With the senior staff held hostage, Osyraa breeches Starfleet Headquarters and... proposes a diplomatic negotiation between them and the Emerald Chain. Meanwhile, Michael Burnham sneaks around the ship trying to free Stamets and put the operation of the spore drive out of enemy reach.
While I did like this episode for the most part, it certainly showcased a lot of elements that for me fell a little short of the mark. My summary of the episode, in most ways, would be: "OK, I like what you're going for, but..."
Take the return of early season baddie Zareh. I enjoyed his unnuanced mustache twirling the first time around, and when he was released at the end of that previous episode, I totally thought "we'll be seeing him again later." And then I promptly forgot about him. Osyraa is supposed to be the Bigger Bad, of course, but in showing her more this season (and seeing her do worse things), Zareh was easily forgotten over time. Now that he's back, I'm not sure I'm invested enough to be excited for the come-uppance Tilly is likely to serve him in the season's final episode. And yet... I still expect it'll be fun.
How about the sudden character turn for Osyraa? I really love the idea, so very Star Trek, that the ultimate villain's plan goes off without a hitch... and it's a peace overture. That an apocalypse could come, fracture everything, and then people will find a way to rebuild -- it's such an appropriate message for both the franchise, and the current moment. And yet... Osyraa has to be kind of an idiot to not realize she could have knocked on the door and got what she wanted with less overt evil. This is Starfleet we're talking about, the galaxy's ultimate Charlie-Brown-running-at-the-football-one-more-time organization. They would have listened. So this makes for a fun plot twist that I personally think is dramatically "correct," just handled a bit goofily.
I liked the introduction of the character of Aurellio. He's an interesting exercise in showing what kind of scientist might end up working for an utter monster. He's also more diversity, showing a character with a disability, in a show that works to show as much diversity as possible. But to the degree he's probably also being set up to be part of Osyraa's downfall, I do sort of wish he'd been introduced to us earlier -- he's Chekhov's Gun shown not in Act I, but halfway through Act III.
All season, nearly all of Stamets' scenes have been with Hugh and Adira, and I've previously groused that all the LGBT characters were being siloed off in their own storyline. I see what they were going for now: it was a long-term strategy to de-curmudgeon Stamets and give him a family to be invested in, leading to this moment when that's all threatened to be taken from him. I like the idea, and like that they planned ahead. And yet, when Stamets said in this episode "I have a child," my immediate response was that "oh, he's bluffing to try and find common ground with this guy," not thinking he was being at all sincere.
Ultimately, I think it comes down to the character and casting of Adira -- who has seemed too adult and too capable to really need "parenting" to me. Even the relationship with Gray, no doubt meant to show Adira's vulnerability, has to me shown maturity and complexity. So basically: I have enjoyed Adira very much this season, but I don't think the "story puzzle piece" of Adira has fit in neatly in the way the writers intended.
Even some of the smaller details fit my "I like what you're going for, but..." thesis. We all knew they were going for Die Hard before the explicit homage of Michael Burnham winding up barefoot, right? And I've always enjoyed the flashy camera work whenever Jonathan Frakes directs, but it got a bit too "Sea Dragon" for me this week, as it constantly swayed back and forth like one of those amusement park rides.
And yet, what I hope isn't lost in all my quibbles is the part before the "but": I like what they're going for. Watching the bridge crew break out of captivity was fun. Watching Book lay it all on the line to help everyone felt like a great culmination of his season-long character arc. Wondering what's happening back in the nebula with the characters we didn't see this week made for nice tension. I think there's going to be a lot of fun action with meaningful stakes in the final episode.
So, overall, I'd probably give this episode a B. It's just that I feel like some A ideas were in the mix and not quite handled with that skill. Maybe they'll step it up for the finale.
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