Sunday, October 22, 2017

Star Trek: Discovery -- "Lethe"

I.... actually liked this episode.

While on a secret diplomatic mission to open negotiations with a subversive group of Klingons, Ambassador Sarek's shuttle is damaged by a "Logic Extremist" (they are going to have to come up with a better word for that) Vulcan suicide bomber.  Because of his unique telepathic relationship with Specialist Burnham, Sarek is able to broadcast a psychic distress signal, kicking the crew of the Discovery into high-level ambassadorial rescue mode.  Meanwhile, Admiral Cronwell, an apparently old friend-with-benefits (more on that later) of Captain Lorca shows up, worried that Captain Lorca is not quite over being tortured by Klingons (or, presumably, blowing up his own crew, as we learned last episode that he once did).  Turns out, Captain Lorca is not over being tortured by Klingons, and Admiral Cornwell informs him that she is going to relieve him of command.  Sarek is rescued, but in too injured a state to meet with the subversive Klingons.  Admiral Cornwell goes in his stead.  The meeting is actually a trap and Admiral Cornwell is captured by the Klingon high command.  Upon being informed of this, Captain Lorca does nothing.

The heart of this episode is the interaction between Specialist Burnham and her adoptive father, Sarek.  The aforementioned "psychic distress call" takes the form of Sarek's greatest regret: the day when Specialist Burnham graduated from the Vulcan Science Academy, fully expecting (as valedictorian) to be admitted to the Vulcan Expeditionary Mission (a Vulcans-only form of Starfleet, I think).  Specialist Burnham has always believed that she, mysteriously, did not make the cut and in that way failed Sarek.  What actually happened is that Vulcan high-command, anticipating Spock's eventual application, was only going to admit one of Sarek's "not quite Vulcan" children (Burnham is human; Spock's mother is human) into the Expeditionary Mission, and they forced Sarek to choose.  He chose Spock, forcing Burnham to join Starfleet instead.  Ironically, Spock goes on to do the same thing of his own free will.  What Burnham had always seen as her greatest failure, Sarek actually saw as his greatest failure.  I love this for two reasons.  Family is hard, which is actually a theme that Star Trek has explored before.  I am even more thrilled with the idea that there are nationalist Vulcans.  How can there not be?  They are a) devoted to a religion (logic) whose principal tenet is that it is the only correct way to make a decision and b) technologically slightly more advanced than everyone they have diplomatic relations with.  Of course some of them are going to let it go to their heads.  I love this idea.  To be fair, it is, like everything good about Discovery, an idea that Deep Space Nine first introduced, if somewhat clumsily, in "Field of Fire" and "Take Me Out to the Holosuite."  Regardless, it is a modification to Roddenberry's canon that has long deserved a proper treatment, and I can't wait to meet more "Logic Extremists" (though can we please, for Surak's sake, call them something else).

This particular backstory also goes some way towards answering one of my first, most exasperated questions of this show: "why did it have to be Sarek?"  If one of the themes that they intend to explore is Specialist Burnham's alienation at being a human raised on Vulcan, then the idea of Vulcan-human families is going to have to remain somewhat outside accepted Vulcan norms.  The alternatives are: put her in Spock's family (we already know that Sarek married a human, and, indeed, marries another after Amanda Grayson dies), or posit that there is another high-ranking Vulcan official open to an inter-species family.  The latter option would cut against the idea that humans are not fully accepted in Vulcan society (though, I suppose the idea could be that the Vulcan elite is more accepting of humans than working class Vulcans).  This theme could also be the long-awaited justification for making Star Trek: Discovery a Star Trek prequel, rather than a Star Trek: Voyager sequel.  It is much easier to believe that Vulcan nationalism is running hot before Captain Kirk rather than after Captain Janeway (unless the idea is that it is revanchist Vulcan nationalism arising in a future where the Federation itself is starting to fall apart; certainly Europe in 2017 proves that such movements are always possible).  The writers will have to tread lightly, though.  It was a little ridiculous in Star Trek V that Spock had a half-brother he'd never mentioned.  Now we learn that he had a human foster sister.  Surely, that would have come out in one, if not all of the "passionate humans" versus "green-blooded, pointy-eared Vulcans" disputes between Spock and Doctor McCoy.  Or maybe Amanda would have mentioned her during her appearance in "Journey to Babel" (the flashback we are shown seems to indicate that Amanda regarded Specialist Burnham as her daughter, whatever Sarek's feelings may have been).  I am sort of reasoning my way through this as I write, but I think my opinion is: I can now almost see why they wanted this to be a prequel, but there were ways it could have been a sequel, and I don't think that they can get through the complications involved with making Burnham a part of Spock's family without trampling canon.

This episode has other, more obvious warts, as well.  As I mentioned before, the B-plot revolved around the past relationship between Captain Lorca and Admiral Cornwell.  Apparently, a part of this relationship involved casual sex.  I have no problem with casual sex between characters in general.  I do have a problem with a) a Starfleet admiral sleeping with someone under her command and b) Star Trek joining the ranks of fiction that seems incapable of portraying an emotionally intimate relationship between a man and a woman that doesn't involve sex.  This just seemed like a sloppy choice on their part, much sloppier than last week's forced "f-bomb."  It was unnecessary and I wish they hadn't done it.

There is also the question of Lieutenant Tyler, whom we are apparently supposed to trust even though the entire internet has already decided he is a sleeper Klingon spy.  The longer they draw this out (assuming we're right), the more awkward it is going to feel.  Maybe they're going to reveal this in a few episodes and it will be moot.  I fear, though, that they are saving the reveal for the season finale.  That would be unfortunate.

All of that being said, this episode falls squarely into the "is Star Trek" Venn diagram in my mind.  I am as shocked as you are.  Don't worry.  The teaser for next week involved Harry Mudd.  I expect to be back to my snarky self in a week's time.

1 comment:

  1. Having thought about this for 20 more hours, I am going to revert to my original opinion that "this show needs to be a sequel to Voyager." You can still tell the story that they want to tell. You can tell it more easily, and you can tell it more poignantly. In the same way that 2009 America managed to convince itself that it was somehow "post race," 24th century Vulcans would no doubt have believed that they were above base notions of racial superiority underlying Logic Extremism*. Watching us/them realize how wrong we/they were is/would have been important. Star Trek is supposed to be important (or, at least, Star Trek is supposed to think it is important).

    *I have now written "Logic Extremism" without scare-quotes. I'm not sure I can go on respecting myself.

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