Star Trek: Discovery - Unification 3 Review

DIS "Unification 3"

Why "Unification 3"? That's because the first two parts of this story aired during The Next Generation's fifth season in 1991. And now, 29 years later on a different show, the story of Romulan-Vulcan reunification continues. Incidentally, while "Unification 1" was technically the second Star Trek episode to air after creator Gene Roddenberry's death, it bore a tribute to the Great Bird of the Galaxy. Arguably Roddenberry's most famous creation, Spock, made it the life work of his later years to lay the groundwork for unification, and being in Spock's far future, Discovery finds that his work came to fruition. The show, and the characters within the show, honor Roddenberry and Spock by continuing this storyline. This feeling of deep connections within Star Trek canon, made personal by Burnham's story, defines the episode.

Discovery finds that Vulcan of the 32nd Century is now called Ni'Var, and like Earth, this founding member of the Federation is no longer in the fold. The apparent burden of causing the Burn through advanced propulsion experiments contributed to the surprising withdrawal. The planet is shared by Vulcans and Romulans; Romulus was destroyed in the 2009 film Star Trek, and the aftermath looms large in Picard. As the legendary Spock's sister, Burnham is chosen to open diplomatic channels, and in order to obtain Ni'Var's experimental data, invokes a traditional crucible called T'kal-in-ket, a forum in which she can explain her scientific need for the data. 

As part of her future history download, Burnham watches a recording of Leonard Nimoy's Spock from "Unification 2". The invocation of Trek history, plus Burnham's connection to a person she only knew in his younger years, is enough to make any Trekkie, including this one, cry. As per tradition, an advocate is assigned to Burnham for the T'kal-in-ket from the Romulan order of the Qowat Milat, as introduced in Picard, bene gesserit-like warrior nuns who follow the precept of absolute candor. The USS Yelchin is given a shout-out, named after tragically deceased actor Anton Yelchin, Pavel Chekov in the latest three Trek movies. Thus, earlier seasons of Discovery, the original series, The Next Generation, Picard, and even the Chris Pine feature films, are all thrillingly connected.

But all this is secondary to Burnham's emotional story. Triangulating Burn origin points is reminiscent of triangulating the mysterious signals from Season 2, and that's not the only connection to that season: Burnham's Qowat Milat advocate turns out to be her time-traveling mother Gabrielle. This development is given appropriate weight, but is almost a side note because there's so much going on. The dynamic of the T'Kal-in-ket is like an undergraduate defending her thesis before a skeptical board, in this case consisting of three quorum members.

From a scene-blocking perspective, it's just people standing in a room and talking to each other while fixed in place, a director's nightmare, but this never becomes an issue. It's a sometimes contentious display. At one point, the Romulan quorum member N'Raj laments that Vulcans spuriously take a position and bend logic to justify it, and he has a point. Recall the Second Doctor's words in Doctor Who: "Logic, my dear Zoe, merely enables one to be wrong with authority." Eventually, Burnham withdraws her request for the data but an impressed Ni'Var President T'Rina gives Discovery the data anyways.

In the subplot, Saru offers Tilly the first officer position on Discovery. To be fair, there's not really a better choice onboard, even if she is an Ensign. The subplot, like the rest of the episode, puts the focus on emotional development. That focus makes all the inside baseball stuff land all the more, making for an episode rich in character and canon. 8/10.