Star Trek Discovery 2.09 'Project Daedalus' review
Project Daedalus
The ninth episode of Season 2. Section 31, Admiral Cornwall and Airiam. Only one of those is actually not in the episode. (Tyler doesn't show up.) Cornwall may be involved, but this is mainly Airiam's show. But there is also a confrontation between Spock and Burnham. However, the main focus is on Airiam, and Discovery confronting Section 31 at their headquarters. But other stuff happens in the background, like Spock giving Stamets advice. However it is the Headquarters/Airiam story that is the main focus.
Airiam. Not much was known about her before this episode, other than that she was augmented cybernetically. Even so, I was curious about her. Her backstory, it turns out, is sad. Involved in a shuttle accident in which her husband died and she seriously injured. (Enough for extensive augmentation.) The scenes of her with Tilly and Detmer (and not just her memories) were done very well. (I can see that her asking Tilly to stay with her was one way of asking for help, but Tilly didn't insist on staying when she was sent away.)
Spock. The sequence where Spock and his adopted sister play chess was rather well done. Spock confronting Burnham on her selfishness (and assumptions that it's all about her) was very well done. Their discussion about emotion vs. logic and Sarek's effectiveness as a parent was also well written. This pays off later, on the Station, see below. Spock giving advice to Stamets and helping to restore power to the Spore Room, was also a very good scene. Certainly there is something to build on there.
Cornwell. Not much here. But the real surprise is CONTROL, the Section 31 AI. It is certainly believable that it could go rogue, kill all the agents and impersonate them. There a plenty of other examples of that in science fiction. However, the hints in the past two episodes regarding Airiam pay off. Nhar was suspicious, but I'm not sure why she didn't follow through on those suspicions until it was too late. Still the final sequence where Burnham was trying to get through to stop Airiam uploading the Sphere's data on AI to control was very good.
Spock urging her to open the airlock was done well. Certainly, it was a rather poignant ending. If only more was done with Airiam earlier. 8.8/10.