Star Trek: Discovery review, Episode 405: “The Examples”

The Anomaly only gets more strange and dangerous in the newest episode of Star Trek: Discovery. Starfleet ships observe it blinking and reappearing, moving a distance of thousands of lightyears in mere moments. It’s now frighteningly near a former Emerald Chain colony, home to thousands. Teleporting off the world will be impossible as it gets closer, so Captain Burnham is tasked with leading a large-scale evacuation. Meanwhile, Paul and Saru work with arrogant genius Ruon Tarka, whose name I completely nailed on my first try when I Googled it to make sure I was spelling it correctly, to uncover the truth behind the Anomaly. The clock is ticking in “The Examples.”

Let’s start with the A story line. Captain Burnham and Booker are on the colony world and come across a group of prisoners left to die in their cells. They are the “examples” from the title, a group of people given life sentences for minor crimes. Burnham and Booker’s struggle revolves freeing these prisoners and boarding them unto the Discovery, which is easier said than done. Not only do physical obstacles stand in their way, but the prisoners are more inclined to flee to freedom than trust another possible warden.

This is the part of the story I like. I enjoy the human drama, and I appreciate Star Trek: Discovery always finding it. My problem is that it doesn’t go far enough. The prisoners’ reluctance is treated as another “problem,” like the cells’ seals or the building’s security, that Burnham is able to resolve after a quick commercial break. For instance, the prisoners won’t budge unless they can be assured freedom on board Discovery, and Burnham secures it with a quick call, making way for the next “problem.” I felt more could have been done here. Maybe they decided to keep it simpler because the last episode already involved a group of strangers having to learn to trust, but I still feel a bit let down.

One of the prisoners is resolved to die on the colony world because he committed a serious crime he feels he must pay penance for. He is inclined to help Burnham if it means freeing his fellow inmates, but he can’t be moved himself. That’s cool, but again, I wanted more from this character. A monologue here and there, the trading of an “important object” (“Here, take this [blank] I’ve guarded all my life, etc etc)…that to me is the minimum you can do to make a character stand out from the rest. I would have loved to see him be more involved in the plot. But as it is, Burnham and Booker deal with most everything they get confronted with pretty easily.

Paul, Saru and Ruon Tarka entertain on Star Trek: Discovery

Meanwhile, Paul and Saru have their hands full working with scientist Ruon Tarka, who is brought in to “help” explain a technology that may be behind the Anomaly. I had a lot of fun watching this story. The characters have chemistry, and I like how feelings change as the episode goes on. Paul, for instance, clearly dislikes Ruon Tarka. However, as the secret of the Anomaly is close to being uncovered, he ends up siding with Tarka. Additionally, seeing Saru getting more and more frustrated with Tarka’s control freak personality was kind of fun, if only because it’s an emotion I haven’t seen from him yet. Despite this being the quieter part of the episode, the way the characters interact made it a highlight. Here’s hoping we get more of that.

And I think we will, as the not-so-subtle mark on Ruon’s neck and the dramatic music cue that plays him out hints that he has a bigger role to play this season.

That’s all for this week of Star Trek: Discovery. At this point, I’d like to mention that I was completely right in my prediction from a few weeks ago: I knew the Anomaly was going to be revealed as man-made. Of course, I neglected to mention it at the time, so you’ll just have to take my word for it that I am a master at predicting plot turns.

What else am I correct about? We’ll have to wait till next episode to find out.

Grade: C+

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