Posted in: CBS, Review, Star Trek, TV | Tagged: discovery, paramount, Review, season 4, star trek

Star Trek: Discovery Season 4 E12 Review: Tig Notaro Tour-de-Force

As time is running out on Earth and Ni'Var, the latest episode of Paramount+'s Star Trek: Discovery is about making those precious initial steps count for first contact in the episode aptly titled "Species Ten-C". Tensions are obviously at an all-time high as the U.S.S. Discovery along with the Starfleet delegate of their best minds and diplomats try to find a way to communicate with the alien threat behind the dark matter anomaly that could potentially decimate the Federation. As per on brand with the franchise and the season, the parties are at odds with one another over their approaches to dealing with the threat. So at this point, consider this your minor spoilers warning.

The main team charged with making first contact by directly communicating with 10-C is Discovery's Capt. Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Capt. Saru (Doug Jones), Federation President Laira Rillak (Chelah Horsdal), Ni'Var President T'Rina (Tara Rosling), and Dr. Hirai (Hiro Kanagawa). Lurking around waiting to make their moves are Book (David Ajala) and Tarka (Shawn Doyle). In the previous episode "Rosetta", the latter kidnaps Cmdr. Jett Reno (Tig Notaro) as potential leverage given the duo's fugitive status trying to undermine the Federation mission.

While the bulk of Discovery's crew remains on board waiting to see what the away team does as time keeps ticking away towards the DMA impact, we see the traditional Star Trek magic at play as they look to decipher the context of the language, which (not surprisingly) turns out to be far more effective when done through direct contact as opposed to just guessing as was the case in "Rosetta". There were some serious James Cameron–Abyss vibes, with the VFX wonderfully presented this week. As the puzzle continues to unravel, tensions flare on Book's ship as Reno's keen eye brings to light something with serious & far-reaching implications for the season finale (sorry, but we're not looking to spoil that much). Directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi and written by Kyle Jarrow, we get a number of high-quality, on-brand teamwork moments from Martin-Green, Jones, Horsdal, Rosling, and Kanagawa. And while Ajala and Doyle bring even stronger performances than their usual excellent work, the biggest star of the episode is Notaro, who delivers her best & most grounded performance of the series to date. There's something to be said about the effectiveness of comedians in dramatic roles, and most of that is said through Notaro's performance. Expect her to be making audiences laugh in the future as acceptance speeches start piling up for her dramatic turns. The season finale of Star Trek: Discovery streams on March 17th on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 4 Episode 12 "Species 10-C"

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Review by Tom Chang

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9/10

This week, we had a tension-filled episode of Paramount+'s Star Trek: Discovery that embraces its more traditional problem-solving and ethical roots. With notable performances by Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Chelah Horsdal, Tara Rosling, Hiro Kanagawa, David Ajala, Shawn Doyle, it's Tig Notaro who shines in a series-defining performance.

Credits

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Director

Olatunde Osunsanmi

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