This, for me, was the episode that really got things going on Discovery. Context Is for Kings gave us a new captain and a new mission, which had a bit of a secret up his sleeve. But poor Michael. Her story is one of sadness and loss. Even as we see a little light at the end of the tunnel, it will be an immense effort for her to ever see freedom again.
SIX MONTHS AFTER BATTLE OF THE BINARY STARS
We join Michael Burnham as she’s on a prison transport shuttle with three others to Tellun after a “dilithium pocket went piezoelectric.” The audience is treated to the story of how fifty cons (felons) were killed in the accident, and the mine needs new bodies.
NOTE: It’s a shame that they’re using human beings to do this work. They ought to just contract a Horta family to work in the mines. But it will be a few years (Stardate 3196.1) until Kirk and Spock learn about the Horta.
Burnham sat by herself as the others reveled in her celebrity.
“That’s Michael Burnham,” said one.
“The mutineer?” said a second with a chuckle. Another prisoner told Burnham that she blamed Michael for her cousin’s death on the U.S.S. Europa and the 8,000 others.
“8,186,” said Michael.
Unfortunately, the shuttle became covered in small green organisms. The pilot left her seat to clean them off the exterior of the ship. She lost hold of the ship and was left behind. Three of the prisoners panicked, while Burnham watched in silence.
Suddenly, a blue glow surrounded the shuttle. It was the U.S.S. Discovery pulling the small craft into its cargo bay with a tractor beam.
The four left the shuttle and were greeted by Commander Ellen Landry (Rekha Sharma), who served as Discovery’s security chief. This is how she greeted them:
“I see we’re unloading all kinds of garbage here, even Starfleet’s first mutineer.”
NOTE: While this might be true, didn’t Malcolm Reed do a bunch of stuff that should have gotten him kicked out of Starfleet? This was especially when he was working for Section 31. But Archer always let Reed talk his way back.
The prisoners noted the “silver” uniforms on Discovery, which denote many of its crew members’ scientific mission. They also noticed the crew with the black Starfleet badge, which they were not familiar with.
Landry took them to the cafeteria to eat. Burnham saw Lieutenant Keyla Detmer (Emily Coutts), who now wore some sort of augmenting on the left side of her head, probably the result of an injury at the Battle of the Binary Stars. Detmer looked away from Burnham and did not acknowledge her. All other Starfleet stopped talking and eating to watch her.
Burnham sat down, and the other prisoners attacked her. She used her Vulcan martial arts (Suus Mahna) to easily defeat them (a great action scene). The fighting stopped when Landry aimed a phaser at Burnham.
“Captain wants to see you,” said Landry. “Come on.”
Landry led Burnham to the bridge, where Saru was sitting in the captain’s chair. He looked at her and turned away. Burnham walked into the darkened ready room and heard the trill of a Tribble.
“No matter how deep in space you are, always feel like you can see home,” said Captain Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs). “Don’t you think?”
He apologized for the low light in his office, saying that he suffered a battle injury that caused this sensitivity. Lorca welcomed Burnham to the ship and offered her a Chinese fortune cookie.
“It was a family business a century ago,” he said. “That was before the future came, and hunger and need and want disappeared. Course, they’re making a comeback now… thanks to you.”
Lorca said that he researched her file when he saw that she was among those on the rescued shuttle. She asked what she was doing on the Discovery, but he turned the question around and told her that she would help him out. He assigned her to work for him until her shuttle was repaired.
When she declined, he said that he didn’t care what her opinion was. He said that he’d do anything it takes to achieve the mission — to win the war.
“No matter how deep in space you are, always feel like you can see home,” said Captain Lorca. “Don’t you think?”
Landry escorted Burnham to a cabin and dropped her off. Soon, Cadet Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman) walked in. Tilly said that she wasn’t supposed to have a cabin mate due to her excessive snoring.
NOTE: Some people took to Tilly right away, while others dislike her. I think that Tilly is great in small doses. Her character talks a bunch when she is nervous, which happens a lot on the show. She is smart and gets to be involved in interesting scientific projects as the show evolves.
Tilly nervously told Burnham that she is allergic to polyester and that Burnham is in her bed. Burnham revealed her identity to Tilly. Just as things got awkward, the ship sounded a “Black Alert” and the lights dimmed.
Burnham asked what the Black Alert meant, but Tilly said that if Michael hadn’t briefed already, she wasn’t allowed to say. Michael noticed some water droplets materialize in the cabin, then drop onto a surface with a splash.
“Tilly, what the hell is going on on this ship?” said Burnham. Tilly did not respond.
The next morning, Burnham put on her new Discovery uniform (which did not have a Starfleet insignia or shoulder patches or stripes) and met with Saru, who escorted her to her work assignment.
“Saru!” said Burnham.
“First Officer Saru,” he responded.
He said that she was famous as all the crew stared in her direction. She congratulated him on his promotion, and he offered her some blueberries. As they walked, he told her that the Discovery could accommodate 300 discrete scientific missions, which, he said, was a Starfleet record.
She asked if Discovery was a science vessel. He did not respond, saying instead that she had been assigned to engineering. Before he left, she apologized for her prior actions.
“I believe you feel regret,” said Saru. “But, in my mind, you are dangerous. Captain Lorca is a man who does not fear the things that normal people fear. But I do. And you are someone to fear Michael Burnham.”
“But, if you try, know that I intend to do a better job of protecting my captain than you did yours,” said Saru.
NOTE: While this was super-harsh, but I would consider the source. Saru’s species was bred for fear detection. Asking him to judge the level of danger in someone would be like asking a mouse to tell you their favorite breed of cat.
She said that she just wanted to get back on the prison shuttle and that she would not make any trouble for him on the Discovery. He said that was certain.
“But, if you try, know that I intend to do a better job of protecting my captain than you did yours,” said Saru.
Burnham entered the engineering area, and everyone was secretive and rude to her. Even Tilly would not share a computer station with Burnham because of ‘assigned seating.’
NOTE: I didn’t like this attitude from these Starfleet personnel. Compare that to the mega-patience they showed the obnoxious Wesley Crusher on TNG. I guess, in the show’s defense, there have been no mutinous characters on Trek that were quite like this.
Lt. Commander Stamets walked out of a secured room with a glowing canister into the main engineering area.
“Who are you?” he asked Burnham. She responded who she was and that she had been assigned to work in engineering. He said that he was the only one who gave assignments and then brushed some sparkly dust from his shoulder.
He spoke mockingly to Burnham then gave her some code to work on.
NOTE: The card he gave her looked like Kirk and Spock used to work with on TOS. Nice!
“Go! Somewhere else, please!” scoffed Stamets. “It’s not like we have assigned seats.”
Burnham worked into the night on the code, and Stamets took a call from his counterpart on the U.S.S. Glenn, named Straal, who was also working on a shared project.
They traded progress and numbers for their work. Straal told Stamets that the Glenn was going to try something new, which could mean a significant breakthrough in their research.
Burnham interrupted their conversation and told Stamets that she found that the code she was working on was not just ‘quantum astrophysics,’ but biochemistry and other stuff. She asked him for more details on the project to better understand what she was looking for.
“Why would I tell a prisoner of the Federation, who is essentially a temp, the details of my research?” said Stamets, with disdain.
She pointed out a mistake in the code and left. Before she did, she watched how Stamets was able to get into the off-limits area of engineering (with a breath scan). That evening as Tilly snored, Burnham got some of Tilly’s slobber on a paper and used it to access the lab. She walked into a massive garden.
The next day, Lorca informed Stamets, Tilly, and Burnham that the Glenn had an accident due to the Black Alert experiments. All aboard were killed. He ordered Stamets to go to the Glenn and retrieve anything of value.
Lorca said that they needed to get in and out as quickly as possible since the Glenn was near Klingon space. Stamets sarcastically asked why the Glenn was conducting experiments near Klingon space.
“We are at war, Lieutenant!” Lorca yelled. “I’d appreciate a day going by without me having to remind you of that.” He then told Stamets to take Burnham at his party.
He objected, but Saru said that Burnham was the smartest Starfleet officer he had ever served with.
“Huh. And he knows you,” said Lorca to Stamets.
On the way to the Glenn, Tilly said that this was her first boarding party and prattled on to Burnham nervously. She also apologized to Burnham for lying about the station.
When they arrived at the Glenn, Stamets said the markings on the hull represented a “basidiosac” rupture. Burnham said that that term must be related to “spores” and the numbers she was working on. She asked if the project was related to biology or physics.
“Are you really so naïve as to see them as different?” Stamets asked.
NOTE: Paul Stamets, with his sarcasm, unlikable, know-it-all attitude, was why I did not care for Discovery the first time I watched it. I do not like being around people who act like this in real life and don’t want to watch a brilliant person belittle others on TV or the movies. Anthony Rapp toned it down a bit after this episode, but I’ll admit that Stamets made it hard to like this show.
He explained that on the subatomic level, biology is physics. He told her how he met Straal, and together they’d get to the “veins and muscles that hold our galaxies together.” But Starfleet co-opted their research and forced them to work apart on the Discovery and Glenn. He said that he was not happy that the “warmonger” Lorca was using his research.
Burnham said that she had no idea what the research was about, and never intended to be on this mission.
“Well if Lorca wants you to be here, I’m afraid that your intentions are less than moot,” said Stamets.
When they arrived on the Glenn, they found the crews’ bodies were deformed and twisted from the accident. As they walked through the corridors, they heard a large creature (not unlike in Aliens — and the scene even included the Aliens-like beeping).
“Well if Lorca wants you to be here, I’m afraid that your intentions are less than moot,” said Stamets.
They found evidence that Klingons boarded the ship as well — dead Klingons, who Stamets theorized that they were on the Glenn to steal technology. Tilly heard something and found a Klingon warrior hiding in the shadows. It “shushed” her and then was attacked by the creature.
They ran as the creature chased them into engineering. They fired phasers set to kill with no effect.
“What was that thing?” Burnham asked. No one answered.
They got to work, pulling the apart the spore equipment and downloading the data. The creature started smashing through the blast doors, as Landry tried to user her phase rifle to burn through a different door.
Burnham got a phaser and lured the creature after her as she climbed through the Jefferies Tubes. The creature followed her as the rest of the party escaped. As she crawled, Burnham recited lines from Alice in Wonderland. She dropped through a hatch from the tubes into the shuttlecraft, and they were able to escape.
After the escape, Burnham reported to the bridge of Discovery, and Saru said that it would soon be time for her to go with the other prisoners. He said that she did well on the Glenn also.
“You were always a good officer,” said Saru. “Until you weren’t. If only you hadn’t… You were a valuable asset. It is a loss for Starfleet.”
Burnham reported to Lorca in his ready room. He offered her a position on Discovery. He said that he had leeway with Starfleet to make decisions. She declined and said that she thought he brought her there on purpose.
“We’re not creating a new way to kill,” said Lorca. “We’re creating a new way to fly.”
Burnham said that Lorca was building a bio-weapon that was forbidden by the Geneva Protocols of 1928 and 2155. He needed her to work on this weapon.
She lectured him on why she was in trouble and how she would not go against any tenants of Starfleet. He took her to engineering and put her in a glass chamber. He held up a glowing container.
“Mycelium spores, harmless,” he said. “Harvested from the fungal species Prototaxites stellaviatori, which we grow in our cultivation bay. But you know that ’cause you broke in.”
He plugged the canister into the machine.
“We’re not creating a new way to kill,” said Lorca. “We’re creating a new way to fly.”
He explained that they were making an “organic propulsion system” which the Glenn was experimenting with when the accident happened.
“Black Alert,” said Burnham.
He said the Discovery had not yet achieved what the Glenn was able to do, which was travel to the Beta Quadrant (over 90 light-years) in 1.3 seconds. This is thanks to the spore network that permeates the galaxy. Lorca said this ability to appear instantly and disappear just as fast would let the Federation win the war against the Klingons.
NOTE: All of this is impossible, and there is no mycelium network in space. I think that was invented by the Disco writers because previous generations of Trek had already beaten every speed record there was. Kirk’s Enterprise could get to Warp 9 or so, but then the writers created TransWarp, which reconfigured the speed and distances. Soon, the Enterprise-D could go to Warp 9.97 or something almost the unachievable Warp 10. On Voyager, Tom Paris used a modified shuttle to go Warp 10, which was not supposed to be possible (but then he almost died and turned into some strange creature). So what could Discovery do that hadn’t been done before? Use a fictitious spore network to jump around space. Sigh… here’s an article that explains more about the mycelium network and how it does not exist.
“Universal law is for lackeys,” said Lorca. “Context is for kings.”
Anyhow, Lorca transported Burnham with the mycelium network to a bunch of alien worlds and back over a few seconds.
“I did choose you, but not for the reasons you think,” said Lorca. He said she was correct in her assumptions about the Klingons at the Battle of the Binary Stars. Lorca told that he needed her and that style of predictive thinking at his side if they were going to beat the Klingons.
“Universal law is for lackeys,” said Lorca. “Context is for kings.”
He held out a fortune cookie and asked again for her help.
Later, as Saru had some tea, he watched the prison shuttlecraft warp away. His threat ganglia popped out (which usually signals death or that he’s afraid). Maybe he was thinking about Burnham.
Burnham went back to her cabin with Tilly, who said that she thought Burnham would be gone. Burnham said she was still there, and Tilly noted that she would be a captain someday. Tilly said that she wanted Burnham’s help getting there.
As she unpacked, Burnham took out the Alice in Wonderland book. Tilly was surprised to see an actual “book.” Burnham said that her foster mother on Vulcan used to read from it to her and her brother (Spock).
“That’s how I learned that the real world does not always adhere to logic,” said Burnham. “Sometimes down is up; sometimes up is down. Sometimes when you’re lost, you’re found.”
Lorca and Landry watched as the Glenn exploded from photon torpedo fire from the Discovery. Lorca asked if the new guest had settled in, and Landry said it was.
He walked through this compartment, which was packed with weapons of all sorts, to a containment field. He touched it, and the creature that killed all the Klingons aboard the Glenn charged at him. It bounced off the field and fell back.
TREK REPORT SUPPLEMENTAL:
I shared my feelings on the unlikable Stamets and the unbelievable mycelium network. But beyond that, I really enjoyed this episode. I like getting to root for Burnham on her road of redemption. I hope she gets a Starfleet badge soon, and I hope that Saru will stop giving her such a hard time.
RATING: 3 out of 5
