“Coming Home”
Star Trek: Discovery Season 4, Episode 13 – Debuted Thursday, March 17, 2022
Written by Michelle Paradise
Directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi
Discovery gently sticks the landing in a season finale that neatly ties up the plot and character arcs for the season.
WARNING: Spoilers below!
RECAP
“This will all be over soon.”
Earth and Ni’Var’s ticking clocks are down to four hours and even warping Federation HQ in (yeah, it can do that) is only going to save a fraction, and that’s with Tilly doing the math! The Disco is still trapped inside a 10-C orb and Tarka is running around pissing off the superbeings more. Before Burnham can lock up the delegates, Ndoye confesses she was the saboteur, only to find out her stunt ended what may have been their last chance at peace. Oops. Unable to quickly convey the nuances of this deteriorating situation, T’Rina tries a mind-meld with our old friend Cloudy and it sends her to sickbay in pain, but she did work out they are a hivemind who just don’t get what’s going on with these little carbon units in their little ships. “We must find another way to reach them, or I fear that our worlds are already doomed.” No pressure.
Tarka is phaser-focused on his DMA power play that could kill them all, ignoring emotional appeals from Book and Reno, and even trying to talk his dubious prisoners to the dark side with promises of family reunions in a new universe. Butan escape plan begins to form, thanks in part to Grudge, of course. Speaking of dangerous plans, Stamets and Adira have worked out they can break free, all they need to do is burn out the spore drive, stranding them decades away from home at old-fashioned warp. What do they have to lose at this point? “Do it.” And if you thought they had pushed the limits of the spark and flame generators before, director Olatunde Osunsanmi asks you to hold his Romulan Ale.
“We can’t let the pain do this to us. ”
Freed from their orb and oddly ignored by 10-C Discovery heads to intercept Tarka who has begun his attack on the DMA. Thanks to Grudge’s distaste for holograms, his cat collar is used to break out of Tarka’s prison and right through his little defense field, with Book knocking him cold. With no way to stop Tarka’s programming Book sends Reno to the Discovery with a simple but heartbreaking message to tell Michael he loves her, and to do what it takes to stop his ship. And what it takes is a shuttle suicide run to Book’s ship, and it looks like Michael is going to send Detmer in. “I’m ready, captain.” Just as you prepare to pour one out for Keyla, Ndoye volunteers to make things right. Checking in on the stakes back home, Vance has ordered the end of the evacuation. There is nothing left to do as he and Tilly stay to go down with the ship station, drink Risan whiskey, and trade life stories and regrets.
Looking for a way to reach Tarka, Book finally pulls the Oros card. Would he really want this? After everything, this is what finally lands. The self-aware super-scientist pleas, “He’d have stopped me, why isn’t he here to stop me?” Sadly, now accepting he is in the wrong, he can’t even stop himself. It’s all automated… but here comes Ndoye. Boom. The DMA attack is over, amazingly the general was beamed away, and Book and Tarka are alive too… for now. With seconds left Ruon uses what power is left to send Book to back to Michael. “Your life is in this world.” He spends his last moments thinking of Oros, clutching their dimensional transporter in desperate hope. As Booker starts to materialize on the Discovery, his ship ends… taking the signal with it. Cleveland. Is. Gone. Michael breaks. “Captain, another orb is coming.” Somehow, Captain Burham returns, in command. “Let’s go finish this.”
“Our fates always interconnected.”
10-C sent another pod to take folks down to the surface, and the Captain invites the whole bridge crew along for emotional support. Revealed in all their glory, the DMA-makers are as big as you might imagine, graceful and floating, with light show faces, and a forest of tendrils for arms. Thanks to a well-timed language algorithm update, they can finally have a real conversation. Now is President Rillak’s time to shine, finding that common ground where all these individual (yet also one) beings, just want “happiness, freedom, security, equality” It takes a bit more nuance to explain Tarka’s actions, with Michael stepping up to make the case against the DMA. Calling back to her visit to their doomed homeworld, she finds that connection. “Don’t let history repeat.” Their response takes translator Saru’s breath away… they will move the DMA away, and just in time as an ecstatic Tilly and Vance were running out of booze.
Everyone on both sides of the galaxy can now breathe easier, but Michael is returning to her feelings of loss. The great aliens are curious and she explains. Turns out they forgot to mention they stored a certain transporter signal, one with a certain Cleveland “That’s right, I’m still alive MF” Booker. After everyone checks to see if this is really happing the Kwejian wastes no time to finally face the race that wiped out his planet. No, steering the toxic DMA to empty space is not good enough. The empath makes the case and the connection, hiding behind this big, (not so) beautiful wall isn’t worth any price. Honor the ones you have lost by finding ways to connect. Turns out it’s a big day for the 10-C, they shut it all down, vowing to “make this right.” See, all it took was a little old-fashioned face-to-face, take that texting generation.
“We can overcome any challenge as long as we do it together.”
With all their problems solved, the 10-C decide it’s time to go, sending the Disco back to Earth to party like it’s 3190. So it’s flaming co*cktails and heartfelt hugs all around, and little moments for everyone, including Reno delighting Stamets’ found family by revealing her nickname for him — “bobcat,” T’Rina expressing her Vulcan feelings to Saru, and Vance and Rillak just respecting the hell out of each other. The president has come full circle on Michael since they first met, saying Burnham is ready for command of the fancy new USS Voyager, knowing she would never take it. As for Book, the prez isn’t going to throw the tablet at him, he is “sentenced” to helping DMA refugees. It was hard for Michael to say goodbye, so he gave her his cool coat, and with “Kwakoni Yiquan” he and Grudge were gone.
Captain Burnham’s voice guides us through an extended coda of moments and montages, reminding us of the season’s themes of “uncertainty” and “connection” as everyone prepares for some free time back on Earth and beyond. Speaking of Earth, the President comes up for a visit, and some stunt casting, announcing they are ready to rejoin the Federation. Huzzah! Others are as well, so the journey that began with the Burn is now complete, but Captain Burnham still looks out to see are “countless worlds out there to be explored.” And presumably, some of them will be in season five.
ANALYSIS
Certainly a finale
After some considerably mixed results on previous season finales, Discovery played it a bit safe with this one. It checked all the boxes it needed, with just enough action, tying up loose plot ends, delivering on thematic arcs, and just a sprinkling of humor to add some flavor. But too often the episode felt like it was just avoiding any big swings. And the finale was another example of how Discovery doesn’t seem to trust its own audience enough to just show, always feeling the need to tell, with too much extended exposition, and an overly long voiceover to wrap things up. While gratuitous violence is not needed, does it help sell the stakes when in the end everyone made it out, including Ndoye who offered up her life as a form of penance? Even Tarka has a chance with his transporter. Don’t actions have consequences?
Where “Coming Home” mostly excelled is with the character beats, tying up many arcs in satisfying little moments like with Saru and T’Rina, or heart-wrenching scenes, like Tarka’s epiphany. And of course, the big one, with the grieving Book, both learning and teaching a lesson to the big bad 10-C — syncing up their glowing light-shows with his own was a nice touch. It’s no surprise that the MVP through all of this was the focal character of Michael Burnham, who herself came full circle from season opener “Kobayashi Maru,” going through her own no-win scenario by ordering the destruction of Book’s ship, with her love on board. Sonequa Martin-Green proved herself as she showed her pain at his (presumed) death, and ability to rally and be Captain.
The return of Tilly was a delight, and even with the character now carrying more responsibility and seriousness, Mary Wiseman’s effortless enthusiasm and lightness sold the mostly expository scenes set to set up the stakes, only highlighting how much her absence has left a hole in this show that has to be filled, either through her return in season five or with a new character and equally talented performer.
10-C you later
“Coming Home” also did the job when it comes to wrapping things up on the big DMA threat and the mystery of the 10-C, although we never did actually find out what they call themselves before they sent everyone home. Maybe the 32nd century equivalent of a California-class will drop by to get those details. In the end, 10-C may be the series’ most successful new addition to Trek canon, the creation of a genuinely alien species forced the show and its characters to go beyond their normal rules and technologies. They also looked great, with some subtle visual effects.
Welcome back
In some ways, this season finale feels like it could have worked as a series finale, and perhaps it was built that way in case there was no renewal. It certainly feels like it wraps up the big arc that began when the show rebooted itself with a jump into the 32nd century and a fractured Federation. Vance’s heroic defense leading to Earth to rejoin the Federation was of sort of the last piece to say the UFP is back in business, with a few stragglers to pick up, with Andoria the only one of the original five not yet back. It was a nice touch that the stubborn Tellarites were the only founding member that never left. Stunt casting aside, the final ceremony was moving, especially the closing shot and that pale blue dot. This opens up the possibility that season five (and beyond) will start to explore outside the Federation and maybe some strange new worlds… the show of that name doesn’t have the monopoly on that core Star Trek mission.
Final thoughts
Combined with last week’s “Species 10-C,” these two episodes watched together form a more satisfying feature-length finale. Although the first half could have used some of the latter’s character beats, and the second half could have used some of the former’s smart sci-fi concepts. “Coming Home” may not leave you hanging, but it doesn’t leave you wondering. It answers all the questions for you, but at its best, Star Trek should challenge you too, giving you some questions to take with you, especially as you wait until the next season.
Random bits
- This is the eighth Discoverywriting credit for executive producer and co-showrunner Michelle Paradise, who also co-wrote the season premiere.
- Executive producer Olatunde Osunsanmi continues to have the most Discovery directing credits with his twelfth time behind the camera. He has been the producing director for the series since season one.
- General Ndoye’s first name was revealed to be Diatta.
- The episode ended with the message “For April, with Love.” This was a dedication to April Nocifora, a long-time Star Trek producer who lost her battle to cancer in December.
- In addition to Book’s ship, the USS Discovery lost one shuttle, but there were no mentioned crew deaths, although one bridge officer was at least injured by a major console explosion.
- The previously mentioned USS Mitchell, named in honor of Discovery guest star Ken Mitchell, was seen for the first time.
- Other ships mentioned included the USS Yelchin, named for late Star Trek actor Anton Yelchin, USS Credence, and USS Greco.
- Book and Michael reminisce about a mission on Tiburon, a Beta Quadrant planet first mentioned in the TOS episode “The Savage Curtain.”
- Not only can Federation HQ warp, but each deck can also detach as a lifeboat and warp too. Neat.
- For the first time on Discovery, the Borg are mentioned, indicating they could still be active in the 32nd century.
- The President of Earth was played by the prominent political figure Stacey Abrams, who is an avowed Star Trek fan.
More to come
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