Star Trek Discovery 4.10 'The Galactic Barrier' REVIEW & BREAKDOWN

Star Trek Discovery returned to the old stomping ground of the "classic" Star Trek V: The Final Frontier as the Disco crew tried to breach the galactic barrier. Meanwhile, we finally got some of the backstory of Tarka... and it's actually endearingly sweet. So let's dive into Star Trek Discovery Season 4 Episode 10, The Galactic Barrier.

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▶Mail: Jessie Earl
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0:00 - Spoiler-Free
4:42 - Spoilers

[frunobulaxthepoodle]

Detmer: I'll be in Hawaii drinking Mai Tais.
Owosekun: I'll be there with you.

That exchange alone made that scene worthwhile.

[tjzambonischwartz]

I love President T'Rina so much. She's a much more openly emotional Vulcan than we're used to, and she emphasizes the importance of emotion, and it makes sense that a Vulcan who makes compassion the foundation of her logic would be a logical choice for leading a planet shared by the Vulcans and Romulans.

[gnosismonkey]

Surprised you didn’t mention Kovich’s cryptic exit to address another threat potentially on par with the DMA. And I think it’s unlikely that the 3 hour tour line was a throwaway joke. With Kovich’s focus on time travel and other universes, I think this is a man that has been in the 20th century.

[capturedsoulsphotos]

"Fair warning. I'm always gonna reach for you when it looks like you're hurting.' My. Damn. Heart.

[peachgo]

Me too Jessie, I read Tarka's and Oros' relationship as romantic rather than purely platonic, especially after this episode. Even beside all the soft talking and gentle touches, the recap literally opens with Saru and T'Rina who are very obviously meant to be read as romantic as this point, followed by Tarka talking abt his OKAY

I am also entertaining the idea of Tarka being asexual, that would be a neat bit of representation for a Risian character imo! Just the way he looked after realising he had comforted Oros in his arms.... I literally was not prepared for the sweetness of it all 😭

[maidenlessjessofchaos]

I'm so glad that it didn't wind up being some version of Lorca. I loved the character, and actor, but didn't want him to turn into the Disco version of Harrison Wells.

[bloodink]

If I’m not mistaken the Galactic barrier, which is not the Great barrier at the core of the galaxy from ST5, was erected by the Q. If memory serves this was done to protect the galaxy from some existential extra-galactic threat. Curious firstly if this is in fact the threat from which the Q felt it was necessary to protect us from, secondly if the Q will have detected Disco’s crossing and likewise if the Q will react and thirdly what kind of civilization could not only create the tech we have seen in the DMA but also overpower the will of the Q via technological brute force of some kind. I’m not expecting John Delancy to show up or anything, but the Q doesn’t have to be that Q in order to appear.

[jjmfrees]

The Great Barrier in Star Trek V is an energy field surrounding the center of the galaxy. The Galactic Barrier in Discovery is the one that surrounds the entire galaxy as seen in Where No Man Has Gone Before, By Any Other Name, and Is There In Truth No Beauty. Two different phenomena. Not sure why the galaxy has two energy barriers though?

[donnicholas]

I didn't get the impression that the relationship between Tarka and Oros was romantic at all.
It felt to me they wound up being very close friends. I agree that the scene where they're reminiscing about Earth was forced.
I liked the episode a lot! I also loved Kovitch's "Gilligan's Island" reference. He must be a classic TV fan lol!

[augiegirl]

I can DEFINITELY agree with not telling the crew till they were out of the barrier. My grandma died 3 days before Thanksgiving of my senior year of college, & I took the rest of the fall semester off. Even though I didn't take a class during Interim in January, I still didn't finish my incompletes before the spring semester started; so, I had to work on those in addition to my spring classes, all while still dealing with my grief of losing my grandma. When I went home for Spring Break, I intended to finish my incompletes that week. Unfortunately, when I got home, my mom told me that my high school boyfriend had died a month earlier 😭. She waited to tell me because of everything I was already dealing with at that time, & I'm SO THANKFUL that she waited. P.S. I FINALLY finished my incompletes less than a month before I graduated.

[sabkobds]

I am glad that you are doing this still on the main channel.
I enjoyed this episode more than episode before too.
For me, the moment when Burnham said to Rillak "You are my president" stands most and this is moment when Rillac sees what Burnham has grown into.
Tarka's backstory was good addition, after everything he has done. And Shawn Doyle is again brilliant.
I like how they are trying to approach to those "outgalactic" aliens. Kovich, especially. And I am eager to see what they are setting up with him (he has something in mind, I am sure - that's why he needs Bryce for something). However, more Cronenberg could not harm.
For sure, not my favorite episode, but good one.
Seeing Adira again putted big smile on my face. And I like how they gained some confidence. And seeing them made me think about Tilly. Maybe Tilly comes back as Kovich's joker.

Btw, I think we are all cheering for Saru and T'Rina. 😀

[enhydralutra]

Honestly, I feel like the whole "heaven is in an alternate universe" thing is kinda neat. I mean, as technology and science advance, and you start to shine a light on the unknown, there are very little logical spaces left where faith can hide in. So it makes sense that one of those spaces would be an alternate universe.

[capturedsoulsphotos]

Saru never struck me as shy...he's the picture of cool self assuredness and poise in all situations. But with President T'Rina?? He is self assuredly freaking out and I'm here for it...he reminds me of Mister Darcy. I'm looking forward to a Promenade around the decks and looking at the stars.

[retromillenium]

Jesse,
as a correction the barrier seen in Star Trek V was the Great Barrier, which was an unknown energy field surrounding the core of the galaxy. That is different than the Galactic Barrier which is at the edge of the galaxy, and that hasn't been seen since the first episode of TOS ever, "Where no man has gone before".

[MoncœrCoyoteSmith]

Lord, I feel in love with Tarca this episode! He turned into a stud overnight! …or maybe I’d been watching without my glasses again and didn’t notice. 😍 I would fall for the narcissist.

[euterpe]

Jessie, I always enjoy your perceptive reviews. I love your enthusiasm and honesty.
I found this episode very necessary and very touching in spite of it feeling a bit like the main plot was being stretched out. It raised the stakes on the need to succeed in communicating with 10C. All the character moments served to make us the audience much more invested in the story. And, I believe that is what good storytelling is about. Even the crew talking about what they would do after the mission was over felt real to me. I have never served in any defense situation, but I have family members who have served. People tend to manage extreme stress and fear with hope by focusing on what good things will come after all the bad stuff is over. They used to do it all the time in old World War II movies until it became cinema cliche. I found it very touching, especially as we had just learned how difficult passing through the barrier had become.
Tarka was shown to be suddenly vulnerable and this flipped our perceptions of him. And this is such a Star Trek thing to do. I wouldn't be surprised if he and Book become the ultimate saviors of the Milky Way.

[tonisiegel]

Gilligan’s Island, I’m impressed. I can still hear the song. I’m a true skeptic when it comes to Tarka, Book is an empath, so Tarka could be telling a story to play on Books heart, but then again Book is great at poker, so we’ll see. Tarka having a lover in the other universe is possible, but I can’t help but think Tarka has his own agenda. I guess I’m angered by Tarka’s selfish behavior, and the heck with this universe. He reminds me so much of Anorax it’s not funny.

[seapunkandroid]

My husband and I do enjoy Discovery, but we do get a bit snarky when it falls into its familiar patterns a bit too often.

"Earth and Ni'var are under threat! In DAYS!" Well, of course, gotta raise the stakes to the highest level!
"I can't wait to go on my vacation to EARTH!" Oh, the dramatic irony.

I still wish I could figure out what they really want to do with the bridge crew. They keep including these scenes with them, but they also still feel like they exist in service of the main cast. The focus on the captain saying everything they were doing felt different when everyone on the bridge was a character that got their due, and not the cast that's been there since day one but still gets shuffled to the "Co-starring" credits page.

And on the subject of Tarka, a big theme of Discovery is second chances, so I'm on the fence whether he will be the big bad, or find a way to redeem himself at the end. But they're still building him up enough so that what he does either way will be pivotal.

And Disco continues to be the queerest Trek ever! The crew is gay! The villains are gay! Everyone's gay! It's great.

[ronaldmalfoy]

as a rare pair shipper of linus/saru it was awesome seeing them in the same room! i was pretty intrigued by what cronenburg needed to see to. can't wait to see how the rest of the season plays out

[Seal]

10:58 Weirdest thing for me about the space orchids is that they're still in the Discovery title sequence despite having been reassigned to Picard.