Discovery Took the Greatest Episode of Its Season and Gave Us a A lot Much less Fascinating Model of It

Because it aired a couple of weeks in the past, I maintain pertaining to what nonetheless stays the standout episode of Discovery’s final season to date: “Face the Strange,” an unbelievable hour of tv that used a format the collection excels at to replicate on how far its central character and the collection itself has come. This week, the present form of does that concept once more… it’s simply nowhere close to as truly good at it.

That’s to not say there isn’t some pleasant stuff in “Labyrinths,” which chases up final week’s simmering stress with the Breen within the hunt for the final Progenitor clue right into a full on shoot out aboard and across the secret interstellar library housing the traditional data of tens of millions of species. There’s truly fairly a bit!

The library setting itself is a enjoyable one, particularly anchored in a pleasant visitor efficiency by Elena Juatco as Hy’Rell, a remarkably chipper librarian who slides effortlessly right into a time-honored Star Trek visitor function slot of “little alien sicko” as she leads Michael Burnham towards the clue. When the time ultimately comes for the episode to show right into a full on combat with the Breen, the motion is thick and quick and successfully pays off on lots of the strain and risk established last week—largely in that, boy howdy do our heroes not wish to mess with the Breen—whereas additionally delivering a quick, however compelling twist within the villain’s subplot as Moll and the remainder of the Breen crew start to comprehend how fully unhinged Primarch Rhun has grow to be in his quest for energy over the Imperium. The issue is that, Hy’Rell apart, these thrilling developments come solely within the final quarter-hour of “Labyrinths.” Many of the 40 earlier than that contain a clue “puzzle” that requires lots of re-treading floor for Burnham that’s simply achieved in a far much less attention-grabbing approach than this season already has.

Upon finding the uncommon Betazoid textual content she was looking within the library’s archives, Michael opens it as much as uncover a metallic card that, upon her activation, mainly sends her right into a coma in the actual world, whereas whisking her unconscious away right into a psionic reproduction of the library and its myriad hallways. There, guided by a distinctly unhelpful illustration of Ebook, she has to determine what take a look at she’s going through that may deem her worthy of finding the ultimate clue. And right here’s the issue that this season of Discovery has had various occasions to date: a season about fixing clues on a treasure hunt is barely attention-grabbing if the puzzles themselves don’t contain our characters needing to act like they’re dumb. Writing a very good puzzle then, is extremely exhausting, and the present… does not likely try this right here.

Michael, nearly as irritated because the viewers inevitability involves be, is left to spend the majority of “Labyrinths” wandering between bookshelves as she wonders out loud what’s occurring, if she’s discovered what the take a look at is, after which the psionic Ebook-alike coquettishly going “maaaaaybe” earlier than revealing that she has, in reality, not figured it out but. Sonequa Martin-Inexperienced and David Ajala do their finest right here—Martin-Inexperienced definitely conveys an excessive amount of frustration at not determining the puzzle, given the strain and stakes round her, that resonates with the viewers, and Ajala has a great deal of enjoyable breaking out of Ebook’s ordinary characterization to ship this mind-facsimile of him with a humorous, successfully annoying grace. However as a result of the state of affairs largely leaves Michael trapped on her personal making an attempt to determine what she’s even meant to be doing, there’s nobody for her to essentially bounce off of: the Not-Ebook is there to be a irritating impediment fairly than a sounding board as a part of the take a look at, so conveying Michael working by means of the logic of all of it turns into fairly moot.

Finally, simply in time, she snaps—and realizes the take a look at is much less of a puzzle, and extra about her personal character. As relentlessly self-critical as she is, she begins to rail on the Not-Ebook about her fears and doubts, her want to hunt validation for a job as a pacesetter that she someway nonetheless views as precarious, regardless of incomes it many occasions over, or means to push individuals away to avoid wasting the frustration and worry that she might need failed them (Precise Ebook specifically). As issues look more and more dire for her inside her thoughts and out because the Breen launch their assault on the library, it’s revealed that this certainly was the take a look at, not a labyrinth to flee or a puzzle to decode, however a judgment of her character, to hunt assurance that she could be trusted to do the proper factor with the good energy that she seeks.

All this could be good if that wasn’t additionally nearly precisely what “Face the Unusual” was about a couple of weeks in the past, and achieved far more successfully. The time-loop construction of the episode was higher paced and a stronger format for a puzzle for our heroes to unravel, and in giving her Commander Rayner as a assist character to bounce off—and ultimately actually having to face her former self from Discovery’s earliest days—Michael had precise characters to work issues by means of and study issues about herself, and them, alongside the way in which. All Michael learns right here is that she has her coronary heart in the proper place, however must face her worry of disappointing these round her by realizing that these individuals are round her as a result of they care about and respect her and the journey she’s gone on over the past 5 seasons. That is the lesson she’d already discovered in “Face the Unusual”— it’s simply that this time, she was rewarded with the data of find out how to get the final clue. And even then, it’s nonetheless a lot much less satisfying as a result of, past being a journey we’ve already seen her tackle this season, the path to get there was simply nowhere close to as partaking. There’s a distinction between reinforcing a personality beat and rehashing it, and “Labyrinths” undoubtedly leans in direction of the latter, sadly.

Fortunately although, as we stated, the puzzle arc of the episode wraps up proper as we get into the motion with the Breen—and there’s an attention-grabbing mirror at the very least between Michael and Primarch Rhun, who we see ultimately pay the final word worth for not realizing how the promise of the Progenitor tech’s energy has made him blind to his personal connections and failings. As he turns into more and more extra bullish and violent, first assaulting the peaceable library after which trying to renege on a Breen honor-oath to Michael to forestall additional hurt in alternate for the clue supplies, we get to see Moll slowly persuade Rhun’s males that issues are going sideways. When the time comes that Rhun takes a step too far, she’s in a position to lead a quick however efficient rebellion to depose Rhun and take his place, working on the assumption that she will use the Progenitor tech to revive L’ak to life and take her place because the reliable spouse of the inheritor to the Breen throne.

It units the stage for Discovery’s closing showdown by giving us a way more private antagonist than Rhun—who served his function over the previous few episodes properly sufficient anyway—and by bringing it again to 2 figures pushed by a necessity to attach and find strength in love in Moll and Michael. It’s a disgrace the setup to get there was a little bit of a dud, however at the very least that’s out of the way in which now. As we head into Discovery’s final two episodes, we are able to put the puzzles apart and get to the guts of what the present desires to finish its journey saying.

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