Star Trek: Discovery: Season 1, Episode 5 "Choose Your Pain"

 Star Trek: Discovery: Season 1, Episode 5 "Choose Your Pain"

October 15, 2017

“Choose Your Pain” is a very promising episode of Star Trek: Discovery. I liked the title and how it is applied in the episode. Essentially, the name comes from a Klingon torture practice where prisoners choose amongst their own who will be beaten. Given the shows fast pace, it could have been explored more here, but it is still a powerful, forceful concept. Star Trek fans may have been rightfully surprised when Tilly used the “f” word, the first time any Trek character did so. Welcome to the 21st century television. Burnham takes a backseat here, but still plays an important role in terms of the audience getting to know who she is…someone who will do the right thing, no matter the cost. The episode does a good job in developing characters not named Burnham. We see how Saru adjusts to captain life as he tries to save Lorca from the Klingons, we learn pivotal information about Lorca’s dark past and how his last ship blew up under his command, and we get confirmation that Stamets and Dr. Culber are dating. There is plenty of promising development. Some scenes, such as the argument between Saru and Burnham (which ended with her confined to quarters), seem a tad artificial. For every artificial moment comes twice the amount of authenticity. Also, Rainn Wilson is a fantastic guest star as Harry Mudd, a name fans of the original series may be familiar with. For such a serious show, I am glad we get someone with a sense of humor.

In this episode, Lorca is kidnapped by the Klingons and is trapped on their prison ship. Saru takes over command to try and rescue the captain. There is little for Burnham to do, so she concentrates her efforts on the well-keeping of the tardigrade. When used to activate the spore drive, the animal is in so much pain. Burnham discovers that the poor guy is no beast after all. That puts her at conflict with Saru, who needs to use the spore drive to rescue the captain. On the prison ship, Lorca discovers he is not the only prisoner. In addition to Harry Mudd (whom is later left behind), we meet Ash Tyler (played by Shazad Latif). It seems like he will be a central figure in the series moving forward.

Overall, I was somewhat taken aback with how dark the episode was. There was some humor sprinkled here and there (especially when Wilson was in the picture). The character development of the side characters is important, and I think director Lee Rose was mostly successful. We did learn more about the captain and a dark past that would be bound to haunt anyone. I was on board here, and I am ready for what’s next.

My Grade: A-


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