Star Trek: Discovery’s fourth season ended this week, and it didn’t conclude with some wild cliffhanger or loopy disclose to arrange the following season. Instead, it ended an hour of feel-good, fuzzy-logic theming on the ability of affection and unity with a message to the world, actually and metaphorically, that the work to be accomplished is ongoing. But that message partly got here from a stunning determine that… is put into some unusual context.

The last scene of “Coming Home” sees Captain Burnham be part of different delegates of the Federation and its president, Rillak, as they welcome the unnamed president of United Earth to diplomatic negotiations. Earth had spent a lot of the finale below risk from the gravitational fallout of the mysterious Dark Matter Anomaly, or DMA, which had emerged close by and instantly began catapulting waves of particles and destruction on the planet and the united homeworld of the Vulcans and Romulans, Ni’Var. Without the well timed arrival of Federation HQ and Starfleet, lead by Admiral Vance and Lieutenant Tilly, each planets confronted imminent devastation—and even with the unified pressure of a Starfleet re-emboldened by the occasions of this season and the final, issues seemed fairly dire for the planet, with no likelihood of lots of the civilians on its floor being evacuated in time.

Luckily, the day was saved—because of just a little little bit of that highly effective love and unity that has been so essential to Discovery this season—and thus, we received an prolonged epilogue that noticed the present’s characters have fun their win and embrace that togetherness, nicely, collectively. We realized that United Earth has re-opened formal diplomatic channels in a serious method with the Federation, with Madame President on her method to principally inform the Federation that no hurt, no foul, they need to rejoin the utopian alliance as thanks for its support and help in the course of the disaster. But, as we, Michael, and Rillak see, when Madame President’s shuttle door opens, the President of United Earth is an awfully acquainted face. And not as a result of she’s a well-known Star Trek star or something…

But as a result of she’s Stacey Abrams, the Georgia Democrat, lawyer, and voting rights activist who has shot to political stardom lately throughout a number of campaigns to develop into the state’s governor, and whose work in rising voter turnout and combating towards vote suppression is basically credited in handing President Biden a slender win in Georgia in the course of the 2020 presidential election. Abrams additionally occurs to be a diehard Star Trek fan—and, like all folks with nice style, is a good friend of Kathryn Janeway—who has previously sat down with members of the Star Trek solid to assist promote voting rights causes in the course of the 2020/2021 U.S. Senate and special election races in Georgia.

So on the one hand, it’s a really beautiful second. Abrams will get to be the literal President of Earth, and manages to additionally get to be the President of stated Earth that will get to see the planet re-join the Federation (“I can’t believe I get to say that,” is considered one of her asides to Rillak, which feels as very like Abrams speaking because the President). She has an completely fabulous aesthetic, from tied-back braided hair to a completely incredible Star Trek-y tackle enterprise put on, full with an built-in cape. And she will get to speak to Michael in regards to the hope they each now share for the longer term, and the way Star Trek’s future is earned not with idle resting on laurels, however fixed, good work. Abrams as a consultant of the types of beliefs that Star Trek goals to point out a logical conclusion of in a united intergalactic society is a transfer that is smart. And, in fact, Star Trek has had a protracted historical past of getting “celebrity” cameos, from the Rock and Iggy Pop, to Stephen Hawking and Abdullah II bin al-Hussein, the King of Jordan.

That’s one hand. The different… is that, like a variety of issues about “Coming Home,” it’s a candy second that stops making a lick a way if you concentrate on the context for various seconds. You may need been stunned to study that Abrams’ president is in talks to have Earth rejoin the Federation. In the context of Discovery’s thirty first century, within the wake of an occasion known as “The Burn” earlier than the collection’ third season final 12 months, a lot of Warp journey was rendered unattainable, slicing off swaths of intergalactic society from one another—and crumbling the relationships that stored the United Federation of Planets, nicely, united. We realized early in Discovery’s third season that Earth itself was one such planet to secede from the Federation, drawing inwards and rapidly remodeling right into a harshly isolationist, self-preserving, and militarized society often called United Earth.

Although, because of Discovery itself, relationships start softening between Earth and the Federation over the course of season three and 4, we’re reminded consistently that this isn’t the Earth we as soon as okaynew as the center of Federation society—they don’t totally belief the Federation, and thru the lens of United Earth Defense Force officer General Ndoye (recurring visitor star Phumzile Sitole), we see that even with that softening Earth’s political stances are nonetheless largely aggressive, conflict-pushed, and reliant on shows of army prowess slightly than diplomacy. So… yeah, that’s the Earth that Star Trek made Stacey Abrams president of. Maybe she’s a brand new president-elect and ran on a platform for Federation unification and stood towards these isolationist insurance policies? We’re left to marvel about that, however, nonetheless. It’s very bizarre. But it’s candy! But additionally bizarre.

Like I stated in my recap of the finale, there’s some degree of allowance this season with Discovery to let it take pleasure in its feel-good messaging, even when stated feel-good vibes don’t actually make a lot sense when you dwell on the logic that it took to get there. This cameo, as huge a shock at it was, is simply one other instance of asking you to go together with these vibes right into a happier tomorrow. And hey: at the least it’s higher than that point the present namechecked Elon Musk like he was a great man.

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