{"id":7857,"date":"2021-07-12T08:00:46","date_gmt":"2021-07-12T15:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=7857"},"modified":"2021-07-05T13:27:13","modified_gmt":"2021-07-05T20:27:13","slug":"mark-watches-discovery-s03e07-unification-iii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2021\/07\/mark-watches-discovery-s03e07-unification-iii\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Discovery’: S03E07 – Unification III"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the seventh episode of the third season of Discovery<\/i>, Burnham invokes an obscure quorum in order to retrieve key data on the Burn. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Star Trek<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

HELLO, FRIENDS, EVERY SECOND OF THIS EPISODE RULED, I AM IN AWE.<\/p>\n

T\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Kal-in-ket<\/b><\/p>\n

Throughout this episode, the writers tie an integral plot point within one of the most vulnerable stories told this season. So I appreciated that this episode opened with Michael Burnham in a vulnerable state, while also communicating to us that she felt comfortable seeking out Book in the aftermath of her demotion. There is so much communicated to us in this dense episode, and so I wanted to start with this. Michael\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actions at the beginning of this episode are an example of some of the non-verbal storytelling present in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Unification III,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a whole lot more of it throughout. We now know how safe she feels with Book, something that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s revisited in the final scene. Where does she belong? What feels like home to her? How does this all relate to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153messianic complex\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that others have observed in Michael?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Many of these questions are answered in this episode, but not without one hell of a journey to that final scene between Book and Michael. Indeed, this feels like such a huge episode in practically every regard because it deals with large ideas and Michael\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ongoing Discovery<\/i> arc, but I, for one, am deeply appreciative of what this all culminated in.<\/p>\n

So, after Michael\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s demotion, I understood why she was reluctant to represent the Federation in any way. As Michael later admitted to both her mother and the quorum, she was deeply unsure what her place was on Discovery<\/i> or in the Federation. Her quest to determine the origins of the Burn was too important to her. How could she continue to ignore pursuing it? I saw Michael as being aware that she would most likely defy the Federation if it meant obtaining something that would ultimately help them. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what her year away from everyone had taught her. It was what she became accustomed to! In a sense, she experienced a freedom she never had before, and now, it was hard to make herself fit within the confines of her own world.<\/p>\n

Yet Michael\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ties to Spock pulled her back into this conflict. I loved the way all the worldbuilding surrounding Ni\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Var was revealed here. We learn most of it from dialogue, first from Admiral Vance, then from T\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Rina, but then in-person from the three members of the T\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Kal-in-ket quorum. Without ever stepping foot on Ni\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Var, the history of this unification between the Romulans and the Vulcans is given to us, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an incredible feat as far as I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m concerned. I never once felt like I was in over my head during the episode. I had a grasp on the main points of this history, and the quorum itself helped me to understand the core issues between the three main factions within Ni\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Var.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I think what really helped is that the worldbuilding never got in the way of the story. Ni\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Var and its struggles were deeply complicated, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tons more to explore if we ever return to it. But Michael remained firmly in the center of this struggle, and that made this a cohesive, compelling story.<\/p>\n

President T\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Rina and Saru<\/b><\/p>\n

I made this comment on video that in a way, Saru\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s conversation with T\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Rina felt like a lowkey version of T\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Kal-in-ket, in the sense that it was about trust, logic, and honesty. Saru approached his conversations with the President of Ni\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Var with optimism, despite that T\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Rina was (understandably) much more concerned about even considering the idea of communicating at length with the Federation. I hesitate to say that she was cynical here, because I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the right way to approach her positions. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s more that she was exceptionally cautious. The balance on Ni\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Var was precarious, and it was completely legible that her hesitation was based not in anything irrational, but a very real concern that the peace on the planet could fall apart if she didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make the right choices.<\/p>\n

For a subplot that amounted to two people walking around a ship and talking, I was completely mesmerized by what Doug Jones and Tara Rosling were able to accomplish. I loved how philosophical their conversation was; I loved how emotional<\/i> it was, too. In many ways, it felt like a test run for what an eventual act of diplomacy between Ni\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Var and the Federation might look like. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to discount the immense implications of what Michael Burnham achieved, but I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also important to acknowledge that Saru had his own hand in changing President T\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Rina\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mind, too.<\/p>\n

The Qowat Milat<\/b><\/p>\n

Before the quorum actually started, though, Discovery<\/i> dropped an enormous plot twist on us: Michael\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mother had not only survived the trip home, but had been taken in by a Romulan faction known as the Qowat Milat. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m fascinated by the contrast they had to the Vulcans, given that the Qowat Milat swore by the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153precept of Absolute Candor.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know if that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s capitalized in canon, but they way it was spoken led me to believe it had an official designation.) Instead of a commitment to logic, they exercised a commitment to emotion, namely in their honesty. Honesty is<\/i> an emotional component of our humanity, right? So they live their life by telling the truth, to put it bluntly. AND WHAT A WAY TO UTILIZE THIS THROUGH THE RETURN OF GABRIELLE BURNHAM. Holy shit, I genuinely did not see this coming, but it fits so, so well. I think back to Gabrielle\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s appearance last season and how even then, she was brutally honest with Michael about her role in the universe and her relationship with her daughter. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s far more affection here, of course, especially since Michael and the crew of Discovery<\/i> were able to free Gabrielle of her mission to end Control. Still, as Michael made her way through the T\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Kal-in-ket, her mother increasingly pushed her toward the terribly uncomfortable truth behind Michael\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pursuit of the Burn. From a storytelling perspective, though, this was a BRILLIANT invention. An in-universe means to push a character to an emotional truth? IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S SO SATISFYING.<\/p>\n

Defending the Truth<\/b><\/p>\n

The actual T\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Kal-in-ket sequence is easily one of my favorite moments from both this season and from the show itself. Not only do both Sonja Sohn and Sonequa Martin-Green give the performance of a lifetime, but look how fantastic the other actors were, too! Saru and T\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Rina don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say a single word during it, and yet their facial expressions alone communicate so much to us. (As I said in the beginning, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a lot of non-verbal storytelling in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Unification III.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d) Then, we have the three actors playing N\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Ral, Shira, and V\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Kir, whose acting has to convey not just their character\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s journey, but the entire faction of Na\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Vir that they represent. Again, this could have been convoluted and illegible, but the quorum ends up being electrifying and tense.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, at the center of it is Michael Burnham, who must reckon what she wants with what she needs. She must reckon with what is best for her and what is best for the Federation. And, as she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d been warned, Michael\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s entire character is called into question, often times by the very person who warned her how personal and painful this process was going to be. At times, it felt like Michael Burnham herself was on trial, but wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t that the point? Absolute Candor required the truth, even if that truth was inconvenient or painful. As Michael bore her soul to the quorum, she approached her own realization: Her actions could tear apart the very thing Spock fought for years to make a reality. For me, I saw Michael\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story as one where she accepted that she had approached this the wrong way. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d found a way to acquire the three black boxes in the first place without<\/i> the Romulans and the Vulcans. Who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s to say she couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t still do that? This is why T\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Rina came around on the SB-19 data that Michael had asked for: She realized that the risk was probably going to be worth it.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Which felt huge<\/i> coming from a Vulcan, right? Handing over that data was an act of faith. It was an emotional choice. But perhaps this is why T\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Rina\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s conversations with Saru were so important: He helped her see another perspective.<\/p>\n

Number One<\/b><\/p>\n

I AM JUST SO HAPPY FOR TILLY. Even if her subplot doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get as much screentime as Burnham\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, I do think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also a culmination of three seasons worth of storytelling. Even if Tilly only remains a temporary Number One, I do believe she really was the best choice here for Michael\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s replacement. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen time and time again how caring and thorough Tilly is as a part of this crew, but she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also demonstrated a willingness to make difficult decisions under pressure. Her advice to Saru in the previous episode was a good example of that. Despite that Michael is LITERALLY her best friend, she knew it was better that Admiral Vance learn of Michael\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s insubordination from Saru than anyone else.<\/p>\n

There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a theme of faith across \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Unification III,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of characters deliberately imagining better futures despite everything to the contrary telling them not to. And I love that Saru\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand then the whole crew!!!\u00e2\u20ac\u201doffers Tilly their faith: They believe that she is the best person for the job. I personally can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wait to see how she adjusts!<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Unification III\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– My third novel (and middle grade debut) THE INSIDERS has been announced! Check out the cover reveal and pre-order links here.<\/a>
\n<\/strong>– If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"