{"id":7806,"date":"2021-04-23T08:00:57","date_gmt":"2021-04-23T15:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=7806"},"modified":"2021-04-12T07:00:43","modified_gmt":"2021-04-12T14:00:43","slug":"mark-watches-discovery-s01e09-into-the-forest-i-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2021\/04\/mark-watches-discovery-s01e09-into-the-forest-i-go\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Discovery’: S01E09 – Into the Forest I Go"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the ninth episode of the first season of Star Trek: Discovery<\/i>, HELP ME, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M STRESSED. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Star Trek<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For discussion of PTSD, trauma, and sexual assault.<\/b><\/p>\n

Somehow this wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a season finale, but HERE WE ARE.<\/p>\n

Stamets and Lorca<\/b><\/p>\n

You know, I feel like the show wants me to find the Federation-Klingon war a lot more interesting than it actually is. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a flaw of this season, namely because there simply isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the same level of depth to their characters as we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re getting for… well, literally everyone else. There are moments when they feels like more of a means to an end for the Discovery<\/i> characters rather than their own thing?<\/p>\n

At the same time, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so thankful that the cast of characters ARE so interesting. The horrific situation thrust upon the crew in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Into the Forest I Go\u00e2\u20ac\u009d pushes them into such compelling and frightening places, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M HERE FOR THAT. So let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s start with Stamets, whose moral conundrum in the previous episode is brought forth into the light here. Seriously, that moment of elation where I realized Lorca was going to find a way to save Pahvo? Unmatched. The way it was immediately undercut when Lorca wanted Stamets to undergo a full battery of tests? UN. MATCHED. Because that secret between Tilly and Stamets would soon no longer be a secret!\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And somehow, Discovery<\/i> found a story EVEN MORE STRESSFUL THAN THAT. Stamets\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story is woven into Lorca\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, since the captain puts the ship on a three-hour timeline to determine how they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll figure out the weakness in the Klingons\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cloaking technology. Desperate times call for desperate measures, right? And the desperation is part of the reason Lorca asks something of Stamets that is… look, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even know how to convey it in text. Which is part of why the tension works so well. When Lorca said that Stamets would have to complete 133 micro-jumps, it didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel real. Like… okay, rapid jumps! It would be intense, but they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re small, right?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But before we even GOT to that nightmare, we had… Lorca. Oh, Lorca. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quite parse his character at this exact moment, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a criticism of how he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s written or portrayed in the show. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m trying to analyze him given his history. We know Lorca will do and say pretty much anything to get what he wants. But I now know he also doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to repeat his experience in the Battle at the Binary Stars, and that absolutely affects his choices. So… does he manipulate Stamets in this episode? Does he deliberately play to Stamets\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s explorer, scientific nature in order to get what he wants? I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a real possibility, but I also think you could analyze his actions as a captain desperate to save the crew and Pahvo. I DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T KNOW. I want to give him the benefit of the doubt, but given where Stamets ends up, I also wonder if Lorca pushed him too far.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I also<\/i> don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to ignore Stamets\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s agency either. He chose those, and then he chose to hide the side affects he was suffering from his partner, too. What would Dr. Culber have recommended if he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d known that Stamets was experiencing something so erratic and concerning? But also… would any of this have been a success if Lorca hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t pushed Stamets? If Stamets hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t enjoyed<\/i> this experiment? Because that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s playing a part in this, too!!! It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so complicated, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a good thing. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so much more interesting that way.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Burnham<\/b><\/p>\n

I would not be surprised if Burnham ended up being one of my favorite protagonists inTrek<\/i>. She is ELECTRIFYING here, from her confrontation with Lorca on the bridge, to the moment where she promises Tyler she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll complete the mission, to her INCREDIBLE fight with Kol in the climax of this episode. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, she is a powerhouse, written with an intensity of action and<\/i> emotion!!! I LOVE HER OKAY. I love that she is someone else\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s peace. I love that when Tyler has an episode, she treats him with compassion and kindness. I love that when she realized that Kol was going to warp away from his location, she found a compelling and believable means of distracting him. I LOVE THAT SHE WAS GIVEN SPACE TO STAND UP FOR HERSELF AND ADVOCATE FOR HER ABILITIES AND KNOWLEDGE.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This whole nightmare was such an immense challenge for Burnham, and yet through it all, she never lost sight of who she was or what it meant to be a Starfleet officer. Mind you, she was the one who advocated for locating the source of the human life source rather than just completing the mission. Burnham has demonstrated an almost encylcopedic knowledge of Starfleet regulation, and I believe her Vulcan education provides her with the logic that she uses to execute that knowledge. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so convincing here, both when she convinces Lorca of her need to be on the away mission and<\/i> when she faces down with Kol.<\/p>\n

It was just a delight<\/i> to watch her.<\/p>\n

Tyler<\/b><\/p>\n

Well. Two episodes in a row that broke my heart over a character exploration. THANKS, DISCOVERY<\/i>. Admittedly, seeing Tyler\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s PTSD episode was much harder than watching the events of the last episode, particularly since this hit rather close to him. I think some folks don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t genuinely know how physical<\/i> it is to deal with PTSD, especially when a person is triggered. Shazad Latif utterly nails this specific depiction, adding a weighty physicality to what Ash Tyler goes through here. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have as many bigger episodes like the one we saw here\u00e2\u20ac\u201dmy last one was last summer during the protests here in Brooklyn\u00e2\u20ac\u201dbut I wanted to start off my discussion of Tyler with this acknowledgment. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve talk about representation and authenticity a lot over the years, and while I know some of my thoughts have evolved over time, I still can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t deny how powerful it is to feel seen.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Part of feeling seen involves compassion, and the framing of Tyler\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s episode is one major way in which Discovery<\/i> allows for compassion to exist. The timing of it complicated matters, but at no point does anyone shame him for it. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not portrayed as annoying. When Burnham approaches him near the end of the episode, she does so respectfully. And more important than anything else, both Cornwell and Burnham validate Tyler, accepting that he has PTSD rather than trying to explain it away or\u00e2\u20ac\u201deven worse\u00e2\u20ac\u201ddenying it exists.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I have a little more complicated thoughts on what this episode reveals about L\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Rell and Tyler, as well as how<\/i> it was revealed. I remarked on video that while Tyler was describing both the torture and sexual assault that he experienced, I appreciated that it was not accompanied by a visual element. Yes, we had those flashes of his torture (and whatever medical procedures the Klingons did on him) when the episode was being depicted. But I found it to be a compassionate and thrilling choice for the show to have his explanatory monologue to Burnham be nothing but<\/i> that: a monologue.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So yeah, I know I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m biased here because I have PTSD from sexual assault, but I kind wish we didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get that last montage of images of L\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Rell on top of Tyler. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know that it makes the storytelling any better, nor do I think the audience needed that?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I am also confused\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthough it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clear I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m supposed to be\u00e2\u20ac\u201dby Tyler\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actions at the end of this episode when he goes to confront L\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Rell. I have a theory that feels plausible, which is that all the torture he went through has given him a sort of Stockholm Syndrone connection to L\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Rell? Like, maybe he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s drawn to her because of this horrible thing that he went through? I know I brought up earlier how I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really understand L\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Rell\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s motivation, but perhaps this episode is finally starting to give us that context. Like… why would she tell Tyler that she wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t let \u00e2\u20ac\u0153them\u00e2\u20ac\u009d hurt him? Why does she care about him? Are we witnessing that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153special interest\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Tyler said that L\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Rell took in him? Regardless… boy, do I want Tyler to find healing, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to find it in L\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Rell.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Into the Forest I Go\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":"