STAR TREK: DISCOVERY
SEASON 3, EPISODE 5

Die Trying

Series: Star Trek: Discovery - (2017 - 2024)
Season: 3
Episode #: 5
Original Airdate: November 12th, 2020

Writer(s): James Duff & Sean Cochran
Director(s): Maja Vrvilo

Guest Stars
Rachael Ancheril as Commander Nhan
Michelle Yeoh as Philippa Georgiou
Oded Fehr as Admiral Charles Vance
Blu del Barrio as Adira Tal
David Cronenberg as Kovich
Tig Notaro as Commander Jett Reno

Co-Stars
Emily Coutts as Lt. Keyla Detmer
Patrick Kwok-Choon as Lt. Gen Rhys
Oyin Oladejo as Lt. Joann Owosekun
Ronnie Rowe Jr. as Lt. R.A. Bryce
Sara Mitich as Lt. Nilsson
Brendan Beiser as Eli the E.M.H.
Jake Epstein as Dr. Attis
Vanessa Jackson as Lt. Audrey Willa
Ana Sani as the Mom
Ava McKinnon as Daughter #1
Shazdeh Kapadia as Daughter #2
RJ Parrish as Holo Security Officer #1
Vanessa Burns as Holo Security Officer #2
Chris Zamat as Holo Officer #1
Jajube Mandiela as Holo Officer #2
Daniel Woodrow as Holo Officer #3
Shannon Lahaie as a Tactical Officer
Rosie Simon as a Starfleet Ensign

Uncredited Guest Stars
David Benjamin Tomlinson as Ltjg. Linus (the Saurian)
Avaah Blackwell as an Osnullus Science Officer
Pamela Mars as a Discovery Bridge Crewmember

Stardate: circa 802861

Synopsis

In possession of the coordinates for Federation and Starfleet headquarters, Saru dictates his first official captain’s log and prepares to report for duty with his new Number One, Michael Burnham. The pair ponder what they will find upon their arrival, and the first officer expresses an interest in inquiring about Gabrielle Burnham’s fate. Concealed by a distortion field for security purposes, the outpost presents the U.S.S. Discovery with a majestic 32nd century sight as it finally comes into view.

Discovery's crew stare in awe at the starships before them, including the 10th generation Intrepid-Class U.S.S. Voyager-J, a new U.S.S. Constitution, ships with detached nacelles, a floating rainforest, and hulls composed of either organic material or holographic-containment walls.? Discovery also passes a ship bearing the name U.S.S. Nog.

Saru, Burnham, and Adira Tal beam over to report for duty and meet Admiral Charles Vance, Starfleet’s commander-in-chief. The Admiral informs the away team that the Federation now consists of 38 planets (down from a peak of 350), and that Saru’s native Kaminar is a member.

[ Screencap Index ]

Saru and Burnham bring Vance up-to-speed on Discovery’s history, the spore drive, and the Sphere data, but the lingering effects of the 30th century wars related to the Temporal Accords leave the admiral reluctant to trust time travelers. Vance intends to refit Discovery and reassign the ship’s crew, causing Burnham to secretly encourage Saru to illegally obtain records regarding an illness infecting Kili refugees. Burnham wants to find a cure in order to prove the crew’s worth, but the captain insists on following proper protocols to get the data.

Holographic interrogators question the rest of the crew, and Georgiou pulls a Kirk-style maneuver to confuse and short circuit the holograms assigned to debrief her. The fact that Federation scanners can now distinguish Terrans from humans builds on the notion that the people of the Mirror Universe’s Earth are a completely different species. A lone organic interrogator intrigues Georgiou, but he also rattles her by revealing that the Terran Empire fell centuries before, the distance between the two universes has expanded, and no crossings have occurred in over 500 years.

Meanwhile, Saru and Burnham shed light on the prion infection and convince Vance to permit Discovery to retrieve samples from the Federation seed-vault ship U.S.S. Tikhov. With Saru remaining behind and Vance’s security chief Lieutenant Willa accompanying her, Burnham takes command and jumps Discovery to the Tikhov’s coordinates. The Barzan currently supervise the vessel, so Nhan accompanies Burnham and Culber on the away mission.

The boarding party finds that the seed vault has been compromised, and they also locate a holorecording of the Barzan humming along to a melody, which Burnham recognizes to be the same as the one that Adira recalled from Senna Tal’s youth. Unfortunately, Culber and Nhan discover that the Barzan family had perished and left behind Attis, a grief-stricken father who is stuck out-of-phase. Stamets, Reno, and Tilly figure out a way to rescue Attis, who gives Burnham access to the seeds needed to help the Kili.

Despite needing treatment for exposure to terminal levels of radiation, Attis refuses to abandon his family. Nhan decides to forgo her career and honor Barzan’s commitment to the Federation by safeguarding the seed ship herself. Back at headquarters, Vance appears impressed by Discovery’s work, but he explains that the Federation no longer has the luxury of handing out five-year exploratory missions.

In an impassioned plea, Saru references the painter Giotto and the manner in which the Renaissance artist’s work helped elevate Earth out of its so-called “Dark Ages.” Saru and Burnham successfully convince the admiral to keep Discovery’s crew together so that they can utilize the spore drive and Sphere data to serve the Federation. Questions about The Burn and the peculiar musical melody abound, but things are beginning to feel more like home.

  

Posters courtesy of Laz Marquez

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