Kobayashi Marie #39: Star Trek Discovery Sn 3 Ep 11

Kobayashi Marie #39: Star Trek Discovery Sn 3 Ep 11 –  Su’Kal

Not gonna happen. You will not take this ship or anyone on it. Not now. Not ever. No.

Episode 11 of season 3 or Star Trek: Discovery picks up exactly where our previous episode ended – at the wake for our dear departed Emperor Georgiou. 

Adira’s (Blu del Barrio) friend Gray (Ian Alexander) makes an appearance, saying exactly what I had said when he first appeared – that he has no purpose if the only person who can see him is Adira. Does this mean he is back to stay, or will he disappear again?

Not that I’m point-scoring or anything, but I did note several weeks ago that at some stage First Officer Tilly (Mary Wiseman) would be put to the test when in charge of Discovery, if Saru (Doug Jones) was on an away mission and a crisis were to unfold. Well, here we are. Evil Aunty Osyraa (Janet Kidder) has taken over Discovery and jumped off presumably to taunt Admiral Vance (Oded Fehr) with her new possession. I’m not sure Tilly could actually have done anything different to be honest, so I don’t think she has been found wanting so far.

Of course, the reason she’s in that position at all is because Saru, Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz) have all gone to find the lifeform whose signal they have been tracing, which is on a dilithium-rich planet. Could it be any more Star Trek? – a planet made of dilithium – how about that, huh?

The three find themselves incorporated into a 125-year-old hologram which nurtures and educates the lifeform, with the result that they all take on the forms of different species: Burnham is Trill, Culber is Bajoran and Saru is human! Such a delight to see Doug Jones as himself for once, although he is careful to still use his hands and posture as Kelpien Saru does.

What they discover is an isolated being named Su’Kal (Bill Irwin), who may be 125 years old but is also very childlike as a result of having no societal interaction at all. And the big reveal, which if true is a huge anti-climax, is that his fear caused The Burn. I mean, Michael has been obsessed with finding the cause for eleven weeks now, convinced that if she knows what caused it she can undo some of the consequences. But it turns out to be a child’s expression of fear?

And so with all the kerfuffle around Osyraa on Discovery, we end up with our crew divided into three. Hugh and Saru remain with Su’Kal to prevent The Burn Part 2 (apparently to be joined soon by Adira?). Michael and Book are on board his scout ship watching Discovery jump away. And the rest are on Discovery, hostages to the Emerald Chain.

The big question is, who will be able to wrestle Discovery back from Aunty Osyraa? I would love it to be Tilly, proving a point, although it does seem that Burnham and Booker are best placed at the moment. Although – what exactly is Adira up to?

You can catch up on the prior Kobayashi Marie columns here!