Logline
When Captain Burnham is trapped within a “mindscape” designed to test her worthiness to retrieve the Progenitor’s powerful technology, Book, Rayner, and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery must hold off the Breen long enough for her to escape.
Written by: Lauren Wilkinson & Eric J. Robbins
Directed by: Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour
I thought the “challenge” was a little on the obvious side, but then it’s the sort of thing that would be obvious to someone not undergoing it.
Book’s reaction to the Kweijian artifact was probably David Ajala’s best work on the series so far, really great stuff.
Moll usurped the Primarch perhaps a little too easily, but I like Eve Harlow’s performance enough that I really don’t care.
Lastly, it’s a small thing, but I thought the Badlands looked really great. They finally seem as hellish as they’ve always been described.
Reno partying with Hysperians –– now that is a show I want to watch
Sometimes, it seems like they forget about the spore drive. They could have leapt to the other side of the galaxy the instant the away team beamed back from the Archive. The Breen might have the ability to destroy the Archive, but with Discovery gone, it wouldn’t gain them anything and how ever long it took them would be time lost for chasing Discovery. When the Breen catch up, Discovery could just jump to the other other side of the galaxy.
Also, why didn’t Discovery prepare a fake clue? With 31st century replication, it couldn’t have taken more than seconds to prepare a reasonable facsimile of the original. Moll did no more than a visual inspection of the artifact to affirm its authenticity and she had never seen the completed object, only some of the pieces. The real artifact is a small obelisk with a button on top. So, make a small obelisk with a button on top that projects coordinates to a random star system. There would be no way for the Breen to discover the deception except to go there and find nothing.
The Breen might have the ability to destroy the Archive, but with Discovery gone, it wouldn’t gain them anything and how ever long it took them would be time lost for chasing Discovery.
That’s a hell of a gamble if your objective is to protect civilians (and likely a gamble they would lose, considering the Breen’s actions).
why didn’t Discovery prepare a fake clue?
I think the answer is the same - it’s not something you want to screw around with if you’re trying to save lives.
They faked the ship’s destruction, letting the Primarch think he could pursue the objective at his leisure. He could take his time being petty and destroying the Archive. Discovery visibly escaping would put him under time pressure. If he delays to indulge his pettiness, Discovery could get the technology. They’d be using themselves as bait to lure the Breen away from the civilians.
Also, the Primarch only made his threat against the Archive later. If they’d jumped immediately after the away team was aboard, it would have been before the threat was made. It also would have been before the Breen’s weapon demonstration, so the Archive would have been 100% intact when they left. At that moment, they had every reason to believe that the Archive was only in danger due to their presence. The logical, civilian-saving response would be to remove their presence.
Okay sure maybe yeah, but you gotta admit, it was cool.
I enjoyed this episode immensely and was on the edge of my seat for most of it. I thought Burnham’s plan to fool the Breen was pretty ingenious.
I’ve also found my new favorite place in the Trek universe. Imagine getting to explore that library.
I found it unexpectedly upsetting when the shelving was taking hits from the Breen.
You should watch this week’s Ready Room.
It is a real place you could explore!
If I ever make it up to Canada (and it is open to the public!) I will absolutely. I looked up photos and while it is obviously much smaller, it is a very beautiful library.
The Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library doesn’t seem open to the public all the time, but it does have events it seems.
https://fisher.library.utoronto.ca/fisher-events
Also it has participated in Doors Open Ontario which is an annual event for a few days in May, when many publicly funded or non-profit buildings that usually have restricted admittance, are open for viewing.
https://www.doorsopenontario.on.ca/toronto/thomas-fisher-rare-book-library
Something about the former Primarch really reminds me of Sarris from Galaxy Quest.
They’re both cartoon villains. It works for a comedy movie, not so much for a serious TV show.
I thought that the twist to Burnham’s mindscape challenge would have been that she needed to empathize with others, and thus take a look at what Book was reading the whole damn time.
Turns out holographic facsimiles of people you know get bored, too.
Annotations for 5x08 up at: https://startrek.website/post/10307058
Sonequa gave possibly her best performance of the whole series in this episode. I know everyone makes fun of how much Burhnam cries, and like- it is a lot, but this time it really felt like she was being maximally vulnerable.
Also I really liked the Klingon(?) lady. Did not expect that to be her personality based on the promo pics.
the Klingon(?) lady
Efrosian, apparently!
