‘Star Trek: Discovery’ May Have Just Found Its Own Q

Usually, when it comes to Star Trek villains, they’re all science based. Not a mind-blowing opening sentence, I have to say, because Star Trek is about as science-fiction as it comes. But there are exceptions, or at least villains that skirt magic and fantasy while still, technically, having a scientific explanation.

Possibly the most famous of those villains? John de Lancie’s Q, a seemingly all-powerful being who tested the crew of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) in particular, in the series’ first episode, its last episode, and numerous hours in between.

Up until now, Star Trek: Discovery has stayed firmly on the side of science, with the exception of… Sigh… Time crystals in Season 2. But as of this week’s episode, “Terra Firma – Part 1,” possibly the strongest episode in an already very solid season of television, Discovery may have their own version of Q in the form of Paul Guilfoyle’s Carl. Yes, really: Carl.

Spoilers for Star Trek: Discovery past this point, obviously, but in the hour Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) — with a little bit of prodding from Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) — has decided to try and find a cure for the sickness that is quickly tearing her apart on a molecular level. Earlier, I speculated this was all due to machinations from Kovich (David Cronenberg), but I was off base. In fact, Kovich is the one who reluctantly prods Dr. Culber (Wilson Cruz) into finding a potential cure for Georgiou.

Only problem? They don’t know what the cure is, only where it is: a strange, snowy, abandoned planet named Dannus V. After foot trekking and arguing for a while, Burnham and Georgiou find the spot for the cure, and a life sign — or a sort. Turns out it’s a man sitting in lawn chair, smoking a cigar and reading a newspaper with headlines from “tomorrow” stating “Emperor Georgiou Dies Horribly Painful Death” (there’s also one on the flip-side of the paper that says “Good Soup!” and let’s hope that comes true). Like Q before him, and other multi-dimensional tricksters, Carl is fond of flipping around phrases and saying things like “you’re asking the wrong answers” or whatever. It’s pretty annoying, and Burnham hates it.

But Carl also has a magic door that, when Georgiou passes through, takes her back in time to the day the Mirror Universe version of Burnham betrayed her. It is, in a word, a blast. The Terrans are evil through and through, vicious monsters who value strength and cruelty over all other things. Though we got a good glimpse at this side of Discovery back in Season 1, here it’s fleshed out — and in particular, finally getting to see Mary Wiseman’s grinning, vicious “Captain Killy” is a delight, as well as Bad Burnham, who had died long before the Discovery crew traveled to the Mirror Universe.

What Yeoh does so ably (she’s a pro, folks) throughout the episode, though, is convey the conflict of a Terran who has come to at least partially understand the kindness of the normal universe’s Discovery, while realizing she needs to go back to her old self in order to survive. Ultimately she makes a choice at the end of the episode to change the timeline by providing mercy to Mirror Burnham, which is the cliffhanger we leave off on. How that will turn out is left hanging for next week’s second part, though I’d venture a Terran showing mercy won’t change the universe, so much as change Georgiou/leave her dead. It’s also an open question whether this is all in her head, or actually changing the timeline. But the outcome will most likely be her making a choice between her Terran side, and her Human one. Or in more complicated terms: her old Burnham; or her new one.

But back to Carl, which is a bit of delicious weirdness that definitely needs to be explored more. To clarify, Carl (as far as we know) is not the same race as Q. Q is part of a race probably called Q, made up of beings who all call each other Q. Carl is named Carl, not Q. So therefore he’s not a Q; he’s something else. That said, there is a neat little shout-out that sort of sets this all up early in the episode, as Kovich explains that Georgiou is falling apart to Culber by using the example of a Terran officer, a temporal warrior, dressed in a Next Generation era uniform who suffered the same fate. It’s a neat little bit of visual language that reminds us Discovery is currently past the Next Gen era this season, meaning anything that happened on that show could, in fact, impact what is happening on this one.

So what is Carl? We may not even find out next episode, though this sort of god-like being is, as mentioned, a rarity in the Star Trek universe. Of note, an intrepid fan on Reddit flagged that Carl might be tied in some way to the Guardians of Forever. They’re essentially talking stone time portals, first seen in the classic The Original Series episode “City on the Edge of Forever” written by Harlan Ellison. The specific clue? In that episode, Spock (Leonard Nimoy) discovered a newspaper, The Star Dispatch, which is the same seeming paper Carl is holding in “Terra Firma – Part 1.” It’s also, of note, a pretty common prop newspaper used on other classic shows.

Carl, also, is not a stone portal (though he has a wooden door, so maybe same thing)? He also does seem to know a lot about what’s going on, though, as other headlines on his paper include knowledge of the USS Jenolan, a ship discovered elsewhere by Stamets (Anthony Rapp) and Adira (Blu del Barrio) to be a clue to the origin of The Burn.

You probably know who Paul Guilfoyle is, as the veteran actor was a regular cast-member on another CBS hit, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, where he played Jim Brass for 14 years. He’s also appeared in dozens of movies and TV shows, including CBS All Access’ The Good Fight as Henry Rindell. Point being, even if you haven’t watched CSI, he’s got one of those faces, and is the perfect gruff presence for an extra-dimensional being.

Will he mysteriously disappear next episode as quickly as he appeared this episode? Will he help Burnham discover the mysteries of The Burn? Maybe he’s even a personification of the Sphere Data Discovery has been carting around, which Burnham notes early in the episode has seemingly taken on a life of its own, helping out the crew through their issues.

Or maybe he’s just Carl.

Star Trek: Discovery stream Thursdays on CBS All Access.

Where to watch Star Trek: Discovery