'Star Trek: Discovery' recap: 'The Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry'

On the newest episode of Star Trek: Discovery, Michael’s curiosity helps save the day when the Discovery must rescue a group of miners.

Last week on Star Trek: Discovery, Michael was taken aboard Discovery and after a mission, was asked by Captain Gabriel Lorca to join the crew. After learning more about the spore project the crew is working on, Michael agreed. Unbeknownst to Michael, Captain Lorca and Commander Landry brought the creature from the Glenn back to the Discovery.

“The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry” begins with Michael getting her official uniform for Discovery. Tilly walks in with a package for Michael and compliments her new outfit. Michael takes the package, which turns out to be from Captain Georgiou’s will. She puts it down and leaves the room.

Michael heads to the elevator and when it opens, Saru is inside. He is surprised to see her, thinking she left on the prison ship. She tells him the Captain offered her a job. Saru is concerned, despite her assurances that she is only there to help. They arrive at the bridge to see the crew running a fight simulation. The crew fails and the Captain reminds them they must be better. He orders Saru to take over the simulation and asks to speak to Michael.

 

 

Lorca takes Michael to a room filled with various alien weapons. Also in the room is the creature from the Glenn. Michael is concerned about the creature being on Discovery. Lorca wants Michael to find out what the creature is made of so they can attempt to use whatever it is a weapon.

Meanwhile in Klingon space, Voq speaks to the dead T’Kuvma asking for guidance. L’Rell wants them to take the dilithium processor from the Shenzhou to fix their ship, though Voq protests. She then mentions that they ate Captain Georgiou. The crew is dying of hunger and she convinces him they must use whatever they must, even if it comes from an enemy.

Back on the Discovery, Michael is studying the creature when Landry arrives. She tells Michael that Lorca wants them to work together on this project. Landry names the creature Ripper. Michael says Ripper shares much in common which a tardigrade, a microscopic animal, only made giant. She tells Landry they cannot judge it by what it looks like or for what happened on the Glenn, as its biology shows it to be docile. Landry tells her Lorca does not care about what she is, or what Ripper is, only what they can do for him in the war.

 

Captain Lorca gets a message from Starfleet, asking him to take the Discovery to rescue Corvan II, which is a dilithium mining colony under attack. Lorca assures Admiral Cornwell that Discovery can make the warp jump. When he goes to engineering, Stamets strongly disagrees, telling Lorca they are not ready for that long of a jump. Lorca demands Stamets do what he can to make their jump longer.

On the Klingon ship, Kol arrives and asks for Voq’s help in the war since his ship has the cloaking device. Voq tells him that whatever is his, is also Kol’s. L’Rell looks concerned, but echos their chant of “remain Klingon.”

Meanwhile, the crew of the Discovery are getting ready for the jump. The jump leads them to a burning star and they fly away as fast as possible. Michael realizes when the drive comes online, Ripper knows. Michael tells Landry, who replies they need to focus on what makes Ripper strong.

Stamets hurt himself during the jump and Dr. Hugh Culber fixes his injuries. Lorca comes in the two argue over the spores and making the jump last longer. Stamets tells the Captain he is not a soldier, and Lorca tells him he can leave. Stamets says if he leaves, he will take the spores and all his experiments. Lorca replies everything on the ship is Starfleet property, so Stamets goes back to his lab to work. The Captain then broadcasts the audio Starfleet received from Corvan II throughout the ship to remind them of the dire need the planet.

Fed up with how slow the research is going, Landry decides to sedate Ripper and take off its claw for Michael to study. Michael disagrees, but is overruled. Landry fires at Ripper, and in turn it attacks her before running back to the containment area. Michael is able to close the containment area before transporting Landry to medical, but she cannot be saved.

Voq and L’Rell board the abandoned Shenzhou and take the dilithium processor. The two talk about Voq’s leadership role and T’Kuvma. L’Rell says she does not want to be a leader. She wants to stay behind him, doing what needs to be done.

Michael summons Saru to see his response to Ripper. He is not threatened, so she believes Ripper is only acting in self defense. Upset that Michael used him, Saru says he was wrong before; she will get along with Lorca.

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Michael has Tilly bring her some of the spores, since the spores were on the Glenn with Ripper. Despite fear of getting in trouble, Tilly agrees. Tilly says she cannot help the miners, but she can help Michael. Michael opens the containment area and puts the spores in there with Ripper. The creature accepts the spores and engages with Michael in a peaceful way.

Michael shares her findings with Stamets. She tells him Ripper came aboard the ship in the lower decks looking for the spores. The Glenn kept Ripper and somehow used it to help them jump further.

Stamets and Michael transport Ripper into the engineering room holding all the spores. Ripper is somehow able to communicate with the spores. Michael thinks they can use the tech they took from the Glenn and figure out how to use Ripper’s ability for the jump.

Meanwhile, Voq and L’Rell return to their ship with the stolen tech and discover Kol won over Voq’s team with food. Voq argues that the Klingons are all together now because of T’Kuvma, who chose him as torchbearer. Kol says the Klingon houses will no longer be allies after the war, and he is now commander of the crew and the ship. L’Rell hands him the processor and eats. Kol tells her to kill Voq, but she says he should be left alone to die.

Michael and Stamets get Ripper hooked up to the Glenn tech and are able to use it to transport to Corvan II. The Klingons engage Discovery in battle. Lorca waits until the shields are low and then jumps so all the Klingon fire hits their own ships. The crew is ecstatic and Corvan II is saved.

On the deserted Shenzhou, Voq laments being left to die. L’Rell transports and explains she deflected to save his life. She says he needs to win the war in order for all Klingons to believe in T’Kuvma’s message. L'Rell is transporting him to the Mokai. She says they will teach him, but he must be prepared to sacrifice everything.

Michael visits Ripper, bringing spores. She hears Ripper’s pained noises and apologizes, knowing that it is in pain from being used.

Back in their quarters, Tilly tells Michael the crew are all talking about how she helped save the miners. Captain Georgiou’s package is still beeping. Tilly rambles and tells her to open the package, saying Michael is not afraid of anything.

When Tilly leaves, Michael finally opens the package. A holographic message of Georgiou praises Michael and her curiosity, telling Michael she is like a daughter. The package opens and Michael sees her gift. An old telescope, passed down through generations of Georgiou’s family.

Despite the weird science, I liked this episode. Michael connecting to Ripper is not surprising and worked well. I still really like Michael’s interactions with Saru and Tilly. I find L’Rell and Voq’s relationship interesting, but when I look at them, all I can think is “I cannot believe the Klingons ate my Captain.” It is unfortunate because their dynamic and chemistry is great. There are still some elements I am not completely sold on, including Lorca, but I am looking forward to the next episode.

New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery are available starting at 8:30 p.m. on Sunday nights on CBS All Access.

Check out the trailer for the next episode of Star Trek: Discovery below.