The Star Trek: Discovery Episode That Was 'Painful' For Sonequa Martin-Green
In the "Star Trek: Discovery" episode "Face the Strange," Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) becomes inexplicably unstuck in time. First, she is thrown from the 32nd century back to the 23rd century events of "Such Sweet Sorrow Part 2," when the USS Discovery was embroiled in a deadly battle with a malevolent machine intelligence called Control. Then she's thrown even further back, to when the USS Discovery was first being built. Then forward again, to the "Sweet Sorrow" battle. It's all very confusing.
Burnham and a fellow time-stranded coworker, Reyner (Callum Kieth Rennie), eventually find that the Discovery is infected by a bug called a Krenim chronophage that essentially eats time. Its machinations have snared the Discovery in a time tangle, leaving it distracted and unable to move while some weapons-seeking bad guys flee the ship's righteous investigations. Burnham and Reyner keep merrily skipping about in time. They skip ahead to when the Federation was seen destroyed, and then, just as quickly, to the events of the first season of "Discovery."
About two thirds of the way through the episode, Burnham accidentally runs into the younger version of herself, when she was still angrier and more impulsive. The younger Burnham suspects that her future self is a shape-shifting spy, and the two get into a fistfight. The older Burnham eventually knocks out the younger Burnham, saying to her that everything looks hopeless now, but that everything will eventually improve.
In an interview with TrekCore, Martin-Green admitted that filming "Face the Strange" was difficult for her. Not just because she had to act opposite herself, but because she had forgotten how far her character had come since the show's inaugural season in 2017. She came a long way, baby.
Sonequa Martin-Green said the fight was thrilling, but she was apprehensive about it
The emotions on "Discovery" always ran hot. Because the title ship was almost always in high-crisis mode, most of the characters were frequently in a panic, facing some new cataclysm, battle, or emotional roller coaster that they were ill-equipped to process. Eventually, the characters began weeping openly, happy to have familiar faces to work with and facing their day-to-day problems with the trauma of a soldiers' battalion. Burnham began the series as insecure, intellectual, and unable to handle emotions (she was raised by Vulcans). She was unable to modulate her feelings for years. It wouldn't be until the show's more recent seasons that she would find a way to balance her feelings and keep them in check.
About that arc and filming the episode with the character's younger self, Martin-Green said:
"It was hard, because I had forgotten how far Burnham had come! I lived it, I created it, but I was so consumed with what was going on in the present day for Burnham that when I was able to see where I had come from — when I had to step into that Season 1 version again — I was apprehensive about it. It was thrilling to do, but man, what a painful place Burnham used to be in: striving for approval, not having any real sense of self-worth or security, feeling like I needed someone to tell me that I was worthy and that it was okay, and forgive me for my moral mistakes."
As soon as she was back in the old Discovery uniform (the deep blue one seen above), a lot of her old character traits emerged. Martin-Green felt deeply for the struggles her past-character was going through.
Burnham's powerful journey over time
One should also recall that "Discovery" began in a flurry of violence. One of Burnham's very first actions on the series was to knock out her commanding officer in an attempt to prevent a war outbreak with the Klingon Empire. She is unsuccessful, however, and war breaks out. She's also arrested for attacking her captain and will likely be court-martialed. It was only then that she would be transferred to the USS Discovery and undergo a new series of bleak adventures that involved an outsize tardigrade, a jaunt to a parallel universe, and a romance with a mind-wiped Klingon secret agent.
When she had to play a younger Michael Burnham again, Martin-Green was reminded of all that history and of the complex emotions her character experienced. She said:
"Thank you, Jesus, for letting me tell that story, because we need to see that ... but it was painful. So it blessed and inspired me to be able to say to myself, 'Man, I forgot how hopeless this time was. Just keep going!' If only we could all get an opportunity to say that to ourselves, right? Each character could have that same conversation with their Season 1 selves ... 'There's hope ahead of you, keep going and don't give up.'"
This was the advice Burnham got to give to her younger self. Although, perhaps to pay tribute to the show's violence, it had to be given after young Burnham was knocked unconscious. By the fifth season of "Discovery," the series took on a more adventurous tone, and Burnham committed far fewer murders. It really is excellent growth.