DISCO S1E15 "Will You Take My Hand?" Review by AnswerMan

Horrible:Meh:Adequate:Good:Fantastic

Here we go, time to put a bow on this season. Mirror Georgiou goes about flaunting her new power in everyone's faces, and even takes out some aggression on the only Klingon on board, L'Rell. When she fails to get any information from her about Qo'noS, Burnham points out that they technically have another Klingon brain to tap inside of Tyler. He seems to know a great deal about the planet, and him, Burnham, Georgiou, and Tilly/Killy are picked for the away team. They beam into the Orion embassy, and their goal is to get information on some shrine that would make a great spot to drop a probe that can map out the rest of the planet.



Even though no human has been on Qu'noS for a hundred years, and there's a war going on between the races, the gang doesn't seem too out of place there. Georgiou gets laid, Tilly gets high, and Tyler freaks Burnham out by acting all Klingon. For one, she's not really ready to trust him again after he tried to kill her as Voq. Two, watching the Klingons laugh and fraternize with him reminds her of the moments after her parents were slain. But Tyler says he was just trying to fit in, and they don't take him seriously anyway. A human speaking Klingon is just a novelty to them. Which begs the question: What the hell was L'Rell's plan with him anyway? Voq was already an outcast, so making him appear human would help him return to power....how again?

Anyway Georgiou slips away and the rest of the crew piece together that the mission is not to make a map, but rather to blow the whole planet up. There was no probe, there was a bomb. This is how Georgiou defeated the Klingons in her universe, and this is what Star Fleet signed on for in our universe. Burnham stands up against this genocide, and says that even if she has to mutiny again, she will not allow for this plan to happen. And this is what makes this a Fantastic episode. The whole season was about answering one question: Did Burnham do the right thing by disobeying Georgiou and attempting to fire first on the Klingons in order to save their skins? Here, finally, definitively, we are given the answer by Burnham herself:

Sticking to their ideals should come before anything else, especially in trying times. Following Burnham's speech, Saru stands up to signify that he will choose mutiny over genocide (it is truly amazing the depth of emotions that you can see through all that makeup). Then slowly the rest of the bridge crew stands united as well. It is the culmination of an entire season in one simple sequence. All along we've been trying to figure out who the good guys are. We liked Burnham, but she was a convicted mutineer and had a huge wall up. Sometimes we liked Lorca, but he turned out to be a mirror universe pure bad guy. We like Tyler, but he turned out to be a Klingon spy (for awhile). Stamets was brilliant, but a bit of a dick. Saru was nearly perfect, but his hostility to Burnham rubbed the wrong way, plus there was that time where he was willing to sacrifice everything for a moment's peace. And Tilly...well, Tilly was just adorable throughout. But here they all are together in unison. The good guys. Standing up for what is right!

So they change the condition of Georgiou's freedom from destroying Qo'noS to handing the bomb detonator back over. The control is given to (plot twist) L'Rell. She has seen that humans can have honor, that they are not bent on assimilating races, and that the Klingon empire is better united. Her demand is to call off the war or Qo'noS will be destroyed. It's a bit of a simple way to end a complex season-long war, but I don't know have a better idea so I guess this works. I am glad that the war plot-line is over, and I have enjoyed the character arc of L'Rell and hope that she is included in future seasons. Tyler decides to go with her, which feels icky. There is a whole medal ceremony back on Earth that is a bit cheesy and feels like an ending from "the feel-good movie of the year," but I suppose the viewers deserve this moment after 15 episodes of seeing these people go through hell. Of course, Burnham is pardoned.

Then, a cliffhanger. Discovery is on its way to pick up its new captain when it answers a distress call and comes face to face with Captain Pike of the Enterprise. So many questions to be answered next season! What havoc will Mirror Georgiou wreak? Who is the new captain? Will we get to meet Pike? Could Spock be on the Enterprise?

Published March 19, 2018