridge crew. None more than Book. Kwejian was in pieces. Everyone on the planet was gone.
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Thoughts
Time for full disclosure. I have not been following Star Trek Discovery since it’s beginning. Time and interest never seemed to coincide with each other. My mistake. As I prepared for reviewing this fourth season, I have realized how much I missed in the past three seasons. Show creators Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman have created a show that reflects the best of Star Trek and the courage to explore new stories. Whether delving in the rich tradition of Star Trek’s past, or reaching out into new venues.
This was never more true than in Season 3. With the advent of the “Burn” and the total restructure of the Federation, new stories and characters are ripe for exploration. Season Four’s 1st episode Kobyashi Maru laid the ground work of what is in store. It was filled with action and drama in just the right amounts. As I said, I’ve got some catching up to do.
First Impressions
Great opening for the episode. Captain Burnham has a bit of Captain Kirk in her. She seems to exhilarate in her job, even when being chased by humanoid “butterfly” people. No one should smile that much when being fired at. She also, like Kirk, would rather handle dangerous assignments herself rather than endanger her crew. Not exactly how the Next Generation folks would have handled it. Captains were too important than to let them leave the ship in a crisis. Just ask Commander Riker… or President Rillak.
President Rillak
Speaking of Rillak, I’m not sure how I feel about her at the moment. At times, she is the stereotypical politician, having mastered the skill of telling people what they want to hear. Although, I have to admit, she was able to talk Commander Nalas off the ledge. Whether or not what she told him was true was debatable. But it got the job done. I will try to keep an open mind for now.
Commander Nalas
Poor Commander Nalas. Hadn’t he been told that in a crisis situation, never make future plans. It happens all the time in war films. The young soldier tells his lady he will return to her and they will get married. Only to see the poor fellow die in battle. It is almost inevitable. But, he did the most important thing: he saved his crew. Rest well, Commander Nalas.
Episode’s Ending
The ending of this episode was tragic. Even for someone who was unfamiliar with Kwejian or its inhabitants. Book’s relationship with Kyheem and Leto was enough to make it tug at the heartstrings. That and Michael’s and Book’s faces as they surveyed the devastation. Powerful ending for what promises to be a great Season. As Season premier’s go, this was something special. I give it a 5 out of 5. Might as well set the bar extremely high.
Star Trek Discovery can be seen on Paramount+ with new Season 4 episodes released each Thursday.
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Senior Writer at GeekVibesNation – I am a 50 something child of the 70’s who admits to being a Star Trek/Star Wars/Comic Book junkie who once dove head first over a cliff (Ok, it was a small hill) to try to rescue his Fantastic Four comic from a watery grave. I am married to a lovely woman who is as crazy as I am and the proud parent of a 18 year old boy with autism. My wife and son are my real heroes.