Star Trek: Discovery 3.07.

[selenak]

In which Star Trek: Picard canon shows up for the first time in another ST show. Also TNG canon. And I'm starting to wonder whether Romulus is supposed to be East Germany or North Korea in some writer's brain.



First of all, hooray on Gabrielle Burnham being a) alive, and b) in a good position, and also somewhere where Michael can visit. Mind you, it's not that Michael has a lack of mother figures without her, but Amanda is in the past, and Gabrielle has the least screen outings so far, plus if Michael had never seen her again, it would have felt like cheap angst. Instead, her mother is exactly in the future she'd hoped to find her in, if in a different place. And okay, I am amused at Gabrielle ending up in the Order of Complete Candor. (And that said order survived.) Also I think this drawing out the truth mission works better for her than for Picard's space elf Elnor. Oh, and I can see a scientist deciding to settle down on no-longer-Vulcan, N'var. (Spelling?)

Which brings me to the next bit: I had an inkling Vulcan might have withdrawn from the Federation when there were no Vulcans around in the last few episodes, plus, you know, it's a parallel to Earth doing the same. Wouldn't be surprised of the two other original founding members might have followed suit. What I hadn't expected is that a) Spock's not-that-logical reunification plan actually worked in the long term and Vulcans & Romulans merged (presumably not just post blowing up of Romulus but post Picard era), and b) the episode carefully establishing it wasn't the Romulans among the newly merged people who wanted out, that this wasn't some Romulan plot, but that it was the Vulcans, because of what they saw as the abuse of scientific research leading to the Burn as the last straw (but not the sole reason). There's a decades old Vulcan-centric novel, Spock's World, where Vulcan considers withdrawing from the Federation (but doesn't), and I have an inkling this might have been partly an inspiration.

Anyway, Michael being given the task to make the Federation's case to the people of N'Var while also working through her ongoing question as to whether she still wants to be with Starfleet (instead of doing her own thing with Book) makes for various soul searching character scenes with Book, Gabrielle and in true ST tradition in the pseudo trial/ritual. (BTW: hooray for another Vulcan ritual complete with gongs! I've missed those.) And good lord, was I glad she got two scenes with Tilly on the subject as well. See, show, it's not that hard to recall they are supposed to be friends. I also liked that Tilly was Tilly and was being frank about her feelings re: Michael's actions from last week instead of letting that fester.

Speaking of Tilly, Saru making her Acting First Officer for now is in the tried and true Wesley Crusher tradition, but you know, I don't care. Because Tilly being ambitious and wanting a command career was established from s1 onwards along with her scientific curiosity, she's popular with the crew, but also not a pushover (see her occasional arguments with Stamets, much as she likes him), and there's a reason why Saru in the second episode brought her along to make a good impression on the future. Go Tilly!

Back to no-longer-Vulcan. I like that there are evidently still some issues and tensions between (some of) the Vulcan and Romulan originated people while also traditions of both (see Order of Absolute Candor) have now mingled in society; it strikes me as plausible world building, says the citizen of unified Germany. Also that neither are presented as the bad guys. I hope we'll see we'll see the President and the Romuvulcans from this episode again. And as someone who liked the Michael & Spock relationship from last season, awwww on Michael' reaction to watching Nimoy!Spock from the TNG episode, err, from Picard's archived log entry. In any event: this - Romulan/Vulcan reunification and the still in development society hailing from it - is a development for Vulcan which manages to both be grounded on previous canon and bring something new to the table instead of just revisiting old trope. Well done, show.

Comments

[lynnenne]

I agree with everything.

[selenak]

Glad to hear it!

[lilacsigil]

I enjoyed this episode so much! And I really appreciated that it was the Romulan on the panel who was going for "Hell with this, I'm handing over the data!" rather than him functioning as a block on what the Federation wants. Spock's World is a fantastic novel and I agree that some of the world-building there has crept into TV canon, and all the better for it.

Tilly really shouldn't be acting First Officer at this stage in her career, but what the hell, she'll make a great union rep from the crew to the Captain. And I think she's the only one of the specialist scientists who wants to be in command!

[selenak]

Verily. Stamets has "do not want" written all over him, Jet Reno ditto. Mind you, now that I think of it, Spock and Michael might be the only science officer/first officer combos on the ST shows we've seen. Riker wasn't science, nor was Kira, nor was Chakotay. Hang on, T'Pol was another scientist/first officer combo, I take it back. Maybe being raised on Vulcan helps with that...

[reverancepavane]

I think that is mainly from the fact that Star Fleet is substantially an exploration/research organisation, so even if they do eventually decide to proceed to the command track, most will have extensive experience in the sciences. And it gives a good handle on that officers instincts when faced with these strange situations, whilst still placing the actual decision in the hands of an experienced captain. It being the last step before considering the individual for command of their own.

The normal role of an executive officer on a modern ship (to ensure that the ship [which includes running properly so that the captain doesn't have to worry about it) is subsumed really by all the department heads and the unified command team (which handles the day to day business of the ship).

As for Tilly, I think one of the major reasons for giving her the position (but not rank) of the first officer is to provide her with increased mentorship by Saru, who is almost certainly feeling the deficiencies and lack of resilience in his current command team (especially that he is a new breveted captain himself [although he has the instincts and character to be one of the greatest ones we have seen (and yes, by that I mean even better than either Picard or Kirk)]). After all, Tilly appears to be one of the few officers on board who has already volunteered for the actual command track that leads to independent command (well, apart from Burnam). And yes, it is going to be very much a trial by fire, and abnormal. Normally she'd have lots more supervised training and need to attend lots more schools, and spend time supervising gradually increasing numbers of people and larger and larger projects, all the while being examined for competency and responsibility, but things are different in a shipwreck, and the Discovery is shipwrecked on a very far shore indeed.

Remember that rank in Star Fleet is not quite the same as it is in the modern military and not something that actually needs to be courted - it is perfectly fine to retire as a lieutenant having put in a lifetime of exemplary service (something that many modern militaries would be aghast at). Some people just prefer the job they have and don't want any additional responsibility for others (and definitely don't want the extra paperwork attached to the position). In Star Fleet that is fine.

[selenak]

True, though I'm also recalling that in the s6 TNG episode when Picard gets his Q-caused look at what his would have been if he hadn't been stabbed through the heart as a young man, he seems to see the fact that Alt!Jean-Luc is still a lieutenant as an indignity. Then, this is his particular case. Your point about the exploration/research organisation is well taken,and also the Doylist reasoning for giving Tilly an increasing mentorship by Saru. In retrospect, the show has been careful to give them scenes together in pretty much all episodes they were in this season, which wasn't the case in earlier seasons.

[reverancepavane]

I do think that was Q's indignation at comparing the alt-Picard with what Picard did achieve in the real timeline. And Q, not Star Fleet.

But it could also be overflow of our world into that of the writer's room. Particularly with regard to the US attitude towards ranks in the military, where absent horrendous indiscretions, promotion of junior officers is a fairly automatic process. And as such junior officers are treated with a great deal of disrespect.

Compare with, say the RN traditions that the Hornblower novels were based upon (where rank indicated ability at seamanship and the rate of one's command [in some cases the same ship would officially change rate on paper in order to be able to be commanded by different officers]). The US Coast Guard, of which Roddenberry preferred to compare ST, operates on the same sort of seamanship/command competency prerogative, rather than the more hierarchical conventional militaries.

But episodes such as the TNG one with Beverly [or it may have been Deanna] needing time as a watch officer to complete the requirements for promotion do tend to indicate that rank tends to follow command responsibilities a lot more. Indeed IIRC I believe Beverly later went on to become a Captain and command of a major Star Fleet medical response vessel (but that was probably expected of Enterprise alumni).

But yes, if I was Saru I'd certainly be very worried about shoring up my very broken command team, and I do think that the best way of doing that is to hurry along the education of Tilly whilst keeping a very close eye on her to make sure it doesn't overwhelm her. Learning by doing, aided by supportive department heads who will continue to train her mercilessly, and hopefully having her not make too many mistakes along the way. It helps that she is not vitally needed anywhere else either.

And of course, I could always be wrong! [ Standard disclaimer (TM).]

[vilakins]

I love Tilly, but I'd rather she stayed in science; she has inventive ideas. I see her as being at least in her 30s, so experienced enough, but I don't think it's a good fit for her despite her ambition as she has an endearing touch of innocence. I think they chose her because they need Burnham as a free-er agent, and there weren't that many developed characters to use. I suppose Adira replaces her so that was planned ahead.

Want more Jet Reno AKA grumpy engineer. Bring her on! Someone elsewhere expressed my reservations about Burnham being the star instead of having an ensemble show - I'd like to see a lot more crew getting involved and us getting to know them.

Much as I'm enjoying S3, I keep wondering how they're using the spore drive without damaging the mycelial network. I've obviously missed something.

[selenak]

Jet Reno: there's the real life problem that the actress, for whom this part was specifically written, refuses to become a regular. She's said she's fine with occasional guest star episodes but she doesn't want to spend most of the year shooting the show. So they can use the character only in a few episodes per season.

Spore drive: I'm waiting for an in-story explanation as well.

[maia]

I read Spock's World decades ago, now want to re-read it!

[selenak]

It's very much worth rereading, I bet! *was warm memories*