2x07 Light and Shadows

[6.4/10] I don’t know what to do with this season of Star Trek Discovery so far. It is full of ideas that I find compelling, character beats and dynamics that intrigue me, and a consistent visual flair that makes the show seem like a step up. But on the other hand, it can be so grave in its execution, so ham-handed in its arcs, and so contrived in its situations that I get ready to tear my hair out. “Light and Shadows”, appropriate for an episode that plays in themes of duality, represents the best and the worst of what this season’s had on offer.

On the one hand, I really liked the structure of this one. We had a genuine A-story and B-story this time, with few connections beyond some thematic linkages. In the A-story, Burnham returns home to Vulcan to see if her parents have any info on Spock. She ends up embroiled in a family dispute and Section 31 escape when, to her chagrin, she finds what, or rather whom, she’s looking for. And in the B-story, the rest of the crew of the Discovery has to deal with a “time rift.” (as Tilly so kindly lampshades for us, using the prefix “time” makes it sound cooler. The anomaly calls on Pike and Tyler to explore and eventually need rescue in the rift, Tilly and Stamets to work together to find them, and Saru to command the bridge crew to find the captain.

What I like so much about this structure is it really helps the pacing of the episode (and the non-overstuffed runtime doesn't hurt either). A tense moment of Discovery can shift to a scene on Vulcan to cool down, or a brisk escape from Section 31 can lend that same tension to a fraught rescue near the time rift. There’s a minor thematic connection between the two about duos with issues or differences working together to achieve common goals. But more than anything, the approach just helps the disparate stories feed into one another.

That’s underscored by the wild scene transitions deployed in this one. Everything from a shuttle launch melding into a pan down from the bulkhead, to a match cut of a crewmember’s eye and the ceiling of a Section 31 ship manages to wow here. Dipping into that well too often could become cheesy. But particularly with themes of how the time rift distorts people’s perceptions and Alice in Wonderland references of being disoriented through the looking glass, the inventive transitions really work to add a flair that dovetails with the broader mission of the episode.

And yet, I found myself growing frustrated with both stories as we rolled deeper into them. For the B-story, I initially loved the dynamic between Pike and Tyler. The Captain doesn't trust this former-Klingon killer in the shady spy corps., and Tyler questions the motivations behind Pike’s decisions, which leads to some nice verbal jousting between the two. In principle, I even like the arc of mutual respect each one has. Tyler saving Pike’s life convinces him that the specialist is on the up and up and admits to a little bit of overcompensation for having missed the war. Tyler learns to respect his new semi-captain, and sees that he has creative ideas that can get them where they need to go. In theory, that’s good, solid material for characters we haven’t really seen paired up before.

But man, I really don’t need each of them to announce every beat of that arc. Tyler openly questioning Pike over having missed the war feels weird for two characters who have no history. And the signposting of Pike’s own little arc becomes far too heavy-handed in points. The ticking clock danger covers for some of this sort of thing, including Stamets’s metaphor- and cornball-heavy back-and-forths with Tilly, but it wastes solid ideas on blunt dialogue and tin-eared declarations.

The same’s true for the Spock family portion of the episode. The family divisions in that clan have always been rich, fertile ground for Star Trek. But the exchanges between Sarek and Amanda about propriety and how to look after their children and their family dynamic -- all powerful, meaningful stuff -- is delivered as such overblown melodrama. Every line and shot and exchange is so dour and severe. And I get that to an extent. This is meant to be heavy stuff. But it doesn't land, which leaves all this family drama, what is nominally the core of this season, trying to proceed with a gravity it just can’t muster. The idea of Burnham and Spock being stuck between humanity and Vulcans is a venerable on in Trek, but the Alice in Wonderland comparisons become thudding with the show’s clunky dialogue.

Nevermind the fact that many of the developments here seem contrived or rushed. Burnham turning in Spock to Section 31, conspiring with Georgiou, and then busting him out just as quickly to hide from the spooks makes you feel the strain of the show blowing through plot points to position everyone where it wants them. The reveal that Captain Leland is the one who killed Burnham’s biological parents feels like a convenient and unnecessary connection between the two of them that will no doubt be unveiled at some later, even more dramatic moment to really blow the lid off things.

And I absolutely do not know how to feel about the fact that Spock had space dyslexia (not to be confused with Zapp Brannigan's very sexy learning disability). On the one hand, I like how Star Trek takes real life issues and blends them into a sci-fi setting, and that sort of obstacle as a bridge (and presumably, eventually a wedge) between him and Burnham could be something that adds depth to their relationship. At the same time, it’s another Spock-related retcon on a show that’s trying my patience with them, and the more hidden reveals we get about Spock’s past from this franchise, the more strained it seems. It also doesn't help that it’s not very far removed from real life learning disability issues, both making the storyline seem a bit crass, and also leaving the confrontation between Amanda and Sarek feeling like a bad Lifetime movie about parents with a child with dyslexia, who just happen to live in a cave-adjacent, Silicon Valley mansion.

That’s what’s so hard about Discovery this season. Very few things are clearly great or clearly terrible. Every choice in the show is some good idea with a questionable approach, or a questionable story beat saved by good character dynamic, or timey-wimey nonsense weakened by strained technobabble but buoyed by the show’s aesthetic charms. In an episode about shades of gray in a variety of relationships, my relationship with the show is starting to feel just as unsteady and complicated.