Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum

Saru has become a very interesting character. From a race of "prey", he has developed abilities that help him determine who or what is a threat, and what to do about it. But he is always living with that adrenaline ready to pump, ready to run, his senses always scanning for threats.

But this planet "Pahvo" has a transmitter that, if modified, could help Starfleet see all of those Cloaked Klingon Ships that got a free Cloaking device for pledging Fealty to Kol. But of course, that sounds "too easy".

But what about The Pahvans? They assimilate Saru and show him peace for the first time in his life. But is that a positive thing? Because he is acting very uncharacteristically.

So Tyler and Michael have to carry out a small mutiny to keep Saru on track, and all that causes is that we get to see just how fast Saru can run. Which is, "Extremely".

And, will the Pahvans actually let Michael adjust their magic crystal tree? Or do they have other ideas on how this conflict between Qonos and Starfleet should be handled?

Is it that some cultures are flabbergasted when coming into contact with a species that would bombard their planet with Disrupters? Or even when contacted by a culture that professes "peace" and The Prime Directive?

These Pahvans, we really never find out why with them. I hope we get to revisit Pahvo at some point.

Why are do they keep killing the strong women characters? Come on people we need to keep more than 1, or two strong women in the new and future Star Trek.

Like Wonder Woman we love to see strong female characters, for our daughters, sisters, nieces, and of course the trekkers from the 1960s

After last episode's reprieve, "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum" jolts us back to the war with the Klingons. I am not enamored 100% of the time with focused on the Klingons, but there is potential. L'Rell is an interesting character. The writers make the right choice in not overusing her character. I believe she is going to be an important factor in the outcome of this war. This particular episode has the Discovery front-and-center in the battle to start with. As someone looking in from the outside, I see what a lethal force Lorca's ship is in battle. I also see what a forceful weapon the Klingon's "invisible cloak" can be. The main mission of the episode is for Burnham, Tyler, and Saru to stop this invisibility so they can track the Klingons and figure out when they will attack. Saru has the best lines and the best moments. He eventually becomes crazed in his desire for peace. He is a strong fighter too, apparently. The scene where he shows off his speed as he chases after Michael is a good, ol' classic "omg" moment.

As I articulated, Burnham, Tyler, and Saru are on a mission. This high priority mission takes them to the planet Pahvo where they need to learn the science behind the Klingon's advanced cloaking technology that keeps them invisible during warfare. It turns out the locals, these small, glowing, sparking cloud-like creatures are the drivers behind the technology as they create frequencies beneficial to the cloaking technology. These creatures, ironically enough, are all about living in a peaceful existence. They seduce Saru whose Kelpian race always live in constant fear. One cannot blame Saru for taking the opportunity to find peace...and keep it. Even if that means disposing of Burnham and Tyler.

Like the series that came before Star Trek: Discovery, I am happy that the series remains interested in science, biology, and stuff of that sort. It is always a good experience to discover new, unique creatures even if they were to betray the crew. Yup, they sent a signal to the Klingons. That means next episode will be a fun adventure. We did not spend too much time with the Klingons, but I am interested in what is going on with the Admiral. She is presumed dead because she is in the corpse room. I think we will be in for a surprise. Compared to the last episode, this episode was more inconsistent. But it is still an important, high-stakes episode.

My Grade: B+

Nothing great about it, nothing terrible...a sort of interesting plot device to move the story further. Not every episode can be awesome, but this episode seems to have set the table well for the "Fall Finale".

I will use the rest of this review to address some of the critiques of it. Per Jojo, #3/4/5 Kligon(ese); you are correct, the speech pattern is very unappealing to me...but in terms of the discord; many times, the greatest technological advancements in human history came during war. Episodic TV: You need some semi self contained episodes. The two greatest works of plot-driven scifi (Babylon 5 and BSG) had to have them as well, where the main plot is secondary but gets moved forward. The "All Access": Yes, its annoying, but we need to keep in mind that these projects require money. With the internet and 80 ways to watch everything for free, people forget that things require money. Martin: Bad Writing: Kol can say that its for unifying everyone but be lying about it. JRBW: Just the same as above, they can say they are for peace but it may not be that simple...logic requires skepticism. Master: Science: Science and scientific fact are fluid things, someone from the 14th century could watch our scientists and say "thats not science, its fantasy!" SciFi at its core has the "Fi" part in it. Payoff: Ah, so you want a complete payoff for everything 9 episodes in? What was paid off in the first 9 episodes of any of the other Treks? A whole heck of a lot less than Discovery. VFX Action romp: This is something thats actually legit. Perhaps you focus on this rather than letting this blind you on everything else. The 80s and 90s was the golden age of Sci-Fi...I agree that the writing is substandard to those classics, but it is IMO the best we have now. 2nd season: This isn't netflix; being that its a subscription service to view you cant hold it to the same rules as broadcast TV.

Probably... But it is certainly my shortest review. This show has absolutely no idea what it wants to be:

gritty sci fi discourse on religion vs enlightenment SJW all-inclusive festival teen drama awkward situational comedy Star Trek...

And then, this episode decides to add some loopy Avatar nature fest which did nothing at all to push either the story or the characters along...

Utter tripe.