Star Trek : Discovery S03E10 is the penultimate episode of Season 3. Entitled “Terra Firma Part. II”, Star Trek : Discovery S03E10 continues Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) journey back into the past in the Mirror Universe where she has to deal with a rebellion led by her daughter Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green).
This time jump appears to be necessary in order for her to save herself from the temporal and spacial displacement that threatens to kill her. The god-like Carl provided her this opportunity in Part I and she undergoes living her past life all over again but this time armed with the knowledge and experience in Discovery.
While watching the events unfold in the Mirror Universe, there was a point that I was loudly questioning the rationale behind the exercise. Surely, none of what was happening was ‘real’ so naturally one assumes that Georgiou’s ability to resolve the situation presented to her is some kind of test or cure for her ills.
At the very end, while the resolution is quite predictable the means by which it was achieved was surprising as a reference is made to a particular popular episode of the original Star Trek series. This will either be seen as fan service or infuriate the Trekkers, who already hate any new Star Trek series.
I was personally satisfied with how the episode closed the Georgiou chapter, especially with the hint of what may come in the future for the character. Also, once more, I believe that the “Terra Firma” storyline was true to the spirit of Star Trek in numerous ways and that diehard fans should be pleased.
However, two episodes was a big chunk of screen time to be consumed by what might be described as an “imaginary tale”. So was the sojourn into the Mirror Universe really worth the time spent? Well, if like me, you are a big fan of Michelle Yeoh’s bad ass-ness (!) then yes indeed.
The problem is that there other plot lines out there that got short shrift – for example, the Emerald Chain threat. And what about the hundred year old Kelpian ship? It is still not clear what that is all about and we have only the season finale to sort things out? That is disappointing.
… still there’s more …