A mission to rescue Tilly is complicated by the appearance of Section 31…

There are spoilers ahead…

Kirsten Beyer’s second script for Discovery continues the apparent mission of this second season to rectify areas that concerned fans about the first, in this case the fate of Paul Stamets’ husband. From the start, Wilson Cruz has made it clear that there was far more to Culver’s story than had been told previously, and in a season that really does feel as if its subtitle should be The Search for Spock, maybe we shouldn’t be too surprised that another element of that movie should be revisited here. The idea that it’s Culver who turns out to be the monster is another callback to the era of the classic Trek show (as well as appearing in a Doctor Who story from its very first season). The scenes between him and Anthony Rapp – particularly when it seems at the very last minute than an insuperable obstacle has appeared – are nicely scripted, directed and played, and counterpointed with strong work from Bahia Wilson and Mary Wiseman as May and Tilly.

The only issue that I have with all of the above is that they’re being played against the Discovery’s destruction, and we kept being reminded that the ship was in mortal danger, yet there was time for more chat – somewhat reminiscent of the late lamented Doctor Who spinoff Class, which had the same propensity for breaking the tension in the wrong way.

What’s happening on the Discovery itself – rather than in the mycelial network version of it – is also well handled. Anson Mount’s Pike continues to be one of the high points of the season, and his reactions to everything to do with Section 31 – from the appointment of a liaison to his ship, to the somewhat odd Captain Georgiou, to an old friend crossing the line – were beautifully judged, and his line to Stamets before they start the rescue operation will rank up there with the classic Trek quotes, I suspect.

And as for Captain Georgiou? Let’s put it this way… if Michelle Yeoh ever decides she wants to play a pantomime villain, she only needs to nudge her performance up a tiny bit…

Verdict: The pacing issues aside, another strong episode. 8/10

Paul Simpson