HERE THERE BE SPOILERS
Yes, yes, I know, I’m a touch behind with my discussions of Discovery, considering the show’s final episode airs today, but I did want to take a moment and focus on “Rosetta,” because communication and understanding are so, so important to this season. Thus, about half of the episode’s plot really matters, and honestly, the other half doesn’t add much. However, I love not only what the episode has to say about communication but also about how intimately tied context and emotion are.
Plot Ahoy!
I’m going to cheat a bit for this article and link you to the Trekkers’ Delight review show for this episode because it contains a solid summary for “Rosetta.” As always, be prepared for some mild language.
That being said, the major points the episode hits are as follows:
Burnham takes an Away Team down to a planet that appears to have been inhabited by 10-C. They discover that the planet was bombarded by meteors, resulting in devastating destruction and loss of life. They enter into a strangely reinforced structure, and Saru begins to experience fear the like of which he has not experienced since going through the vahar’ai. Soon, Culber and Burnham experience the same terror and hallucinations, while Detmer does not. Eventually, they discover not only that a dust, comprised of hydrocarbons, has saturated the structure but more importantly, that the dust elicits a certain emotional reaction. Outside the structure, they experienced the fear felt by the dying members of 10-C during the meteor strikes. Within the structure, they find a dust comprised of different hydrocarbons coating what appear to be cocoons containing the remains of infants. That dust contains the encoding for peace, love, and home, leading Burnham to conclude that 10-C, as a species, values and even loves its children. The hydrocarbons, therefore, serve as a method of communication; 10-C communicates by the direct transmission of emotions.
The B-plot is generally not worth mentioning, but basically, it involves Tarka and Book boarding Discovery to install a patch to Zora’s systems that would prevent her from noticing Book’s ship attaching itself to the hull. They do this in order to piggy-back on Discovery’s trip into the hyperfield. During the caper, Book enlists General Ndoye to aid in their plan to neutralize the power source, and Tarka ends up taking Commander Jett Reno hostage.
Analysis
“Darmok” is perhaps one of my favorite episodes of TNG of all time both because it emphasizes the importance of storytelling to culture but also because it features Picard working out a way to communicate with a profoundly alien being. That’s a profoundly difficult task, folks. On Enterprise, the show generally treats Hoshi Sato as being less useful than the other crew members because she frequently stumbles with her translations, but that very much shortchanges her accomplishment. As Hirai remarks in “Rosetta,” communication often begins with a shared set of concepts, and when considering truly alien life, there’s no guarantee that they will, in fact, share the same overarching concepts because these are beings that have evolved on a completely different planet. Their biological reality is entirely foreign to say nothing of their culture. That difference would be realistically enormous.
Some science fiction offerings address this issue by using mathematics as a stand-in for language or at least as a basis for initiating communication. Star Trek chooses to move in an entirely different direction because the franchise wants to make a point about finding what makes us similar or complementary than focusing on what separates us from each other. In “Darmok,” Dathon, a Tamarian whose language has defied understanding since First Contact, maroons both himself and Picard on El Adrel with the hope that by working together to survive, he and Picard will find a way to communicate. If they succeed, their efforts will enable both sides to engage in diplomatic relations. Dathon believes achieving communication important enough that he sacrifices his life in pursuit of that goal.
The episode’s point is not that a language like Tamarian, in which the speaker communicates solely in metaphor and reference to culturally important stories, would be feasible. Rather, “Darmok” serves as a reminder that no matter how different someone might be, we can find a way to forge a connection. In “Rosetta,” the language base isn’t strange alien legends; it’s rather based in emotion, which works so beautifully with the season’s themes even though this language would be no less impracticable than Tamarian. On the planet, the away team concludes that there are certain emotions that are universal. Thus, if 10-C shares those emotions, then that’s a point of commonality. For the first time, there’s real hope that the Discovery’s mission can succeed.
There’s a song that keeps playing in the back of my mind these days, and it’s “Russians” by Sting. Specifically, there’s a single line that keeps coming up for me, “Believe me when I say to you/I hope the Russians love their children too.” Now, “Russians” released in 1985 amidst fears that nuclear war would result in mutual destruction, and the point Sting makes is that if you love your children, unleashing such devastation makes no sense. While the conflict between 10-C and the Federation is decidedly asymmetrical and skewed in 10-C’s favor, the episode posits that a common experience—loving one’s young—can serve not only as the basis for initiating communication but also possibly convince 10-C to cease their mining operations. As the episode concludes, I can’t help but remember how “Russians” ends: “But what might save us, me and you/Is if the Russians love their children, too.”
I also love that the episode prizes context and the necessity of it, both in communicating with 10-C, but also in terms of communicating with each other. Hirai makes a few ascerbic remarks that help destabilize an already intense situation, and President Rillak calls him out on it. She reminds him that people who do not feel supported will not do their best work, and she’s right. People who feel unsupported don’t contribute everything they can because so much of their energy is tied up in experiencing unpleasant emotions. Creating an atmosphere of community and mutual respect goes a long way toward increasing effectiveness and good mental health in groups. That’s a lesson a few of my former employers could stand to learn.
My other real observation involves Ndoye. While she demonstrates clearly that she’s afraid for Earth, she does undermine Burnham’s decision-making authority when she questions the mission as they’re stepping onto the shuttle. That same fear prompts her alliance with Book, but she does insist that Book’s option be a last resort. It’s an ace in the hole that she’s keeping back in order to cover her bases, but she still insists that Book give diplomacy time to work. That may not be a lot of change, but at least there’s something there.
Overall, however, “Rosetta” would be a solid episode but for the Book/Tarka side-plot, which feels very much like padding. I’ll admit that this is the first episode all season for which I found the internal pacing frustrating, which is a win for Discovery, but it is disappointing.
Rating:
Two cups and a saucer of Earl Grey Tea
Stray Thoughts From the Couch
- Anyone else getting what’s past is prologue vibes?
- The idea of communicating exclusively through emotional hydrocarbon is nonsensical, but despite that, it’s still beautiful.
- That Detmer’s PTSD is both a blessing and a curse in this episode is fantastic. While she can handle fear, it’s love that undoes her, and given the issues in her background, it’s just all the more impactful.
- ”Fly good!” Oh, poor, poor Adira, but hey, you’re making a friend in Detmer.