WHY WE LIKE IT: Moral debate makes for good Trek.
WHY WE DON'T: Somebody close some doors!
REVIEW: This is an episode about two debates, each with an aggressive solution and a more peaceful one. Catering to the larger plot, the Federation and every other power in the galaxy (all four quadrants apparently represented) have a summit on what to do about Species 10-C and the DMA. Book is soon shocked to find Burnham guiding the conversation towards a diplomatic solution, pushing for first contact. Earth, apparently not yet in the Federation, has been isolated so long, it pushes for a military option. Tarka jumps into the proceedings (this council chamber has a plentiful lack of security) to reveal he has devised a weapon to destroy the DMA before it does damage. And destroying the threat before initiating first contact could be an option, but it uses banned explosives that destroy subspace and could unleash hell on the other side of the wormhole which Ten-C would undoubtedly see as an act of aggression. We also learn that what he really wants is the DMA's power source so he can go "home" and rejoin his one friend, so he's not an altruistic would-be savior. Booker, as the last possible representative of Kwejian, makes an appeal, and judging from the applause and silence, he might have swayed the assembly to the side of aggression. For council members who know the gossip, it must have seemed surreal to see a couple arguing the two sides, but the President has maneuvered Burnham to respond. It's not the perfect debate - for example, Burnham's comparison to animal behavior doesn't work for a sentient species, no matter its culture or morality; and a point that should have been brought up is that any culture able to create the DMA would be a dangerous foe to awaken - but it does the job emotionally.
Meanwhile, Zora has determined the likely coordinates of Species Ten-C, but she's decided not to reveal them. Her self-determined goal of caring for the crew means she cannot abide them getting into so much danger. This is intolerable to the Federation, but to Stamets in particular, as he remembers well Season 2's Control almost destroying all life in the universe. Super-psychologist Kovich is called in to evaluate what to do and Zora is on trial for her life (or life as she knows it since the alternative is extracting her code and putting it in another form, but she doesn't want that), and we explore just what kind of life she is. Turns out she has a subconscious and has dreams, something that seems responsible for not only her sentience, but her emotions. The good news is, all she dreams about is love, the love and friendship she witnesses routinely between members of the crew.
As we reach the climax of both stories - Burnham's speech and Stamet's final appeal for the coordinates - the themes merge beautifully as we go in and out of each emotional moment. In both cases, what wins the day is the idea that we much reach for understanding, and reach specifically towards new life, not to destroy... But to Connect. In Zora's case, it means Stamets does trust her, but also asks for her to trust the crew that they can handle what's ahead. She gives him the coordinates, and Kovich, who was also evaluating Stamets, neither dislodges Zora nor the mycologist from their posts. And yes, posts, as Zora, defined as a new life-form (and thus not contravening the rules against integrated A.I.), officially joins Starfleet as swears an oath to follow her captain's orders like any other member of the crew. Beats her kill switch solution. In the case for Ten-C, Burnham wins the point, but this isn't received as well by Booker and Tarka ("some differences are too great"), who go rogue using a stolen spore drive prototype, a decision that will define the next chunk of episodes.
LESSON: Reaching for understanding must go both ways.
REWATCHABILITY - Medium-High: Each of these moral dilemmas could have been an episode A-plot, but they go surprisingly well together, even in the absence of any action.
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