‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Recap – ‘Forget Me Not’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This episode contains spoilers for Episode 304 of ‘Star Trek: Discovery’.
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If there is one unfortunate lesson that we all learn quickly when we reach adulthood, it would have to be that it is supremely easy to lose our way in this world. Because chaos is everywhere in the world and everything moves at a breakneck pace, and despite our best efforts to always stay grounded and keep our eyes on the proverbial prize; those two elements help us to lose sight of what is important to us. Which is why we keep certain habits and routines and people close to us, simply because they can help us re-focus our vision and plan for life and reel us back in when we truly find ourselves off course and adrift. 
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If anything, this is relevant to today’s discussion, simply because losing one’s way served as the focal point of this week’s episode of Star Trek: Discovery. For ‘Forget Me Not’ saw the crew struggling and with good reason. Because this was really the first time, they’ve been able to catch their breath since arriving in the 32nd Century and having a moment to think about their situation and reflect upon what brought them to this moment, allowed for them to quickly get lost. After all, everything they held near and dear in the 22nd Century was gone, including their families and their friends and that definitely had an impact upon their psyches and that motivated Captain Saru to try and bring this team together, with mixed results.

Because initially, his efforts seemed fruitless. For the crew was indifferent to enjoying a night off, and the senior staff was quick to fight and mudsling at a dinner, making it seem as though there would be no peace aboard the ship and that eventually everything would fall apart. But Saru’s attempts to make peace and remind everyone of why they were here, was exactly what they needed to find focus and it wasn’t that long before the crew started to realize they still had one another and they had quite the noble mission to accomplish and that eventually brought everyone back from their respective void. And it was just wonderful to see Saru pass his first test as the commander of the Discovery with flying colors and to see this crew make peace with their decision and embrace it at last.

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But while that made for a lovely exploration as to how we refocus when we lose ourselves, the story was able to dive deeper into this concept, by way of Adira and Burnham’s journey. For while Saru worked his magic aboard the ship they made their way to the surface of Trill in the hopes of uncovering everything Tal knew in regard to the new location of Starfleet Command and Federation HQ and well, what should have been a simple task, turned out to be a monumental nightmare. For the people of Trill were disgusted by the fact that Adira was host to a symbiote and they refused to help her in the slightest. But one of their kind knew that this was something of a miracle, the kind that needed to be embraced since the Trill dealt with devastating losses in The Burn and well, getting Adira into her memories is where this segment’s exploration got underway.
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For in many ways, the Trill and Adira were adrift due to the trauma they experienced, something that can definitely put people off course. But facing that trauma and realizing that there are people who want to see us succeed, is the easiest to way to find our way back from that particular type of void. And once Adira came to embrace her symbiote and her pain, since it was a lost love named Gray that shared the symbiote with her, she was able to finally find some measure of peace and focus. Plus, she opened the Trill’s eyes to a viable future, allowing for them to find focus and peace as well and all of these elements made for one lovely tale when all is said and done. One that took the time to remind us that people are the stitches that keep the fabric of our lives together and when we take the time to remember that and embrace it, everything will turn out, just fine.

But while it was nice to find another uplifting message present in this series, we would be remiss to not discuss the fact that this episode’s ending holds a lot of weight for the future of this season. Because Adira did finally dig into Admiral Tal’s memories and discover the location of Starfleet Command and the Federation’s new base of operations and that is huge. For now, this lost vessel can reunite with the agencies that asked them to be more in this galaxy and to make an impact. And it should be quite interesting to see if the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery and the ideals that they carry in their hearts, still exist in a Starfleet that is clearly broken and scattered and afraid, and that is going to make the wait for next week’s episode, a difficult one indeed since we are all dying to find out what Starfleet looks like in the 32nd Century. Until next time.

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