WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Trek: Discovery Season 4, Episode 9, "Rubicon," streaming now on Paramount+.
Star Trek: Discovery has gone from a wartime story to a show about rediscovering the value of hope and compassion centuries into the franchise's far-flung future. The transition has not been without its fair share of bumps along the way, and one repeated trope is exposing a major storytelling flaw plaguing the latter half of Season 4.
In Season 4, the galaxy faces a devastating crisis as a lethal dark matter anomaly progressed through the cosmos. Cleveland "Book" Booker wants to destroy it after the anomaly annihilated his home planet Kwejian. But after deducing that the anomaly was artificially created, Captain Michael Burnham insists that destroying the anomaly before making formal contact with the civilization responsible -- dubbed Species 10C but likely the Kelvans -- stands in clear opposition to the principles upon which the Federation was founded. This creates an ongoing conflict throughout multiple episodes.
Burnham's virtuous stand is a clear reminder of the idealistic future that Star Trek has always aspired towards, but its execution -- or more accurately, the immediate aftermath of its execution -- is where the narrative seams begin to show. For three episodes in a row, Burnham has given an impassioned speech reminding her peers of the ideals that define Starfleet and the Federation. These stirring speeches are standout moments for the character, showing just how much Burnham has grown. But they're all undercut by the response from Book and his collaborator Ruon Tarka.
While Burnham succeeds in getting the Federation to reject Tarka's plan, Tarka and Book decide to proceed anyway. This relative indifference continues when Burnham and Book are reunited at a casino on the edge of the galaxy outside of Federation jurisdiction, with Book deciding to acquire the isolinium he needs to complete his weapon despite Burnham's attempts to persuade him otherwise. After that, she makes one last impassioned plea for Book to stand down at the heart of the anomaly and Book finally agrees -- but Tarka reacts impulsively and activates the weapon anyway, destroying the anomaly.
Burnham has proved herself more capable of captaining the Discovery, but being constantly blown off by Book and Tarka makes her look ineffective in the face of stopping this threat to the Federation. Federation President Rillak and Admiral Vance are not out of line in questioning whether Burnham is the Starfleet officer best suited to stop Book and Tarka because every step of the way, this explosive alliance has succeeded in outsmarting her and getting exactly what they want.
This repeated failure to support its heroine and have her words mean something makes Star Trek: Discovery Season 4 feel like it's treading water while setting up its final act. Hopefully with the anomaly destroyed and the full scope of Species 10C about to be revealed, the series will fix this glaring trope and make the season more effective as a whole.
Created by Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman, Star Trek: Discovery releases new episodes Thursdays on Paramount+.
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