Star Trek Discovery: Lorca twist revealed but at what cost?
If you thought the twists were over on Star Trek: Discovery, you would be wrong. Writers reveal another surprise, but some fans are not thrilled about it.
I like to keep up with fan theories on my TV shows. Reddit has become a great place for that, especially with fledgling shows as they develop bigger fan bases. Reddit has become my go-to for discussion and theories on Star Trek: Discovery.
I bring it up because it meant I knew the theory regarding Captain Lorca. Repeat: I knew all about it.
WARNING: Spoilers Ahead!
Even though I knew what fans had suggested and despite them being correct about Tyler’s true identity, I still didn’t see the Lorca twist coming. While clues were laid out methodically over the course of the first 12 episodes, I still didn’t believe. Perhaps I felt that were too many crazy twists in such a short time. Or the writers already had such a great character in Lorca that I found it hard to believe they would ruin him.
Ruining might be going too far, but by making Captain Lorca the mirror universe Lorca, they missed out on some fascinating and important storytelling.
The Captain Lorca we have come to understand is a survivor of war. He would do whatever it takes to win the war against the Klingons, becoming one of Starfleet’s most important weapons. But rather than delve into the effects of war on a character, Lorca has become a weird caricature.
While the MU Lorca is against the Emperor in a messed up Terran society, he is not portrayed as a good guy. Instead, there are implications that he and MU Michael were involved romantically after he groomed her from a young age. He also did some dastardly things to a correction officer’s sister and the man sought revenge against Lorca.
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So it turns out that MU Lorca is just a man with a sketchy past who probably did horrible things in the Prime Universe to get back to his own universe. Because new questions arise with the Lorca reveal. Where is the Prime Universe Lorca? What really brought down PU Lorca’s ship?
Those answers seem to point to Lorca’s ship USS Buran was brought down by MU Lorca and his prime universe counterpart is probably dead. Lorca admitted that he brought down the USS Buran rather than see it fall into the hands of Klingons and have his crew tortured. Maybe he told the truth about bringing down the ship, but lied about the reason.
There was a great chance to study the effects of war on a Starfleet captain who works in shades of gray, especially considering captains of other Star Trek shows have made better choices throughout their career. They weren’t perfect, but there was also never a question if they were good or bad. With Lorca, we wondered which side he stood on and why he made some of his choices.
Next: Star Trek: Discovery fan theory proves true in episode full of reveals
Granted, we now have that answer. While the twist surprised many, it wasn’t necessarily the reason many had hoped for Lorca’s ambiguity. Now that it’s here, there are real concerns of ruining what had become a favorite for many fans of Star Trek: Discovery.
With three episodes left in Season 1, there is still a little time to get into the motivation of the character – maybe one that doesn’t have such a creepy vibe to it. But with so many twists and turns and people not who they say they are, Star Trek: Discovery has given us a compelling TV, but at what cost for its future?
Stream Star Trek: Discovery on CBS All Access on Sundays at 8:30/7:30c.