Star Trek: Discovery – Su’Kal/There is a Tide Review

The writers of Star Trek: Discovery were given a monumental task for season three. With the series now set in the 32nd century, they had to spend a significant amount of time on world building to get audiences (and their core characters) up to speed on the political, technological, and societal situation at this point in the future of the galaxy. They had to do all of this while continuing to service the show’s leads, sprawling supporting cast, and while introducing a number of new characters and a new Big Bad in the form of Osyraa. And while they made a valiant effort to take on all of that in a mere 16 episodes, I wasn’t surprised to reach these two episodes (including the penultimate one of season three) and find that some key corners had been cut that made both feel a tad under baked.

Now, lest this sound like a major complaint, I’m not trying to complain. I’ve wholly enjoyed this season of Discovery, and I would gladly take the massive amounts of character development we’ve seen in multiple key characters (including the stellar Mirror Universe two-parter) in exchange for “Su’Kal” and “There is a Tide . . .” not working as well as they should. But man, I still fill a bit cheated out of getting the full effect of Osyraa’s big reveal in “There is a Tide . . .” Because that moment, when our charming, smart, and practical villain reveals she has depths the show never hinted at would have been all the more impactful if we’d been given an additional episode or two to get a better understanding of the Emerald Chain and its history.

It’s not easy to create a great villain. There’s a difficult balance one must attain, where you can understand their point of view, but you still need to be able to root for the heroes to save the day. And Star Trek, for all of its incarnations, rarely manages to create truly complex and compelling villains. Part of that is due to the episodic nature of most Trek series, which means, aside from the occasional two-parter or an entire race running afoul of the Federation, it was rare for audiences to get enough time with a villain to get into their head. But when Trek gets it right, they really hit it out of the park. Think Kahn or the Borg Queen. Villains who were personable and complex, with a clear point of view that shaded them as gray at times and not simply purely evil. Yes, we didn’t want them to win, but they weren’t simply there just to create conflict. But the best Trek villain? Well, that would be Deep Space Nine‘s Gul Dukat.

With the combination of the perfect actor (Marc Alaimo was just so perfect in the role) and having the time to build the character over the course of seven seasons – a luxury no other Trek series had – Dukat was the quintessential villain. He was a war criminal, oversaw the enslavement and genocide of a race, and he was loyal to whomever would allow him to survive and thrive. But the writers were careful to provide moments of humanity within the character (helped by Alaimo’s natural charisma in the role) that caused fans to grow to love him (so much so that during the middle of DS9‘s run, fans actually started defending the character and stressing that he wasn’t as bad as he was made out to be, which meant he needed to take a real villainous turn in later seasons to stress how truly horrific he was and would continue to be). You never knew what he would do from episode to episode – just that he would side with whomever provided him the best chance to survive. And that shifty nature made him all the more of a compelling character.

But why this treatise on how to make a great Trek villain? Well, it’s because I think that this is the type of villain Discovery‘s writers are hoping to craft with Osyraa. And they have the raw materials to really create something great here. Janet Kidder is great in the role – she’s engaging, emotionally available, fun, and a huge presence on screen. But most importantly, we’ve suddenly been shown that there’s more than we thought going on with the character. Osyraa genuinely cares for those under her command within the Chain and she’s making real concessions to strike a deal with the Federation. And each of these moves makes complete and total sense, both for her character (as far as we know her) and the story. The Chain is running out of dilithium, Osyraa knows that this will have been revealed by Ryn to Starfleet, and she knows she has the scientific power at her disposal to save not only her people but the Federation as well. The needs of the many dictate that she make this deal. And all of this is great character development – she’s still not a good guy (I mean, she killed Ryn in cold blood), but she’s not unreasonable and will do what she must to get what she wants. I just wish we’d had more time to understand both her and the Emerald Chain prior to all of these key character reveals.

I completely understand the desire to mask Osyraa’s intentions and to have her true nature (or, rather, this particular facet of her nature) come as a surprise at the negotiating table. It’s a nice twist and it puts the audience on their heels. We’ve been conditioned to see her as an out and out villain – the knowledge that she’s sanctioned slave labor, that she’s made debilitating deals with vulnerable planets – but now we see there are shades of gray within the character. And it also makes us view the Federation as a less purely altruistic entity as well. Why wouldn’t they want to get the spore drive technology to as many planets as possible? Why not make the deal, even if it means Osyraa goes free? Well, I suspect anyone who’s watched Trek over the years saw this stumbling block coming. There’s no way the Federation would let a known war criminal roam free when they can keep her controlled.

But to make this key moment within the season work, we need to understand the reach of the Emerald Chain. We needed to see their whole operation. We’ve been told they have the greatest scientific minds in the galaxy at their disposal (and, judging from Aurellio’s experience with Osyraa, those brilliant minds have largely been shielded from the more negative elements of the Chain), but what exactly does that entail? And why do they have them – why didn’t the Federation keep scientists of that caliber within their ranks? How did the Chain develop? If it’s a large expansive mercantile exchange, again, why didn’t the Federation work to get involved within it at the start of its existence? Why didn’t Saru or Burnham ask these questions earlier in the season?

In order to have a great villain, we need to understand their point of view. In “There is a Tide . . .”, we are let in on some of what both Osyraa and the Chain want and need. And we get a small peek behind the curtain as to just what the Federation might be hiding. But at this point in the season – with only one episode remaining – we should know more about our villains and the current state of the Federation. I suspect Osyraa and her conflict with the Federation will be the central arc running through at least some of season four (and I would love to see the series settle in on having Osyraa and the Chain become a Gul Dukat/Cardassia-type villain for Discovery moving forward, assuming they remain in the future for the rest of the series), so I hope we’ll get more answers in the future. But I can’t help but wish the series had granted us a bit more time with such an interesting bad guy to help make the endgame of season three all the more powerful.

Final Thoughts:

— While it’s definitely not Tilly’s fault that Osyraa stole Discovery while she was in command, I’m glad the writers are grappling with the strange choice Saru made to make her his acting first officer. It’s one thing for a green ensign to take the Bridge during a late shift, but it’s asking for trouble when you put her in charge of everything. She’s rightly relying on those around her to get the ship out of its jam, but it’s Burnham, who is the one person on the ship with true command experience, who is taking the risks and making the correct moves. Yes, Burnham’s own ambivalence toward Starfleet rules and regulations make her a poor choice for the first officer post, but she’s the one person acting the way a true commanding officer would in this situation.

— I more or less ignored the whole revelation of how the Burn happened because, well, it’s pretty boring. Yes, learning more about the Kelpians (and seeing Saru’s own better judgment compromised) was interesting, but compared to the developments with Osyraa and the Federation, well, it’s not all that interesting to talk about. Sorry, Su’Kal.