Episode Information
| No. | Episode | Written By | Directed By | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5x01 | Red Directive | Michelle Paradise | Olatunde Osunsanmi | 2024-04-04 |
| 5x02 | Under The Twin Moons | Alan McElroy | Doug Aarniokoski | 2024-04-04 |
Today we embark on the final season of Discovery. I’m going make a simple request: whether you love it, hate it, or are ambivalent about it, it would make me so happy if everyone could just be cool. Online discussions about Discovery tend to devolve into circlejerks or two minute hates, and some see the latter in particular as justification to moderate the places where these discussions happen with a heavy hand.
I’m not interested in that kind of community. Online discussions are healthier when everyone is respectful and moderators only need to employ a light touch. So in the words of an ace pilot from another great sci-fi show: I am a friendly, okay? We’re all friendlies. So, let’s just… be friendly.
Well, that was certainly an episode of Star Trek: Discovery. Actually, it might be one of Discovery’s most representative episodes.
Discovery at its worst: geez that warp chase scene was awful. It wasn’t a great use of How We Got Here because there wasn’t enough time between the flashback and the redux to make the flashback seem justified—the bulk of the episode happened after the redux anyways. It wasn’t a great use of Once More With Clarity, either. I guess they were going for some sort of dramatic Rayner reveal? But, the “revelation” that the Antares was shadowing Burnham that whole time wasn’t particularly interesting. Nothing was gained by temporally displacing that scene other than frontloading the action, which makes it seem like Discovery is scared to lead with a character moment or a story beat, as if their mentality is “we gotta get to the pew pew ASAP because that’s why the audience is here.”
It felt unearned, and was just another instance of Discovery borrowing things from better shows without adding anything or seemingly even understanding why what they borrowed worked in a different context. And of course, this teed up one of Discovery’s most obnoxious long-running tropes: Burnham knows she’s right and spends a few minutes exasperatedly explaining to an unwelcome guest with equivalent or higher authority than her to no avail. The thing that’s always weird about these scenes is the way Burnham keeps going even after it’s become very clear that the person she’s trying to convince isn’t having it. At that point, focus on getting into the ship, don’t continue the argument! These scenes always feel like Burnham is trying to make sure that the viewer knows she’s right rather than the other character.
I know she’s right. She’s always right.
Discovery at its best: The scene where Discovery and Antares save the settlement on Q’mau. This had all the bits and pieces of a classic Trek triumph: the heroes put the mission, their ships, and themselves at risk to save innocent lives because it’s the right thing to do and ultimately save the day thanks to quick thinking, creativity, and Starfleet’s engineering prowess. This was actually the only sequence in the episode where the Burnham-Rayner interaction worked: Rayner’s calculated risk paid off but introduced a new complication, but Rayner was also pretty quick to concede that “ok yeah, to hell with this ‘Red Directive’ nonsense, innocent lives are at stake” and ceded authority to Burnham.
Visually, seeing Discovery and Antares literally shield the settlement was fantastic. The detail on the shields stopping the rockslide was great fun to watch. These have always been my favorite Discovery moments: classic Trek formula with modern effects and pacing.
Why I’m worried: Rayner. One of Discovery’s quirks has always been what I call “the interloper,” an external authority figured foisted onto the cast to either foil or assist Burnham depending on which direction the story needs to turn. Lorca and Pike were more pronounced instances of this quirk than Vance and Rilliak were, but all four seasons have done it.
Our season 5 interloper looks to be Rayner, and it looks like Rayner is going to be as prominent as Lorca and Pike were. And boy, I didn’t find Rayner to be interesting or compelling at all. I’ve worked with far too many “I’m allowed to be a jerk because I’m right” types to be entertained by them, particularly when played straight. I really hope they do something more novel with Rayner, and quickly.
Agree with most of it. That intro with Michael riding on that ship at warp is exactly why I don’t like Discovery all that much. It’s always Michael, it’s got to be Michael. Plus the way this was used as you pointed out was just not good.
Also the reasoning to get Tilly back on board later, eh, don’t know, why not I guess. But why park a character at the academy teaching if you just get her back later with some half-baked excuse.
Same for Rayner, he has been retired as a Captain, despised working with Michael but of course she can persuade him to work as her Number One? Really? Sorry, but that does not make sense to me. I like him as a character though, so not too unhappy he sticks around.
But Michaels monologue about the progenitors at the beginning of episode 2 just nailed it in terms of what is not good about Discovery. Of course Michael recently thought about her existence, of course she has the drive to now look for answers the questions, but what if she does not understand. Always her her her. None of the other characters seem to matter.
I am quite excited they revive that progenitors plot from TNG, it is good material. However I am worried they only did so since they saw this is what saved Picard Season 03, fan service by bringing back as much TNG as necessary. So we will see. Cautiously optimistic, but it is still the Discovery that I don’t quite like.
Just working my way through the premier, but had to stop and remark upon the wonder of the everlasting…
Self-sealing stembolt! Captain Nog would be proud.
Further report/discussion pending.
Yes! I loved that it really looked exactly like the ones in DS9!
Pretty good episodes. I love that they brought Book back even though he was supposed to be in jail. He’s too good of a character to leave in jail for too long. I’m sad that Mr Saru is leaving. I hope he guest stars a bit. I wish we got to see more of the bridge crew like Owo and Detmer because I love them and want to meet the new people.
Also this new McGuffin seems pretty neat. I always wanted to know more about the Progenitors.
Tying in the fun single episode adventure from “The Chase” and integrating the creation mystery as this season’s plot is a great move. Hopefully, they’ve built it out enough to have a fulfilling conclusion (especially since the string of reshoots that occurred when it was announced that this would be their last go). With Kurtzman’s involvement and his association with JJ’s brand of McGuffin storytelling, I will certainly temper my expectations.
First impressions (to be continued when I watch the second episode next week)
5x01 Nice feelgood introductory episode (action scenes in warp, actions scenes in the desert, saving the population of a city through the power of
friendshipcombined shields, Romulan tech, a lot of TNG references I didn’t get because I never watched it but I’m sure it’s good fanservice, Book’s return, new Tilly storyline, new Saru story line, Kovich bringing in the unethical orders, Michael and Vance disregarding them etc etc) but I didn’t like that it felt as if someone desperately wanted to introduce every new storyline in the first episodePretty standard DIS episode, awith fate-of-the-galaxy stakes. The action scenes are always so boring, let’s see some puzzle cracking! Also, if your Captain is constantly running point on away missions, they might be a thrill seeker. Beware the cliff edges.
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I’d just like to say, after spending the previous four season of Disco on “everything sunny all the time always” /r/startrek, it’s real refreshing to be able to come to an episode discussion and see one of the top mods just straight up going “child, what the fuck was that?”
Glad I’m not the only one bugged to hell by the “This is a Red Directive.” “Hi, audience here, what is that?” “idk bro you figure it out lol” routine. This is the, like, fifth damn synonym for “super-duper double-dog extra important top-secret thing” you’ve come up with, guys, just pick a lane already, or else five years from now we’re gonna end up with a season-long arc about a General Order Black Code Double-Red Priority Level One Section Alpha 31 Critical Omega Alert Directive.
I’m not sure which would be more obnoxious: if “Red Directive” turns out to just be exactly what I’ve already inferred from context, making all the sinister cryptic vagueness completely unnecessary; or if six episodes from now they pull the rest of the context out of their ass and try to act like it’s a major revelation, like, “ooh, haven’t you forgotten captain, if you fail a red directive mission it means you go to space jail and we blow up your ship???”
They’ve got what could be an incredibly significant story arc going here, and I’m gonna be a little miffed if they spend the bulk of it getting repeatedly pantsed by a couple of horny street urchins instead of, like, pondering the vast untapped mysteries of the ancient cosmos or some shit.
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Yeah, it’s just frustrating going into what should be a final victory lap for the whole show, one last grand send-off for the crew, and:
A) having to wait until the very end of the episode before you even get a clear answer about what the plot is you’re supposed to care about, and
B) having the whole episode center around a conflict that is only an issue because the characters keep making dumb mistakes that we know they’re way too smart to make, and that only gets progressed because they keep stumbling into favorable contrivances like being shot through the hull of a warbird at just the right angle to spot a cloaked ship taking off.
Ideally you’d want it the other way around, smart protagonists driving the plot forward with their smart decisions and a competent antagonist that’s unpredictable enough to stay a few steps ahead. That’s why the last four seasons worked, really, the bulk of the overarching conflict came from the crew being made to punch way above their weight class, and having to just stop and puzzle out how to take down an entire alien crusade or a time-travelling cyborg or some Cthulhu monsters that are so far ahead of the rest of the galaxy that they literally don’t even notice that they’re vacuuming up inhabited planets. Not as much fun watching a seasoned Starfleet crew getting routinely bodied by shots we’ve seen easily dodged a half-dozen times already. How long have we been playing “whoops, the bad guys got away and we can’t track them” game, at this point, and they’re still falling for it? Or the “whoops, Burnham thought she knew better than the people in charge and the bad guys used it to sucker-punch us” game? Like, c’mon, it’s the end of the show, I think you can let the character development stick just this once.
Also? Kinda annoyed that like half the crew is getting sidelined for Burnham and Book to have just-like-old-times-adventure #17 featuring some crusty old rando sniping from the peanut gallery. I’d like to spend a little more than one scene per episode with the rest of the supporting cast before the end of the series, maybe that’s just me. So far it feels like there’s been more Stamets in this comment thread than there’s been Stamets on the show.
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