Star Trek: Discovery confronts a world-ender in “Anomaly”

The destruction of Kwejian sends shock waves through the Federation, and a council is formed to determine next steps. Just what was that world-ending force, where is it going next, and can it possibly be stopped? To find the answers to these questions, the crew of the Discovery travel to the anomaly to assess the situation. It’s a leap unto the cosmic unknown on Star Trek: Discovery.

There were some parts of this episode that had me pretty firmly gripped. The stakes are a part of it. Usually the threat of a world-ender doesn’t pique my interest much because that level of threat has become de rigueur in the age of superheroes. However, in the Star Trek universe, a threat this size is more meaningful, because no one has super powers. Sure, they have amazing technology, but during the council scene — and subsequent scenes between characters discussing what to do — you get the impression that the characters are feeble in the face of this obstacle. That’s what makes the group think sessions compelling to me. It’s just a group of people using their brains to solve a problem, a story as old as the first campfire.

That said, while I like these scenes of characters figuring it out, I feel like Star Trek: Discovery runs the risk of over-relying on them. I’ve already noticed the dialogue getting repetitive. The show has to be interesting, so of course the Discovery’s plans are going to go wrong, or a new factor will get added to the equation. So a character will say, “Captain, a new problem! Now we can hyperjump!” Captain says, “New solution, what if we empty our dark matter tanks?” “But then we’ll lose too much weight!” “Not if we counter with the gravity conductors.”

You see what I’m getting at? That back and forth of problem, solution, problem, solution with sci-fi words. I’m sure I’m not the first to point out this issue with sci-fi in general and I’m sure Star Trek: Discovery isn’t the first show to do it. It’s something I would expect the show to have to engage in every now and then, but restraint and, most importantly, ingenuity in the script can help.

Booker and Paul are a highlight of Star Trek: Discovery

I also enjoyed Booker in this episode. With his planet completely wiped out, he is somber, grief-stricken, and horribly depressed. Nonetheless he volunteers to steer his ship closer to the anomaly to get data on it. It’s a pretty dangerous task, especially in his state of mind, so Captain Burnham sends Lieutenant Paul (as a hologram) to help him. This is an interesting detail, because it means that if something happens, Paul would be safe while Booker would die. Add in the fact that they don’t like each other, and you’ve got a setup for a good story.

I don’t think the show completely seizes the opportunity. There are some great moments between Booker and Paul, but I wish the episode followed it through to the end. It would have given their story a satisfying ending; they didn’t like each other, but Paul works to save Booker despite his own safety being secured. Instead, it’s Burnham who gives Booker the help needed to escape the anomaly. It makes sense, since we’ve seen that they are close with one another, but wouldn’t it have been more impactful if the person he disliked saved him? Or at least have Paul be the only one who can relay Burnham’s words to Booker.

Just a thought. Either way, this was a pretty nice episode, and the ending has me intrigued to see where things go from here.

Episode Grade: Grade B+

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