Discovery Makes The Classic Mistake Star Trek: TOS Always Made
Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery Season 4, Episode 11 - "Rosetta"
When Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) formed an Away Team in Star Trek: Discovery season 4, episode 11, she made the same classic mistake as Star Trek: The Original Series. After traveling through the Galactic Barrier into a brand new galaxy, Burnham and the USS Discovery remain at a loss about how to make First Contact with Species 10C, the Dark Matter Anomaly's creators. Burnham's Away mission to explore Species 10C's abandoned homeworld echoed a Star Trek: TOS trope that makes little sense considering the command structure of a starship.
Star Trek: The Original Series often saw Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) beam down to the strange new world together, and they were usually accompanied by Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley). As the lead characters of Star Trek, it made sense for television reasons that Kirk, Spock, and McCoy would have the action of an episode revolve around them. In most cases when Kirk or Spock were away, they left Scotty (James Doohan), the Chief Engineer, or Mr. Sulu (George Takei), the helmsman, in charge of the USS Enterprise when neither should realistically be in command. Yet, the Captain and the First Officer, along with the Chief Medical Officer, regularly left the ship together to visit unknown planets, which usually led to a crisis and flies in the face of common sense and military command structure. Either the Captain or the First Officer should always remain to command the Enterprise.
In Star Trek: Discovery season 4, episode 11, "Rosetta," United Federation of Planets President Laira Rillak (Chelah Horsdal) called out Captain Burnham for making the same mistake as Kirk and Spock. Faced with a 29-hour deadline before the DMA starts attacking Earth and Ni'Var, Burnham decided to explore the barren and abandoned home planet of Species 10C, who now exist within an impenetrable hyperfield. Burnham's Away Team consisted of herself, Captain Saru (Doug Jones), Dr. Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz), and Lt. Commander Keyla Detmer (Emily Coutts). Rillak correctly took issue with why Discovery's Captain, First Officer, Chief Medical Officer, and helmsman were all leaving the ship together during a crucial time when the USS Discovery is alone beyond the Galactic Barrier facing an overwhelming threat the Federation knows nothing about. Naturally, Burnham's claim that she's leaving Discovery in good hands with Lt. Commander Eva Nilsson (Sara Mitich) in charge didn't satisfy the Federation President, nor should it.
Captain Burnham's logic for her Away Team choices cited that she was a xenoanthropologist - an expert in alien species - while Saru can speak a hundred languages, which could be crucial if they make First Contact with a lifeform on Species 10C's planet. Meanwhile, Dr. Culber joining Burnham and Saru completes Discovery's classic Kirk, Spock, and McCoy paradigm. Of course, Burnham got her wish after she vaguely promised that she would find "something" that could help Discovery's delegates communicate with Species 10C. And, to Michael's credit, she and her Away Team did discover spores that informed Discovery's understanding of Species 10C's emotional spectrum, giving them necessary context for when they meet the aliens who are far more powerful than the Federation.
The early seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation actually addressed this classic flaw by establishing the parameters that Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) would remain aboard the USS Enterprise-D while Away Missions would be led by Commander Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes). However, as TNG continued, that rule was abandoned in favor of whoever was needed for the story of each episode. Burnham's Away Team in Star Trek: Discovery "Rosetta" certainly nods to Kirk and Spock's tendency to leave the Enterprise together on TOS but in each instance, it's still a risky and unwise move to leave a starship without its top two commanding officers. Star Trek: Discovery's Away mission in "Rosetta" is a reminder that the needs of the story always come first and outweigh the needs of Starfleet's military command protocols.
Star Trek: Discovery Season 4 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.