Is there ANYTHING about ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ that is NOT going to stir up controversy?
It was earlier reported that somehow, the main character Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) was not only the first Earthling to attend the Vulcan Academy, but that she was actually Spock’s half-sister! Well, that second part isn’t accurate.
Burnham is Spock’s fully human adopted sister. James Frain, who plays Spock and Burnham’s father on the new series explained:
“…we see Sarek as a younger man, and we discover that he has been made responsible for Michael’s upbringing – her parents were killed while being hosted at the Vulcan Academy when there was a Klingon attack. So we feel responsible for her, take her in, and I raise her in my family as a Vulcan.”
So Michael Burnham is NOT Spock’s half-sister– meaning they would share one biological parent in common. She’s his adoptive sister. But despite being fully human, having been brought up on Vulcan, expect her to undergo some of the same emotional conflicts that Spock has in his various incarnations.
With her biological parents killed by Klingons, it’s natural that she would hold a grudge. After completing Vulcan Academy, Burnham joins Starfleet as the First Officer of the USS Shenzhou under the command of Captain Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) but then transfers to the USS Discovery, captained by Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs).
At some point though, her prejudice against the Klingons, who murdered her birth parents spills over and she takes preemptive action against the Klingons, which apparently leads to the long-running feud that weaves between the various incarnations of ‘Trek’ that followed. That’s quite a weight to carry on one’s shoulders.
Though this site hasn’t been privy, some critics have been shown the first few episodes and the general consensus is that ‘Discovery’ is a winner!
Discover ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ when it premieres on September 24, 2017, on CBS All Access.
