Rediscovering Discovery: 5 favorite moments from “Die Trying”

Having reconnected with Starfleet, the crew of Discovery must now prove they can serve the Federation most effectively together. Ironically, by the adventure’s end, one of them will say goodbye. Here are five memorable moments from “Die Trying,” the fifth episode of Star Trek: Discovery‘s third season.

The Discovery crew loves the Star Trek future as much as fans do

Star Trek usually takes its future setting for granted. But every so often, characters and viewers alike get to bask in it.

Like the shuttle pod trip around the Enterprise in Star Trek: The Motion Picture or our first glimpse of Starbase Yorktown in Star Trek Beyond, Discovery’s homecoming makes the franchise’s future someplace we’d love to be.

Starfleet holograms interrogate the Discovery crew

Admiral Vance said the crew would be debriefed. It looks and feels more like an interrogation. But Culber, Reno, Stamets, Tilly, and Nhan won’t let any bureaucratic holos run roughshod over them.

Starfleet’s skepticism toward these new arrivals is understandable. In the wake of the Temporal Wars, time travel is a crime.

But the Discovery crew refuses to let Starfleet treat them like criminals. Their irreverent and “insubordinate” responses actually hold Starfleet to its ideals. They expect to be treated as people, not problems.

Kovich cracks Georgiou’s facade

Even now that season 3 of Star Trek: Discovery is over, we don’t know much about Kovich, the glasses-wearing Federation official played by iconic horror movie director David Cronenberg. We haven’t even heard his name on-screen, according to the Memory Alpha wiki, and fan theories about him abound, as TrekMovie.com has reported.

But we do know he’s quite perceptive. (Maybe that’s why he wears the glasses!)

Kovich rattles Georgiou twice. He tells her the Terran Empire is no more, and correctly hypothesizes she stayed with Discovery for the sake of someone else.

This scene may be setting up future revelations about Kovich, but it definitely starts preparing us for the rest of Georgiou’s emotional character arc this season.

The Discovery engineering team accepts the dysfunction (or not)

Tig Notaro, Anthony Rapp, and Mary Wiseman play off each other delightfully as they “tech the tech” in fine Star Trek tradition, with a side helping of snark we’re not used to seeing—and neither is Vanessa Jackson’s Lieutenant Willa!

It’s nice to know the Star Trek world, like the real one, has room for teams who can get on each other’s nerves and under each other’s skins but still work together to find solutions and produce results.

Commander Nhan commits to finishing the watch

Torn between Starfleet and her desire to reconnect with her people and planet, Nhan manages to serve both. She decides to stay on the Tikhov, saving Dr. Attis from isolation and ensuring the Barzans’ first watch over the Federation’s seed vault ship will succeed.

Sadly, Nhan’s noble choice means actor Rachael Ancheril has moved on from Star Trek: Discovery (though Star Trek fans know goodbyes aren’t necessarily forever).

But her last scene also hints at the big change awaiting Burnham at season’s end. Nhan tells Burnham, “I have never seen anyone reach for the best in others quite like you, Michael. Don’t ever stop.”

What are your favorite moments from “Die Trying”? Tell us in the comments!