Star Trek: Discovery‘s “The Galactic Barrier”

We finally get Tarka’s backstory, and it features Osric Chau (the guy who played Kevin on Supernatural and the Atom on The Flash). Meanwhile, the U.S.S. Discovery ferries Presidents Rillak and T’Rina and a bunch of other delegates to try to make first contact with Species 10C by traversing the galactic barrier in an episode imaginatively titled “The Galactic Barrier.” My review of Star Trek: Discovery‘s latest episode…

An excerpt:

Vance contacts Discovery to inform them that the DMA is now endangering Earth, Titan, and Ni’Var (among, presumably, lots of other worlds). Burnham wants to tell the crew, and Rillak wants to keep that information classified.

On the one hand, from a military standpoint, Rillak is absolutely right. The crew and the contact team need to be focused, and being told that their homes are in danger is not a great way to stay focused.

On the other hand, from a Star Trek standpoint, Burnham’s right. Jean-Luc Picard once reminded us all that a Starfleet officer’s first duty is to the truth, and Burnham believes it’s more important for the crew to know the stakes.

Star Trek is an idealized future, and because of that, we’re dealing with people who are the best and the brightest. This crew has been through hell and back together and they’re professionals of the highest order. Ideally, as professionals, they shouldn’t be adversely affected by such news, and Trek is an ideal future.