Category: Discovery

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Discovery Season 2 Star Trek

Brother

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate not given: Moments after receiving a distress signal from the Enterprise, Discovery receives a request from Captain Christopher Pike to beam aboard. Crippled in space by an inexplicable system-wide failure, the Enterprise has suffered serious damage, and Pike has orders from Starfleet Command to temporarily assume command of Discovery due to an impending crisis. The crew is somewhat skeptical of the unscheduled change in command, given that their previous captain turned out to be a treacherous impostor from a parallel universe, but the emergency at hand – the sudden emergence of seven simultaneous signals in different parts of the galaxy, emitting a powerful signal – demands an extraordinary response.

The one signal out of seven that can be tracked leads Discovery into a dangerous field of asteroids and debris, with a crashed Starfleet medical ship at its epicenter. Pike and Burnham lead an extremely dangerous rescue mission to see if there are survivors aboard the ship, finding the haggard engineer Commander Reno in her tenth month of keeping critically wounded survivors of the Klingon war alive with nothing more than whatever is still working in her downed ship. Burnham is nearly stranded amid the wreckage ensuring the escape, but Pike refuses to leave her behind – and just before he arrives, she sees an inexplicable apparition in a red haze. Other asteroids in the vicinity are causing the spores grown for Discovery‘s now-disused spore drive to react, and Tilly decides a sample is needed…in the form of an entire small asteroid. The Enterprise‘s damage is determined to be severe enough for it to be towed back to spacedock, and Captain Pike is assigned to remain in command of Discovery. Burnham hopes there will be time for her to visit her brother, Spock, aboard the Enterprise… but Pike reveals that Spock hasn’t been aboard for quite some time.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Ted Sullivan & Gretchen J. Berg & Aaron Harberts
directed by Alex Kurtzman
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), James Frain (Sarek), Mia Kershner (Amanda), Tig Notaro (Commander Jett Reno), Hannah Chessman (Lt. Commander Airiam), Emily Coutts (Lt. Keyla Detmer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Lt. General Rhys), Oyin Oladejo (Lt. Joann Owosekun), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Lt. R.A. Bryce), Ethan Peck (Spock), Sean Connolly Affleck (Lt. Connolly), Rachael Ancheril (Commander Nhan), Arista Arhin (young Burnham), Raven Dauda (Dr. Tracy Pollard), Julianne Grossman (Discovery Computer), Liam Hughes (young Spock), Sara Mitich (Lt. Nilsson), David Benjamin Tomlinson (Linus)

Star Trek DiscoveryNotes: Not to be confused with the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Brothers (1990), Brother plunges head-first into the task of connecting the dots between Discovery and the rest of Star Trek continuity, including the revelation that the Enterprise’s five-year mission of exploration under Pike took it beyond the reach of the Klingon war depicted in the first season of Discovery. Stamets’ ethno-botanist former colleague aboard the Enterprise may or may not be one Hikaru Sulu, who didn’t appear in The Cage (set four years prior to this episode) but may well have been aboard. Saru’s sister Siranna (Short Treks: The Brightest Star) is mentioned as well. A transporter operator aboard Discovery appears to be wearing what may be a bulkier (primitive?) version of the VISOR worn by Geordi La Forge in The Next Generation. Commander Nhan, a member of Pike’s crew from the Enterprise, is a Barzan (TNG: The Price). Pike’s service record appears on Discovery‘s main viewscreen, allowing us to see that he took command of the Enterprise from its first commander, Captain Robert April (Star Trek: The Animated Series: The Counter-Clock Incident), and served under April prior to that.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Discovery Season 2 Star Trek

New Eden

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate 1027.32: Burnham reveals Spock’s personal log entry – and its coded message – to Captain Pike. Spock not only knew of the signals, but of their locations, before any of them were detected by Starfleet. But Pike has more troubling news: Spock took a leave of absence to check himself into a psychiatric ward due to whatever was troubling him. Discovery is diverted to an unexplored planet in the Beta Quadrant which is the source of the newest signal, necessitating use of the spore drive. But despite an alarming distress signal, the planet is home to a peaceful, pastoral, and most importantly pre-warp human civilization. Pike, Burnham and ops officer Joann Owosekun beam down incognito to find out how a human settlement reached this far into deep space before the invention of warp drive. What they discover is a group of survivors of World War III who have no idea how they got there. A sudden displacement of radioactive particle from the planet’s rings threatens all on the surface – including the landing party – with extinction, but Pike’s absolute adherence to the Prime Directive forces a monumental decision: are Discovery and her new captain here to save a civilization, or witness its destruction without interference?

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonteleplay by Vaun Wilmott & Sean Cochran
story by Akiva Goldsman & Sean Cochran
directed by Jonathan Frakes
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Sheila McCarthy (All-Mother), Andrew Moodie (Jacob), Bahia Watson (May Ahearn), Hannah Chessman (Lt. Commander Airiam), Emily Coutts (Lt. Keyla Detmer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Lt. Gen Rhys), Oyin Oladejo (Lt. Joann Owosekun), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Lt. R.A. Bryce), Raven Dauda (Dr. Tracy Pollard), Julianne Grossman (Discovery Computer), Noah Davis (Lieutenant in 2053), Kira Groulx (Rose), Claire Qute (Teen May Hologram)

Star Trek DiscoveryNotes: The mention of a Third World War in Star Trek’s otherwise hopeful vision of the future first appeared in the first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, with Picard’s identification of Q‘s kangaroo court based upon the near-anarchic state of law in the “post-atomic horror” of the 21st century (fortunately, if you’re reading this, you’re only in the pre-atomic horror). Later incarnations of Trek carried this idea forward, particularly the movie Star Trek: First Contact and numerous episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise. Even after Earth rebuilt itself following these events, there wasn’t a universal embracing of a technological lifestyle, as Lt. Owosekun is said to have grown up in “a Luddite collective”. No one in this episode ever refers to the Prime Directive, only Starfleet’s General Order One. The Beta Quadrant has long been known to be where portions of the Romulan and Klingon Empires are located, but the New Eden settlement is much further into the Beta Quadrant – 51,000 light years from Federation territory in the Alpha Quadrant, or, for comparison, roughly 2/3 of the distance that the U.S.S. Voyager would be flung into the Delta Quadrant in the 24th century. (Clearly, events yet unseen rule out further development or use of the spore drive technology by Voyager‘s time, otherwise the rescue of Captain Janeway’s crew would have been a simple matter.) The stardate for this episode is not given in the episode itself, but in the season finale, Such Sweet Sorrow Part 2.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Discovery Season 2 Star Trek

Point Of Light

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate 1029.46: A Vulcan diplomatic ship registered to Sarek catches up with Discovery, but rather than welcoming Sarek aboard, Burnham finds herself welcoming Amanda aboard. Having stolen encrypted files related to Spock’s internment in a mental care facility on Starbase 5, she wants Burnham to break into them, since no one at the facility is willing to divulge anything related to Spock’s condition, even to his next of kin. When Captain Pike contacts the commander of Starbase 5, he learns that Spock has supposedly murdered his caretakers and fled – a claim that neither Burnham nor Amanda believe…and neither does Pike. Ensign Tilly’s behavior is becoming increasingly erratic as she continues communicating with what appears to be her childhood friend May, someone who no one else can see. Tilly’s unusual behavior puts her command-track career in jeopardy.

On the Klingon homeworld, Ash Tyler is an outsider by any measure. As consort to recently-crowned Chancellor L’Rell, his very presence is constantly challenged by her political rivals and allies alike. What no one outside House Mokai knows is that Tyler is Voq, the former Klingon torchbearer remade in the image of a human and given a new set of memories. Tyler is stunned when he discovers that L’Rell and Voq had a child, a baby boy whose skin is the same unusual pale white as Voq’s. This news – gleaned from a microscopic listening device – is also a surprise to Kol-Sha, the father of the Klingon leader who died in the battle at Pahvo during the war. Kol-Sha intends to use this information to force L’Rell to abdicate her throne, allowing him to ascend to the head of the High Council. Another damning piece of evidence Kol-Sha intends to use is that Tyler has recently contacted Burnham, warning her that L’Rell’s position as Chancellor – and therefore the tenuous peace between the Federation and the Klingon Empire – are in danger. But while help does arrive for Tyler and L’Rell, it comes from an unexpected source – one with an unthinkable list of its own demands.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Andrew Colville
directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Michelle Yeoh (Philippa Georgiou), Mia Kershner (Amanda), Alan Van Sprang (Leland), Mary Chieffo (Chancellor L’Rell), Kenneth Mitchell (Kol-Sha), Bahia Watson (May Ahearn), Hannah Chessman (Lt. Commander Airiam), Emily Coutts (Lt. Keyla Detmer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Lt. Gen Rhys), Oyin Oladejo (Lt. Joann Owosekun), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Lt. R.A. Bryce), Julianne Grossman (Discovery Computer), Xavier Sotelo (Captain Diego Vela), David Benjamin Tomlinson (Linus), Pay Chen (Starfleet Psychiatrist in Recording), Damon Runyan (Ujilli)

Star Trek DiscoveryNotes: The Klingon monastery on Boreth will later be the site of the apparent return of Kahless himself (TNG: Rightful Heir, 1993), as witnessed by Worf among many others. In the purely speculative department, it may or may not be significant that, after Voq, the only albino Klingon seen in the Star Trek franchise is the one hunted down by Kor (a relative of Kol and Kol-Sha), Koloth, and Kang to assert their right of vengeance for the Albino’s killing of each man’s firstborn son (DS9: Blood Oath, 1994), with help from Jadzia Dax. (At the time Star Trek: Discovery takes place, the Dax symbiont is part of Torias Dax, a thrill-seeking Starfleet test pilot, and not Curzon Dax, the diplomat who would help negotiate peace between the Klingons and Federation in the late 23rd and early 24th centuries, and who joined Kor, Koloth, and Kang in a pact to seek out the unnamed Star Trek: Discoveryalbino Klingon to avenge their sons’ lives). L’Rell and Tyler are revealed to be the architects of the Klingon D-7 battle cruiser, a design first glimpsed in Elaan Of Troyius (TOS, 1968), carried through the animated series and the Kirk-era movies, and even seen briefly in Star Trek: The Next Generation (Heart Of Glory, 1988), though this may be the D-7 Mark II as a completely different design was identified as the D-7 in Discovery’s first season. Kenneth Mitchell played Kol in the first season of Discovery, returning to play the role of Kol’s father here. Alan Van Sprang first appeared as Section 31 operative Leland in a short scene released directly to YouTube following Discovery’s season one finale in 2018.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Discovery Season 2 Star Trek

An Obol For Charon

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate not given: Captain Pike is visited by his first officer from the Enterprise, who has managed to bring him data on the trajectory of Spock’s shuttlecraft. But moments after Discovery sets off on that heading, it’s yanked out of warp by a dense sphere of pulsing energy. Attempts to hail the sphere are fruitless, and moments later Discovery‘s systems begin failing, beginning with the universal translator and engineering systems. The fungal life form that Stamets extracted from Tilly is no longer contained, and reasserts its hold over Tilly. Saru, who seemed unwell at a briefing prior to the sphere’s appearance, is now seriously weakened, and reveals that he has entered the Vaharai, the stage of the Kelpien life span at which an individual is ready to be harvested by the alien predators that cull the Kelpiens. Since he is no longer on Kaminar, Saru will not be harvested, but can look forward to slowly going mad as the Vaharai advances; still, he insists on aiding Burnham in trying to stabilize the ship’s systems and determine the sphere’s intentions (which Pike is assuming are hostile). Speaking through Tilly, “May” tells Stamets that Discovery‘s travels through the mycelial network are harmful to the network and the life it supports. Saru deduces that the sphere is also a life form – a dying one trying to pass on all of its knowledge and experience before it expires – and urges Pike to drop Discovery‘s shields to allow the ship’s computers to absorb all of that information. But Saru feels that his time has come too, and asks Burnham to end his suffering.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonteleplay by Alan McElroy & Andrew Colville
story by Jordon Nardino & Gretchen J. Berg & Aaron Harberts
directed by Lee Rose
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Tig Notaro (Commander Jett Reno), Rebecca Romjin (Number One), Rachael Ancheril (Commander Nhan), Bahia Watson (May Ahearn), Hannah Chessman (Lt. Commander Airiam), Emily Coutts (Lt. Keyla Detmer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Lt. Gen Rhys), Oyin Oladejo (Lt. Joann Owosekun), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Lt. R.A. Bryce), Julianne Grossman (Discovery Computer), Raven Dauda (Dr. Tracy Pollard), David Benjamin Tomlinson (Linus)

Star Trek DiscoveryNotes: Gum and duct tape, and burgers and fries, all still exist in the 23rd century. (Especially fries, as both Number One and Jett Reno mention them.) Also, David Bowie and Prince still have fans in the 23rd century, as they likely will long afterward. Many of the elements of Kelpien society mentioned by Saru were previously seen in the Short Treks episode The Brightest Star (2018).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Discovery Season 2 Star Trek

Saints Of Imperfection

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate not given: Anguished by Ensign Tilly’s disappearance into an organic alien coccoon, Stamets is refusing to give up on the idea of somehow retrieving her, believing that she has been transported into the mycelial network. Discovery is chasing a shuttle believed to be Spock’s, and disables it with a photon torpedo only to discover not Spock inside, but deposed Terran Emperor Philippa Georgiou (now an agent of Section 31) inside. After a terse exchange of information, Georgiou leaves, but not before leaving another Section 31 agent – the recently recruited Ash Tyler – aboard Discovery. Stamets devises a plan to perform a “partial jump” with Discovery’s spore drive to enter the mycelial network and recover Tilly, though at great risk to the ship. Inside the network, Tilly is surrounded by any number of things that could kill her…along with May, who says she is the avatar of a race called the Jah’Sepp, which lives in the network and tries to avoid a monster that is killing them. When Discovery slices into the network’s dimension, Burnham, Stamets and Tilly discover that the “monster” which needs to be removed is one of their own.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Kirsten Beyer
directed by David Barrett
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Michelle Yeoh (Philippa Georgiou), Jayne Brook (Admiral Cornwell), Alan Van Sprang (Leland), Rachael Ancheril (Commander Nhan), Bahia Watson (May Ahearn), Hannah Chessman (Lt. Commander Airiam), Emily Coutts (Lt. Keyla Detmer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Lt. Gen Rhys), Oyin Oladejo (Lt. Joann Owosekun), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Lt. R.A. Bryce), Julianne Grossman (Discovery Computer)

Star Trek DiscoveryNotes: The wearable communicator badge common throughout Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager apparently has its roots in Section 31 technology, though it’s clearly a shock to Captain Pike in the 23rd century. Given that Pike is in the dark about Georgiou’s origins in the mirror universe, it’s also likely that – despite whatever briefing he received (Brother) – he doesn’t know the full story about Captain Lorca.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Discovery Season 2 Star Trek

The Sounds Of Thunder

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate 1035.86: With his recent exposure to an unusual space phenomenon having accelerated Saru past the stage of life at which Kelpiens are expected to surrender themselves to culling by the Ba’ul, he is free of constant fear for the first time in his life. When the latest detection of one of the mysterious signals sends Discovery racing to Saru’s home planet, he is eager to stand up for his species – perhaps, Captain Pike notes, too eager, as Saru has also undergone a radical shift in thinking regarding the “Great Balance”, the belief system that keeps Kelpiens subservient to the Ba’ul. Should Saru revisit his planet and reveal that the Great Balance is a lie, that would be a clear violation of the prime directive, though Burnham argues that it doesn’t apply to the Kelpiens, since the Ba’ul’s presence has already revealed advanced technology to their prey. Saru introduces Burnham to his sister, Siranna, and learns that his own father was culled shortly after he left the planet. But Saru’s return to Discovery triggers a swift response from the Ba’ul: they want him returned to the planet, and threaten the entire Kelpien race to secure his return. Saru allows himself to be taken aboard a Ba’ul ship. As Burnham, Tilly, and Airiam search records from the data downloaded from the sphere and discover that the balance of power on Kaminar was once quite different, Saru learns that he is far from defenseless against the Ba’ul… and is willing to break every Starfleet rule on the books to help his people achieve the same ability to protect themselves.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Bo Yeon Kim & Erika Lippoldt
directed by Doug Aarniokoski
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Javier Botet (The Ba’ul), Hannah Chessman (Lt. Commander Airiam), Emily Coutts (Lt. Keyla Detmer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Lt. Gen Rhys), Oyin Oladejo (Lt. Joann Owosekun), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Lt. R.A. Bryce), Hannah Spear (Siranna), Julianne Grossman (Discovery Computer), Mark Pellington (Ba’ul voice-over), Raven Dauda (Dr. Tracy Pollard), David Benjamin Tomlinson (Linus / Kelpien Villager #1), Michael Ayres (Transporter Officer)

Notes: The pre-first-contact state of Kelpien society, and Saru’s departure from Kaminar, were previously seen in the Short Treks episode The Brightest Star (2018). The stardate for this episode is not given in the episode itself, but in the season finale, Such Sweet Sorrow Part 2.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Discovery Season 2 Star Trek

Light And Shadows

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate not given: Burnham returns to Vulcan to see if Sarek and Amanda have any answers about Spock’s whereabouts, while Discovery remains in orbit of Kaminar to study residual affects of the appearances of the signal and the Red Angel. When deep scans are conducted, a temporal rift appears, and Pike sets out to pilot a shuttlecraft as close to the anomaly as he can without getting pulled in. He’s annoyed when Tyler insists on going with him, as Section 31 has now claimed an interest in Discovery‘s mission and has placed Tyler aboard the ship on a semi-permanent basis. Temporal anomalies cause Pike to see events that have yet to happen, with no context, and before he knows it, the shuttle is sucked into the time rift…and the most recent future event he has forseen is himself firing a phaser at Tyler. On Vulcan, Burnham and Sarek discover that Amanda, claiming diplomatic immunity, has sequestered Spock in a Vulcan temple. Rambling quotes from the Vulcan principles of logic as well as Alice In Wonderland, Spock seems lost. Sarek insists that Burnham take Spock to Section 31 to receive medical attention, a prospect that she finds less than appealing – and, as Georgiou reveals to her when she arrives, with good reason. But an even more unlikely destination awaits Burnham – coordinates that Spock has been chanting repeatedly since she found him.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonteleplay by Ted Sullivan
story by Ted Sullivan & Vaun Wilmott
directed by Marta Cunningham
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Michelle Yeoh (Philippa Georgiou), James Frain (Sarek), Mia Kirshner (Amanda), Ethan Peck (Spock), Alan Van Sprang (Leland), Hannah Chessman (Lt. Commander Airiam), Emily Coutts (Lt. Keyla Detmer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Lt. Gen Rhys), Oyin Oladejo (Lt. Joann Owosekun), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Lt. R.A. Bryce), Julianne Grossman (Discovery Computer), Arista Arhin (young Burnham), Liam Hughes (young Spock)

Star Trek DiscoveryNotes: The dumping and igniting of the shuttlecraft’s fuel is very similar to a last-ditch maneuver executed by Spock roughly a decade later (TOS: The Galileo Seven); Rhys says it’s a technique taught at Starfleet flight school, which makes it odd that Scotty and others don’t recognize it on that future occasion. Talos IV was previously visited in the original Star Trek pilot, The Cage (1964), which was not shown on television in anything resembling its original form until 1988; footage from The Cage was worked into the 1966 two-parter The Menagerie, during which Spock returns a crippled Captain Pike to Talos IV, thus making that Spock’s third visit and not his second. (That’s two Star Trek Discoverymore visits than most Starfleet officers are expected to survive: The Menagerie establishes that travel to Talos IV is the only remaining death penalty under Starfleet’s paramilitary law.) It’s worth noting that Spock’s mental state when he’s first seen, including the repetition of phrases, is similar to that of T’Pol at the beginning of the Enterprise episode Shockwave Part II (2002), in which she is seen in a similar state of shock upon discovering that time travel is not only feasible but is in fact taking place. Spock originally fled to the Mutara Sector, an area of space where he will, in fact, later die during the battle with Khan for the Genesis Device (Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan, 1982).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Discovery Season 2 Star Trek

If Memory Serves

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate not given: The coordinates chanted in reverse by Spock bring Burnham to the forbidden planet Talos IV, visited just a few years earlier by Spock and Captain Pike aboard the Enterprise. Spock has to help Burnham overcome the illusion of a black hole in the planet’s place, a barrier erected by the Talosians to keep outsiders away. After landing the shuttle, Burnham is greeted by a young woman named Vina, who says she has been in the company of the Talosians for some time since a ship she traveled on as a child crash-landed on Talos IV. She recognizes Spock and extends an offer of help from the Talosians, who not only help Spock recover from his mental collapse, but share with Burnham what triggered it: an encounter – and a mind-meld – with the Red Angel. That mind-meld gave Spock a glimpse of a future in which some unknown enemy destroys the major worlds of the Federation. Spock believes that the Red Angel is trying to change the timeline so these events do not happen. Aboard Discovery, the miraculously revived Dr. Culber finds himself unable to return seamlessly to his life with Stamets…and, worse yet, sees Ash Tyler, his killer, and feels compelled to confront Tyler violently. Tyler grows suspicious of Pike’s focus on finding Burnham and Spock, despite direct orders not to do so. When evidence of sabotage from within the Discovery appears, Pike immediately has Tyler confined to his quarters. If he uses Discovery to return to Talos IV to help his crewmates, Pike will only be tipping his hand to Section 31.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Dan Dworkin & Jay Beattie
directed by T.J. Scott
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Michelle Yeoh (Philippa Georgiou), Melissa George (Vina), Ethan Peck (Spock), Alan Van Sprang (Leland), Rachael Ancheril (Lt. Commander Nhan), Dee Pelletier (Talosian #2), Rob Brownstein (The Keeper), Alisen Down (Starfleet Psychiatrist), Hannah Chessman (Lt. Commander Airiam), Emily Coutts (Lt. Keyla Detmer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Lt. Gen Rhys), Oyin Oladejo (Lt. Joann Owosekun), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Lt. R.A. Bryce), Julianne Grossman (Discovery Computer), Arista Arhin (young Burnham), Riley Gilchrist (Andorian Admiral), Liam Hughes (young Spock), Harry Judge (Tellarite Admiral), Jon de Leon (Section 31 Engineer), Sara Mitich (Lt. Nilsson), Tara Nicodemo (Admiral Patar)

Star Trek DiscoveryNotes: For the first time in the franchise’s 53-year history, an episode of a Star Trek spinoff revisits the events of The Cage (1964), the original Star Trek pilot, making “official” the originally filmed ending of an illusory Captain Pike remaining on Talos IV with Vina. (This had previously been subject to some interpretation, since The Cage footage was incorporated into the classic series two-parter The Menagerie, which reinterpreted that ending as the real Pike, in an illusory healthy body, rejoining the similarly afflicted Vina, as seen by Captain Kirk.) The opening teaser is a stylized montage of footage from The Cage, with an on-screen title simply reading “previously on Star Trek”. The Talosians are extinct in the mirror universe, exterminated by Empress Georgiou. Guest star Alisen Down played Olivia in Syfy’s 12 Monkeys series, and head guest starring roles in Stargate Universe, Supernatural, the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, The Dead Zone, and Stargate SG-1.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Discovery Season 2

Project Daedalus

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate not given: Admiral Cornwell visits Discovery via shuttlecraft with disturbing news – Section 31’s threat assessment system, Control, has stopped accepting input or offering information to Starfleet’s admirals, and Section 31 itself seems to have gone incommunicado. Cornwell recommends proceeding to the same coordinates that Tyler is believed to have been sending signals to – a formerly abandoned penal station – to wrest control back from Section 31’s Control. Space around the station is heavily mined, and once a boarding party consisting of Burnham, Nhan, and the cybernetically-augmented Lt. Commander Airiam beams over to the station, they find it littered with long-dead corpses – including an admiral Cornwell had communicated with recently. Control is now calling the shots at Section 31, and worse yet, it has infiltrated Airiam’s cybernetic systems, forcing Captain Pike to make a terrible decision to preserve most of the boarding party…assuming any of them survive long enough to execute his orders.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Michelle Paradise
directed by Jonathan Frakes
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Jayne Brook (Admiral Cornwell), Ethan Peck (Spock), Rachael Ancheril (Lt. Cmdr. Nhan), Hannah Cheesman (Lt. Cmdr. Airiam), Emily Coutts (Lt. Keyla Detmer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Lt. Gen Rhys), Oyin Oladejo (Lt. Joann Owosekun), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Lt. R.A. Bryce), Arista Arhin (young Burnham), Alisen Down (Starfleet Psychiatrist), Tyler Hines (Stephen), Tara Nicodemo (Admiral Patar)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Discovery Season 2 Star Trek

The Red Angel

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate not given: A post-mortem scan of Lt. Commander Airiam’s cybernetic implants allows Tilly to sift through the information uploaded into Airiam by Control, which includes detailed information on the Red Angel’s spacesuit apparatus – an abandoned Section 31 time travel project – and its wearer, a perfect DNA match for one Michael Burnham. An artificial intelligence, the Control system used by Section 31, has also been following through the micro-wormholes allowing the suit to time travel. But even as Burnham reels from the news that the Red Angel’s actions are apparently actions that she will take at some point in the future, she learns that her parents were Section 31 operatives using a time crystal stolen from Klingon space to build and power the suit…and that a younger Leland’s irresponsibility is directly responsible for their deaths. But Spock, in studying the movements of the Red Angel to date and the appearance of the seven signals, has discovered that the signals do not necessarily correlate to appearances of the Angel. The Angel has, instead, responded only to situations when Burnham’s life was in immediate danger, which makes sense: a future Burnham acting as the Red Angel can’t allow younger Burnham to die. A trap is set on the inhospitable plant Essof IV, using Burnham as the bait to catch her older self. But once captured, the Red Angel is someone no one – especially not Michael Burnham – ever expected to see again.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Chris Silvestri & Anthony Maranville
directed by Hanelle M. Culpepper
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Michelle Yeoh (Philippa Georgiou), Jayne Brook (Admiral Cornwell), Ethan Peck (Spock), Alan Van Sprang (Leland), Sonja Sohn (Dr. Gabrielle Burnham), Rachael Ancheril (Lt. Cmdr. Nhan), Hannah Cheesman (Lt. Cmdr. Airiam), Emily Coutts (Lt. Keyla Detmer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Lt. Gen Rhys), Oyin Oladejo (Lt. Joann Owosekun), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Lt. R.A. Bryce), Sarah Mitich (Lt. Nilsson), Jason Anthony (Control Computer)

Star Trek DiscoveryNotes: Stamets echoes the 23rd century belief that wormholes are “inherently unstable”, though the 24th century will see the discovery of a wormhole stabilized by an advanced alien species (Deep Space Nine: Emissary). Saru mentions Discovery‘s away team, a term more commonly associated with Star Trek: The Next Generation; as it’s more or less interchangeable with “landing party”, away team is probably a piece of Starfleet lingo that predates the 24th century, but just wasn’t one we heard used by Captains Archer or Kirk. Spock’s instant recall of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” persists even into his next life (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home). Airiam’s bridge station is now occupied by Lt. Nilsson – played by Sara Mitich, who played Airiam in the first season of Discovery.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Discovery Season 2 Star Trek

Perpetual Infinity

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate not given: Burnham comes to aboard Discovery and learns that she wasn’t hallucinating: the Red Angel has been captured and immobilized, and inside the time-crystal-powered suit was Dr. Gabrielle Burnham, believed to have died over 20 years ago in a Klingon attack. However, Burnham’s mother was also rendered unconscious by the extreme means used to capture the Red Angel suit, and Burnham herself must stay aboard Discovery until her treatment for exposure to both the elements on Essof IV and the burst of tachyon radiation generated by the Red Angel is completed. On the Section 31 ship, Georgiou begins to suspect that something is amiss with Captain Leland. What neither she nor Tyler know is that he has been taken over by Control, and the man they knew before is essentially dead. “Leland” concocts a cover story that Dr. Burnham is a vessel for Control, and orders Tyler to obtain the data Discovery holds from the spherical repository of alien knowledge encountered earlier. Dr. Burnham refuses to speak to her own daughter, instead opting to demand that Captain Pike delete the alien sphere data from Discovery‘s computer to avoid Section 31’s Control AI from ever using that knowledge to evolve. But the sphere data has asserted itself within Discovery‘s main computer, protecting itself from deletion – and leaving the door open to a future in which Control destroys all life in the galaxy.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Alan McElroy & Brandon Schultz
directed by Maja Vrvilo
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Michelle Yeoh (Philippa Georgiou), Ethan Peck (Spock), Alan Van Sprang (Leland), Sonja Sohn (Dr. Gabrielle Burnham), Kenric Green (Burnham), Rachael Ancheril (Lt. Cmdr. Nhan), Emily Coutts (Lt. Keyla Detmer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Lt. Gen Rhys), Oyin Oladejo (Lt. Joann Owosekun), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Lt. R.A. Bryce), Sarah Mitich (Lt. Nilsson), Arista Arhin (young Burnham)

Notes: Dr. Burnham knows of the fate that awaits Captain Pike in his future (Star Trek: The Menagerie Part 1), but says nothing more than that. No one in 23rd century Starfleet seems to be aware of time travel’s role in Starfleet’s past and future (see Star Trek: Enterprise), so presumably Captain Jonathan Archer took what he knew of the Temporal Cold War to his grave.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Discovery Season 2 Star Trek

Through The Valley Of Shadows

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate 1048.66: A new signal appears over the planet Boreth, home to a secretive Klingon monastery. Tyler contacts Chancellor L’Rell, and she warps to meet Discovery at Boreth to discuss Discovery‘s mission. She reveals that the monks of Boreth also act as protectors of a rare commodity – raw time crystals – but if Tyler shows his face, or identifies their son, her relatively peaceful reign over the Klingon Empire could come to a quick and bloody end, along with any hope of peace with the Federation. This convinces Pike that he must to negotiate for a time crystal, but to gain one, he will have to endure a rite of passage – seeing his own future – that has driven others insane in the past. When a Section 31 ship fails to check in on time, Saru assigns Burnham and Spock to investigate, and they find a drifting ship surrounded by the dead, frozen bodies of its crew…with the exception of one survivor, a former Shenzhou crewman recognized by Burnham. But the ship’s computer awakens, under the thrall of Control, and it wants one thing: to take over Michael Burnham so it can gain access to the alien sphere data.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Bo Yeon Kim & Erika Lippoldt
directed by Doug Aarniokoski
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Mia Kershner (Amanda), Mary Chieffo (L’Rell), Ethan Peck (Spock), Tig Notaro (Commander Jett Reno), Kenneth Mitchell (Tenavik), Rachael Ancheril (Lt. Cmdr. Nhan), Emily Coutts (Lt. Keyla Detmer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Lt. Gen Rhys), Oyin Oladejo (Lt. Joann Owosekun), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Lt. R.A. Bryce), Sarah Mitich (Lt. Nilsson), Ali Momen (Specialist Kamran Gant), Julianne Grossman (Discovery computer), Ian James Corlett (Section 31 computer), David Benjamin Tomlinson (Linus), Byron Abalos (Trainee #1), Olivia Croft (Trainee #2)

Star Trek: DiscoveryNotes: Captain Pike’s future had been described in some detail in part one of The Menagerie (1966), and though some fan films have shown their own versions of the events described, this is the first time in studio-produced Star Trek that we have seen those events play out. (His eventual return to Talos IV in The Menagerie Part 2 is not shown, so Pike is deliberately choosing a future which he believes has no hope.) Tenavik says that the time crystals’ name in the Klingon language is the namesake of their home planet, Qo’nos, which provides a handy explanation for humans’ tendency to refer to Qo’nos as “Chronos” (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country). Boreth was first seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation (Rightful Heir, 1993), though in the 24th century, the monks had turned their attention to manipulating both genetics and politics to create a clone of Kahless, with no mention made of time crystals, so it is unknown if the crystals are still under the watchful eye of the monks by the time of Worf’s visit a century later. (Tenavik’s rapid aging, on the other hand, puts Alexander’s to shame.) L’Rell has apparently succeeded in shepherding the familiar D-7 battlecruiser design from the drawing board into production within a year. The stardate for this episode is not given in the episode itself, but in the season finale, Such Sweet Sorrow Part 2.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Discovery Season 2 Star Trek

Such Sweet Sorrow Part 1

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate 1051.8: Discovery’s crew evacuated to the Enterprise as Saru and Pike set the ship to auto-destruct…but the attempt to scuttle Discovery proves unsuccessful, as the alien sphere data has now integrated itself fully into the ship’s computer, allowing it to once again protect itself from deletion or destruction. Burnham proposes a new course of action: a new time suit will be built, which she will pilot, with Discovery programmed to follow her into the far future. A new signal appears near the planet Xahea, home of Tilly’s friend Po (who happens to be the planet’s queen), who shares some of her planet’s technology to help arm Discovery for the fight ahead and prepare the time crystal for use in a new time suit. Several members of Discovery‘s crew, as well as Nhan and Spock from the Enterprise crew, volunteer to stay aboard to ensure that the ship survives long enough to reach the future. Ash Tyler, however, readies himself for another mission – making sure that Control is eradicated from Section 31 forever.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Michelle Paradise & Jenny Lumet & Alex Kurtzman
directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Jayne Brook (Admiral Cornwell), James Frain (Sarek), Yadira Guevara-Prip (Po), Mia Kershner (Amanda), Tig Notaro (Commander Jett Reno), Ethan Peck (Spock), Rebecca Romjin (Number One), Sonja Sohn (Dr. Gabrielle Burnham), Alan Van Sprang (Leland), Rachael Ancheril (Lt. Cmdr. Nhan), Emily Coutts (Lt. Keyla Detmer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Lt. Gen Rhys), Oyin Oladejo (Lt. Joann Owosekun), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Lt. R.A. Bryce), Sara Mitich (Lt. Nilsson), Julianne Grossman (Discovery computer), Samora Smallwood (Lt. Amin), Hanneke Talbot (Lt. Mann), Chai Valladares (Lt. Nicola), Nicole Dickinson (Yeoman Colt)

Star Trek: DiscoveryNotes: Scenes from the Short Treks episode Runaway are shown as part of the recap. This is the first glimpse of the Enterprise bridge in Star Trek: Discovery, complete with tactile controls cast from the replicas created by James Cawley and company for the bridge set of the Star Trek: New Voyages fan series (which, following the release of a stricter set of fan film guidelines, ceased to be a working set and became the CBS-licensed Star Trek Original Set Tour attraction). Yeoman Colt makes a fleeting appearance, having evidently stayed aboard the Enterprise and stayed at the same rank since The Cage.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Discovery Season 2 Star Trek

Such Sweet Sorrow Part 2

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate 1201.7: Surrounded by Leland’s Section 31 fleet – all under the thrall of Control – Enterprise and Discovery launch their full complement of shuttles (modified to serve as fighters) and prepare to cover for Burnham when the suit is ready to make the time jump. The Control AI proves to be equally useful in modifying its resources, literally carving up the hulls and other materials of Section 31’s armade to create a cloud of deadly drones, putting sheer numbers on Control’s side of the battle. Stamets is critically injured when Discovery takes a direct hit, and Culber, opting now to stay on Discovery with him, induces a coma to stabilize him. The suit is completed, but Burnham is unable to jump directly to the future without first going back in time to send the signals that Discovery‘s crew had already sighted and explored – each of which led to a change of events vital to the current battle. Klingons and Kelpiens, the latter flying commandeered Ba’ul fighters, join the battle, responding to a request for assistance transmitted by Tyler. Leland, no longer human but now the physical embodiment of Control, boards Discovery and begins desperately searching for the sphere data, and is instead repeatedly attacked by Georgiou and Nhan. A torpedo lodges into the Enterprise‘s saucer section without immediately exploding, though Admiral Cornwell finds that nothing can stop that eventuality, and sacrifices her life to close off the affected section to save the ship. Burnham completes sending the first five signals, and the suit’s control system now allows her to deliberately set a course for the future, which she does, sending the sixth signal as a signal flare for Discovery to follow and the heavily damaged Enterprise covers her escape. Discovery’s next stop is 930 years into the future: the 32nd century, and the last anyone in the 23rd century sees of it is a brilliant flash.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Michelle Paradise & Jenny Lumet & Alex Kurtzman
directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Jayne Brook (Admiral Cornwell), Mary Chieffo (Chancellor L’Rell), Yadira Guevara-Prip (Po), Mia Kershner (Amanda), Tig Notaro (Commander Jett Reno), Ethan Peck (Spock), Rebecca Romjin (Number One), Alan Van Sprang (Leland), Rachael Ancheril (Lt. Cmdr. Nhan), Emily Coutts (Lt. Keyla Detmer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Lt. Gen Rhys), Oyin Oladejo (Lt. Joann Owosekun), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Lt. R.A. Bryce), Sara Mitich (Lt. Nilsson), Raven Dauda (Dr. Tracy Pollard), Julianne Grossman (Discovery computer), Star Trek: DiscoveryZarrin Darnell-Martin (Nurse), Glenn Hetrick (K’Vort), Thom Marriott (Council Member), Hannah Spear (Siranna), Samora Smallwood (Lt. Amin), Hanneke Talbot (Lt. Mann), Kyana Teresa (Doctor), Chai Valladares (Lt. Nicola), Nicole Dickinson (Yeoman Colt)

Notes: Pike, Spock (who is finally seen clean-shaven and in uniform), Tyler, and Number One all recount to Starfleet incident investigators that Discovery exploded, and all knowledge of Discovery‘s existence, unusual technology, and crew is stricken from the official record, possibly in response to a steady stream of canon-fixated fans’ complaints about Discovery having “anachronistic” technology and other visual elements. (Some editorial thoughts on this development can be found here.)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Discovery Season 3 Star Trek

That Hope Is You – Part 1

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate not given (3188): In debris-filled space above the planet Hima, Burnham – still encased in the time-traveling Red Angel suit – emerges from a wormhole and collides with a space freighter piloted by Cleveland “Book” Booker, a courier who doesn’t take kindly to her intervention in his escape from a rival courier. 930 years in Discovery‘s future, the Federation has collapsed following “the Burn”, an event a century earlier during which most of the dilithium in the galaxy destabilized catastrophically. But as if learning this information isn’t traumatic enough for Burnham, there is no sign of Discovery having survived its own trip into the future through the wormhole. Booker, though informative, quickly proves that his loyalty lies only with himself, and Burnham finds herself navigating a strange future without much help – and with a great deal of danger. After earning Booker’s grudging respect, Burnham is taken to what may be the last vestiges of the United Federation of Planets: one man on a mostly-abandoned space station who has been waiting decades for a commissioned Starfleet officer to give him further orders.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Michelle Paradise & Jenny Lumet & Alex Kurtzman
directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), David Ajala (Cleveland “Book” Booker), Adil Hussain (Aditya Sahil), Nicole Dickinson (Hadley), Riley Gilchrist (Andorian Regulator), Julianne Grossman (Sanctuary voice), Brandon McGibbon (Ithyk the Andorian), Jake Michaels (Ithor the Orion), Fabio Tassone (Book’s ship computer), David Benjamin Tomlinson (Cosmo Traitt), and Grudge

Notes: Quantum slipstream drive is common in the 32nd century, but not in a damaged ship (Hope And Fear, Timeless). The Burn – the event in which much of the galaxy’s dilithium “went boom” (according to Book) happened 120 years before Burnham’s arrival. Book mentions “temporal wars” as a thing of the past (see much of the first two seasons of Star Trek: Enterprise), following which all time travel technology was banished. This marks the first sighting of Lurians (Morn’s race) and Cardassians since the Star Trek Discoveryend of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Sonequa Martin-Green and David Ajala are the only regular cast members to appear in this episode.

The third season of Star Trek: Discovery was finished filming before the worldwide outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020 brought TV and film production to a halt, but the sudden, unexpected shift to an all-remote post-production model posed significant obstacles to completion of post-production on the series, particularly in the areas of visual effects, video editing, and music scoring. The premiere date of season three, originally announced as April 2020, shifted to October 2020 as a result, and the first season of the animated series, Star Trek: Lower Decks, premiered prior to Discovery’s third season, despite originally being intended to launch after Discovery in late 2020 or early 2021.

LogBook entry by Earl Green