Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 Episode 5: Saints of Imperfection Review

For our review of the last episode of Star Trek: Discovery, click here.

Synopsis: Burnham and the crew navigate a dangerous alien landscape in a race against time to save Tilly’s life, but Stamets is not at all prepared for what they find in the process. Section 31 is assigned to help track down Spock, much to Pike’s dismay. (IMDB)

Writer: Kirsten Beyer

Director: David Barrett

Rating: TV-MA

Running Time: 44 mins

“Saints of Imperfection”starts off with Burnham rushing to Engineering to discover Tilly’s fate. She cannot accept this ending and neither will Stamets. Luckily, she’s able to distract herself when Discovery picks up the trail on Spock’s shuttle. Pike tries to communicate with the shuttle, but it picks up speed and takes evasive maneuvers. They manage to disable the shuttle and beam it onboard so that they can question Pike’s science officer. The problem is that when they go to greet him, it ends up being Georgiou.

Pike and Georgiou reminiscence about their time in the academy together. He deduces that she is working for Section 31 and she has been tasked with hunting down Spock. They are called by Leland, the man in charge of Section 31, who hopes to get them off their trail. Pike brings up the connection between Spock and the Seven Signals, but Leland urges him to let Georgiou go. Burnham gets Georgiou alone and threatens her if she touches Spock showing the continued tension between them.

Down in Engineering, Stamets believes that May transported Tilly into the network using the cocoon. If he can find the cocoon’s counterpart, they can find where Tilly disappeared to. Meanwhile, Tilly awakes in the mycelial network with May. She demands that May take her home, but not before she defeats the monster threatening their network. They commend each other for their scientific expertise before heading to face the monster.

Pike brings Burnham to a meeting with Section 31’s liaison Ash Tyler. That isn’t before he pulls her aside and asks for answers regarding Georgiou’s behaviour. She agrees to tell him after, but first an awkward meeting with Tyler. They discuss him leaving Kronos and his new role with Section 31, but they have to deal with the Tilly situation. Stamets briefs the bridge crew, and Tyler, on his plan to jump into the network and allow Stamets to find Tilly. The ship would have one hour before it’s destroyed by the network. Pike decides that they will do whatever they can to bring Tilly back.

Stamets and Burnham enter the chamber and prep them to enter the mycelial network. The ship jumps into the network as Tilly watches it break through and disrupt the ecosystem. Tilly heads towards the ship, but not without pinky swearing to May that she will help save the network. Stamets and Burnham enter the border into the network where they manage to find Tilly and May. However, Tilly convinces them to stick around and investigate what this monster is. She discusses its impenetrability when they hear the whimpers of someone in the distance. They follow the voice to see an unstable Hugh!

Tilly demands they kill him as Stamets chases after him. Burnham calls into Discovery to discuss the complication and they hope to discover what this is. They realize the tree armour he has created means that he is being defensive and therefore is a living entity. Stamets chases Hugh to his quarters who questions if he is real. He discusses their third date and helps Hugh to remember. The rest of the team arrives, but May intervenes and grabs Tilly’s gun prepared to kill Hugh. Tilly manages to disarm May while Burnham questions how Hugh is alive. Stamets believes he brought Hugh here when he died, but now it’s time to take him home.

With Discovery being sucked into the network, Tyler calls in the reinforcements. Leland arrives and uses his tractor beam to stabilize Discovery and keep them in limbo. Georgiou convinces Leland to let her take control of the beams and hold them in place until Discovery’s team makes it back safely. Now in Engineering, Stamets convinces Hugh to cross over the mycelial border, but his hand disappears as he tries to walk through.

They question May about how they might be able to bring him back, but Hugh knows he cannot come. Tilly and Burnham believe if they put Hugh’s DNA into the cocoon that maybe he can reform in their world. May disapproves of this idea as the cocoon is her only link to their world and if it’s severed, the network will fall. Tilly convinces May to agree and pinky promises again to return and save them. The team enters the chamber and jumps out of the network just in time to rescue Discovery.

With the team back, Pike heads down to Engineering to greet them. That isn’t before the cocoon bursts and out pops a very naked and afraid Hugh. Pike beams aboard Leland’s ship to talk with him and the Admiral about Seven Signals. They believe it has something to do with time travel and Spock is the only one who may be able to help. The Admiral orders Discovery to work alongside Section 31 to find Spock and discover the truth. Back on Discovery, Burnham receives a call from Georgiou. They discuss what her plan is for Spock and Burnham doesn’t believe anything out of her mouth.

Captain’s Log

• What is the angelic figure?
• Is Hugh still Hugh?
• How did Spock predict the signals?
• What do the red energy sources mean?
• What will Saru’s major biological change mean for his personality?
• How long will Tyler stay on board Discovery? Will that cause tension in the crew?

Overall, Saints of Imperfection was a decent episode. Another self-contained episode, this one focuses on the fallout of abusing the mycelial network. It ends up having a very heartfelt, team-building story that shows how these crewmembers see each other as family. This episode almost acts like a two-part thematic story. Last week was about death and therefore this follow up looks at birth, or in this case re-birth. The forced partnership of Discovery and Section 31 will change the dynamic of the show, but it will most likely case the bridge crew to become more developed and closer than before which is exactly the direction Discovery needs to go.

Score: 7.5/10

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