Star Trek: Discovery “Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2” Recap | by Clarence Brown | Discussing Network | Medium
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Star Trek: Discovery “Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2” Recap

Such Sweet Sorrow is the realization of so many things. You have to give the Discovery writers credit for their willingness to take bold risks. Some of which pays off in spades, while others leave you guessing the implication of said decision on the prime timeline as a whole. To see the realization of so many of these audacious choices come to fruition has been an emotionally action-packed ride. Emotional in the sense that it wraps up the story of a certain captain we never knew we needed, as well as the parting of ways of some characters we’ve been with since season one. Ultimately, leaving Discovery 930 years in the future to chart their own enterprising new course.

Charting a new course.

This episode starts at a frantic pace, and for the most part, it never lets up. Captain Pike and the Enterprise are tasked with defending Discovery while her crew scrambles to finish powering the time crystal, along with the assembly of the newly re-created Section 31 red angel suit. This desperate pace is the result of Leland’s unwavering endgame to recovery the remaining 48% of the Charon entity data, which according to Gabrielle Burnham, is the precursor to the end of all sentient life in the galaxy. Discovery’s crafty plan to take the data into the distant future by way of the newly recreated red-angel suit is put in jeopardy, as Leland and his fleet of AI-controlled Section 31 vessels have both the Discovery and the Enterprise surrounded.

Two major things have to be noted about the last-minute scramble to power the time crystal and assemble the red angel suit. One of which is the notion of cutting the assembly of the suit so close. Granted putting together what is obviously a highly advanced and complicated piece of tech is a feat unto itself, but something about the last-minute scramble just felt a bit off. Maybe showing the start of the assembly in the previous episode would have made the tension here resonate just a bit more. On the other side of things, the powering of the time crystal was set up pretty well in part one of this two-part story, as the powering of the time crystal was only achieved by Jet Reno making a sacrifice and removing the casing from Queen Po’s modified dilithium re-crystallizer. I’m holding out that we will hear more about the repercussions of Reno’s decision sometime next season.

Then there is the overall game plan to fend off Section 31 and get Discovery to the future, which felt overly simple, yet somehow still quite incoherent. One thing I can praise Game of Thrones for is the oft-done battle strategy sessions before their big tent pole episodes. These aides in the viewer's overall understanding of the goals ahead, rather than the viewer just outright guessing what is trying to be accomplished; throwing a bone towards something that by nature is very chaotic and confusing. To this episode’s defense, Captain Pike did state that they needed to protect Discovery at all costs, so I guess that was all we needed? And also we get the continued aid of the super-smart Queen Po, who offers a strategy for destroying the Section 31 attack vessels with the aid of the 200+ retrofitted shuttles and worker bees.

“Follow the Queen.”

Also, we see the attack plan is aided by the help of Ash Tyler, who has gone to elicit the help of the Klingon Chancellor L’Rell, as well as the help of the Kelpians, who have somehow learned to become space-faring fighter pilots after their liberation on Kaminar. While the aid of the Kelpians was a bit unbelievable, as they had only recently obtained knowledge of aliens and the use of advanced technology, it provided a great moment for Saru and Siranna. Also, the entrance of the Klingon “cleave” ship was a shock and an awesome bit of flare that really bolstered the might of the Klingon empire.

Back on Discovery, Burnham and the team have managed to get the red angel suit to the shuttle bay, install the time crystal, and get suited up. Yet another moment between Burnham and Spock is in order, as Spock offers to guide Burnham to a safe distance to open the wormhole by shuttle, though you can feel it may be the last moment they have a true face-to-face. Burnham’s launch from Discovery is not only aided by the help of Spock, but also by several other shuttles and worker bees, in a sequence that is brilliantly visualized and is not too dissimilar from something you would see on a modern video game.

Meanwhile, lowering the shields to launch Burnham allowed just enough time for Leland to beam aboard Discovery, in a last-ditch effort to obtain the data he deemed so precious. What starts off as something akin to the premonition that Burnham had back in part one, turns into Leland b-lining it to the location he believed the data was stored. Though Georgiou is three steps ahead of Leland, as she has hidden the data in another system, to which Leland is content to beat it out of them until he can figure out where she’s hidden it. This allowed for an excellent sequence of fight scenes between Leland, Georgiou, and Nhan, as Georgiou and Nhan worked together to take down the AI-controlled director.

Local gravity systems failure = coolness.

In one particular part of their fight, they are trapped within a corridor that loses its gravity field, making what may in fact be one of my favorite fights in all of Trek. As the gravity field shifts, the trio is tossed about the corridor, with some parts of the fight taking place on the bulkheads on either side of the corridor, and even on the ceiling. Georgiou eventually lures Leland to engineering and into the spore chamber, where Leland meets a magnetic death.

Back on the Enterprise, Captain Pike and crew are having problems of their own, as the effort to fend off the Section 31 ships from Discovery has left a torpedo moments from detonation, and wedged deep within the Enterprise’s saucer section. To make matters worse, resulting in complications rendered the blast door in that section inoperative. Admiral Cornwell, Captain Pike, and Number One are tasked with coming up with a quick solution, or otherwise losing half the ship. Unable to deactivate the warhead, and with the blast door controls unresponsive, Admiral Cornwell makes the sacrifice to manually release the blast door and save the Enterprise.

Eventually, Burnham lands in a good position to start the rift that would take Discovery and her crew 930 years into the future. Upon originally being unable to open the rift, Burnham and Spock deduce that her current moment in time is the result of a time loop and that she first needs to travel to the past and create the red signals to put in motion the events that led them here in the first place; each event playing a pivotal role. Those events include: the Hiawatha-crash to get Jett Reno, Terralysium to save a displaced WWIII civilization, Kaminar to liberate the Kelpian people, Boreth to retrieve a time-crystal, and Xahea to obtain a power source for the red angel suit.

This time I have all the pieces.

When speaking of what role these signals provided to the totality of the journey, some reasons for said signals are more apparent than others. And really, the only one I cannot fully understand at this point is Jet Reno. What did she actually do other than standing in the room with the time crystal? I’m sure I’m missing something, but I don’t really see her vital contribution. Also, the reasoning for the journey to Terralysium eludes me as well.

When speaking specifically about Burnham’s jumps to the past, the visuals were something akin to 2001: A Space Odyssey, or the more modern Interstellar. The actual jump itself was very reminiscent and seemed to pay homage to those films in a loving way.

Burnham also figures out the mystery of the final two signals; one to guide Discovery through the time-rift to their new future, and the other to let Spock know they’ve made it there safely. Though I don’t quite get how she will be able to send the last one back through after the time crystal has burnt out. Maybe that’s something we’ll see play out in season three.

“Let’s go!”

The final jump through the time-rift was a moment as touching and equally emotional as the goodbyes, as the crew of the Discovery were thinking of what lies ahead for them, and the departure from loved ones and colleagues, we the viewers were experiencing that same feeling. The moment brought about a certain curiosity of what lies ahead, but also made us sad for what is left behind.

The aftermath of it all is a new course for the crew and the show, and largely, an attempt to detach the show from the precious time period that has left canon critics up-in-arms. Though after this season, and after what the show has managed to do to flush out a part of Trek we never thought would be addressed on-screen, which is a window into the adventures of Captain Christopher Pike, one has to think that now the end of this era is bittersweet.

Then there is the attempt to rectify canon. The show uses the sure threat of the Control-AI as the premise to blot out the existence of Discovery, and ultimately ordering all mention of the experimental vessel deemed off-limits under penalty of treason. So, they have effectively explained reasoning as to why there has been no mention of said vessel and its crew from the series we know going forward, but admittedly the notion of said order just seems a bit too convenient.

“I’ll run the analytics.”

What may be the hardest thing about this finale is the goodbye to the crew of the Enterprise. To the showrunner's credit, they managed to take something precious and toe the delicate line of weaving it into their story for season two. Though one can look at the inclusion of the Enterprise as less a happenstance, and more of a core component to what made this season so great.

Honestly, there are no words to express what Anson Mount’s Captain Pike has meant to not only this season but to Trek-lore as a whole. And to bolster that point, look no further than the petition that has been put in motion by fans to get him his own series with Ethan Peck and Rebecca Romijn as Spock and Number One. Finally, we leave our beloved Enterprise trio with confirmation of the final signal from Michael Burnham, and Spock taking his seat aboard the Enterprise bridge at the science station.

I think this episode, and maybe even this season, can be wrapped up by the symbolism of Spock shaving his beard before rejoining Pike on the bridge; as the series also looks to shave off its overgrown ties to the past and start anew. Though, in this case, the beard of this season, and playing around in this time frame, had started to feel like home.

What are your thoughts on this episode? Does a time jump for the show sound interesting to you? Leave questions or comments below. Also, check out our podcast at the link below.

Random Observations

  • They were able to retro-fit every worker bee and shuttle for battle before they finished the red angel suit (I realize the Number One had already retro-fitted the Enterprise’s vessels).
  • Seems the only person more awesome than Michael Burnham, is Queen Me Hani Ika Hali Ka Po.
  • Where was this Klingon “cleave” ship at the end of last season?
  • Discovery was still on a course toward the wormhole and no one thought that they might need to stop for a second and get rid of Leland first?
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