Star Trek: Discovery Just Introduced Its Own Version of the Force
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Trek: Discovery Season 3, Episode 1, "That Hope Is You," now streaming on CBS All Access.
At the end of Star Trek: Discovery Season 2, Michael Burnham and the U.S.S. Discovery time-traveled nearly a thousand years into the future to ensure the survival of the universe. As the Season 3 premiere begins, Michael crashes into the nearest planet in the year 3188, and there, she learns that while her mission was successful, the future is not the place she expected it to be. Indeed, Starfleet has been mostly destroyed, and the universe has changed. Although the Discovery is missing for the time being, Michael finds a new friend in Cleveland "Book" Booker. But Booker isn't just a regular human -- he also has special abilities that could be compared to the Force from Star Wars.
Click the button below to start this article in quick view. Start nowWhen Michael and Booker first meet, they are far from fast friends. The latter works as a courier, and he's on the run after stealing valuable cargo. The two quickly end up escaping away from the same people, and their lives are put in danger. Luckily, Burnham and Booker prove an efficient duo, and they are eventually able to make their escape.
Once they do, they have a bit of time to get to know each other next to a lake. Michael's been hurt, and the wound needs to be treated, lest it become infected. And it's there that Book reveals he isn't an ordinary human. The character begins reciting a soft prayer, and lines inside his forehead light up. As this happens, a beautiful plant rapidly grows on the edge of the lake, and he uses that plant to treat Michael's wound.
And his powers don't stop there. Later in the Star Trek: Discovery premiere, Booker's stolen cargo is revealed to be a trance worm, a species of alien that is currently endangered. While it was being transported to be sold and likely eaten, Book stole the worm in order to bring it to a secret, alien wildlife sanctuary. When the worm, whom Book affectionately calls Molly, eats Michael by accident, he once uses his abilities to calm Molly down. His forehead once again lights up, and he is able to connect to Molly, convincing her to spare Michael.
Booker has a special connection to plant and animal life, explaining the power results from him being a balance to his family, which is filled with poachers and killers. It's not exactly the Force, but it's definitely similar. In the Star Wars universe, the Force is an energy that surrounds and connects all living things. The Jedi are able to tap into it, and use it in all sorts of ways. Now we don't expect Booker to wield a lightsaber and move things with his mind, but he still has a unique connection to life, and he is part of a higher system of balance.
There is much yet that remains to be revealed about the nature of Book's abilities. For now, it's plant and animals, but perhaps it stretches even beyond that.
Streaming on CBS All Access,Star Trek: Discovery stars Sonequa Martin-Green as Commander Michael Burnham, Doug Jones as Commander Saru, Anthony Rapp as Lt. Commander Paul Stamets, Mary Wiseman as Ensign Sylvia Tilly, Wilson Cruz as Dr. Hugh Culber, David Ajala as Cleveland "Book" Booker, Blu del Barrio as Adira, Ian Alexander as Grey, Tig Notaro as Chief Engineer Reno, Ethan Peck as Spock and Michelle Yeoh as Philippa Georgiou. New episodes of Season 3 air on Thursdays.
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