With information provided by Enterprise’s Number One, Pike and the Discovery follow Spock’s path – until they are pulled from warp by a giant object that somehow scrambles their systems…

After a minor blip last week rebooting the Klingon and Ash Tyler plotlines, Discovery is back on course with yet another story that feels like a modern take on the original series. The title refers to the coin placed on the eyes of those travelling across the River Styx and is the earliest clue to what’s going on – although, unlike earlier series, Discovery doesn’t put the title front and centre, so chances are most viewers won’t know/remember what it’s called. The episode is roughly the length of an original series instalment and is packed with incident – although it leaves plenty of time for a beautiful moment between Doug Jones’ Saru and Sonequa Martin-Green’s Burnham whose resolution I didn’t see coming. Jones’ Saru is one of Discovery’s strongest characters, and I’m pleased that he’s getting what feels like increased exposure this season.

This episode also marks the welcome return of Tig Notaro as Jett, the engineer found on the Hiawatha in the season opener, and she makes an excellent sparring partner for Stamets. Apart from a brief appearance by Burnham, Notaro, Anthony Rapp and Mary Wiseman’s Tilly pretty much have a mini bottle show of their own, with Stamets forced into eating his own words about the spore drive – although the final twist may change the game again. (And I’m not sure I’ll ever hear Space Oddity again without thinking of a certain tool…)

From comments made online, it would seem that Anson Mount’s Pike is only on board for one season, and he’s made a huge difference to the crew already. There’s a lovely moment when Saru leaves the Bridge that you just can’t imagine under the ship’s previous captain, and his reactions during the crisis with the alien object (both in terms of how he’ll preserve the lives of his crew and how he deals with the input from Burnham and Saru) are impressive. If one of the spin-off ideas that’s being discussed isn’t an early voyages series, with Mount and Rebecca Romijn (who steps up as Number One very nicely) then someone’s missing a trick. (And wouldn’t that be the ultimate spin-off?!)

Knowing how much I picked up off the first three episodes on a second viewing, I’m looking forward to rewatching this one too – but even from that first view, it’s further proof that Star Trek is in safe hands.

Verdict: Moral quandaries, unknown lifeforms, malfunctioning computer equipment… another strong piece of Star Trek. 9/10

Paul Simpson