'Star Trek: Discovery' Recap - 'The Wolf Inside'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

The more time I spent thinking about last week’s episode of Star Trek: Discovery, the more excited I found myself for last night’s episode simply due to the fact, that it seemed this little story arc was finally going to give the Mirror Universe the exploration it has so woefully needed in the Star Trek universe. Because really, we’ve only enjoyed snippets of this parallel dimension throughout the years and to have a crew stranded here would allow for this place to blossom before our eyes in ways we never imagined.
 
As it turns out, this week’s tale, ‘The Wolf Inside’, did indeed take the time to delve into this universe and well…it’s an awful, awful place. There’s something supremely disturbing about seeing the mighty Federation twisted into an unwholesome place where murder occurs daily and species once celebrated as equals are nothing more than indentured servants here and in all honesty, I quickly came to regret my desire to see more of this world, and thankfully, the show relented in its onslaught…by instead dropping some big-time surprises into our lap. 
 
Because while on a mission to end the rebellion, Burnham saw an opportunity to better understand her enemy back home and that brought her face to face with the Mirror Universe’s iteration of Voq and well, this encounter, with Tyler present, was enough to unlock the Lieutenant’s programming and wouldn’t you know it…he’s Voq after all. He went through horrible and painful procedures to become Tyler, but now he knows his true identity and once again, he is quite the threat. But thanks to some quick thinking on Burnham’s part she was able to get Voq/Tyler back aboard the Discovery to be dealt with at a later time. 

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​However, the show wasn’t done surprising us just yet, and the next one had to deal with Burnham herself, who quite frankly…went on quite the journey in this tale. Because part of what made this storyline so uncomfortable and so disgusting, is the fact that Michael was struggling with her actions in this disturbing place. She had to take everything that is good about herself and everything wonderful she’s been taught about the universe and bury it down deep in order to survive here and it seemed for a moment that she was beginning to lose herself in the Mirror Universe.
 
But thankfully, the mission to deal with the rebels seemingly reignited the good in her, and well, I came to realize in the final moments of this episode, wherein we met Emperor Georgiou, exactly why the Mirror Universe is so incredibly critical to the story at this juncture. Because for some time now, we’ve slipped away from Burnham’s internal road to redemption and the past she has yet to make peace with, and coming here, and seeing old faces that no longer exist in her world…will force her to finally deal with her past and anything else that haunts her as well and I personally believe that this little twist/surprise is a stroke of genius storytelling wise.
 
Plus, it’s also incredibly cool that we get to see Michelle Yeoh reprise her role even if it just so happens to be in twisted fashion. Simply because we get to see Michelle let loose and embrace Georgiou’s dark side and I have no doubt that bringing Georgiou back into the fold will only embolden Michael Burnham to be something more when she and the Discovery get back home, which is paramount to that redemption. Either way, I love that this tale turned out to be filled to the brim with stunning revelations and character development through and through and at this point, it’s going to be quite the treat to see how the crew gets out of this mess, because the odds continue to stack against them. Until next time. 

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