I’m not sure what to make of Forget Me Not. There’s a part of it that seems like filler. There are some parts of the story that would present as unnecessary exposition. On the other hand, it could be pure genius. We see characters pivot and maybe start to work in the right direction.
The episode starts with a trip to the Trill home world. Adira is a human carrying a symbiote. She can’t access any of the previous hosts’ memories, which is a problem. You might think the issue is that a human host isn’t supposed to be carrying a Trill symbiote, but that’s only a small part of it. You see, one of the previous hosts is a Starfleet admiral that knows where Starfleet moved its headquarters.
This is where the filler comes in. To me, it looks like an obstacle that the writers threw up to throw up another episode. Adira faces resistance from the Trill welcoming party. Michael and Adira get kicked off the planet in the most unapologetic way possible, but one member subverts that and guides them to the caves where Adira can reconnect with the previous host.
The series gets to spend an entire hour in orbit of Trill while everyone works out their issues. This, of course, brings me to my second point. Everyone has left their entire lives behind. All their friends and loved ones are long dead and they’ve spent the first three episodes not acknowledging it.
Saru is trying his best as the new captain, but it’s not easy. He hasn’t been captain that long and he’s looking for answers. I wouldn’t expect any captain to be able to handle this situation, mind you. What’s strange is that the ship’s computer offers a few really good suggestions. For starters, allow the crew some down time. Host a dinner for the bridge crew. A Buster Keaton film is shown briefly, which the crew enjoys.
There is a part of the episode that is necessary. Adira’s journey on the planet allows the crew to pause and take a good, hard look at what they’ve been through so far. It also allows Adira and the Trill to acknowledge what has happened. The welcoming part isn’t that welcoming of a human host. It’s always been Trill host, and a select few at that. Trill society has long held that only certain candidates are suitable to host a symbiote.
They initially buck at a human host because it’s an abomination. It’s aberrant. They won’t tolerate it. This makes it interesting to have a non-binary actor play the part of the host. (To be clear, I acknowledge that Blu del Barrio prefers the they/them pronouns. Since Adira is referred to as ‘she’ in the show, that’s how I’ll be referring to the character.)
It would seem that Adira Tal is standing in for all of those that would be brushed aside as an anomaly and, as such, not worthy of inclusion. This is despite the fact that the Trill need to be as accepting as possible right now. Their population has been decimated by The Burn and those that remain are cut off from their homeland.
Everyone is in a bad place right now. The question is how to move forward. Answers don’t always present themselves, but this is Star Trek. Adira finds her way, as does Saru and the rest of the crew. Considering that Discovery finds Starfleet next week, it will be interesting to see how the rest of the season plays out.
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