So this is a spoiler review of episode 5 of season two of Star Trek Discovery, the Saints
of Imperfection and on its own, it was a slightly weaker episode plot wise, but I think will
play a major lynchpin for future developments and ties more into the overarching narrative.
We get a lot of much needed lore and explanation on things like the spores and it sees the
return of several old crewmembers to the Discovery. And as usual, the visuals were on point with
some interesting effects. I’ll be honest, whenever the series dips
back into plot threads for series one, I am reminded of all the issues I had with it,
and this episode had plenty of call backs. Saying that, it did so with the understanding
that it needed to address some unanswered or glossed over mysteries and it’s unrealistic
for Discovery to drop them. Personally, I’d rather see them repair and explain a lot of
the changes and unanswered questions. Also sore throat alert and as usually, please excuse
the use of Trek Online footage in places to help prevent copyright issues.
So to begin, this episode is all about belief and faith and not necessarily that of religious
origin. Faith in friends, in strangers, colleagues and trusting against your better judgment.
Can Burnham trust Georgiou, Pike and Tyler, May and Tilly. It carries elements of the
scientist encountering the miracle or the unexplainable and ascribing science where
some may see divine motivation, all themse that were promised at the origin of season
2. So, Section 31 is now involved in the primary
plot it seems and now both Pike and Leland are running the same investigation.
“Up to his ass in alligators on Cestus III”. This is obviously a not towards the TOS episode
Arena, but I think it’s meant to be taken at face value, the Gorn were still an unknown
at this time, Cestus III would have been a fledgling Federation colony and I can’t
imagine Pike calling the Gorn alligators. Also the look on Pike’s face when he shushes
Michael is priceless. It’s like he’s aware she’s about to make some smart comment about
Spock or Section 31 and he’s just cuts her off. She’s been shown to be a passionate
individual when necessary, but diplomacy is really not her strong point. Later on he confronts
Burnham for withholding information and this ties into his opposition to Leland, Tyler
and all of Section 31, downright stating his distaste for cloak and dagger and morally
grey areas. Chris Pike continues to represent the core principles of a Starfleet Captain
at odds with everything that Starfleet strives to outgrow and the inclusion of these elements
troubles him. The return of Tyler to the crew raises alarms for Pike who only knows the
official record, that he was a Klingon imposter, so I guess unlike knowledge of the mirror
universe, Starfleet has made Klingon infiltrators a known threat.
Another thing that I’ve noticed but wasn’t sure on until this episode is the inclusion
of a lot of horse riding an western terminology from Pike, “Don’t spare the horses, Back
in the saddle and so on.” Nice bit of characterisation that gives the hint of his Mojave roots. That’s
where horses are built right? The Mojave? I dunno, Im English. I just get a bit of an
old western-time theme from him. Leland sums up section 31’s philosophy in
one sentence. “We do what we do so you can do what you do.” One thing I’m not too
keen on, is the blasé attitude towards section 31 that everyone seems to have. It’s long
been established that 31 is more than top secret and only rumour yet here they are,
showing off their badges and Pike seems to know exactly what they are. It seems the writers
are replacing Starfleet Intelligence with Section 31, and that shouldn’t be the case,
though this is mostly coming for Georgiou’s flaunting of her new status. Which fits with
her character, she enjoys having power and knowledge over others. But What made Section
31 so menacing was that it was such an unknown, we didn’t know what tech they had, just
supposed it was ahead of everything available to Starfleet which added an air of mystery
to them. It made them seem insidious and dangerous and I think loosing that would be a disastrous
to their credibility and allure. It also seems that they have Combadges, tech that won’t
be availa ble for standard use for at least another 40 years, though we don’t know the
range of the signal, so it’s plausbale. Ash’s use of it confuses the hell out of
Pike. Also section 31 used a holographic matrix to hide its ship. Less of stretch for them
to use this as Section 31 isn’t bound by the Prime Directive and therefore has no qualms
about taking technology from other species. Holomatrix camouflage has been around since
the Romulan War back in 2154. The way The Discovery breaks into the Spore
Network does a great picture of illustrating the turmoil its Drive can bring to the native
species with quakes and a stellar intrusion from the grand scale of the saucer section.
From our side, it really looks as if the Discovery is listing at sea and the groaning hull conjures
images of a sinking ship with sailors scrambling away from rising waters.
We have a name for the fungal creatures that inhabit the network now the JahSepp. It seems
that they perform a similar function to fungi in real life; that is that they break down
matter and tie into the cycle of life on a larger scale. The implication is that any
matter or even energy that enters interphasic space gets consumed by the JahSepp. This is
some much needed clarification in my opinion, shedding light on what the mycelial network
is and how it operates goes a long way for justifying its existence. There has to be
reason for science fiction otherwise it’s just magic or Science Fantasy. In this case
a magic mushroom network. The JahSepp it seems aren’t malevolent,
nor benevolent and though they seem capable of advanced scientific feats, they are a simple
in the view of things. That is a threat, a monster. That is help, a friend, that is food.
It’s unclear if May is a formation of a single JahSepp, a colony of even if there’s
a difference. But this episode sets up some rules in the opening scenes that it then sticks
to throughout this story, critical in maintaining a sense of continuity. Tilly was transported
in, physically. May had to inhabit a vessel in order to survive in our realm. Our matter
in the network as we see it is consumed and incompatible with matter native to the network.
These elements come into play in the final minutes of the show.
Culber has been trapped in the network since season one and the explanation they give is
that while Stamet’s mind was fluctuating between the two planes while he was catatonic,
in Culber’s dying moments, his consciousness was transferred too. So in a sense, this really
is Culber, despite him physically dying. This also removes the notion that the Network is
basically heaven and again, brings that element of science, well Hollywood science, into the
narrative, clarifying the more abstract notions of the Mycelial Network. This is needed, as
if this season truly is about the notion of faith vs science, then we need to be presented
with both options so that a valid notion can be raised for either side. Besides how do
you quantify a spirit? Is Culber’s disembodies essence the same thing? And more importabtly
will it matter to Stamets and Culber? I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in saying
that I saw the ending coming. Culber not being able to leave due to the conservation of mass.
Culber’s body is long gone and we’ve established that passing through the Network requires
a physical transport, through the Spore Drive or may’s organic transporter. So seeing
his goodbye was touching, but expected. What I didn’t expect was them to use May’s
device to reconstitute a new body for Culber by converting him from Mycelial Network stuff
into our world stuff. I don’t think this is going to be a smooth transition and I foresee
trouble down the line for him. In both science, fantasy and religion, resurrection often demands
a price and while this more akin to a transformation of states, the allegories during the closing
narration call out the symbolism. We of course get a reveal that high levels
of Tachyons are left in the wake of the Red Bursts, suggesting time travel, cloaking or
transport. The emphasis seems very much on time travel so perhaps this explains why the
Angel is guiding people to places and events at the right moments, to shape some greater
plan. There’s been theories to that effect for some time so that’s increasingly likely.
Great, the one thing Star Trek’s universe needed more of, was interference in the timeline.
So there we have episode five. There was a lot of effort in addressing plot elements
from season one that were left hanging and this one did a lot to re-establish the core
theme of science and religion, this time looking at the nature of miracles through a microscope.
Reminds me of that episode of Voyager, Sacred Ground where Janeway has to undergo rituals
to save her crewmate. Turns out that there was a scientific reason for their survival
but the act itself needed faith. So we’re set up now for several character
arcs to continue into new directions all the while gaining on Spock who seems to be at
the centre of it all. I’m going to refrain from rampant speculation at the minute but
Spock has long been at the centre of time-travel and even the creation of alternate universes
so perhaps thigs will move in strange new directions. We’ll just have to wait and
see. Thanks for watching. I’ve been Ric and I really need a drink now. Goodbye!