'Star Trek: Discovery' Recap - 'Context is for Kings'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

The last time we settled in to discuss the wonder of Star Trek: Discovery and it's bold new world storytelling wise, I pondered upon the possibility that this story was going to be a journey of redemption for the now fallen Commander Michael Burnham, and as I settled in to watch the third episode last night, I found myself wondering exactly how her redemption was going to come about. After all, most stories that feature someone coming back from their particular darkness involve a massive act of heroism, wherein the character can easily step back into the world they left behind and use their skills and morality to save the day. 

But it became clear early on in 'Context is for Kings', that such a simple road back is not going to exist for Burnham. By becoming Starfleet's only mutineer, there's no easy way for her to step back into Starfleet and when we cross paths with her in this episode, six months into the bloody Federation-Klingon War, she's questioning her morals and who she is in every way imaginable, which made her story and this episode downright fascinating. Because this particular tale made two things incredibly clear to the audience last night. First and foremost, that Discovery is going to take its time in telling its story and in doing so, it will examine every single nuance of its characters that it can, and it also let us know, that it is going to challenge fans of this storied franchise in ways they never quite imagined. 

However, before we break down the latter of those two elements, let's continue examining the slow burn style of storytelling this series introduced to us last night. Because this episode really took its time in examining Burnham's actions about the Shenzhou, and the aftermath of her decision to commit mutiny and once we got past the obvious disdain people harbored for her...there were actually some beautiful and powerful moments to be found when it came to the regret and admiration that some in Starfleet had for her regarding the fact that her brilliant career had been thrown away, and I truly appreciated the fact that people didn't just view her as a pure monster, and the fact that so many seemed curious as to why she did what she did...allowed for Burnham to start the long road back toward redemption.  

Granted, she's going to be a reluctant hero to say the least, but considering the fact that Captain Gabriel Lorca of the U.S.S. Discovery spoke to how he understood and admired her actions about the Shenzhou, she finally has someone in her corner that wants to see her succeed and the fact that the captain was willing to put her on an away team and send her on a dangerous mission speaks further to his confidence in her abilities. But what matters most about Lorca's decision to send her to the U.S.S. Glenn, is that she had the opportunity to shine once again. She was brave and bold and fierce during the away mission, and she even saved lives in the process and Lorca's offer for her to join the crew of the Discovery and everything that preceded that offer is clearly the beginning of the long road back for Burnham, and if she can conquer her fear, she will obviously achieve wonders and it was wonderful to see a television series not rush a matter like this and really dive deep into the consequences of Burnham's actions.

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As for how the story is going to challenge fans of Star Trek, well we need to take a little time and discuss all the suspicious stuff that's happening aboard the Discovery, because let's honest...whatever is going on here, is not exactly the kind of stuff that speaks to the highest ideals of the Federation. It's rare to see a Starfleet ship lock down its operations in this kind of fashion and keep everything a secret, but that's life aboard this ship and despite Lorca's explanation to Burnham at the end of the episode, about developing an organic transwarp drive, it's obvious that this ship is working to find anything and everything weapons wise that can help win the war against the Klingons and therein...lies the challenging moment. 

Because I'm certain there were long term and short terms fans of the franchise that were no doubt immediately stunned and appalled to come to the realization that there's a chance the Discovery's mission is to develop black ops weapons for the war effort, but let us not forget that this isn't the first time, nor the last time that Starfleet will blur the line between good and evil in order to save lives. That doesn't make it right necessarily, but this is an organization that understands what's at stake and it won't be the first time the saga has challenged us on how the Federation should conduct itself.  I mean heck, let's not forget that that the highly decorated and morally grounded Captain Benjamin Sisko took part in some dubious and shady actions to get the Romulans involved in the Dominion War in Deep Space Nine. 

If anything, this realization and challenge toward the audience seems fitting for this series and leads me to believe that the series is going to expand on a tiny idea that it brought forth in the series premiere, in that...Starfleet and the Federation have grown comfortable and complacent with the world they've created and with the Klingons challenging the Federation and no doubt dealing some devastating damage to its world and its people...perhaps this storied institution is ripe for a redemption of its own. After all, in ten years time, when we join the crew of the Enterprise on their five-year mission, there seems to be a renewed and fresh sense regarding what the Federation and Starfleet stand for, and I truly get the impression we find that in this series and I'm curious to see how that will unfold as the weeks progress.

In the end however, this was simply a fascinating character study. I loved the extended time we spent with Burnham and her new shipmates as we got to know each and every one of them in detail and I truly appreciated everything that this episode put together. We got to enjoy mystery, intrigue and action and adventure in this story, and possibly an Easter Egg as well since I'm fairly certain the black badged Starfleet officer we caught a glimpse of is part of the mysterious Section 31. Either way, we are finally aboard the titular U.S.S. Discovery and I'm curious to see how the story will unfold after this grand introduction and setup to the rest of the season, because this show is allowing for one epic tale to take shape and once again, I'm counting down the minutes to next Sunday. Until next time. 

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