Star Trek: Discovery is headed into the final season, but the legacy of its characters will live on. Much of that is because of its strong lead protagonist played by Sonequa Martin-Green, the unflappable Michael Burnham. From her unfortunate beginnings in the series to her evolution into Starfleet Captain of the future, Burnham has found ways to inspire her crew and viewers in many different ways.
Michael Burnham is an inspiration, and if you don’t believe that, you clearly haven’t been watching. As we prepare to stream Discovery‘s final season with our Paramount+ subscriptions, Womens’ History Month feels like the ideal time to explore the character and some of her best moments as a member of Starfleet. Of course, nothing will be featured from Season 5 just yet, though anyone curious can check out my spoiler-free review on the first four episodes.
Surviving Her Escape From The Brig
Michael Burnham has had some close calls in her Starfleet career, but I don’t think any of them measure up to how she narrowly escaped dying when the USS Shenzhou was split due to a Klingon attack. For those who don’t remember, Michael was in the brig during the attack, having been put there for mutiny after overriding Starfleet orders and attacking the Klingon ship.
With only a force field separating her from the cold vacuum of space, Burnham is in a tight spot. After a brief pep talk with Sarek (via mind meld and use of katra), Burnham was able to convince an officer to open a hole in the force field, which propelled her to an adjacent compartment and got her to safety. It was a bold gambit, but the kind of inspirational move that makes you love her and her drive.
Traveling Alone To The Future As The Red Angel
Traveling deep into the future was a perilous journey with plenty of unknowns, and I’d like to think if the literal fate of the universe wasn’t at stake, no one on Discovery would’ve signed on for it. Doing it in a ship was wild enough, but what about traveling to the future in nothing but a time-travel suit? That just sounds bonkers, but Michael didn’t think twice about it.
To take it further, how horrifying must it have been to arrive on the other side and not have the rest of the crew right behind in the ship? A year doesn’t sound like a long time, but that’s quite a lot to go in a new time period, not knowing exactly when everyone you knew before will emerge on the other side. The upside is that it gave her some quality time with Cleveland Booker, whom we will see reunite with Michael in the final season.
Turning Emperor Georgiou Into One Of The Heroes
Terran Emperor Georgiou was trapped in the prime timeline and, with little ability to return, was forced to assume the identity of her dead counterpart, Starfleet Captain Phillipa Georgiou. Initially, she seemed to be more or less committed to being the person she was in the Mirror Universe, yet slowly, but surely, Michael Burnham changed her.
She did have an advantage in that Georgiou also had a soft spot for the Terran Michael. Even so, the two Michaels were incredibly different, and it’s safe to say that the more time Georgiou watched Michael be better, she also worked to be a better person. Or at least, as good as a Terran raised in violence and responsible for an untold number of deaths can be. We’ll see how well her will to do good sticks in the upcoming Star Trek: Section 31 movie.
Convincing The Federation Not To Attack The DMA
Always count on a Starfleet captain when it comes to inspiring speeches, but it’s truly impressive what Michael pulled off in Discovery Season 4. Imagine finding the source of a threat that’s indiscriminately destroying entire planets, and better yet, there’s a scientist capable of developing the exact weapon that could severely harm that species, if not eradicate them.
In our real life, modern times, you’d have to think our world leaders would’ve unanimously voted to attack without question. The new Federation, which was still getting its legs, definitely had the temptation to do the same. It took an impassioned speech from Michael Burnham to swing the majority of votes to attempt to contact the species and get an explanation behind why this was happening, though her efforts were thwarted when Book and Ruon Tarka tried to use the weapon anyway.
Gaining Saru’s Respect And Friendship
The friendship Saru and Michael have toward the end of Star Trek: Discovery is not even close to that at the beginning of the series. Saru has absolute disdain for Michael due to her actions on the Shenzhou, and it didn’t seem like anything she could do would ever be able to win his trust back. In his defense, Michael was the first person in Starfleet history to be charged with mutiny, so it’s not like he didn’t have valid reasons to distrust her.
As the seasons went on, Saru’s relationship with Michael grew, and they became friends. He trusted her enough by Season 3 to make her his Number One, and by the end of the season, he trusted his friend to take over the captaincy of Discovery. He was, to use the word of the feature again, “inspired” by Michael’s journey and all he’d been through with her over the years. Saru is one of Star Trek‘s best characters, so I’m inclined to believe that if you can inspire him to have faith in you after all that, you’re an inspiring leader overall.
Is Star Trek: Discovery‘s Michael Burnham the only inspiring woman of the franchise? Absolutely not. Star Trek, as a whole, is loaded with strong women, and you’ll find far more of them by watching any of the shows. With that said, there have only been two female characters who’ve led a Trek series, and I’d say Michael Burnham is just as inspiring as Janeway, if not a little more.
Star Trek: Discovery‘s final season begins on Paramount+ on Thursday, April 4th. Be prepared for an epic adventure and ten more episodes with the inspiring Michael Burnham, and hopefully, an ending that will set the stage for more adventures for the crew I hope we see in upcoming Star Trek shows.
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