What I’m Watching: Star Trek: Discovery

Star Trek: Discovery: Season 1, Episode 9 “Into the Forest I Go” (B)

I thought that this show was going off the air for months before I saw that it will actually return in January, which really isn’t that far away. I’ve wondered why it is that I continue to watch this show since it hardly boasts the same exploration-based energy that previous incarnations of this franchise have. But I feel like it’s usually worthwhile to stick with a show like this even if it doesn’t provide the desired level of excitement. I am pleased to report that this episode was more fast-paced and enthralling than usual, thanks to the intensity of the 144 jumps that they made in order to stay out of the line of fire from the Klingons and use the trackers planted by Michael and Tyler to decode their cloaking technology. I really do wonder if there’s a point in our society where we’ll actually develop something like transporter technology, and if there are going to be issues picking up the wrong heat signatures, like, say, if someone is midair when they’re whisked away or if they have a Klingon wrapped around their neck. Fortunately, Michael made it off with a memento of her old captain, her traumatized boyfriend, and the admiral that we thought might have been dead. Now, after Lorca rightly determined that Lieutenant Stamets should be the recipient of an honor for his bravery, they’re lost somewhere in space. I would have hoped for a slightly more emphatic conclusion, and I can only hope that time travel or a mirror universe is involved. This show needs something to make it feel like the old series.