‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Continues To Atone For Past Sins With “Saints Of Imperfection”
By Monique Jones/Feb. 15, 2019 1:00 pm EST
How can every episode of this season’s Star Trek: Discovery be the best episode ever? Just last week, I thought “An Obol for Charon” was at the top of the pack. But somehow, this week’s episode, “Saints of Imperfection,” is just as amazing, if not better, thanks to the writers’ amazing ability to rewrite the wrongs that occurred in the first season.Let’s get into what went down this week.
Michael and Ash
Section 31 and Starfleet now have to work together to find Spock, which means that Ash, the newly-minted liaison for Section 31, must be a part of Starfleet for the time being. This will make for a very awkward working relationship for Ash and Michael, seeing how they together in the past.From a writing perspective, Ash’s ledger has now been cleared; he’s no longer under L’Rell’s thumb, Voq’s child is now living in a monastery, Culber, whom Ash killed as Voq, is back from the dead and Ash can now find his true identity and calling with Section 31. As a character, he’s been rehabilitated from the mess the last season put him through. But if we’re thinking as characters within the story, there’s still a lot of personal junk he and Michael have to sort through. Neither of them have forgotten what happens, so watching them sort through everything that transpired is going to be interesting and, dare I predict, rewarding.What will be especially interesting is how the rest of the crew will react if and when Michael and Ash decide to get back together. I feel like Ash will have to have a special sit-down with Culber and Stamets to make sure there are no hard feelings for everything. But somehow, I’m still rooting for Michael and Ash to make things work.As we’ve seen from this episode alone, not to mention the entire season thus far, this writers’ room is dedicated to rewriting some of the bad decisions that took place last season. Aside from Culber’s death, another talked-about moment was when Michael and Ash broke up, resulting in Ash going to the Klingon Empire with L’Rell.First of all, it was poor storytelling to make Ash willingly want to go with the woman who violated his body, regardless of whether his mind was Voq’s. That just sounded like Stockholm Syndrome to me. Secondly, as the lead of this series and as a woman of color, seeing Michael left alone and loveless felt like another gut-punch. Having Black women be the strong sufferer has been a trope throughout media, and to see it continued in a show like Star Trek was annoying. As I wrote above, Star Trek is too forward-thinking of a show to fall into the trap of tropes.Perhaps having Ash back means that writers are going to do what they can to rebuild the relationship that the first season wrecked. Maybe they are going to be the mycelial bugs and clean up and repurpose what the first season left behind. They’ve done it throughout this episode and this season, so there’s no reason to think they won’t keep it up.
Georgiou actually cares
I feel like even Georgiou is getting a minor rewrite. She’s still the ruthless Terran Emperor she once was, but she seems to actually care for Michael. As to why Michael doesn’t see this is beyond me; she’s so obsessed with hating this Georgiou as much as she was obsessed with loving the original one. But as Georgiou said, Michael only has herself to blame, since it was her bright idea to bring the Terran Georgiou to Starfleet.However, with all of their complex history, Georgiou actually does want the best for Michael, since she still sees the Michael she trained within the Terran Empire. She still sees her daughter in Starfleet’s Michael.I’m hoping that we find a new relationship growing between Michael and Georgiou. The main reason Michael seems to hate her so much is because she’s not the real Georgiou. She is still wrestling with the fact that she can’t replace the Georgiou she lost with a woman who just shares Georgiou’s name and face. But a lot of those feelings are merely misplaced grief. As soon as Michael fully understands the truth of the matter, maybe she can finally accept Georgiou as her own person, not as a replacement. We’ll see. But with how the season has gone so far, I have faith.What an episode, guys. Each week I’ve been blown away by what Star Trek: Discovery has given us. Each week, we’re inspired to hope and dream for a better, more peaceful future. That should give us the jolt we need to actually (if I may paraphrase Captain Picard) make it so.
‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Continues To Atone For Past Sins With “Saints Of Imperfection”
By Monique Jones/Feb. 15, 2019 1:00 pm EST
How can every episode of this season’s Star Trek: Discovery be the best episode ever? Just last week, I thought “An Obol for Charon” was at the top of the pack. But somehow, this week’s episode, “Saints of Imperfection,” is just as amazing, if not better, thanks to the writers’ amazing ability to rewrite the wrongs that occurred in the first season.Let’s get into what went down this week.
Culber is Back!
Michael and Ash
Section 31 and Starfleet now have to work together to find Spock, which means that Ash, the newly-minted liaison for Section 31, must be a part of Starfleet for the time being. This will make for a very awkward working relationship for Ash and Michael, seeing how they together in the past.From a writing perspective, Ash’s ledger has now been cleared; he’s no longer under L’Rell’s thumb, Voq’s child is now living in a monastery, Culber, whom Ash killed as Voq, is back from the dead and Ash can now find his true identity and calling with Section 31. As a character, he’s been rehabilitated from the mess the last season put him through. But if we’re thinking as characters within the story, there’s still a lot of personal junk he and Michael have to sort through. Neither of them have forgotten what happens, so watching them sort through everything that transpired is going to be interesting and, dare I predict, rewarding.What will be especially interesting is how the rest of the crew will react if and when Michael and Ash decide to get back together. I feel like Ash will have to have a special sit-down with Culber and Stamets to make sure there are no hard feelings for everything. But somehow, I’m still rooting for Michael and Ash to make things work.As we’ve seen from this episode alone, not to mention the entire season thus far, this writers’ room is dedicated to rewriting some of the bad decisions that took place last season. Aside from Culber’s death, another talked-about moment was when Michael and Ash broke up, resulting in Ash going to the Klingon Empire with L’Rell.First of all, it was poor storytelling to make Ash willingly want to go with the woman who violated his body, regardless of whether his mind was Voq’s. That just sounded like Stockholm Syndrome to me. Secondly, as the lead of this series and as a woman of color, seeing Michael left alone and loveless felt like another gut-punch. Having Black women be the strong sufferer has been a trope throughout media, and to see it continued in a show like Star Trek was annoying. As I wrote above, Star Trek is too forward-thinking of a show to fall into the trap of tropes.Perhaps having Ash back means that writers are going to do what they can to rebuild the relationship that the first season wrecked. Maybe they are going to be the mycelial bugs and clean up and repurpose what the first season left behind. They’ve done it throughout this episode and this season, so there’s no reason to think they won’t keep it up.
Georgiou actually cares
I feel like even Georgiou is getting a minor rewrite. She’s still the ruthless Terran Emperor she once was, but she seems to actually care for Michael. As to why Michael doesn’t see this is beyond me; she’s so obsessed with hating this Georgiou as much as she was obsessed with loving the original one. But as Georgiou said, Michael only has herself to blame, since it was her bright idea to bring the Terran Georgiou to Starfleet.However, with all of their complex history, Georgiou actually does want the best for Michael, since she still sees the Michael she trained within the Terran Empire. She still sees her daughter in Starfleet’s Michael.I’m hoping that we find a new relationship growing between Michael and Georgiou. The main reason Michael seems to hate her so much is because she’s not the real Georgiou. She is still wrestling with the fact that she can’t replace the Georgiou she lost with a woman who just shares Georgiou’s name and face. But a lot of those feelings are merely misplaced grief. As soon as Michael fully understands the truth of the matter, maybe she can finally accept Georgiou as her own person, not as a replacement. We’ll see. But with how the season has gone so far, I have faith.What an episode, guys. Each week I’ve been blown away by what Star Trek: Discovery has given us. Each week, we’re inspired to hope and dream for a better, more peaceful future. That should give us the jolt we need to actually (if I may paraphrase Captain Picard) make it so.
