Michelle Yeoh Was The MVP Of ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Season 1

**SPOILERS FOR SEASON ONE OF STAR TREK: DISCOVERY AHEAD**
She’s beauty and she’s grace, she’ll swing her foot over her head and kick you in the face…she’s Michelle Yeoh.

Yeoh has always been a dynamite performer. So much so, she’s one of the few actresses whose work has transcended both genres and cultures. She’s as at home in a fun and fiery Hong Kong action flick as she is in an austere English-language drama. So it was something of a coup when she joined Star Trek: Discovery last year. Her unique pedigree as an international star and hard-boiled action heroine made her an ideal Starfleet Captain.

And then the show killed her off in the two-part premiere. Not only that, but Klingon warriors feasted on her character’s flesh. (Gross, guys. Real gross.) The message was clear: Captain Philippa Georgiou was dead. She was deader than dead. (She was eaten!) And the only time we saw her again was in flashbacks or in a hologram recording.
It was disappointing, but to be somewhat expected. Stars like Yeoh don’t usually slum it on TV for full seasons. Also, Yeoh’s sudden death gave the show’s star, Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) a double whammy of guilt and trauma. Burnham would journey through the next half season trying to make sense of how her actions brought about the death of her mentor. Still, anytime Yeoh returned to the series, in said flashbacks, Star Trek: Discovery got a bit of a lift. You could see it in her innate majesty and the positive effect it had on Martin-Green’s performance. Yeoh’s so good that even a hologram recording of her can add a dash of heart to a series.
So it makes sense that when Star Trek: Discovery brought Yeoh back, they brought her back in a big way.
When the show returned from hiatus and zipped into the evil, alternate Mirror Universe, they decided to make the parallel Philippa Georgiou the Empress of the Terran Empire. This Georgiou was as cruel as the other had been kind. She was as avaricious as the other had been humble. She was also gobsmackingly fun. I mean, who doesn’t want to see a 55-year-old international icon wail on an “redshirt” extra? 

Michelle Yeoh has always exuded a natural nobility. Because of this trait, she’s often cast as heroines. Consider how she imbued her Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon character Yu Shu Lien with a double whammy of dignity and grace or how she sped into the James Bond franchise as a tough, beautiful Chinese secret agent who defies every negative Bond girl stereotype. Star Trek: Discovery used this trait and then turned it on its head. This darker side Georgiou takes Yeoh’s natural fire and makes it explosive. And it’s a phenomenal joy to watch — it also makes Star Trek: Discovery‘s future all the more bright.

Star Trek: Discovery has given us no shortage of fantastic new characters played with heart and wit and depth and whimsy. However, as the season comes to a close, it’s clear that Michelle Yeoh is the show’s MVP. It was her solemn bearing that helped ground the series in its first two episodes. The first Georgiou was a kind of North Star for so many of the show’s characters — the living embodiment of all of Starfleet’s ideals. She was brilliant and empathetic and shrewd and compassionate. She was everything you’d want in an ideal leader.
The Terran Georgiou is a photo negative of the first. Because of this, she ironically helps lead the other characters back to their Starfleet ideals. By providing a contrast, she helps Michael Burnham clearly understand why Starfleet needs to stay Starfleet. Furthermore, the new Georgiou is able to give Star Trek: Discovery a compelling anti-heroine. She’s fun and shifty like Q, dangerous and deadly as the Borg, and not nearly as tedious as Harry Mudd. Choosing to let Georgiou off with a warning was not just a good piece of character development for Burnham; it was a sign that Star Trek: Discovery isn’t going to waste the talents of Michelle Yeoh. You can almost bet that she’s going to come back: killing and seducing her way to the top, playing on Burnham’s sympathies, and challenging Starfleet’s ethos to the core.
Oh, and chances are she’s going to look amazing doing it.

Stream Star Trek: Discovery on CBS All Access