Hmmm, an episode in which I am quite torn about, I really liked some aspects of it and did not agree with some of it. This episode has been said to be very Star Trek-ish but to me the aspects I did not like was a bit off putting.
Episode Synopsis:
On his way to broker a peace deal with two renegade Klingon houses, Sarek is injured when a “logic extremist” attempts to assassinate him. Burnham senses this, and Lorca agrees to help rescue him. Admiral Katrina Cornwell questions this decision and others that Lorca has been making. Burnham enters the nebula in a shuttle with her roommate, Cadet Sylvia Tilly, and Tyler. Burnham attempts to connect with Sarek’s mind, and finds him remembering the time that her application for the Vulcan Expeditionary Group was rejected. Sarek reveals that the VEG would only admit one of his children, and he chose Spock, his half-human son. Spock ultimately chose to join Starfleet, rendering Sarek’s decision futile. Burnham helps Sarek regain consciousness and activate a locator beacon. Lorca and Cornwell sleep together, but she is concerned by his paranoid behavior and plans to have him removed from command of Discovery. With Sarek unable to meet the Klingons, Cornwell takes his place; however, the peace talks are actually a trap, and she is taken captive.
Ok, I cannot stand this long range Vulcan means of communication just because some of Sarek’s katra is with his adopted daughter Michael Burnham. I do not like it as it is more fantasy than science fiction. Other than that the story of Burnham and Sarek is actually good and very interesting. But why would the Vulcans be so racist (alienist) against humans at this stage of their relationship with them? This is 100 years or a bit less after the formation of the Federation. And why paint the Vulcan society in general as such jerks?
Michael who is older than Spock was a good student and cleared her tests to get into The Vulcan Science Academy. But they don’t want both her and later on Sarek’s half-human son in the academy as well. They make him choose and he makes the logical choice – he chooses Spock because atleast he looks more Vulcan and hence will not face too much of a problem. Burhman, being fully human, would be more at home in Starfleet among humans. So he lies to her and Amanda (played by Canadian actress Mia Kirshner) and says that she did not clear the tests. Hence, she is sent to Starfleet.
Now Lorca! We see him being visited by his friend Admiral Cornwell, who is worried about him. They end up in bed – apparently they have been an on-off thing earlier on before she got promoted to Admiral – but while he is asleep she notes a triangular shaped mark or torture remnant on his back and when she touches it, he wakes up with a jolt and pulls his phaser on her. She pushes him away and informs him that she was right about her suspicions of him being too disturbed and not fit to command. As she has to go take Sarek’s position in the peace talks on neutral territory, she puts off informing Starfleet command about Lorca until she gets back. And ofcourse the meeting turns out to be a trap.
Her aids are killed as are the neutral aliens hosting the peace talk by Kol’s men and they take Cornwell as a prisoner. What is in store for her, we don’t know. Are Burnham and Tyler going to have a relationship more than friendship as it looked like at the end of the episode? Is Ash actually Voq? I dunno. I give this episode a 7.5 outta 10!