Spoilers Season 5 as a Whole

[Lord Garth]

Starting this thread earlier than I intended to.

I'm still re-watching and forming my overall opinion of Season 5, but I'm glad if Discovery had to end, it was here and not with Season 4. I love Season 4, but it was too heavy of a note to go out on. Lightening up a little was the right move for this season. I would've felt the same way back in the '80s with TVH after TWOK and TSFS.

"Red Directive" & "Under the Twin Moons"

Two episodes into my re-watch, I'll say this much upfront: I think Season 5 is the Anti-Season 4. No, there's nothing wrong with doing that. I like different approaches. My regarding PIC Season 1 and 3 almost equally is proof of that. And the TOS Movies, I just mentioned, which are so different from each other. Another thing I like about DSC Season 5 are the production values and the choreography. It looks like what I think a Star Trek movie should be like. At least one made in this century. It does it better than the Kelvin Films, IMO. I'm glad I watched the first three Indiana Jones movies before going into DSC Season 5. It gave me more of an appreciation for what they were trying to go for than I would've had otherwise.

Tilly & Starfleet Academy
I liked being able to get caught up with Tilly and what she's been doing at the Academy, seeing her interactions with a colleague, talking about dealing students, and the like. You get a feel for what Starfleet Academy might be like, without the whole thing being revealed. If Saru can't be around for every episode this season, I'm glad to have Tilly back for this quest on Discovery. And, like she said, sometimes you need time away to get a fresh perspective. So, her mission on Discovery is like a bit of a vacation.

Saru
Even though Saru isn't in every episode of this season, every episode he's in brings out a different facet of his character. In the first episode, Saru considering life changes such as a career as an Ambassador and marrying T'Rina. In the second episode, we see Action Saru and Saru in action one last time as First Officer.

Stamets & The Spore Drive
When I watched the season premiere the first time around, I felt like shuttering the Spore Drive program came from out of nowhere, but when I think back to the events in Season 4, and how the Spore Drive was too easy to steal, and you'd be too far away from whoever stole it if you didn't have a Spore Drive (hypothetically), then it makes the Spore Drive a risk. And with dilithium no longer being the scarcity it was, it seems like Starfleet is relaxing and wants to go back to more conventional propulsion. I feel bad for Stamets being worried about his legacy, but he had to have known from the beginning that it could be a long shot for the Spore Drive to ever take off. I would've liked for Season 5 to have shown what else Stamets couldn't accomplished in lieu of that to make him famous, but they didn't know it would be the last season.

Rayner
Rayner comes across as an Indiana Jones and Harrison Ford type in general, personality-wise. I can see how that works. I like that he's determined to see a mission through and will stay true to himself no matter what, and regardless of the consequences. One of the highlights of the "Under the Twin Moons" was Burnham not wanting to throw Rayner under the bus when formally inquired by Rillak and Vance. And even as Vance wants Rayner to retire, Rayner still helps the Discovery crew while looking for clues for the search for the Progenitor's clues. When Burnham extends an offer to Rayner to become her First Officer, she's doing it not just because she respects Rayner, but because she's paying it forward because someone once gave her a second chance. Rayner really is the perfect choice to have for First Officer since he's been on several previous Red Directive missions, and he's been dealing with Moll and L'ak for the last two years.

Moll & L'ak
I get that the writers were going for a Bonnie & Clyde vibe and they have them depicted as thrill-seekers but I buy that more from Moll than I do L'ak. In the first two episodes, we get a sense of how far they're willing to go, what they're capable of, down to killing Fred and starting a crazy desert tidal wave, and they seek power. I don't know if they do anything for the thrill, so much as they're willing to do whatever it takes to get to the Progenitor tech. It makes them as driven to find it as Rayner is to stop them.

Burnham & Book
They've been away from each other for months, at least, and the reunion was under circumstances that made sense. Book knows the ins-and-outs of the underground world that Moll & L'ak are a part of better than the Discovery crew, even including Burnham who only lived that life for a year versus Book who lived that life all of his life. They've moved past what happened in Season 4 but not back at a point where they can pick up with things like they were before. I appreciate that they took their time over the course of the season, before going back into the relationship full-bloom.

"The Chase"
Using TNG's "The Chase" as a springboard for how to enable this Indiana Jones-style plot was a good idea. First of all, courtesy of the late Professor Galen's research, Picard and the Enterprise-D were already looking for clues that led to the discovery of the Progenitors in the first place. Like with the Discovery crew competing with Moll & L'ak, the Enterprise crew had to compete with the Klingons, Cardassians, and Romulans. When they uncovered a recording from one of the Progenitors, the Klingon Captain said, "That's all?! If she were not dead, I would kill her!" But it looks like that wasn't all. One of the Romulan scientists present in the episode, Vellek, took it upon himself with others to continue to research the Progenitors and try to learn more about them. So we have our ancient race and our ancient mystery.

I'll stop there for now. Ratings for the episodes.

"Red Directive" --> 8
"Under the Twin Moons" --> 8

Not powerful, but it doesn't need to be, and there's a lot of spectacle with a lot of character underneath. Not so much Moll and L'ak yet, but definitely with everyone else.

I had to start this thread now. No way could I have held all that in and waited until after 5 episodes (mid-way through) or 10 (all the way through). I would've forgotten or left out too much.

 

[Lord Garth]

"Jinaal" & "Face the Strange"

"Jinaal" starts off with Rayner settling into being First Officer of Discovery and ruffling feathers along the way. It was a stroke of genius to pair him with Tilly. Rayner, being one of the least sociable people on Discovery and who doesn't like small talk, opposite of Tilly, the most sociable and loves the small talk. Rayner finds out what's most important to every member of the crew.

The pay-off for that is in "Face the Strange" when Rayner, along with Burnham and Stamets, and travelling to different points in Discovery's past (and future). Burnham has to convince the bridge crew of Season 1 Discovery that she is who says she is by saying things that wouldn't appear in their records because she's gotten to know them. Rayner has to convince Season 1 Rhys and Season 1 Burnham that he is who he says he is by telling them things he's also gotten to know about them, that isn't in the official record.

"Face the Strange" has more going for it than "Jinaal" since "Face the Strange" gets to look back at the entirety of Discovery and pays off efforts started in "Jinaal".

"Jinaal" shows the breakup between Adira and Gray happening in the best way it could've under the circumstances. Long-distance relationships are hard to keep up and their lives were going in directions that were too different. It is what it is. The main highlight was Wilson Cruz's performance as Culber-as-Jinaal. We also get to see Saru adjusting to political life, and that's the last we see of him for a while.

Moll and La'k don't get to do much in these episodes other than obtain a time bug, follow Discovery, and pass the time bug onto Adira who unknowingly brings it to Discovery. But we finally get to see more of them in the next episode. Which brings us to...

"Mirrors"

Before getting into "Mirrors", I have to backtrack two episodes and say that the name call when Burnham introduced Rayner to the bridge crew was a parallel to "Brother", the Season 2 premiere, when Pike asked for a name call so he could learn everyone's name on the bridge. In the S5 version, Burnham said she'd introduce Detmer and Owosekun later. The fact that they weren't on the bridge was the first clue (in retrospect) that they wouldn't be around much this season. More on that later. Though, I will say their absence allows Rhys to step it up this season. I think Rhys does more this season than in the first four combined.

Going properly into "Mirrors" now, which beings with Discovery finding out where Moll and L'ak are hiding... which turns out to be the Mirror Universe! We even hear the musical cue that goes along with it in the Disco Mirror Universe episodes, as Burnham and Book see the ISS Enterprise. I kept thinking they were going to bring back the ISS Enterprise, a.k.a. "The ISS" later on in the season, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Once Burnham and Book find Moll and L'ak on The ISS, we find out that L'ak is Breen and we get a flashback to how Moll and L'ak first met. The Breen have a monarchy and L'ak used to be royalty. Moll recognizes L'ak as an outsider looking in, meant for greater things. L'ak hates where he is and begins his partnership with Moll. They trust each other and are willing to go it alone with each other even though they barely know each other. Which is how Bonnie and Clyde started off, reportedly the inspiration for Moll and L'ak.

L'ak's story is also a parallel to Rayner's in a way. I didn't realize this until re-watch. Like L'ak, Rayner was also demoted. Except Rayner is settling into his new position and L'ak didn't. Which brings me to Rayner. After having face-to-faces with the crew in "Jinaal" and having it pay off in "Face the Strange", the next step is taking in this episode with Rayner taking the First Officer role head-on. He points out alternatives to Burnham. We see him in action in command of the bridge while Burnham is on The ISS. We also get to see the crew adjust to his style as he continues to adjust to their style. It goes both ways.

Back on The ISS, Book tries to reach out to Moll since she's the daughter of the previous Cleveland Booker and it turns out that Moll doesn't hold her father in very high regard. There's a character scene where Book tries to reach out to Moll but she wants nothing to do with him and they have very different views and had very different experiences with her father. Even though some people might not find Moll and L'ak compelling, I do like that they tried to find a way to have a connection between Book and the antagonists of the season. We can even see the motivations of Moll and L'ak as they feel rejected from their societies. They feel like they have nothing left to lose in the pursuit of trying to gain everything back.

"Mirrors" isn't a Mirror Universe episode. It's an episode with the Mirror Universe in it. That makes it similar in a way to "Resurrection" from DS9 Season 6 where that too wasn't a Mirror Universe episode, it was an episode with a Mirror Universe character in it: Mirror Bariel. Although being on The ISS gives Burnham a moment to talk about Spock when she sees Book at Spock's counterpart's science station. It also provides the opportunity to find out what happened to Mirror Saru after the last time we saw him in "Terra Firma". To quote Book, "Action Saru in any universe!"

Book tries to get through Moll and Burnham tries to get through to L'ak, but Moll and L'ak are too determined to trust no one but themselves and find the Progenitors' technology, which they think guarantees them, "Power beyond imagination." Eventually, the crew of Discovery figures out how to get Burnham out of the Mirror Universe by bringing The ISS over to their side but Moll and L'ak manage to escape.

Another item of note is that Culber is feeling the after-effects of having joined with Jinaal two episodes earlier, but nothing is really done with it in this episode. More like a seed is planted for later on.

This definitely feels like a Midpoint Episode. We know Moll and L'ak's motivation. Rayner is settling in as First Officer of Discovery. We have the Breen reintroduced as an adversary to the Federation, since the Federation has to have more rivals than just the defunct Emerald Chain. In DS9, the Breen were just there to stand around, make funny noises, and be extra muscle for the Dominion. Here, the Breen feel like actual characters. L'ak, his family, the people he's betrayed, and we get to learn of their hierarchy and what they look like underneath the masks. This was an underdeveloped species that was ripe to be expanded upon.

One final thing to say is this is the point where I really started to wish this wasn't the final season, even though I made peace with it before, because I'd really like to see more of Rayner. Here's hoping they find a way to work him into Starfleet Academy somehow, or another 32nd Century series if they make one.

"Whistlespeak"

When I first heard that there would be an advance-screening of "Whistlespeak", I wonder if it woud be a pivotal episode. I was told by someone that someone else said it was very good. Putting the two together, I figured this would be some sort of turning point, but instead it was something else... an example of the ambience Discovery Season 5 is aiming for. Amazing location shooting, a fun adventure, and searching for pieces to the Progenitor Puzzle. It also explores tried-and-true Star Trek themes: whether or not to follow the Prime Directive, as well as comparing the intellectual with the spiritual and delving into how they can be similar. The intellectual and the spiritual both seek answers and both seek an understanding.

As much as I love the VR wall, there's no substitute for actual location shooting, as this episode proves.

In the A-plot, on the planet the next clue Discovery's quest brought them to, Burnham has to reason with one of the leaders to make him realize they don't need to do ritual sacrifices and that knowing of the existence of aliens doesn't mean that there can't be a God out there. As classic Star Trek as it gets. Meanwhile Tilly bonds with this leader's daughter as they run through a ritual marathon and it reminds Tilly of teaching her students at the Academy. Tilly says Burnham would make a great mentor at the Academy and while I believe Burnham's life and career or on Discovery, maybe she'll make an appearance in Starfleet Academy.

The B-Plot, on Discovery itself, focuses on Adira who has a bridge assignment helping Burnham and Tilly track down a weather tower where the next clue in puzzle to locate the Progenitor's technology. Adira is nervous, but Rayner -- in his way -- helps Adira to gain confidence.

I don't know where else to put this, so I'll put it here: I love the Infinity Room. The all-white really sells it and adds the mysterious. Which fits someone as mysterious as Kovich.

This episode takes a break from L'ak and Moll and takes a break from the Breen, so we can enjoy the scenery.

"Erigah"

That break from the Breen ends here when they take the stage front-and-center. Starfleet has tracked down Moll and L'ak, and the Breen want them handed over. Like I said before, I appreciate the chance to see the Breen as actual characters and a force of its own separate from the Dominion, and here the Federation has to deal with Breen diplomatically. The Breen only want what works to their advantage and will assume a hostile position in all circumstances. Hence Rayner quoting the saying, "Never turn your back on a Breen."

Without Rillak around and without Saru around, this also provides the opportunity to see how T'Rina handles diplomacy and the way she solves problems when said diplomacy looks like it might falter. In this case, T'Rina decides that Moll must be handed over to prevent a war with the Breen.

This episode could've easily gone down the path where Rayner was completely in the wrong, but it turned out he wasn't. The Breen weren't truly willing to negotiate. They all-but-dictated their terms to the Federation and perceived any sort of deviation as a reason to go to war.

When L'ak dies, Moll shows that her and L'ak were married, which makes her Breen royalty. This gives T'Rina no choice but to agree to release Moll to them, or it'll start a war. I can understand Book not wanting Moll to be handed over to the Breen and him saying "This is wrong" because he doesn't want to give the only family he has left over to them, but T'Rina, Vance, and Burnham can't look at things that easily.

At this point, I can actually say that the Breen are my favorite antagonists in Discovery. The Klingons were okay, even though I wasn't a fan of the redesign, and I like the idea of the Emerald Chain, but the Breen work better in execution. They have their own politics going on, with the competing Primarchs, they're formidable, and everything ever said about them in TNG and DS9 is put to use in this series while giving us new insights into them that we never had before. They were ripe to be expanded upon, and it was about time someone finally did it.

The other thing of note here is that because we get Starfleet Security, we get to see Nhan again. Nahn and her team are bad-ass in this episode. This is also a chance for Nhan to realize she's misjudged Book.

So far, Discovery has found four of the five clues that lead to the Progenitor technology. They have to find the fifth clue before Moll and the Breen do, which brings us to...

"Labyrinths"

Discovery locates a library in the Badlands that contains information provided from all over the galaxy and is open to all. The librarian, Hy'Rell, is nice, quirky, and can also hold her own. She welcomes the Discovery crew. The interior of the library itself is one of the most impressive set-pieces I've seen on the series.

The Breen, who are extremely rude, are turned away. Not that this stops the Primarch from wanting the final piece of the puzzle to find the Progenitor technology. The Primarch is extremely hard-headed. I'm going to guess that any negotiations and diplomatic meetings that ever occurred between the Federation and the Breen were handled by one of the other Primarchs.

On the Discovery side, Burnham and Book are in the library while Discovery has to hide from the Breen and then defend themselves once the Breen detect them. Burnham opens up a book that leads her to the path to find the fifth and final piece of the Progenitor's puzzle, except the book renders her unconscious and links her subconsciousness with an interactive program where she has to deal with her inner-demons in her mind as she searches for the clues to find the puzzle piece. When Book finds her unconscious, he alerts Discovery, then Rayner and Culber beam down, leaving Rhys in command. This season really has been Rhys' season to shine. Here is my opening to say I like the new bridge crew as well.

This episode provides an opportunity to look at Burnham's fears, worries, concerns, and inner-demons as a Captain and as a person at this stage in her life. We've had earlier on the series, particularly during the first two seasons (between facing her life while growing up as well as after the mutiny, and her path to redemption), but not so much since then. Here, we get to see her concerns about feeling inadequate as a Captain, feeling like she has to constantly prove herself (on a meta-level this an also read as Discovery constantly having to prove itself), feelings that she's failed Book, and wanting to be able to fix what's been broken by getting things back to the way they were between her and Book. It's an episode of reflection, on the Burnham side of the story, before heading into the home-stretch of the season. This type of self-reflection also unintentionally works as a look at where Burnham is at the end of the series, since this is the third-to-last episode. And having the level of self-awareness to realize and admit things that are painful to talk about and having the humility and humbleness to see where she comes up short, she passes the test put before her and where to find the final piece of the puzzle is revealed.

Book was the avatar representing the Progenitors determining if Burnham is worthy of finding the Progenitor technology and if she can be trusted with it. Just like when Culber-as-Jinaal was trying to see if Burnham was worthy. And this time it was David Ajala's turn to play a totally different character. I liked seeing David Ajala play this gatekeeper type of character.

So now Discovery has all five pieces and that unlocks everything, including where to find the Progenitor technology. The Breen threaten to destroy them if they don't hand over Progenitors keys, so Discovery hands it over to them, and jumps with the Spore Drive at the exact moment the Breen fire on them, making it look like Discovery has been destroyed.

Which leads back to what I was saying about the Primarch earlier. He's reckless, is arrogant, and doesn't care if destroying Discovery will lead to war with the Federation. This along with his other actions mentioned earlier are what leads to his downfall. It becomes clear that this Primarch doesn't care about keeping his word, honoring agreements, or respecting others. He thinks the Progenitor technology will make him all powerful and doesn't need to have a care in the world, acting as if he already has the Progenitor tech even though he doesn't. Moll rightly calls him on it, saying that he can't risk a war with the Federation, conflict with other Breen, and that they should resurrect L'ok with the Progenitor tech. That's when the Primarch challenges her, and then the other Breen stand with Moll, realizing she's in the right. Moll kills the Primarch, who was too arrogant to see it coming, and they resume their focus on getting the Progenitor tech. So now, it comes down to a race between Burnham and Moll.

Ratings:
"Jinaal" --> 8
"Face the Strange" --> 10
"Mirrors" --> 9
"Whistlespeak" --> 8
"Erigah" --> 10
"Labyrinths" --> 8

By the way, THIS is why I watch episodes twice. Kind of hard to take this all in and reflect upon it when I'm watching at 2:00-something in the morning and reacting in real time, while tired, without having a chance to think deeper about it.

Before the season started, I watched the first three Indiana Jones movies for the first time. Next I'm going to take a little break before going into the 9th and 10th episodes of the season and watch the last two Indiana Jones movies, so I can say I've seen all of them, especially since Indiana Jones is a major part of what inspired this season, and then dive back into the end of Discovery.

 

[Lord Garth]

Before we start the final part of my review/summary, one thing I forgot to mention from "Labyrinths": Especially since they didn't know it would be the end, I get a kick out of one of the last episodes of DSC having a Library and a Librarian, since one of the last episodes of TOS also had a Library and a Librarian!

"Lagrange Point"

Picking up where we left off, Discovery Season 5 Episode 9. We get to see Saru again! I actually think being an Ambassador suits him better than being in Starfleet, even though he has that experience to draw from as well, giving him an advantage while dealing with adversaries on an Ambassadorial level. It's a good thing Saru's new position is a good fit, because had the series continued, I would've liked to have still had Rayner as First Officer. More on that shortly.

Discovery, while cloaked, finds the Progenitor technology, a.k.a. "The power of creation", but Moll and the Breen recover it first. Which means Discovery has go to after them to get it.

What we have is basically a heist episode. Discovery has to get the Progenitor technology back from the Breen, undetected. Two teams beam over to the Moll's ship while Discovery is still cloaked disguised as Breen. Team Alpha, Burnham and Book, find where Progenitor technology is on the Breen ship. Team Bravo, Adira and Bryce, are on the bridge, monitoring what Moll is doing and what she's up to. Moll has L'ak's body in pattern-buffer suspension in the hope that he can be revived when she and the Breen figure out how to revive him.

Naturally, it's discovered there are spies on the Breen ship, and that's when Burnham needs Rayner's help because they have to come up with something fast. This is where having a First Officer who takes risks and is bold comes in handy. Discovery uncloaks and takes the Breen's attention away from Burnham and the others being on their ship. Discovery attacks as Moll activates a portal from the Progenitor tech and ends up somewhere else. Burnham follows her through the portal as everyone else from Discovery on the Breen ship is beamed back onto the ship. I liked seeing Discovery blast its way into the Breen ship to rescue everyone. It gives a sense of how large Moll's ship, the Breen Dreadnought, is.

During the quick battle, the Progenitor tech slides out of the Breen ship and the portal grows larger. Book tells Rayner that Burnham is in there and they have to rescue her. This entire episode up until this point, Rayner hasn't sat in the Captain's chair. Everyone notices how uncomfortable he's been with the idea of sitting in it ever since he was demoted. But now, he says "failure isn't an option", finally sits down, and says, "Let's do this." That catch-phrase suits him. Plain-spoken and right to the point. Now we're heading into the final episode. Let's do this.

"Life, Itself"

Super philosophical title. And I should start by waxing philosophical and talking about... life, itself. But instead the first thing I'm going to talk about is how much I love the action sequences with Burnham and Moll fighting each other Matrix-style, with different planets, different colored landscapes and different colored skies in the background! This is great and I'm not above enjoying that.

Meanwhile, Discovery fighting an armada of Breen ships. Great spectacle there too. I don't care what anyone else says. We get to see Rayner in action as a tactician, coming up with different battle maneuvers. Book comes up with a plan to retrieve the Progenitor tech that's hanging out in open space, and Culber goes along with him, while Discovery battles against Breen while being between two blackholes. Eventually, Discovery takes out all the Breen ships except for the Breen Dreadnought. This is the type of elaborate battle I want to see in a sci-fi series.

There are tactics on the diplomatic front as well. Saru and Nahn intercept one of the other Breen Primarchs to convince her not to join Moll's fleet. Saru offers this Primarch something of more value to her and then, understanding Breen psychology, tells her that he's prepared authorize Starfleet to fight her faction of the Breen if they join Moll's faction to fight Discovery. The Primarch backs down. Saru's brand of diplomacy for the win!

Back to Burnham and Moll. It's a constant back-and-forth for Burnham to try to get Moll to trust her. They agree to stop fighting long enough to figure out their way to the puzzle inside of whatever they are, to unlock the Progenitor tech. Then Moll knocks out Burnham to put the pieces to the puzzle together! The only problem is that Moll is impulsive and thinks the most obvious puzzle configuration must be the right answer. That's where she's wrong. If the Progenitors went to all this trouble to make it difficult to travel the path to search for the secrets to their technology, it wouldn't be the most obvious answer. When Burnham regains consciousness, she figures out what the correct puzzle configuration is and brings about a meeting between herself and one of the Progenitors, or at least a hologram of her.

The Progenitor offers Burnham control of the technology which Burnham fears to be used to create armies, be used to destroy, or have unintended consequences even with good intentions. Burnham doesn't want to be put in charge of the Progenitor technology and believes it should continue to be kept a secret. As Burnham is sent back to where she configured the puzzle, where Moll still is, I loved the visual montage of life emerging from Earth, the space program developing, and Burnham at different stages of her life, showing the progress of life, civilization, and herself. Prior to this moment, there's a monologue accompanied by a montage of the Discovery crew while highlighting what each of them values in life. "Life, Itself".

Meanwhile, Discovery still has to face the Breen Dreadnought, which they can't overpower, so they have to outsmart them. The crew figures out how to create a Spore Drive bubble and Discovery separates so the stardrive is underneath the bubble and the saucer is above it. In-between the two halves of Discovery is the Breen Dreadnought, which is caught in the Spore Drive bubbled and jumped so far away, it'll take them a few decades to get back home. Nice to see saucer separation again, and being used in such a creative way. I never would've thought the Spore Drive could be used like that, and I'm glad they could show new ways to use the Spore Drive even all the way up to the last episode. Too bad it probably still won't make Starfleet reconsider shuttering the Spore Drive program.

Book and Culber find a way to rescue Burnham and Moll, and Book couldn't have done it with Culber because he still retained knowledge from Jinaal he didn't realize he had, that allowed them to be able to save Burnham and Moll. Moll asked if L'ak could be saved, but while his body could be resurrected, he wouldn't have any of his previous memories or experiences, so it would look like L'ak, but it wouldn't be L'ak. Things end up somewhat mended between Book and Moll. She has the tough exterior but she's no longer antagonistic towards him. Book wonders what will happen to her, and it turns out that Kovich wants her to work for him, and then her fate is left vague from there.

Speaking of Kovich. I liked that he was Agent Daniels, and say this even as a non-fan of Enterprise. It explains why he's so knowledgeable of the past, and makes him the perfect person to have interacted with Discovery and also explains why he had enough insight to want Tilly at Starfleet Academy as an Instructor with her perspective from before The Burn. And, from this point on, it looks like Discovery will be involved with many more Red Directive missions.

"Several weeks later" is the wedding between Saru and T'Rina. They look very nice, everyone is all dressed up, and the beach makes for a lovely vista. They refer back to the Progenitors as proving they're all connected. Burnham and Book tell each other they never stopped loving each other, have a passionate kiss, and it's clear who the next people are who will be getting married.

It's sad to see the series ending here. I think they could've still kept going. Tilly wants to start up a Mentorship at the Academy, so maybe that's a way we'll see Discovery characters in Starfleet Academy. As for Discovery itself, at least we got an epilogue, which I'll look at separately. The closest we'll get to a "Season 6", unless there's a TV Movie.

But, before we go any further, some...

General Takeaways
The Progenitors from "The Chase" being from four billion years ago and being a common ancestor of humanoid life is epic enough in scale to have provided the basis for a season. And having five clues that Discovery had to search for was a good way to create at least five different episodic adventures searching for those clues. Which means that this season was actually semi-serialized with a common thread connecting them instead of fully serialized.

Some people didn't find Moll and L'ak interesting. I thought they were interesting enough, but Moll became more interesting after L'ak died.

I care more about the Breen now than I did during DS9 and see them more as actual people instead of just canon fodder. I hope we get to see more of them in other series.

It was a stroke of genius to introduce Rayner. If the series had continued, I'd have liked to have seen him be able to work his way back up to Captain and get his own command again.

Missing Characters: Detmer and Owosekun. I don't blame Emily Coutts and Oyin Oladeja for prioritizing other roles in other productions that would give them more to do than just say, "Aye, Mister Saru" like in DSC Season 5. Doug Jones wasn't absent from as much of the season as it seemed like in the middle. He was in five episodes total this season, so half of it. Considering we got Rayner out of this, and Saru makes for a good Ambassador, this is something I didn't mind either.

I kept expecting them to do something with The ISS. Everyone did. But, if Kovich already has an Enterprise, then that would've made The ISS redundant. Especially considering how old it is.

The scientists who discovered the Progenitor technology hiding clues in places known in the 24th Century gave us a chance to see where different places from 800 years ago stand in the 32nd Century. It provided a way to get a better understanding of the way things in the 32nd Century exist in relation to the rest of Star Trek.

Now onto...

The "Life, Itself" Epilogue & "Calypso"

It's decades later. Where Burnham and Book settle down looks a lot like Kewjian. Nice to see them to have a found a home that reminds Book of his old home. Their son, Leto Booker, reminds me of both of them in different ways. Leto is a newly-promoted Captain and is taking Admiral Burnham to see Discovery off on its last mission. A Red Direction mission that leads into "Calypso".

Burnham tells Zora what she can about the mission. When Burnham sits in the Captain's Chair one last time and thinks back to the Discovery crew, and we get one last look at them, I have to admit that I almost lost it while watching it. I'm very partial to the series and this was my saying goodbye to them. I'll re-watch episodes, seasons, and even the entire series from time-to-time, but it won't be the same without new adventures. But, thanks to the decades-long gap between the rest of the series and the epilogue, I know they got to have many more adventures, even if we didn't see them.

Then Discovery flies off to where it's going to remain for the next 1,000 years, give or take, and that leads me into re-watching "Calypso" with this new perspective.

18 minutes later. Finished re-watching "Calypso". It remains my favorite piece of New Trek ever made. It's a masterpiece. I don't think DSC Season 5 was a masterpiece, as much as I enjoyed it, but I also don't think the "Life, Itself" Epilogue diminishes "Calypso" in any way. If anything, it adds some more context. The Epilogue and "Calypso" still feel like smaller pieces to a larger story, however. Maybe one day we'll get to see it in some way. And that's how Discovery ends. It left me wanting more.

"Red Directive" --> 8
"Under the Twin Moons" --> 8
"Jinaal" --> 8
"Face the Strange" --> 10
"Mirrors" --> 9
"Whistlespeak" --> 8
"Erigah" --> 10
"Labyrinths" --> 8
"Lagrange Point" --> 8
"Life, Itself" --> 9

Season Average: 8.6

 

[thribs]

I liked seeing Discovery firing actual phasers. That’s about it

 

[Commander Troi]

The crew figures out how to create a Spore Drive bubble and Discovery separates so the stardrive is underneath the bubble and the saucer is above it. In-between the two halves of Discovery is the Breen Dreadnought, which is caught in the Spore Drive bubbled and jumped so far away, it'll take them a few decades to get back home. Nice to see saucer separation again, and being used in such a creative way. I never would've thought the Spore Drive could be used like that, and I'm glad they could show new ways to use the Spore Drive even all the way up to the last episode.

I *loved* this! It was truly inspired IMO.

 

[Grizzlor]

I just finished S5 watch, over the past few weeks. I was highly entertained by the treasure hunt aspect of the season. Moll and L'ak were fine foils and their love story was decent, plus Eve Harlow is quite enchanting. I was pleased with the "lack" of Discovery crew-based soap opera drama, because I felt that was done to death in the past. Great visuals, cool science, and I especially loved the binary black holes and other real scientific aspects. I'm sure the writers and crew would have preferred to return for more seasons, and I wouldn't have opposed that, but it's difficult to top discovering and then giving up the power of creation as a story arc. Anything else pales. Beyond the absurd re-envisioning of the Klingons, I was happy with the show as a whole. It certainly pushed the franchise far into the modern concepts around diversity. The Burnam character was given a super-hero treatment, which often became a bit over the top. This was a heavily-female focused series, and that surely has not set well with some older fans. They did create the avenue for SNW, without TOS fans' heads exploding. I think the team behind the show's run should take a bow.

For me personally, as I told Mr. Kurtzman in person once, I was just very pleased to have Star Trek return to its rightful home, the small screen.

 

[Quantum21]

Starting this thread earlier than I intended to.

I'm still re-watching and forming my overall opinion of Season 5, but I'm glad if Discovery had to end, it was here and not with Season 4. I love Season 4, but it was too heavy of a note to go out on. Lightening up a little was the right move for this season. I would've felt the same way back in the '80s with TVH after TWOK and TSFS.

"Red Directive" & "Under the Twin Moons"

Two episodes into my re-watch, I'll say this much upfront: I think Season 5 is the Anti-Season 4. No, there's nothing wrong with doing that. I like different approaches. My regarding PIC Season 1 and 3 almost equally is proof of that. And the TOS Movies, I just mentioned, which are so different from each other. Another thing I like about DSC Season 5 are the production values and the choreography. It looks like what I think a Star Trek movie should be like. At least one made in this century. It does it better than the Kelvin Films, IMO. I'm glad I watched the first three Indiana Jones movies before going into DSC Season 5. It gave me more of an appreciation for what they were trying to go for than I would've had otherwise.

Tilly & Starfleet Academy
I liked being able to get caught up with Tilly and what she's been doing at the Academy, seeing her interactions with a colleague, talking about dealing students, and the like. You get a feel for what Starfleet Academy might be like, without the whole thing being revealed. If Saru can't be around for every episode this season, I'm glad to have Tilly back for this quest on Discovery. And, like she said, sometimes you need time away to get a fresh perspective. So, her mission on Discovery is like a bit of a vacation.

Saru
Even though Saru isn't in every episode of this season, every episode he's in brings out a different facet of his character. In the first episode, Saru considering life changes such as a career as an Ambassador and marrying T'Rina. In the second episode, we see Action Saru and Saru in action one last time as First Officer.

Stamets & The Spore Drive
When I watched the season premiere the first time around, I felt like shuttering the Spore Drive program came from out of nowhere, but when I think back to the events in Season 4, and how the Spore Drive was too easy to steal, and you'd be too far away from whoever stole it if you didn't have a Spore Drive (hypothetically), then it makes the Spore Drive a risk. And with dilithium no longer being the scarcity it was, it seems like Starfleet is relaxing and wants to go back to more conventional propulsion. I feel bad for Stamets being worried about his legacy, but he had to have known from the beginning that it could be a long shot for the Spore Drive to ever take off. I would've liked for Season 5 to have shown what else Stamets couldn't accomplished in lieu of that to make him famous, but they didn't know it would be the last season.

Rayner
Rayner comes across as an Indiana Jones and Harrison Ford type in general, personality-wise. I can see how that works. I like that he's determined to see a mission through and will stay true to himself no matter what, and regardless of the consequences. One of the highlights of the "Under the Twin Moons" was Burnham not wanting to throw Rayner under the bus when formally inquired by Rillak and Vance. And even as Vance wants Rayner to retire, Rayner still helps the Discovery crew while looking for clues for the search for the Progenitor's clues. When Burnham extends an offer to Rayner to become her First Officer, she's doing it not just because she respects Rayner, but because she's paying it forward because someone once gave her a second chance. Rayner really is the perfect choice to have for First Officer since he's been on several previous Red Directive missions, and he's been dealing with Moll and L'ak for the last two years.

Moll & L'ak
I get that the writers were going for a Bonnie & Clyde vibe and they have them depicted as thrill-seekers but I buy that more from Moll than I do L'ak. In the first two episodes, we get a sense of how far they're willing to go, what they're capable of, down to killing Fred and starting a crazy desert tidal wave, and they seek power. I don't know if they do anything for the thrill, so much as they're willing to do whatever it takes to get to the Progenitor tech. It makes them as driven to find it as Rayner is to stop them.

Burnham & Book
They've been away from each other for months, at least, and the reunion was under circumstances that made sense. Book knows the ins-and-outs of the underground world that Moll & L'ak are a part of better than the Discovery crew, even including Burnham who only lived that life for a year versus Book who lived that life all of his life. They've moved past what happened in Season 4 but not back at a point where they can pick up with things like they were before. I appreciate that they took their time over the course of the season, before going back into the relationship full-bloom.

"The Chase"
Using TNG's "The Chase" as a springboard for how to enable this Indiana Jones-style plot was a good idea. First of all, courtesy of the late Professor Galen's research, Picard and the Enterprise-D were already looking for clues that led to the discovery of the Progenitors in the first place. Like with the Discovery crew competing with Moll & L'ak, the Enterprise crew had to compete with the Klingons, Cardassians, and Romulans. When they uncovered a recording from one of the Progenitors, the Klingon Captain said, "That's all?! If she were not dead, I would kill her!" But it looks like that wasn't all. One of the Romulan scientists present in the episode, Vellek, took it upon himself with others to continue to research the Progenitors and try to learn more about them. So we have our ancient race and our ancient mystery.

I'll stop there for now. Ratings for the episodes.

"Red Directive" --> 8
"Under the Twin Moons" --> 8

Not powerful, but it doesn't need to be, and there's a lot of spectacle with a lot of character underneath. Not so much Moll and L'ak yet, but definitely with everyone else.

I had to start this thread now. No way could I have held all that in and waited until after 5 episodes (mid-way through) or 10 (all the way through). I would've forgotten or left out too much.

As is customary for me these days I'm waiting awhile after a new season to rewatch.

I still think it was my favorite season, and I'd only change one grade higher: Whistlespeak.

 

[Lord Garth]

As is customary for me these days I'm waiting awhile after a new season to rewatch.

I still think it was my favorite season, and I'd only change one grade higher: Whistlespeak.

The way I rated the seasons, it worked out like this:

Season 1 --> 8.7
Season 4 --> 8.7
Season 5 --> 8.6
Season 2 --> 8.3
Season 3 --> 8.3

I'm not going to make a big deal over a tenth of a point. So, effectively, it's pretty much almost a photo-finish for me between Seasons 1, 4, and 5.