Story: Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2
Written By: Jenny Lumet & Michelle Paradise & Alex Kurtzman
Series: Star Trek: Discovery
Year: 2019
So we come to the end of Discovery's whirlwind second season. Surrounded by Section 31 ships, all empty and controlled by Leland, Discovery and the Enterprise must hold off attacks until Burnham can get the suit working and send Discovery into the future. It's a cluttered episode, one that has to tie up a lot of loose ends, and I think it succeeds in a lot of that, even if the battle sequences are frustrating messes of 'splosions.
The signals finally make some sense now, as Burnham fails to get the suit to make it to the future, it turns out that the failure she saw with the Time Crystal is inevitable unless she goes back in time first and send the signals that lead them to where they are. Signals that will get the Kelpians to show up in the Ba'ul ship (sure...) and the Klingons to come to the rescue. Signals that lead them to Jett Reno and Po. It's all a causality loop basically. In order for Burnham to successfully navigate to the future, she must first put all the pieces in place from the past.
The episode is a lot of whiz-bang. A bit too much whiz-bang actually. The 45 minute space battle was exhausting to watch. Just crap exploding on screen, with no real orientation as to where any of it was. It just seemed to be a bunch of drones blowing each other up and I had no idea what was what. And ultimately my biggest complaint of the episode might be that it is all filler. It is just stalling time until Burnham can open up the wormhole to the future and Discovey can follow through without Control having access. Except, Control/Leland gets on Discovery and he is finally neutralized by magnets (via our friend Georgiou). If he is taken out, why is it still imperative for Discovery to make it to the future? Is there still a threat of Control? It seems unlikely as after he is taken out his drone ships stop working. So...wait...what?
I get that the Kelpians have already figured out how to fly ships purely so they can have the emotional arc for Saru...able to properly say goodbye to his sister...and I get that Leland is on Discovery so they can have one last knock down drag out with Georgiou, and she can do him in. But I think it might've worked better if she magnetized him, and then they beam him into space, then take off to the future. At least then they'd be going because they don't know if he can come back. As it is, they seem to have ended the threat and taken off anyhow.
But ultimately the end goal was about the series fixing up some canon issues that bug nitpicky fans. It was about getting rid of the advanced ship and it's spore drive and casting them out of the universe...never to be spoken of again. The ending sees them take off into the wormhole, as Pike, Spock, and the Enterprise watch. The Enterprise gang and Tyler then tell Starfleet that Discovery exploded in the battle with Control. I think that the hint is that the Spore Drive caused the explosion, and that is why Spock suggests that the Spore Drive and Discovery not be spoken of again.
I know a lot of fans were whiny about Spock never mentioning Burnham, and how that could possibly be...but that was never something I needed clarified. To me that was always within his established character. Spock never mentioned his parents until they were literally standing in front of him and Kirk. He never mentioned his half brother until the guy had them locked up in a cell for over an hour. He didn't mention that he had a wife until he was knee deep in the pon farr. Hell he could barely even explain Pon Farr even when he was throwing his soup at people. The dude is just notoriously tight lipped about his private life. Oh he has an adopted sister that hasn't stopped by? Of course he doesn't mention her! But alas, for those whiny fans, they have worked in that Spock and his parents will not mention Burnham for security reasons. Fine. I'm good either way...but I still think that wasn't needed.
I do think the finale nicely wrapped up some threads. It literally left stuff in the past, things I think needed to go for the show moving forward...like Tyler, the Klingons, and Section 31. Stamets and Culber seem to be back on the same page for their romance, that is if Culber can heal Stamets after he is hit with shrapnel. Also they killed off Admiral Cornwall. It sent Pike and Spock and the Enterprise off on new adventures (with Spock finally shaving and assuming his uniform once again), and it ended the Red Angel arc. I think it succeeded in many of it's story arc necessities.
Written By: Jenny Lumet & Michelle Paradise & Alex Kurtzman
Series: Star Trek: Discovery
Year: 2019
So we come to the end of Discovery's whirlwind second season. Surrounded by Section 31 ships, all empty and controlled by Leland, Discovery and the Enterprise must hold off attacks until Burnham can get the suit working and send Discovery into the future. It's a cluttered episode, one that has to tie up a lot of loose ends, and I think it succeeds in a lot of that, even if the battle sequences are frustrating messes of 'splosions.
The episode is a lot of whiz-bang. A bit too much whiz-bang actually. The 45 minute space battle was exhausting to watch. Just crap exploding on screen, with no real orientation as to where any of it was. It just seemed to be a bunch of drones blowing each other up and I had no idea what was what. And ultimately my biggest complaint of the episode might be that it is all filler. It is just stalling time until Burnham can open up the wormhole to the future and Discovey can follow through without Control having access. Except, Control/Leland gets on Discovery and he is finally neutralized by magnets (via our friend Georgiou). If he is taken out, why is it still imperative for Discovery to make it to the future? Is there still a threat of Control? It seems unlikely as after he is taken out his drone ships stop working. So...wait...what?
I get that the Kelpians have already figured out how to fly ships purely so they can have the emotional arc for Saru...able to properly say goodbye to his sister...and I get that Leland is on Discovery so they can have one last knock down drag out with Georgiou, and she can do him in. But I think it might've worked better if she magnetized him, and then they beam him into space, then take off to the future. At least then they'd be going because they don't know if he can come back. As it is, they seem to have ended the threat and taken off anyhow.
But ultimately the end goal was about the series fixing up some canon issues that bug nitpicky fans. It was about getting rid of the advanced ship and it's spore drive and casting them out of the universe...never to be spoken of again. The ending sees them take off into the wormhole, as Pike, Spock, and the Enterprise watch. The Enterprise gang and Tyler then tell Starfleet that Discovery exploded in the battle with Control. I think that the hint is that the Spore Drive caused the explosion, and that is why Spock suggests that the Spore Drive and Discovery not be spoken of again.
I know a lot of fans were whiny about Spock never mentioning Burnham, and how that could possibly be...but that was never something I needed clarified. To me that was always within his established character. Spock never mentioned his parents until they were literally standing in front of him and Kirk. He never mentioned his half brother until the guy had them locked up in a cell for over an hour. He didn't mention that he had a wife until he was knee deep in the pon farr. Hell he could barely even explain Pon Farr even when he was throwing his soup at people. The dude is just notoriously tight lipped about his private life. Oh he has an adopted sister that hasn't stopped by? Of course he doesn't mention her! But alas, for those whiny fans, they have worked in that Spock and his parents will not mention Burnham for security reasons. Fine. I'm good either way...but I still think that wasn't needed.
I do think the finale nicely wrapped up some threads. It literally left stuff in the past, things I think needed to go for the show moving forward...like Tyler, the Klingons, and Section 31. Stamets and Culber seem to be back on the same page for their romance, that is if Culber can heal Stamets after he is hit with shrapnel. Also they killed off Admiral Cornwall. It sent Pike and Spock and the Enterprise off on new adventures (with Spock finally shaving and assuming his uniform once again), and it ended the Red Angel arc. I think it succeeded in many of it's story arc necessities.
But they could have done that in the last episode without making me sit through a fucking horrible space battle sequence that lasted for way too long and was such a confusing clusterfuck.
It's overstuffed and flawed finale, to a flawed season that crumbled when it had so much promise.
NEXT TIME: Discovery Season 2 Recap
It's overstuffed and flawed finale, to a flawed season that crumbled when it had so much promise.
NEXT TIME: Discovery Season 2 Recap
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