‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Recap – ‘Coming Home’

Written by Shae Rufe

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the season four finale of ‘Star Trek: Discovery’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
​
First Contact is one of the most important moments for a Starfleet crew, and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery was doing amazing with their first contact of Species Ten-C, that is, until Book and Tarka ruined everything. The Ten-C don’t understand what’s going on and have stopped communicating with Discovery. The message Reno gets to the ship is one that has a dire meaning. They’re on a time crunch now, worse than ever. The problem is, they’re still trapped in the Ten-C’s orb, and the Ten-C won’t release them, because they think Discovery is already free. They are left in dire straits. They have to get free and stop Tarka before he kills billions of people, including the Ten-C. Michael tries to communicate with the Ten-C that Tarka and Book are not with them. That they are trying to help.
 
Only, Zora hasn’t completed the transcriptions of their language yet, and to communicate something that complicated would take time. Time, they don’t have. This leads T’Rina to try and Mind Meld with the Ten-C. It’s a mild success, but not in a way that lets them know that Discovery and her crew are here for peace. T’Rina does learn that the Ten-C are a collective mind. They’re vastly different from the Borg, but they think and act as one. Their emotions are relayed as one, and so is everything else. The experience sends T’Rina to sick bay, but thankfully she’s okay. The only thing now is to figure out if her and Saru can really work as more than colleagues.

It’s Paul who comes up with a solution to get them out of the orb. They will have to use all of the energy on the ship, and there’s a chance they might not survive. It’s risky, and they’ll essentially blow up the Spore Drive to get out. It’s their only chance. If they don’t stop Book and Tarka, the Ten-C and so many more, will be wiped out. It takes everything, but they go with Paul’s plan, and they do break free. They’ll worry about getting home later. They have to catch up to Book’s ship. Book is trying to talk Tarka down, as is Reno. There is no going back. Grief is always the result to Love, and really that line alone sums it all up. You cannot bring people back, once they’re gone, they’re gone forever. It hurts. It’s a deep hurt that has no words and nothing ever fixes the loss. That is what makes it so beautiful and special. Tarka will not be reasoned with. Thankfully, Book has a way out for them. Turns out his cat doesn’t like Holo’s, so her collar had a holo disruptor on it. He’s able to use that, to get Reno and himself out and even punches Tarka out cold. Reno can’t stop their course, and neither can Book, so he gives her his badge and sends her back to Discovery.

---

Book’s message is to stop them, whatever the cost, and that he loves Michael. Reno, being the good bro that she is, tells Michael this and then immediately gets back to work. Weapons are still down and by the time they catch up to the ship, it’s too close; and there really isn’t much time. The only solution is to physically ram Book’s ship away from the DMA power source. General N’Doye volunteers, maybe it’s her way of making up for her helping hand in Book and Tarka ruining First Contact. It’s a suicide mission. Just kidding! They save her at the last second, but she does crash her ship into Book’s and stops them from reaching their destination. Tarka is slightly talked off the edge when Book points out that his friend wouldn’t want him to do it this way. In Tarka’s change of heart, he uses the last of the ship’s power to beam him back to Discovery, before the ship explodes and he dies with it. Maybe he makes it to where is friend is. Probably not though.

Discovery is about to beam Book onto the bridge when he vanishes mid beam just as Book’s ship explodes. Michael, thinking the worst, loses it just a bit. The whole bridge does. It’s then the Ten-C send another message asking for Discovery’s crew to join them, once again, for a chat. With this happening, the DMA is still advancing. Titan has been evacuated, and not nearly enough on Ni’Var and Earth have gotten off planet. The DMA is too close, and the evacuation efforts are halted. It’s here that Admiral Vance and Tilly stay behind to keep the shield up as long as possible. They’re desperately hanging on by a thread as negotiations continue. Which is exactly what happens. Zora is finally able to communicate with the Ten-C in a more complex way. The Ten-C don’t understand the makeup of Discovery and her crew, but they are ‘one made of many’ as Rillak says. Michael explains that Book and Tarka weren’t apart of them, they’d fractured off. She also tells the Ten-C what their DMA has been doing to their side of the galaxy. That Book came here for revenge because his entire planet was destroyed by their machine.

The Ten-C feel bad and agree to scan for life forms before directing the DMA. They then give Book back to Michael since they kept his Beam on pause. Book is happy to be back but not with the news of the Ten-C’s new plan. He says they have to shut the DMA down for good, as it still leaves behind toxic pockets of space. He relates to them over their fears. Book is good at getting through to them, and they agree to shut it down. The Ten-C then do something remarkable, they send Discovery back home. Titan is getting the help they need, Earth and Ni’Var are safe, and all is well. Earth even rejoins the Federation. And Book? Well, he’s going to help displaced people, from the DMA, to make up for what he’s done. At least for now, there is once again peace. The U.S.S. Discovery has seen her fair share of challenges, and they keep getting more difficult. There’s nothing this crew can’t handle, however.

---