Star Trek: Discovery Cannot Help the Indulgence of a Happy Ending

When appraising a bit of fiction, it’s usually vital to think about the context wherein it was created. Sometimes a bit of labor can stand on its strengths alone to convey that means and theme—however typically context is important to permit sure understandings and conveniences. And Star Trek: Discovery’s newest finale is, maybe greater than most, definitely hoping that you simply’ll enable it some context this season. After all, it is for kings.

“Coming Home,” the thirteenth and remaining episode of Star Trek: Discovery season 4, is, like principally each Discovery season finale earlier than it, an explosive, emotionally exhaustive endeavor. Spilt into two evenly chaotic halves—a madcap sprint by the Discovery to try to cease Tarka from destroying the DMA, wiping out the ship and the mysterious Ten-C, and leaving poisonous air pollution in its wake to destroy the at the moment threatened worlds of Ni’Var and Earth; after which an emotional cooldown as Burnham and her employees return to First Contact talks with the Ten-C in a final ditch try to salvage relations—it’s an hour that may be a full and utter rollercoaster. With its epic scenes of catastrophe and destruction, particular shock cameos (Tilly’s again, yay! Tilly appears to be like like she’s nearly about to die on a regular basis serving to Admiral Vance cease particles from destroying Earth, oh no!), stunning deaths that turn into much more stunning not-deaths, and teary-eyed moments of sacrifice and pleasure, there’s a lot occurring.

And, to be trustworthy, there’s not truly a lot to it—and when there’s, if you consider it a little bit too lengthy, it doesn’t fully make sense. “Coming Home” so cleanly splitting its time between the instantly extremely excessive stakes solid from final week’s largely quiet and considerate episode, after which giving itself a lot of time to take care of the emotional aftermath is each factor and a puzzling one, particularly when the episode merely has to utterly slam the breaks on its momentum halfmanner by. But it additionally simply means there’s some bizarre hiccups: Tarka’s plan to destroy the DMA will get nearly instantly thrown out the window as a result of Book lastly manages to persuade him what a horrible thought it’s, and that Tarka is blinded by grief over his misplaced pal (maybe, because it’s closely implied even, greater than pal). Except, all that emotional catharsis and the full turnaround on Tarka’s character (from being prepared to do no matter it takes to cease the DMA to being extremely regretful) occurs in about 5 minutes. It’s additionally reduce between the Discovery crew freaking out—and planning their very own noble sacrifices, when first Commander Detmer after which United Earth’s General Ndoye provide to smash a shuttle into Book’s ship to cease it from reaching the DMA—and the drama again close to Earth, as Vance and Starfleet race to evacuate the planet earlier than particles hits. It’s simply… brushed over actually, actually shortly.

This is additional compounded moments later, when Ndoye does smash a shuttle into Book’s ship, stopping it and saving the day. She will get beamed out, which is sweet, however type of undercuts the menace that was laid out simply scenes earlier than this, that she was absolving herself of betraying the Discovery to help Book and Tarka by taking up a suicide mission. But it really works, and also you don’t have time to consider it as you’re instantly introduced with what seems to be the massive precise tragedy of the episode: Owoshekun makes an attempt to beam Book out of the exploding ship, after Tarka provides him the only real likelihood left to teleport from catastrophe, solely to lose his transport sample because the vessel detonates… making Michael watch her companion seemingly blink out of existence simply as she obtained him again.

It’s all very unhappy and Sonequa Martin-Green will get a fascinating second of grief to play with; Michael comes so shut to only buckling in entrance of the bridge crew earlier than calmly composing herself and strolling again to her captain’s chair to present orders. But as first contact talks reconvene with the Ten-C and the day is saved, principally about 10 minutes later—and as Michael explains to the aliens the idea of individuality amongst their species, and that one of many individuals who tried to destroy the DMA was somebody she beloved—the Ten-C magically apparate Book again to life, explaining that they’d interrupted the transporter sign and held his sample in reserve because it appeared… vital. Except Michael and the remainder of the crew are in the course of explaining to the Ten-C the distinction between their individuality and the Ten-C’s collective thoughts. How on earth would they recognize the vital of Book’s sign? Why would they hold it, if that they had been sown into chaos by the injury Tarka did and have been in the course of chopping ties off with the First Contact crew? And but, regardless of all this, it’s a wonderful scene, all the things works out nice and everybody will get what they wished, and peace and understanding is achieved. And asking if that victory is price not fascinated by all of the little slips and weirdly contrived resolutions for a contented ending is principally all that “Coming Home” is, for higher or worse.

It is a hell of a victory, although. The Ten-C cease the DMA simply as Vance and Tilly are about to sacrifice Federation HQ to defend the final remaining vessels of evacuees, and even agree to help within the clean-up course of the place the anomaly had left poisonous waste in its wake elsewhere. The Discovery, having closely broken the spore drive attempting to cease Tarka, will get wormholed again to base for victory celebrations as an alternative of getting to take a Voyager-lengthed warp journey. And sure, maybe most significantly of all: everybody will get to go take a properly earned shore go away break, together with Saru, who lastly begins romantically courting President T’Rina.

The indisputable fact that Discovery takes its time to course of all this within the again half of “Coming Home” is great, as an alternative of it simply being some endcap montage within the remaining moments of the episode. It’s a properly deserved victory lap, and it’s been so uncommon to see this collection let its heroes pause and acknowledge the nice work they’ve executed that it’s truly a delight to see. And, all of it ties into the themes that Discovery has reveled in all season: that is the facility that comes from individuals coming collectively and in search of connection and understanding, that unity and co-operation can overcome even essentially the most disastrous of circumstances. That even attempting to assist others is as noble in failure as it’s in success. It’s price taking the time to have a good time that message, even when it will get saccharine sufficient to thematically—and lovingly—wallop you over the top with it for half-hour. There’s no tease right here, no huge arrange for no matter menace’s subsequent, no cliffhanger: it’s simply placing a interval on this message, with the promise that the nice work and strategy of collaboration has to maintain on turning for it to actually work.

And that’s the place understanding the context of how Discovery’s fourth season was made is available in to play. From the get-go, showrunners and forged alike have spoken about how this season was a mirrored image of our personal actuality in the previous few years—a present concerning the pandemic with out being about the pandemic. The season was shot underneath intense covid-19 protocols to maintain forged and crew protected, attempting to ship a season of TV underneath extraordinarily irregular circumstances. It’s a commendable effort, and intentionally, optimistically blunt about what it’s attempting to say. Hell, the final shot of the episode is Earth, as we’re reminded that the longer term is made by individuals working collectively and preserving on working collectively for the nice of all. But one which results in a certain quantity of letting just a few issues slide. Is “Coming Home” a little bit too tacky for its personal good? Perhaps. Does it ask you to let loads of logical coherence slip by so that you might be dazzled by its emotionality? Almost definitely. Does it really feel extra like a victory lap for issues Discovery has mentioned loads of instances already, with out diving all that a lot deeply into them, leaving it feeling like a little bit of a hole echo? Definitely.

But are you permitting to let these issues go you by to permit the present this one little bit of feel-good saccharine storytelling? Well, that relies upon. If you’re, “Coming Home” gives a loving finale for a season of challenges for Discovery. If not… properly, as Michael and a very particular visitor star—Georgia politician and diehard Star Trek fan Stacey Abrams, taking part in the President of United Earth—attest to on the finish of the episode, the nice work should proceed. Maybe they’ll promote you on it subsequent time, when you’ll enable them the indulgence.

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