Star Trek: Discovery - Die Trying Review

DIS "Die Trying"

"Dysfunction is the team." - Jett Reno

In which Doctor Culber cures COVID-89, Nhan leaves Discovery for her home planet, and Star Trek gets its version of midi-chlorians.

After we could be forgiven for thinking virtually nothing of the Federation still exists in the 32nd Century, "Die Trying" reveals much more Starfleet infrastructure than was at first apparent this season. The episode lays the groundwork for a bumpy but ultimately fruitful integration of Discovery into Starfleet, and gets some episodic energy from a compact (generous word for underdeveloped) virus plot. While reaching for and not quite matching the emotional impact of previous episodes this season, "Die Trying" is a fine transitional episode with some interesting touches.

As Discovery takes in the spectacle of Federation headquarters, the crew nerds out about all the future ships and tech on display (including the Voyager-J!). It's a sequence of pure wonder, akin to the similar, even more gorgeous "Night on the Yorktown" sequence from Star Trek Beyond. The good will is slightly tempered by finding a Starfleet on the back foot, surviving without necessarily thriving, and a bureaucracy that isn't ready to trust Discovery with open arms.

This leads to a humorous sequence where the crew are interviewed for their backstory over the past couple seasons. Matter-of-factly laying out bizarre sequences of events is part of the fun of discussing any science fiction show (especially, say, Doctor Who), and the crew is getting in on that action. They also acclimate to some more little touches of the status quo: Beaming is near-instantaneous, the Temporal Cold War from Enterprise is actually relevant, and both Saru and Nhan have a bit of a moment where they learn their planets became Federation members after their time.

Most intriguing of all is Georgiou's interaction with a shady debriefer played by David Cronenberg (!), who has an interest in her since he's a connoisseur of Mirror Universe history. That's right, the director of The Brood, Videodrome, eXistenZ, and A History of Violence is on Star Trek, revealing that Mirror Universe Terrans have a special "evil" component in their cells! As alluded to before, we're definitely getting into midi-chlorian territory.

The bones of the plot are more of a skeleton to hang Nhan's departure on, which wouldn't be much of a surprise if Rachael Ancheril wasn't credited as part of the main cast. Elsewhere, there's a hilarious scene where Starfleet observer Audrey Willa is amused by Stamets, Tilly, and Reno's bickering. And on an enigmatic note, there's a mysterious melody that disparate people know against all odds - aside from evoking Battlestar Galactica's Final Five reveal, it's hard to predict where that's going.

"Die Trying" is doing a few different things, and isn't as crystallized in focus as the past couple episodes. But it does provide a base to potentially give structure to the season going forward, and plenty of opportunities to pull out the Star Trek fanfare. 6/10.

Stray observation:

- The Voyager-J reveal recalls the Enterprise-J reveal from a temporal flash-forward in Enterprise.