Conclusion to what felt like a trilogy of stories about the origin of the burn and the conflict with the Emerald Chain.
I found this to be a fairly mediocre episode.
Firstly the positives are that it is quite entertaining and contains a number of decent character moments. The pace is strong and it manages three plot threads well. Characters like Burnham, Saru, Culiber, Adira, Tilly and even Owosekun get decent moments to shine. However, what was promised as a fairly interesting political conflict in the previous episodes degenerates into a pretty bland 'goody shoots baddy' showdown.
It is very focussed around Michael Burnham saving the day and that will annoy numerous trolls (which is a bonus), however she is the central character and her arc has always been leading to what happens. No huge complaints from me with how it unfolds in this episode, but some of the writing is ridiculous in depicting her with almost superhero like physical prowess, particularly during the rather silly turbolift scene. Also looking at her character development over the course of the show there is very little growth leading to her big moment. In fact everyone else seems to have developed around her so they can realise she was right for being a maverick all along.
Speaking of writing, this episode suffers from some of the classic, clunky, Discovery exposition dialogue that sucks the life out of a few scenes by having characters over-explain what's about to happen to the audience.
I struggled with aspects of the crew suffocation story. Not because it was badly done. On the contrary it was great to see Owosekun having something cool to do. However, threatening to kill a number of regular characters does not generate any real tension because we know what the outcome will be.
I think my favourite aspect, at this stage of the overall narrative, is the story involving the Kelpian. Although the cause of the Burn is a big letdown, the concept of this character existing inside a hollow world created by his parents is excellent. The contribution of Saru, Culiber, Adira and Gray is memorable.
Visually, it is hit and miss. Some of the action sequences were strong, but transitions using the camera rotations made me feel sick on a number of occasions.
All performances are solid with no real weak links. Doug Jones and Sonequa Martin-Green stand out for me.