Star Trek: Discovery is three episodes into its new future. The crew has healed their bumps and bruises. The ship is back in the sky. Now that we’ve gotten past the immediate concerns about arriving in a new season and new time period, what’s next? Here are some of the lingering questions that we have as the season progresses.
Spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Discovery
What is The Burn? And how does it (what’s the word…) burn?
CBS
Possibly the biggest new bit of lore in the Star Trek universe’s new 3188 era is The Burn. The cataclysmic event occurred sometime in the 120 years prior, destroying the dilithium within just about every warp-capable starship. The Burn ripped the United Federation of Planets asunder and sent the galaxy back into a new semi-isolationist Dark Age. (But, you know, with spaceships.) What exactly caused The Burn is a big mystery that we’re unsure we’ll ever solve. This season could see the Discovery crew seeking out the cause of this enigma. Or it could go the Leftovers route and leave it as an unsolved riddle that serves only as the backdrop for this huge new future we find ourselves in. Both options have their potential for good story, but it does feel like we’ll find out more about this catastrophe as the season unfolds.
What exactly is Mirror Georgiou’s alignment, anyway?
CBS
Michelle Yeoh seems to be having a wickedly fun time playing the Mirror Universe version of her previous character, Phillipa Georgiou. While it’s a shame that we’re not sure we’ll get the Section 31-oriented series she was alleged to be a part of, Mirror Georgiou brings a fantastic energy to Disco. (Even if she just happens to have once been a universe-conquering despot who ate sentient species as a delicacy.) While it would have made sense to have set her loose upon the prime universe as a villain, MG has been handled with a lot more nuance. Despite her previous life, she’s not entirely evil. She has a legitimate concern for the ongoing wellbeing of Michael Burnham, and though her ruthlessness shone through in the second episode especially, she’s not entirely self-serving either. We’re putting her firmly in the Chaotic Neutral camp for now and will watch her development this season with great interest.
When are we going to get more Grudge?
David Ajala’s new character, Book, was a delightful infusion of charm and roguishness in the new season. But it was his chonky crewmate Grudge that stole the show. Our interest in the character has to do with more than that fluffy face. In both the first and third episodes of the season, Book refers to Grudge deferentially as a queen. One time is a cute line; twice has gotten our attention. If Grudge does turn out just to be an adorable fluffy kitty, we’re cool with it. However, if we find out that there’s a real plot a-brewing where she is actually a queen? I for one welcome our new feline overlord.
(Update: You can now bring Grudge home with this official stand-in!)
What’s up with Detmer?
Michael Gibson/CBS
As season three of the show begins to expand the roles of Discovery’s bridge crew, Lt. Detmer’s recovery following the crashing of the ship caught our eye, even Doug Jones pointed it out. While given a clean bill of physical health, it was clear from her lingering dead gaze that she has a bit longer a road to recovery than patching up a few cuts and bruises. Trek shows have rarely dug into the lingering traces of trauma from intense situations—especially not ones that continue past the end of a given episode. Is Detmer’s PTSD something we’ll see build into a larger storyline as the season continues? It’s an intriguing bit of space for the show to try to occupy.
How the heck are we gonna get Riker and Troi into this show now?
CBS
Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis are the undisputed reappearance champions of Star Trek. Frakes has appeared on every single Star Trek spinoff since The Next Generation as either his character Will Riker or his somehow evil transporter accident clone Thomas Riker. Sirtis is right behind him, having appeared as Counselor Troi on all but Deep Space Nine. They’ve even appeared on the animated Lower Decks. While Frakes has put in a lot of hours behind the camera as a director for Discovery (including the just-aired “People of Earth”), we’re not sure how exactly we’ll find our Imzadis in the 32nd century. But we don’t see that as any reason why we shouldn’t!
Featured Image: CBS
Riley Silverman is a Nerdist contributing writer. She can be found on Twitter and Instagram. Her comedy album ‘Intimate Apparel’ is available digitally online.
