Immediately after watching "The Wolf Inside" I hit the replay button and watched it again, it was that good. Burnham and Tyler get used to pretending to be assholes in the mirror universe, while promising to be there for each other to keep each other "tethered." But no one is there for Lorca, who continues to spend his days in an agonizer booth. Mirror Saru is a slave onboard the Shenzhou, tasked with bathing and feeding the captain. Burnham doesn't have the heart to tell Prime Saru the reality of his people in this universe. In a touching exchange, even though Mirror Saru insists that slaves have no names, she still calls him Saru, much to his surprise. But none of this really matters to the mission, and Burnham is still having trouble finding a way to upload information on the Defiant to Voyager, and that's the whole reason that she is there.
Burnham is sent instructions from Terran command to destroy a resistance compound found on a nearby planet. Reluctant to do so, she buys time by planning an intel-gathering mission first. Her and Tyler beam down, and have a meeting with the leader of the resistance, Voq. Sarek is there as well, sporting a traditional mirror-universe Vulcan goatee, and confirms through a mind-meld that her intentions are genuine. But Tyler, disgusted with watching his alternate self speak of unity among races, wigs out and attacks him(self). Despite this, the plan is successful, and she gives the crew an hour to evacuate. Once back home on the ship, Tyler also attacks Burnham, and almost gets the best of her, but Mirror Saru steps in just in time with his super strength and bats him away. It's a great moment, and we can only assume that Mirror Saru would not have gotten involved had Burnham not shown him the unexpected kindness earlier.
The crew of the Discovery assumes that a crazed Stamets is the one that killed Culber, as he is found cradling the dead man and looking creepy. Tilly takes over his care, and impresses Saru with her grasp of the spore drive. At least, until she kills him. Well, he's not completely dead. He rouses later, and through the spores meets with his mirror self, who hopefully has a plan of some sort.
Meanwhile Tyler must be dealt with for his attempt on the life of the captain in the Terran Empire way. They march him to the transporter room, where he will be beamed into the vacuum of space. I like the idea of using the transporters for new things, as I've always been bothered by the under-utilization of the greatest technology on board. For instance, if you can beam a security force onto the bridge of an opposing ship, wouldn't it be easier just to beam the bridge crew of that ship into space? But honestly, for a more dramatic death, I think blowing sentenced out a physical air lock would be better. Anyway, a very betrayed and pissed-off Burnham offers to be the one to control the slider that ends his life, and out into space he goes, as she struts confidently out of the room. It give us a real "fuck yeah!" moment just before it brings us back to reality, and Tyler is instantly beamed from space and onto the Discovery. We are reminded by Saru that they are still Star Fleet, and they will live and die by Federation code even in this strange universe. For a moment I questioned whether or not Burham was even in on this plan, but it was quickly confirmed by the fact that traveling with Tyler to the Discovery was the information on the Defiant.Then comes the big plot twist, as the colony is destroyed by fire from another ship, which happens to be carrying the Terran emperor, Mirror Georgiou. Burnham is in big trouble for failing to follow orders, even though she did bring back information on where the other hideouts are. In an instant, she goes from absolute confidence to complete helplessness.
This is all just Fantastic. My favorite moments are Mirror Saru saving Burnham due to one tiny act of kindness shown earlier, and Saru's speech that solidifies that they will continue to act with virtue. Tyler becoming Voq and going rogue was not a surprise at this point, and I certainly had a feeling that the emperor would be someone that we know, and Geougiou was the only missing character. Nevertheless, the episode had enough genuine moments and big payoffs that it was all very worth it. I also appreciated the campy nod to TOS by giving Sarek a goatee. It's good to see that the show doesn't have to take itself so seriously all the time.Published Feb 11, 2018
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