This week, Kayla and Jared assembled at the mic to discuss the sixth episode of Star Trek: Discovery, “Lethe”. Listen to the podcast below to hear our thoughts on the latest installment, which is full of character development, growth, and additions (and tweaks) to Star Trek canon.
Star Trek: Discovery Season 1, Episode 6 – Debuted Sunday October 22nd
Written by Ted Sullivan and Joe Menosky
Directed by Doug Aarniokoski
Reactions from the Shuttle Pod crew were a mix. Both Kayla and Jared agree that so far much of what we have seen on Discovery has been stellar. Episode 6 really resonated with Kayla; she notes that Burnham’s story arc in this episode reminds her of some of the personal journeys she has taken in her life and how real the story felt. Jared liked “Lethe” but admits that he still finds Discovery‘s Vulcans (including the not-so-vulcan Burnham) a bit stiff.
In any event, a lot of canon-shaking events occurred in this week’s episode, including a new insight into the backstory of Spock, a character who only barely made it into the episode, by name only.
Vulcan graduations are not fun
In a world of serialized television, the Shuttle Pod crew agree that “Lethe” felt like the most “stand alone” episode we’ve had so far, with the story arc of all of our characters nicely bookended with scenes between Tilly and Burnham on the jogging track.
Who’s mentoring who?
In the end, we got to see a ton of character development and growth. We were shown Burnham’s old wounds and the process she went through to start on the path to healing them. At first, Burnham is trying to be her old self, Sarek’s ward, while carrying her burdens with her. At the end of the episode, she has shed some of those burdens and is starting to become her own person — and gets a permanent placement on the USS Discovery, as granted by her new “father figure” Captain Lorca.
Lorca earns a new place in the heart of Burnham (and the audience, perhaps)