12 Streaming Era Star Trek Episodes We're Adding To 'The Classics'
9. If Memory Serves
Star Trek: Discovery's second season was a minor course correction of sorts. While the first year focused on the Klingon War, Lorca's devious plans, and the Discovery's endless string of bad luck, the second year reintroduced a classic character in the form of Captain Christopher Pike, now played by Anson Mount.
If Memory Serves opens with a montage of footage from The Cage, the original pilot for Star Trek. Pike, Spock, Number One, and the Talosians all feature, before the episode smash-cuts to Mount's Pike, looking as serious as a seizure. The tone may be darker, but this episode manages to link both iterations well.
Melissa George appears as Vina, originally played by Susan Oliver. At this point in Discovery's journey, Strange New Worlds was barely in development, so Pike's fate on Talos IV seemed written in stone. Vina's arrival seemingly confirms this.
If Memory Serves is not simply a reminder of where they've been and where they're going. Ethan Peck's Spock is properly introduced in this episode, and his interactions with Sonequa Martin-Green's Michael Burnham more than help to alleviate the worry as to why the showrunners chose to make Burnham and Spock adopted siblings. Their bickering, but mutual respect, is more than evident here.
While prequels always run a risk of retreading ground, If Memory Serves is a win for the show, helping to deepen the lore of both Discovery and The Original Series.