Story: Choose Your Pain
Though the Discovery's use of Ripper in the Spore Drive has helped turn the tides of the war effort in the Federation's favor, Burnham is becoming increasingly aware that the use of the drive is torturing the Tardigrade, and that begins to wear on her morality a bit. When Lorca is kidnapped by the Klingons, Saru must take command of the ship, and doesn't want to hear Burnham's argument against the use of the Tardigrade, end only wishes to move forward in using the drive to find his lost Captain. Saru is clearly worried about actually taking command, and hopes he has the abilities to succeed in his duties, so he does his best to remain in control and not take any guff from Burnham.
Meanwhile, Lorca is trapped in a Klingon prison with a young officer named Ash Tyler, and a con man named Harry Mudd. Ugh. I have always hated Harry Mudd, and while this version of him isn't nearly as awful as the Original Series counterpart, the taint of that classic character kind of hurts it a bit. They are different enough that you have to wonder why they decided to use the same character? Especially as Mudd is no fan favorite. At any rate, Rainn Wilson's version is decent enough as an antagonist. Eventually Lorca and Tyler escape, but they leave Mudd behind since he was aiding the Klingons by feeding them info.
Back on Discovery, Burnham is able to convince Dr. Culber, Stamets, and Tilly that the use of the Tardigrade is not only torture, but that everytime they use it, it is degrading the creature...so they need to find another way of using the drive before it kills the creature and they are left with no alternative. They come up with a risky plan, which involves injecting the Tardigrade's DNA into a human. In the end Stamets injects himself with the DNA to help the ship escape after recovering Lorca and Tyler, which opens up new possibilities for where that character will go.
It's an episode that I liked, particularly the Tardigrade moral quandary. The Lorca in prison stuff was only okay (if not somewht standard and generic), tainted slightly by the presence of Mudd, though again it might as well have been a new character...but just the name bugs me. But the story of Ripper, of Stamets deciding to take the leap and inject himself with the DNA to run the spore drive, and the unsure command of Saru...all worked rather well for me.
NEXT TIME: Is Lorca Still Fit For Command?
Written By: Kemp Powers
Series: Star Trek: Discovery
Year: 2017Though the Discovery's use of Ripper in the Spore Drive has helped turn the tides of the war effort in the Federation's favor, Burnham is becoming increasingly aware that the use of the drive is torturing the Tardigrade, and that begins to wear on her morality a bit. When Lorca is kidnapped by the Klingons, Saru must take command of the ship, and doesn't want to hear Burnham's argument against the use of the Tardigrade, end only wishes to move forward in using the drive to find his lost Captain. Saru is clearly worried about actually taking command, and hopes he has the abilities to succeed in his duties, so he does his best to remain in control and not take any guff from Burnham.
Back on Discovery, Burnham is able to convince Dr. Culber, Stamets, and Tilly that the use of the Tardigrade is not only torture, but that everytime they use it, it is degrading the creature...so they need to find another way of using the drive before it kills the creature and they are left with no alternative. They come up with a risky plan, which involves injecting the Tardigrade's DNA into a human. In the end Stamets injects himself with the DNA to help the ship escape after recovering Lorca and Tyler, which opens up new possibilities for where that character will go.
It's an episode that I liked, particularly the Tardigrade moral quandary. The Lorca in prison stuff was only okay (if not somewht standard and generic), tainted slightly by the presence of Mudd, though again it might as well have been a new character...but just the name bugs me. But the story of Ripper, of Stamets deciding to take the leap and inject himself with the DNA to run the spore drive, and the unsure command of Saru...all worked rather well for me.
NEXT TIME: Is Lorca Still Fit For Command?