Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 Episode 8 recap: A new villain emerges

When Book’s homeworld is under threat, Burnham and Discovery can’t help but intervene in Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 Episode 8.

It seems like this season of Star Trek: Discovery is embracing the episodic style of storytelling of its predecessors. It’s taken me till halfway through the season to realize that. I’m not sure it’s really working for me because the first two seasons conditioned me to expect an inter-linked storyline. So, in Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 Episode 8, a background villain comes to the fore.

This episode centers on Book and ties in some aspects of his storyline that has been hinted at throughout the third season. And, along with Book’s story, a new villain emerges. And for some people, the villain may be closer than they think.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 Episode 8 – Georgiou’s Mysterious Illness

Georgiou has been seeing visions and blacking out. She’s finally meeting Dr. Culber, but she’s a difficult patient. Georgiou is concerned but her pride won’t let her show it; instead, she’s snarkier and less cooperative than usual. Culber has to drag Burnham in to get Georgiou to agree to an atomic scan.

Kudos to Dr. Culber and Dr. Tracy Pollard (Raven Dauda) for patiently putting up with Georgiou. They obviously understand that a difficult patient is a scared patient.

The scan doesn’t go too well and is aborted when Georgiou herself wakes up from being sedated. We get a better look at Georgiou’s vision – she’s lifting a knife and putting a hand to someone’s bleeding chest. Michelle Yeoh’s make up in the vision alludes to Georgiou’s younger days, but whose death has her in such anguish?

Georgiou’s scan appears to suggest that she’s dying, though Culber rebukes her by saying that it’s not that simple. So, what does it all mean? My guess is that the showrunners are looking for a way to write Georgiou out, though I hope we get a satisfying closure to this mystery.

I love that Culber’s become the de facto counselor on the ship. He is perfect for the role.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 Episode 8 – What’s That Music?

Over the course of Star Trek: Discovery Season 3, a piece of music has appeared in all sorts of places—a lullaby being sung by a Barzan mother, or the tune that Adira plays on her cello. Now, a distant nebula that Stamets and Adira uncover as the source of the Burn is sending out a signal with the same music.

After a little digging, they discover that the music is hiding a distress call. Stamets suggests that Adira can create an algorithm to unearth more about the call, which upsets the newest member of the crew. I thought, at first, that Adira was annoyed at being volunteered for work. But there’s something else.

Adira explains to Stamets that they prefer they/them pronouns. They’ve never felt comfortable with she/her. I don’t know why Adira needed to come out at all; since this is the 32nd-century one would expect humanity is well beyond these trivialities.

I’m glad that Adira specifically mentions that they/them have always been their personal pronouns. I was worried that the writers would use Adira and their many Trill personalities as an excuse to change their pronouns. But the writers proved me wrong yet again.

Stamets and Adira getting closer means that Adira can be honest about what’s troubling them. Gray seems to have stopped talking to them, which is heart-breaking. But Adira is also struggling with being joined with a symbiote. They never know who they’ll be more like when they wake up.

Stamets is a great listener and just knows how to distract the youngster with some music. Is that futuristic metronome a throwback to when Seven of Nine used one in Star Trek: Voyager?

Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 Episode 8 – The New Villain

When Burnham rescued Book from the Hunhau Work-Camp in ‘Scavengers’, she also provided asylum to his Andorian friend Ryn. Now Ryn becomes a central problem when the deadly Osyraa (Janet Kidder) threatens Book’s homeworld.

Book (or T’Rex, as he was originally named) was raised on Kwejian and appears to be part of a found family whose only living member is his brother Kyheem (Ache Hernandez). The planet was plagued by sea locusts that destroyed the harvests, starving millions.

In came the Emerald Chain with a repellant. Keeps the locusts at bay but doesn’t destroy them. In return, the Kwejian people gave the Chain their trans-worms.

These worms have been coming in handy. Osyraa keeps them in her Work-Camps and feeds her useless nephew (whom she raised) to them because he let all the workers escape. Let’s just say, this woman is not to be trifled with.

Osyraa has Kwejian in her grip and she’s heading straight for the planet. Admiral Vance sanctions Discovery to oversee Book’s return to his home because a planet in distress cannot be ignored. But Discovery is to strictly observe, not engage.

Book arrives to a hostile welcome—there’s a lot of that going around this season. Kyheem is working with Osyraa and has been getting rich (the plush house being proof of that). He’s also beholden to her. The moment Osyraa arrives, she threatens to capture Book if Kyheem doesn’t deliver Ryn to her.

Will Kyheem give up his brother to this crime lord?

Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 Episode 8 – Resolutions

Ryn is still on Discovery and obviously doesn’t want to return to Osyraa’s camps. Saru refuses to give Ryn up, but he can’t contact Burnham and Book on the planet. Tilly comes up with an unlikely solution to save the Federation from becoming embroiled in a battle with the Chain. She suggests they use Book’s ship to fire at Osyraa’s ship.

Osyraa’s ship, Viridian, is formidable and she begins firing photon torpedoes at the planet. Detmer volunteers to pilot Book’s ship and brings Ryn along. They’re able to make a dent and scare Osyraa off. Yay!

Side note: Grudge jumping on to Ryn’s lap and scaring him because he’s never seen a cat before is hilarious. More Grudge, please!

Back on Kwejian, the brothers still have a battle on their hands. Without the Chain’s support, how will they stave off the sea locusts from entering the urban areas? Burnham has an idea.

Book and Kyheem both have empathic powers (I’m not sure if everyone on Kwejian has this ability, but Book has hinted that there were many more of his kind before). Discovery can amplify Book and Kyheem’s powers and they can nudge the sea locusts out of the way.

The plan works and the family has reunited once again.

Book decides to remain on Discovery. Will he become a new crewmember? Maybe he can help Saru come up with his own catchphrase because honestly ‘Execute’ and ‘Carry on’ aren’t working.

Detmer’s spirits are up as she recounts how she fought the Viridian. Ryn reveals that he’s the only one who knows that the Chain is running out of dilithium—that’s why they want him dead. Discovery and the Federation have made a new enemy in Osyraa. Let’s hope the life of one Andorian doesn’t cost millions more.

What did you think of Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 Episode 8? Let us know in the comments.

New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 are available every Thursday on CBS All Access.