Kobayashi Marie #40: Star Trek Discovery Sn 3 Ep 12 – There Is A Tide
“It’s made of our shit you know.”
Episode 12 definitely turned out to be a bit of a roller coaster! We had moments of triumph, moments of despair, teamwork, individual work, negotiations and communication breakdowns.
The episode is bookended by the Sphere data which, if we remember back through the season, has been quietly protecting Discovery and its crew throughout, without making a fuss. It looks like this assistance is going to be a bit more obvious in the final episode of the season next week.
This week though, we’re watching as Osyraa (Janet Kidder) reveals that her motivation for taking over Discovery and holding its bridge crew hostage is to engineer a negotiation with the Federation about unifying with the Emerald Chain to form a new Federation which will share science, culture and commerce and make everyone’s life better. It’s a good job that the biometric lie detector Eli is present, as I’m sure I’m not the only one who wouldn’t have believed Osyraa without him. But it turns out that she (apparently) genuinely wants peace.
Admiral Vance (Oded Fehr) is amenable to this and he is sooooooooooo close to reaching an agreement with Osyraa, but it falls apart at the last minute as she realises that he is going to insist that she atones for her past transgressions, and walks away. After weeks of watching Vance be mainly the person in charge receiving information and giving orders, it was fantastic to see him get more screen time and show his diplomacy skills. More of Admiral Vance would be welcome, I think. I’m wondering who The President is though – he/she/they were mentioned at least twice, but only in passing. Does this mean that the President is to be bypassed for the sake of the story, or are we going to get a celebratory reveal/cameo in the final episode?
While the negotiations are ongoing, the action is taking place on Discovery. Michael (Sonequa Martin-Green) is on a mission to stop Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) from falling into Osyraa’s hands. Her choice seems quite extreme however – firstly he’s upset, and she stops him by using the Vulcan neck pinch; then she traps him and sends him out into space in some kind of pod. Where to? How does she think this is going to work? I know she must think it’s for his and Discovery’s protection, but it seems very over the top. And what if the Osyraa’s treaty had worked? Does Michael know something that we don’t?
Just before Michael intervenes, we see Paul engaging in conversation with Invigilator Aurellio, bonding over science, opera and children. Aurellio is played by Star Trek family member Kenneth Mitchell (who has played Klingon characters Kol, Kol-Sha and Tenavik in previous seasons of Discovery) and it was a lovely surprise to see him playing a couple of quite poignant scenes this week.
Zareh (Jake Weber) is a character whom we met several episodes ago, and who we presume was left to die, but clearly he was rescued and is now Osyraa’s enforcer. The bridge crew – with Tilly (Mary Wiseman) trying to make up for the fact that the ship was taken on her watch – are working out how to escape and retake Discovery which leads to a few nifty fight scenes, and culminates with the repair bots Huey, Dewey and Louie, coming to the rescue as they are the holders of the Sphere data.
So again we end an episode with options – which is to be expected as next week with be the season finale. We need to get the team back from the Verubin Nebula, and find out what Adira (Blu del Barrio) has been doing. Michael called her mom during her mission, so will the Qowat Milat appear next week? Will the bots be the solution? And what on earth is happening to Paul? I also have a feeling that we’re going to lose Booker (David Ajala); There was no need for all the romantic moment stuff between him and Michael, and I think it could mean the end.
Kobayashi Marie #40: Star Trek Discovery Sn 3 Ep 12 – There Is A Tide
“It’s made of our shit you know.”
Episode 12 definitely turned out to be a bit of a roller coaster! We had moments of triumph, moments of despair, teamwork, individual work, negotiations and communication breakdowns.
The episode is bookended by the Sphere data which, if we remember back through the season, has been quietly protecting Discovery and its crew throughout, without making a fuss. It looks like this assistance is going to be a bit more obvious in the final episode of the season next week.
This week though, we’re watching as Osyraa (Janet Kidder) reveals that her motivation for taking over Discovery and holding its bridge crew hostage is to engineer a negotiation with the Federation about unifying with the Emerald Chain to form a new Federation which will share science, culture and commerce and make everyone’s life better. It’s a good job that the biometric lie detector Eli is present, as I’m sure I’m not the only one who wouldn’t have believed Osyraa without him. But it turns out that she (apparently) genuinely wants peace.
Admiral Vance (Oded Fehr) is amenable to this and he is sooooooooooo close to reaching an agreement with Osyraa, but it falls apart at the last minute as she realises that he is going to insist that she atones for her past transgressions, and walks away. After weeks of watching Vance be mainly the person in charge receiving information and giving orders, it was fantastic to see him get more screen time and show his diplomacy skills. More of Admiral Vance would be welcome, I think. I’m wondering who The President is though – he/she/they were mentioned at least twice, but only in passing. Does this mean that the President is to be bypassed for the sake of the story, or are we going to get a celebratory reveal/cameo in the final episode?
While the negotiations are ongoing, the action is taking place on Discovery. Michael (Sonequa Martin-Green) is on a mission to stop Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) from falling into Osyraa’s hands. Her choice seems quite extreme however – firstly he’s upset, and she stops him by using the Vulcan neck pinch; then she traps him and sends him out into space in some kind of pod. Where to? How does she think this is going to work? I know she must think it’s for his and Discovery’s protection, but it seems very over the top. And what if the Osyraa’s treaty had worked? Does Michael know something that we don’t?
Just before Michael intervenes, we see Paul engaging in conversation with Invigilator Aurellio, bonding over science, opera and children. Aurellio is played by Star Trek family member Kenneth Mitchell (who has played Klingon characters Kol, Kol-Sha and Tenavik in previous seasons of Discovery) and it was a lovely surprise to see him playing a couple of quite poignant scenes this week.
Zareh (Jake Weber) is a character whom we met several episodes ago, and who we presume was left to die, but clearly he was rescued and is now Osyraa’s enforcer. The bridge crew – with Tilly (Mary Wiseman) trying to make up for the fact that the ship was taken on her watch – are working out how to escape and retake Discovery which leads to a few nifty fight scenes, and culminates with the repair bots Huey, Dewey and Louie, coming to the rescue as they are the holders of the Sphere data.
So again we end an episode with options – which is to be expected as next week with be the season finale. We need to get the team back from the Verubin Nebula, and find out what Adira (Blu del Barrio) has been doing. Michael called her mom during her mission, so will the Qowat Milat appear next week? Will the bots be the solution? And what on earth is happening to Paul? I also have a feeling that we’re going to lose Booker (David Ajala); There was no need for all the romantic moment stuff between him and Michael, and I think it could mean the end.
Lots to sort out next time!
You can catch up on the prior Kobayashi Marie columns here!
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