“We cannot let fear define us.” —Captain Burnham
With the passing of the two-year mark in the pandemic and the season finale of Discovery Season Four, I have been reflecting upon how influential this season has been to me. The themes have been deeply resonant with our own lives during these unprecedented times. Watching the characters, we have come to know and love grappling with uncertainty, fear, and grief, just as we are, has given me a deep sense of comfort and a reminder that we truly are all in this together.
Season Four’s thoughtful and sensitive discussions of mental health seek to remove the stigma from the experience of the “negative” emotions of fear and anger. It shows us the consequences of becoming mired in those emotions, and it gives us guidance and wisdom for coping. Finally, it provides insight into using those uncomfortable feelings for good.
Stormy Weather
Just as the pandemic plunged our world into fear and uncertainty, the advent of the DMA threw our crew and the newly reformed Federation into chaos. Saru worried that his ward, Su’Kal, was gripped by terror and that he was unable to comfort him. Captain Burnham hid her own fear while leading her crew to keep calm and carry on with their mission of gathering information about the DMA.
Presidents T’Rina and Rillak shared concern for what fear could do to the populations of Federation planets, newly recovering from The Burn. Book, who knew what it was to lose family and planet, grappled with terror that the DMA might destroy more inhabited planets. But arguably no one experienced fear and terror to the same level that Zora did.
A newly evolved life form, Zora had never experienced emotions before, and unlike the Discovery crew, had never developed coping mechanisms for dealing with fear. At the beginning of the pandemic, I felt exactly the same as Zora did: terrified, unable to concentrate on what I needed to do to get through the day, and completely overwhelmed. Just as Zora did, I froze and was unable to move forward when I needed to. As Michael talks Zora through coming to terms with her terror, I found that she was speaking to me.
“The Emotions We Feel Can Shape Us”
“We need you to get through this,” Michael counsels Zora. She goes on to explain, as though to a child, that the feelings of terror are normal in a dangerous situation. “It can be very uncomfortable to accept the truth that some things are beyond our control. But we have to. Otherwise, we run into the same walls over and over and over again. Or we freeze up. Either way, we don’t move forward.” The first step to getting through it is to acknowledge and accept the emotions.
Yet Michael isn’t the only person counselling a vulnerable person through fear and uncertainty. When Paul Stamets finds his husband, Hugh, stress-cleaning their quarters, he sits Hugh down to get straight to the heart of his irritability and restlessness. Because sometimes, even the ship’s counsellor needs counselling, especially a ship’s counsellor who has been giving everything he has to comfort his crew when he himself is not okay. “Uncertainty… is terrifying,” Paul reminds Hugh. “So let’s be terrified together.”
Fear doesn’t always make us freeze up or become irritable; fear can also motivate us to make really bad decisions. Afraid that Starfleet’s methods of peaceful first contact would not be efficacious in the face of the DMA threat, Book and Tarka set off on a course to destroy the threat without regard for the consequences of their actions.
“Fear doesn’t always look like freezing up; it can sometimes wear the mask of anger.“
“My father had so much anger in him,” Book reflects. “I told myself I’d never be like that. Maybe I am.” Book was much further along on his own journey before he realized that his father’s anger and harsh treatment of himself was not the result of failure on Book’s part, regardless of his father’s cutting words; it came from his father’s fear that he could not protect his family from the Emerald Chain. Book did not want to be in the helpless, terrified position that his father found himself in.
“Anger is a good motivator,” Tarka tells Book; but Book’s desire to have control was an even more powerful motivator.
Troubled when he realizes that his own fear and anger are overwhelming him, Book turns to the most central being on the crew. Saru knows fear and anger more intimately than anyone and has made his peace with those negative emotions.
“You seem so balanced,” Book suggests to Saru, obviously longing for some of that balance for himself.
“I still feel rage,” Saru confides quietly. Even a being as centred as Saru still feels toward the species who killed his people for centuries. “We are both justified in our anger. Allowing [anger] to be our focus, however, only prevents us from achieving those things which serve the greater good. It is a struggle, yes. But a worthy one.”
There has been so much to be angry and frightened about since the beginning of the pandemic. But we can take Saru’s wise words to heart, and let them bring us peace.
How To Deal
Having acknowledged the fear and anger, how can we cope with the fallout these negative emotions have upon our well-being? Perhaps we all need Dr. Kovitch’s advice to Dr. Culber: take a break, take some time for yourself. Each one of us will find different ways to do that.
During the worst of the pandemic, I found great comfort in Star Trek and in long walks in the woods. Just as Hugh and Paul found comfort in a long walk through a field of flowers on the holodeck.
President T’Rina, seeing that Saru was troubled and unable to meditate properly, had a similar suggestion. “Peaceful routines of daily life and joyful connection therin can help re-establish inner balance. A walk or a shared meal.” In times of turmoil and uncertainty, those daily routines can provide stability and comfort.
But sometimes those quiet and peaceful pursuits just don’t go far enough to relieve the intensity of the negative emotions. In that case, Saru recommends getting together with your closest friend and letting it go in some primal yelling!
Reach For One Another
But the most important thing we can do when we are afraid is to reach out to one another… Throughout the pandemic, I have been terrified for the safety of vulnerable family members, immunocompromised friends, and my small children. It has been hard for me to reach out and confide that; after all, aren’t we all frightened for our loved ones?
President Rillak fought this battle. As the DMA approached Earth, she was terrified for the safety of her partner and her family, and yet she felt that confiding could not help her loved ones.
Captain Burnham helped her see that sharing what she was going through could help her: “We are all we have out here. We have to support each other. That’s what this crew has done in the darkest of times. But to do that takes honesty with ourselves and with everyone.” Rillak learns that by reaching out and sharing what she is going through, she can become strengthened to be the leader her terrified people so dearly need her to be.
Accept Emotions, but Move Forward
Once we have drawn strength from the nearness of others, once we have made time for self-care, and once we have accepted the negative emotions, we are ready to move forward. Rather than becoming frozen or lashing out, we can make decisions. We can choose who we want to be, and decide how to go forward accordingly.
“Try to use the fear,” Captain Burnham coaches Zora. “I tell myself it will make me stronger.”
Zora asks, “You believe your experience with suffering has made you stronger and more empathetic?” And in the end, isn’t that a question we can all ask ourselves?
If Zora were to ask me, my answer would be, a resounding Yes. And if we all allow suffering to make us stronger and more empathetic, we will move closer to the Star Trek future we all long for.
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Star Trek: Discovery was renewed for a fifth season earlier this year and is due to begin production in June 2022. You can watch every episode on Paramount+ in the USA and other territories, Crave in Canada and Season 4 is currently being repeated on PlutoTV internationally.
