Star Trek: Discovery review, Episode 307: “Unification III”

The newest episode of Star Trek: Discovery is a bit sleepy, but there are still plenty of lower-key moments to enjoy as Michael gets closer to uncovering the mystery of the Burn.

This episode dives into the show’s lore and history, for Burnham and the universe both. Not every installment can be an edge-of-your-seat affair, and this one slows things down a bit. It’s a decent filler episode with lots of exposition and minimal action.

Now that we’re past the halfway point of season 3, things are getting much more tense with the crew. In this future, some are having a better time than others. Everything seems to be building nicely toward a big reveal about the Burn. Michael Burnham’s obsession with it has gotten her in trouble with not only the Admiral but Captain Saru as well. This week, she loses her position as First Officer for it.

“Unification III” — Ep#307 — Pictured: Mary Wiseman as Ensign Sylvia Tilly and Doug Jones as Capt. Saru of the CBS All Access series STAR TREK: DISCOVERY. Photo Cr: Michael Gibson/CBS ©2020 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

This isn’t the first time Burnham has defied orders and suffered the consequences. She attempts to find comfort with Book and toys with the idea of leaving Starfleet. But then she discovers a project called SB-19, which gathered information across the universe at the time of The Burn. It could be the key to figuring out what really happened.

We get several big revelations around this point, including that Brunham’s brother Spock and his teachings brought Romulans and Vulcan’s back together. Unfortunately, they left the Federation and renamed their planet Ni’var.

Believing this intel is vital, the Federation decides to send Burnham to get the data from the SB-19 project, thinking the people of Ni’var will listen to her given that she’s related to Spock. Burnham doesn’t think she’s the best person for the job (and neither does Captain Saru), but the Admiral doesn’t care and she isn’t about to disobey another direct order so soon after the last one.

“Unification III” — Ep#307 — Pictured: Anthony Rapp as Lt. Commander Paul Stamets of the CBS All Access series STAR TREK: DISCOVERY. Photo Cr: Michael Gibson/CBS ©2020 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Before they depart for Ni’Var, Saru names Tilly his temporary First Officer until he can find a replacement. She’s not she’s worthy of the job and says as much to Stamets, who agrees that it’s pretty weird she’s been chosen.

When Michael arrives on Ni’var, she meets President T’Rina, who chats with Burnham but denies her access to SB-19, for political reasons. Burnham invokes “t’kal n’ket,” which allows her to make her case in front of a forum. But there are arguments on the other side, too, with an advocate bringing up the death of Burnham’s former captain and her recent demotion for disobeying orders.

Basically, they try to paint Burnham as motivated by emotion and not science. She defends her motives and the Federation’s, but doesn’t convince enough people for it to matter. The Vulcans and Romulans end up quarreling over whether to give up the data.

“Unification III” — Ep#307 — Pictured: Oyin Oladejo as Lt. Joann Owosekun, Ronnie Rowe Jr. as Lt. Bryce and Emily Coutts as Lt. Keyla Detmer of the CBS All Access series STAR TREK: DISCOVERY. Photo Cr: Michael Gibson/CBS ©2020 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Although the tribunal can’t agree, Michael has convinced the President T’Rina to allow her access. Back on the ship, Tilly’s colleagues support her in her new position. It’s good times all around.

While there were some emotional, well-acted moments in this episode, it was a bit of a snoozefest overall. Still, it was a nice fit for the Thanksgiving break, since it was easy to absorb and didn’t ask too much of the viewer, Hopefully it’s setting up some wild stuff to come.

The callbacks were nice; I’m always happy to hear Spock’s name invoked, even if it kind of came out of nowhere. And Sonequa Martin-Green continues to impress as Michael Burnham in pretty much every episode.

And now I’m curious to see what the new intel reveals about the Burn; the show has really built that up, so let’s hope the payoff is well worth it.

This is probably the least memorable episode of the season so far, but still worth watching.

Episode Grade: C

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