Stormy Weather (episode)
Seeking answers, the USS Discovery ventures into a subspace rift created by the Dark Matter Anomaly. Meanwhile, Book faces a strange visitor from his past.

Summary

Teaser

Michael Burnham is pondering the nature of the past and memory as she puts together a tree of her past. Cleveland Booker walks in and they discuss it, then how it's his 's birthday, briefly before moving on to the matter of a DMA-created subspace rift to examine. Booker expresses uncertainty of doing this versus jumping further afield to question other interstellar nations about the DMA.

On the way to the bridge, Saru goes over the previous rifts examined by other ships. In the turbolift, they check the status of Zora, finding nothing wrong, her emotions being a natural development.

Once on the bridge, they call all crew to stations. Adira heads off after Gray assures he'll be okay left alone.

They begin with the mission, heading into the subspace rift on impulse. The entrance heats up the shields, but once inside, the rift is completely devoid of seemingly anything. Booker wants to head out to scout, but is overruled in favor of sending out a DOT. The DOT however begins to disintegrate about five thousand meters out from the ship. Burnham orders red alert.

Act One 
Burnham explains that since something is out there, she asks for options. They immediately send out a photonic flare in the same trajectory as the DOT, which fizzles out slightly earlier. They estimate whatever disintegrated the DOT and flare is coming at 2.9 meters per second and will reach the ship in thirty-three minutes. They extend shields and boost power to them. In engineering, Booker assists Stamets with power redirection.

Gray asks Zora what's going on with the red alert. Zora explains the basic situation. Gray probes further, and Zora seems to be struggling to deal with all of the ship's information. Gray offers to play a game to help with it.

Stamets tells Burnham he can't get any more power to the shields. On the bridge, Saru tells Burnham that whatever is out there is coming in faster than expected, and that they can't complete their mission anyways, so he advises they leave. Burnham orders them to leave, but without any external sensor information, and Zora being unable to calculate how they came in, they decide to use the spore drive to jump out.

In engineering, Stamets wants to go over the data as they jump, so Booker acts as navigator. Upon the attempt, however, the jump fails, as a power surge knocks Booker off the controls. When Burnham asks what happened, Stamets reports they cannot jump due to the nature of the mycelial network inside the rift.

Act Two 
Booker attempts to perform the jump, and events repeat from his perspective, with apparent distortion. He sees his dead father in front of him, who calls him Tarecx. Booker says it's impossible, and the vision of his father expresses anger at him taking orders instead of hunting the enemy. When Stamets checks Booker, Booker asks if he "saw that", and Stamets reports the energy surge while helping Booker to sickbay.

In sickbay, Booker reports seeing his father to Burnham. Dr. Culber explains it's a hallucinatory effect that should go away eventually. Stamets then explains the nature of the energy surge, being like touching a live electrical wire. He also indicates the particles that hit Booker's brain may help them understand the nature of the void.

Gray continues to play the game with Zora. Gray compliments Zora's name, and Zora reports it means in some Earth, Ba'ku, and Ni'Var cultures "dawn" or "new day". As they chat, Zora reports detecting something on the outside of the hull, and Gray says she needs to tell Burnham.

On the bridge, Zora tells Burnham something is going on on part of the hull. Dr. Pollard is asked to check on it, and finds an imminent hull breach. Ensign Cortez is there fixing something, and is unable to reach safety as a result before the emergency force field drops.

Gray asks Zora what happened, and Zora explains. Gray reassures her, but then points out that Zora's detection of something on the exterior is important information the bridge crew needs.

On the bridge, the crew report problems across the ship, and Burnham says they need more options. Gray comes in, saying Zora has information.

Act Three 
Gray explains the situation with the Trill game and Zora. When Burnham asks Zora to explain, Zora appears as a holographic display on the bridge and explains the microvariance detection on the external sensors. Saru comes up with an idea to use a signal to penetrate the void to get them out, but none know yet how to do so, and Burnham orders them to brainstorm on it.

Booker is in sickbay, being lambasted by the vision of his father, who insists he's a coward not fit for the amulet he wears and insists on blood for blood in relation to the destruction of Kwejian. Booker insists that he's doing what's right, but his father says it's because Booker loves Burnham. Booker defends this, his father again calls Booker "Tareck", and Booker defiantly says it's not his name anymore.

On the bridge, brainstorming finds no solution yet, and Joann Owosekun insists on going down to engineering to reinforce the area, but Saru orders her to go back to her station, before having DOTs sent to the area.

In the ready room, Burnham, with Gray, is talking with Zora about her feelings, and reassures her it's normal to feel guilt, as Zora is feeling it about Ensign Cortez. They are asked to come to sickbay.

In sickbay, Dr. Culber says the hallucinations Booker is experiencing will subside within an hour. Stamets then says they're the solution, as they came from the barrier at the edge of the galaxy. As they discuss it, they come to a conclusion that they can find a way out using the particles.

Burnham transports to the bridge, and is told shields will fail in ten minutes. They then realize that sonar frequencies en electromagnetic waves can be used to track the particles with an audible "ping" at 218 kilohertz. Once they start doing so, Lt. Detmer informs them the time it will take is longer than ten minutes, and Burnham realizes they won't survive the heating they experienced on the way in. She proposes using the transporter pattern buffers to save the crew through the dangerous journey, with her staying behind as the captain to help Zora. She orders the crew to transport into the buffer in groups.

Owosekun apologizes to Saru for earlier, saying she felt that way because of watching her best friend die when she was younger, and felt unable to help. Saru reassures her she did enough for her friend, and they transport.

Booker on his ship sees the vision of his father again, who points out the simulation of the wood of the Tuli tree within it. They again fight over their ways, and Booker says he chooses to believe spirits do go on, so they aren't really gone. He says goodbye, and happy birthday, to his father before readying to transport.

Booker meets up with Burnham, and they share "I love you"s. Booker transports with his cat.

Burnham heads back to the bridge and activates her EV suit, telling Zora to deactivate life support. Zora has trouble following the signal, but Burnham tells her to focus and reassures her that experiences like fear make you stronger. Zora reports parts of her are dying, as parts of the ship are breaking, but Burnham reassures her she can do this. Temperatures rise, and Burnham asks Zora to bring the crew out of the pattern buffers when it's safe. With four minutes left, Zora offers a distraction from the heat by playing a song. Zora sings her own version of the song "Stormy Weather".

Act Four 
Burnham wakes up to Dr. Culber examining her. Saru explains everyone got out of the pattern buffer fine, and she hugs Saru.

Discovery undergoes repairs, watched by Saru and Booker, who talk about the extragalactic origin of the DMA. Saru says Stamets thinks further analysis will tell them exactly where it came from. Booker expresses what his father would want, and Saru responds by explaining the culling by the Ba'ul and how he still feels rage thinking about it when he sits on the Kaminar high council. He tells Booker that the struggle to overcome our emotions is a worthy one.

Burnham finishes her tree of memories, discussing it with Zora. Zora asks to create her own tree, and Burnham allows it. Zora's tree contains memories of the crew, and Burnham says it's beautiful.

Background information

Title 
 The title was noted in the Star Trek: Discovery Season 4 Loglines on .

Continuity 
 Captain Burnham's family tree initially visually references her relationships with Saru (), an individual whose face is hidden from DIS Season 3, Gabrielle Burnham (), Captain Philippa Georgiou (), Gabrielle and Mike Burnham (), Amanda Grayson (), Young Spock (portrayed by Liam Hughes, ), older Spock (portrayed by Ethan Peck, ),  (), and Sarek. 
 Zora, having developed the capacity for emotion, was shown to be paralyzed by fear and unable to perform her duties under pressure. Data faced a similar experience after activating his emotion chip in .
 The galactic barrier was first visited in , and last referenced in .
 When Zora states that there have been documented instances of people surviving after spending extended periods of time inside a pattern buffer, this is presumably a reference to Montgomery Scott's experience spending seventy-five years suspended in the  pattern buffer, depicted in , and Dr. M'Benga keeping his terminally ill daughter Rukiya in the transporter buffer of the USS Enterprise to keep her alive (SNW: "Ghosts of Illyria", "The Elysian Kingdom").
A Ferengi crewmember is briefly seen behind the bar in the lounge while a Lurian crewmember sits at a barstool, highly reminiscent of Quark and Morn. This is the first appearance of either of these species serving on the USS Discovery.

Links and references

Starring 
 Sonequa Martin-Green as Michael Burnham
 Doug Jones as Saru
 Anthony Rapp as Paul Stamets
 Wilson Cruz as Hugh Culber
Blu del Barrio as Adira Tal

And
 David Ajala as Cleveland Booker

Guest starring 
 Annabelle Wallis as Zora
 Ian Alexander as Gray Tal
 Rothaford Gray as

Co-starring 
 Emily Coutts as Lt. Cmdr. Keyla Detmer
 Patrick Kwok-Choon as Lt. Cmdr. Gen Rhys
 Oyin Oladejo as Lt. Cmdr. Joann Owosekun
 Ronnie Rowe Jr. as Lt. Cmdr. R.A. Bryce
 Sara Mitich as Lt. Cmdr. Nilsson
 Raven Dauda as Cmdr. Tracy Pollard, MD
 Ivan Lopez as Ens. Cortez

Uncredited co-stars 
 Avaah Blackwell as Osnullus bridge officer
 Jayne Dineo as Discovery sciences crewmember
 J. Adam Huggins as Discovery engineer
 Leeu as Grudge

References 
20th century; 24-hour clock; aft; analysis; anger; Aradar; Archer Spacedock; ; Ba'ul; birthday; black alert; blast door; body; Booker's ship; ; brain; brainstorming; ; camera; century; chair; climate control; clue; computer; containment field (automated containment field, emergency containment field); coordinates; corridor; cortical dream center; courage; courier; course; creature; crime scene; Crossfield-class decks; crying; culture; day; death; deck; DMA; DMA controller; DOT-23; ; Earth; echolocation technology; electrical wire; electromagnetic energy; electromagnetic frequency; Emerald Chain; emotion; empathy; energy; Engineering; ; EV suit; evidence; evolution; experience; extragalactic energy particle; eye; face; family; family tree; fear; Federation; Federation Headquarters; Federation space; feeling; ; flight path; frequency; ; friction; galactic barrier; grief; ; guilt; hallucination; hand; head; healer; heartbeat; heat lamp sensor; heating lamp; hour; hull; hull breach; hunting; Ikhu Zhen; impulse; ion; joke; Kaminar High Council; Kelpien; kilohertz;  (planet); Kwejian (species); Kwejian hunter's creed; Kyheem; lalogi orb; ; level 10 diagnostic; life support; Linus; logic; lounge; ; memory; meow; ; mess hall; meter; meter per second; Milky Way Galaxy; mind; minute; mission; molecular compound; mushroom; mycelial network; name; nebula; neurotransmitter; Ni'Var; oath; order; organism; Owo's community; Owo's best friend; oxygen; pain; particle analysis; passenger; pattern buffer; percent; photon torpedo; photonic flare; planet; plasma; ; pressure; pressure leak; programmable matter; purr; question; raining; red alert; replicator; sap; Saru's mother; scanner; science; second; sensor; sentience; shield; shutdown matrix; shuttlebay; sky; SONAR; song; sound; space; speaker; spectrum analysis; spirit; star; starboard; Starfleet; status report; "Stormy Weather"; story; subconscious; subspace; subspace rift; supercomputer; sun; ; temperature; thermal radiation; times per second; trajectory; trance worm; Trill game; truth; Tuli tree; Unknown Species 10-C; ; velocity; ; wall; wall panel; warp drive; weather; wood; ; year; yellow alert

External links 
 
 
 

DIS episodes
de:Stürmisches Wetter