As the true nature of the DMA is finally revealed, Burnham and Owosekun go on a sort of on the book mission, but not really, to locate Tarken and Book who, on their totally off the book mission, threaten to destroy the DMA and provoke a war with an unknown alien race.
“All In” is just fine. While, I will admit, I found some parts of it dull – one of them, unfortunately, being the climax poker game – I was never completely bored and enjoyed the interplay between Burnham and Booker as well as the callbacks to old species we haven’t seen in years.
I also loved that Owosekun actually had something to do in this episode. Discovery’s background characters have long been the show’s biggest missed opportunity and it’s great that, in one of the few times the spotlight is shone on one of them, Oyin Oladejo shoulders that spotlight and all but demands more for herself and her overlooked crewmates. For goodness’ sake, can poor Bryce and Rhys have a story arch too?
The true draw of this episode was the hunt for Booker, the uneasy alliances, and the pure chemistry between these two characters. It’s really the thing that kept the majority of “All In” from becoming a chore… the fact that I’ve bought in to Burnham and Book’s relationship and I care about how the events of this season will affect both of them.
Overall, despite the fact that the episode was rather predictable, the fun callbacks, Oh Wow Owosekun, and Book and Burnham themselves saved it, making it perfectly acceptable.
I honestly think that the uneeded break hurt this episode more than the episode hurt this episode.
Jason Gaston 