5x03 Jinaal

[7.0/10] It’s hard to delve into the Trill without raising the specter of Deep Space Nine. The latest clue in the Progenitor saga sees Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Book (David Ajala) sojourn to the Trill homeworld to uncover the next piece of the puzzle. To do so means summoning the spirit of Jinaal Bix, a Trill host who worked with Dr. Vellek and knows where the next piece of the three-dimensional map lies. But bringing him back means depositing him (temporarily of course), into the body of Dr. Culber (Wilson Cruz).

This soul-to-soul transport calls to mind “Facets” from DS9 where Jadzia practiced the same sort of host-harboring ritual, and saw the Dax symbiont’s prior host possess Odo’s body. Just as it’s fun to see the normally stiff and stern Odo become a gregarious hedonist, there’s something fun about seeing the normally serene and steady Dr. Culber cut loose in similar terms and embody the spirit of someone much more sly and slippery. The way the revivified Jinaal plays coy with our heroes, and basks in the joys of experiencing the physical world anew, gives his eponymous episode a certain flair, even if it comes with a certain playacting vibe.

That said, as enjoyable as it is to see this normally hugboxing show deal with someone a little more tricktster-y and arch (see also: Q antagonizing the crew of the Enterprise-D or even Harry Mudd mucking things up on Lorca’s Discovery), the part of the plot Jinaal-as-Culber serves is trite. Jinaal reveals that he was part of the scientist collective from eight centuries ago that hid the Progenitor tech in the first place. Only, he won’t reveal its location to Book and Burnham, because the series of clues and riddles to get them there is not just a puzzle; it’s a test of character.

Maybe the writers will surprise us, but barring three more reanimated/reembodied spirits, it’s hard to tell how a series of cryptic hints leading to various Puzz 3D pieces are supposed to show that Burnham and the Federation are worthy of wielding this fantastical technology for good. But even Jinaal’s ploy -- to see if she and Book will treat predatory megafauna as foes or friends -- plays as cheap and kind of unfair given the life-or-death stakes, rather than some true measure of their moral upstandingness. And the cliched back-and-forth about whether the interstellar community has advanced enough in the future to support such benevolence does Jinaal’s scheme no favors.

Look, it’s not a good sign when you’re only three episodes into the season, and your extended plot arc/middling fetch quest is already tiresome. The canon tie-in gives Discovery’s season 5 mission some juice. But 90s Trek tie-in or no, the show’s done a mediocre job to date of making that quest interesting or worthwhile in its individual steps.

Thankfully, despite the title, “Jinaal” is something of a grab bag episode, touching on the different concerns and personal speed bumps of characters from across the show.

One of those is the rocky reunion between Adira (Blu del Barrio) and Gray (Ian Alexander). As is true elsewhere, Discovery isn’t shy about heavily underlining that sense that something is off between the couple, and once they’re back in the same place, their long distance relationship turns into a break-up. The idea that young love doesn’t always last, and that connections between people can change as their situations do is a solid one. There’s truth in the awkwardness of Gray and Adira’s big talk.

But given the collage nature of the episode’s plotting, the split feels a bit undercooked. More to the point, while Adira and Gray as a couple were a heartening element in the show, they were only part of the equation. The episode briefly nods toward Stamets (Anthony Rapp) as a surrogate dad, but he doesn’t so much as say hello to Gray, and neither does Dr. Culber, who’s obviously off on his own adventure. Maybe we’ll get more down the line, but this plays like Discovery dispensing with multiple worthwhile relationships in quick fashion in an already overcrowded episode.

We do get hints of Stamets’ path this season. After lamenting that he’s been reduced to being a “luminary” in the season premiere, and wondering if his greatest accomplishment is already behind him, Stamets gets starry-eyed over the Progenitor tech. While he waxes poetic about its potential to create life and even reanimate the dead (no risks there, certainly!) the subtext is that this boundary-pushing engineer is trying to top himself. It’s still early days, but the prospect of Stamets going too far in the name of securing his legacy, possibly setting him against his usual crew, potentially to revive someone he loves (presumably Adira, given the setup here) is intriguing.

His revelation comes during Commander Rayner’s (Callum Keith Rennie) curt run-through of the crew in the guise of a “getting to know you” exercise that would make Julie Andrews see red. Alongside Deep Space Nine’s plain influence on the Trill storyline, there’s a Worf-esque “This isn’t how we did things at my old posting” quality to Rayner’s resistance to the ship’s culture. The difference, of course, is that the audience already knew and liked Worf from scads of adventures on this previous show. With Rayner as a newcomer, his gruff, dismissive attitude about connecting with people or adapting to his new environment risks making him into more of a Jellico.

Even three episodes in, through, Rayner’s trajectory seems to be revealing that his prickly and down-to-business exterior does not reflect a lack of care or decency, and that with the right nudging from leading lights like Tilly (Mary Wiseman), he can grow, change, and adapt. His montage of brusque interactions with the crew gets a little cartoony, and Tilly’s speeches to him are on-the-nose, but the sentiment about the need for connection is a sound one, that ties into the season’s and the series’ themes.

That just leaves Saru’s (Doug Jones) first minor spat, if you can even call it that, with his new fiancee T’Rina. There too, the ideas about conflicts being a part of any relationship and partnership meaning respecting what your future spouse wants not assuming you know they need are both solid. But with everything out in the open between them, Saru and T’Rina’s exchanges now feel a bit flat. The couple is still enjoyable, and the attempt to draw out possible friction over the tension between their personal and professional lives is laudable, but their serene pairing has a little less charge when they’re no longer each stifling passions behind a staid exterior. Who knew handling situations like calm, mature adults wouldn’t be as exciting? Seems unfair somehow.

So does Jinaal’s treatment of Michael and Book. Look, I get it. The Progenitor tech is a big deal. Fine. But making them jump through these hoops, speaking in coy riddles, putting their lives at risk, under the pretense that all of this nonsense will demonstrate whether their worthy is more annoying than compelling. Discovery already has a big bill that's coming due by invoking one of the most wide-reaching revelations from The Next Generation. Draping it in giant bug battles as other credulity-straining feats does little to inspire confidence in the ultimate reveal and inevitable confrontation.

But the mystery remains afoot. The smugglers are putting trackers or some other mysterious devices on our heroes. And the fetch quest promises to extend to another planet, this one outside Federation territory. In the shadow of an unavailing season arc, “Jinaal”’s grab bag is a mixed bag. Let’s hope that next week’s installment can better live up to its influences’ legacy.