TREK REVIEW: DIS 5-6 - "Whistlespeak"

 A nice change of pace this week after the heavy lore and grand revelations in "Mirrors." "Whistlespeak" is a leisurely,old-fashioned episode that, in its own way, calls back to years of Star Trek storytelling with the sort of straightforward Prime Directive story we've seen many times before. There's nothing much here that's new, with the story suffering from the same sorts of issues these stories often have. The aliens are extremely human-like, their society feels sketched in, and they speak in an overly formalised way that can rob scenes of urgency and impact.

Still, overall this is nicely done. While they're lumbered with some stilted dialogue, the guest cast is uniformly solid. June Laporte is the standout as young Ravah, who's likeable enough that it's genuinely unsettling when they willingly going towards their death. It's also a nice touch that Laporte, who is non-binary, gets to use they/them in the episode. The Halem'nites explicitly recognise three genders, so just because they're at an earlier stage of development doesn't mean they don't get to be progressive. I'm sure the anti-woke crowd is spitting blood again.

There are other elements that add to the reality of this world. Cloud seeding with silver iodide is a tried-and-tested method of rain generation, while whistlespeak itself is used for long-distance communication by cultures all over the world. The sonic treatment that causes the elder woman to cough up the dust that's ravaging her lungs is more questionable, but there are similar techniques used in Asia with anecdotal effectiveness. It's a great moment, though, with the Starfleet interlopers shown that an allegedly primitive culture have achieved the same results as their high technology has.

Indeed, in spite of some very impressive tech on display here - I particularly like the contact lens tricorders - there's a nice theme of there always being someone more advanced elsewhere. While the Federation has technology that looks like magic to the Halem'nites - and has done for at least eight hundred years - the Progenitors have tech that massively outstrips them. The Halem'nites worship the creators of the weather towers as gods, but it's not really much different to how Starfleet look at the Progenitors. Again, this is wellworn stuff from classic Prime Directive stories (the good ones, at least), along with the resolution. The Denobulan scientists (a nice bit of detail) who installed the weather towers saved the population from drought, but altered their social development for centuries, leading to a religion obsessed with blood sacrifice (albeit in a terribly sanitised way). Burnham's interference is less a breach of the Prime Directive than partly putting right an earlier breach, much like many of Kirk's actions back in the day.

As for the regulars, it's very much a Tilly episode, with Mary Wiseman providing the heart and humour of the episode. I like that the bigger girl gets to be the "queen of endurance" here. The script takes pains to remind us that Tilly's now a teacher, obviously so we're not surprised when she goes back to the Academy (and to star in her own series, almost certainly). She shares great chemistry with Laporte, as does Martin-Green with Alfredo Narciso as Ravah's father Ovahz.

Back on the ship, outside the main storyline, the focus is on Culber, as he tries to come to terms with his experience as a temporary host for the Trill scientist's consciousness in episode three. This ties in nicely to the spiritual themes of the episode, and the balance between science and faith, Culber being convinced there's a physiological reason for his changed outlook and feelings. Stamets is being extra spesh and can't fathom why his husband might feel different after a) dying and being resurrected and b) hosting a centuries-old alien consciousness. You'd think Hugh would speak to Adira more about it, given that they still are hosting a centuries-old alien consciousness. There's a strange story thread involving Culber's spending time with a holographic recreation of his abuela, which, while not entirely unheard of in Trek terms, veers close to Black Mirror territory when he starts considering recommending it as therapy. I expect he'll be essential to the eventual realisation of how to use the Progenitors' tech once it's finally recovered.

Bits and pieces:

• The eventual discovery of the next puzzle piece was ridiculously throwaway - basically, "Oh yeah, we beamed into that other tower and there it was."
• Although it's generally assumed the Denobulans joined the Federation, there's no indication of whether they were members when the towers were set up on Halem'no or if they are in the 32nd century.
• Why is the control unit for the tower miles away in the woods? And why is it leaking radiation? The Denobulans really didn't think this through, did they?
• Given that they were looking for planets that suffered droughts in the distant past, I wondered if they'd be heading back to the Crepusculan planet Burnham and Georgiou visited back in the first episode of Discovery. That might have been a nice touch, although they'd need some serious disguises.
• Kovich gets ever more mysterious. He owns some 21st century legal paper, for some reason. I'm wondering if it's going to turn out he bought it firsthand in the 2020s and is either a time traveller or hundreds of years old.
• We've got a full list of 24th century scientists involved in the mystery now: Jinaal Bix of Trill; Vellek of Romulus; Hitorishi Kreel of Denobula; Carmen Cho from the Mirror Universe; and Marina Derex of Betazed (named after Marina Sirtis, I assume).
• Culber's Mofongo con pollo looks delicious and I am definitely getting some plantain and having a go at making it.