Star Trek: Discovery Review: Terra Firma, Part I (Season 3 Episode 9)

This season of Star Trek: Discovery has done a great job picking up loose threads and weaving them into compelling stories. On Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 Episode 9, “Terra Firma, Part I,” the show does this by turning its focus back onto Georgiou’s mysterious illness.

There’s a scientific explanation for her malady, as explained by her interrogator from earlier in the season, Kovich (David Cronenberg). The Federation learned during the Temporal Wars that time travel combined with dimensional travel creates a fatal molecular instability. 

The odds don’t look good for Georgiou, the only person on Discovery from another universe. Kovich also explains to Culber that a dying Terran is dangerous because their instinct is to die in battle. 

The scene provides an important look into Georgiou’s Terran identity, which sometimes gets written off as a personality trait on the show. It also explains Georgiou’s all-time high levels of cruelty, as she spits verbal venom at every crew member trying to help her. 

Fortunately, there’s another dropped plot thread to serve as a Deus Ex Machina here. The ship’s computer, which merged with the Sphere data and is now sentient, comes up with a new possible treatment source. 

With still only a five percent chance of survival, Georgiou and Burnham head off to the icy tundra of Danus V where things get weird very quickly. They meet a mysterious man named Carl, who quite frankly defies explanation, and Georgiou chooses to go through the door he’s guarding.

The choice is posed on the episode as a philosophical one, with Carl insisting the answer must follow the question. The viewers don’t really know what that means until Georgiou passes through. In a shocking twist, she arrives back on the day she executed Mirror Burnham.  

Turning away from the Burn and Emerald Chain to tell such a surprising story this late in the season is a risky choice for Star Trek: Discovery, given how many questions they have left to answer. However, the episode turns out to be worth the viewer’s time as a showcase for Michelle Yeoh and as a fascinating exploration into Georgiou’s moral development. 

Going from her almost emotional goodbye to Saru to being transported back to a life where they serve Kelpiens for dinner, you can see why Georgiou greets her old existence with discomfort. She’s still obsessed with her relationship with Burnham and wants to save her, but she approaches things differently this time. 

Georgiou, once so proud about her Terran identity, starts to realize things aren’t as noble as she thought. And maybe, based on the revelation that the coup against her starts because they viewed her as weak, she was always trying to be this person Discovery helped her become.

Sure, she’s still extra surly with an acidic sense of humor. But after living on Discovery she’s not afraid to care for others more openly than the Terrans would approve of. 

Although the story starts out a little shaky (we still don’t really know who or what Carl is), it’s easy to get lost in it once she’s transported. You forget all your burning questions about what’s going on in the Prime Universe as you’re submerged into the rich details of the Mirror Universe.

Seeing the Bridge Crew as their counterparts is especially entertaining, with Sonequa Martin-Green turning in a downright demented performance. All of the histrionics of Prime Burnham become incredibly creepy and sinister in her Mirror counterpart, who lacks any compassion or empathy to channel her emotions in the right direction. 

Back on the real Discovery, the distress signal data is finally decoded. Aside from the fact Kelpiens are on board, there isn’t all that much to go off of without further analysis, and Saru decides to keep this new information from Vance. 

Does Saru no longer trust Vance after he undermined his initial decision to not help Georgiou? Or, does he really believe it’s not worth reporting? I’m leaning towards the former. 

It’s obvious Georgiou must play out this scenario on the Mirror Universe to its end if she is to save herself from death. Whether she stays the person she has become or reverts back to her ruthlessness is the question that looms heading into the next episode. 

Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 Episode 9, “Terra Firma, Part I,” takes the show in an unexpected but welcome direction. Hopefully, Part II lives up to this first installment.

Additional Thoughts:

• Terrans may be evil but they sure do know how to serve looks. Their eye makeup budget must be out of control though. 
• Kovich makes some valid points about not trusting a sentient supercomputer, a lesson Discovery should have already learned. 
• The “death alarm clock” Culber gives Georgiou is pretty much just a futurized fitness tracker. I expected something with a little more pizazz. 
• We get our first one-on-one scene with Book and Saru, which is much less awkward than I expected. It’s clear Book won’t be quick to follow protocol, but he’s making an effort to be a part of the team. 

 

What did you think of this episode of Star Trek: Discovery? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Star Trek: Discovery airs Thursdays on CBS All Access.

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