Star Trek Discovery: 5x05 (Mirrors)
May. 5th, 2024 04:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
4thofelevenIn which we get Breen.
Another really strong episode, and one that answers a few minor issues that had been bothering me. Moll and Lak being simple thrill seekers didn't really seem enough for me as an excuse for why they were so determined to beat Starfleet to their prize, rather than just cutting their losses and selling the clues they already had. But knowing they need a prize of galaxy-shaking importance to lift the bounty on Lak's head, that makes sense.
And speaking of that, we get Lak's species and the reveal of a major mystery from 90s Trek! And I think it's clever the way they handle it – both that it means we've seen a Breen now for several episodes without even knowing it, and that their 'faces' mean there's still a mystery about them. We now know what they look like, but there's still questions about their appearance.
The discovery of the derelict ISS Enterprise was an unexpected twist, but I think one that worked well. This is the final season, and the Mirror Universe has been such a big part of Discovery, so it feels appropriate to touch in on it again – actually revisiting it would be a step too far, so this felt like a nice way to wrap up that arc and show that Emperor Georgiou did leave a positive legacy by inspiring Mirror Saru. It also subtly retcons one of my least favourite parts of DS9 – the idea that Spock's liberal reforms weakened the Terran Empire. This episode seems to establish that Spock was unsuccessful, and implies that the Empire's weakness was due to its inability to change.
I am a little perplexed that the script doesn't have Burnham learn that Spock was the one who attempted to reform the Empire; her dismissing him as 'likely as brutal as the rest' seemed like it was setting it up, and it would have been satisfying to see her learn her brother changed the galaxy for the better no matter which universe he was born in. Perhaps it will come up in a later episode, or for some reason they want to keep mirror-Spock's fate open for later stories.
Booker and Moll's confrontation was less satisfying; it felt like Booker never really acknowledged his mentor's flaws or Moll's real trauma. It makes sense, given how much he's lost, that Booker doesn't want to write off his mentor as a bad father who abandoned his family, but I hope this thread is picked up again later and that he will come to accept that even if his mentor was a good man to him, he seems to have been a deeply flawed person overall.
All in all, though, another very enjoyable story, and it seems like once again this season is even better than the last. It's a real shame the show is coming to an end, as its showing a confidence and quality in its storytelling that I'd never have expected back when I was struggling through that deeply uneven first season.
Another really strong episode, and one that answers a few minor issues that had been bothering me. Moll and Lak being simple thrill seekers didn't really seem enough for me as an excuse for why they were so determined to beat Starfleet to their prize, rather than just cutting their losses and selling the clues they already had. But knowing they need a prize of galaxy-shaking importance to lift the bounty on Lak's head, that makes sense.
And speaking of that, we get Lak's species and the reveal of a major mystery from 90s Trek! And I think it's clever the way they handle it – both that it means we've seen a Breen now for several episodes without even knowing it, and that their 'faces' mean there's still a mystery about them. We now know what they look like, but there's still questions about their appearance.
The discovery of the derelict ISS Enterprise was an unexpected twist, but I think one that worked well. This is the final season, and the Mirror Universe has been such a big part of Discovery, so it feels appropriate to touch in on it again – actually revisiting it would be a step too far, so this felt like a nice way to wrap up that arc and show that Emperor Georgiou did leave a positive legacy by inspiring Mirror Saru. It also subtly retcons one of my least favourite parts of DS9 – the idea that Spock's liberal reforms weakened the Terran Empire. This episode seems to establish that Spock was unsuccessful, and implies that the Empire's weakness was due to its inability to change.
I am a little perplexed that the script doesn't have Burnham learn that Spock was the one who attempted to reform the Empire; her dismissing him as 'likely as brutal as the rest' seemed like it was setting it up, and it would have been satisfying to see her learn her brother changed the galaxy for the better no matter which universe he was born in. Perhaps it will come up in a later episode, or for some reason they want to keep mirror-Spock's fate open for later stories.
Booker and Moll's confrontation was less satisfying; it felt like Booker never really acknowledged his mentor's flaws or Moll's real trauma. It makes sense, given how much he's lost, that Booker doesn't want to write off his mentor as a bad father who abandoned his family, but I hope this thread is picked up again later and that he will come to accept that even if his mentor was a good man to him, he seems to have been a deeply flawed person overall.
All in all, though, another very enjoyable story, and it seems like once again this season is even better than the last. It's a real shame the show is coming to an end, as its showing a confidence and quality in its storytelling that I'd never have expected back when I was struggling through that deeply uneven first season.