Star Trek: Discovery Episode 3.7 Review: Ups And Downs From Unification III
6. Diplomacy And Conversation (UP)
And, yet again, Saru gets an up! Captain Saru has quickly become a character embodying strength and integrity on the show. His disciplining of Burnham last week was both measured and fair, if even a little light. Using the rod helps no one, so he leads with logic and compassion.
He uses both logic and compassion in his dealings with President T'Rina. She is everything that the audience expects when dealing with a Vulcan (which I very much mean as compliment!), which does also present a challenge to Saru. In many ways, the decision not to help Starfleet had already been made, long before Discovery ever jumped into orbit over Ni'Var.
However, throughout the episode, Saru and T'Rina tour the ship and get comfortable with each other. In some ways, Saru in Discovery is not too dissimilar to Spock in the Original Series. They are both sole representatives of their races in Starfleet (that we know of), and it is perhaps this that allows Saru to get through to her.
That is not to downplay Burnham's contributions to this episode, which will receive another entry on this list. But of the two officers, again we see Saru as the example of what Starfleet should be in this episode, while Burnham is perhaps an example of what Starfleet actually is.