Star Trek: Discovery “Such Sweet Sorrow” Recap
Goodbyes are in order as Michael Burnham and crew set the stage to make an unexpected sacrifice for the good of the federation.
The latest episode of Star Trek Discovery, “Such Sweet Sorrow”, makes a firm attempt to tug at the heartstrings in an unexpected parting of ways. As the title implies, the crew has to deal with the eventuality of an unbearable decision, one that could potentially alter the course of the entire series and the lives of our beloved characters.
Things have once again come to a head. The Charon entity data continues to place the future of all sentient life at risk, as Control continues its unwavering pursuit to obtain the final piece in its ultimate plan. This alone is the pivotal driver for everything Captain Christopher Pike and crew are currently pursuing, with only the occasional red signal to guide them down a seemingly more clear path.
This brings us to our current situation, as a recent mission by Michael Burnham and Spock has revealed; not only does Control has the ability to co-op any humanoid as its unwilling avatar, but it also has the ability to control any Section 31 ship. This spells trouble for Burnham and our beloved Discovery crew, as a long-range scan detects that almost the entire Section 31 fleet is on an intercept course. This leaves Captain Pike with only one decision, initiate self-destruct.
As a result of the aforementioned problem at hand, Captain Pike has summoned the Enterprise to rendezvous with the Discovery in an effort to evacuate the crew and destroy the entity data, which is the first and most important step in securing a future for all sentient life and getting rid of the Control-AI once on for all. However, the decision to self-destruct feels one part necessary, one part let's raise the stakes to make things super dramatic. The simpleton in me says they should just transfer the data to a shuttle and blow the shuttle up, rather than making the decision to sacrifice the entire experimental flagship. An early explanation to take that possibility off the table first would have been welcomed.
Then there is the actual execution of the remote self-destruct, when to no one’s surprise, Discovery, the ship that carries the show’s namesake, does not go up in a ball of flames. This suggests that Charon data continues to evolve, ultimately preserving itself by any means necessary. Furthermore, it boasts the notion that labeling what the Charon entity downloaded into Discovery’s system as data, was a bit of a mistake from the very beginning, especially when the data has acted more like a program from the moment it entered Discovery. Program-like activity from the Charon-data includes the scrambling of Discovery’s universal translators, preventing outright deletion from Discovery’s systems, and now the prevention of the destruction of Discovery itself.
In any case, Pike aims to complete his mission of destroying the Charon data by hurling photon torpedoes at Discovery, though Burnham has the strong feeling that any attempt to destroy Discovery would not prevent a tragic end at the hands of Control. This is primarily based on a premonition received from the time crystal, in which several of the core bridge crew members are killed unceremoniously. Burnham struggles with delivering this information to the Captain, before insisting he discontinues all attempts to destroy Discovery in order to pursue a different plan.
As an aside, it could be augured that the beautifully modern take on this show’s design of the Enterprise corridors and bridge may be the best to date. While viewers received only a glimpse of Spock’s quarters early on in this season, the now revealed look of the Enterprise bridge is something truly beautiful, falling somewhere between the bridge of the beloved original TOS, and that of the kelvin-universe. What I love most about this iteration is that for the most part, everything looks to be spatially in its correct place, but definitely given that modern Discovery design flare. What a beautiful sight to behold! Kudos to the show designers.
With the newfound revelation that the Charon data has merged itself with Discovery’s systems and will not allow itself to be destroyed, the only remaining option is the attempt to send Discovery into the future. This includes rebuilding the Section 31 red angel suit, then sending Discovery through time. With the original schematics for the suit encoded to Gabrielle Burnham’s unique bio-neural signature, Michael is the only choice to become the red angel. Spock even believes she has been the other red angel all along, saying that the original bio-neural scans could have in fact been her in the first place, adding she may have even been the creator of the red signals.
While the origin of the red signals still may be in question, the value is not forgotten, as yet another signal appears over the planet Xahea. Discovery performs a spore-jump to arrive at the newfound signal, while the Enterprise takes the long-way-around. Pike also orders other ships to prepare for war, making sure all shuttles and pods are retrofitted for combat operations.
As word of the new plan to send Discovery into the future begins to spread, the goodbyes begin, starting with Paul Stamets and Hugh Culber. Stamets states that he may pursue a commission that he previously turned down with the Vulcan Science Academy, while Culber states that he would stay aboard the Enterprise. Both seem content and have come to terms with the current state of their relationship. Though I don’t believe the end for these guys is written in stone just yet.
Upon arrival to Xahea, Tilly recruits the strong engineering talents of her friend from the Short Trek “Runaway”, to aid in a method that would power the new red angel suit. Me Hani Ika Hali Ka Po, or Queen Po, aids in the creation of a modified dilithium incubator, that uses an altered form of the technology she has already created that recrystallizes dilithium. Discussion of the use of the new device outlines that doing so would burn out the time crystal, meaning this would be a one-way trip to the future for Michael Burnham.
With the news of Burnham’s one-way trip, the goodbyes begin. The first is from emperor-Georgiou telling Burnham how crazy she is for doing this. This outlines the change in Georgiou over the season, where now, she is firmly within the mother role. Then there is Burnham’s foster parents, Sarek and Amanda Grayson. Burnham speaks of how a Vulcan and a human put her back together piece by piece, even when the couple had a son of their own, as they too, can’t believe what is happening. Next, there is Burnham’s roommate Ensign Tilly. When Tilly confronts Burnham to give what she thinks is the last goodbye, a small contingent of bridge members inform Burnham that they have chosen to stay on Discovery as well, choosing to forgo their current family and friends to travel with Burnham into the future. Lastly, a goodbye is given from the man Michael has grown to love, Ash Tyler, who conveys that his path is rooted in staying and stopping what’s left of Control, insisting that he still has a role to play in their current space-time.
As time winds down, the remaining Discovery bridge members begin writing heartfelt last letters to their loved ones: Saru to Siranna, Tilly to her mother, Owosekun to family, Detmer to her best friend Tazie, and Stamets to his sister. The reason these goodbyes resonate so much is that it’s less about the person they are writing to, and all about the writer. It allows us to see a slightly different side of the characters we have grown to love.
But maybe the ultimate goodbye is that of Captain Pike, as he leaves the USS Discovery, presumably the last time, Pike states to the remaining crew members that his time on Discovery has been exceptional. Addressing each by name, and offering kind words of sentiment, or even simply a look, when there are no words that can convey his appreciation. Finally, Pike leaves Discovery with a nod and wink to operative Georgiou, indicating that he may have known she was Georgiou’s Terran counterpart all along.
A final monkey wrench is thrown as Tilly, Stamets, and Reno reveal that Queen Po’s modified incubator is not producing power fast enough. They deduce that this is largely due to the size of the casing around the incubator. To resolve the issue, they suggest removing the casing, which would expand the size of the chamber and accelerate power creation. Reno chooses to say behind to perform this procedure, as they believe it may have ill effects on anyone in the room when it happens, which include seeing visions of the future, and possibly death. However, Stamets and Tilly allow Reno to continue with the procedure, as she begins seeing flashes of the same vision Burnham saw earlier.
We are left with Section 31’s arrival, surrounding both the Discovery and the Enterprise in the anticipation of one final showdown. The showrunners have set up what is sure to be one exciting finale. Everything we have seen so far this season has come to this, though questions still remain to be answered. And if the preview of the next episode is any indication, things will not go as smoothly as our heroes have planned.
What are your thoughts on this episode? Does a time jump for the show sound interesting to you? Leave questions and comments below.
Random Observations
- Why would the Charon-entity data allow itself to be split, but not destroyed? Discovery has 48%, Leland has 52%.
- Nice seeing The Original Series turbo-lift handles, as Burnham looks on in amazement.
- Commander Una mentions that the Enterprise will have no holographic communications, ever.
- Operative-Georgiou makes the comment about disliking orange when she enters the Enterprise bridge. The “orange” in this iteration is so muted, it was somewhat of an invalid point.
- We’ve only seen five red signals with two more to go: at the Hiawatha-crash where they recover Jett Reno, Terralysium where they save a displaced WWIII civilization, Kaminar where they liberate the Kelpian people, Boreth where they retrieve a time-crystal, and Xahea where they obtain a power source for the red angel suit.
- Anyone who can make the former emperor Georgiou squirm is an exceptionally talented individual. Go, Po!
- The fact that Gabrielle Burnham’s video logs serve as instructions for Michael Burnham’s first jump are touching and an awesome detail that could have very easily been overlooked.
