Current Star Trek: Discovery showrunner Alex Kurtzman, the man actively guiding the overall vision of Star Trek development for CBS Studios, has made it clear he and his staff are following closely the way the fans and critics have been reacting to the second season of Discovery.
In an exclusive interview with TrekCore in advance of this week’s Paleyfest panel for CBS All Access, Kurtzman spoke about the “informative” way the critique can help guide them in their decision making for the show.
“The response has been really gratifying. I will admit I do read everything. Including TrekCore,” said Kurtzman, who began his Trek career as the co-writer on the 2009 Star Trek feature film. “It has been really positive, and I feel like even the criticisms of it are interesting to me, because we are only halfway through a story.”
“So, the full nature of everything has yet to be revealed, and the truth is that I’ve come to a place now where really everything, both good and bad, is actually really informative for me. I still take it personally, but I take it a lot less personally.”
Kurtzman clearly understands the narrative depth of the Star Trek franchise and the way in which fans have tended to exert feelings of ownership over specific properties in modern times.
“I recognize that part of the game we are playing is that Star Trek is so meaningful to people and everyone has such a different, specific thing that they’re attached to in the world of Star Trek,” added Kurtzman. “And there is no right or wrong answer. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, right? And part of being a Trek fan is engaging in that debate. And that’s the beautiful democracy of that.”
With that in mind, Kurtzman has made it part of his process to take the time to digest feedback from a variety of sources and use it to challenge his perceptions of the choices they’re making.
“I’ve come to actually be able to listen and read in ways that allow me to ask myself what resonates here as being right and truthful in ways that can help inform the way we continue writing Star Trek.”
In regards to the ongoing development of the still-untitled Picard Trek series for CBS All Access, Kurtzman would only acknowledge that additional casting news and other details would be coming “very soon.”
Elsewhere at PaleyFest, Ethan Peck spoke to us about a number of topics, including the trepidation he felt taking on the role of Spock and how much he knew about the character’s complete arc and where it would end when he began filming.
“It’s such a big responsibility,” said Peck. “It’s much bigger than me. Everyone has come together in such an amazing way to make his appearances very special on the show. I was really scared, because it’s kind of uncharted in a way for him. And it’s just the most responsibility I’ve ever had as an actor and as a human being. This world means a lot for a lot of people out there, and for good reason, it’s such a beautiful vision of the future.”
“But, yes, when I had my final audition with Alex [Kurtzman] he told me basically the character arc. So, from the beginning I knew basically what it was. But the way it ends is so cool. It’s so cool.”
Peck also echoed what his castmates have been saying since Season 1 of the series, that the production quality for the show is exemplary.
“It’s one of the most incredible projects to be on because all the sets are like ‘practical.’ A lot of what you see is ‘practical.’ They build these custom [display graphics] for the panels on the ship and like watching it, I was like, ‘Well, there’s lots of CGI here,’ but then I got to set and the sets are masterpieces. It’s completely unbelievable. And the costumes are beautiful. It’s like no holds barred.”
The erstwhile ganglia-driven Kelpien, Saru, played by Doug Jones, told us how surprised he was when he received the script for “An Obol for Charon,” an episode that saw him shed his ganglia and transform into a different type of character.
“When I got the script for episode 4, I was like, ‘Excuse me?’ Because I developed the character of Saru, my part of the character, as a fear-based character who’d been overcoming it, squelching his fear. Being very gentlemanly. He’s well-learned. He’s risen through the ranks of Starfleet, on his own – the first of his species to do so. And now this changed my entire stance. So now my fear ganglia have dropped out, and I have no sense of fear anymore at all.”
“So where do I find the balance now. … So where does that leave Saru? I want him to remain a gentleman. I love his manners. I love his kindness and his warmth. He has a full emotional range that has never been present in any of the aliens I’ve played before. He’s got way more emotion. I love that. I don’t want that to leave.”
“But what does he act like with no fear? I think it makes him more suitable as a commander, as a high-ranking officer. I can own my authority with more confidence than I ever have before. So, it’s all good. It’s all positive. We’ll find the balance. Hopefully in Season 3 we’ll see more of this evolve.”
We also asked him to pitch his idea about a sequel to “The Brightest Star,” last fall’s Saru-centric Short Trek. “After Saru’s done with his days in Starfleet,” Jones postulated, “can he go home and retire [on] Kaminar… [to] lean his head to his sister again and say ‘We are family, we love each other.'”
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You can listen to our interviews with Kurtzman, Peck, and Jones right here:
Star Trek: Discovery returns tomorrow with “Perpetual Infinity.”
Jim Moorhouse is the creator of TrekRanks.com and the TrekRanks Podcast. He can be found living and breathing Trek every day on Twitter at @EnterpriseExtra and @TrekRanks.
Star Trek: Discovery continues this week with “Perpetual Infinity,” the eleventh episode of the season, and now that the identity of the Red Angel has been revealed, it’s time to learn more about the inhabitant of the time-travel suit.
This week brings Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) face to face with her long-thought-dead mother (guest Sonja Sohn), revealed as the mysterious Red Angel, in an episode set to unveil the story of her time travel escapades — and it appears Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) has taken a great interest in her arrival.
(Burnham’s mom remains unnamed in CBS press information released to date).
Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) reunites with her mother (Sonja Sohn) on Essof IV. (CBS)
Burnham and her mother come face to face. (CBS)
Burnham takes it all in. (CBS)
Sonja Sohn as Burnham's mom. (CBS)
Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) observes the situation. (CBS)
Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) has questions. (CBS)
Georgiou has questions. (CBS)
Georgiou has questions. (CBS)
Burnham. Georgiou, and Stamets (Anthony Rapp) look on. (CBS)
Stamets is sorting out the situation. (CBS)
It also seems that Leland (Alan Van Sprang) is back on his feet after being jabbed through the eye by his own ship’s systems last week; if you watched closely you could see his eye heal before “The Red Angel” cut away from him, but exactly what’s going on with the Section 31 captain is still unclear. Also note that Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz) is back on duty — and back in uniform — aboard Discovery.
Section 31 operatives Leland (Alan Van Sprang) and Georgiou. (CBS)
Saru (Doug Jones) and Pike (Anson Mount) discuss the situation. (CBS)
Ensign Tilly (Mary Wiseman) seems worried. (CBS)
Spock (Ethan Peck) looks concerned. (CBS)
Pike, Spock, Culber (Wilson Cruz) and Burnham have a meeting. (CBS)
Tyler (Shazad Latif), Pike, and Saru study the situation. (CBS)
And in case you missed it, here’s the video preview for the episode, which features Burnham’s mom testing out the time travel suit, and war-faring Klingons attacking the Section 31 research outpost at Doctari Alpha.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgKZ2NXufP4
PERPETUAL INFINITY — Burnham receives the reunion she’s been longing for, but it doesn’t go quite as she imagined. Georgiou and Tyler sense a disturbing change in Leland.
The episode features a story from Alan McElroy & Brandon Schultz, and is directed by Maja Vrvilo.
McElroy wrote the teleplay the fourth episode of this season, “An Obol for Charon,” and Schultz served as a writers’ assistant in Discovery Season 1. While this is Vrvilo’s first full-length directing stint on Discovery, she previously directed the first Short Trek episode last fall, the Tilly-centric “Runaway.”
“Perpetual Infinity” debuts this Thursday on CBS All Access and Space, and beams to Netflix around the world on Friday.
The crew of Star Trek: Discovery visited the 2019 PaleyFest event yesterday in Los Angeles, and while there wasn’t much in the way of news from the cast panel itself, the show’s actors – along with executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Heather Kadin – spent some time hyping what is being called a “tremendous” and “unexpected” upcoming ending to Season 2.
Speaking with SyFy Wire in a new set of interviews published this evening, Alex Kurtzman once again addressed fan criticism of how Star Trek: Discovery may not seem to fit into the overall Star Trek history that we know, ramping up his rebuttal to that feedback:
“We are entirely aware of everyone’s questions and criticisms; I’ve read everything, and I see where everyone’s like, ‘Well, the spore drive never existed!’ and ‘What, Discovery was never around!’ and all of those things, we’re totally aware. You will get an answer,” exec producer Alex Kurtzman told SYFY WIRE. But will that answer be satisfying? “I damn well think so, yes.”
Cast members Ethan Peck, Doug Jones, and Wilson Cruz commented specifically about how the season will wrap up, offering up some extremely provocative adjectives about the final episodes:
ETHAN PECK: “I personally think that the end of the season is going to be tremendous … when [Kurtzman] first told me about it I was like in tears, I just had chills.”
DOUG JONES: “As I read the final script for Season 2, my jaw dropped, and I’m dumbfounded with where we’re headed. So I think the fans can expect to boldly go where no Star Trek series has ever gone before.”
WILSON CRUZ: “Expect the unexpected, is what my mother always says, and it couldn’t be more true, especially on this season, cause it’ll change everything.
We also had a brief moment to speak with Cruz at the event, who told us that “the end of Season 2 is a gamechanger,” along with noting that Hugh Culber’s journey continues into Season 3.
Cast member Anthony Rapp also expounded on the topic a bit, indicating that the upcoming episodes will meet Kurtzman’s often-stated plan to “sync up with canon,” and that he feels fans desires about alignment will be well-addressed:
“I think that the last few episodes will really close the circle for people. If we’ve done our job, what was on the page… in the scripts, closes the circle; it answers the questions that are lingering and remaining for people of how we fit in. And I believe very strongly that it will leave people satisfied.
As someone who cares about continuity, to some degree, I was like, ‘If this doesn’t make people happy, I don’t know what else we can do.’”
While the mystery of just who has been popping about the galaxy in the Red Angel suit has been answered in last week’s “The Red Angel” (at least, as far as we know!), there’s still four episodes left in the year to both wrap up the Red Signal / Control storyline — and to send Captain Pike back to the Enterprise for the remainder of their mission.
“If anything it’s not going to feel like a sendoff, because I think that’s what everyone thinks is going to happen. I think it will just become incredibly clear why he’s not continuing on, cause he has to go do TOS, so we have to make sense of that.”
Kurtzman talked about the departing captain as well, saying:
“If you know the story of Captain Pike, you know what his fate was. It won’t be exactly what you think this season, but we will be consistent with that story. There will be a dimension shed on that story that you will not have known or have thought of.”
There’s still a number of years between the current setting of Discovery Season 2 and the accident that seriously injures Pike (as seen in “The Menagerie”), when the captain was exposed to near-lethal delta radiation rescuing Starfleet cadets during a training mission.
Star Trek: Discovery returns Thursday with “Perpetual Infinity,” the eleventh episode of the year — but before then, we’ll bring you new photos from this week’s episode when they drop tomorrow, and our own conversations with Alex Kurtzman and Ethan Peck from the PaleyFest event in the coming days.
After ten episodes, the Red Angel is finally revealed… and it’s nobody that anyone had predicted. Not even, it turns out, the crew of the Discovery. Every few episodes this season we’ve been given a story that largely focuses on the characters of Star Trek: Discovery while reserving its shocking reveal for the last couple of seconds.
“The Red Angel” – written by Chris Silvestri & Anthony Maranville and directed by Hanelle Culpepper – is just such an episode. Like “Light and Shadows” before it, it is mostly focused on the characters, but with a jaw dropping moment at the end of the episode that’ll have fans talking until next week.
It is tough to judge the reveal of the identity of the Red Angel, because it comes right in the last few seconds of the episode. We, and the crew of the Discovery, spent most of “The Red Angel” in the belief that she is some future version of Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), thanks to a file hidden away in the memory banks of the deceased Airiam (Hannah Cheesman): a neural scan of the Red Angel that matches Burnham’s brain patterns.
However, after executing a plan to threaten Burnham’s life in order to summon the Red Angel to try and save her — as it has done on at least two occasions already this season — the Red Angel is finally trapped and forced out of its time travel suit. And it turns out the occupant is NOT a future Michael Burnham as we were told to expect, but Michael Burnham’s mother (Sonja Sohn), believed to have been killed at the hands of the Klingons when Burnham was a child.
“Mom?!” Burnham asks incredulously, as her mother kneels on the ground before her. And cut to credits – I guess we’ll pick that up next week!
We did find out, though, that the Red Angel is not some future or alien technology. It was invented by Section 31 – by Michael Burnham’s parents no less – as part of a response by the Federation to learning that the Klingons were exploring time travel technology. The Red Angel suit is Section 31 technology, therefore, something Leland (Alan van Sprang) appears to have known the whole season.
BURNHAM: “My parents were scientists: my father was a xenoanthropologist; my mother was an astrophysicist. They wouldn’t have been involved in Section 31.”
LELAND: “She was also an engineer. A brilliant one. They were working on a theory that sudden technological leaps across certain cultures – including those on Earth – weren’t happenstance, but a result of time travel.”
That should sound somewhat familiar to any Star Trek: Voyager fan…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkmeXOhtLr4
In my review for “Saints of Imperfection,” I noted that I was dissatisfied with the apparent connection between Leland and the death of Burnham’s parents, arguing that not every character needed to have some kind of history in order to drive drama and tension between them. However, I am less annoyed by that now that we’re finding out that was foreshadowing for how the rest of the season would play out.
Absolutely nobody predicted the Red Angel would turn out to be Burnham’s biological mother, but ultimately it seems to make sense in a way – it always felt like it would be much truer to Discovery for the ultimate aggressor and benefactor of this season to be drawn from elements established in Discovery itself, rather than something totally out of left field like the Iconians, as some Star Trek Online fans speculated.
Beyond the Red Angel reveal that will carry over into next week’s episode, “The Red Angel” had a lot of great character moments that continued to deepen a number of the relationships on the show.
This episode had a lot of great one-on-one scenes, that varied in length. I counted:
• Tyler and Burnham
• Georgiou and Burnham
• Nhan and Burnham
• Saru and Leland
• Burnham and Leland
• Culber and Cornwell
• Burnham and Spock
• Stamets and Culber
Not to mention some great group scenes, including the moving opening scene showing Airiam’s funeral and a particularly spicy scene between Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh), Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp), Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz), and Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman) that – after Georgiou leaves – prompts Tilly to shout “What just happened?!”
There has been a lot of conversation since last week’s episode about character development, particularly for the secondary characters like the bridge crew. We have had a lot of character work in Season 2, particularly in the back half of the season, that culminated in last week’s “Project Daedalus” in which we got both the beginning, middle, and end of Airiam’s story.
Regardless of whether it worked for you or not that it was crammed into one episode – for many it did, and for many it didn’t – this episode continues adding scenes for each character in a way that we missed in season one and even, with notable exceptions (“New Eden”) in the first half of season two.
Given we know there has been significant change in leadership behind the scenes at the Star Trek: Discovery production team, I wonder if this portends a broader shift in the way the show approaches balancing its characters with its plot development that will ultimately make unnecessary the set of forces that led last week’s episode to feel rushed.
One such moment in this episode was Keyla Detmer’s (Emily Coutts) line acknowledging for the very first time her eye implant, received following the Battle at the Binary Stars.
Overall, the funeral scene was very well done, but how well it worked for you will largely depend upon your reaction to “Project Daedalus.” Given all the work done in last week’s episode to give the character of Airiam a backstory and establish her relationships with the crew, we see a crew in mourning as Airiam’s coffin – a Federation flag draped torpedo casing – is shot into space.
We also get to hear Doug Jones (Saru) sing, another nice little moment of developing the Kelpien race.
Spock (Ethan Peck) continues to be a highlight of the season in every episode since his introduction in “Light and Shadows.” In his first scene in this episode, he cannot help himself but low-key burn Burnham throughout – “Perhaps you simply have a penchant for the dramatic.” In the later scene, he helps Burnham work through her feelings about discovering that Leland, not she, was responsible for her parents death.
I was not sure I had room in my heart for another Spock following Leonard Nimoy’s death, but Ethan Peck has created that space through the sheer power and heart of his performance. His refusal to allow the away team to end the experiment to capture the Red Angel and treat Burnham also really heightened the tension of that scene, which was already brutal to watch because of Sonequa Martin-Green’s performance.
If Season One was about helping Burnham atone for her mistakes around the start of the Klingon War, then Season Two appears to be about fixing some of the deeper problems in Burnham’s psyche that led her there. Despite being calm, poised, and confident due to her Vulcan upbringing, Michael has clearly been deeply traumatized by her life’s experiences.
This includes the death of her parents, the shock of moving to Vulcan and being raised in a Vulcan household, and being a target for terrorists. This episode establishes that Burnham is carrying around a lot of guilt over her role in all of it, but she is also starting to learn that it is necessary to give up that guilt and move on from it. Michael has not always made the best decisions in this show, but because of her experiences and passage on the road towards healing, perhaps those bad decisions are more in her past than in her future.
We also revisited the Culber-Stamets relationship this week. Culber is clearly continuing to struggle with his identity and being a “new” person. In previous episodes, we have seen him lean hard on this idea as a coping mechanism for his experiences, but in his conversation with Admiral Cornwell (Jayne Brook) in this episode she very bluntly puts it to him that he is a new person, and he does not seem totally comfortable with that either.
With everyone on the crew pressuring him to be the same Culber as before, in this episode he’s confronted with being a different man – and appears to find he doesn’t much like that either. It seems the future for Culber is likely to lie somewhere in between, and perhaps in that there continues to be a love for Paul Stamets as well.
There are a number of tender moments between the characters this episode, and even though they don’t seem like they’ll be back together next episode, the path for them is becoming clearer. “Love is a choice, Hugh,” Admiral Cornwell tells him. “And one doesn’t make that choice once. One makes it again and again.”
Overall, “The Red Angel” was a nice character episode with a big last-minute reveal that we’ll have to wait until next week to see play out further. But I enjoy these character episodes a lot, as they help make the big spectacle episodes much more meaningful. Discovery has often struggled with how to balance character and spectacle since its inception. Hopefully, it has now found the right balance.
That’s it for “The Red Angel,” now it’s time for your take on this week’s episode! Share your thoughts in the comments below, and then watch for more updates through next week as we approach “Perpetual Infinity,” the next episode of Star Trek: Discovery.
Star Trek: Discovery continues this week with “The Red Angel,” the tenth episode of the season, and it looks like we could be about to get some answers to the big mysteries of the season: what are the energy signals Discovery has been chasing… and who is the Red Angel?
This week brings nearly 20 new photos from “The Red Angel,” covering just about all the moments we saw in the Episode 210 preview: what appears to be a funeral aboard Discovery, presumably for the recently-departed Lt. Commander Airiam, and the return of Section 31 agent Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) to the ship as the pursuit of the Red Angel continues.
'Star Trek: Discovery' Episode 210 - 'The Red Angel'
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Nillson (Sara Mitich), Pike (Anson Mount), Cornwell (Jayne Brook) and Spock (Ethan Peck) attend a memorial. (CBS)
Tilly (Mary Wiseman) at the memorial. (CBS)
Tyler (Shazad Latif) at the memorial. (CBS)
Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) beams aboard. (CBS)
Georgiou and Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) have a conversation. (CBS)
Georgiou and Stamets (Anthony Rapp) in engineering. (CBS)
Tyler and Burnham share a moment. (CBS)
Georgiou, Pike, Burnham. and Spock in the Discovery shuttlebay. (CBS)
Spock aboard Discovery. (CBS)
Spock aboard Discovery. (CBS)
Spock, Cornwell, Pike, and Saru in a meeting. (CBS)
It also seems that Dr. Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz) is back on duty this week, joining Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp), Spock (Ethan Peck), Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman), and Georgiou in a landing party to a facility filled with technical equipment for an experiment — one which requires (most) of the group to wear environmental suits.
'Star Trek: Discovery' Episode 210 - 'The Red Angel'
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Georgiou in a black Section 31 environmental suit. (CBS)
Georgiou and Burnham in the facility. (CBS)
Culber and Stamets in environmental suits. (CBS)
Burnham and Spock in the facility. (CBS)
Stamets and Culber in environmental suits. (CBS)
Tilly in landing party gear, setting up equipment. (CBS)
Spock in an environmental suit. (CBS)
Spock in an environmental suit. (CBS)
And in case you missed it, here’s the video preview for the episode, which features many of the crew in setting up parts of a lateral-vector transporter system to focus on Michael Burnham, who is curiously being strapped into a chair — as one of the mysterious red signals appears right in front of Discovery and Section 31.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a66erLL-kbg
THE RED ANGEL — Burnham is stunned when she learns her ties to Section 31 run deeper than she ever fathomed. Armed with the identity of the Red Angel, the U.S.S. Discovery goes to work on its most critical mission to date.
The episode features a story from Chris Silvestri & Anthony Maranville; Silvestri served as a writers’ assistant in Discovery Season 1, and Maranville has been a researcher for the series since early last season.
We’re two-thirds of the way through Star Trek: Discovery Season 2, and as we’ve been expecting for some time, news has come through confirming our previous reporting: starship captain Anson Mount will be warping off to other adventures when this season comes to a conclusion in April.
As the actor first told fans back in December at the Official Star Trek Set Tour — including our own Alex Perry who attended the event — Discovery’s Captain Christopher Pike (Mount) will be beaming off the series at the conclusion of Season 2, Deadline now reports, as the actor was only signed to a one-season contract for the role.
In-universe, there’s still nearly a decade of adventure aboard the USS Enterprise before Captain Pike hands over his starship to James T. Kirk — Season 2 of Discovery is set in 2257, and Kirk takes command of the Enterprise in 2265 — so while Mount’s portrayal of Pike has been met with much praise by fans and critics alike, it’s no surprise that his stint aboard Discovery is coming to a close as the captain was only assigned to the USS Discovery on a temporary basis for the ‘red signal’ mission.
In addition, while she’s only been seen once so far this year, the Deadline report also notes that Rebecca Romijn (Number One) is also only contracted for this season of Discovery, so there don’t appear to be any plans for her character to continue into Season 3 at present.
This will end Star Trek: Discovery much as it’s first year concluded, as a starship without a captain. Pike was assigned to the Discovery in a temporary capacity anyway during the duration of the Red Angel mission — so will Season 3 find the ship in the hands of its original “new captain,” apparently waiting for the ship on Vulcan? Will Commander Saru (Doug Jones) finally lose the ‘acting’ from ‘acting captain’?
Or, will Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 bring another new cast member to the ship to lead next year’s missions? We’ll have to see how the last 5 episodes of 2019 play out.
Star Trek: Discovery returns this Thursday with “The Red Angel.”
Jonathan Frakes returns to direct his second episode Star Trek: Discovery’s second season, as Burnham and Spock confront one another, Admiral Cornwell confronts Section 31, and Lt. Airiam confronts, well… everyone.
“Project Daedalus” opens with Admiral Cornwell (Jayne Brook) joining the fugitive Discovery on a two-pronged mission: interview Spock (Ethan Peck) for herself, and travel to Section 31 headquarters to understand why her command codes are being rejected by Control — the artificial intelligence which forms the backbone of Section 31’s operations.
After administering a lie detector test to Spock with what appeared to be a lottery ball hopper crossed with a dom-jot table, Cornwell consults with Captain Pike (Anson Mount), Commander Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), and Commander Saru (Doug Jones), concluding that Section 31 has framed Spock for murder by replacing the actual footage of Spock’s escape with a recording of holograms.
I’m a little shaky on how exactly this works given that per Cornwell, the footage came directly from the detention facility on Starbase 5 and was not altered in any way. Does this mean someone set up holo-emitters in Spock’s cell and recorded the footage that way? That seems more complicated than necessary.
As Discovery travels to Section 31 Headquarters, Ensign Tilly (Mary Wiseman) and Lt. Commander Airiam (Hannah Cheesman) continue to work on decrypting the unauthorized transmission — presumably sent by Ash Tyler (Shazad Latif, not seen this week) — to Section 31 in “If Memory Serves.”
With red flash in her eyes, Airiam flips back and forth between her usual self and someone who’s been unknowingly commandeered by a probe from the 28th century. Airiam doesn’t remember the actions of her commandeered self, and watching her grow increasingly unsure of herself throughout the episode is heartbreaking.
Memories are a constant in her life — she records everything she experiences and has to periodically archive or delete memories to make room for new ones — and seem to be her most prized possession.
Airiam is a character I’ve been dying to know more about since she first appeared last season, and even more so as she’s become more prominent over the last few episodes.
Several comments on Twitter from the Discovery team, including makeup designer Neville Page and actress Hannah Cheesman herself, have noted that Airiam is at least partially human, while a comment on an episode of the defunct After Treks indicated that she was an alien of some sort — clearly, her origins weren’t a focus during last season’s production.
“Project Daedalus” finally gives us our first onscreen confirmation that Page’s tweet was correct: Airiam is a human who was cybernetically augmented after a tragic shuttle accident which claimed the life of her husband. (We also get a glimpse of Cheesman sans makeup, in the flashback to the video call from the beach.)
My curiosity hasn’t been completely satisfied — the timeline of cybernetics and robotics development in Star Trek is still murky to me — but I’m glad the subject has finally been broached.
We also learn that this entire time Airiam has been best friends with both Tilly and Lieutenant Detmer (Emily Coutts), though up to now their friendship has taken place entirely off camera. Given that the climax of the episode hinges on the depth of the friendship between Tilly and Airiam, it would have been much more effective if their friendship had been slowly built over the course of the series.
Discovery’s pacing doesn’t exactly lend itself to the Tilly/Airiam version of Geordi and Data’s friendship B-stories playing Sherlock Holmes together, but a few throwaway lines sprinkled throughout the series about Tilly and Airiam making plans would have been welcome.
The lack of buildup between Tilly, Airiam, and Detmer is reminiscent of the intense bond between Saru and Burnham that suddenly existed in “An Obol for Charon,” willed into existence seemingly because the plot dictated it. At this point in the series, I think Discovery is starting to butt up against the demands of its major storylines.
Far dramatic purposes, we need plots to impact the relationships between characters, but in many cases the show hasn’t had the time or space to develop those relationships. Instead they appear, fully formed, only when they intersect with the larger story.
At some point, I’d like to see Discovery spend more time on the small moments of these characters’ lives; they can’t always be saving all life in the galaxy…
In an episode that contains life-or-death combat, a trip through a minefield, and the sacrifice of a crewmember, the most intense scene was a chess match.
This isn’t to disparage the other sequences, but to underline just how good Spock’s confrontation with Burnham is. The game of three-dimensional chess suggested by Burnham quickly escalates from an uninterested Spock clearly not playing to win, to a shouting match between two people who avoid their emotions in very different ways.
Spock’s candor with Burnham slices deep, and Ethan Peck’s performance has the same fire to it that we see from Leonard Nimoy’s unrestrained Spock in “All Our Yesterdays.” Spock hits especially hard when he accuses Burnham of insisting on shouldering others’ burdens as a way to assuage her guilt over causing her parents’ deaths.
The moment is cut short when Burnham and Spock are called to the bridge. Discovery has arrived at the former prison that Section 31 uses for its headquarters and is greeted by a massive and very un-Starfleet minefield. Discovery weaves its way through the mines, barely escaping destruction in a scene that I think was supposed to be exciting, but for me was just LOUD.
The mines whip around sounding like a dubstep track whose bass is about to drop but never quite does, and while the sound effects in “Project Daedalus” are fine — they’re not muddy or incoherent — they’re just layered on way too thick.
Hand phasers constantly power up and down, Airiam’s every move and gesture generate a deep whomp, Lt. Commander Stamets’ (Anthony Rapp) diagnostic tools chime loudly every few seconds, and Cornwell’s lie detector beeps so frequently that it seems to be testing the veracity of every individual word Spock speaks. I’m sorry “Project Daedalus,” you’re just too darn loud.
But back to the story. After Discovery makes it through the minefield, Admiral Patar (Tara Nicodemo), previously identified as a logic extremist, hails the ship and announces that everyone aboard are committing treason for harboring the fugitive Spock.
Before anyone can get too worried though, Petar is identified as the same type of hologram as the homicidal Spock. Airiam, Burnham, and Commander Nhan (Rachael Ancheril) beam over to the prison and find that life support is down and everyone aboard — including the real Admiral Petar, who appeared to Leland (Alan Van Sprang) and Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) just last week — has been dead for weeks.
In “Light and Shadows,” Discovery’s systems were scanned for all information on artificial intelligence. (CBS)
Airiam, again being controlled by the probe, finally has the opportunity to complete the probe’s mission: transferring to Control all the data on artificial intelligence collected by the mysterious sphere the Discovery countered in “An Obol for Charon.” Control desires — or requires — sentience, and it’s unclear who’s driving whom.
The probe probably derives from an evolved form of Control, which means that Control must evolve for the probe to exist. But the probe must exist to compel Airiam to give Control the data it needs in order to evolve. Ah, it’s our good friend the time paradox!
Burnham manages to trap Airiam in an airlock and Tilly, from Discovery’s bridge, is able to temporarily break through the probe’s control over Airiam. In a moving gesture of self-sacrifice, Airiam insists that Burnham blow her out the airlock before the probe forces her to complete the data transfer.
In her last moments before being blown out the airlock, Airiam tells Burnham that she — Michael Burnham — is at the center of everything and pleads with her to “find Project Daedalus.” Despite being the title of the episode, this is the first we hear of Project Daedalus, and the episode spends no additional time on the mystery.
Daedalus is, of course, a significant figure in Greek myth. Though he probably has less name recognition than his foolhardy son Icarus, Daedalus is the creator of the wax wings that carried both to freedom from captivity, and Icarus too close to the sun and eventually to his death.
The obvious connection to draw between Daedalus and Discovery’s storyline is with the winged Red Angel, but it would also make sense that Project Daedalus refers to Control’s transition from an inanimate tool into a sentient being with agency and awareness. Is the allusion to Daedalus’ eventual freedom or to the suit of wings he constructed to gain it, or both?
Finally, I’m surprised Discovery continues to (try to) use its spore drive, as Stamets works to sort out the duotronic corruption Airiam surreptitiously introduced into the engineering systems last week.
After the May storyline, I was sure Discovery had effectively written the spore drive out of the show, something it needs to do eventually to fit with the technology we see in the future — but we’ve still got 5 episodes left this season, perhaps that’s still to come.
Naomi Wildman (Scarlett Pomers) and Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) play kadis-kot in 2375. (“Infinite Regress”)
A few stray observations we picked up on subspace:
This episode is the first Discovery script by Michelle Paradise, who will be joining Alex Kurtzman as co-showrunner as the show moves into Season 3.
Director Jonathan Frakes opens the episode with another of what has become a signature of Discovery’s second season, a twisting, inverted camera move as Corwell disembarks her shuttle.
Airiam appears to have a statues of both the Hindu god Krisnha — who represents compassion, tenderness, and love in the Hindu faith — and Buddha in her quarters.
Rather then a bed, Airiam’s quarters contain a pod for her to recline in; likely some way of maintaining her cybernetic systems similar to Borg regeneration.
We see a flashback to the night Burnham’s parents were killed, as her younger self (Arista Ahrin) hid in a closet; the first we’ve glimpsed of the story Burnham told Tyler in “Will You Take My Hand?” last season.
Starfleet’s spacesuits have built-in cameras, a logical extension of today’s technology for the 22nd century.
I’m sure the next installment of “Canon Connections” will have much more to say on the topic, but yes, the kadis-kot Tilly, Detmer, and Airiam were such enthusiasts of is the same kadis-kot game we often saw being played aboard Voyager.
“Project Daedalus” finally confirms that Nhan is indeed a Barzan, a species originally seen in The Next Generation’s “The Price.” We also learn what her facial appliances are for: it’s an implanted device that allows Barzans to breathe in the standard atmosphere aboard Starfleet ships. (They also appear to be bonded to her cheeks, as we see when Airiam rips ’em off — ouch!)
We know Control likes using holograms to carry out its schemes; could the trouble with the Enterprise’s holocommunications system be related?
That’s it for “Project Daedalus,” now it’s time for your take on this week’s episode! Share your thoughts in the comments below, and then watch for more updates through next week as we approach “The Red Angel,” the next episode of Star Trek: Discovery.
Following “The Sound of Thunder,” which we won’t be covering herein Canon Connections because it seems to be the one entry in Discovery‘s story without any connective references to the wider canon, the last two episodes built up to and then perfectly executed upon the telling of a sequel story to the very first Star Trek story, “The Cage” – in addition to introducing us to the latest version of the Spock character as portrayed by Ethan Peck.
So, let’s take a walk through the last 54 years of Star Trek history and examine the connections to previous Star Trek canon in “Light and Shadows” and “If Memory Serves.”
Mutara Sector
According to Burnham, the shuttle Spock stole to leave Starbase 5 disappeared “somewhere in the Mutara Sector.” Many years later, the Mutara Sector would be the site of a battle between the USS Enterprise and the USS Reliant that would take the life of Spock (for the first time) and lead to the formation of the Genesis Planet. (“Light and Shadows”)
Probe Launch
Discovery’s shuttle launches a probe into the temporal anomaly, the first time we have seen the scientific instrument that has appeared many, many times in previous Star Trek canon used on Discovery. (“Light and Shadows”)
Katra Stones
Sarek points out that Amanda hid Spock in a Vulcan crypt filled with katra stones to interfere with Sarek’s ability to telepathically locate Spock. Katras are the Vulcan soul, first established in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Katra stones must be vessels that carry the souls of dead Vulcans.
The crypt shares a number of similarities with the Katric Ark seen in Star Trek ’09. (“Light and Shadows”)
Kir’shara
Also on display in the Vulcan crypt is a pyramid structure that looks very similar to the kir’shara, a sacred Vulcan relic that preserved the original writings of Surak.
The color and writing on the surface of this item are not the same as the kir’shara as it first appeared in the Enterprise episode “The Forge,” and so it could be the same item, some kind of copy, or a symbolic representation of the original artifact. (“Light and Shadows”)
Burn, Plasma, Burn
When Discovery’s shuttle was pulled into the temporal anomaly, Pike ordered Tyler to burn off the shuttle’s plasma in bursts to try and help Discovery locate it.
A similar trick was later used by Spock aboard the Shuttlecraft Galileo to call for help from the USS Enterprise before it burned up in the atmosphere of Taurus II. (“Light and Shadows”)
Activate Self-Destruct Sequence
The shuttle’s self destruct display shares a distinct resemblance to the Library Computer Access and Retrieval System (LCARS) that was featured prominently in Star Trek shows set in the 24th century, beginning with The Next Generation. (“Light and Shadows”)
Previously, on Star Trek…
As a direct sequel to “The Cage,” this episode begins with footage from that original 1965 episode! Featuring the original actors from the Star Trek pilot, including Jeffrey Hunter’s Captain Pike, Majel Barrett Rodenberry’s Number One, and Leonard Nimoy’s Spock, the recap is set to the original Star Trek theme.
Interestingly, the appearance of Majel Barrett in the recap makes her the only Star Trek cast member to have made an appearance or been heard in every single incarnation of Star Trek. (“If Memory Serves”)
Trekking to Talos IV
At the conclusion of “Light and Shadows,” Burnham deciphers the sequence of numbers Spock is repeating as the coordinates for Talos IV, the planet first visited by the Enterprise in “The Cage.”
As Burnham and Spock’s shuttle warps to the planet, she listens to the records of Talos IV, which repeats the history of the planet that Pike learned in “The Cage.” (“If Memory Serves”)
A Familiar Environment
Though shot on location in Toronto and not on a set like “The Cage,” the surface of Talos IV shares many distinct similarities with its first appearance in Star Trek.
The planet is barren and rocky, with the only obvious life the occasional outgrowth of blue-colored plants that vibrate and case a high-pitched hum. (“If Memory Serves”)
A Restricted Part of the Alpha Quadrant
It is mentioned several times during this episode that Talos IV is restricted space, though there is no mention of General Order Seven, which indicated the Federation had imposed the death penalty on anyone who would revisit the planet.
It is unclear if General Order Seven was implemented later than the events of “The Cage,” or the writers chose to sidestep it because the death penalty has never synced well with the later presentation of the Federation as a more evolved political structure than our current governments. (“If Memory Serves”)
Vina
Talos IV’s only human inhabitant (at this point in time), Vina first appeared in “The Cage” played by Susan Oliver. She returns in this episode, played by Melissa George, serving the same capacity as she did in “The Cage,” as an intermediary between our Starfleet characters and the Talosians.
We also catch a glimpse of Vina’s injured form that she hides behind the Talosian projections. (“If Memory Serves”)
Talosians
Possessed of the same large heads with throbbing cranial veins, the make up design for the return of the Talosians is a faithful update of the original. The Keeper also appears wearing the same design of necklace as The Keeper during “The Cage,” though the gender swapped voices have been removed this time around.
The powers of the Talosians remain the same, as do the prices that they exact from those they interact with. (“If Memory Serves”)
Vulcan’s Forge
Spock describes his first encounter with the Red Angel as a child, which told Spock where Burnham had ran off to in Vulcan’s Forge. His premonition helped avoid her death. Vulcan’s Forge was first mentioned in The Animated Series episode “Yesteryear,” and seen most prominently in the Enterprise episode “The Forge.”
In previous appearances, we were exposed to the desert climate of Vulcan’s Forge, but according to this episode there are multiple climactic zones that also include forests. (“If Memory Serves”)
Icy Andoria
Burnham experiences Spock’s vision of technology from the 28th century launching attacks on, and destroying, the homeworlds of the major Federation races. This includes the destruction of Earth, Vulcan, and Andoria, which is shown to have several moons and rings – just like its appearance in the Enterprise episode “The Aenar.” (“If Memory Serves”)
Duotronics
Discovery tries to use its spore drive to jump to Talos IV, but the technology fails. Tilly indicates there is a corruption in the duotronics, a computer technology invented by Richard Daystrom that is in widespread use aboard Starfleet ships in the 23rd century.
The technology was first referenced in The Original Series episode “The Ultimate Computer.” (“If Memory Serves”)
Set Course for Starbase 11
Discovery heads to Starbase 11, which is in close proximity to Talos IV, to hide its plans to divert to the planet. Starbase 11 appeared in “The Menagerie” two-part episode as the starbase on which Christopher Pike was sent to convalesce following the crippling accident he suffered between the events of Discovery and The Original Series.
It is also the site of Spock’s court martial during the same episode, and was spotted during Burnham’s “spore vision” of the planet in “Context is for Kings.” (“If Memory Serves”)
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Finally, after several previous references this season, Control – who provides threat assessments and directives to Section 31 operatives – is revealed to be an artificial intelligence.
While I admit I am stretching the definition of “canon” on this one — since the novels are absolutely not canon — but can’t help but point out that in David Mack’s 2016 novel Section 31: Control, the literary equivalent is also revealed to be an artificial intelligence program.
We’ll be back with more Canon Connections after the next few Star Trek: Discovery outings, this week’s “Project Daedalus” and next week’s “The Red Angel.”
Out of all the characters in CBS’s latest iteration of Star Trek, Saru has to be the most iconic and interesting Discovery character. A member of a species whose driving principle is fear (at least, until recently), he seems to be a character you would least expect to find on board a starship, exploring the unknown.
Yet here he is, and this one-shot title from IDW Publishing gives us greater insight into his background through Star Trek: Discovery — Captain Saru.
Discovery writer Kirsten Beyer and veteran Star Trek comic writer Mike Johnson join forces once again to bring us this incredibly detailed and authentic story that sees its validity measured not simply by the talent and qualifications of the writers, but on the foundation of other works as well.
To add, we also get a chance to appreciate Saru more as this critical juncture of Discovery’s history, set before the arrival of the USS Enterprise and after most of the significant events of the show’s first season.
A lot of Johnson’s recent Trek work has seen it primarily focused on Discovery stories. This is a good thing. Given his long history of writing Trek comics, Johnson has an accurate take on spinning new stories and a good foothold in canon. Combined with Kirsten Beyer, who has literally written the book on Discovery, they’re a powerful force for providing a story in the new Star Trek mythos that can bridge the gap between canonical proponents and those who say Discovery is otherwise.
It’s a moot argument; as much as fans feel ownership over this franchise, it really isn’t theirs to affect. Fans are free to like what they want; point out inconsistencies wherever they like, but in the end, it’s the creators who have been placed in stewardship over this property who tell the story.
Johnson and Beyer are writers who have their feet planted firmly in Trek lore. While Bryan Fuller can be attributed to being the creator of Saru, Kirsten Beyer is about as close to the source as possible when it comes to interpreting this complicated character. Johnson’s knowledge ranges all the way back to the Original Series. If there’s ever a writing team who understands the past and future of this franchise, it’s this one.
In Captain Saru, we see that clearly. I like seeing the personal friendship between Saru and Burnham. It gives me greater insight into their relationship on screen. I can understand from this comic more why Saru and Michael are close. The interplay and dialogue between the two are very familiar and makes them both more endearing characters. Burnham’s knowledge of Saru’s blueberry dream is an aspect of that endearment.
During the course of the story, Burnham’s deference to Saru is not just a case of Starfleet protocol, it’s a matter of respect. She clearly respects his orders and follows them to the letter. While it can be said that perhaps Burnham has learned her lesson by now, then this comic gives us the chance to see that lesson learned.
It’s also of note that both Johnson and Beyer make use of referencing Star Trek novels, more specifically, Fear Itself and A Way to the Stars in this story. This widens Discovery’s own base and provides greater context for the story. This also validates the material as Discovery continues to progress.
I also love that the antagonists in this story are Orions. Orions are my favourite race in Star Trek, mostly because they really haven’t been talked about a lot. We saw two Orions in classic Trek, a few in Enterprise, but we saw more of them in DISCO. For me, they’re a stark connection back to the Original Series and extends the canonical presence in Discovery.
We also get to see more of Saru’s resolve and inventiveness. While his solution to the problem of the occupied ship may not be one of tactical genius and flair, it is a solution that would validate everything we know of this unique character to date. He hides, he sneaks, he makes use of deceptive techniques that would be fully consistent with a species used to being hunted and preyed upon. We can appreciate his command style and his decisions with more insight because of this adventure and it is greatly entertaining.
Angel Hernandez is the artist for this book. Hernandez’s work has never failed to disappoint me. Next to Tony Shasteen, his likenesses are the most accurate out of the pencillers IDW has on hand for Trek books. It’s also a challenge to draw the Kelpien’s facial features and it’s clear that Hernandez’s skill is more than enough to meet that particular challenge.
There are only two covers for this book, with the standard cover art by Paul Shipper — it’s completely unreal. It’s a striking piece of art in which every physical detail of the cast members has been rendered accurately to an insane degree. I’m not overly familiar with Shipper’s work, but this is a first impression that has made me a fan. I have to say that this one is my favourite out of the two. I’d like to see more of his work in the future.
The retailer-incentive cover is by Angel Hernandez and it also fails to disappoint. With the enlarged focus on Saru’s features, you can easily get a sense of Hernandez’s accuracy. Every ridge and cranial nook is visible and Saru’s eyes certainly catch your attention. The smaller image of Tilly conveys a sense of their relationship and makes this cover a very warm and personable one.
We get a greater sense of appreciation of Saru from this story. Far from the token alien species on the bridge, Saru is a creature capable of great talent and bravery, much more than he was initially promised to be.
A creature (formerly) driven by fear, both Johnson and Beyer have shown fans how he can turn that into a tactical advantage. He has captured the attention of Star Trek: Discovery fans and this comic really gives him a chance to endear him even more to the fans.
The members of the new Captain Picard Star Trek series continues to coalesce this week, as following the first casting announcements on March 4, another new addition to the ‘Picard Show’ crew has been named.
The young actor’s specific role in the program has yet to be announced, but Evagora will become the first Australian lead in the 50+ year Star Trek regular acting troupe. Prior to his entry to the acting world, Evagorahas worked as a model for a a stint in Australia.
Evan Evagora was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia. His mother, Marie is of New Zealand and Cook Island Maori descent and moved from Auckland at the age of 20. His father, Xristos immigrated to Australia from his homeland of Cyprus at the Age of 3.
The youngest of seven siblings, Evan grew up excelling in sports, learning boxing at a very young age (instructed by his father, an ex professional) as well as playing Australian football. His family also pushed him to pursue his creative interests, having starred in school productions throughout primary school.
As he entered high school Evan’s focus shifted primarily to sports, winning a state boxing championship as well competing in football finals. At the end of his schooling Evan took a gap year across Europe with a group of friends before enrolling into film school. During his study he was scouted and then later moved to Sydney to pursue his acting career
We’ll keep you posted on any more developments from the Star Trek Picard series as they break, so keep checking back to TrekCore for all the latest news on this upcoming show!
