Mark Watches ‘Discovery’: S01E14 – The War Without, The War Within

In the fourteenth and penultimate episode of the first season of Star Trek: Discovery, I truly can’t believe this show. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Star Trek.

This show keeps raising the stakes? Continuously??? There are somehow two more seasons for me to get through??????????

Reunion

GOD, JUST… okay, I want to start off by saying that there are simply so very many incredible writing choices in this episode. “The War Without, The War Within” constantly takes the viewer into expected pathways, only for the script to veer into new (and exciting!) territory, and it was an absolute delight to experience. Let my laughter at some of the twists be evidence of that; it was a JOY! And that began here with the surprise appearance of Admiral Cornwell and Sarek, which subverted any expectation I had about the Discovery’s reunion with the Federation. Even after the twist at the end of the next episode, I still didn’t anticipate this! But it was a surprise that helped us to understand just how desperate and afraid members of the Federation are. Sarek’s sudden mind-meld with Saru is evidence of that, too. Normally, there’d be a much more formal request on his part, but the Discovery showed up after Cornwell saw the debris of it nine months earlier. (Which doesn’t quite answer my question about the original Lorca; what happened to him?) These people were supposed to be dead, and they showed up out of thin air , so I get why they suspected something was afoul. 

It’s at this point that we learn just how brutal and nightmarish the Klingons have been. Again, I’m not completely sold on the depiction of the Klingons here, even if I understand why some of these choices have been made. They make a lot more sense now that I know the Georgiou twist, which I’ll get to in the end. In that context, there needed to be an adversary that was a mirror for Georgiou’s cruelty and penchant for domination, right?

Still, as villains, there’s no real depth to them. They are as brutal and violent as we think they are, and on top of that, they’re also competitively vicious. The reason the Federation has lost the war so badly is because the houses are quite literally competing with one another to see who can hurt the Federation the most. 

Which is where the ONLY real Klingon scene of depth and complication happens. I was thrilled by the confrontation between Cornwell and L’Rell, especially after their interaction aboard that Klingon ship. Here, L’Rell makes a stunning admission: T’Kuvma was wrong about humanity lacking courage. Cornwell’s survival is evidence to the contrary. But it is all that L’Rell is willing to concede here. It is Cornwell’s emotional and angry talk with L’Rell that reveals the endgame of the Klingons. Their idea of supremacy requires the elimination of the Federation. There was no convincing L’Rell that the Federation do not want homogeneity. And from the perspective of the Klingons? I think I can see what they’re getting at… like if I squint at the whole situation and think about what the Federation must look like to them. They see erasure where the Federation sees equality. How can they ever see eye-to-eye on this issue? What Cornwell ultimately took away from that conversation is that there would never be an end to the Klingons’ advance. Never. 

Which set up a whole separate plot…

Mycelial Regrowth

I love that there was still room within this episode for a sense of scientific wonder within “The War Without, The War Within.” In a lot of ways, this is a brutal, brutal episode, one without much hope for the future. Except even within all this darkness, Paul Stamets was still able to imagine potential. In this case, it was all on the moon Veda, where he hoped to create a massive terraformed “garden” of the plants that created the spores. AND WHAT A SHOW IT WAS. I also liked that this represented Stamets’s work to rebuild this network that had been so badly damaged because of his Terran counterpart. 

Ash Tyler

HEY EVERYTHING FUCKING HURTS??? I love that the show completely and utterly leaned in to how deeply uncomfortable this entire situation is, while constantly and readily acknowledging that everyone knew Ash Tyler himself was not responsible for what Voq did inside of his body. I appreciated that the line was drawn very clearly, especially because it ultimately led to two of the best scenes (among a ton of great scenes) in this episode. Right from the start, Saru made it clear that everyone was in unfamiliar territory. Even if Voq has indeed been excised out of Ash Tyler’s mind, what are the mental health ramifications of what’s happened? No one knows because this was the first trans-species surgery that any of these people know about. Still, Saru offers Tyler kindness and compassion.

Which is exactly what Cadet Tilly does, too. AND OF COURSE SHE DOES. I am continually impressed that the character who openly deals with social awkwardness is also the one who is the most socially empathetic, too. It’s her whole thing: deeply caring about others and making them feel worthy and valid. What’s so incredible about that scene is that it’s clear other members of the crew wanted to welcome Tyler back, but they were unsure how to do that. 

So Tilly just sits with him in the mess room. It was that simple, and it started the avalanche of affection and kindness. Other people needed to see that it was okay!!! MY HEART IS SO BIG BECAUSE OF TILLY, I LOVE HER SO MUCH.

Yet compassion doesn’t necessitate forgiveness or even friendship. For instance: Stamets’s reaction to running into Tyler in the hallway. I actually thought Stamets was pretty restrained there, and Anthony Rapp does a spectacular job holding back his character’s anger. You can still see it bubbling beneath the surface as he drops that final line. As hard as it was to watch, I also appreciate that the writers allowed Burnham to have her deeply complicated feelings towards Tyler. First, let’s all agree very loudly that Sonequa Martin-Green is a powerhouse in every single second of this episode, but that moment with Tyler? AWARDS. SHOWER HER WITH THEM. Because she has to portray a layered characterization there!!! She misses Tyler; she clearly loves him; she hates what he did, despite knowing that he didn’t do it; she is afraid of him, too. (That moment where she stepped back when Tyler stepped forward? The way that she navigates around Tyler so that he never touches her???? A R T.) 

Above all, though, Burnham’s scene with Tyler is meant as a way for her to heal more so than him. And in order to do so, she has to let him go. That doesn’t mean they can never be friends or work together. But I noted that this was in response to Tyler saying he can’t find his way to being human without her, which puts such an immense weight on her, right? How can she be expected to bear that, especially after what happened to her? Look, it hurts. A lot. But in the long run, I think Burnham is making the healthy choice for herself. At least I hope so!

Captain Georgiou

HI. HI, I FUCKING LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS SUBPLOT, ESPECIALLY THE ENDING. OH MY GOD. I love that the writers made this chaotic choice and then committed to the chaos. Having Georgiou in the Prime Universe is already one of the best twists on the show, but the way she interacts with everyone? Incredible. I never knew how she was going to react to anyone, and I was NOT DISAPPOINTED AT ALL. She’s been brought into this universe against her will, but she’s a survivor. It is incredible to see how she manages to make herself a part of this world’s conflict, and that’s how I viewed her conversation with Sarek. 

Look, before I even get into the details of that, I have to laugh at both of them arguing over whose Burnham was better. It was so strange, y’all, but also peak parenting??? It was also deeply in-character for both Sarek and Georgiou!!! They both saw their daughter as someone to be proud of because they’d each molded their Burnham into who they wanted them to be. Yet I don’t think Sarek saw how easily Terrans fall into manipulation. I say this because there was a mirror to Lorca in this. Georgiou planted the seed in Sarek’s mind that there was a more “logical” route to defeating the Klingons. While I don’t doubt that this mission to Qo’noS is to map the cave system on the planet, I think there’s a secret component to this that we’ll discover in the next episode. The Federation is planning a secret strike on the planet, right? Beyond just disabling the Klingon defenses??? Right??? 

Because GEORGIOU IS CAPTAIN NOW. Oh my god, I can’t believe I didn’t even realize that they could set up this lie. NO ONE ELSE KNEW THAT THIS WASN’T THE PRIME VERSION OF GEORGIOU. And now, everyone has to obey her command. SHE IS A WILDCARD. I fully expect her to make decisions that others won’t agree with, and… oh god. It’s full circle. IT’S COMING FULL CIRCLE. Burnham saved this Georgiou over the guilt she felt for defying the original Georgiou. What is going to happen if Georgiou orders the crew to do something horrific? Will Burnham have to defy her again?????

GOD, I LOVE THIS SHOW.

The video for “The War Without, The War Within” can be downloaded here for $0.99.

Mark Links Stuff

– My third novel (and middle grade debut) THE INSIDERS has been announced! Check out the cover reveal and pre-order links here.
– If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter! DO IT.