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Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Ep. 8 Review: Breen There, Done That
Star Trek: Discovery S05E08: "Labyrinths" finds Sonequa Martin-Green's Michael Burnham trapped in a race for the next clue - in her own mind.
As we near the home stretch of Star Trek: Discovery, we find Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) falling a bit into a rabbit hole in her mind with David Ajala David Bowie-ing it up as a manifestation of a guide to help with her next clue for the Progenitor tech in the latest episode "Labyrinths." At the beginning of the episode, there's a plasma storm they have to navigate through to get to the Archivist, run by Hy'Rell (Elena Juatco) with the Breen hot on Discovery's tail. The following contains minor spoilers.
Star Trek: Discovery Performs More Mental Gymnastics
After things stabilize through the tumultuous path, the Discovery finally reach their destination so they can try to crack their next clue. They stumble upon the massive library and venerable museum of trinkets. As the away team is established, we see another Book (David Ajala) and Burnham's adventure, even if Ajala spends the bulk of the episode as a different character. The chemistry resonates all the same. As per other previous episodes, Discovery is in a hurry to solve the next clue but runs into a hitch when Burnham gets knocked out as her problem-solving phase takes place strictly in her mind. Cmdr. Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie) joins the away team, this time with Lt. Cmdr Gen Rhys (Patrick Kwok-Choon) getting commanding bridge officer duty monitoring tactical in case the Breen creeps nearby. The primary B-arc takes place on the Breen ship with Moll (Eve Harlow) trying to appeal to her captor's traditions as L'ak's (Elia Toufexis) partner and her intentions with the Progenitor tech.
There's a lot of tension among the masked aliens as Harlow carries herself well in her scenes to its climactic finish. Aside from Harlow, the bulk of the episode is carried by Martin-Green and Ajala, as it mainly has been since season three. Ajala's added another layer of charm and mystique to his performances. At this point, it feels awkward when Book has to keep reminding his crewmates he wants to help when he's been doing so this entire time. It wasn't that way with Jeri Ryan's Seven of Nine, who was also a provisional crew member, on Star Trek: Voyager. Directed by Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour and written by Lauren Wilkinson & Eric J. Robbins, "Labyrinths" has far less to do with puzzle-solving but more so with self-reflection and a cerebral chess match, even if it's been predictable. The execution makes it another effective vehicle for Martin-Green, Ajala, and Harlow. New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery stream Thursdays on Paramount+.