Tag: Section 31

Stardate 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.

written by Chris Silvestri & Anthony Maranville
directed by Hanelle M. Culpepper
music by Jeff Russo

Cast: 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)

Notes: 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

Stardate 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.

written by Alan McElroy & Brandon Schultz
directed by Maja Vrvilo
music by Jeff Russo

Cast: 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

Stardate 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.

written by Michelle Paradise & Jenny Lumet & Alex Kurtzman
directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi
music by Jeff Russo

Cast: 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)

Notes: 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