Star Trek: Discovery Always about one thing: at the end of the day, the only thing that matters, the only thing that can bring light in dark times and save the world, is connect and understand Formed between people, no matter who they are or what they do. Sometimes, it reminds us of this more subtly than others. This week was definitely one of those other weeks.
“Jinaal” starts soon after last week Explosive two-episode premiere Gave one to Michael and crew TNG– Return mission Prevent the mysterious Moll and L’ok from gaining access to Progenitor technology, and use their advantages wisely to gain access to Trill’s home planet as quickly as possible to find the next clue to the Progenitor puzzle.It turns out they’re actually looking for a person, or even a clue – the titular Jinaal, host of the Bix symbiote, who works with the Romulan science team that discovered it eight centuries ago The existence of technology, located at the height of Dominion War.
Bad news: Trier won’t live to be 800 years old, and Ginard is dead. Good news: Symbiotes are more durable, and it turns out that the Bix symbiote still exists with its host, Kalzara.Better(?) news: After answering a very simple riddle, Karzara agreed to undergo a trilling ritual known as “Zhian’tara” – a process seen in DS9 and Discover This allows the consciousness of Trier who joined in the past to be placed in another body for a period of time. After Dr. Culber eagerly accepts becoming Jinaal’s organic AirBnB, the transfer is complete, and Michael and Book follow Culber-Jinaal in search of clues.
If this all sounds like it’s happening at breakneck speed, it is, but it’s not.While “Jinaal” does move very quickly, there isn’t much else going on in this episode, and there aren’t a lot of breaths and pauses, because Discover Be prepared to put its everlasting arguments on Thick.All of this – all of this, not just what this episode is about, but its parallel story on the ship Discover Returning to the Federation Headquarters with the new First Deputy Commander Reyna and the current Ambassador Saru to serve the people, they face some problems, get stuck for a while and then realize “Oh, when everyone talks to each other and… This problem is easier to solve when you’re connected. Hooray!” Like we said, this episode not only slowed itself down to make this point, but made it clear repeatedly for the rest of the episode.
Look, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing – in fact, it’s a big part of Discover Let it accept the idea, an inner aspect Star TrekHope for the future is at the core of its identity. Star TrekThe ideal is that of people from different species, backgrounds, gender identities, language barriers, hostile pasts, and even across boundaries of understanding of vastly different sentient life forms, united in the face of evil and united against it.Gathering around this idea has given Discover In recent seasons, at its most frustrating moments, it has suffered from a deep lack of certainty and confidence. But gosh, sometimes you have to chill and let every character in every storyline in every episode bounce that idea off.
We saw this in Trier, which ended with Genard leading Michael and Booker into a lair of giant, invisible, barbed creatures – a test to see what they were capable of Whether to respond in turn when faced with unconscious attacks, or to seek to find a peaceful solution. solution so that all parties get what they want (and take a wild guess as to what Michael will do to prove himself worthy of inheriting his ancestor’s technology as the next clue).we see it coming back Discoverwhen Michael orders the grumpy Renner to have a one-on-one social introduction with the senior crew, he treats everyone so rudely that even Tilly has to snap at him and tell him to stop being a jerk trying to prove himself, truly Getting to know the attitude of the people he now works with (Rayner’s “this meeting will last and you’ll say 20 words about yourself, max”) at least gives us some DiscoverLittle is known about the crew’s personalities, though, which is nice). We even see this at Federation headquarters, when on his first day as ambassador, Saru is forced to consider political concerns about whether his engagement to Trina will disrupt her career, as he learns that her husband There may be resistance. – From a Vulcan purist.
In the end, all of these storylines end the same way: Our heroes embrace understanding and seek connection rather than aggression and division, and realize that their problems are best solved when everyone talks to each other. Michael and Booker find the clue (although we learn in every episode this episode that Trill is notoriously protective of people in red robes, “I don’t know man, I’m just here to Ask you a riddle”, which isn’t actually that strict), after Maul infiltrated the Guardian disguise and installed some kind of tracking device on Adira), he convinced both the creatures and Jinar that their intentions were peaceful . Over a drink, and with further prodding from Tilly, Reiner finally realizes that’s the only way he can win people’s respect. Discover He and his former crew on the ship Antares He will come when He pays homage to them publicly. Of course, their brief disagreement over mutual protection is quickly resolved when Saru and Trina actually talk to each other and make their feelings clear, rather than making assumptions and arguing internally.
Then “Jinaal” is not a bad episode.The atmosphere is light, there are some funny moments, Wilson Cruz momentarily loosens his grip on Genard’s consciousness, and while the action here isn’t quite like the shootouts and chases of the premiere, it’s still fun (one of the best things about it) DiscoverThe jump to the 32nd century is about how it works as a near-instantaneous, localized beam, and it’s used heavily here). It happens to be a distinctly unsubtle approach that the show has rarely fallen into in the past.There’s nothing special going on here other than the team getting the next piece of the ancestral puzzle and moving on, no real character work other than a small core setting up what’s to come, and no DiscoverOften hammered home themes are especially challenged here: they’re just repetitive, very, Very Clearly, across multiple fronts.
Hopefully now that everyone is paying attention, it can illuminate these themes more elegantly as the adventure continues.
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