The Wolf Inside

DVD, Star Trek: Discovery S1 (The Wolf Inside)

Well this episode felt longer, and I was coming to the conclusion that it might be the series' first hour-long instalment, but it turned out to be about forty-seven minutes, which is fairly lengthy compared to the average Trek. Why should that be the foremost takeaway to come to mind amid all these other plot developments? I have to admit it did feel a little long, maybe not so well paced, but I did appreciate the opening credits taking some time to appear, reminding me as it did of 'DS9' where they'd sometimes have several scenes and get into the meat of the story before cutting away to the opening sequence, making you forget the episode hadn't technically begun yet, so that was a nice callback, if callback it was, though more likely they just felt it needed to be there at that point. There were a few things like this which I liked, such as questions that popped into my mind being shortly answered to my satisfaction: for example, I was confused as to how Stamets had been able to escape through the medical forcefield around his biobed, when they believe he killed Culber, found as he is cradling the dead body in some dark, faulty part of the ship. I could have believed his technical expertise might have made him able to use the equipment within that area to deactivate it, if he were a typical crackerjack Starfleet Engineer, but he's not. At least I don't think so… They could also have made up some fantasy mumbo-jumbo about the spores inside him messing with the system and somehow allowing him to phase through the forcefield, which would have been silly. Instead I think it was Saru suggested Culber may have lowered it himself, which would make sense. Except now I think about it, when he was killed the forcefield was still active - maybe Ash dropped it so as to implicate Stamets?

Okay, so that was one moment that seemed to have an answer, and the other one was when Tilly manages to persuade Saru to let her work on Stamets' cure by putting him back in the spore cupboard. With no medical personnel whatsoever! So the Captain's off the ship and unavailable for such decisions, but that leaves Saru in charge, and okay, he's there overseeing the attempt to revive the guy, but you'd think there would be at least someone from Sickbay around just to monitor the patient's condition rather than leaving it to the gut feeling of a cadet! It's sometimes hard to remember Sylvia is still a cadet because she seems to have so much to do and I'm afraid she has become something of a Wesley Crusher figure, which is unfortunate, but that's what happens when you cut out some of the key roles in a starship to try and make it different to other Treks. Anyway, that's beside the point as there was at least one doctor and assistant that arrived, though I think it was only when his condition went critical and they should have been there all the time, unless the Engineering section have some kind of beef with Medical and the two departments don't like to have dealings with each other. But they came eventually, so that was good, and answered my point.

The point about Tilly and her sudden appearance as expert on everything isn't so easy. She was working with Stamets, agreed, but they never developed that. It was rare to have scenes of the two of them together and that's something I've keenly observed about the series: despite modern TV supposed to be oh so much more sophisticated and advanced than it used to be, it really isn't. How they've handled the characters across the season has been fairly simplistic and childish in the manner of the Kelvin Timeline films (even down to the Captain promoting people into positions because he feels like it rather than them earning it particularly: Burnham and Tyler), so that I wonder if all big, talked up TV shows that people rave about these days are like this? I don't watch much modern TV, at least from America, the massive budget, prestigious, showcase stuff that gets all the attention, mainly because there's so much Trek to re-watch, but if it is all like this I find it to be melodramatic, far from the grounded worlds of Trek. Granted, Tilly would have got well into the spore lore, but it wasn't set up very well for her to be the expert that takes over the reins when Stamets is indisposed. Even Science Officer Saru would have a better aptitude and training for this side of things (you'd think), but a cadet has to lead him by the nose. She even seems to know all about the medical side from nowhere, chattering away about Stamets' brain as if she'd come straight from Starfleet Medical!

I'd rather concentrate on what works in the episode, and there were some nicely done shots of the camera rolling around the exterior of a ship before shooting through a window into a scene, which was elegant. It had been done before on Trek, but being a costly use of CGI, not so much. When we see a closeup of the worn hull of the ISS Shenzhou I immediately felt annoyed that it wasn't all Starfleet sparkly clean, before realising this is the Mirror version, so it's fine to be beat up and dirty. I still feel we don't get nearly enough exterior shots of ships hanging in space or travelling at warp, but this may be a holdover from the series' vision to be, if not about the lower decks, not necessarily about the top ranks either, though that hasn't exactly played out well - you even see, very often, that one reason they included the Kelvin idea of a window on the Bridge in place of the viewscreen, is so that they can tend towards showing what's going on outside from inside the Bridge, which is one of those things that makes it feel a lot less Trek-like. I'll never get used to that, or the lack of ship's logs, or a number of other things, but like I mentioned in my review of the previous episode, at least when they're in the Mirror Universe they can do almost whatever they please and it doesn't matter to anywhere near the same degree as when it's 'supposed' to be in the timeline we know very well and love very much.

Something that did please me was finally getting an Andorian character. Like most episodes of the series, they don't seem to bother much with names and people we meet being given a chance to show their character, so we don't find out anything about (Mirror) Andorians, but it was great to have one all the same. I don't know why he spoke in that metallic, almost mechanical voice, and I doubt we'll ever find out. He's one of a band of rebels that Captain Burnham has been ordered to destroy, the base being located on some planet (was that Harlak?), orders direct from the Emperor (which should be Empress, surely?), none other than Phillippa Georgiou herself, which ties to 'Enterprise' loosely in that Empress Hoshi was in control when last we saw the Empire in the previous century, so it's nice to have an Asian dynasty (I'd like to assume), coming from that. This might have been a big reveal had I not known about it before I even began watching the series, but I suspect I'd have had expectation of her showing up, and it was either going to be her or T'Kuvma, you'd think, so the Big Reveal with its melodramatic music fell a little flat. Did the Emperor send Burnham as a test to see if she would actually do what she was told, having been presumed dead, in order to know if she was who she seemed? Does she even know about our universe? You'd think she would since she must have the USS Defiant, but then who knows and who doesn't? I don't know…

They could have had Mirror Sarek learn all about Burnham's world and share it with his comrades, there would be no danger of it getting out since the whole encampment was obliterated by Georgiou (I'll be very interested to see how they make her into a sympathetic character after that act since we know she's supposed to be leading a Section 31 TV series… Then again, with 31's morals, they'd probably not be too shy about using someone like that if it served their goals). This whole sequence on the planet was (largely), the best part of the episode. I don't like the daft way the rebels and Burnham/Tyler meet, with the pair beaming down and then getting shot with a massive blasty cannon thing which throws them around, but is accurate enough that no one gets hurt! Either they would kill them as enemies, or they would not shoot at them, and they could have had a cool Phaser battle, which is what old Trek would probably have done. Instead they fall on the floor a few times until Burnham puts her hands up. Ignoring that part, I began to wonder if this was filmed at that canyon (Bronson?), where a lot of 'DS9' and other Treks used for things like the Bajorans hunting the rebels in 'Shakaar,' or the Jem'Hadar fighting Sisko and co. in 'Rocks and Shoals,' before remembering that you won't get the old landmarks any more because this is shot in Canada! Sad. The spit they walk across bordered by water on both sides made me think of a similar scene in 'Rocks & Shoals' and it would have been so great to have gone back there again.

The important thing is that we get to see this 'coalition of hope' as Burnham puts it - Andorians, Tellarites, Vulcans and Klingons banded together against the Terrans. The Andorian looked brilliant, and I quite approved of the gaunt-faced actor they chose, and even the horny brow that was new to the design. I was carefully watching the antennae and was pleased to see they did move, though it seemed they hadn't bothered to follow the detailed emotional states they depicted so brilliantly in the Andorians on 'Enterprise,' because usually they've been so careful to pay tribute to existing races, like showing the same symbol for the Klingons as we always had, or the musical notes of Vulcan writing (though clearly following the dress of the Kelvin Vulcans rather than 'TOS' or the film era, disappointingly). I do so hope this isn't the only appearance of Andorians (there was another in the background fixing what looked like some all-terrain wheeled vehicle, which always looks out of place in Trek), or, for that matter, Tellarites. I was almost as excited to see them, and approved of the large tusks that gave them almost a warthog look more than pig-like, though again, a shame they weren't the usual rotund body shape you expect from the race. I wasn't sure if one of them was a female, but it was difficult to tell in the few shots we had of this interesting gang (and maybe, as was joked about Dwarven women in 'The Lord of The Rings,' Tellarite women are indistinguishable from the men?). Again, the Klingons continue to look good, and if it weren't for the silly domed heads and claws I could accept them!

It very much reminded me of the 'DS9' episode 'The Ship,' another one where we saw a little-seen race in one of the crew (appearing to be of the same race as Dr. Sevrin of 'TOS'), and makeup tends to look better in the light of bright outdoors, away from the artificiality of the soundstages. It was so sad they were all annihilated, even for the fact that I just wanted to see more of this band of familiar aliens, but they didn't bother fleshing them out, it was one and done for them. I can't say I quite understood Burnham's joy at finding this coalition, because it's not like the Federation isn't well established in her own universe. I suppose she just appreciated the parallels even in this Mirror place, which is fair enough, but shouldn't she have more feeling for her own kind? I know Kirk was horrified by the Terrans being so harsh and evil, but he suggested Spock should follow a course of peace, he wasn't against them, and it turned out bad for humans anyway because of the subsequent Klingon/Cardassian Alliance we saw in 'DS9.' It's also difficult to discern what's going on with these Mirror characters and races because we don't really know who they are in our universe. We get Mirror Voq (which was great, but I so wanted Mirror T'Kuvma), and he did seem to be quite honourable, as in he didn't mercilessly skewer Tyler once he's beaten him in combat, but was open to hearing Burnham's words. I don't quite get why they went along with her, aside from testing her with 'The Prophet,' otherwise known as Mirror Sarek (good to know what happened to Mirror Spock's Father), but I think we can assume Mirror Voq is a nice guy.

It's a real shame, because I did like that version of Voq. He didn't seem to be small and weak, he was a good leader, so does that mean our Voq is, or was, a bad guy? I thought we were supposed to have some sympathy for him and L'Rell, and that's why Kol seemed so nasty? The trouble is we never really got to know those characters very well at all, for all the trumpeting of how they were going to explore the Klingons this season, so we don't have anywhere near as intense a feeling of a different version of the characters, almost watering down the MU in some ways. I would have liked Voq and his band to survive as they were about the most interesting thing in the episode (maybe the series), but it ties up a loose end and shows the Empire to be as horrible as it's always been, and maybe made the Rebellion fight even harder if they ever heard tell of Burnham seemingly betraying them. Mirror Sarek had a beard, which was a great connection, as we've seen Mirror Spock and Mirror Soval (but surprisingly not Mirror Tuvok), sporting beards, and if they can't execute a Ferengi character, then at least they were true to this MU trope! He's still a poorly acted version of a Vulcan, and not different to our universe's version. He did seem a little weary and low, like Mirror O'Brien, rather than an evil Sarek, so I suppose it's okay to have different tones for characters rather than straight up mirrored personalities, though I wish we had more of those to just show the harshness of this universe.

Not that they're shy of harshness as we see when Burnham allows the prisoners (but not Lorca), to be beamed out into space where they die from lack of oxygen and being frozen. It was similar to her killing of Connor last time, but at least in this case she wasn't operating the controls herself, so I didn't feel she was quite as responsible. Okay, so she could have rescinded the order, but didn't because of the law, but I wish she'd tried to find a way. The trouble is she doesn't seem experienced enough to be able to survive in that position as 'Captain' without condoning horrible acts by her crew, the story would be so much more compelling if she was forced to walk a tightrope where she was able to avoid doing those things which were anathema to her very being, yet manage the suspicions of her crew at the same time. And it's disappointing the writers weren't up to the task of doing that, instead almost glorying in the nastiness by showing the deaths in space and that sort of thing, which is a very current fashion for more gore and shocks, something they seemed to enjoy in the Tyler flashbacks to his procedure. In contrast, Tyler's sudden fight against his mirror counterpart was quite restrained, though I really wanted his forehead to show extreme bruising after he mistakenly head-butted this Klingon! I mean really, it would make sense for him to forget he's been turned human, in the heat of the moment his Klingon personality makes him perform an act typical of the race, but he didn't even seem to be affected after throwing his skull up against the bony fore-ridges of this Klingon skull! Something else: was Shazad Latif playing Voq? I'm sure they'd use a stuntman for the fighting, and I don't think we ever saw them standing in split-screen style, but there was no credit for Voq that I noticed, not even 'Javid Iqbal,' which I think it's fair to say was Latif in those early episodes.

I'm in two minds about the reveal of Ash Tyler as Voq - it happens because he's activated by Mirror Voq's talk of Kahless and the words of T'Kuvma come rushing back. Since I know Tyler, like Georgiou, isn't done in the Trek universe, I'm sure there'll be some undoing of Voq's influence. Maybe Tyler is the real Lieutenant, and Voq was grafted onto him, that way they could banish Tyler and his acts at the end of the season, yet still keep the human alive, or maybe we meet the Mirror Tyler, who is another person, and he's the one that goes back with the… He ultimately admits to Burnham he's realised he's Voq, and would have killed her but for the intervention of Mirror Saru. Now he was an odd one. You'd think this version would be harsh and nasty, a twisted version of the Saru we know, but instead, more in the vein of Voq and O'Brien, he's merely cowed, Burnham's personal servant who gives her a bath each day (another great reference, as this 'indulgent' form of cleaning was used by Intendant Kira and it seemed to be a direct reference to that, as Captain Maddox may have been named for the Commander of the same name in 'TNG'), and very deferential. I was expecting him to reveal his true colours as a villain and try to kill her, but he saved her, so that was nice. I didn't get our Saru's question about whether she'd met any of his kind on the Shenzhou. He says there aren't that many of his people, which I don't think we knew before, but it was rather unprofessional during a mission of such importance, and not wanting to have the comm open too much (why they used holograms I don't know!), for fear of discovery, and then he has a personal question. Again, very Kelvin, not very Trek.

Overall I would say it was another not bad episode. I'm surprised they didn't have the murder of Culber play out over several episodes, as I imagined Stamets would wake up and be horrified at what 'he'd' done, only later Tyler being revealed as the culprit. I also don't know why they didn't keep Tyler quiet longer as he's known and captured by episode's end. We're supposed to wonder if Burnham beamed him into space to kill him, but it was highly unlikely, even after he'd betrayed her, that's not her way, the way of the Vulcans, or of Starfleet, and she obviously took control of the Transporter controls to beam him to coordinates where the Discovery could beam him up. But wouldn't the Shenzhou know? Don't they have sensors? It was a trick, as we learn, to transfer the coloured square disk (so great, I love those things!), with the Defiant data on Tyler's person which they can use to get home. Shame we won't get to visit that ship, but I was highly sceptical we would, so no real disappointment there. And no surprise that Mirror, I mean Captain, Lorca wanted to hang around longer (I spotted what looked like another Gorn skull in Burnham's Ready Room on Shenzhou, and the head of some robot - I wanted it to be Airiam!). But in all, mainly thanks to Mirror Voq and his aliens, I was pro this episode. Not more than the previous one, as I said, it did feel overly melodramatic, and I'm not entirely sold on Burnham, or Martin-Green's performance choices, but it's another of the best this season, though still some way to go to match the average Trek episode I enjoy on the other series'.

**