star trek series 3 episode 8

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Episode list

S3.E1 ∙ Spock's Brain

S3.E2 ∙ The Enterprise Incident

S3.E3 ∙ The Paradise Syndrome

S3.E4 ∙ And the Children Shall Lead

S3.E5 ∙ Is There in Truth No Beauty?

S3.E6 ∙ Spectre of the Gun

S3.E7 ∙ Day of the Dove

S3.E8 ∙ For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky

S3.E9 ∙ The Tholian Web

S3.E10 ∙ Plato's Stepchildren

S3.E11 ∙ Wink of an Eye

S3.E12 ∙ The Empath

S3.E13 ∙ Elaan of Troyius

S3.E14 ∙ Whom Gods Destroy

S3.E15 ∙ Let That Be Your Last Battlefield

S3.E16 ∙ The Mark of Gideon

S3.E17 ∙ That Which Survives

S3.E18 ∙ The Lights of Zetar

S3.E19 ∙ Requiem for Methuselah

S3.E20 ∙ The Way to Eden

S3.E21 ∙ The Cloud Minders

S3.E22 ∙ The Savage Curtain

S3.E23 ∙ All Our Yesterdays

S3.E24 ∙ Turnabout Intruder

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‘Star Trek: Picard’ Season 3 Episode 8 Recap: Surrender Isn’t an Option

With Vadic lording over the ship, the crew has to get creative to win back the Titan.

The eigth episode of Star Trek: Picard Season 3 opens with Vadic ( Amanda Plummer ) lording over the U.S.S. Titan , in the wake of Jean-Luc Picard’s ( Patrick Stewart ) failed plan to capture her in “ Dominion .” While the crew has been through a considerable amount of bad situations ever since Picard and William Riker ( Jonathan Frakes ) came aboard, on the surface this one looks like it may be insurmountable. Especially as Vadic toys with them like a cat with her prey, taking away their eyes, ears, and the very road ahead of them, in an attempt to root out Jack Crusher ( Ed Speleers ). However, Vadic and the deadly Changelings aren’t their only threat either, though Geordi La Forge ( LeVar Burton ) is quick to unplug Data-Lore ( Brent Spiner ) to mitigate any future tampering the android may attempt.

In the sick bay, Beverly ( Gates McFadden ) and Picard attempt to access the security system, but Vadic has already effectively locked everyone out of the Titan . Recognizing that he is at a unique vantage point, Jack uses his newfound ability to enter the mind of an engineering officer out in the corridors. While Sidney ( Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut ) may not be able to see his glowing red eyes, Jack does overhear her thinking “what is he doing?” Jack puppets the officer down the corridor, looking upon the bloodshed left behind by the Changelings, but the episode is cut short by the officer getting killed—which seems like quite the shock to Jack’s system too. Beverly and Picard look on in concern, blissfully unaware of just how different their son is. Over the intercom, Vadic reveals that she intends to execute someone on the bridge unless Jack gives himself up in a timely fashion.

Back on the bridge, Seven ( Jeri Ryan ) and Shaw ( Todd Stashwick ) are still failing to meet eye-to-eye about how to handle the situation, with Seven insisting that she wouldn’t change a single decision that she made that led them to this scenario because she doesn’t believe in “trading lives.” When Shaw, once again, makes a point of calling her Hansen, Seven is quick to correct him. Their lives may be hanging in the balance, but she’s still determined to make him respect her. When Jack fails to make an appearance on the bridge, Vedic announces that he has ten minutes to arrive, or she’s going to start killing crew members at ten-minute intervals. To Jack’s credit, this threat does make him attempt to leave sick bay, but Beverly won’t let him go, especially not when Picard is confident that even if he did turn himself over, Vadic would just destroy the ship anyway.

RELATED: 'Picard' Season 3 Showrunner Terry Matalas Breaks Down Episode 7, Romance Potential, and Vadic's Backstory

Since the start of the life-or-death situation, Jack’s been teetering on the edge. He’s desperate to sacrifice himself for the people risking their lives for him, but no one will let him take the easy way out. Compounded by the fact that there is something very wrong with him—which seems to be growing more apparent by the minute—he finally breaks down in front of both of his parents. With tears streaming down his cheeks, he points out that he’s always been a talker because it distracts him from feeling different. Before he even gets the words out, Beverly and Picard both agree to listen to whatever it is he has to say, though she does scan him to ensure he isn’t having hallucinations when he starts talking about being able to see through other people’s eyes. Initially, they don’t believe him, but Sidney jumps in to admit that she has experience with his ability, since he had taken over her body to save her life.

Jack explains that he thinks he might be able to take back control of the Titan by taking over the body of one of the officers on the bridge, and Picard explains that with the right override code, they might be able to get through to retake the ship. With one minute left on Vadic’s countdown, Jack jumps into the body of Lt. Mura ( Joseph Lee ). Unfortunately, Vadic swiftly thwarts their plan, cancelling the override code, and speculating that Jack has taken over the lieutenant’s body. Understandably, Jack is shocked that Vadic is even aware of what he is able to do—and his shock is just about as palpable as Seven and Shaw’s as they look on at the scene unfolding.

With her patience running thin, Vadic makes good on her promise to execute someone. After Jack’s attempt to play hero, Lt. Mura becomes one of the two potential victims, alongside a teary-eyed Ensign Esmar ( Jin Maley ). But after a show of making Mura talk about his son, Vadic executes Lt. T'Veen ( Stephanie Czajkowski ) without hesitation, forcing Seven to relay across the intercom who has been killed. Now that she has proven that she isn’t bluffing, Vadic once again taunts Jack that she will continue killing crewmembers until he turns himself over.

Since the Changelings took Riker hostage in Episode 6 , fans have been waiting for the long-awaited reunion between him and his wife Deanna Troi ( Marina Sirtis ). The wait finally came to an end in “Surrender,” on board the Shrike where Deanna is tending to Riker’s wounds. He may be older than he once was, but he can still take a punch. It’s sweet to see the two of them banter with each other, just like old times on The Next Generation , but it’s even sweeter to see Deanna tease him about only knowing to call her “Imzadi,” the Betazoid phrase for “beloved.” The conversation shifts quickly to the issues that still exist within their relationship, with Riker reflecting on the way he felt as he stared down death in the Nebula. He tries to brush off some of it with his classic charm, which Deanna notes the Changelings that came to their home also possessed. Though, she does point out that even though she can’t read Changelings the way she can others, she could still tell that the Changeling!Riker wasn’t him.

Later on, when hope begins to wane that they won’t be rescued from the Shrike , Deanna accuses Riker of giving up, just like he gave up when Thad died. He counters that accusation by calling out the way Deanna tried to use her abilities to dull his pain, effectively removing the last connection he had with Thad. They manage to bridge their issues with each other when Deanna admits that she hates where they’re living and desperately wants to return to city living. Swept up in the grief of losing their son, it becomes apparent that they both had misconceptions about each other, because Riker also hates living on Nepenthe. Their reconciliation is interrupted by the arrival of Worf ( Michael Dorn ), who has come to rescue them! Worf’s reunion with Deanna is hilarious, as he lays it on thick and reflects on how she inspired his personal growth and change to pacificism—much to Riker’s chagrin. The trio head back to where Raffi ( Michelle Hurd ) is examining Picard’s body, and she reveals that the Changelings didn’t need Picard’s entire body, they just needed one part of it. Of course, it was the part of his brain that was infected by the Iruomodic Syndrome. Which creates a whole host of new theories about why they wanted that and Jack.

Back on the Titan , Sidney points out that in order to crack into the system, they would need more time than is humanly possible for anyone to accomplish—especially with such a short window of time to do it. This prompts Picard to think of the one non-human individual who could compute the code they need that quickly. Picard, Beverly, Jack, and Sidney make their way to engineering where Geordi and Alandra ( Mica Burton ) are. After a quick confirmation that neither party are Changelings, which includes Picard calling Geordi’s taste in wine “pedestrian,” they get to work on a plan to free Data from Lore’s clutches. Picard suggests lowering the partition between the two personas, but Geordi is quick to caution that doing so may cause Lore to replace Data, thus permanently deleting everything that makes Data who he is. In order to make this work, Geordi explains that he needs time, which Jack is more than willing to buy them.

As Geordi begins to lower the partition, “Surrender” heads inside of Data’s mind, where Lore is taunting him about how, once the partition is fully lowered, he’ll get rid of him once and for all. Instead of fighting, like Geordi implored him to do, Data is instead going through all of his old memories, even though Lore is mocking him for being sentimental. Lore’s chip on his shoulder becomes more and more apparent as he mocks Data for showing off all of his memories. The main source of pain seems to lie within the fact that he believes he was abandoned, while Data was showered in all the friendship the galaxy could offer.

Data begins passing off a handful of memories to Lore, including memories of Tasha Yar ( Denise Crosby ) and playing poker with the rest of the crew of the Enterprise , before lighting upon one final memory of his beloved cat Spot. Spot, he explains, taught him how to love and is the last part of him that he has to give. As Lore takes Spot, Data begins to vanish, and—back in engineering—Geordi reports the tragic news that it looks like Data is losing. However, this was far from surrender, this was Lore’s way around the protocol that doesn’t allow him to harm anyone. Instead of deleting Lore, like he was trying to do to Data, Data instead recognized that memories held value to Lore and, with each memory he handed over, he was making Lore more and more like himself. In the end, just as Soong planned, Data and Lore become one.

Jack’s plan for buying them time comes in the form of a plan that could only come from the son of Jean-Luc Picard. He heads up to the bridge and presents himself to Vadic—with a catch. He has a detonator in his hand and, if Vadic doesn’t release the bridge crew, Jack intends to blow himself up to ensure Vadic can never win. With a glib remark he tells her there’s no point in resisting, he means business. It’s a bluff that Vadic falls hook, line, and sinker for. Instead of going with the rest of the crew to safety, Seven hangs back on the bridge, which Vadic notes as a “fitting” decision. In an attempt to keep Vadic focused on him, Jack starts prodding at her about his gifts and what she wants with them. In turn, Vadic speaks to Jack’s loneliness and claims that his “calling” to help people with his mother may actually just be guilt. Guilt for what? She goes on to ask him if he’s “heard them” after years of silence, and she even brings up the red door. Vadic's taunting comments prompt more unanswered questions, unfortunately.

Data comes back online just in time to save the day. As he switches the comms back on, Riker makes contact with the Titan —revealing that they’re on their way back from the Shrike . Data informs Vadic that he has taken back control, snarking about “monologuing protoplasms,” and turning things over to Jack to pull off the rest of his plan. Jack grabs Seven and pulls her into a force field created by the metallic ball he was pretending was a detonator. Data opens the evacuation hatch, sending Vadic careening into the icy clutches of space where she shatters into a million little pieces. With Vadic defeated, Shaw lets Seven make the call to blow up the Shrike —taking out at least one part of the Changeling threat.

Once Deanna comes aboard the Titan , she is struck by a feeling that there is an “all-consuming darkness” on the ship, which is quite clearly a reflection of whatever is happening to Jack. That assumption is later confirmed when The Next Generation crew—all together at last—convene in the ready room to discuss the dire situation they find themselves in. Before this somber note, there is a lot to smile about, as Geordi and Data have a sweet reunion in engineering, complete with this new version of Data being able to say contractions and make jokes, and Deanna and Beverly reunite, like barely any time has passed. There’s even a hilarious bit where Worf discusses all the heads that he has cleaved from necks over the years which he thought about sending to the crew.

After the emotions of the reunion settle, Data points out that they haven’t brought up a certain aspect of the conversation and Deanna explains that she thinks whatever the Changelings have planned for Frontier Day is directly tied to Jack. Picard notes that whatever is wrong with Jack has been growing stronger, seemingly linking it to the quickly approaching event. Deanna goes on to say that the darkness isn’t in him, so to speak, but rather around him, though there is some sort of ancient voice inside him that isn’t his own. Neither of which sounds like a good thing. As the episode draws to a close, Deanna says she wants to meet Jack.

Jack is rather apprehensive about letting Deanna inside his mind, but she does get through to him. She asks him about the ominous red door—the talking door—and Jack admits that he has no desire to open it because he’s terrified of what might lie on the other side of it. Deanna urges him that it’s time to open the door. Together they go inside the creepy, darkened corridor with the intention of opening that door. But whatever lies on the other side won’t be revealed until next week.

With only two episodes left, the focus now shifts to whatever is about to unfold during Frontier Day and how it’s all linked to Jack. Based on the context clues that have been dropped throughout the past few episodes, it would seem that there’s something about the nature of his conception that may be influencing everything—and maybe, collectively, it’s bigger than just the Irumodic Syndrome.

The first eight episodes of the final season of Star Trek: Picard are streaming now on Paramount+.

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‘Star Trek: Picard’ Season 3, Episode 8 Recap: Consequences Abound

Jean-Luc breaks Data in case of emergency. Vadic makes a move.

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By Sopan Deb

Season 3, Episode 8: ‘Surrender’

Much of this season of “Picard” revolves around familial relationships, particularly parenting. There’s how we choose to do it (Beverly). The consequences of avoiding it entirely (Jean-Luc). The weight of keeping our children safe (Geordi). How we grieve (Riker and Troi.)

It takes being captured on a brutal enemy’s ship for Riker and Troi to finally have an impactful conversation about their marriage and the loss of Thad, their child. Riker wanted to bathe in his grief as his lone remaining connection to Thad. Troi wanted to protect Riker from that pain using her Betazoid abilities, which has the unintended effect of pushing a wedge between them. Riker wanted to cocoon himself, which was unacceptable to Troi.

In their prison cell, they are honest with each other, as married couples should be. It turns out their grief is a prison unto itself. They disagree on how to grieve, but it shows the strength of the foundation of their relationship that they can finally talk like this. (Another indication: We learn that a changeling came to Riker and Troi’s home pretending to be Riker, which Troi snuffed out right away.)

“You can’t skip to the end of healing,” Troi says.

And then she embraces him, as a loving spouse would, rather than as the ship’s counselor we’ve come to know for decades. Troi also informs Riker that she doesn’t like their move to the intergalactic suburbs. Fair enough. Been there.

This was just about the only scene that worked for me the entire episode in a season that has otherwise been great. When Worf shows up to rescue Riker and Troi, he gives a campy, borderline romantic speech about how he is now sensitive to Troi, which Riker notes is “inappropriate.” He’s right! It was weird!

When things seem bleakest for the Titan, Jack has a deus ex machina at the ready: He is a living Professor X with Cerebro capabilities. He can control others’ movements, read their minds and see through them — although we don’t know why. It’s a handy tool when your ship has been overtaken. (Parenting looms over small moments of the season, too, as when Jack quips to Vadic that Beverly taught him “better manners than that.”)

But it’s hard to separate this from the fact that none of this would have happened if it hadn’t been for another disastrous planned hatched by Jean-Luc in last week’s episode , which caused the crew to lose control of the Titan to begin with. Captured on the bridge, Shaw lectures Seven about the consequences of our actions. Jean-Luc placed the ship and its crew — once again — in great danger with a foolhardy plan to bait Vadic in last week’s episode. Now we see the consequences: T’Veen (Stephanie Czajkowski) is executed, a crew member that 100 percent died in a needless way.

Speaking of Shaw: The writing of his character this season has been all over the place. It undermines his character, despite a strong performance from Todd Stashwick. When Vadic moves to execute one of his crew members, Seven tries to intervene and sacrifice herself. Shaw, the captain, holds her back, telling her there’s nothing she can do. This seemed out of character compared with the Shaw we saw earlier in the season — the rule-following captain who prioritizes the safety of his crew.

Shaw strikes me as the type of person who would have offered to sacrifice himself, rather than interrupting Seven’s attempt to do so. Just moments before, Shaw upbraids Seven for not blowing up the turbolift with him inside to keep Vadic from taking over the ship. When T’Veen is executed, Shaw barely reacts. Given his emotiveness throughout the season, that stuck out like a sore thumb.

Even so, this episode seemingly brings an end to Vadic, who is sucked out into space, and the Shrike, which is blown up by the newly emboldened Titan crew. As Vadic, Amanda Plummer played an excellent villain, but she deserved a better death — assuming it is a death — than to be so easily outsmarted by Jack. (Not to mention: What was Jack’s plan exactly? What if Vadic hadn’t moved the rest of the crew to another room?)

Vadic also leaves with a secret: What’s the deal with Jack? Why is he Professor X? What’s up with the red door?

I don’t have a great theory. But Troi says that there’s a “darkness” around Jack and a voice inside him that is “ancient and weak.” “Ancient” is an interesting hint. The Pah-wraiths perhaps? They would have had good reason to link up with changelings after what happened in “Deep Space Nine.”

Odds and Ends

I lied. One other part of the episode worked for me: seeing the original cast back together in one room for the first time all season. While the episode seemed rushed, this was the moment we’d all been waiting for as we head into the final episodes of the season.

Data co-opts Lore’s brotherly resentment and uses it against his evil twin. Historically, Data has often had difficulty reading the room . But in this case, he diagnoses Lore’s jealousy and uses it to mold a whole new version of himself. It’s arguably the most human Data has ever been. Data seems to revel in Lore’s misery when he says, “We are me.” It’s possible that our favorite android has developed the ability to experience schadenfreude. (Also, some fun fan service when Data offers up his memories to Lore, such a Tasha Yar sighting.)

Some of the behavior of this new contraction-using Data seemed silly to me, particularly when he “greets” the Titan and calls himself a “friendly positronic pissed-off security system.” If New Data is a combination of Data, Lore, B-4 and Lal, where would that language even come from? It seemed forced, just to get a laugh from the audience. But Data also seems to have a new purpose now: Instead of trying to find out what it means to be human, he’ll now contend with how to handle aging. (Data’s old friends should probably be more suspicious about Data than they seem. Lore has repeatedly shown up in their lives, and he seemed within seconds of taking over the android body entirely. How do they know that Data isn’t actually Lore taking advantage of their need to have their old friend back?)

A commenter last week asked a question for which I don’t have an answer: A big part of the plot seems to concern what the changelings will do with the corpse of Jean-Luc, given that he is slated to speak at Frontier Day. But why would Jean-Luc still speak at a big Starfleet celebration when he is a fugitive?

The Titan blows up the Shrike. I’m sure there’s no strategic advantage to examining a superior changeling ship’s technology when many of them have taken over Starfleet, but we digress.

Vadic orders members of her crew to go find Jack. She has control over a good portion of the Titan. No one thinks to look for a doctor in sickbay? According to Beverly, Vadic didn’t have control of bridge consoles, so how did she have control of the ship? Why wouldn’t she spend her time trying to take command of the most essential section of the Titan?

Sopan Deb is a basketball writer and a contributor to the Culture section. Before joining The Times, he covered Donald J. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign for CBS News. More about Sopan Deb

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Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Episode 8 “Surrender” Review: Finally, the gang’s all here

Review: Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Episode 8 “Surrender”

The Titan is in rough shape, as Vadic and her allies have taken over the vessel, and there’s just one man with extraordinary powers who can stop her and save our heroes.

Vadic seems to have thoroughly taken over the Titan , leaving Admiral Jean-Luc Picard ( Patrick Stewart ), Beverly Crusher ( Gates McFadden ), Geordi La Forge ( LeVar Burton ), and our other heroes fighting for control. Luckily, Jack Crusher ( Ed Speleers ) has a newfound ability unknown to anybody else, except perhaps a sneaking suspicion from Ensign Sidney La Forge ( Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut ): controlling other people telepathically. The man rushes off to the bridge when Vadic starts threatening to execute random members of the bridge crew if he doesn’t turn himself in, but his parents stop him. Upon Jack lamenting his concern about him always feeling different than everyone else, both Picard and Beverly have a great chance to actually be parents as they promise their son they are there for him to help him through his struggle.

Jack takes a chance and connects himself to a member of the bridge crew, but his attempt to input a command code override doesn’t work before Vadic grasps what Jack is attempting and executes Lt. T’Veen ( Stephanie Czajkowski ). Alas, T’Veen, we hardly knew ye! Jack’s failure leaves our heroes in more of a bind than before, but Sidney La Forge helpfully exposits that they’d need an incredibly advanced artificial intelligence to break Vadic’s control over the Titan .

Indeed, the android hybrid ( Brent Spiner ) rescued from Daystrom Station can do just that, but not while Lore still asserts control over his brother. So, at Picard’s urging, Geordi lowers the partition dividing Data and Lore and lets the fraternal struggle commence. Thus, it’s here we get the scenes that “Surrender” will mostly be remembered for: the final face-off between Lore and Data.

In the android’s mind, the two brothers talk and interact with each other, and Lore doesn’t keep it a secret how he resents how his brother was showered with affection in his life while Lore was left disassembled. Data realizes his brother holds the upper hand in this battle to control the android golem, so he tries another tactic: surrendering to his brother’s attack. First, Data symbolically turns over a meaningful memento to Lore: a deck of cards, the kind which Data and his friends played on the Enterprise . Data also gives Lore his lovable cat, Spot, which is the final act before Data is seemingly erased from the android altogether.

But of course, this wouldn’t be season three of Picard without our good friend Data, and it’s no surprise when the apparently victorious Lore feels a bit wonky as Data comes back into the android’s mind and asserts control. He can do this because Data gave Lore those mementos, which therefore made the Lore part of the android turn wholly into Data. As Data asserts to his brother, “We are one now. We are me.”

Thus, the storyline that began with “Datalore” back in season one of The Next Generation ends with the two brothers finally resolving their head-to-head personalities. The evil that was Lore was bested by the smart-thinking, innocent, and human-like part of Data, and the result is now an android that completely presents as our friend, albeit in a synthetic body with only traces of Soong’s other androids remaining. It’s such a neat conclusion to watch, as we’ve thought for years that Lore’s story ended with his disassembly in season seven’s “Descent, Part II.” So many things were left unsaid by the brothers in that TNG episode, so to see Data finally influence his evil sibling to a proper ending is fantastic. Indeed, “Surrender” will be memorable mostly for this final battle of willpower, and it’s a chance for Brent Spiner to really flex his acting muscles; you would never think it’s been decades since Spiner played these two characters.

While the Data/Lore battle is playing out, Jack buys his father and his friends some time and goes to the bridge with what looks like a grenade. The man is certain Vadic won’t try anything funny while Jack’s life is in his own hands. Seven of Nine, who hitherto has been Vadic’s passive captive, decides to take a bit of agency in this situation and stands with Jack as he holds Vadic hostage. It takes quite a bit of high drama before Vadic even starts to answer Jack’s question as to why he hears voices in his head and why he has always felt like he doesn’t belong anywhere or with anyone – but of course, the monologuing villain never offers any concrete information to the suffering young man. If there’s one critique we can offer about this season thus far, it’s that the carrot-on-the-stick plotline about Jack’s strange powers is too long a stick. Just give us some concrete answers already!

The newly reborn Data gets the Titan back up and running, and it’s time for Jack Crusher to make his move. Projecting a shield around him and Seven, he signals to Picard it’s time to open the evacuation hatch on the Titan ’s bridge. Thus, Seven gets her Harrison Ford moment as she tells Vadic to “get off my bridge,” and Vadic’s last words before being sucked out into space is a vigorous epithet directed at all solids.

While we are happy for Seven to get a badass moment this season, we must wonder what practical purpose she served by staying behind on the bridge when everyone else, including Captain Shaw, was escorting at gunpoint into the briefing room. Sure, ultimately she’s there for the one-liner. But Seven contributed nothing to Jack’s plan and only complicated the man’s idea to protect himself when the evacuation doors opened. It isn’t clear what Seven thought she would gain from remaining on the bridge, nor is it clear why Vadic’s goons allowed her to remain with their leader in the first place. As such, Seven’s moment doesn’t quite feel earned and takes the wind slightly out of Vadic’s demise.

This episode’s b-story involves seeing Captain William Riker ( Jonathan Frakes ) and Deanna Troi ( Marina Sirtis ) again after missing them last episode. In “Surrender,” the pair are captive aboard the Shrike , and while they are helplessly contained in Vadic’s prison, they share some introspective reflections on their recent marital problems. Troi senses something Riker himself told Picard earlier in the season – that the man’s sense of wonder and discovery is back. These were emotions the captain lacked after their son’s passing, so at least the couple has that good news going for them, even if they are facing certain death.  

“When they kill us, at least I’ll die after I give you one final dose of that old Riker charm.” – Riker to Deanna.

In the prison cell, we get some exposition on what Riker and Troi did after their son’s passing. Troi used her Betazoid powers to try and ease her husband’s grief, but the effort backfired and Riker blamed his wife for trying to erase his feelings about their son. The couple reconnects about their shared life together, including discovering how each of them actually hates their home on Nepenthe (as seen in the Picard season one episode of the same name ), and that they should probably move away if they survive their imprisonment. That’s all well and good, but it’s somewhat strange Riker and Troi never mention what is happening with their daughter, Kestra, at this moment in time. Was she at the house on Nepenthe when the Changelings arrived? Who is taking care of her now? We thought Kestra was a welcome addition to the cast in the aforementioned season one episode, so it would have been welcome to hear what she was doing nowadays.

Riker and Troi’s tender moment is interrupted by one of Vadic’s guards, who in turn quickly gets a sword through the chest as it’s revealed Worf ( Michael Dorn ) is on the ship and ready to rescue the couple. (Worf being able to insert himself directly behind the guard for the theatrical reveal is just sheer drama – there’s no way he could have arrived there so quickly undetected). The rescue attempt produces some of the most chuckle-worthy moments of the season thus far, as Worf’s new sensitivity takes Deanna and her husband by surprise.  More importantly, Worf and Raffi Musiker ( Michelle Hurd ) discover the biological body of Jean-Luc Picard on the Shrike and realize the parts of his brain that contained Irumodic Syndrome were removed.

“There is a darkness on this ship. An all-consuming darkness.” – Troi upon boarding the Titan .

After the Titan is rid of the Shrike , her captain, and enemy intruders on the ship, it’s time to figure out what to do next. After getting on the Titan , Troi, as she is apt to do, starts feeling things. Here, it’s a darkness that threatens the entire ship, but Troi can’t pinpoint what it is. Not super helpful, but she does gain a bit more insight near the end of the episode when she sits down with Jack Crusher.

Before that can happen, we are treated to two excellent scenes. The first involves Geordi and Data, who share a reunification following Data’s rebirth. Data, of course, is so similar yet so different than the last time Geordi saw him in Nemesis . (The soundtrack underlying this tender conversation between two friends expressing their relief at seeing one another contains a healthy borrowing from the Nemesis track “A New Friend.”) You might just tear up seeing these two old buddies together again, but if this scene of old friends reuniting is the shot, the next scene is the chaser.

It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for, the moment that has been teased in every trailer for this season: the time when the TNG cast is fully reunited, situated comfortably around a conference table. It’s such a strange thing to explain to a non- Star Trek fan. “Hey, I’m really looking forward to those characters sitting around a table.” People would look at you like you were an eyeless Tellarite . But to Star Trek fans, there’s no explanation needed as to why it’s heartfelt seeing this group together like this.

The conference room was where these characters grew into their roles on the Enterprise , where each member brought their expertise to problems facing their friends and their ship. The conference room in TNG might just be the most-used set from that show besides the bridge, and it’s the room where we were most likely to see the entire cast at one time. It’s a hallmark of The Next Generation , and its sibling shows often tried to emulate the spirit that came with a group of people putting their minds together to solve problems. It never quite worked as well as it did on The Next Generation , and here we are: they’re doing it on Picard . What a time to be alive.

Picard needs the crew to put their heads together to fight the Changeling threat. The crew doesn’t have any answers to what the Changelings have in store for Frontier Day, but Deanna does sense Jack is hearing voices in his head, ones that are “ancient” and “weak.” So, Deanna sits down with Jack to assess the man, and it’s about time Marina Sirtis has a substantial role in this show. The counselor tells Jack it’s time he opens the red door we’ve seen in his imagination, and he is quite afraid to do so. The man does put his hand on the knob, but as far as opening the mysterious entryway, we’ll have to wait until the next episode.

“Surrender” ends the two-part bottle show aboard the Titan , and the results are fairly consequential. Surprisingly, this season didn’t wait until the climactic finale to kill off its main villain, which leads us to assume the mysterious boss Vadic was talking to will play a role in the final two episodes (that is unless he was killed when the Shrike exploded). Otherwise, this episode is a much stronger entry than its predecessor, as “Surrender” focuses on getting Data properly back into the cast and resolving his relationship with Lore. The android’s reunification with his old crew hits all the right notes, and it’s such a joy seeing Brent Spiner in full force as his famous character, albeit older and wiser.

There are only two episodes left, and many questions are left unanswered. What exactly do the Changelings have in store for Frontier Day? What will Jack find when he opens that damn red door? And let’s not forget Worf and Raffi found Jean-Luc’s old body on the Shrike ; what really was at the heart of Picard’s condition? We can’t wait to find out.

Stray Thoughts:

• Vadic appearing in space in the reflection of the bridge’s transparent ceiling dome is a killer shot and totally foreshadows her icy demise later in the episode.
• At the beginning of the episode, Geordi finally wises up and disconnects Lore from the Titan – something he never should have done in the first place. Yet, by the end of the episode, Data can effortlessly control the Titan without needing Geordi to reestablish his connection to the ship.
• Vadic threatening to kill a member of the bridge crew unless Jack comes to the bridge is reminiscent of the hostage situation in Star Trek III: The Search of Spock .
• If Vadic has control of the Titan ’s systems, why can’t she just use the computer or other internal sensors to find where Jack is?
• Beverly asserts Vadic has control of every console on the ship except on the bridge, and we must ask: does she really? There are hundreds of consoles on the Titan , and surely Vadic doesn’t have the manpower to monitor everyone . Moreover, why would Beverly assume Vadic doesn’t have control over the bridge’s consoles?
• How did Jack know who was close enough on the bridge to a console to input the Starfleet override code? And how convenient was it that someone was in arm’s length of the appropriate console anyway?
• Jack is an adult; why doesn’t he just power his way through his parents if he feels so strongly about turning himself over to Vadic to prevent wonton executions?
• After Riker and Troi share their tender reconnection, Riker assaults Vadic’s guard and asserts to the armed man not to touch his wife, but at that point, there was no indication the guard’s target was Deanna.
• In Data’s mind, we see various mementos from The Next Generation , including the Sherlock Holmes hat and pipe Data sports in “Elementary, Dear Data,” and the hologram of Tasha Yar Data kept after her death.
• While it’s about time Raffi got her badass moment in this season, how silly of her was it to confront Vadic’s men in the corridor with only two melee weapons? Why didn’t Vadic’s men just shoot her?
• Every time the Titan gives the enemy ship “everything we’ve got,” that only includes photon torpedoes and no phasers.
• Considering the crew’s meeting at the end of the episode is planning for the next steps, why wasn’t Captain Shaw and/or Seven of Nine involved?

The third and final season of Star Trek: Picard streams Thursdays on Paramount+ and stars Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard, LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge, Michael Dorn as Worf, Jonathan Frakes as William Riker, Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher, Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi, Brent Spiner as Lore, Jeri Ryan as Seven, Michelle Hurd as Raffi, along with Amanda Plummer as Vadic, Todd Stashwick as Captain Liam Shaw and Ed Speleers as Jack Crusher.

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Keep it locked on TrekNews.net for all the latest news related to Star Trek: Picard , Star Trek: Discovery, S tar Trek: Strange New Worlds , Star Trek: Lower Decks , Star Trek: Prodigy , and more.

Kyle Hadyniak has been a lifelong Star Trek fan, and isn't ashamed to admit that Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and Star Trek: Nemesis are his favorite Star Trek movies. You can follow Kyle on Twitter @khady93 .

April 7, 2023 at 12:28 pm

I think a lot of people missed the Douglas Trumbull homage. Just after the Titan disposes of the Shrike, the exterior panning shot of the Titan is exactly the same as the final shot of the Enterprise from TMP, including the music. It is a few seconds, but it is a great homage to a great visual effects artist. It happens about 42 minutes into the episode. I played them side-by-side, it had me almost in tears.

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Star Trek: Discovery Recap: Observers, Manifest!

Star trek: discovery.

Let’s just rip the Band-Aid(s) off, because there are a few. Does anybody live on Kwejian except for Kahim, his son, and his ineffective goons? Sure, he’s the “steward of the Sanctuary,” which implies he could be there on his own. But there’s no sign of life beyond Kahim’s sexy little leather-couched bachelor pad. What would such a high-security stronghold be guarding, if not people? (Trance worms: all poached! Crops: all blighted!) Are Kahim and Booker (whose given name, hilariously, was T’Rex) the only empaths on the planet? Aren’t their powers a feature of their species? And if that’s the case, why, in over a century of problem-solving, was it so impossible for the Kwejian people to come together to create the mass communication network needed to ask the sea locusts nicely to go home? And if empathic powers aren’t a feature of their species, why are Kahim and the Artist Formerly Known as T’Rex special?

But mostly: where is everybody?

If we had gotten answers to these questions at some point, maybe this episode would have been more fun. It certainly has the parts for it. First, it’s a Jonathan Frakes-directed episode, which usually bodes well. Osyraa, who it turns out is just Gangster Elphaba, feeds her Meatsack Nephew to a trance worm. Adira comes out to Stamets, and by extension Culber, as nonbinary, firmly stating their pronouns! Detmer gets her groove back by “going rogue” with Book’s ship, taking Ryn and Grudge along to torpedo-bomb Osyraa’s cruiser weaponry into retreat. Culber and Georgiou trade some genuinely funny dialogue as the former wrestles the latter into letting him diagnose her brain condition. (“If I had time, I’d poison your children.” “If I had time, I’d have children!”) And most importantly, Stamets and Adira have finally pinpointed the origin of the Burn to an unusually chaotic Verubin nebula and a neighboring neutron star, which are sending a signal that features both that magic universal melody Michael identified and a Federation distress beacon!

Even the simple concept of Michael going home to meet Book’s family should be a fun premise, especially since it ends with Book deciding he wants to join the Discovery crew. (Though I think they could have drawn out this decision-making process over a few episodes — dude is clearly stubborn as hell, so it is kind of odd that he saw them at work a couple times and then said SIGN ME UP without so much as an internal struggle.) Maybe it’s because every third plot point felt like a reach, futzed to get to the cool parts without really earning it. Maybe it’s simply because it had to follow last week’s blockbuster . Whatever the case, I came out of “Sanctuary” feeling … fine. Just fine! They can’t all be iconic, I suppose. (Indeed, there are plenty of episodes, across every show in the franchise, that I know I’ve seen, but have no recollection of whatsoever.)

One thing is clear: The Discovery crew is about to be in big trouble. Vance is in fool-me-twice territory: He declined to discipline anybody on behalf of Starfleet when Michael went AWOL, which apparently sent the message, however subliminally, that theirs is the Ship Allowed to Disobey Direct Orders, Because It Usually Works Out Fine in the End. So when he agrees to allow the ship to transport Book back to Kwejian and remain as observers only , it seems even Saru has come to take that as more of a suggestion than a hard-and-fast order. I love Tilly dearly, but her idea to send Detmer and Ryn in Book’s ship to avoid firing from a Federation vessel on the Emerald Chain’s flagship is, frankly, stupid. (Especially when your captain then gets back on the horn immediately to gloat about it!) Who is this bit of subterfuge for? As if the queenpin of an interplanetary organized crime syndicate — one who has murdered her own brother and nephew to maintain control — would be a sucker for technicalities and choose not to see this as an act of war. As if Vance will look the other way, even though they incited war. Nobody will see this encounter as anything but Discovery’s doing, so this faux-rogue mission only served two people: Detmer in her personal growth, and the J.J. Abrams fan who has been dying to see them take on a Star Destroyer.

Which isn’t to say it wouldn’t have happened anyway, at some point. As Vance notes before he greenlights their mission, the Emerald Chain has been having the time of its life while the Federation is in retreat, “turn[ing] Prime Directive violations into an art form.” Their tactics are smart, if repugnant: find a pre-warp society with a resource you want and a devastating problem to be solved, then arrive right on time with their solution, indebting them to you eternally, lest the problem return in your absence. That’s what started a century ago to Kwejian, home to the incredibly valuable trance worms. It all started when the Burn shifted subspace, which knocked one of their moons off its usual orbit, which created tidal changes that sent little bioluminescent balloon creatures called sea locusts further inland, where they devoured all of his people’s crops and created a horrible famine. Then, 15 years ago (I think?), in waltzes Osyraa with a “repellent,” which she gave them in return for full access to the trance worm population for selling offworld as an exotic delicacy. This is how Book fell out with his family: his father and grandfather made the deal with the devil, and he decided he couldn’t in good conscience stand by and watch the Chain enslave and degrade his home and people. (The timeline on this feels a little wonky — does that mean the Chain let them suffer for 85 years? If anyone can clarify this for me, I’m all ears.)

Having principles is well and good, but clearly not a luxury that Kahim, as the “brother” who stayed behind, could afford. (They say they’re not really related, but Kahim does refer to Book’s father and grandfather as though they’re his, too.) If I thought my only options were being owned by the mafia or watching my children starve, I’m pretty sure I’d choose the mafia, too — especially if my brother had up and abandoned me, quashing any hope of finding a third option together. In any case, it really sounds like Book did to his family what Michael did to Saru two episodes ago : he made a choice, leaving Kahim with none.

The problem with the Chain, of course, is that it’s a slippery slope: Osyraa was the one who told Kahim to call Book, knowing that he’d either know where Ryn was or serve as good hostage material to draw Ryn out. As we learn by the end, Ryn the Andorian is the only person who ever challenged Osyraa, and he’s also the only person other than Osyraa who knows they’re running out of dilithium, making him a liability of which she cannot afford to lose control. (How did he learn this, exactly? It’s unclear.) But Cleveland Booker won’t return anyone to slavery, much less a friend. He must be an older brother, because his influence seems to be having an effect already: Kahim tries to refuse Osyraa when she calls later, but she’s an impatient godfather, and starts bombing the Sanctuary, threatening to raze the whole forest if he doesn’t give Book up. He catches up to Book and Michael a second time while the couple are out “trying to repair” pieces of the Sanctuary’s defense system as they’re bombed by Osyraa’s photon torpedoes. (This is another odd tidbit that feels like it was written to force some more exciting action — what could they have repaired out there, exactly? She’s all but nuking them from orbit!) The brothers fight, but when Book finally surrenders and calls Kahim’s bluff, he can’t give him up.

His choice is rewarded instantly, as Detmer takes out the last of Osyraa’s weapons above seconds later. This clears the way for Michael to rig up an exceedingly simple solution to the sea locust problem: like on Kaminar when they used the Ba’ul panopticon towers to trigger mass vahar’ai, they isolate and amplify the electromagnetic field generated by the sea locusts to make it easier for Kahim and Book together to do their empath thing and ask the sea locusts to please leave. It works, obviously. And the fact that it works impresses them both enough that the brothers reconcile and Book decides he wants to join Starfleet. Even Ryn, who started the episode making some very rude assumptions about the Federation, seems to be realizing he’s been fed propaganda his whole life.

Meanwhile, while everyone else has been off bombing stuff and starting wars, Adira has studied the blade — just kidding, they created an algorithm that can decrypt the encoded message within the Federation distress beacon. Here’s hoping they get a pizza party or something for their trouble when we find out who exactly is trapped in the nebula next week. (Provided it’s not, like, Spock again.)

Personal Log, Supplemental

• After much complaining and spermatozoa cosplay and redlining on an incredibly cool diagnostic table, we now know Georgiou’s degenerative brain illness might be fatal. Could it have something to do with what David Cronenberg the Terran Enthusiast was saying about the two universes drifting apart?

• And how did Michael find out Georgiou didn’t actually kill her mother? Did the Terran Enthusiast have that information and share his files, or something?

• Osyraa is a pretty good monologuer as far as villains go. One thing she says to Saru when they’re “negotiating,” about how “The Federation can’t even hold itself accountable for the mess it’s made or the blood on its hands,” reminded me of all the stuff Ni’Var president T’Rina didn’t say last week about the Federation’s crimes. Can it really all just be about the Burn, or is there some other atrocity waiting to be uncovered? (Aside from the stuff we know, of course, such as not helping the Romulans when their planet was being destroyed.)

• If, like me, you sensed some latent chemistry between Ryn and Tilly, you aren’t crazy: Noah Averbach-Katz and Mary Wiseman are married IRL!!

• I could watch a whole episode of Michael talking to Kahim’s son Lito. Just the most precious, pure little friendship.

• Saru’s trial-and-error search for a catchphrase is funny, not only because a “let’s go” would suffice, but also because the terrible options Tilly brings him all seem to have been focus-grouped by … engineers. “‘Hit it,’ only different from how Pike says it”? “Manifest”?? Surely we can get the communications team on this.

• I’m positively thrilled that Adira’s gender identity has been addressed — and that it’s a challenge that is now discrete from their challenges as a Trill host. A representation that was once just a series of metaphors can now be explored in both metaphorical and literal ways: Adira is coming out, and Adira’s dead boyfriend stopped talking to them, and Adira is struggling to manage all the previous hosts in their head. We all contain multitudes, especially Adira; let the kid work out both of their identities.

• Now, that doesn’t mean Stamets following Adira around, even off-duty, doling out wisdom like a self-satisfied camp counselor, isn’t getting kind of tiresome. I know a generational queer mentorship thing is exciting, but like, be cool, dude. They’ll seek you out when they need you.

• I miss Reno. Where is Reno? Bring back Reno. Stamets is due for a good roasting.

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Star Trek: Discovery Season 3, Episode 8, 'The Sanctuary' Recap & Spoilers

Star Trek: Discovery Season 3, Episode 8, "The Sanctuary," showed that even the strongest of characters have cracks. Here's a spoiler-filled recap of what happened.

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Trek: Discovery Season 3, Episode 8, "The Sanctuary," now streaming on CBS All Access .

In last week's episode  of Star Trek: Discovery , Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) explored the concept of "home,"  revisiting the planet she grew up on and contemplating her role on the titular ship's crew. In the show's latest episode, "The Sanctuary," it's her new boyfriend Book's (David Ajala) turn, as the show delves more into him by focusing on a rather interesting chapter in the mysterious character's life.

Before that, though, "The Sanctuary" opens on another lingering character mystery . Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) talks with Culber (Wilson Cruz), and it's assumed that she's seeing the medical officer to talk about the flashes of Terran memories she's experienced the past couple of episodes. She proves to be one stubborn patient, however, attempting to still maintain a position of power. Culber is able to dish it right back to her, though, directing her to an atomic scan while warning her that without intervention, her brain could deteriorate past the point of no return.

RELATED:  Star Trek: Discovery Gives a Classic Planet a Whole New Name

Meanwhile, Book seeks out Michael to share some urgent news. His brother has sent him a message that his home planet, Kwejian, is under threat from the Orion-Andorian syndicate known as the Emerald Chain . As Book explains further in Vance's (Oded Fehr) office, environmental changes following "The Burn" caused the planet's sea locusts to take to land and destroy their food supply. The Chain offered repellent in exchange for access to their trance worms, but it seems they want something more now. Despite Vance's reservations, Michael and Captain Saru (Doug Jones) are able to get Discovery to go on the mission under a more diplomatic banner.

But we soon see diplomacy will not work with the Chain, as we finally meet its leader: Osyraa (Janet Kidder). She's confronting her nephew Tolor (Ian Lake) about the prison break that happened on Hunhau, with a particular fixation on Andorian escapee Ryn (Noah Averbach-Katz). True to her reputation, Osyraa proves herself to be merciless. As punishment for his slip-up, she arranges for Tolor to be eaten by a trance worm, something she did to his father years ago.

Back aboard the Discovery, Saru and new first officer, Tilly (Mary Wiseman), are trying out new catchphrases as they walk into engineering. There, Stamets (Anthony Rapp) and Adira (Blu Del Barrio) present the data about "The Burn" they've acquired from Michael. The origin of the event seemed to be in the Verubin nebula, which is giving out an audio signal similar to the song we've heard in previous episodes. They also isolate the noise and find a Federation distress signal in it. As Stamets convinces Adira to write an algorithm to decode it, they reveal in private their preferred pronouns. While it's an extremely vulnerable moment for the young genius, their new friend is incredibly accepting, giving a simple nod and a smile.

Book is nervous about going back home, namely because of his brother. Though not biological, the rift that developed between them still hurt when he started hunting trance worms for the Chain. He's not looking forward to showing his new beau what has become of his planet. When Discovery jumps to Kwejian, Saru decides to beam the two of them down to inspect the situation, while they deal with the incoming Osyraa problem.

Elsewhere, Adira is mournfully playing cello when Stamets finds them. They reveal that deceased boyfriend and previous host Grey hasn't spoken with them recently, fearful he is hiding. In general, Adira is undergoing a literal identity crisis, not sure who they'll wake up as every day. As Stamets tries to put her mind at ease with a duet, Ryn causes some discord as he storms into Saru's office, demanding he leave the ship and grumbling that Federation favors often come with strings attached.

Kwejian turns out to be a serene autumnal planet, much more natural than urban. Even the pesty sea locusts have a bright turquoise glow. But the calm is interrupted when Book and Michael get captured by a group of people, including Book's brother Kyheem (Ache Hernandez). They're taken back to his home, and you could cut the tension between the brothers with a bat'leth. Kyheem accuses Book of leaving his planet and family behind, while Book chastises him for working with the Chain. Kyheem reveals the reason behind his hail; Osyraa knows Ryn escaped with Book. And without him in her possession, she may destroy Kwejian in retribution.

RELATED:  Star Trek: Discovery Makes a Surprising Picard Connection

In Sick Bay, Georgiou goes through the rare outfit change for her atomic scan. But as the scan goes along, things are far from routine. In the middle of it, she comes to, on the verge of cerebral hemorrhage and having emotional flashes from the Mirror Universe. Her body even begins to get affected, almost like she's being pulled somewhere else. Her reveries literally break the scan, but she tries to recover by walking away and denying anything had happened.

Osyraa's ship arrives, and the Emerald Chain and Discovery leaders come holo-face-to-face. While Saru tries to keep a straight face through diplomatic protocols, the Orion shoots him down, talking about the "hubris" of the Federation. She threatens them to give her Ryn, or she will take it out on Kwejian. She next talks with Kyheem, who is brooding after nearly coming to blows with Book. She points out that the sea locusts could destroy their food again without the Chain's help. Despite all this, Kyheem refuses to give up Book. And true to her word, she begins carpet bombing Kwejian.

As the planet goes up in flames around them, Book and Michael scramble to bring up its defense systems. What doesn't help is Kyheem, who intervenes to scrap it out with his brother. Above Kwejian, Tilly comes up with a plan to save the day. With knowledge of how to destroy Osyraa's ship, Ryn takes off in Book's non-Starfleet ship alongside Detmer (Emily Coutts) to stop her. It's a big testing moment for the pilot, who has seen her confidence shaken throughout the entire third season. But despite her reservations, she literally takes control and does some incredible flying, piercing Osyraa's defenses and taking out a good chunk of her ship. The Discovery emerges victorious, but before leaving, Osyraa promises them the Federation will feel the full weight of the Chain.

Back on Kwejian, Book challenges Kyheem to kill him, but his brother can't go through with it. After Osyraa leaves, Kyheem laments his situation, revealing he has a son. While Book is reeling in surprise, Michael comes up with a plan to save the planet. With their combined empathic powers, as well as a little help from Discovery, they are able to encourage the sea locusts to go back to the water. The brothers finally see eye to eye, and Kwejian is famine-free as a result.

As Detmer gloats about her badass maneuvers in the cafeteria, Tilly sits down with Ryn. While he's grown up with rumors of a deceitful Federation, he finds her trusting enough to tell her that that the Chain is running out of dilithium. The reason he was so valuable to Osyraa is because he knows her big secret.

RELATED:  Star Trek: Discovery Pays Touching Tribute to Anton Yelchin

Meanwhile, Book and Michael give Kyheem and his son a tour of the ship. The brothers jokingly banter before thanking each other for doing what they needed to do for Kwejian. In private, Book admits to Michael that the day has made him see the Federation in a new light, considering what it can do for planets in need. And surprisingly, he wants in! As Michael walks off to fix his ship, she has a smile on her face, telling him how much she liked visiting his home.

While "The Burn" still remains the big mystery of the season, "The Sanctuary" hypes up the Emerald Chain as the big bad. After several mentions, Osyraa finally gets introduced, and she's even more blunt and ruthless than expected. But generally, this episode showed that every veneer has cracks. Whether it's Osyraa or Georgiou, despite the front, weaknesses still exist to prove they're only human (or Orion). It remains to be seen whether these characters will withstand these faults, or, to use Saru's new captain's quote, "carry on."

Streaming on CBS All Access, Star Trek: Discovery stars Sonequa Martin-Green as Commander Michael Burnham, Doug Jones as Commander Saru, Anthony Rapp as Lt. Commander Paul Stamets, Mary Wiseman as Ensign Sylvia Tilly, Wilson Cruz as Dr. Hugh Culber, David Ajala as Cleveland "Book" Booker, Blu del Barrio as Adira , Ian Alexander as Gray, Tig Notaro as Chief Engineer Reno and Michelle Yeoh as Philippa Georgiou. New episodes of Season 3 air on Thursdays.

KEEP READING:  Star Trek: Discovery Reveals What Caused the Dilithium Shortage

Star Trek Just Doubled Down on Its Wildest Body-Switching Concept

Welcome back to Trill.

Body switching is a classic sci-fi trope. From Freaky Friday to Farscape , and of course, most of Quantum Leap, the idea of the consciousness from one person inhabiting the body of a different person will never stop being the fuel for speculative stories that are both hilarious and profound. But, when Star Trek invented the “joined” species of the Trill in 1991, it took the body-switching/body-surfing trope to a new level. While a specific Trill symbiont might live for several hundreds of years, this slug-like creature generally inhabited a humanoid host. This “joining” often created a new hybrid personality each time, sort of like Time Lord regeneration from Doctor Who mashed up with internal alien parasites from Alien; a chest-burster that never burst, but just stayed in you forever.

And if all of that wasn’t wild enough, on June 12, in the episode “Facets,” 1995, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine added a new wrinkle to Trill canon. Not only were the memories of all the previous hosts alive and well in the current symbiont, but, through a process called “zhian’tara,” a specific host’s personality could leave the symbiont and enter into the body of... anyone! Basically, this was Trill joining via spacey magic, and now, 29 years after “Facets,” Star Trek: Discovery is doubling down (tripling down?) on this very specific form of consciousness transfer in the Season 5 episode “Jinaal.” Spoilers ahead.

The Trill host trick

Dax and Odo discuss sharing memories in “Facets.”

Although the Trill were established in The Next Generation episode “The Host,” the vast majority of Trill canon comes from Deep Space Nine , thanks to the presence of Jadzia Dax, who later, in Season 7, switched hosts and became Ezri Dax. But, in the memorable Season 3 episode “Facets,” Jadzia’s previous host, Curzon, left her body through the zhian’tara process and settled in the body of the station’s resident shapeshifter, Odo. From that point, Odo’s entire personality was merged with Curzon’s, which put everyone on the station in a deeply uncomfortable position.

As a stand-alone episode of DS9 , “Facets” remains a fantastic story about memory, regret, and what one generation owes the next. But, the legacy of “Facets” is easily the concept of zhian’tara, which was used to save Gray Tal’s consciousness in Discovery Season 4, and now, in Season 5, is being employed again to unravel an 800-year-old mystery.

Discovery’s return to Trill

Cubler (Wilson Cruz) takes on an ancient Trill tradition in Discovery Season 5.

The planet Trill was first seen in DS9 in the episode “Equilibrium,” but Discovery has actually visited the planet more times, starting in the Season 3 episode “Forget Me Not,” and now again, in “Jinaal.” This time the need to transfer the memories of one previous Trill host into someone else is all connected to the secrets Jinaal Bix has about researcher of the Progenitors in the 24th century.

After transferring Jinaal’s consciousness into Culber, the entire personality of our stalwart Starfleet doctor changes, and, just like “Facets,” he suddenly becomes cockier, and more evasive. If you watch “Facets” right after watching “Jinaal,” the parallels are clear. While Curzon’s secret was connected to something personal, Jinaal’s secret has broader implications. Turns out, Federation scientists were working on cracking the Progenitor tech during the era of the Dominion War, and so they decided to bury any knowledge of the technology to prevent any planet or government from weaponizing their research.

Interestingly, this detail dovetails with Picard Season 3 a bit, in which we learned that Section 31 was pushing different Federation scientists to weaponize the organic nature of Changelings. Basically, the Dominion War created a lot of corrupt scientific research within the Federation, making the top-secret Daystrom labs that Riker, Raffi, and Worf raided perhaps just a small sample of the horrible top-secret weapons the Federation has developed.

What Discovery does is make it clear that Jinaal did the right thing at the time by hiding the research — even if that doesn’t help our heroes at the moment.

A classic Original Series nod

Sargon enters Kirk’s body in “Return to Tomorrow.”

Of course, within the canon of Trek, the Trill weren’t the first time the franchise explored the concept of sharing consciousness. Spock transferred his katra to Bones in The Wrath of Khan , and Kirk switched bodies with Janice Lester in the controversial final TOS episode “Turnabout Intruder.”

But, one wonderful 1968 episode from TOS Season 2 — “Return to Tomorrow” — featured ancient beings borrowing the bodies of Kirk, Spock, and Dr. Ann Mulhall in order to build more permanent, android bodies. When the ancient being of Sargon enters Kirk’s body, one of the first things he says is: “Your captain has an excellent body.”

Now, 56 years later, when Jinaal finds himself in Culber’s body, he says something similar: “Wow, this guy really works out!”

Across decades of internal canon, Star Trek can make the same body-switching joke, and make it work, in any century.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 drops new episodes on Fridays on Paramount+.

• Science Fiction

Screen Rant

Star trek: discovery season 5, episode 3 ending explained.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5's treasure hunt brings the USS Discovery to Trill for the next clue, but Moll and L'ak may be one step ahead of Burnham.

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Episode 3 - "Jinaal"

• Moll and L'ak are setting a trap on the USS Discovery - Adira may be in danger.
• The Progenitors' treasure was safeguarded by six secret scientists in the 24th century.
• Commander Rayner struggles to connect with the crew - Burnham seeks answers beyond the treasure.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 3, "Jinaal", brings Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and the USS Discovery one step closer to finding the Progenitors' treasure, but little do they know Moll (Eve Harlow) and L'ak (Elias Toufexis) are making insidious moves against them. Written by Kyle Jarrow and Lauren Wilkinson and directed by Andi Armaganian, the third episode of Star Trek: Discovery season 5 splits the action between the planet Trill and Commander Rayner (Callum Keith Renne) and Ambassador Saru (Doug Jones) having difficulty adjusting to their new assignments.

Captain Burnham and Cleveland Booker (David Ajala) pass a test created by Jinaal (Wilson Cruz) with flying colors. Jinaal was the host of a Trill symbiont who was alive in the 24th century, and he was part of a coalition of scientists, which included the Romulan Doctor Vellek (Michael Copeman) who hid the Progenitors' technology to protect the galaxy. A Trill ritual allowed Jinaal to occupy the body of Dr. Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz), and the Trill took steps to ensure Burnham and Book were "worthy" of finding the Progenitors' treasure. However, Discovery's crew may unwittingly be walking into a trap set up by Moll and L'ak.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Returning Cast & New Character Guide

What did moll attach to adira at the end of star trek: discovery season 5, episode 3, moll and l'ak are making a move on the uss discovery.

After Jinaal departed Dr. Culber's body and he, Captain Burnham, and Cleveland Booker beamed back aboard the USS Discovery, Moll secretly placed a device on the arm of Ensign Adira Tal (Blu del Barrio). The Trills were warned by Burnham that Moll and L'ak would come seeking the clue hidden on Trill, but Guardian Xi (Andreas Apergis) was certain Trill would withstand any aggressive act. But what the Trill didn't anticipate was Moll, who is human, infiltrating the Trill during their ritual and planting something on Discovery's young Ensign.

32nd-century technology in Star Trek: Discovery is made of programmable matter, which explains why Moll's device disappeared.

The tiny device Moll hid on Adira's arm quickly vanished, but there are a few possibilities for what the tech could be. The device could be a tracker of some sort ; since Moll knows Burnham found the clue on Trill, she could be ensuring that she and her lover, L'ak, will be able to follow the USS Discovery wherever it jumps to next. The device could also be some kind of communicator or a weapon that could incapacitate Adira. It may also be a tiny transporter that would allow Adira to be beamed to L'ak's ship where they could be held hostage.

Moll, who likely was incognito in the Trill caves for the duration of Star Trek: Discovery, probably overheard Adira's conversations with their love interest, Gray Tal (Ian Alexander), and their decision to break up. Adira, who is young and inexperienced, is the ideal target for Moll and L'ak to plant a device on. This may be the end of Adira and Gray's Star Trek: Discovery love story . Their breakup is also an interesting juxtaposition to Moll and L'ak, who are lovers themselves but are committed to each other and are on the same journey, unlike the young Trill and Ensign.

Everything Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Episode 3 Revealed About The Progenitors' Treasure

Great steps were taken to protect the ancient power to create life.

Jinaal provided a wealth of new information about what happened to the Progenitors' treasure after the events of Star Trek: The Next Generation 's "The Chase." According to Jinaal, in the 24th century, the President of the United Federation of Planets - possibly Jaresh-Inyo (Herschel Sparber) from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - secretly assembled a team of 6 Federation and non-Federation scientists , including Jinaal and Dr. Vellek. After years of researching the Progenitors' message, they found the ancient technology in a sector of deep space. One of the scientists died horribly when they tried to activate it.

The scientists made it their life's work to safeguard the Progenitors' technology.

The scientists decided to hide the Progenitors' treasure instead of turning it over to the Federation. At this point, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 's Dominion War engulfed the Alpha Quadrant, and anyone could be a Changeling. Jinaal and his colleagues made a pact and lied to the Federation about the treasure while redacting themselves from every database. The scientists made it their life's work to safeguard the Progenitors' technology, eventually creating a series of clues which they determined would deem whoever could find the treasure "worthy" of having it.

Meanwhile, on the USS Discovery, Commander Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) decoded Dr. Vellek's Romulant tricorder and learned more about the Progenitors' treasure. Stamets was excited about the applications of the Progenitors' technology, which is billions of years old. The Progenitors could "design new lifeforms, accelerate evolution, modify ecosystems." Stamets added, "If it can create life, then, in theory, it might also be possible to re-animate dead organisms."

The Progenitors' technology sounds like the Genesis Device from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan but with even more potential to create - or destroy - life.

Saru Made A Faux Pas About Announcing His Wedding To T'Rina

Saru has a lot to learn about love and politics.

The newly-minted Ambassador Saru performed well in his first delegation meeting about the rising threat of the Breen , but he made a faux pas when it came to announcing his engagement to President T'Rina (Tara Rosling). T'Rina's political aide, Duvin (Victor Andres Trelles Turgeon), became concerned about the optics of the President of Ni'Var siding with the Kelpien Ambassador, especially when the news of their engagement becomes public. Saru listened to Duvin and got cold feet about announcing his engagement to T'Rina.

Duvin feared T'Rina's Presidential power weakening among Vulcan purists if she marries an offworlder.

Ultimately, T'Rina made Saru realize that making a public announcement is better than news of their engagement leaking out, which would make it seem like the couple were hiding something scandalous. Saru confessed his inexperience in romance and politics, but T'Rina has enough savviness for them both. Saru and T'Rina's wedding is on, and will likely take place sometime during Star Trek: Discovery season 5.

Commander Rayner Will Have Trouble Fitting In With The USS Discovery Crew

Rayner's not looking to connect and make friends on discovery.

Now demoted to Commander as the new First Officer of the USS Discovery, Rayner was ordered by Captain Burnham to meet with and forge connections with the USS Discovery's crew. But Rayner was more interested in hunting Moll and L'ak , and he only met with Discovery's crew members for brief, unfriendly intervals, to the disgust of Lieutenant Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman). Rayner made no real inroads in connecting with Discovery's personnel, although he paid attention and made insightful observations about each Starfleet Officer.

Commander Rayner not immediately fitting in on Discovery is more realistic.

Tilly was right that Commander Rayner, who was on a new ship after an embarrassing demotion, compensated by acting boorishly to hide how difficult it was for him. To Star Trek: Discovery season 5's credit, Commander Rayner not immediately fitting in on Discovery is more realistic than the Kellerun Starfleet Officer being welcomed with open arms. Rayner will have a long road to earning the respect of the USS Discovery's crew, and vice versa, although Captain Burnham may not be pleased with how her new Number One alienated himself from her friends and family aboard the Disco.

Rayner explained he purposely kept a professional distance from his crew when he was Captain of the USS Antares.

Captain Burnham Is Searching For Something Bigger Than The Progenitors' Treasure

Michael has big questions she needs answered.

At the start of Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 2 , "Under the Twin Moons," Captain Burnham confessed that she used to find purpose in her missions, but now she is searching for something more. A greater meaning. Jinaal assessed this about Burnham on Trill, and Michael related the same to Dr. Hugh Culber. For Burnham, the Progenitors' treasure isn't just technology that can alter the destiny of the Federation, but it could mean answers Michael is seeking about the meaning of life, itself.

Captain Burnham's quest may reflect Star Trek: Discovery looking inward for something more profound.

Interestingly, Captain Burnham's spiritual journey in Star Trek: Discovery season 5 loosely echoes someone from her adoptive Vulcan family: Sybok (Lawrence Luckinbill). In Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Spock's criminal older half-brother sought God in the mythical world of Sha Ka Ree. Sybok's quest was fueled by his own hubris, but the Vulcan truly did want to see and gain answers from the divine. Michael wants different answers than Sybok did, and Captain Burnham's quest may reflect Star Trek: Discovery looking inward for something more profound than its nature as an action-adventure Star Trek series.

Where The Next Clue To The Progenitors' Treasure Will Take Discovery

Discovery may take a pause in the treasure hunt.

Interestingly, Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 3's ending, doesn't directly lead to the USS Discovery's next destination after they depart Trill. Captain Burnham told Dr. Culber that the clue Jinaal gave them was being analyzed, but leads to the Tzenkethi system . However, Discovery is stymied by red tape as diplomats sort out the legalities of entering the Tzenkethi system. This could indicate a pause in Star Trek: Discovery season 5's treasure hunt in episode 4, "Face the Strange."

The Tzenkethi were a race that was never seen but was mentioned as enemies of the Federation on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , furthering Star Trek: Discovery 's DS9 connections.

However, it's a safe bet whatever Moll planted on Adira will lead to the next crisis Captain Burnham will have to contend with . With three more pieces needed to complete the map to the Progenitors' treasure and 7 more episodes to go in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, Captain Burnham's hunt may take its first, strange detour.

New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery stream Thursdays on Paramount+

*Availability in US

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'Star Trek: Discovery' season 5 episode 3 'Jinaal' is a slow but steady affair

Humans have evidently evolved beyond the need for stairs in the 32nd century as teleportation has replaced the simple act of actually walking to places

Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Star Trek: Discovery" season 5, episode 3

The latest installment of "Star Trek: Discovery" season 5 on Paramount Plus adds a little water – and possibly some fertilizer – to the various different story seeds sewn last week. 

Entitled "Jinaal," the primary plot revolves around a revisit to the planet Trill and as you may recall, the last time we spent any length of time here was the episode " Forget Me Not " (S03, E04), which was not terrible. In fact, it was undeniable highlight of the third season, which itself had some of the best we've seen from "Discovery." Incidentally, that was first look at the Trill homeworld since " Star Trek: Deep Space Nine " episode "Equilibrium" (bizarrely, also S03, E04). (If you need a recap on how to watch Star Trek: Discovery, check out our Star Trek streaming guide for Paramount Plus .)

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Curiously, in that episode "Forget Me Not," Dr. Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz) was given a rare and welcome chance to shine and he does so once again in this episode as well. To briefly recap, Adira (Blu del Barrio) and her lover, a Trill named Gray (Ian Alexander), were aboard a generation ship way back when. They were both orphans, very much in love, and Gray had just received his symbiote when the ship was struck by an asteroid and everyone was ordered to evacuate. Unfortunately, Gray was fatally injured and the only way to save the symbiote was for Adira to join with it. And that's how it was for all of season three right up until the fourth season episode " Choose To Live " (S04, E03). 

Then, after all of that, Gray Tal has his consciousness transferred out of Adira and into an artificial synth golem before heading back to Trill to complete all that monk-style studying. And now you're all caught up. 

While a trip back to Trill is nice, you can't help but start to wonder if this fifth and final season will end up a 10-episode long epilogue as it ties up all its loose ends, almost like season five of " Babylon 5 ."  Commander Jett Reno (Tig Notaro) pops up in this episode at last, which more or less just leaves Commander Nhan (Rachael Ancheril), whom we last saw in the episode " Rubicon " S04, E09, to make an appearance. Although Ancheril's IMDb page does currently say, "Coming up in 2024, Rachael will be seen again in 'Chucky' season three [and] 'Star Trek Discovery' for its final season," so who knows. 

The big highlight this week was, as we alluded to above, Cruz's chance to stretch his acting chops just a little bit and he does not disappoint. The two biggest grumbles however, are the dialogue written by a writer who just saw "Lethal Weapon II" for the very first time and that the notion of teleporting around the place instead of just walking, has been taken to ludicrous extremes. 

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"Star Trek: Discovery" seems to be at peace with lifting from other IPs, sci-fi or otherwise. We've seen a nice " Close Encounters of the Third Kind " reference with mashed potato and we've even seen a fun nod to "Scooby-Doo," but these were all subtle. Then there was the extremely unsubtle " Die Hard " thing and then in " Scavengers " (S03, E06) the writers went  way  beyond homage and practically lifted a set piece directly from the 1987 movie "The Running Man." The premise was the same, the effect was the same and even the setting was practically identical.

This week's insight into what classic movie the Gen-Z writers of "Discovery" have recently discovered comes from a legendary scene with equally legendary dialogue between Sgt. Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) and Sgt. Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) during a rescue attempt after the latter learns that the toilet he's been sitting on has been rigged with a bomb in the first "Lethal Weapon" sequel. Lest we forget, this underrated action extravaganza also gave us Leo Getz and immortalized phrases like "diplomatik immunitee." and "but, but...you're blick."

Still, at least it was just a line or two of dialogue this time and not an entire set piece. My other main grumble with this episode as we mentioned above is the carefree abandon with which transporters are used. And I've touched upon this before. Despite beaming becoming a very common part of everyday life of the 32nd century, to the extent that folk use transporters instead of stairs and even to just change outfits, like we saw in the season four premiere episode — but the thing is, transporters kill you .

The creators of " Star Trek " have never officially confirmed that transporters kill you. However, solely based on the science, transporters do kill you. In simple terms, these teleportation devices scan every molecule in your body and briefly store them in the pattern buffer, while at the same time, the original body is to all intents and purposes, disintegrated. The transporter then converts the scanned copy into energy and beams the data stream to the desired location, where the body is rebuilt, from a sub-atomic level, using technology similar to a replicator. It's comparable in principle to a fax, except this fax machine destroys the original, to prevent duplication, although that has been known to happen.

The issue is essentially an existential one. Since our bodies are made up of identifiable matter, why won't transference of consciousness occur? What makes our consciousness so unique? What's the difference between an identical copy and you? If you were to put your copy into a different room that you hadn't been into, would you be able to see it? No. It's a perfect copy, but it's not you. There is a good article on Ars Technica that really goes into detail on this.

Still, all of this banter aside, this episode is not ... terrible. It is very evenly paced and that, despite the not-exactly edge-of-seat storyline, makes it bearable. Every sub-story seems to be given equal time and brief-but-enjoyable interplay between Lt. Tilly (Mary Wiseman) and Captain Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie) is fun. Plus, of course, we get to see the Trill homeworld again, which is nice. 

In other "Star Trek" news, " Strange New Worlds " has been renewed for a fourth season, while " Lower Decks " will end with its previously announced upcoming fifth season, expected to air sometime this year. Creator Mike McMahan and executive producer Alex Kurtzman posted a statement on the Star Trek website: “While five seasons of any series these days seems like a miracle, it’s no exaggeration to say that every second we've spent making this show has been a dream come true. Our incredible cast, crew and artists have given you everything they have because they love the characters they play, they love the world we've built, and more than anything we all love, love, love Star Trek."

Meanwhile, "Strange New Worlds" is currently in production on its third season, which is set to debut in 2025. It seems that all of this combined with the fact that "Section 31" ended up as a movie , casts doubt over the future of the Starfleet Academy spin-off and hopefully signals the end of the idiotic idea of "Star Trek: Legacy." Perhaps Paramount should look to cancel other ludicrous endeavors like the proposed Picard movie instead of cancelling decent shows in their efforts to tighten purse strings. 

The fifth and final season of "Star Trek: Discovery" and every episode of every "Star Trek" show — with the exception of "Star Trek: Prodigy" — currently streams exclusively on Paramount Plus in the US while "Prodigy" has found a new home o n Netflix.  

Internationally, the shows are available on  Paramount Plus  in Australia, Latin America, the UK and South Korea, as well as on Pluto TV in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland on the Pluto TV Sci-Fi channel. They also stream on  Paramount Plus  in Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. In Canada, they air on Bell Media's CTV Sci-Fi Channel and stream on Crave.

 —   Watch the bittersweet trailer for 'Star Trek: Discovery's final season (video)

 —  'Spaceman' sees Adam Sandler shine as a cosmonaut in crisis in Netflix's somber sci-fi film (review)

—  Star Trek's Seven of Nine returns in new novel 'Picard: Firewall' (exclusive)

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When Scott's application to the NASA astronaut training program was turned down, he was naturally upset...as any 6-year-old boy would be. He chose instead to write as much as he possibly could about science, technology and space exploration. He graduated from The University of Coventry and received his training on Fleet Street in London. He still hopes to be the first journalist in space.

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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Season 3, Episode 8

Where to watch, star trek: deep space nine — season 3, episode 8.

Watch Star Trek: Deep Space Nine — Season 3, Episode 8 with a subscription on Paramount+, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

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Cast & crew.

Avery Brooks

Cmdr. Benjamin Sisko

Rene Auberjonois

Alexander Siddig

Dr. Julian Bashir

Terry Farrell

Lt. Jadzia Dax

Cirroc Lofton

Colm Meaney

Chief Miles O'Brien

Episode Info

REVIEW: ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Season 5 Episode 3

I n Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Episode 3 , the crew of the Discovery is in hot pursuit of thieves Moll and Mok. Booker ( David Ajala ) discovers a personal connection to Moll, whose real name is Melene. She is the daughter of Booker’s old mentor, Cleveland Booker IV. Booker’s longing to reconnect with her intensifies as she is the last remaining family he has. However, the Federation, still wary of Booker following his near cataclysmic actions in season 4 , considers the pursuit of Moll and Mok solely their jurisdiction.

The Discovery crew heads towards Trill in pursuit of the thieves. While en route, they delve into an 800-year-old mystery involving a Romulan scientist who researched the Progenitors, the primordial beings from which all life in the known galaxy originated. Utilizing the unique lifespan of the Trill, their investigation leads them to focus on a Trill named Jinaal. This Trill scientist existed concurrently with the Romulan scientist and the enigmatic riddle introduced in the season 5 premiere . By tapping into Jinaal’s experiences across his various lifetimes as a Trill, they uncover concrete answers instead of relying on speculation.

Early on in Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Episode 3 , this is the most true to traditional Star Trek the series has been in a long time. Throughout much of Star Trek: Discovery ‘s history , the focus has been primarily on action and drama. Even the opening episodes of season 5 carried that tone. However, as the mystery of the Progenitor artifact starts to unravel, it becomes clear that the Discovery crew is engaging more in puzzle-solving, research, historical exploration, and dialogue rather than participating in all-out intergalactic wars spanning galaxies, times, and dimensions.

This is further reinforced by the crew’s need to participate in the zhian’tara. It is the only way Captain Burnham ( Sonequa Martin-Green )  and Booker can speak with Jinaal.  Here, Wilson Cruz, as Doctor Hugh Culber, showcases his acting skills by embodying Jinaal’s character. his serves as another instance of his character taking on the burden of a demanding and emotionally taxing task on behalf of the crew. Given his role as a doctor, it’s natural that his empathy surpasses even that of his fellow Starfleet crewmates. However, it would be beneficial for him to prioritize his well-being sooner rather than later.

Through Jinaal, they uncover the truth about what the Romulan scientist was attempting to safeguard: ancient Progenitor technology. The technology was so advanced, so limitless, that it instilled fear in scientists from various species, compelling them to keep it a secret. That is, until someone could decipher the Progenitor riddle. Considering the state of the galaxy 800 years ago during the Dominion War, it’s understandable why they took such measures.

The Dominion War , from 2373 to 2375, witnessed all major powers of the Alpha and Gamma Quadrants engaging in conflict. Two military alliances, the Federation Alliance and the Breen-Dominion Alliance, clashed in a devastating struggle. Characterized by significant military and civilian losses, including the targeted annihilation of over eight hundred million Cardassians and the extensive deployment of starship fleets, it stands as one of the bloodiest and most destructive wars in recent galactic history.

Delving into the discussion of political disparities among species, Captain, now Ambassador Saru ( Doug Jones ), plans their marriage alongside President T’Rina ( Tara Rosling ). Saru navigates a new phase of life and a distinct form of warfare—cross-galactic politics. Constantly pulled in various directions, Saru finds himself serving as an Ambassador, yet his role feels largely unchanged. The primary divergence lies in his romantic conflict, overshadowing his cultural and ethical dilemmas.

Amidst the overarching Progenitor plot, Saru’s subplot appears underdeveloped, lacking the depth seen in the previous seasons. While hoping for thematic echoes of the Dominion War, the series currently prioritizes Saru’s intricate love story over utilizing his Ambassadorial position to shed light on cross-species political dynamics in the 32nd century.

The scientists from 800 years ago intentionally made the Progenitor’s secret elusive because they lacked trust in the powers of their era to wield the technology responsibly. Given the tumultuous events of the previous two seasons in the 32nd century, a similar sentiment likely prevails. This aspect alone could have made Saru’s Ambassadorial role this season more compelling.

However, instead of delving into cross-species political dynamics, his relationship with T’Rina becomes the primary source of conflict . Even as the Discovery crew edges closer to unraveling the Progenitor secrets, Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Episode 3 remains primarily focused on the crew adjusting to their new commanding officer.

The crew of the Discovery remains skeptical of their new first officer due to his tendency to act aggressively to complete the mission. To foster better understanding, Captain Burnham orders Captain Rayner ( Callum Keith Rennie ) to meet 1 – 1 the crew. However, what begins as an opportunity to acquaint himself with the crew members soon devolves into a lesson on connection.

It seems like an odd choice to introduce such an unlikable character, especially in the final season of the series. With this new addition disrupting the ship’s cohesion, the focus shifts away from unlocking the secrets of the Progenitors to addressing internal conflicts. Amid the final season, where the cast has formed strong bonds, it feels jarring to witness them having to educate someone on basic empathy.

With nearly a third of the season down, Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Episode 3 shows the series is taking its time to build the story it is trying to tell, for better or worse. The Progenitor storyline stands out as the most developed, while the remainder of the cast and crew grapple with interpersonal conflicts. As the midpoint of the season approaches, there’s a desire to see a crew that doesn’t require overt moral lessons, yet current circumstances suggest otherwise. Nevertheless, there are hints that these storylines could eventually intertwine to serve the overarching plot. However, the journey feels like a slow warp through space.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Episode 3 is streaming exclusively on Paramount+ with new episodes every Thursday.

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