Story: Coming Home
Written By: Michelle Paradise
Series: Star Trek: Discovery
Year: 2022
Discovery must catch Book’s ship and stop them causing more damage, but first they have to escape the orb. They try to communicate with the 10-C, but they just say they’ve already gotten out, because they have this sort of hive mind and believe it would be the same for the Discovery and Book’s ship - as far as they are concerned they are all one and therefore Book’s ship being out means they already are out.
Finally, Stamets is able to come up with a way to leave, though it would mean burning out the spore drive and relying on warp to get home, which would take ages based in how far out they are. Tarka has a final change of heart that maybe he was wrong and blinded by pain but it’s too late because what he has set up canmt be undone now.
Discovery is able to get to Book’s ship and stop it when the Earth general sacrifices herself by crashing into Book’s ship from a shuttle. Though apparently she survived that? I guess things moved so fast I missed some dialogue in which she didn’t explode. Weird. Also Book and Tarka miraculously survive. But Book is sent by Tarka back to Discovery and lets himself die when the ship crashes into the hyperfield. Oh and for a moment Book is seemingly dead when the transporter doesn’t fully materialize him.
Then everyone heads to the planet to make peace and explain things to the 10-C. It takes a bit of awkward confusion but they get there. The 10-C stop the DMA. Then they beam Book in because apparently they intercepted his transport. He gives an impassioned speech that Saru translated and the 10-C promise to stop mining, and maybe stop hiding from the universe in their hyperfield. The 10-C open up their wormhole one last time, to send Discovery home.
Book’s punishment for his involvement is to help with displaced families, which seems fair considering all he lost already. The general who apparently is alive and well is just…ok? I guess her non sacrificial attack was enough to let her absolute traitorous behavior that nearly killed EVERYONE on Earth slide. Jesus.
Earth decides to finally rejoin the Federation, and we get some stunt casting from avid Trek fan and person who helped turn Georgia at least temporarily blue and get rid of the Orange menace, Stacey Abrams. That’s cool.
I have some issues with things like everyone surviving the suicide crash that was meant to be a sacrifice. I also would say Jett Reno is a good character but the fact that Tig Notaro is too busy with her real job means that they can’t use her enough. Apparently they film all her scenes for the season in one go. Therefore she can just disappear for long stretches. She is a major part of the first half of this episode, and then she is just weirdly absent. They all go to the planet, but major character from the first half of the episode isn’t there. I love the character but if she can’t be there, I guess maybe she shouldn’t be? It’s just weird that her final moment in the show is just an off camera line. It’s literally phoned in.
But I found this to be a very Star Trek end to a season that feels like maybe it finally struck a balance of having an ongoing storyline and feeling like real Star Trek. I had issues with the season, I don’t think it is perfect and I’d love for them to find an ongoing story that doesn’t involve yet another doomsday scenario. They made this one work by making it the actions of a very unique alien race that didn’t know it was causing havoc, they just thought they were getting a power source to hide after their planet was destroyed. And the ending was decent, even if flawed.
Oh yeah, and the Ni’Var president mind-melded with 10-C by touching a window. Jesus this show has some issues at times.
NEXT TIME: Season 4 Recap
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