“Far from Home,” the second episode of Star Trek: Discovery’s third season, sees the Discovery and her crew arrive in the 32nd century.
Parasitic ice clings to the ship, “gooey bits” of Leland cling to Georgiou’s boots, a cruel bully clings to power in a run-down space saloon—and our heroes cling to the Federation’s highest ideals, to hope, and to each other.
Ironically, “Far From Home” feels more like coming home to Discovery viewers, because we’re finally reunited with the entire engaging ensemble we’ve come to know and care about over the series’ first two seasons.
Here are five of the episode’s most memorable moments:
Discovery Lands—Barely—On The Colony
The episode wastes no time plunging the crew into nail-biting peril.
Discovery’s blazing descent through The Colony’s asteroid-strewn atmosphere to its glacial surface is a spectacle on par with the Enterprise-D’s crash landing on Veridian III or the demise of the Kelvin timeline’s Enterprise on Altamid.
But Discovery doesn’t actually crash. Her crew brings the ship down intact thanks to skilled shield manipulations, well-timed graviton beam blasts, and Detmer’s expert conn control. This action-packed sequence showcases the crew’s talent, resilience, and ingenuity even under tremendous pressure.
Acting Captain Saru Rises to the Occasion
How far Saru has come since we met him in “The Vulcan Hello“!
But it’s more than the loss of his threat ganglia last season (in “An Obol for Charon”) that makes him the right person for the center seat at this moment.
His remarks to the crew after Discovery lands are in the finest inspirational Starfleet tradition. He acknowledges their dire straits, but reminds them they are “together and alive.” He focuses them on their first priority, “the integrity of this ship and this crew.”
Throughout “Far From Home,” Saru strikes a nearly Picard-like balance of clear-headedness, compassion, and courage. Doug Jones has created a Trek captain for the ages.
Saru Chooses Tilly for the Recon Team
Georgiou dismisses Tilly as having “as much psychic dominance as a kitten,” but Saru chooses her to survey this strange new world with him because he sees potential in her that others, including Tilly herself, doesn’t.
“We are introducing ourselves to the future,” he tells her. “You, Ensign Tilly, are a wonderful first impression.”
Doug Jones and Mary Wiseman share wonderfully winsome chemistry in this scene. Their conversation also lays the groundwork for Saru’s choice of Tilly as acting executive officer later in the season.
Georgiou is a “One-Woman Tactical Response”
Zareh says it with scorn and a sneer: “A one-woman tactical response. V’Draysh”—the corrupted name for the Federation—“has officially reached its nadir.” But Georgiou proves herself more than worthy of the title.
Two decades after Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Michelle Yeoh is still doing her own stunts. “That’s all her in Star Trek,” says Elle magazine.
And her talent for wry sarcasm and caustic comedy is no less impressive. Not every actor could pull off the line, “What you call pain, I call foreplay.”
Saru rebukes her for using excessive force. But it’s hard not to admire her former Imperial Majesty’s integrity: “It is who I am.”
Meeting Up Again with Michael
J.R.R. Tolkien called it “eucatastrophe”—a story’s sudden, unexpected turn from sorrow to joy.
I think the final scene in “Far From Home” qualifies as eucatastrophic!
When all seems lost—the parasitic ice pulling Discovery down, a strange and presumed hostile tractor beam pulling it up—Saru tells his crew, with noble resolve, “We will face whatever or whomever has come for us—together.” Then, in a moment of unlooked-for grace, he and they find themselves facing Michael, who’s been looking for them for a year.
Fear turns to joy, and despondency turns to hope. The stage is now fully set for a season of soaring discovery.
What are your favorite moments in “Far From Home”? Share them in the comments below!