8 Ups & 2 Downs From Star Trek: Discovery 5.7 - Erigah

Masterclass in writing, masterclass in diplomacy, masterclass in acting. No, I'm not being hyperbolic with the trifecta. It really was that good. In Erigah, President Rillak (who would have undoubtedly done just as fine a job) is away at a diplomatic summit on Tellar Prime, and so President T'Rina takes on negotiations with the Breen "in her stead". Don't be fooled by what you might have heard in the past! Vulcans, certainly this Vulcan, can bluff with the best of them!

I really cannot heap enough praise on the simply outstanding President T'Rina of Ni'Var this week, performed to perfection by Tara Rosling. Her one-liners alone deserve to go down with the greats of Star Trek history, and probably preserved for posterity in a diplomacy textbook or two. One of the best of the best was surely: "Do not equate a desire for understanding with a lack of nerve," as T'Rina quipped to a dubious Commander Rayner as they prepared for the Breen's arrival.

Vulcan or no, T'Rina's steadfast resolve when faced with a hoard of Breen in the round at Federation HQ (and their Dreadnaught looming outside) was a sight to behold. Primarch Ruhn's belligerent opening gambit was simply to insist, "There will be no negotiation. The fugitives! Immediately!" but T'Rina held her ground. From her bag of diplomatic tricks, T'Rina pulled the paperwork of an extradition order to counter him. "It seemed preferable to claims of a Tribble infestation," she noted to Captain Burnham afterwards, proving (once more) that Vulcans can tell jokes far better than, let's say, Tuvok's "It occurs to me that he could also have eaten the 'Sundays'".

In an episode that also marked a set of firsts for the Breen language, translated in real time out-loud into Federation Standard by the computer, T'Rina proved her diplomatic might once more. By correcting Primarch Ruhn's interpreter on their translation, T'Rina showed she had an impressive knowledge of Breen!