Star Trek: Discovery review, Episode 310: “Terra Firma Part 2”

Star Trek: Discovery bids farewell to fan favorite in a lackluster, overlong episode. Philippa Georgiou definitely deserved better.

As the final outing for Star Trek: Discovery scene-stealer Georgiou Phillippa, you would think that “Terra Firma, Part 2” would be an action-packed thrill ride that did justice to her beloved character. The first part of this two-part episode set things up beautifully, with fans excited to see Philippa back on the throne. Unfortunately, the follow-up takes forever to get interesting, and when it does, it gets rid of one of the best reasons to watch the show in the first place.

“Terra Firma Part 2” starts up right where Part 1 left off, with Phillippa sparing Burnham and sending her to the Agonizer. Before Phillippa tosses her in, Burnham reveals that Romulans, Klingons, and many other alien species have untied against her, calling themselves the Coalition.

Killy is ordered to interrogate Burnham to figure out who her co-conspirators are. Philippa watches as Killy tries to break Burnham with months of brutal torture, showing no mercy.

“Terra Firma, Part 2” — Ep#310 — Pictured: Sonequa Martin-Green as Commander Burnham and Michelle Yeoh as Georgiou of the CBS All Access series STAR TREK: DISCOVERY. Photo Cr: Michael Gibson/CBS ©2020 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

After a while, Michael is visited by one of her accomplices, Detmer, who tells her that no one has heard from Lorca, who has likely fled. While she attempts to hide her emotions, this news crushes Burnham.

Philippa, still believing she can change the future, visits her daughter when she’s passed out from the tortured and leaves her a gift of fireflies, to remind her of when she had night terrors and her mother consoled her. After this, Burnham gives in and asks her mother for forgiveness, which she grants.

“Terra Firma, Part 2” — Ep#310 — Pictured: Sonequa Martin-Green as Commander Burnham of the CBS All Access series STAR TREK: DISCOVERY. Photo Cr: Michael Gibson/CBS ©2020 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Burnham swears allegiance to Philippa, vowing to vanquish her co-conspirators with her bare hands. Burnham presents the bloody badges of Landry, Bryce, and all the rest before surprisingly adding Detmer to the pile right in front of everyone.

After reconciling with Burnham, Philippa sends her to kill Lorca, who is using the alias Vickers. They intercept a message going to him from one of his accomplices giving away his location.

When they find his accomplice, Duggins, he informs them that Lorca has recruited the Klingons and Romulans to his cause. They take him prisoner, but Burnham quickly shoots him and then reveals that this was all part of her nefarious plan against her mother. She turns the gun on Phillippa, revealing that Culber and several others support her, not Georgiou.

“Terra Firma, Part 2” — Ep#310 — Pictured: Mary Wiseman as Ensign Tilly of the CBS All Access series STAR TREK: DISCOVERY. Photo Cr: Michael Gibson/CBS ©2020 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

But then, a twist! Philippa knew this was coming; Captain Killy and others emerge from the shadows to take down those who tried to usurp Philippa’s reign. After about 30 minutes of dull monologues and endless conversations starting off this episode, the action finally picks up withs some phaser fights and a one-on-one between mother and daughter. Philippa ends up killing Brunham and the rest of her accomplices are also taken out, ending the rebellion.

But Georgiou is injured in the process. She ends up dying only to wake up — or “pass through,” as the Q-like entity Carl calls it. It turns out she was only unconscious for less than a minute on the Hoth-like planet she visited last week, even though it felt like months had passed. When they ask who Carl really is, he claims he is the Guardian of Forever before his door turns into a giant portal.

Back on the Discovery, Adira and Stamets struggle to figure out what’s going on with the ship sending out the distress signal. They are interrupted by the long-absent Jett Reno, who has apparently been taking the ship from plasma to fully polaric warp conduit, but was interrupted.

“Terra Firma, Part 2” — Ep#310 — Pictured: Michelle Yeoh as Georgiou and Mary Wiseman as Ensign Tilly of the CBS All Access series STAR TREK: DISCOVERY. Photo Cr: Michael Gibson/CBS ©2020 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

After Adira explains why they did this, Booker comes in out of nowhere having figured out why they can’t hack into the trapped Kelpian ship. He tells them they can amplify signals in subspace using Emerald Chain technology, something Stamets, Jett and Adira were not previously aware of, proving the former courier is very much Starfleet material.

Back on the planet, we find out that Carl is actually in hiding. He is really a giant portal that transcends space and time. Basically, he is the living embodiment of time travel. He was used to kill a lot of people during the Temporal wars and wasn’t a fan of it.

He also reveals that Philippa’s journey was a test to see if she would make different choices. He points out she tried for peace and to save others, indicating she is not the same as she was before.

“Terra Firma, Part 2” — Ep#310 — Pictured: Emily Coutts as Lt. Detmer, Sonequa Martin-Green as Commander Burnham and Ronnie Rowe Jr. as Lt. Bryce of the CBS All Access series STAR TREK: DISCOVERY. Photo Cr: Michael Gibson/CBS ©2020 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Carl offers to send Philippa back to a time when she can survive, but she has to leave this Burnham behind. She and Michael have a heartfelt moment before they separate, with Philippa entering the portal and Michelle Yeoh presumably exiting the series.

Burnham returns to tell Saru that Philippa Georgiou will not return, and they designate her deceased. Despite giving everyone a hard time while she was on the Discovery, the entire crew praises her for everything from her courage to her walk. Michael, for whom Philippa was like a mother, gives us a touching final moment.

Let’s all hope that this isn’t the last time we see Georgiou Philippa, since this wasn’t the farewell her character deserved. She basically just stood around and glared for half the episode, which feels like a complete waste.

This episode dragged a lot, and much of the dialogue is overwritten. The writers seemed under the impression that things would sound better if they were longer.

“Terra Firma Part 2” derails a lot of the momentum of season 3, making all the other storylines and loose ends seem kind for frivolous. Hopefully the show can bounce back next week as it ramps up to a big finish.

Episode Grade: C-

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