****STARSHIP-SIZED SPOILERS AHEAD!!****
The season 2 finale of CBS All Access’ “Star Trek: Discovery” (“Such Sweet Sorrow” part 2) saw the crew of the titular starship following ‘red angel’ Michael Burnham forward in time 930 years to the late 32nd century… truly ‘going where no (Trek series) has gone before.’ Last month, at New York Comic Con, a trailer for the third season was unveiled.
The S3 Trailer.
Breakdown.
The following are observations and analysis regarding the “Star Trek: Discovery” S3 trailer. Other opinions and observations are very much welcome in the comment section below (no trolling, please, thanks!). Here goes…
Burnham’s narration mentions an entire year she spent “looking for the domino” that started all of this. I’m assuming she’s referring to the second season’s storyline which followed Burnham’s year-long quest to solve the “red angel” mystery that ultimately stopped a sentient artificial intelligence from destroying the entire Federation (like The Terminator’s “Skynet”/“Legion”). She may also be referring to a year spent in this new 32nd century looking for what led to an apparent collapse/demise of the Federation and Starfleet (more on that below). However, my guess is that the the year spent refers to last season’s storyline.
As I’ve said in an earlier review of the S2 finale (“Such Sweet Sorrow” part 2), the time jump by Burnham and Discovery into the 32nd century was largely unnecessary, since the rogue Leland-AI was destroyed by S31 operative Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) well before Discovery jumped off into the future. The crew could’ve simply waited a couple of minutes for Georgiou’s confirmation that the Leland AI was destroyed. That said, I think a jump forward in time is a very healthy thing for the series overall. I’ll explain later.
Moving on…
We see humans fighting alongside the Andorians as well, suggesting that members from the core planets of the Federation (Earth, Andor, etc) might still have some kind of loose association with each other (a long shared history, if nothing else), even if the United Federation of Planets, as a formal political body, no longer exists.
My guess is that this well-dressed man is someone who wants to see the fallen Federation restored to its former glory; I’m guessing that he is a Federation leader-in-absentia.
I’ll admit, Michael being a ‘chosen one’ is a trope that made me a bit queasy (it’s something also heavily hinted with the Daj character in the new “Picard” trailer). Waiting for a ‘chosen one’ has become a lazy and ridiculously overused cliche in modern science fiction/fantasy movies and TV shows (and in storytelling since time began, for that matter). That said, I’d prefer to see how it plays out before I do any eye-rolling just yet. Maybe the writers have put a fresh spin on it, who knows? Being a Star Trek fan, I’m a natural optimist.
I’m guessing that their Starfleet uniforms might attract undue attention in this time (see: Burnham getting attacked earlier), so they’re choosing to remain as anonymous as possible for the time being. Imagine if an arrow-firing time traveler from the the army of King Edward I landed in a sensitive 21st century US military base, and it makes sense.
I sincerely hope that Saru becomes the permanent captain of Discovery, since few can deliver an inspiring speech quite like our favorite Kelpien (a talent the character discovered himself sometime during the 2nd season). Doug Jones, acting under tons of complex makeup, manages to perform through it, straight to the audience.
I’m assuming this scene takes place shortly after their successful time jump into the 32nd century.
Tilly is often an audience surrogate aboard Discovery, with her relatable flaws (nervous babbling, stammering, snoring, etc) that make her the most human crew member aboard the ship. Sometimes her nervous babbling got a tad excessive in S2 (especially considering she is now a commissioned officer and no longer a cadet), however, Mary Wiseman imbues her character with so much warmth and charm that any flaws in how she’s written can be overlooked.
I’m hoping both of these actors are given more business this year. Lt. “Owo” (as she’s affectionately called) was part of a landing party in S2’s “New Eden”, but both characters have remained sadly underdeveloped. That said, the two are more visible than some of their nearly anonymous fellow bridge officers, such as Lt. Bryce (Ronnie Rowe Jr.). This is an area where the writing of the series, now under the direction of new showrunner Michelle Paradise, could stand some shoring up. I’m very curious to see how Paradise mines this potentially rich family of characters.
Culber’s resurrection came via the essence of thought, combined with the ‘mycelium network’ of spores connecting all points of the multiverse (it was a little goofy to accept, but so are all sci-fi resurrections, for that matter). The mycelium network exists in a nether dimension that Discovery’s experimental ‘spore drive’ uses to travel far faster than Star Trek’s traditional warp speeds. Hugh’s live-in love aboard the ship also happens to be the ship’s expert on (and co-creator of) the spore drive itself, Commander Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp). It was a physical manifestation of Paul’s grief over his lover’s death that led to Hugh’s eventual resurrection within the mycelium network.
Both characters had a rough time reconnecting after Hugh first returned from the hereafter (see: S2’s “If Memory Serves”) but they reaffirmed their commitment to each other when Paul was seriously injured last season (“Such Sweet Sorrow” part 2). Hugh and Stamets’ relationship has stood the tests of death, mourning, resurrection, and of suddenly finding themselves stranded in an all new (possibly hostile) century together.
The spore drive interface chamber is off to the left (it looks not too unlike the radiation chamber where Spock was killed in “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan”).
Trill are a symbiotic species introduced in “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (S4’s “The Host”) but explored in depth during the run of “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” (1993-9). On the Trill home world, a humanoid host would be selected (via a rigorous screening process) to join with the slug-like symbiont to became a joined being; a merger of two entities into one. One of the great rewards of joining include gaining access to the life experiences of many hosts (and symbionts) passed down through many generations.
Since the symbionts far outlive their humanoid hosts, they could be surgically removed and rejoined with a new host after the previous one expires. Symbionts which hadn’t reached maturation, or were awaiting a suitable host, were kept in bioluminescent pools, where they were carefully tended by guardians until implantation. There are far fewer available symbionts than hosts, hence the intense competition between host candidates for the joining procedure.
Obviously CBS-AA threw a lot more money into their version, but it’s still a faithful enough recreation of the above original set.
Joined Trill would make ideal ‘living witnesses’ for Discovery’s crew to learn what led to the downfall of Starfleet and the Federation, since each humanoid host has access to the memories and life experiences of their centuries-old symbionts. I’m assuming the Trill’s presence in S3 fits with that reasoning.
Mirror-Georgiou was pulled from her own universe near the end of the first season, where she played a role in helping the Federation put an end its costly war with the Klingons (which the Federation was losing). She was later recruited into Starfleet’s Section 31, while living on the Klingon home world of Qo’nos.
By the end of S2, Georgiou had rapidly risen in the ranks of the clandestine organization; a position she cemented when she killed an AI-possessed Leland, her immediate superior. Georgiou’s role in S3 is unclear, especially given the on-again/off-again rumors of her own Section 31 spinoff.
Where No Trek Has Gone Before.
The idea of plunging the series forward in time 930 years works for two main reasons. First of which is that it avoids stepping on the toes of the well-established continuity within Star Trek’s fictional 23rd and 24th centuries (the late 24th century will be revisited in “Picard”, coming in early 2020 from CBS-AA as well).
Secondly, a fourth millennium future is an era of Star Trek that we’ve never seen before, save for a 2018 Short Trek segment called “Calypso”, written by Michael Chabon (a sci-fi novelist and showrunner for next year’s “Picard”). The 15 minute “Calypso” was entirely set within the confines of the starship Discovery during its brief glimpse of the 33rd century, so Star Trek’s 32nd century offers fresh new territory for exploration. Personally, I wish that “Star Trek: Discovery” hadn’t began its life as yet another prequel; we’d already had “Star Trek: Enterprise”, as well as the alternate 23rd-century of the Bad Robot ST movies. That said, throwing the ship forward in time to a whole new century (whether such a move was preconceived or not) is a nice way to amend that situation.
With new showrunner Michelle Paradise, who wrote the gripping if overly busy two-part S2 finale (“Such Sweet Sorrow” 1 & 2) and a whole new millennium to play in, I’m very curious to see where a creatively unrestrained Star Trek: Discovery ‘boldly goes’ next year. In the trailer, Mirror Phillipa Georgiou herself puts it best when she says, “Let’s see how this plays out, shall we?”
No official date is yet given for the S3 premiere, but guesstimates are sometime in spring to mid-2020.
Images: CBS-All Access, Trekcore.com
For some reason I totally missed this trailer. Looks great though. Looking foward to seeing more of Discovery and her crew in action in the new season! 🙂
The trailer debuted last month at NYCC but I was a little late putting this together. October kept me pretty busy.
And yes I’m looking forward to the new season as well. Just wish they’d give a date…..
Yes, so much news sometimes hard to keep up with it all. Know what you mean, wish they’d just give release dates for stuff, same thing with Dr Who atm too, we keep getting teasers for the teaser trailers ect. Can get very frustrating. Looking foward to Discovery, will be interesting to see where they take the story and characters next.