Star Trek: Discovery (3×12) There Is a Tide… Review

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

Synopsis: After capturing the U.S.S. Discovery, Osyraa seeks a meeting with Admiral Vance while Burnham and the crew must overcome unimaginable odds as they attempt to regain command of their ship. (IMDb)

It is not a common decision for a series to have a three-part finale, especially in a 13-episode season, but since when has Discovery been a series associated with common? As the middle-part of an ongoing finale, one would expect the episode to become muddled as the bridge between its beginning and ending thoughts, however, There is a Tide… manages to take a basic premise and infuse it with the most thought provoking discussion this series has dared to tackle.

The basic premise is a simple one: save Discovery from the Emerald Chain. This of course happens through the heroics of Burnham and Book who managed to drive his ship into Discovery’s docking bay moments before it enters Federation HQ. From there, they go full Die Hard mode and take out minion after minion until Burnham gets to Stamets, frees him from his captor and then jettisons him into space (in a protective bubble) to avoid Osyraa using him again. Surprisingly, the Burnham show took a backseat to the bigger, more ethical discussion at hand.

Instead, the episode is focused on finally doing some (minor) worldbuilding in a discussion between Admiral Vance and Osyraa. She has brought Discovery to Federation HQ for a potential armistice and even joining of their organizations into something much bigger. In these discussions, it starts to become more evident what the state of the world is in this time that Discovery has found itself and how both of these sides perceive each other as the wrongdoer.

These negotiations come to a head when Vance won’t budge on Osyraa not paying for her crimes and slave labor resulting in her leaving to Discovery. She plans to use her backup plan of experimenting on Stamets until Book gives her a suggestion: a planet rich in the dilithium she desperately needs (and Discovery wants to return to). With the crew ready to reclaim the ship, the Federation and Emerald Chain unable to come to an agreement and Osyraa’s burning need for dilithium, the finale will be more action-oriented that its intellectual penultimate episode.

Now that doesn’t mean that this episode was the best we’ve seen from Discovery because it unfortunately struggles with a severe lack of set up that causes its narrative to feel under-equipped to deal with its themes. Frakes continues to show his vast knowledge and love for the Trek universe, but not even his direction can help make up for a season sorely lacking in world-building that believes the solution is a long, expositionary sit down between two opposing factions.

It does lead to some great characters moments, with Oded Fehr playing the altruistic Vance perfectly, but the standout moment of the episode is Stamets rant to Burnham that leads to his eventual bubble shot into space. The raw emotion that Stamets shows for both Hugh and Adira helps to encapsulate a dynamic that was merely glossed over onscreen in the hope that the audience would understand the relationship built offscreen. While again that doesn’t make up for a lack of development through the season, it helps that Rapp can make it feel believable. With the finale seemingly like an explosive third act to an action film, it seems like Discovery’s third season will never truly hit the potential its characters and world deserved.

Captain’s Log

• Will Book and Ryn become permanent crew members?
• What other species will Discovery manage to bring into their New Federation?
• What will Su’Kal’s role be in the final two episodes?
• How will Adira, Culber and Saru get off of the planet?
• Will the Emerald Chain and Federation join?

What did you think of “There Is a Tide…”? Let me know in the comments below!

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Dylan Phillips