Book has found information that may help determine the origin of the Burn... but he's also been captured and imprisoned. Michael Burnham goes rogue, taking Georgiou with her, to mount a rescue. Meanwhile, a newly upgraded Discovery is on call to help Starfleet, and Stamets' friendship with Adira grows deeper.
The action component of this episode was top notch. The environment of the prison planet was very cinematic and convincingly oppressive. The fight to escape was fun and suspenseful, and served up pretty much everything you'd want in a straight-up "run and shoot" kind of episode. Watching Michelle Yeoh kick butt is probably never going to get old, and the series knows this.
There was even a compelling character story tied to this action plot. They're exploring an interesting evolution with Burnham this season: that not only can you take her out of Starfleet (as the year alone in the future did), you can apparently take the Starfleet out of her. In her year of separation from Discovery, it increasingly seems like Starfleet just doesn't work for her anymore. The ideals, sure. The methods, not at all. It's an interesting story arc for her, in part because the endgame seems unclear. She can't really leave Starfleet, you'd think, or else there kind of isn't a show anymore -- not, at least, with all the characters we've come to enjoy. But there's clearly growth and change in the works here.
There were other ways the Burnham storyline was laying track for later too, it seemed. We keep hearing about Osyraa, who is increasingly being built up as a sort of "end boss" for the season. (Will some notable actor play her when we finally do see her?) Also notable: the poor Andorian Ryn, who it seemed was being set up just to die a noble and redemptive death in the end, was not killed off thanks to a visit to the Discovery Sickbay. Perhaps he'll be back, with another important role to fill.
The rest of the episode was considerably weaker for me, though. Fine to separate Burnham and Georgiou for their own adventure, but the "B plot" was literally waiting around for a potential B plot to happen that never arrived. The Discovery crew was on standby, preparing, being told to start preparing, preparing some more... and then never being sent into action. Not a very strategic use of a valuable resource, Admiral, nor a compelling use of the characters. (Though the comedy was nice at times: Linus goofing with his personal transporter, Tilly not getting along with Grudge the cat.)
Stamets and Adira bonding more was a mixed bag for me. I like seeing the softer side of Stamets. I like involving Adira more in the story. The angle that Stamets doesn't just recognize her kindred brilliance, but that they have a similar history with their loved ones? Well, that's a meaningful character connection... and also makes me feel just the slightest bit queasy. Of all the characters on this show, and of how few the LGBT characters in all of Star Trek have been, why is it that it's the LGBT characters bonding over the deaths of loved ones?
There's something vaguely like an AIDS allegory in here that I'm hoping the writers were smart enough not to intend, but that feels slightly regressive if they don't hurry up and plant their flag on an alternative story line with all due haste. (And it felt somewhat insensitive that as Stamets and Adira are commiserating over how difficult their romantic relationships have been, Burnham and Book are elsewhere having Star Trek's most melodramatic first kiss ever, with four separate sweeping cameras covering the moment.)
Because the whiz-bang action worked (and quite well), I was mostly able to look past the other characters being mostly sidelined this week. I'd say "Scavengers" works out to a B+ or so. But I'll be hoping for something that uses the whole cast more effectively next time.
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