I’m not really sure how much I actually have to say about this, but I watched this episode last night and fucking loved it, so much so I rewatched it with my kids his afternoon to introduce the character of Sylvia Tilly to my kids before we watched the episode of Starfleet Academy that features Tilly, so I figured, why not talk about it for my blog. As I’ve mentioned before, I have a complicated relationship with Star Trek Discovery, and I am currently trying to get through it all for the first time after two failed previous attempts. The best summary of my feelings towards the show generally are frustration. Broadly, it feels like it has a lot of good ideas which are wasted, it feels like its serialized plot is both too big to fit in its limited season run time AND that they would all fly much better if they were gutted and shrank down to two part episode length, its main character gets way too much focus and they don’t even really seem to know what they want to do with her, and most criminally, they have so many interesting characters with potential that take a backseat to Michael Burnham because this is the Michael Burnham show and she needs to solve every problem.
Well, if one episode existed to prove me wrong, its this one. The A plot of this episode focuses, in perhaps a series first, not on Michael Burnham, but on Sylvia Tilly. I exaggerate, there have been other episodes focuses on other characters - I think Burnham is barely in Season 3 Episode 2 perhaps which tells the story of how Discovery reconnects with her after journeying to the future - but generally speaking almost every episode features Michael in the A plot, and usually ever problem is resolves directly through her action, and frankly, thats exhausting. It makes her feel like a superhuman, in a bad way. This episode, though, focuses on Tilly, by far the most relatable of the cast on Discovery for me, and honestly I suspect for a lot of its audience. She’s strongly autistic coded, and while she is not my particular flavor of autism - I am more the quiet, withdrawn, low affect type, whereas she is bubbly, effervescent, socially awkward but constantly optimistic type, I can still see myself in her far better than the arguably also autistically coded Burnham with her Vulcan logic or whatever is supposed to be going on with her frankly somewhat confusing characterization over the series. But I’m getting sidetracked.
Going into this episode, I was skeptical of this plotline. I knew it was coming, because I knew Tilly was on Starfleet Academy, but it felt inorganic to me. Why would Tilly want to leave the command track and become a teacher? Its all we have ever seen her express a desire to do, and while the show insisting through the mouths of Saru and Burnham that Tilly is command material always rang a bit false to me - how is a total mess like her (like me, like me) suppose to be command material - her doubting that did not seem to come from anything. Yeah, I know its suppose to have been triggered by the stressful situation on the Star phase or whatever, but it just felt out of left field.
However it started, though, I think they delivered in this episode. We see her journey with these cadets, struggle to command their respect, struggle to get them to connect with each other, and then succeed to do so because of her unique skillset and charm and ability to show vulnerability, which is a natural outgrowth of her character, and then reflect on the experience, and explain her prior desire to be a Captain was because of parental expectation, that her parent is gone now and will never know of her achievements, and thus she needs to live for herself now, and that perspective would be a helpful one for cadets. They stuck the landing. It makes sense, and was very emotionally resonant. Even if it is a retcon, even if this episode exists solely to justify writing Tilly off Discovery and onto a different, already cancelled by now show, they made this character change believable and relatable, something I find has been a big struggle of the show to this point.
I also liked both the Saru and Burnham Ni’Var plot. Saru flirting with the Vulcan head honcho was very cute, I hope it goes somewhere. Burnham being chosen to be the head of the exit clause counsel or whatever is another example of the show making it clear Burnham is the most important person in the universe at all times, but in the context of the episode it makes sense and its played well. Its neither here nor there but honestly I really wish Burnham were a Romulan, her repeated use as a branch to Vulcan when she is a human who was adopted by Vulcans always feels weird and out of place - I’m not a big fan of her connection to Spock at all, it feels like pointless fan service - but if they were going to do it, I feel it would have made more sense for her to be a Romulan, not a Human. You’d still be able to keep the issues she had adjusting to fitting in to a society that was not her own and emotional regulation in an overly strict, rigid society, which serves as a metaphor for a black child raised by white parents, which I believe is the metaphor they were shooting for with Burnham, but without the constant weirdness of the show needing to remind us she is technically Vulcan, since Vulcan and Romulus have since merged. She’d also make even more sense as an emblem of their unity. Anyway, tho, I should stop rewriting their show, the point is, I like this plot. Its was mostly self contained in this episode, it had cute moments, and while Burnam’s role still seemed outsized, it worked for this episode.
The C plot with Culber and Book was also resonant, and honestly is one of the first times I felt a real connection to Book as a character. He felt like kind of a big nothing all of season 3, and largely because, like everyone else in the show, he is always playing second fiddle to Burnham. Giving him scenes on his own, with other characters, to grow and expand so we can know who he is, is great. I was initially hesitant about them blowing up his goddamn planet just to give him some characterization, but it’s working. I do wish it had come a season earlier, and honestly maybe could have just been a backstory introduced to us in flashbacks in his introduction, but again thats me rewriting the show to what could have and should have been rather than what it is, and for what it is, I am glad he is finally being fleshed out in a way that makes him feel more real.
Adira also got some growth here. They are another character who generally feels underdeveloped due to the show always focusing on Burnham, and in particular their constant hostility to others correcting them was a bit confusing until it was further explored in the past few episodes. Honestly I think Discovery as a whole struggles with how to characterize its characters because it has so much plot it wants to get through they rarely have time to breathe, but this episode, with its comparatively lower stakes gave all these characters time to grow. I hope this continues. I’d still love to see literally anything happen to Gray that isn’t in Adira’s mind, directly related to them being a trans allegory, or both, because as is they are woefully underdeveloped and feels very much like a token character that exists merely to be a love interest for Adira, who themselves feels a bit like a token character who exists merely to be nonbinary and a child for Stamets and Dr. Culber, so Gray as a token of a token is especially thin. But again, thats really just because the show rarely has time for anyone but Burnham, and this episode did a good job otherwise, and I hope that continues.
All in all, this was definitely my favorite Discovery episode so far, and honestly stands up with some of the better Star Trek episodes in general. Its a shame it came so late in the show’s run, I don’t have much hope for my opinion of the show overall changing over the remainder of the season and a half that is left, but it definitely makes me wish it was given more seasons to continue to grow these characters. It feels like they are figuring things out.
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