This is going to contain major spoilers, so don’t read on if you don’t want to be spoiled.
Maaajor spoilers.
For the end of ep 2.
Philippa gets stabbed in the chest while in a fight on the Klingon ship and the Shenzhou can’t sense her life signs and in the urgency of the situation, can only transport back Michael. The articles coming out post-ep, including interviews with the crew, all have her as killed, and in the preview for the season at the end of the ep, it’s all about Jason Isaacs at the helm of the Discovery. There is a bit where Michael is looking at Philppa’s badge and a voiceover “I think about what happened all the time and I’m hurt, that there’s hope.“ but it could just as well be referring to something else.
I’m not going to say people should not watch the show, but it was a pretty disappointing blow for me. I’m sad because I’m supposed to be, yes, we’re supposed to be affected by her loss, but I’m also hurt by what it means behind the scenes? They used her in promos, they had her use her accent (which horrible fanboys made fun of), and she was just a great character and had a great dynamic with Michael. I was happy to see an Asian woman in a prominent role in Star Trek, a second main female captain, a warm compassionate leader, to see two women play a headline role together. And now we have Sarek and Jason Isaacs, Michael’s two British white dude mentors.
Maybe they’ll bring her back. If they do, I’ll watch.
