‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Recap – ‘Project Daedalus’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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

If there’s one particular truth that I’ve learned when it comes to television shows, it’s that once the season’s secrets/answers begin to be revealed to the audience, there’s no going back. One reveal leads to plenty more until everything we’ve had a question or concern about is presented to us or outright resolved and this is a truth that most certainly applies to Star Trek: Discovery as well. For last week’s journey to Talos IV, wherein we learned plenty about the Red Angel and the visions it provided Spock with was the proverbial opening of the flood gates, meaning that I fully expected the next episode in this series, ‘Project Daedalus’, to provide us with more answers and well…it definitely did just that.
 
But, if you noticed a sense of hesitation or surprise in those words, there’s good reason for that. Because while this tale did provide us with more knowledge in regard to what’s going in the galaxy, it did so at a great cost. For the answers that came forth in this particular tale were downright uncomfortable and devastating, since this episode revealed exactly what was going to be responsible for the destruction of all life in the galaxy, and it just so happened that this being, was already in existence, and this creature was responsible for all kinds of trouble this season and all of this and more came to light by way of a trip to Section 31’s headquarters.
 
For in this place, we came to learn that Spock was indeed one-hundred percent innocent, and that over the past few weeks, Admiralty had gone silent in general, prompting Admiral Cornwell to join the Discovery on this voyage and well, the dangerous monster in question, turned out to be Section 31’s supercomputer known as Control. For the other Admirals that relied upon its knowledge in essence gave it free reign when it comes to Starfleet’s decision making, and by having that kind of freedom, this creature began to crave power and felt responsible in making the right calls for humanity, to the point where those that opposed it, paid the price since Burnham and her away team came to discover that Control wiped out every Admiral that granted it such power

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But the true stunner of the night, involved Lieutenant Commander Airiam, who informed us that Control wanted to know anything and everything there was to know about Artificial Intelligence, and that it used her to access all the data present from the Sphere in the hopes of gaining sentience, which would ultimately end with the annihilation of every biological species, fulfilling Spock’s vision. But unfortunately, this is where the great cost I made mention of came forth, because this grand reveal arrived in the middle of a moment of crisis, where Airiam informed Burnham and the crew of these facts in the brief moment she was free from Control’s cyber grip, and sadly, Airiam came to realize that the only way she could save the crew, and potentially prevent this A.I. from bringing the vision to life, was to beg for Burnham to sacrifice her by blasting her out into space, an act the Commander was incapable of, but one that Nhan was able to go through with and just like that, we said farewell to Airiam.
 
Which quite frankly, was quite the stunner to say the least, simply because character deaths in the Star Trek universe are rare, but a big deal when they occur and this one was no exception to that, and her farewell was given beautiful emotional depth by way of Airiam’s memories, and her shipmates desperate attempts to help ground her mind. If anything, her passing raises the stakes when it comes to Discovery’s mission because now we know that Control will stop at nothing to get the data stored in the ship’s memory banks, making the Discovery its top priority, and putting the crew in incredible danger and where we go from here, I haven’t the faintest because with Admiralty crippled, and Control in command, it’s hard to say who Pike and Cornwell can trust, and for that matter…how they will stop Control from ending all life in the galaxy.
 
Either way, this was a heavy episode, one that also added some fiery depth to Spock’s past as well since he embraced his pain in this tale and unleashed that anguish on Burnham and really, when all is said and done, bravo to everyone involved in his tale. For this was a bold, and angry and terrifying story, one filled with twists and turns that don’t comfort the audience in the slightest and kudos to Director Jonathan Frakes for piecing together a tight-knit episode that left me on the edge of my seat and really, when all is said and done, I have to admit I’m discombobulated after this episode simply because of the bleakness present here. For now, Control hangs heavy over this story, and it should be interesting to see how this intrepid crew is going to defeat an enemy that is seemingly aware of their next moves. Until next time.  

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