'Star Trek: Discovery' Recap - 'What's Past Is Prologue'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

I must admit that the more time I spent pondering upon the stunning revelation that came about during last week’s episode of Star Trek: Discovery, wherein we came to learn that Captain Gabriel Lorca was a visitor from the Mirror Universe who used and manipulated the crew of the Discovery to further his agenda in the Terran Empire, the more I found myself anxious to watch this week’s episode in the right kind of way, since that twist signaled some incredible possibilities storytelling wise. 
 
After all, such a reveal would allow for the series to show us what the man is really about and thankfully, ‘What’s Past Is Prologue’ wasted no time in revealing the fact that Gabriel Lorca is a ruthless man through and through since he got right down to business in this tale and went right after Emperor Georgiou and her forces in devastating fashion, releasing a bioweapon aboard the I.S.S. Charon, putting most of the crew down and leaving the Emperor disgraced since she was forced to run and hide. 
 
Which of course, put Burnham in a tough spot since the Discovery was on its way to rendezvous with the Charon. Thankfully though, Michael was able to avoid capture in the middle of the coup, and contact the ship, allowing for Saru and the crew come up with a wild plan that would not only destroy the Mycelial Core that the Emperor’s ship was using for power, but send them home in the process, provided of course that Michael could reach the Emperor’s throne room and disable the shields surrounding it.  

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​Which meant that the time had come at last for a grand showdown between Lorca and Burnham and that’s when the story took a thrilling turn. Because not only did we get some incredible back and forth between Lorca and Burnham, where we came to learn just how much this imposter Captain cares for Michael in just about any universe, but the show also kicked the action into overdrive in this segment of the story once the Discovery arrived, and the distraction the ship provided, allowed for Burnham and the Emperor to team up to take down Gabriel and well…their efforts paid off in spades. Because not only did Burnham get the shields down on the Mycelial Core, but Georgiou finally got her revenge since she was able to kill Lorca and dump him into the core.
 
However, the thrills didn’t end there. Because the Discovery still had to destroy the core and rescue Burnham and in a breathtaking visual sequence, we saw the crew execute their plan flawlessly and accomplish all of their goals, allowing for them to find their way back to their own universe as well, and that’s when the adrenaline fueled high came to a close. Because we came to find out that while the crew had returned to their proper universe, they arrived nine months after they disappeared and unfortunately for them, all of that time away allowed for the Klingon Empire to gain incredible ground and apparently…win the war.
 
When all is said and done however, I have to admit that I utterly adored this episode. It was exciting through and through, to the point where I was on the edge of my seat when the Discovery attacked the Charon, but more importantly, it was filled to the brim with bold storytelling. After all, Lorca is dead, the Emperor has come to our universe thanks to Burnham and it would seem the Klingons are triumphant in the war. That’s just a hell of a way to end this particular story arc and I love that this series can either be incredibly cerebral or packed to the gills with action. Either way, the crew is home, there’s trouble on the horizon and it should be interesting to see how everyone will deal with a galaxy where the Federation appears to have fallen. Until next time.  

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