Logline
When an existential crisis threatens to wipe out a beloved but infamous Star Trek species, a cadet is forced to confront his past and strained relationship with his family. As he pursues an unexpected method of coping, Nahla races against time to save this species from extinction.
Written by: Gaia Violo & Eric Anthony Glover
Directed by: Doug Aarniokoski
This episode was what I was hoping for out of this show. The first episode was such whiplash that I’m glad it is settling down. This episode we got a cool character study that had actual impact. Cool lore that made sense. Characters had long one on one conversations. Parallel storytelling with the debate. Maybe even the hint of a natural progressing gay romance? All storylines mattered. Good job Modern Trek!
I really didn’t care for this one.
The premise of the debate was flawed from the start. The Federation has an obligation to offer help, but there’s no requirement anywhere that it must compel another race to accept that help. Indeed many, many episodes have gone out of their way to point this out. So the whole idea of a “debate” was pointless. Of course they should offer the help, but that’s the end of any moral or legal responsibility. Doing anything more would itself be unethical.
Interestingly as an aside, I found this whole prospect very American at its root. Not only should we accept that we must offer help, but of course we must compel these people to accept our idea of help. It stinks of regime change from without and I find the idea that the Federation would ever work this way ridiculous.
On top of that, we’re somehow supposed to pretend we didn’t all watch Esri Dax’s excellent critique of the Klingon Empire back on DS9 and instead accept that this lie of “conquest” is supposed to prop up the Klingon culture. Are we to believe that it’s been hundreds of years and the Empire is still built in lies they tell each other about honour and battle? Instead of showing any hint of evolution (and potentially stoking internal conflict at the idea of accepting charity from an enemy), we just had a 5 minute “battle” and it’s all ok now.
This wasn’t even a respectful battle. No blood was spilt by either side, no sacrifices made. Where is the honour in that? It was a mock battle to preserve a lie. Esri would not be amused.
I think that arrogant, quasi-imperialistic has always been simmering in the background of the Federation, so I wasn’t too surprised to see them arguing over this - and, to be clear, the actual debate was always amongst the students. Vance was determined to convince the Klingons to accept asylum, but “compelling” them did not seem to be seriously on the table.
Esri Dax’s excellent critique of the Klingon Empire
That’s an interesting point. If I were to come up with a counter-argument, I suppose it would be that the Klingons’ readiness to do this ritualistic faux combat shows some growth - they’re willing to settle for performing their culture and feeling respected, rather than endure actual warfare. A smarter person than me could probably find parallels in many modern cultural practices.
I like to think that the pepperoni pizza was a tribute to the 30th anniversary of “Threshold” on the same day, but the true tribute to “Threshold” was depicting parents stranding their offspring on a planet and then justifying that it was fine.
Thok moving of the piece of clothing to the side had me really chuckling.
I see they decided to address the more foul Language in this show compared to other Star Treks. I would have liked if it was addressed as a cultural shift regarding the evolution of language over centuries but instead they “Effed it up.”
I never really took debate in school, but is that really how it goes? One student winner debating everyone for practice until they “lose?” Constant citations of things like they were called out anime punches? It seemed more like it school debate as written by someone who never did a debate club/class, but I never took one neither so I felt I should ask.
I very much enjoyed this one. I’ve always loved Klingon culture and Worf was always my favourite main cast member. In TNG/DS9 we often saw a juxtaposition between Klingon honour and victory/power at any cost that often took over. I really found it heartening that Klingons post burn are willing to risk extinction for their culture when 800 years ago many wouldn’t think twice to using dishonourable means to get a seat on the council.
This episode was a close miss for me, it’s like it had the framework to be a good episode but they just didn’t finish it up correctly.
so this episode...
The whole debate thing with Jay-Den saying Klingons must be Klingons, yeah duh, everyone knows that, weak! And the thing with the fake battle, really no one else thought of it? Honestly ST always had problems portraying Klingons consistently, they usually make them appear so dumb you wonder how they can manage to keep their fricking starships operational.
Speaking of inconsistency, Darem was introduced in E01 being an asshole for no reason, then five minutes after changed completely, now he’s even a wannabe-counsellor? I’m all for character growth, but there was none, it was more like character switch.
Loved the quote from The Drumhead, loved hearing the Klingon theme once again, I would have loved to hear it a bit longer.
Picardo is killing it as usual.
I’m seeing a slight improvement. I’m still hopeful this show can sediment into something good. I’m worried how they seem to have picked a protagonist once again, a thing I hated from Discovery.
I think Darem’s biggest issue was his drive to be the best, and he pretty much got over that last week. Other than that…IDK, he’s a bro, and I think he behaved as a bro this week.
(no need for spoiler tags in the discussion threads!)
I wonder how much do the Klingons know that Starfleet pulled its punches?
yeah that was the thing that i thought hard to believe. A big battle between Staryfleet and Klingons for the control of a planet, wero, casualties, and not a sigle Klingon raises their eyebrows even more?
I don’t think the Klingon leadership were ever lying to their people about why the war happened. I think everyone involved understood the simple soulist truth that a war is whatever the combatants can agree is a war, and therefore a bloodless war as a formality of cultural respect and independence is perfectly valid.
The realist viewpoint of “a war has to be between two people who hate each other and if they don’t then it’s not a real war” is not culturally universal. In fact, this episode reminded Me of what I’ve read of war in indigenous Australia. Wars did not usually involve any loss of life before colonisation.
Given that the shields barely has a scratch, at least the bridge crews have to know
I think they’re probably fully aware, at least amongst their leadership. They’d already been offered the planet for free, after all.
I think it was about respect, not trickery.
Dialog exchange spoiler—do not read before viewing the episode
“I have been reading your file for the last seven years. It’s longer than War and Peace. And the plot twists…”
I haven’t laughed this much in months, I don’t know who writes these humorous bits, but thank you!!
That was a fantastic episode altogether. Loved it.
I agree that the resolution should be obvious, and after the Betazed episode, it is again ridiculous that political problems are solved at a school, but then again, it was ridiculous that Picard solved all problems in the galaxy.
I also like how this episode resolves why Klingons played no role in Discovery after the time jump.
I agree that the resolution should be obvious, and after the Betazed episode, it is again ridiculous that political problems are solved at a school, but then again, it was ridiculous that Picard solved all problems in the galaxy.
Eh, that’s just how shows work. Just imagine that there are a slew of other problems being solved off-screen by characters we never met.
I thought the contrivance of involving Starfleet Academy was done very well.
From an upper decks perspective, a tragedy happened, and Starfleet was compelled to act. No need to involve the Academy, but it just so happens that the highest ranking official in Starfleet with close ties to a member of the Klingon house is the current chancellor of Starfleet Academy. (That she’s 400 years old is going to be a pretty handy plot device for getting her involved in all sorts of things… but it hasn’t hit the point of being annoying yet.)
Separately, it also tracks that the chancellor needs to see their only Klingon cadet privately to offer support. That’s a good school administration right there. No need to involve him in the diplomatic negotiations that are going on behind the scenes.
The only reason why these converged was because of the debate class, which makes total sense that it would be a required course at the Academy, and then only because the students debated the Doctor into allowing it because they were already talking about it.
I think this would be ridiculous if it was literally every episode, but this actually worked.
I just think the show needs to be careful. I like that the stakes at the moment are low and personal, and there’s not galaxy threatening desaster (yet). I think the show would profit if they kept ist that way.
Everything else in this episode on what it means to be a Klingon was probably top 10 Trek for me.
Yeah, I thought both this and the “youth movement” angle of episode two worked well.
As the cadets start venturing out into fieldwork more, they shouldn’t have to make excuses quite so often. They can go find their own trouble, and Discovery will be undergoing a perpetual refit!
But Star Trek writers should come up with new ideas other than “our favourite alien race” diasporas. Will we have a Frengi diaspora next season?
It’s a bit weird that losing Qonos somehow wiped out the whole Klingon empire.
They did say they had been using “dilithium reactors” on multiple worlds.
It was okay, and I like that we got some insight into why Jay-Den is the way he is.
But… to be honest, I’m not sure why this debate between Caleb and Jay-Den is even happening. If they’re going to throwing regulations and laws around, doesn’t the actual Prime Directive exist anymore? Because I’ve not heard a single mention of it. If the PD exists, you just don’t mess with the internal workings of a civilisation (TOS: “The Apple” and “The Return of the Archons” notwithstanding). You can offer, you can plead, but whether they accept is their choice and right, even if it means they go extinct because of it. Yes, I know it’s all a metaphor for Jay-Den’s internal struggles, and perhaps given how they’re debating the Prime Directive is now scattered across several statutes and case law instead of one all-encompassing General Order and other sub-orders (VOY: “Infinite Regress”). But when you’re talking about this kind of situation, it’s precisely the Prime Directive you should be using to frame the debate.
Also, I saw the ending coming from very early on in the episode - it’s the obvious solution, and they should have thought of it so much earlier. Yes, if conquest, not charity, is what Klingons care about, just let them “conquer” Faan Alpha!
I think the debate club is exactly the place for the conversation - Vance and Starfleet are following the PD. They’ve made the offer, been declined, and are…well, not respecting it, but obeying it. The worst you can say about them is that they’re being persistent, trying to convince someone in the Klingon leadership structure to change their mind. That may be a little obnoxious, but I don’t think it violates any Starfleet principles to give it a shot.
That leaves the cadets to debate whether respecting the Klingons’ wishes is a good thing in this case, and I don’t think there’s any indication that the debate has any weight to it - it’s not going to affect Federation foreign policy.
I liked that “good” debaters tended to fall back on Federation law and Starfleet regulations, whereas the message is to continue to treat people with respect to their culture and identity (even if that identity is sometimes muddled).
it’s the obvious solution, and they should have thought of it so much earlier.
I do agree, but (a) Starfleet’s pretty out of practice with this stuff, and we saw in the premiere just how black-and-white they became during the Burn, and (b) if it doesn’t work out…well, you’ve got a botched “Vulcan Hello” on your hands, which isn’t great.
But given how recently they’ve dealt with Klingons, and especially given Nahla’s relationship with Obel Wochak, how much sense does being out of practice actually make? It’s not as if the Burn expunged all records of Klingon-Federation relations and the Federation had to rebuild from illuminated manuscripts copied by monks.
Don’t get me wrong - I liked the focus on the Klingons and it answered a lot about what happened to the Empire after the Burn. I’ve had a soft spot for the Klingons ever since John M. Ford’s The Final Reflection and the work that Ron Moore put in during TNG and DS9 and I was feeling really sad at seeing how far the Empire and the Klingon people had fallen.
I just think that the episode put too much heavy lifting responsibility on that last twist, because really, the solution was that obvious.
Now, I don’t profess to be a writer (not anymore), but maybe the structure could have been different. Of course the debate isn’t supposed to affect policy, but the cadets could have debated it differently, and the adults watching to see if they reached the correct solution which was obvious (to them) all along.
I remember when I was in the equivalent of my junior year of high school, and coming up with what I thought was a brilliant insight into Shakespeare’s Henry V, Part 1. All excited, I went to my English teacher and started blabbering about it. He listened patiently and let me finish, then said, “That’s great. You know, it’s been said before, but the important part is that you came up with it on your own.”
A possibility could be centering the core of the cadet debate not so much on whether or not they should force a solution on the Klingons (which as I said is a non-starter because the PD should have settled the question very quickly), but how to get Faan Alpha into the hands of the Klingons without violating their autonomy.
Then you could still get Caleb to take the side of “fuck it, what’s so good about the PD anyway?” and Jay-Den says, “But we have to remain who we are!”
And when Jay-Den has his epiphany, then the adults go, “Excellent. So this is what we’re going to do.” Because the adults have always known what had to be done but wanted the kids come to the conclusion on their own.
Then it doesn’t look like anyone is being an idiot.
If they’re going to throwing regulations and laws around, doesn’t the actual Prime Directive exist anymore?
Caleb explicitly mentions the Prime Directive, stating that it doesn’t apply here, but without explaining why not. I always understood that this directive applies only to pre-warp societies, which the Klingon society is not, but I may be wrong.
The PD applies to all civilizations, but is more permissive with those that are already capable of FTL travel. When a species is out travelling the galaxy, you can interact and negotiate with them, but you can’t directly interfere with their business.
Caleb is leaning hard into the “pre-warp” side of it, as many fans tend to do, which is why he said those particular regulations don’t apply. He’s just conveniently ignoring the rest of the PD, assuming it’s still in force in the 32nd century.
Edit: I’m wrong - I was conflating Caleb’s argument and the earlier debate about returning to pre-warp times. Caleb’s argument isn’t explained, and we funny get to hear what he’s saying immediately before.
I agree that the resolution to the conflict was obvious and it took the episode a bit too long to get there.
Not sure about the PD. I guess it is complicated by the fact that we are talking about the Klingons, a foe and friend for like a millennium. It’s hard to turn away from their struggle. But the federation comes across as if they’re not looking at Klingons on the same level. Like “look at this planet, it has lots of Vulcans, you will love it”, as if Earthlings would be happy if Klingons showed them a planet and are like “this place is 80% water, take it”. I know that’s not even discussed in the episode, but that’s, at least to me, a bigger point than what the Klingons bring up. Home is where the heart is? But then again, Klingons do what Klingons do, so yeah, let’s battle it out
Annotations for 1x04 are up at: https://startrek.website/post/34851748
I thought it was great and have been enjoying the series so far. It reminds me of Lower Decks blended with a much less offensively cheesy Discovery.
Loved the episode, no notes.
shit, should I be watching Academy!?
If you haven’t been, at least try this episode (or everything up to this episode if you want to go all-in). If this episode doesn’t move you in some way, then I don’t know. Maybe it’s not actually a show for you.
🥹 Yes, I am crying.
EDIT:
Major Spoiler
I teared up hearing the rendition of the TMP score.
Me too.
