#Galactic Challenges Mixed With Intimate Character Moments

The beginning of season 4 starts out on an upbeat note. We’re on a lush planet with some interesting aliens, U.S.S. Discovery Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), and her partner, Book (David Ajala). The two are there on behalf of the Federation and are doing the good work of giving away dilithium to those who lost their supplies after The Burn (aka the Very Bad Thing the series tackled in season 3).

This is a non-spoiler review so I’ll stop there, but even when things get a bit dicey on the aforementioned lush planet, Michael keeps smiling. The sequence has danger, yes, but it’s also lighthearted, an event that highlights Michael’s deep drive to save everyone and solve every problem. She’s in her element, doing what she does best with the people she loves.

After those first few minutes, however, things get very bad, very fast. That anomaly we’ve seen in the trailer makes its ruthless introduction and — as Saru says in the aforementioned trailer — puts billions of people at risk. This is bad, folks — another cataclysmic event for the crew of Discovery to tackle head on.

The anomaly, like other threats in seasons past, is almost absurdly epic in scope, so big that its enormity makes one almost numb. What “Discovery” does better this season, however, is pair this galactic existential threat with the personal struggles of its characters.