Scifi TV Review: Star Trek Discovery Season Three Episode Two: Far From Home

Last week we launched into not only a new season of Star Trek Discovery but also a new era of the Star Trek universe itself.  Jumping ahead 900+ years into the future from the pre-TOS timeline, Burnham found herself literally a stranger in a strange, yet familiar, land.  The thing was, she arrived separate from the USS Discovery itself and was now on a quest to find her crew and solve the mystery of the burn while possibly finding a way to restore the Federation to it’s previous glory.

As expected, the second episode acts as a second premiere but this time following the USS Discovery and her crew as they find themselves in a strange new(ish) universe.  If course, Saru and Tilly soon find themselves in the middle of a small conflict which inadvertently exposes them as Time Travelers and, well, things get hairy. 

Be warned, from here on out, there be Spoilers.

Is it a ‘Good’ Episode?

I really dig the direction this series is going from these first two episodes.  While it seemed that this third season would focus on the restoration of the Federation of the far far future while Burnham searched for her missing crew, it seems that the producers are going a slightly other direction with it.

We find Discovery crash landed and practically out of commission with little hope of escape as it begins to fall under the duress of Parasidic Ice.  In fact the ice is not the only threat, as Saru and Tilly quickly discover, when it soon becomes clear that the universe is not the ‘civil’ place it once was.  Meeting up with some rather ornery pirates, who are quickly dispatched by Georgiou, we find that the hope of the once great Federation is starting to grow.  While it is interesting that the Federation is still an almost mythical entity of it’s own, the reason for this might be because of the time that has passed between the first episode and this one.  It’s not exactly what we think it is.

At first Far from home seems to be taking place adjacent to the events of the premiere giving us the idea that we would see a fun story with the crew of Discovery and Burnham eventually meeting up in the later part of the season.  This is, in fact, not the case.  While it does take Burnham some time to find the crew of Discovery, one year in fact, we don’t get a chance to see that time pass, instead we jump ahead along with Discovery who are just as shocked as we are to see Burnham arrive just in the nick of time only to inform them that she has been ‘waiting for them’.  What has happened to Spock’s wayward sister in that year is now a point of mystery which, I am sure, will be explored through the course of the season. I mean, it seems she has been busy with her mission to ‘rebuild the Federation’ as word is getting out, but will we get a chance to see any of that?  I sure hope so.  If not, well, I sure hope they have a good reason for it as much has to have happened since she started her quest for Discovery.

Overall, this is a great episode that really does feel like the Premiere Part two even though it’s not called That Hope Is You Part 2 like I thought it would be.  It’s a strange thing for sure but who knows, maybe that was on purpose?   The crew of the Discovery are still the fantastic one we got to know better in season two with Saru acting as Captain, Tilly growing as a very strong character and Georgiou proving that she is , indeed, not one to mess with.  Other great mentions include Stamets and his husband Culber with their loving and fun banter, the amazing  Rachael Ancheril as Nhan,  plus the incredible Tig Notaro as engineer Jett Reno who really has a good time torturing Stamets in their repair attempts.  Frankly, I am still very excited for this season as it is shaping up to be something special.

Gleanings, Questions and cool bits: (slight spoilers here)

• Apparently Time Travel rules still apply as Saru makes mention that they need to be carful what they divulge about the past.
• We meet Zareh the Pirate who, while he was sent out to essentially die, I really dont think we have seen the last of him. In fact, how did he know that the device from Discovery was a communications device when one of the others mentioned they had never seen tech like that before? Is Zareh from the past as well or was he involved with the Temporal Wars maybe?

• I have a feeling that Georgiou is going to strike out on her own at some point…maybe to form her own Section 31?
• Saru taking Ensign Tilly under his wing is pretty great.  I love the character arc that they both have gone through and this episode really shows how wonderful their characters have become.
• We learn that the Tellarites still exist.

• We meet some Cordinites who we haven’t seen since Star Trek Enterprise. It’s great to see that this race still exists this far in the future. 
• Also, what’s going on with Detmer? She seems…shaken? Implant issues? Control?
• One interesting speculation that has come up since my first episode review is the origin of The Burn.  In talking with one of my friends, he pointed out something that crossed my mind but I didn’t quite put together.  What if The Burn was the result of someone experimenting with  The Omega Particle that was seen on Voyager (and happened to be one of the reviews this week).  We know that the writers of these new series have no problem diving deeply into the mythos of Trek, pulling some pretty deep cuts back into canon so it would be no surprise to see the return of The Omega Particle in some for or fashion.  While this particle was not know to destroy dilithium it was known to disrupt subspace in a way that would make warp travel impossible.  Sound familiar?  If they don’t take this path I will be shocked, but then again, this is a whole new galaxy. 
• As usual, a few shots of next weeks episode below.

Until then…

Thanks for reading the SciFi TV Review,  I look forward to discussing the rest of the series with you! Some teasers of next weeks episode below!

For more reviews: check out the weekly series called Key Movies Of My Life that comes out every Thursday and for more Trek goodness check out our Retro TV Reviews here.

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Late To The Game 10/22/2020

Special Thanks to Memory Alpha as they are one of the best sources for details on Star Trek information available.  Although I have a pretty deep knowledge on the subject, they have proven invaluable as a regular resource.

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