In the years that I've reviewed Star Trek episodes, I've tried to channel my inner Vulcan in parsing the narrative and character developments in logical ways, with a focus on examining the themes they've sought to explore.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 4 Episode 4 is the first episode of any Trek series to evoke a purely emotional response that challenges me to put into words.

In short, as the credits ran, I found myself crying, and it was an incredibly confusing reaction because I wasn't sad or grieving. It wasn't a short cry, but, ultimately, it was a necessary one, and it gave me pause as I approached this review.

This season has introduced strong themes of rebuilding, healing, and change. Much of that is happening in the context of grief and trauma.

Most obviously, Book has been dealing with the destruction of Kwejian. His scenes with Dr. Culber are intense with bottled-up anger and resentment.