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Aaron Tveit spoke with us about the Todd Komarnicki and MGM+ apocalyptic survival series Earth Abides and what attracted him to the series.
Posted in: CBS, Review, Star Trek, streaming, TV | Tagged: david ajala, discovery, paramount, Review, season 4, Sonequa Martin-Green, star trek
Star Trek: Discovery Season 4 Episode 10 Review: The Road Long Tarka
Some of the best shows on television can effectively blur the lines between good & evil and Star Trek: Discovery manages to pull off such a feat in the episode "The Galactic Barrier" with its controversial scientist Ruon Tarka (Shawn Doyle), who is the focus of one of this episode's storylines. The other is the U.S.S. Discovery crew trying to navigate themselves beyond the Galactic Barrier in a final ditch effort to locate Unknown Species 10-C and make first contact. It's not long before Capt. Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Federation President Laira Rillak (Chelah Horsdal) are delivered some grave news about their mission that creates an extra sense of urgency as well as a serious ethical dilemma.
While Book (David Ajala) and Tarka's efforts to neutralize the dark matter anomaly were in vain with their weapon, the latter devises a plan to get through the galactic barrier on their own way through a source of programmable matter as a backup plan. Both find a way to an abandoned Emerald Chain work camp Tarka was once imprisoned in. He shares the story with Book about the time he bonded with Oros (Osric Chau), an alien scientist nearly broken by the Chain. Together, they worked on a prototype transporter as a possible means for escape. As we were expecting, viewers are offered an opportunity to humanize a misguided enemy who means well through exposition considering his past suffering.
Risk is always something that's been a staple of the Star Trek universe and we're treated to the rare instance of a non-featured cast member becoming the focus of an episode. Because we literally know nothing about the ominous threat behind the DMA, we're stuck within this bubble with the characters as they internalize their feelings about the threats & conflicts, and we've seen that demonstrated in a number of ways via a number of characters this season. Written by Anne Cofell Saunders and directed by Deborah Kampmeier, the episode has serious Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home vibes since it's a threat no one can communicate with. The difference in the very least is that the 1986 film has a clear motivation and the crew has to go after humpback whales in the past while actively interacting with their surroundings on 1980s earth. Discovery tries to leave breadcrumbs behind long enough that audiences hope to stay invested while dragging their feet. Ten episodes in, I don't feel any more invested or feel closer to fitting the final puzzle pieces, because we're being told how to feel about everything but the ride rather than experiencing the ride ourselves. Even the big news that Burnham and Rillak get doesn't feel like it's a twist rather just a natural progression of a predictable plot consistent with the galactic scale of the franchise.
Star Trek: Discovery Season 4 Episode 10 "The Galactic Barrier"
4/10
While there are powerful performances by guest stars Osric Chau and Shawn Doyle, "The Galactic Barrier" feels like more predictable fair. The big reveal in the episode wasn't really a reveal given the nature of the threat established early in the season. While it's a trust exercise between Sonequa Martin-Green's Burnham and Chelah Horsdal's Rillak, it didn't really achieve what it set out to do and the reactions from the "crew" sound a bit disingenuous and naive. The episode didn't really do much for the fourth season of Star Trek: Discovery other than some grand exposition for Doyle's Tarka.
Credits
Director
Deborah Kampmeier
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