Star Trek: Discovery 3×06 “Scavengers” is the episode we have been anticipating this season of Star Trek: Discovery. We mentioned in our review of episode three that the writers seem to be drawing parallels between Georgiou and Michael. Georgiou has been abiding by her own rules for some time, doing what suits her and falling into line with the Discovery crew as long as it benefits her unspoken purposes.
Because of Michael’s year on her own with Book, she got a taste of living outside the Federation, and understanding that sometimes life isn’t quite as clean cut as it appears within the bounds of Starfleet life. Sometimes it’s necessary to make hard choices outside the ideals of the Prime Directive, no matter how much you’d like it to be otherwise.
Going rogue to rescue Book wasn’t a surprise to me. Michael, while with good intentions on all accounts, has continually bucked Starfleet order since reuniting with the Discovery. This is one of those situations where you really can’t blame her either. Risk your status to save someone you care for deeply and also potentially find intelligence that could save the organization that you love? If I were in her shoes, I too would find it to be a near impossible choice. I can’t say I’d have acted differently either.
This is also one of those situations where it’s difficult to tell whether you should ask for forgiveness or permission. The intelligence piece is important to Starfleet; what could a third black box tell us about The Burn? And yet, while as important as that is, it is incredibly difficult for Michael to put her feelings aside for Book and operate purely out of the interest in serving the Federation. Being a good soldier is hard, especially when you love as deeply as Michael does.
Tonally, this is a very different episode from the rest of the season. The first five episodes were focused on the hope inherent in the ideals of the Federation. Don’t get us wrong; these are great ideals and we wish that everyone would follow them. However, this is also a dose of realism to temper the idealistic nature of the Federation.
No matter how high and lofty our ideals and aspirations, sometimes we are forced to make a choice that isn’t black and white. How do we deal with that? How do we rectify that someone will get hurt, no matter the choice we make? Michael’s words on this subject really hammered home for me.
“I’d rather regret something I did than something I didn’t.”
We’ve been thinking about these words for the past 24 hours since watching the episode. We’d prefer simply not to have any regrets. However, we know that’s not always possible. This episode has given us much to consider and ponder, which is, in our opinion, the best part about any iteration of Star Trek–it makes us think.
Also, let’s talk about THAT. KISS.
DEAD.
We mean, come on, we all knew it was coming, but yet, it was still breathtaking. So where do we go from here? Michael and Book have laid all their cards on the table. How will that dynamic play into Michael’s relationship with Starfleet? Georgiou’s parting shots after their rescue of Book and the other slaves will not be forgotten either. Who is this mysterious Osyraa? A reckoning is coming, that’s for sure.
