‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Recap – ‘If Memory Serves’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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

In my humble opinion, Star Trek: Discovery has done a great many things right this year. It’s been adventurous, it’s been fun, and it’s offered up some wonderful character growth along the way, all while working to integrate more classic elements of Trek into the mix. But of the many elements that this series has successfully executed in season two, the one that I’ve truly enjoyed the most, has been the grand mystery Discovery has built up surrounding the Red Angel. For we’ve only received just enough information when it comes to this mysterious being, which means that the show has been steadily ramping up toward some kind of juicy reveal about its intentions and why it continues to present itself to Spock. 
 
As it turns out, the time has finally arrived to provide us with some solid answers regarding the Angel and what it stands for, since last night’s episode of the show, ‘If Memory Serves’, gave us all kinds of juicy tidbits about its history with Spock and what exactly it showed him. But, before we dive too deeply into that, we do need to take a moment today and flat out let the inner geek flag fly, because this particular tale also provided us with some magnificent fan service when all is said and done and all of that was accomplished by way of the saga’s return to the iconic world of Talos IV, since that particular setting conjured up all kinds of wonderful memories regarding The Original Series.
 
In fact, the series was kind enough to refresh everyone in regard to what happened when Pike and his crew first encountered the Talosians a few years prior to this episode, and it was nice to walk down memory lane and re-live a few key moments from ‘The Cage’/’The Menagerie’ and thankfully the episode had more to offer hardcore fans of the franchise than just a few flashback clips, since the singing plants of Talos IV were present here as well, adding a lovely atmosphere to the story shortly after Burnham and Spock touched down on the planet, and as an added surprise, Vina returned to this saga as well, since she served as liaison for the Talosians once again, and she worked to ease Burnham’s concerns and fears so that the big-brained species of this world could heal her brother. 

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​Which brings us back around to the plot and all that it had to reveal to the audience. For a voyage through Spock’s mind helped us to learn that the Angel revealed a dire future to Spock, one that saw a powerful enemy destroy the core worlds of the Federation and it is this twisted future that has Section 31 hungry to get Spock in their clutches, to properly prepare for what seems to be the end of multiple civilizations and this vision is also what corrupted Spock’s mind since his sense of time was thrown out of whack. But what matters more about these revelations, is that we also came to discover that the Red Angel is a human in that space suit, one that is apparently using Spock to guide the future to a better place. 
 
In fact, the Angel has shown its particular off brand of kindness to Spock before, since we also learned that his first ‘vision’ of this being, is what led to Michael’s safe return home when she ran away on Vulcan all those years ago. And, as an added bonus, this episode took the time to finally show us the moment where Burnham created quite the divide between her and her brother, and sadly, youth and frustration allowed for cruel words to come out of her mouth, and she basically rejected the notion that Spock was family to her, or that he would ever be anything more than an aberration, and while they didn’t exactly make up in this tale and put years of pain behind them, it was nice to see Michael make the effort and at least start the healing process.
 
If anything, this particular tale was quite the download, but that’s something that flat out needed to happen. The audience needed some answers when it comes to the Red Angel, so it was nice to finally get those, and see that the crew of the Discovery is dedicated to solving this mystery with Spock at their side, and while we still have more answers waiting on the horizon, the information we received in this episode, was pretty satisfying to say the least. Also, we do need to take a moment and throw a quick shout out to Wilson Cruz and Anthony Rapp for their fine performances in this one. They truly sold what appears to be quite the storyline setup for Dr. Culber, and I’m quite curious to see what the future holds for Hugh now that he’s trying to truly start over. In the end however, it looks like Pike and the crew are focused heavily on the hunt for the Red Angel from here on out, and it should be interesting to learn more about this individual, including their true identity, in the weeks to come. Until next time.

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