WHY WE LIKE IT: One of those Burnham solutions. Tilly's humor.
WHY WE DON'T: Slow-moving subplots.
REVIEW: One the things Discovery has proven adept at is complex political situations that make it hard for Burnham and her crew to do their work. In this case, Ni'Var (are we getting used to Vulcan being called that?) is being courted by the Federation, so when one of their citizens, a Qowat Milat (because Star Trek: Picard must be mined for all it's worth), is wanted for dilithium theft and murder, the Federation President asks her capture be a joint mission. And then her Qowat Milat mom walks in and insists it has to be the sisterhood who brings her in, so Michael has to team up with her, and there's a tension there. The stakes: Starfleet can't piss off Ni'Var nor can it let someone who's committed such crimes get away with it and undermine its authority. Problem is, I've never been a big fan of Burnham's mother. I don't like the relationship, and I feel like she's been shoehorned into the narrative by being given this new role so she can stay relevant after the Red Angel business is finished. The same shoehorning is responsible for making the fugitive J'Vini the one who saved her life and recruited her into the order. I guess the universe orbiting a single person runs in the Burnham family.
Tilly questioning her role in Starfleet - her discomfort with her comfort zone (is she an anxiety addict?) - crosses into the main plot, as she's assigned to the mission despite her lack of tactical experience, Saru fulfilling his promise to find her something new to do. Everyone else is so stern and serious, it does the episode good to have her provide some comic relief - dropping the sword, and so on - though you of course know she's going to be useful if not outright crucial to the mission's success. In the Burnhams' mother-daughter conflict she sees shades of her own, now lost relationship with her mother, which adds some awkwardness, Tilly's trademark. As it turns out, J'Vini's "lost cause" concerns a lost alien species in stasis aboard a moon ship, prey to pirates because they have latinum in their blood. J'Vini is stealing dilithium to keep the ship powered, its sleepers alive, and the moon hopefully away from the anomaly's path. In great Burnham fashion, she proposes a different solution - waking the aliens up, allowing them to take control of their lives, and thus fulfill J'Vini's oath AND their standoff. In the end, the lesson for Tilly is that she has to recognize she may be at the end of her current path and must "choose to live" otherwise. For Burnham, the epilogue will bring more disillusionment with Federation politics as J'Vini isn't going to be tried on her side of the border.
The larger arc has a fairly slim connection to these events - it triggered the Qowat Milat's actions - but is served by Stammets going to the Science Institute for guidance. Upsettingly, all his theories prove wrong, as confirmed by Booker's memories exposed by a mindmeld that also gives him a little peace (but not enough to prevent what will happen next). It may be a good time to mention that we seem very far away from Stammets the Mycologist at this point. Yes, his study of mushrooms was all tied up in engineering and wormhole-like stuff, but how is figuring out the anomaly on his shoulders? (The answer, of course, is that he's one of the show's main characters.)
In the same thematic vein, Gray must also "choose to live" after his consciousness is transferred to an android body. Adira waits by the body as the clock ticks away and while it's supposed to be suspenseful, I'm not sure the audience really feels it. A foregone conclusion, right? I wouldn't complain except that a lot of real estate is give up to the subplot.
LESSON: Haven't you been listening? CHOOSE TO LIVE!
REWATCHABILITY - Medium: A bit of a detour from the season's arc (which I'm fine with), but my interest in Gabrielle Burnham is low and the subplots move at a crawl.
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