Discovery: Anomaly

The second episode of Star Trek: Discovery's second season didn't land as strongly with me as the first, even though you could easily argue that the tones of the two were exactly the same, bold and operatic.

Discovery is tasked to gather data on the Anomaly marauding its way through space. But Book's ship proves the only means to do so, and Book himself is still grieving his unimaginable loss. Can he be relied upon to complete the job?

The scale of the emotions here still works for me. I love how Discovery really goes there in letting its characters experience some powerfully dark moments, and that those moments leave lasting effects. David Ajala is strong in the many scenes that focus on Book's loss, and his difficulty even wrapping his mind around it.

Coping with emotional trauma was the theme in other subplots in the episode as well. I found the story of Tilly coming to realize she needs counseling help -- and asking for it -- to be very interesting. Of course, you would hope that in an enlightened future, there's absolutely no stigma about asking for mental help, any more than you would ask a doctor for help with a physical condition. But this is entertainment for our time, of course, and I thought the line was walked rather deftly. I didn't get the sense that Tilly was struggling to talk to Culber because of how it would be perceived, but more because she's never really been in this position before and doesn't know what to say. (She's never had someone die in front of her in this way before, and she's been a bit conversationally awkward from the start, so...)

But in the actual mechanics of the plot, I feel like the writers made problems for themselves here that they're simply going to have to ignore in the future. If you can use "programmable matter" to tether a probe or smaller ship to a bigger one, why wouldn't you do that all the time? If you can use holograms to project people in dangerous situations from a safe distance, why wouldn't you do that all the time? (Why did they do it here only for Stamets here, and not Book?) If "golem tech" (for giving Gray a body) is as straightforward as Culber makes it sound, why didn't it work for centuries? (I have to believe we're going to see some answers/consequences addressing that.)

So yeah, basically, I had some trouble with the suspension of disbelief in this episode. On the one hand, Stamets is opening up in a way he rarely does, Anthony Rapp was giving a lovely performance in the scene... and on the other hand, I'm questioning the ease with which his character is even there. That sort of thing, pretty constantly throughout this episode. A rough combination for me. And so I think the episode works out to a B- for me.

(Side note: the title "Anomaly" was previously used for an Enterprise episode. Is this the first time the Star Trek franchise has ever reused a title? Besides, I suppose "First Contact" as both a Next Generation episode and movie?)