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

This is a multifaceted UP, rather fitting for the Breen given what we now know about them. In addition to the additions to the species lore, and the Crocodile Dundee effect made manifest on their starships, Erigah presented us with a multitude of visually striking moments with the bucket heads. And if you thought getting blood from a Breen was hard enough (jury's still out on that one), try asking them for information!

In Erigah, we got more looks at the new Breen suits (which I love!) than you can shake one of those extended Breen weapon-bangy-stick things at. Before beaming in with his minions, Uncle Primarch Ruhn first appears as giant holo-head right in the centre of the round of Federation HQ. The 'negotiations' that follow are made ever more tense by the sublime framing of the scene — Breen firmly on one side of Fed HQ's Command Centre (upper level), Starfleet and the Federation firmly on the other, neither moving much more than a muscle at first. Later, at around 37 or so minutes in, there is also a brilliant shot of Ruhn in a face-to-face (or bucket-head-to-bucket-head) discussion with one of his fellow Breen.

I've given an UP to T'Rina's diplomatic flair; I must give one to Burnham's equally impressive handling of the situation. Burnham's knack for extracting information from the tight-lipped L'ak simply through the persistence of asking pertinent questions would be scary if it weren't just utterly brilliant.

In general, it is once more a delight to see Burnham fully assume the confidence of Captain. Burnham continues her steadfast determination when facing down the rest of the band of stubborn Breen, not flinching even for an instant (outwardly anyway) when she shows Ruhn Starfleet's upper hand — "because we have a spore drive."