Star Trek Discovery season 1, episode 9: Into the Forest I Go recap

Star Trek: Discovery came to a pretty crazy conclusion this week. With Klingon battles and Ash having a PTSD breakdown, the Discovery still is fighting on.

Star Trek: Discovery has had quite the start. It still has struggled to feel like a real Trek show and this finally is still a victim of that balance. Maybe it is because the film franchise has a feel very different to what we’re used to, and the show falls in the balance of a post J.J Abrams Trek world while trying to follow the original timeline?

Whatever it is, this episode starts with all the drama. Paul isn’t exactly telling the truth (which maybe will explain why the spore drive technology isn’t used in any other Star Trek series?). He’s sick because of the spore drive, and Lorca is basically guilting him into continuing to use it.

“You chose to go where no one has gone before” was uttered by Lorca, who was basically asking Paul to fry his brain to defeat the Klingons. Which ends up happening despite Hugh telling Lorca they need to abort the mission.

There was also a speech by Lorca where he said that no other ship could do what they are doing, and like, okay, cool, but also the Enterprise exists at this point? So it isn’t exactly like the Discovery is to the level of the Enterprise in any way? I mean, I get it. There is a certain kind of drama to that sentence but still it isn’t accurate.

Gotta fight the Klingons

Michael and Ash beam aboard the Klingon ship and are trying to take it down from within. But while there, Ash realizes that he isn’t exactly over his time on the Klingon ship and his PTSD comes to the point where he cannot help Michael.

So she must go to the bridge alone and ends up in hand to hand battle with a Klingon. It leads to her and Ash returning with the Colonel and a prisoner? The prisoner was literally attacking Ash but somehow he’s fine. It makes no sense.

But then there is a nice moment when Michael has Philippa’s Starfleet insignia and she’s watching the Klingon ship being destroyed and looks to Lorca.

Ash and his PTSD

“I found peace, right here,” Ash says as he and Michael talk about his reaction to the Klingon. But then, in his dream, there is a very graphic sex scene between him and his Klingon torturer that was quite jarring.

So what is exactly going on with Ash? We don’t know, and we’re going to have to wait until we get more episodes to figure it out.

The Discovery is a science vessel

“Give them just a taste of what the Discovery is capable of,” Lorca says and while it is dramatic, it makes no sense because it is a science vessel. So much so that the constant jumps his ‘military’ ship is doing is killing Paul.

Once Paul does an insane amount of jumps to defeat the Klingon ship, he decides to do one more that basically fries his brain. So much so that they are lost in space.

Next: Maybe the problem with Star Trek: Discovery is the lack of Captain Kirk

Check back in January for more Star Trek: Discovery news and recaps when the show returns.