‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Recap – ‘Anomaly’

Written by Shae Rufe

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 402 of ‘Star Trek: Discovery’.
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Grief is one of those things that is so hard to both feel and understand. How do you be there for someone who doesn’t want you to be there? How do you open up to people when you’re drowning in your own sorrow, unable to even convey how hurt you are? I have experienced both, but watching Book struggle this episode hit way too close to home. Death is such a finite thing. Losing those you love and repeating the endless ‘what if’s’ in your mind are daunting and dangerous to say the least. Watching Book be nearly catatonic while Michael tries to comfort him… it’s the most real scene I have seen on a show in a long time.
 
Often, in crisis or after an event as traumatic as this, the characters push forward to finish the mission and we rarely see the full extent of what loss does. While Book does push on, he’s still clearly struggling, he’s affected deeply, and he is not fit to be pushing on. In this case, Michael’s crew is able to theorize about the anomaly, believing it might be two black holes merging into one. Which is why it effected Kwejian the way it did but didn’t tear the space station apart. Discovery is able to track down the anomaly and devise a plan to get more data on it. They need to send a ship into the anomaly to collect as much information on it as possible.

Book volunteers to do so, his ship is small, fast, and he could easily pilot it through the dust field and get the data they need. The only major problem with this plan is that Book is not mentally ready for such a thing. Still, he pushes the issue and all but demands to go. Michael finally agrees to let him, but only once Saru suggests a tether to the ship so that Discovery can pull him back at any time. Oh, yes, and Saru is back as Michael’s First Officer. It seems that being First Officer fits him better for the time being. They also need someone to collect the data while Book flies. They send Stamets along in the form of a Holo, which he’s neurolinked to. Turns out Holo’s can move things and what not, which I feel like I should have known, but for some reason didn’t. Stamets and Book don’t exactly get along, but they also don’t not get along either, still the whole thing is just awkward. Stamets, who previously lost his husband only to get him back, isn’t sure how to comfort a grieving man.

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Book blames himself for the loss of his planet, his brother and nephew. And truthfully, Stamets blames himself for not being able to protect his own family, but Book saved him, and Stamets can’t return the favor. The best Stamets can do is collect the data on the anomaly so that they can stop it from ever happening again. The problem is the dust field is more than just dust. It’s meteors that are damaging the ship at an alarming rate. At one point, the engine is damaged. Stamets fixes it as best he can, but he can only do so much. It’s Adira that figures out the gravitational waves being let out by the anomaly and there is a pattern to them. Book’s ship has lost navigation, they’re flying blind, but if he can catch a wave, they might be able to get out of the anomaly. Book tries to send Stamets away, but he can’t leave the ship. The tether is gone and with it the only way to get the data back to the ship.

Without the data they can’t figure out what the anomaly really is. As it is, this massive thing isn’t two black holes becoming one, it’s something somehow worse. Book misses the first chance to escape, and the engines are barely holding. Michael talks him through it, however, and Book is finally able to catch a wave, safely exiting the anomaly. Stamets is all too happy to disconnect the neural link, but he may have come out of this with a friend, and that’s worth something. Tilly looks over the data once Book is back, or well, some of the data. As is, since the Discovery was there and Book went through the anomaly, it has already changed directions.
 
Meaning, while they have all this data on it, they still won’t be able to predict what will happen next or where it will go. Meanwhile Book finally opens up to Michael and manages to break down. The truth is, grief never really goes away, you just learn to live with it. Tilly is feeling the strain of things, she’s feeling all too off. And the synthetic body for Gray is almost ready but Adira is struggling with the last mission they went on with the space station. Watching Gray get a new body is bringing up the memories of when Adira lost Gray the first time, and that’s hard for them.

All in all, it was a hard episode and a harder mission. The crew isn’t doing well, and Book is falling apart.

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