If Memory Serves
Joe Siegler
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If Memory Serves
This Story: Season 2 Episode 8 (production code 208)
DSC Overall: Episode 23
Trek Overall: Story 706, Episode 749
Airdate: 7 Mar 2019
Written by Dan Dworkin & Jay Beattie
Directed by TJ Scott
Notes
- Only the second time the franchise visits the planet Talos IV. The only other time was the original 1964 pilot “The Cage“. This episode is a sequel to that (of sorts).
- Melissa George plays Vina here. It is her only appearance in the character, taking over from Susan Oliver in the pilot. George does not “get green”. ;)
- Likewise Rob Brownstein plays “The Keeper” – a role that Malachi Throne did the voice for in the OG pilot.
- The first time Jeffrey Hunter appeared in an episode as Pike since “The Menagerie, Part II“. It is of course archival footage. The last time any other episode of Star Trek did this was DS9’s “Trials & Tribble-ations“.
- The outdoor shots on Talos IV were shot at Lafarge quarry, the same place shots for the episode “The Wolf Inside” were shot at.
- The second time the original Alexander Courage theme song for TOS was heard in Discovery.
- While the standing order of not going to Talos IV is brought up again, the death penalty order that goes with it is not mentioned.
- This episode won an Emmy Award for “Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup for a Series, Limited Series, Movie or Special.”
Links
[ Wikipedia | Memory Alpha | IMDB | Amazon US DVD | Amazon US Blu-Ray ]#StarTrekMarathon #StarTrek Discovery Episode 23 - If Memory ServesBefore I started on this rewatch of DSC, THIS was the episode I wanted to see more than any other. On first viewing, I was like "holy shit, they're doing this!" What they did here is a sequel to the OG pilot - "The Cage". It starts
— Joe Siegler (@joesiegler.blog) October 18, 2026 at 5:04 PM
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off with a pre-teaser montage of clips from the Cage, and we're snapped back to current, which has Burnham taking Spock to Talos IV. Pike and Discovery find out about this and get in trouble, as the standing order of not going there is still in place. Granted, nobody's put to death over it.
— Joe Siegler (@joesiegler.blog) October 18, 2026 at 5:04 PM
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But man, what a banger of an ep. We had Vina again, talking about what happened after The Cage. I love a good self referential story, and this WALLOWS in it, but isn't just fan service. Serves the overall arc by restoring Spock's mind from the last ep. There's also some stuff with Ash and dealing
— Joe Siegler (@joesiegler.blog) October 18, 2026 at 5:04 PM
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with him murdering Culber as VoQ, as well as Culber being alive again. But the main focus is the Talos IV / Spock stuff. They even updated the look of the Talosians well. It's from here that Pike and Spock crystallized for me, and the fan demand for what became Strange New Worlds started. 🔥🔥🔥
— Joe Siegler (@joesiegler.blog) October 18, 2026 at 5:04 PM
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