The early episodes of Discovery ’s first time of year set up a battleground for an argumentunderlying the entire historyof Star Trek : how do we reconcile Starfleet as a scientific and militaristic entity ? It seems like the 2d season is set up an equally familiar public debate : one between organized religion and logic , and the perils of leaning a little too much between one or the other .
The place of religion in a society like the Federation has long been a topic Star Trek has dabbled with — whether it ’s accepting spiritually - driven potential members like the Bajorans in Deep Space Nine , or the more typical scenario of our Starfleet heroes encountering a humankind where faith force society rather than science or engineering . “ New Eden ” take the latter approach as the Discovery finds itself whisked to the Beta Quadrant and a surprise settlement of pre - warp humans . The crew is tasked with saving the world from an impending disaster while also trying to hide out the fact that they ’re from a much more advanced society . And while it ’s a petty lighter on the spectacle the premiererested its award on , it makes up for it by presenting the classic Trek pull up between religion and reason in some interesting ways among its crew .
After Pike , Burnham , and Lt . Owosekun beam down to enquire the colony , they find a society that ’s living in blissful harmony — reduce off from the galaxy around them and their own kind , but for a surprising reason : they ’re the descendants of a group of survivors of Earth ’s third World War 200 years prior , channelise out of certain death by the mysterious angel connect to the signaling they ’ve been tag and put on a world thousands of easy - year away . Given the fact that their redemption took place from an angelic - looking being in a literal church , it ’s ferment the colonists into a deeply religious people . They ’ve formed a new faith together , literally out of scraps of holy texts from all sorts of Earth religions , to find uncouth flat coat in the Red Angel .
But while the problem of a group of different religions coming together has been solved on New Eden , the underlying direct contrast between people of religion and hoi polloi of science has not — something that ends up act out between Pike and Burnham at tumid . Where Pike see a new society that should be get out to flourish the way of life it has , she sees mass that are turn a loss , and should be given the probability to learn that mankind develop into something better after the horror of nuclear war . When Burnham finds a fellow scientist in one of the colonist , Jacob , she sees a chance to save New Eden by beaming its inhabitants back up to the Discovery to re - integrate them into Federation society . But Pike — who grew up in a household with a father who taught both science and comparative religion — sees a mathematical group of humans that have managed to flourish and make a Zion in their own small way , thanks to the single their religion has given them .
It ’s a fascinating division between Burnham and her fresh skipper — if only because , unlike the unease between herself and Lorca in season one , they ’re both coming at the predicament they get themselves in on New Eden from a similar Sir Frederick Handley Page . Both Pike and Burnham want to spare these masses : Pike want to protect the lodge they ’ve built together on the satellite , preserve it without directly work it , Burnham wants to salve it by basically destroying it — and bringing the settler into the bright futurity the rest of humanity has evolved into .
Back on the Discovery , a dissimilar kind of story about faith drives Stamets and Tilly ’s patch in this sequence — less of a spiritual one , and more of a challenge in what they hold dear to themselves . Like Burnham , they have faith in the sciences they ’ve excelled in , but both officers detect themselves having that faith test . For Stamets , its doubt over whether or not he can face interact with the mycelial connection again after find out some still - existent flesh of his dead boyfriend there piloting the ship out of the Mirror Universe last time of year — with him last begin to confront up to the repercussions of his scientific curiosity and add up up emotionally broken in the process . Tilly ’s test , meanwhile , is through not require to see her friend suffer — and so takes it upon herself to discover a scientific response to Stamets not having to use the Spore Drive again .
Except , Tilly ’s faith in retrieve a solution ends up basically sending her down the same path Stamets took last season . Mining away at the drab - matter - laden asteroid Discovery recoup from the land site of the last sign , she ends up getting in an accident that has seemingly altered her much in the same direction Stamets was . Tilly start hallucinate a dead schoolfriend in a like way to how Stamets had begun seeing vision of Doctor Culber after his demise . If Pike and Burnham ’s arc is about finding a via media between blind religious belief and blind logic , Tilly ’s is one about not haphazardly edge down one path alone , so that you terminate up make a fault that ’s going to bite you in the ass afterward .
That take us back to Pike and Burnham , who reconvene after being rescued to further make their points about leaving the settler to either live their lives as their syndicate have for 200 years already , or put up a little push into what ’s become of human club without them . Pike ’s happy to leave them be in a sense of peaceful ignorance , satisfied that the Discovery has saved lives as an “ deed of God , ” even if the total endeavour brought them no closer to figuring out the signals . But Burnham ’s almost blind religion in skill sees her baffled at the estimation of not dedicate context to people like Jacob who craved it , but not learning anything from their charge . And so , at least for now , the debate is settled with a via media : Pike bends the prime directive a little and offer a small power generator to Jacob in interchange for the helmet recording of the “ saint ” that beam his antecedent to New Eden in the first place . But the source , at least for now , wo n’t disrupt New Eden ’s smart set too much — it ’s just enough to illumine up the church lights once more , allowing pilgrims to continue to partake in in the faith its dweller have built for themselves .
That via media might have incur the Discovery what it need right now , but it ’s clear by the end of “ New Eden ” that this interior debate about religion and system of logic is n’t something it ’s done with just yet . One thing ’s clear : it ’s all going to come to a head with Spock . The ultimate arbiter of the coherent point of opinion we know and have sex , in this immature , apparently rawer state of mind , has happen himself shake up by these nightmare vision — to the distributor point that Pike reveals to Burnham that Spock ’s leave of absence has picture him put himself under psychiatric observance ( with the express regard of having his sept kept in the dark ) .
Even if Burnham herself is speedy to observe to Pike that she ca n’t possibly ascribe a providential connotation to the red being she examine in the ruining of the Hiawatha , as he , or the people of New Eden can , there ’s a possibility that Spock has , or at least set about to make up it has thrown him into an internal turmoil . After all , as Pike says to Burnham , being allot circumstance — be it through faith or logic — can alter your view . How the context Spock has been give by his vision will inform the Vulcan as we come to roll in the hay him by the clock time of the original Trek is just as riveting to ponder as just where Discovery will take this theological argument next .
This time around , hopefully , it sticks to its gun a bit more than thefirst time of year did at time . The fact that it has a literal guardian angel to immobilize this all on at some point down the line ( just as season one had the Mirror Universe as a pinch - all excuse for any moral predicament it floated ) gives me some pause , for now , there ’s enough hope here that I ’m willing to keep the trust a small longer .
Assorted Musings
Please apprise the above look on Stamets ’ grimace in this trying time . Anthony Rapp ’s formula as this theatrical role are just systematically excellent .
I really hope Owosekun derive along on this mission means we can expect to see other member of the bridge squad at least get a little more to do beyond be on the bridgework . I ’d really like to get to know these characters more , and it seems like Discovery finally does too .
utter of which , regardless of how you felt about the skill behind the Discovery literally doing a doughnut while drag an asteroid in its aftermath , the tangible joyfulness of the gang celebrating once they ’d rive it all off was so delicious that any qualms I had about their plan extend out the windowpane .
One weird and potentially ominous yarn that ’s sort of just leave drop in this sequence is that the Discovery crew and its new police captain are weirdly willing to bury some of the convention they fight down so hard to live by last season — and this metre they do n’t have “ it ’s a clip of state of war ” alibi to descend back on . sentence will narrate if it ’s a thing that will snowball or not , but I get the tone that , signal or otherwise , the Federation ’s not gon na take too kindly to either the Spore Drive being back in action or Pike jubilantly leave sophisticated technical school on a world that is covered under the Prime Directive .
Still nary a Klingon in sight ! This feel rummy for a show that started out so fixate on showing both Starfleet and Klingon stories . Sure , we ’re only two instalment in , but not a peek out of whatever L’Rell and Ash are up to is weird .
“ My pointedness is , I put an undue amount of obligation on these lithe shoulder , often to my detriment . ” Saru you beguiler . The winner of The Shape of Water has gone to Doug Jones ’ head .
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