That Hope Is You, Part 2
- Episode aired Jan 7, 2021
- TV-14
- 1h 2m
As the Emerald Chain tightens its grip and the mystery of the Burn is finally solved, Burnham and the crew have one last chance to save themselves - and the Federation.As the Emerald Chain tightens its grip and the mystery of the Burn is finally solved, Burnham and the crew have one last chance to save themselves - and the Federation.As the Emerald Chain tightens its grip and the mystery of the Burn is finally solved, Burnham and the crew have one last chance to save themselves - and the Federation.
- Zora
- (voice)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe console Su'Kal touches has Morse code etched on the side. The code includes the word 'RODDENBERRY.
- GoofsMichael's plan to escape from the Emerald Chain is to eject and detonate Discovery's warp core, then have Book attempt to use the spore drive to jump back to the nebula. Discovery has been shown to be able to make spore jumps even from within an enclosed space. If Book can use the spore drive, there's no point in first ejecting the warp core.
- Quotes
Gray Tal: You found them.
Adira: Yeah. Not a moment too soon looks like.
[Hugh and Saru are shocked to see Gray]
Dr. Hugh Culber: Gray?
Gray Tal: You... Y-you see me?
Cmdr. Saru: The Holo. It recognizes you.
Dr. Hugh Culber: Hi!
[Hugh hugs Gray to prove that he can actually see him]
Gray Tal: I- I forgotten. Hi!
Dr. Hugh Culber: You do have kind eyes.
Adira: Told you.
- Crazy creditsIn the closing credits, the theme is replaced with the original closing them to Star Trek (the original series).
The first season of Discovery (my favorite by a wide margin thus far) tries to be an edgy drama, blending Kurtzman-style Trek with a hard edge ("Star Trek with swears and violent content") while showing it has a solid grasp on franchise history.
The second season dials down the shock-and-awe factor and tries to tell one coherent narrative, while also making the momentous decision to include a hardcore canon character in Young Spock.
This third season, the show pivots again, flinging Discovery far into the future and opening up endless possibilities of storytelling. Instead of really exploring them, however, it changes into a feel-good, almost family show that one might find generically running on a network for a few seasons.
I would argue that any one of those approaches (gritty, canon-centric, feel-good) could work for modern-day Trek, and sometimes do in this series. But overall, the problem is that the entire bedrock seems to change with each fresh slate of episodes, so the show can never settle into any kind of groove.
For example: this third season, the focus on social issues and feel-good premises is such a 180-shift from what, say, the first season was. To be honest, it sometimes felt like I was watching a completely different show. The major failing is that such a tone severely undercuts what could have been some very interesting story avenues (re-connecting with Starfleet, Michael's questioning of that institution, The Burn, and just the future of the Trek universe in general). All those morsels are introduced, but ultimately left to die on the vine as the show concocts scene after scene of saccharine (sometimes ridiculously so) "emotional" moments that are not earned whatsoever.
The two things Discovery still has going for it:
1. By skill or luck, it has assembled an interesting ensemble cast. It only barely utilizes them correctly, but their stories are juuuuuust compelling enough to elicit emotion. 2. As previously mentioned, the show-runners really know how to emotionally manipulate the audience in certain aspects. They fully realize that Star Trek is about ideals, at its core, and do just enough to keep that through-line. It certainly doesn't hurt that they can bust out Trek musical themes at will.
I've pretty much come to the conclusion that barring some miraculous turnaround, Discovery peaked for me in Season One. If this were quite literally any other series, I'd ditch it and probably never look back. Confoundedly, though, I'm a Trekkie at heart and am continuously pulled back in simply to "see what might be next". But at this point, my long Trek history is the only thing keeping me engaged.
- zkonedog
- Jan 13, 2021
Details
- Runtime1 hour 2 minutes
- Color