‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Recap – ‘Point of Light’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

One thing that I noticed was a staple for season one of Star Trek: Discovery, is that the series often found a way to pack in storyline after storyline into a single episode, which quite frankly, is no easy feat. Because it takes some serious work on a writer’s part to blend together multiple tales into a single story, but the writers of this saga found a way to master this jam-packed style of storytelling. Yet oddly enough, it’s something that quite frankly, has been missing from season two of this show.
 
That’s not an insult or a knock on the series by any means, simply because it is inherently clear that Discovery is working toward providing its fans with a different experience this year. But I was quite curious as to whether or not we’d see that particular type of storytelling return and well, it would seem that the Writer’s Room of this series truly enjoyed and missed this particular challenge since last night’s episode of the show, ‘Point of Light’, was filled to the brim with all kinds of storylines spanning vast swaths of the galaxy since it provided us with an update on Spock, followed up with Ensign Tilly’s imaginary friend and it also allowed for us catch up with Chancellor L’Rell and Voq/Tyler on Qo’nos.
 
Which is a lot to recap and digest, and perhaps the best place to start is Ensign Tilly’s storyline, simply due to the fact that I made in error when discussing the mystery phantom that appeared to her in last week’s episode. Because I put it forth that she was interacting with a Red Angel, when in fact it turns out that ‘May’ was something far different than a celestial deity. Instead she related to the spore that joined with Tilly in the Mirror Universe, and the dark matter that Tilly knocked the Ensign around gave the spore new life as a pseudo parasite and she has an agenda that involves Lieutenant Stamets and it was nice that this episode gave us a straight answer as to what was happening to Tilly.

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As for Burnham, well, her mother came aboard the Discovery to inform her and Captain Pike that she wasn’t allowed to see Spock when she went to visit him, prompting her to believe something was up and well…she was right. Because a little pressing from the captain revealed that Spock apparently snapped during his treatment, and murdered a few people before escaping, something that everyone believed was simply not the case, prompting Burnham to break into Spock’s medical file…and finally have a mostly honest discussion with her mother about how she hurt her foster brother and well, that revelation definitely hurt Amanda as well, prompting her to leave the ship to find her son on her own…
 
But the centerpiece of the night had to be the segment on Qo’Nos, simply due to the fact that it was full of all kinds of surprises. Because L’Rell was struggling to have the other houses rally behind her with Tyler at her side, and thanks to some serious treachery from a member of the High Council, all kinds of secrets were revealed. Like the fact that L’Rell and Voq had a son, and that the house of Kor discovered that Tyler contacted Burnham about the potential trouble brewing on the Klingon home world, and all of this would have likely led to chaos had Emperor Georgiou and Section 31 not intervened. But that assist helped make the Chancellor’s problems go away, which in turn maintained the fragile peace that everyone is currently enjoying and it allowed for Voq’s baby boy to start a new life as a Monk on a far off world, and this little twist also gave Tyler another chance to start over, as a member of Section 31.
 
If anything, it’s inherently obvious that this particular tale was packed to the gills with storylines in order to serve as a transitional/setup episode, since I’m fairly certain all of these plot threads are going to be addressed in the weeks to come, and while these types of episodes honestly tend to annoy or bore me, this one I actually enjoyed. Because it’s a big deal that the spores are evolving, and it’s also important that Burnham right the wrong she’s created when it comes to Spock and her family and well…Section 31 is a fascinating part of Starfleet that hasn’t seen enough screen time, and all of these elements were entertaining to watch and well, I suppose the only thing left to do, is wait patiently, and see how all of this comes together down the line. Until next time.

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