Terra Firma Part I

This Story: Season 3 Episode 9 (production code 309)
DSC Overall: Episode 38
Trek Overall: Story 720a, Episode 764
Airdate: 10 Dec 2020
Story by Bo Yeon Kim, Erika Lippoldt, & Alan McElroy
Teleplay by Alan McElroy
Directed by Omar Madha

Notes

• The first time an episode in the Prime Timeline makes reference to the “Narada Incursion Reality”, which is what the show refers to as the “Kelvin timeline” (or the three JJ Abrams Star Trek movies).
• The mirror universe part of this episode is undated, but given some events mentioned in it, it’s presumed to take place two years before the events of “What’s Past is Prologue“.
• The newspaper that Carl reads is a reference to the original series episode “The City on the Edge of Forever“.  The paper has the same title as the name of the paper from that episode announcing that Edith Keeler dies.  There’s a second reference to that episode in the text when it talks about the 21st street mission from that episode.
• The newspaper has additional references to other Trek episodes as well… TNG’s “The Last Outpost” (Tkon supernova), TNG’s “Relics” (disappearance of the USS Jenolan), TNG’s “Parallels” (Worf winning a competition).
• The first of two appearances by Paul Guilfoyle as “Carl”.  The second is Part II of this story.
• Some of the outdoor scenes with Burnham & Georgiou visually reminded me of the first scenes of the pilot with the two of them walking.  Only in that one it was a desert, and here it was an ice planet.
• Gabriel Lorca is mentioned here, but not seen.
• Given there are no title cards in Discovery episodes, there’s also no “To Be Continued…” at the end either.

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