Synopsis
Burnham and the crew navigate a dangerous alien landscape in a race against time to save Tilly’s life, but Stamets is not at all prepared for what they find in the process. Section 31 is assigned to help track down Spock, much to Pike’s dismay.
Review
I’ve been pretty tough on Star Trek: Discovery in my last two reviews. This season has felt like somewhat of a rollercoaster of viewing. Whilst I can appreciate the exhilarating action sequences the sense of urgency has swallowed up time we should be spending with its characters.
Praise to the Old Gods and the New as “Sants of Imperfection” appears to have righted those wrongs. In fact this episode gave me a new appreciation for Tilly and Stamets, something I have struggled with throughout the show.
First of all “Saint sof Imperfection” features a truly intriguing story. The disappearance of Tilly leads us into the mycelial network. It’s a visually striking scenario which pushes the boundaries of the visual effects the show can produce.
There’s certainly no doubting the level of production here. Between the scenes inside the network and then the USS Discovery partially entering (and doriwning in) the network this is, visually, one of the best episodes of the series.
I still get the feeling the current writing team are working to correct errors of the past. In the back of my mind I keep thinking about technologies which don’t exist in TOS and beyond. These things somehow have to be written out and I wonder if stories such as this are constructed to push the show in that inevitable direction.
That being said there’s no denying the level of enjoyment I got from seeing Star Trek echo its past in new and exciting ways. But I do have one bug bear…
Not that I didn’t like Wilson Cruz as Hugh Culber but did we really him back on the show? His death was a poignant reminder that even non-red shirts can be killed off. There was an emotional resonance to his death, particularly for Stamets, which may be undone by his return.
I was glad to see the show find some crazy science to bring him back. My fear was that either it would be unexplained or we’d see some revival technology which is sadly missing later when say Tasha Yar or Jadzia Dax were killed.
Whilst is remains to be seen what the impact of his return will be I do feel it may have been unnecessary for the overall narrative of the show.
Verdict
With this episode Star Trek: Discovery is undoing some of the missteps of the previous two episodes. There are some truly unique visuals in this episode as Tilly explores the world inside the mycelial network.
Whilst there are some odd choices in “Saints of Imperfeciton” there’s a lot more to enjoy.
8/10
In the next episode…
Star Trek: Discovery is produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Alex Kurtzman’s Secret Hideout, Bryan Fuller’s Living Dead Guy Productions and Roddenberry Entertainment. Alex Kurtzman, Bryan Fuller, Heather Kadin, Gretchen J. Berg & Aaron Harberts, Akiva Goldsman, Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth serve as executive producers.
The series airs on CBS All Access in North America and Netflix internationally.
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