Excellently paced and executed, “Stormy Weather” is a tense ride

Seeking answers to find out who is responsible for the creation of the DMA, Discovery ventures into a subspace rupture left behind by the anomaly only to discover an empty space they become trapped in and must escape before they are destroyed by an unknown force.

This, my friends, is what you not only can a good episode, this is a damn good episode. It was purposeful, direct, and had a mission from the get-go. Every scene, every moment was directed to resolving the dilemma. I love seeing this kind of focus on a franchise that has adopted the A/B and sometimes C plot formula.

What’s more, “Stormy Weather” is an episode that is dripping in atmosphere, almost like a horror movie. From the very moment that the ship enters the rift, the entire feeling of the episode becomes unnatural and uncomfortable. The episode never devolves into jump scares or disturbing imagery, just pure atmosphere. So much designed to be disturbing and unsettling.

I am so happy that Zora’s story, so long and unfairly neglected by the writers, is finally getting the attention it deserves. I’ve honestly given up that Discovery will ever connect to the “Calypso” short they did so many years ago in which Zora was introduced, but I am enjoying the emerging of this new character and how wholesome and unthreatening her birth is.

While I thought that the scenes with Gray were little more than justifying why Gray is on the show at all anymore – nothing against the character or Ian Alexander, but it seems that he’s lost all purpose on the show. On the other hand, Zora’s scenes with Burnham on the bridge were excellent, especially when Zora sang to her. Wholesome and a little disturbing and, for this episode, it fit.

Say what you will about the writing of Discovery, but the series is nailing the characters every week. Even in episodes that aren’t that great, the characters shine through.

Personally, I loved this episode. It’s in the running for best of the season and, given the revelation that I will not spoil, has got me excited to see where season four is headed as long as Paramount doesn’t do anything foolish and put the show on a winter break or anything.

Wait. What?

Awwwww….