'Star Trek: Discovery' recap: 'Into the Forest I Go'

On the midseason finale of Star Trek: Discovery, Stamets must do over a hundred spore jumps so Discovery can get critical data to help win the war.

In the previous episode of Star Trek: Discovery, Tyler, Michael, and Saru went on a mission to the planet Pahvo to gain an upper hand in the fight. The Pahvans invited the Klingons to come to their planet, wanting to help stop the war.

“Into the Forest I Go” continues with the Discovery still above Pahvo. Admiral Terral contacts the Discovery and tells them to leave Pahvo, while Lorca argues they must protect the Pahvans. Terral commands them to leave and Lorca orders the crew to use the warp drive. Saru protests, saying the Pahvans cannot protect themselves.Lorca replies he knows. By using warp, they have three hours to come up with a way to detect the Klingons cloaking tech before Starfleet knows they disobeyed an order.

Lorca takes Stamets aside and suggests he go to medical for his implants and have Culber run extensive tests. He wants there to be a paper trail for Starfleet as to why they are not using the spore drive. Stamets reluctantly agrees.

Saru and Michael work on figuring out the Klingon cloaking tech. Saru believes they need someone to put sensors on the Klingon ship in order to get the data they need. Tyler suggests using the Discovery as bait to make the Klingons uncloak. When they do, their shields are down momentarily and a boarding party can beam over undetected. Michael says the only problem is time; they need days to collect enough data.

Lorca visits Stamets and Culber in medical. Culber says there are parts in the temporal lobe of Stamets brain that have been restructured. Lorca tells him to send him the report and ignores Culber’s warning of playing “roulette with his brain.”

Lorca takes Stamets away and asks him to make 133 micro jumps to get a snapshot of the Klingon ship. Stamets is worried about using the spore drive in a new way. Lorca shows Stamets the data of his spore drive jumps which suggests the existence of parallel universes and says they can study it after the war. Stamets agrees to try the 133 jumps.

On the bridge, Tyler asks for Michael to join him in boarding the Klingon ship, but Lorca refuses. Michael questions him, saying she was on the ship before so it makes sense for her to go. After a minute of arguing, Lorca relents.

In engineering, Culber gets Stamets ready for the jumps, knowing his partner will not listen to his concerns. Tilly overhears their conversation and thinks Stamets told his partner about his side effects. Culber is upset but says they have no time to talk. He gives Stamets a cuff to let him treat him while he is in the spore drive chamber. On the bridge, Lorca gives the crew a motivational speech calling them warriors and praising their growth. They use the spore drive to jump back to Pahvo.

On the Klingon ship, the Klingons see Discovery and decide to decloak and fire. Kol gives a speech to his crew, saying they will kill the Starfleet crew, take the ship, and destroy Pahvo. The ship decloaks, and Michael and Tyler beam aboard the ship. The Discovery and the Klingon ship battle.

On the Klingon ship, Michael and Tyler mask their life signs as Klingon with tech and place the first sensor with no issues. When they get closer to the bridge, Michael discovers a human life sign. Tyler argues they must stick to their mission, but Michael says they must help one of their own and they are nearby.

They break into the room and find Admiral Cornwell, lots of dead Klingon bodies, and L’Rell. Facing his torturer, Tyler has flashbacks to being tortured while L’Rell slowly walks closer. Michael revives Cornwell, who says she cannot feel her legs. Michael turns and sees L’Rell inching towards a shaking Tyler. She stuns L’Rell and rushes to Tyler, who Cornwell says is in shock and will be no help with the mission. Michael tells Cornwell about the mission. She then leaves the two with weapons, ensuring them they will all get back to Discovery.

Michael goes to the bridge and places the second sensor while the Klingons and Discovery continue their fight. Saru announces the sensors are online and Lorca starts the jumps. The Klingons are confused at first as Discovery disappears and reappears every few seconds, attacking another part of their ship. Kol orders the crew to cloak the ship and Discovery begins receiving data.

Meanwhile, in engineering, the crew continually readies the spore drive for jumps. Stamets tells Culber he loves him before jumping again. The ship continues to jump while Culber watches his partner get worse. Culber calls the bridge and tells them to abort, but Lorca commands him to continue, reminding him their efforts could stop the war. Culber sends something to Stamets via the cuff he gave him to help stabilize him and says he loves Stamets as well.

On the Klingon bridge, Michael listens as a crewmember tells Kol they suspect sabotage. Kol believes L’Rell is behind it and tells his crew to find her and cut off body parts. He decides Discovery is toying with them and says to go to warp. Michael sees Discovery needs to jump many more times so she fires at the Klingons to stall for time. She and Kol talk via her universal translator and she sees he has Captain Georgiou’s Starfleet badge. He uses it to bait her, then she says he has no honor and declares she killed T’kuvma.

Cornwell tries to talk Tyler down from his PTSD attack. The Klingons break down the door and Cornwell returns fire. Tyler is able to snap out of his attack when he remembers Michael. He shoots at Klingons and shuts the door.

Meanwhile, Kol and Michael continue talking and he thanks her for her part in the war because it helped him come to power. He tells his guards to put her in a cell so he can gain the rest of T’Kuvma’s followers. Michael demands he fight her like T’uvma did Georgiou. He agrees and throws her a weapon, then they fight.

Back on Discovery, Stamets completes the 133 jumps and Saru announces they need five minutes to analyze the data. Lorca decides not to warp when he realizes the Klingon ship is not firing. He tells the crew they are not leaving without Michael and Tyler.

While Michael and Kol continue to fight, Discovery gets the data they need. Lorca calls to Tyler, who tells him Michael is on the bridge and he has two to beam out. Behind him, L’Rell approaches and jumps him when Discovery transports the humans. The Discovery contacts Michael during her fight and tells her to ready for transport. She takes Georgiou’s badge from Kol and transports, much to Kol’s fury.

On the Discovery bridge, Saru tells Lorca that Michael and Tyler are aboard, along with Cornwell and a Klingon prisoner. Lorca orders the crew to fire on the cloaked Klingon ship. Michael watches Lorca, nods to Saru, and touches Georgiou’s badge as the Klingon ship blows up.

Later, Admiral Terral tells Lorca that Cornwell arrived at the Starfleet base and is in surgery. Lorca tells Terral they are sending their data on the Klingon cloak. Terral reminds him the war is not over and more Klingon ships are headed to their location. He commands Lorca bring the Discovery to a Starfleet base and says he is being recognized for his efforts with an award.

Lorca speaks to Stamets and tells him about the medal, saying he told them to give it to Stamets. Lorca says Starfleet wants them to leave because more Klingons are coming. Though Lorca says they can warp, Stamets says he can make one more jump to get the crew to safety. Lorca begins talking about what they can do with the drive when the war is over, but Stamets stops him saying this will be his final jump. He needs to see Starfleet doctors and figure out what is wrong with his mind, and Lorca agrees.

Michael visits Tyler in his quarters and asks about his PTSD episode and L’Rell. He says L’Rell is obsessed with him and made him endure physical and physiological torture. Tyler says he endured sexual assault because it was the only way to survive. Michael comforts him and says she hopes he can find peace. He says he has with her and the Discovery. The two embrace, cry and share a kiss.

Tyler wakes from a sexual nightmare about L’Rell. He goes to the brig and falls to his knees, asking what the Klingon did to him, but she ignores his question. She stares at him and says she will “never let them hurt you.” The black alert begins and she says “soon,” then he leaves.

In engineering, Stamets kisses Culber and suggests a date to an opera near the starbase. Stamets gets into the chamber as Lorca inputs coordinates. The jump begins and Stamets screams and the chamber wall begins to ice. Tilly says the navigation was not complete according to the computer. Stamets stumbles out, his eyes are glazed white and his body is shaking. While Culber looks over him, Stamets says he can see every variation.

Meanwhile, on the bridge, the crew tries to figure out where they are because they are not at the starbase. They see Klingon ship wreckage surrounding them in space and Saru announces he has no idea where they are now.

I think this was a good midseason finale. I want so badly to believe Tyler is who he says, but while the flashbacks look like torture, they could also be a surgery. If he is actually Ash Tyler, then I will be surprised given the evidence spread throughout the series so far. That said, Shazad Latif and Sonequa Martin-Green have great chemistry and the scene where she comforts him and listens to him talk about his captivity was fantastic. I am curious if Discovery ended up traveling to an alternate universe, or through time, or like Voyager, a long, long way from home. Star Trek: Discovery is shaping up to be an interesting show and I am looking forward to the final episodes next year.

Star Trek: Discovery will return on January 7 at 8:30 p.m. on CBS All Access.