So, series 3 has finally reached its conclusion and as a whole I can say it was fairly satisfying. Now that seems damning with faint praise but bear with me.
The ‘You are that Hope Part 2’ admirably tidied up the core plot points of the series and gives us a new captain for Discovery. It was an exciting episode with plenty going on, but it had a few issues that hold it back.
Firstly, I have to call out the Turbolift sequence, what is it with modern trek and ridiculous interiors. The interior was enormous and whilst the action was great, trying to square the geometry of it all really took me out of the moment. Likewise, Osyrahs plan to release a pesticide was illogical and ran counter to much of the story, it was a poorly thought-out way to raise the stakes. Those stakes were very much up and down, I can understand why Starfleet might not have been able to target Discovery and the Veridian, after all it was revealed that the shield and cloak was powered by each ship contributing its power. The more ships deployed to fight the weaker the shields would become. However, it would have been good to see the Nivar ships in action or at least show that the Veridian was a force to be reckoned with.
What did work, surprisingly given previous my previous episode reviews, was the B-plot with Su’Kal. Saru was amazing and really helped Su’Kal emerge from his self-created prison. The visuals were great and the exchange felt genuine and heartfelt. Adira’s addition allowed the mechanism by which the Burn occurred was explained a little more scientifically, well at least to the extent that satisfied me.
The ending was all a little rushed for me. We had Earth and Trill join far to soon and it would have been enough for Nivar to come back into the fold for the time being. It would have been nice to have revisited them in Season 4 and take time to bring them back into the fold.
Lastly, I must comment on Burnham’s promotion to Captain. Objectively it is reasonable, she did rescue the Discovery and the Spore Drive, however, her flip flop attitude to her place in Starfleet does place a question mark over her suitability. It will be interesting to see how she develops, I do not think she will be a good captain, certainly not in the mold of previous commanding officers.
Overall, I enjoyed the season and like the new direction the series is going, I see great potential in the future. Next season we need to see more of the races such as Klingons, Cardassians and Gorn. We need to see the Federation struggle to expand, we need to see the President, we need to see some of the other Federation factions, we need Saru in a prominent role and we need to see Burnham actually struggle to be an effective CO and be challenged in a meaningful way. Fingers crossed for next year.
Into the Nebula 
Leave a Reply