'Star Trek: Discovery' recap: 'The Wolf Inside'

On the newest episode of Star Trek: Discovery, the crew continues to work on finding a way home and Michael faces tough choices.

On the last episode, the crew discovered they were in a mirror universe, a parallel universe where the hateful Terran Empire rules. The whole crew takes on the guise of their mirror counterparts. Michael takes command of the Shenzhou with Lorca as her prisoner and Tyler as her bodyguard to gain access to their files. Unbeknownst to anyone, Tyler killed Dr. Culber.

“The Wolf Inside” begins with a crewmember working on an electrical problem. She hears something and sees Stamets cradling Culber’s body to him while talking about forests.

On the Shenzhou, Michael wakes and thinks about how different this universe is from her own. Mirror Saru comes in and discovers he is a slave without a name in this universe. Mirror Saru bathes her and she thinks about how terrible this universe is and how hard it is to act like she does not care. Michael has to watch as enemies of the Terran Emperor are beamed directly into space to their deaths.

Later, Michael sits with Tyler and they discuss the mirror universe. She thanks him for helping her stay herself and he tells her a story and says she helps him as well. They kiss and mirror Saru interrupts bringing food. Tyler leaves to check on Lorca and Michael calls mirror Saru by name. She quickly says that is now his name and he leaves.

Tilly calls Michael and makes sure their connection is secure. She sends her support and turns the call over to Saru and the two talk about the mission. Michael says she found the files on the Defiant, but she cannot send them to the Discovery without being detected. Saru reports Stamets is the same. He asks Michael if there are any Kelpien’s on the ship. She lies to protect him, saying none of his species are aboard. He reminds her to be safe and stay vigilant.

On Discovery, Tilly tells Saru that Michael deserves to know about Culber’s death. Saru replies Michael cannot be distracted. The two look in on Stamets, who is strapped down to a medical bed. Saru wonders if Stamets killed Culber, and Tilly says that if he did, it was an accident. She pulls up his medical files and persuades Saru to let her help because his issue deals with the spore drive.

Back on the Shenzhou Michael gets a mission from the Emperor to kill the Firewolf, the Klingon leader of the resistance. The orders are to go to the location and destroy the resistance and their base. Mirror Keyla starts to ready weapons, but Michael stops her and says she wants a landing party so they can get intel then destroy their enemy.

Michael visits Lorca and tells him about the order. He argues she should do it so they can get home and help save the Federation. She disagrees saying the resistance is a “coalition of hope” and wonders if she can talk to the Klingon leader and if that will help her figure out how to negotiate with Klingons at home. Lorca agrees and tells her to take Tyler.

Back on the Discovery, Tilly tells Saru about Stamets calling her Captain Tilly before they entered the mirror universe. Tilly thinks the spores caused Stamets to have a portal in his brain to move through dimensions. She fills the chamber with the spores when Stamets is in it, believing they will help.

Michael and Tyler beam to the resistances location and are fired upon. They lower weapons and Michael asks to speak to Firewolf. The aliens take them to the camouflaged base and they enter the tent to see mirror Voq. Tyler lingers, staring at mirror Voq strangely. Michael speaks to mirror Voq, saying the Emperor knows where they are and Michael will help get them to safety. Mirror Voq does not believe her and asks for the prophet, who turns out to be mirror Sarek. Mirror Sarek sees into Michael’s mind and is surprised. He announces she comes in peace.

Voq tells his people to pack up and leave. Michael stops him to ask for her favor and wants to know how he managed to get so many alien species to join together. Mirror Voq says Kahless and as he begins speaking of him, Tyler gets flashbacks to T’Kuvma’s speech about Klingons. Mirror Voq says uniting against a common enemy was key. Tyler speaks Klingon and attacks mirror Voq but fails and is defeated. With assurances from Michael and mirror Sarek, Voq agrees to spare Tyler’s life. Michael tells him they have an hour to leave and she needs proof her mission was a success. They give her an information device and they leave.

When they return to the Shenzhou, Michael gives mirror Keyla the intelligence and says to get it decoded. She says to get the torpedos ready and she will decide when to fire. She orders Tyler to accompany her to her room.

Back on the Discovery, Tilly says the spores are helping to heal Stamets' brain. Saru praises Tilly and says he will think about recommending her to the command training program. Stamets heart rate continues to drop. A med team comes and tries to resuscitate him and Tilly cries as she watches.

Michael demands the truth and Tyler finally begins to tell her what is going on, starting with L’Rell and their connection. He starts remembering the surgery and sees himself as Voq. Michael is confused and Tyler says he could not fight it after seeing Voq. Tyler changes as he begins to see his past clearly, and finally accepts himself as Voq.

Tyler tells Michael everything, how he infiltrated Discovery and killed Culber. Michael tries to tell him that is not true, but he continues talking. He remembers Michael killing T’Kuvma and mentions how she scratched his eyes. Michael now believes him because she did not mention that in her testimony. He attacks her but mirror Saru pulls him off of her and security crew take him away. Mirror Keyla says he is to be executed per Terran law and Michael agrees.

Tilly talks to a comatose Stamets and his vitals come back online. Stamets meets his mirror version in the spore network.

On the Shenzhou, mirror Keyla reads Tyler/Voq his sentence in the transporter room. Michael punches him after he speaks in Klingon about Kahless. Michael takes over the controls, saying she wants to kill him herself. She asks mirror Keyla to bring Lorca to her room for a personal interrogation.

In space, Tyler is starting to die when Discovery beams him aboard. Security crew grabs him and Saru tells him he will be treated like a Federation prisoner despite their current location. Saru pulls the data card from Tyler’s holster where Michael stuck it when she punched him in the stomach. The Discovery now has the information about the Defiant which might give them a way home.

Michael talks to Lorca and he says they need to maintain their cover for a while longer. Saru needs to search the data and he does not want any chance of them being caught. Michael is called to the bridge as another ship appears, targeting the resistance base. Michael watches in horror as the ship destroys the resistance base before all the aliens could escape.

The Emperor calls and unsurprisingly, Philippa Georgiou is the Terran Emperor. Emperor Georgiou is annoyed that Michael disobeyed her orders and then questions why Michael is not bowing. Lorca looks on as Michael bows.

Star Trek mirror universe episodes are always entertaining and dark, focusing on the horror of a world ruled by the cruel and bigoted. It has been a while since I watched the other mirror episodes, but so far I am enjoying the Star Trek: Discovery much more. Having Michael play her mirror self for so long, being able to hear her thoughts and see her struggle makes this mirror universe feel more terrifying. I think Sonequa Martin-Green is doing a fantastic job portraying Michael. Tyler is not a surprise at all, but I am interested in where the story goes from here. I will continue to call him Tyler for now because Saru did in this episode and the preview for the next.

New Star Trek: Discovery episodes are released Sunday’s at 8:30 pm on CBS All Access for the US, and air at 8 pm on Space in Canada. Other countries can watch new episodes Mondays on Netflix.

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