‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Recap – ‘Terra Firma, Part 1’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 309 of ‘Star Trek: Discovery’.

There was a time, when stories in the Star Trek Universe were quite different than they are now. For back in the day, during The Original Series era to be specific, the thoughtful tales we enjoy now weren’t always commonplace. Instead, we were often treated to some bizarre tales, the kind that featured outlandish characters and equally outlandish settings, and that definitely made for some memorable moments that fans both lament and celebrate to this day. But eventually, as the series and the franchise found focus… those goofier tales took a back seat to far better storytelling and if by chance something weird was going to appear within the framework of the franchise, it would be neatly woven into the scientific fabric of the story in question, giving it gravity. 
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But while the STU finally found its voice and eventually offered up powerful observations on our world and our society on a consistent basis, every once in a while… an off the cuff episode would still find its way into the mix. Simply because the possibilities when it comes to science fiction are endless, and the temptation to try something wild and new is always too great. But after the Warp 10 incident in Star Trek: Voyager, it seemed as though the franchise was keen to play it straight going forward, and sillier tales simply disappeared from the fabric of the franchise, that is… until this week's episode of Star Trek: Discovery. For ‘Terra Firma, Part 1’ offered up one supremely quirky voyage for certain, one that was designed to finally lead Emperor Philippa Georgiou to a cure for her woefully painful affliction, the cause of which... was finally revealed in this tale

Because this episode was quick to explain that Georgiou's suffering and mental and physical deterioration, was a direct result of her spending too much time in our ‘Prime’ Universe. For it turns out that genetic structure is more or less locked to the place in which it was created and unfortunately for Philippa, it appeared as though this affliction was going to be fatal. For the only other individual that dealt with this particular problem (a Starfleet officer named Yor who crossed over because of the events that introduced us to the Kelvin Timeline), died a slow and painful death because of his displacement, leaving the situation hopeless for the former Emperor, at least until the Discovery’s dynamic new computer system came up with a potential solution to help Georgiou have a fighting chance at tomorrow.

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Which brought the crew to a remote and frozen world, one where it seemed as though the computer was in fact, wrong. For there were no signs of.... anything... to be found on this world, just snow and fury from the once proud Emperor of the Terran Empire and that’s when this story took quite the unique turn. For a mysterious individual named Carl popped up in the midst of the snow, complete with a newspaper citing Georgiou’s death and a doorway to her potential solution and well… with no other choice seemingly available to her, she stepped through Door Number 1 and arrived in the past, her past to be exact. On the very day when Captains Burnham and Lorca were set to betray her in an attempt to seize the throne of the Empire and call it their own. Which was uh, an unexpected and wild way to move this story along. 
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But it did allow for the audience to enjoy another Mirror Universe story and see the various members of the crew in far different light than we are used to. Since Mirror Burnham and her love of murder and chaos was on full display in this tale, and we came to learn that the wise and true Captain Saru, was reduced to nothing more than a slave in this universe and well... you simply cannot go wrong with more of Captain Killy. But while all of this was entertaining in its own right, this particular episode really didn’t explain how a voyage home, or at least a fantasy thereof, was going to cure the Emperor. Granted it did imply that perhaps her taking a different path and making peace between the person she’s become and the person she once was, might be the key to finally healing her ailing body and mind, but it never outright said it.

But on the plus side, at least we were treated to some epic moments in this tale. Because the Kelvin Timeline, is finally canon in the Star Trek Universe and that’s huge. Plus, there was some implication that Carl, played brilliantly by Paul Guilfoyle, is a member of the Q Continuum since he was big on riddles and motivating others to think beyond the moment, something that is a staple of that species. But outside of that, make no mistake about it; this was a strange tale. Because none of us saw another Mirror Universe episode coming in the slightest and all we can do now is wait and see exactly where this one is taking us. Because there has to be a point in regard to everything Philippa is going through, and if there isn’t… well then it simply means that the strange has triumphantly returned to the STU. Until next time.

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