Only a few weeks after Discovery confirmed how a lot confidence it had in taking a Star Trek trope it knew it was good at and rattling close to perfecting it, this week we get the collection diving into one other—and probably not discovering a lot curiosity in why it even took it on within the first place.
“Filler” has develop into a unclean phrase in any dialogue of up to date TV—robbed of its nuance and which means to primarily denote episodes that didn’t add Information to the Canon or straight advance the principle plot of a present. Filler episodes, at their best, are tales that also advance the world of their reveals, both by inviting us to think about it from a special perspective, or by permitting characters to sit down with one another past the constraints of driving plot to only merely be—an opportunity to be taught issues that don’t matter to the principle plot, however matter to creating a collection really feel wealthy, and textured, and compelling. “Whistlespeak,” the sixth episode of Star Trek: Discovery’s closing season, then is maybe… sort of each?
Following the clue traces because of just a little assist from Kovich—casually beaming Michael into his secret white house hideaway, the place David Cronenberg apparently simply craves the texture of a twenty first century notepad—the Discovery finds itself heading to the planet Halem’no: the positioning of the clue from one of many scientists on the group that hid the Progenitor tech, whose names and species got to Michael by way of Kovich’s notepad. Realizing that Halem’no is residence to each a collection of rain-creating climate towers left behind by the scientist behind the crew—and that the planet’s pre-warp inhabitants has gathered its society across the final functioning one—Michael duties herself and Lieutenant Tilly with beaming down, mixing in, and getting the clue hidden inside them as rapidly as doable.
Star Trek loves a narrative about skirting the Prime Directive—the Starfleet mandate that officers can’t, inadvertently or in any other case, affect a pre-warp civilization by exposing them to expertise or the existence of different galactic powers. Discovery’s thirty second century setting is ripe for an attention-grabbing tackle one, on condition that a lot of the technological friction that existed in previous collection that made mixing in powerful are actually distinctly each far more fraught (everybody can simply beam-apparate weapons out of their fingers, or pinpoint teleport! It’s mainly magic!) and but additionally a lot simpler (don’t have to carry a tricorder out now that it’s been condensed right into a surreptitious contact lens). However whereas “Whistlespeak” is excessive on potentiality—particularly when the meat of its battle is concerning the push and pull of scientific rationality and religious religion—it by no means actually coalesces its concepts into something that feels remotely attention-grabbing.
Take the titular Whistlespeak for instance—a whistle-based lexicon utilized by the Halem’nites to speak over lengthy distance when shouting their normal language would show tough. It’s a incredible thought, a lot so we dedicate an entire scene to Tilly watching Michael geek out concerning the anthropological nature of it earlier than they beam all the way down to the planet, excited concerning the parallels it has to their typical lengthy vary communication tech: a basic Discovery second, discovering pleasure within the methods folks talk and join to one another, no matter their distance, the theme the present has been usually unafraid to beat over our heads time and time once more this season. And but, except for briefly listening to some once they first beam down, it by no means comes up—both as a plot system or a thematic parallel about that concept of speaking throughout distance—within the episode once more!
As an alternative, what we get is mainly a religious retreat crossed with the worst cross nation race you ever did in school. The religious Halem’nites have been congregating to the mountain spire hiding the final remaining functioning climate tower—which has left Halem’no arid and sparse of rainfall—as a result of they see the spire as a temple to their gods, the place essentially the most trustworthy can earn the correct to straight petition these greater beings for assist with rainfall. Michael and Tilly, having befriended Ravah, the eager-to-prove-themselves baby of one of many native non secular figures, rapidly uncover that this proof comes within the type of a light jog by the native forest made infinitely worse by taking some type of dehydrating dice initially of it, rendering all of the contributors gasping for air… and, after all, now simply tempted by the bowls of water positioned across the race course.
Should you thought watching folks jog by a forest whereas deeply uncomfortable and dehydrated was typically not enjoyable to look at, don’t fear: it seems, it’s. However Michael rapidly and conveniently surmises that there have to be a plot system close by, noticing that some native vegetation have been modified in shade by what she assumes have to be leaking radiation from the malfunctioning climate towers. Dropping out of the trial to let Tilly carry on operating within the hopes at the least one in every of them makes it contained in the spire, Michael is after all confirmed proper about all this—and that the final tower failing will result in each Halem’nite perishing anyway—as a result of it’s far more enjoyable to look at a Star Trek character resolve a tech help puzzle than it’s watching them uncomfortably half-run.
The unhealthy information will get worse for Tilly when each she and Ravah handle to finish the trial, incomes them the correct to complete the spire… and be ritually sacrificed by way of asphyxiation to convey forth rain. Womp womp! It’s right here the moral dilemma on the crux of “Whistlespeak” ought to actually go into overdrive—is Discovery’s mission to seek out the clues to the Progenitors so necessary that it could possibly override the prime precept of Starfleet? What’s misplaced when this technological development is uncovered to a deeply non secular individuals who have discovered which means past it? At what level does the compassion and understanding requested of Starfleet officers wrestle with the scientific reasoning and logic that guides their obligation within the first place?
As an alternative, the episode simply sort of shrugs and, actually by Michael, decides it’ll fill out the paperwork later. And in doing so, any of the sort of rigidity that was pushed by the potential hazard Tilly and Ravah have been in is simply instantly undercut. Michael beams in proper in entrance of Ravah’s dad, who was nonetheless within the spire attempting to consolation his dying baby from afar, and explains that she’s mainly an alien with expertise akin to the facility of the gods themselves, and that she will be able to repair all of the towers and make it so no extra folks must be sacrificed. Bizarrely, he counter argues that perhaps they need to hold killing folks anyway, as a result of it’s acquired a sort of neighborhood spirit vibe that brings folks collectively, however at this level each Michael and the episode itself have run out of time to dig into all that, so they simply sort of sidestep it. And with that, the day is saved, the clue is discovered (not even in the principle spire that was central to the complete episode!), and everybody goes off on their merry approach. Eeeeeeh.
Glibness apart, it’s not like there aren’t attention-grabbing concepts in “Whistlespeak”—Star Trek has an extended historical past of attempting to deal with what religious religion appears like in its superior societies, and the way it sits alongside the science-driven reasoning that defines so a lot of its heroes. However “Whistlespeak” by no means feels notably itself into diving into these concepts, in a second the place the adventure-driven vibes of this closing season actually don’t work out in its favors. The present tries to attach all of it again to the characters on Discovery itself—principally in a subplot with Dr. Culber, nonetheless caught on his quasi-spiritual expertise on Trill, and attempting to make sense of that as each a person of medication and science and a accomplice who’s likewise decidedly non-spiritual—however contemplating we’re on the very finish of this recap and I’ve solely simply thought to convey it up, that ought to let you know how notably trenchant that connection managed to be (the subplot ends, mainly, with Ebook telling Culber that generally it’s simply okay to really feel one thing for your self, as a substitute of sharing it with different folks in your life, and that’s that. Thanks Ebook!).
The overarching plot of the season is inched ahead right here—our heroes have the penultimate clue, and have an thought of the place to move for the subsequent—however “Whistlespeak” simply doesn’t make nice use of the time that’s now quickly operating out for Discovery to place its geese in a row forward of 1 final sendoff. We’re in a run of episodes this final season that, whereas primarily nonetheless repeating themes and concepts Discovery has already had one thing to say about, nonetheless discovered methods to articulate these themes and concepts, unsubtly or in any other case, in pleasurable methods. “Whistlespeak” looks like extra of a shrug alongside the way in which as compared, however with it certainly now out of that approach, hopefully Discovery can get again to extra attention-grabbing issues as this race attracts to its conclusion.
Star Trek: Discovery is out there to stream now on Paramount+.
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