‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Recap – ‘Su’Kal’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 311 of 'Star Trek: Discovery'.
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When bad things happen to us in life, it is quite natural for us to look for a specific reason as to why tragedy befell us. Simply because it gives our minds something to focus upon while we process the unfortunate reality of the situation. In that, there aren’t forces working against us or that what just happened to us isn't some kind of retribution generated by karma. No instead, the universe is and will forever be an unforgiving place where chaos reigns supreme and here and there, we are the victims of its random machinations whether we like it or not. And sometimes, this concept can be quite overwhelming, so much in fact… that popular media tends to stay away from it.
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Because having a conspiracy or a particular villain be behind all the bad things in a story, helps to create that sense of escape that is definitely necessary when we use stories to help us get through tough times, since this particular trope brings order to chaos in our minds, and helps us return to the situation at hand with a fresh set of eyes. But while most stories are keen to offer up a touch of inadvertent therapy by creating reasons for tragedy, once in a while you run across a tale that is brave enough to point out how the universe sometimes just does what it does, and oddly enough this week’s episode of Star Trek: Discovery is a tale that meets that particular criteria. For ‘Su’Kal’ more or less gave us an understanding what caused The Burn, and its origin… was not at all what we expected it to be. 

Which is a reveal that was made possible, by sending the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery to the Verubin Nebula at last, mainly because the data linkup revealed the fact that a life sign was aboard the crashed Kelpien ship. And it was Captain Saru’s hope that perhaps the survivor aboard that vessel had an understanding of what caused The Burn and well… what the away team found when they boarded the ship was fascinating to say the least. For this particular vessel was equipped with advanced holographic systems, the kind that were in full use in order to help the surviving Kelpien (who shared the namesake of this tale) cope with the fact that he was alone and to keep him safe until help arrived. But another important purpose of this simulation, is what brought about this grand exploration of chaos. 

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For eventually, Saru and Michael and Dr. Culber came to realize that the only way to end this program and rescue Su’Kal from this lonesome world, was to have him complete the simulation by facing his fears. Something that he had refused to do thus far, a decision that definitely stunted his emotional growth and made any dealings with him, quite difficult. And when the Away Team made a move for that to happen… something quite stunning occurred. In that, Su’Kal emitted a powerful psionic blast, one that the Discovery was able to detect. Which made it clear that the radiation in this nebula had altered Su’Kal’s DNA when he was in the womb, and that likely meant that something that happened in his childhood, motivated him to push forth a similar blast. One that would have caused all dilithium in the galaxy to detonate, making him the likely source of The Burn.

Which was quite the stunning revelation for certain, one that few of us ever saw coming. For so many fans have theorized that a Federation experiment or some kind of unseen force made this happen for nefarious reasons, when in fact… it was all about that chaos and a child that didn’t know any better. Which is a bold way to handle an event this big and what’s truly amazing about this particular episode, is that it had more stunning moments to send our way. Such as the fact that Osyraa snuck up on the Discovery in this tale and used her scans of the ship from their prior encounter to do something supremely bold and chilling. In that, she straight up boarded the ship and seized it with ease, so that she could finally have her hands on the spore drive and that’s where this story ends, with a powerful weapon in enemy hands, and with the Away Team stranded in a hostile and dangerous part of space.

If anything, this really was quite the unique episode when all is said and done, largely because it featured a lot of brave decisions, storytelling wise. After all, you rarely see Federation ships be captured by the enemy, and chaos simply isn’t the cause of most of the galaxy’s problems. But all of that changed here and these are welcome surprises for certain. Because now it seems as though we are in uncharted and unpredictable territory, where no one is safe and anything can happen. Which is something that outright leaves the viewer excited and eager to see where next week's story is going to take us. Because there is a chance now that Federation Headquarters is in grave danger, and of course, our heroes are facing insurmountable odds and well, that's going to motivate all of us to countdown the minutes until next Thursday, to see how exactly how this brave and intrepid crew is going to overcome the odds in order to save the Federation and the galaxy. Until next time. 

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