Star Trek: Discovery recap: "That Hope Is You, Part II"

Y’all, I can’t even make small talk with everything going on this week. I hope you all are taking care of yourselves the best way you can.

Onto the recap!

🚨🚨 Spoiler alert: The rest of this email discusses the season finale of Star Trek: Discovery, “That Hope Is You, Part II” in detail 🚨🚨

It’s not an exaggeration to say that the third season of Star Trek: Discovery was its best season yet, and in my opinion, one of the best seasons of Star Trek period. The final episode was a bit messy in terms of pacing, but it hit all the emotional notes it needed to and it wrapped up the season’s storylines nicely, setting the stage for an even better fourth season.

So much happened in this episode that it feels like no matter how much I write, I’m going to miss something. It managed to wrap up Osyraa’s ship hijacking, dispatch with her as a villain, finish off the entire Emerald Chain, solve the Burn, save Su’Kal, lay the groundwork to separate Gray from Adira, solve the problem of Stamets as the only spore drive pilot, put Michael Burnham in the captain’s chair—and the list goes on.

Osyraa’s demise was pretty expected as she pivoted back into unredeemable monster territory over the course of the episode. I do appreciate the show took the time to make her a more layered character, and while I do think that would have been interesting to explore more of, I also understand the desire to wrap up the storyline so they can move onto something different. Integrating the Emerald Chain into the Federation (which is what I assume will happen) won’t be an easy endeavor, and I think we’ll see some of those struggles in season 4. This was a very clean finale, but the actual work here is messy, and I hope that we get to see more of those aftereffects next season.

The Adira/Gray storyline was super interesting. It’s fascinating to me that the holodeck interpreted Gray as an entirely separate person and gave him his own body, yet none of Tal’s other previous hosts were present. That signals, first of all, that there’s something different about Gray that a computer can pick up. If nothing else, it seems possible that Hugh and Stamets may be able to give Gray some sort of holographic body with a mobile emitter, so he can at least have some independence? It’s not as good as a corporal body, but there are some possibilities here.

I said in my previous recap that I’d wait to hold judgment on the explanation for the Burn until I saw how it played out. Now that it has, I’m honestly less disappointed than I thought I’d be. Honestly, sometimes the reasons for terrible things happening have roots that are very small. One child’s pain affected the entire galaxy in a horrible way. Doug Jones was excellent in this episode, as he guided Su’Kal to a place of understanding and acceptance.

It was clear the endgame of this season was always Michael in command of Discovery. It’s certainly an interesting move after her insubordination this season. I think Michael will make a stellar captain — but she’s been incredibly impulsive as long as we’ve known her. I hope that carrying the responsibility for her crew’s lives on her shoulders changes her as she settles into that weighty role (as an aside, I loved those ending shots that show you just how excellently inclusive Discovery is). She’s not perfect, and I don’t expect her to be (and frankly, I’m glad she’s not.) But I hope we do see her learning from the mistakes she’s made.

Saru returning to Kaminar wasn’t a surprise, but I do wonder what’s going to happen next season. I can’t see Michael stepping aside to let Saru take back the captain’s chair (it will probably be her inclination to do so, but she’s earned that seat, and I doubt he’ll let her hand it over). Will Saru captain a different starship? Will Aurellio and Stamets work together to build another spore drive ship, now that they have a second pilot in Book? (I will say, despite the fact it was very convenient that Book was able to pilot the spore drive, DISCO did an excellent job laying the groundwork for it earlier in the season, and honestly it didn’t bother me at all. I really liked that twist! One thing I have no explanation for, though, is the turbolift chasms. My husband turned to me during that scene and asked if I had a technical manual of Discovery available with some sort of explanation which sadly, I do not.)

One thing I would like to see next season is zero additions to the regular cast. They’ve got a stellar core and extended cast on Discovery, and I’d like to get to know them more, especially the bridge crew. And there’s so much more story to tell with Adira and Gray. I want to see more of Stamets (though considering the look he gave Burnham at the end of the season, there’s going to be some STORY there in season 4) and Vance. And I want to know what’s happening with our favorite species — what are the Klingons and Cardassians and Bajorans and the Founders doing?

And yes, I cried so hard I had to pause and rewind the episode when I saw the return of Aditya Sahil. The scene with him in the season opener spoke to me on a level I didn’t know was possible right now. I’m so glad he knows what putting his hope in Michael Burnham — “That hope, Commander Burnham, is you”— led to. I’m sad this season is over because it’s been a real bright spot in a sea of darkness, but I’m excited for what’s next.