*****STARSHIP-SIZED SPOILERS!******

Last weekend, I saw a sneak preview of the first part of Star Trek: Discovery’s 5th and final season’s two-part premiere, “Red Directive.” Though I was under an unofficial nondisclosure agreement with the entire audience not to reveal spoilers before the debut, I am no longer under that constraint, so here goes.

Before I dive into the synopses of both parts, I have to say, it was good to see these characters again after nearly two years. While Star Trek: Discovery (DSC) isn’t exactly my favorite Star Trek of them all, its cast has considerable charm. DSC also has a growing following among younger fans, as well as the fandom’s long-overlooked LGBTQ members, who finally get to see themselves reflected in that bright, shiny Star Trek future. I appreciate that DSC brings its unique flavors to the greater Star Trek buffet, and those flavors were certainly present in the season opener. As were some of DSC’s ongoing flaws…

With that, let’s dive into the synopses and summary for the two-part final season opening episodes, “Red Directive” and “Under the Twin Moons”…

“Red Directive”

Directed by veteran director/producer Olatunde Osunsanmi and written by series’ showrunner and executive producer Michelle Paradise, the action-packed season opener jumps midway into the story, where Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin Green) is riding on the back of an escaping starship while it’s at warp. The warp field is threatening to destabilize when we suddenly cut back to four hours earlier at the spaceborne Starfleet HQ, where various guests are celebrating 1,000 years of the United Federation of Planets, which has only recently reunited after a 120-year galaxy-wide loss of warp drive technology caused by “The Burn.”

Note: While time-jumps (forward and backward) are a common enough device in modern TV shows, I can’t say I’m a big fan of them, because you know you’re just going to have to stop that exciting sequence, only to rewind it at some point, and set it up later.  If you want to open with an action sequence? Fine, but commit to it, without any annoying backpedaling (see: the opening of 1977’s “Star Wars” which threw its audience right into a galactic civil war). And why is Michael joyously whooping it up while riding on the back of a starship-at-warp, anyway?  This isn’t a surfing competition, for chrissakes… 

We see the starship Discovery’s First Officer Saru (Doug Jones) dancing and making some needed time to be with his Vulcan politician lover, T’Rina (Tara Rosling), who oh-so-logically proposes ‘codifying’ their union later on in a Vulcan marriage proposal.  An offer Saru later accepts, but they both agree that such ‘codification’ will have to wait until after he officially steps down as First Officer of Discovery and is permanently assigned to Federation HQ.  T’Rina graciously agrees.  Elsewhere at the party, Chief Engineer Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) is being consoled by his husband, Dr. Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz). Stamets is upset that his spore drive research is being discontinued in favor of a new “pathway drive” system, making the 900-year old Discovery unique among the fleet. Meanwhile, a tipsy Lt. Tilly (Mary Wiseman) has eyes on a handsome officer across the room…

Note: As we saw with T’Pring and Spock in the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds pilot, Vulcan women are often seen as the ones who first propose marriage (quite logical, I think).  Frankly, the idea of men having to do the honors every time seems a bit outdated now. At any rate, Saru and T’Rina are adorable together.  As a fifty-something man married to a fifty-something woman, it’s nice to see romances with people well past their 30s for a change.

The party is cut short for Burnham as she’s whisked off into an “infinity room” (a white void similar to what we see in “The Matrix,” or TNG’s Q-space). There, she’s met by Admiral Vance (Oded Fehr) and the enigmatic “Kovich” (David Cronenberg), who give her an emergency briefing on a “Red Directive” mission; an 800-year old Romulan science vessel was located at the edge of what used to be Romulan space.  Details of the mission are ‘classified’ by Kovich, who’s coming along to supervise the mission personally.  Discovery and her crew are recalled, and the Red Directive mission gets underway…

Note: Once again, the bridge crew are little more than animated props, as they’ve been for the past four seasons.  I don’t want these characters to be mere props or set dressing; I want them to be integral to the storyline somehow. I still can’t remember all of their names without checking (with the exceptions of Detmer and Owosekun), but I suppose it won’t matter soon.

Discovery then does one of its famous spiraling spore-jumps (a neat bit of business, I’ll admit) and winds up at the coordinates of the ancient Romulan science vessel.  Boarding the vessel, Burnham, Owosekun (Oyin Oladejo) and Rhys (Patrick Kwok-Choon) find a long-withered Romulan corpse. They also realize they’re not alone.  After an intense firefight, Owosekun and Rhys are immediately ensnared by personal forcefields, which take them out of the action (of course), leaving Burnham—once again—alone to deal with their newly discovered competitors; a pair of dangerous, thrill-seeking scavengers named Mol (Eve Harlow) and L’ak (Elias Toufexis). Moll is a hard-nosed sort who puts business first, while her companion/lover L’ak is a reptilian alien who blindly follows her lead.  

Note: Sincerely hoping that these two, Mol and L’ak, aren’t the ‘big bads’ of the entire season, since a pair of shady couriers aren’t exactly the most fearsome opposition the Federation has ever faced. It’d be like having an entire season spent matching wits with glorified space pimp, Harry Mudd.  I’m hoping these two have a more dangerous client that they’re serving, because this would-be Bonnie & Clyde simply are not compelling enough on their own.

Negotiations go nowhere, and Burnham is nearly killed when a hole is blown in the Romulan ship’s hull. Activating her away-garb’s spacesuit configuration, she then rockets her way onto the outer hull of the escaping courier’s ship, and this is where we cut back to Burnham hull-surfing at warp. Trying to disable the ship’s engines, the warp bubble begins to destabilize.  Soon, the Federation starship USS Antares arrives, commanded by Captain Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie). Rayner locks onto the enemy ship with a tractor beam, but its collapsing warp bubble threatens both ships, and Antares is forced to abort.  Saru then locks onto Burnham and beams her back aboard Discovery, just as the enemy vessel warps away.  

Note: Catching up to the beginning of the episode, there is a nice visual FX moment when Burnham is hurtling towards Discovery’s main viewer/window and is beamed aboard just before she would’ve crashed, and she steps right into the bridge.  This moment got a huge round of applause when I saw it at WonderCon with an audience. Also, the name of Rayner’s starship, Antares, shares a name with a small cargo ship destroyed by the alien-enhanced human teenager Charles Evans (Robert Walker Jr.) in the TOS Star Trek episode, “Charlie X.” That spaceship Antares was under the command of a Captain named Ramart (Charles Stewart). The ship and captain’s names in this newer episode might be callbacks. Actor Callum Keith Rennie was also a costar on “Battlestar Galactica” (BSG) where he played the creepy, spiritual Cylon model named “Leoben.” Ron Moore’s BSG remains one of my favorite TV series of this century.

Burnham then jumps Discovery back to Federation HQ in order to enlist some much-needed help. First, she recruits her recently estranged beau, Book (David Ajala), since he’s also a former courier who knows all the tricks.  Their relationship is strained following the events of last season, but they’re willing to work together once again. Asked what he would do if he were Mol and L’ak, Booker says he’d take whatever they stole from the Romulan ship to a famed antiquities dealer named “Fred” in the Q’Mau system.  Burnham then seeks the help of Lt. Tilly, who recently left the ship to accept a teaching post at the new Starfleet Academy.  We catch up with a still-drunken Tilly (and her date), when she’s interrupted by Burnham, who enlists her help with their current dilemma.  Tilly gets herself some much-needed coffee in order to sober up and get to work…

Note: It’s clear that Mary Wiseman’s Lt. Tilly character is being groomed for the rumored “Starfleet Academy” spinoff series, which is supposed to be the next new Star Trek series set in Discovery’s 32nd century setting.  Speaking of spinoffs, director/producer Olatunde Osunsanmi confirmed at WonderCon last weekend that he’s just finished work on the new “Star Trek: Section 31” movie for Paramount+.

We then follow Mol and L’ak to Q’Mau, a desert planet where every third person is dressed like an extra from an “Indiana Jones” movie. There, they enter an small trading post, where they’re disarmed by two strongman security guards before meeting “Fred” (J. Adam Brown); a Soong-type android based on 24th century designs very similar to those of Star Trek TNG’s Data (Brent Spiner). The eloquent android seems programmed to brown-nose each prospective client, as he receives the goods brought to him by Mol and L’ak. The artifact is a Romulan puzzle box which android Fred quickly unlocks.  Inside, there is a hand-written journal, which Fred easily speed-reads.  On the last page, he stops.  Realizing the enormous value of what he’s holding, Fred prepares to pay three bars of latinum for the diary—basing that bid solely on the book’s condition, not content.  This doesn’t go over well. Fred is terminated, and his guards are killed.  L’ak and Mol prepare to return to their ship…

Note: Like Data before him, we see that Fred isn’t (or rather, is not) able to use contractions, either.

Burnham and Book arrive at Q’Mau, as the estranged lovers are still trying to work out their feelings for each other.  Before long, they’re interrupted by Captain Rayner.  The trio head to Fred’s trading post, where they find the terminated android and his dead bodyguards. Fred is beamed up to Discovery for forensic examination. Realizing they just missed L’ak and Mol, Burnham, Book and Rayner set out on hover-bikes (aka ‘sand runners’) to intercept them.  Mol and L’ak prepare to take their escaping starship into a mountainside tunnel, which is rigged to blow up if they’re followed. As the Starfleet trio close in on their position. Rayner recklessly suggests using Antares to fire on the boobytrapped tunnel first.  Burnham nixes the idea, saying it could start a landslide that will demolish the nearby village. Raynor fires phasers anyway, and the boobytraps are detonated.  Unfortunately, Mol and L’ak then use Rayner’s idea, and fire a torpedo at the mountaintop as they depart—causing the very avalanche Burnham sought to avoid. This forces Burnham and her team to quickly rethink their plans…

Note: In a 32nd century where people literally beam themselves from room to room for convenience sake, why do we still see protracted vehicle chases?  Couldn’t Burnham, Booker and Raymer simply beam back to their ships quickly and intercept the enemy ship as it lifted off?  Even TOS Star Trek never wasted time with ground vehicle chases. Other than for action’s sake, I can’t see any good reason why the trio wasted time chasing L’ak and Mol with relatively slow sandrunners instead of beaming back and intercepting their ship in orbit. They can spore jump to the next quadrant in a second, yet they still need to play cops and robbers…

Trying to save the villagers who are threatened by the monstrous avalanche, Burnham and Rayner are forced to use both of their ships (and their shields) to plow into the sand between the mountains and the village—creating a barricade to stop the calamity.  As the ships are forced to save the villagers, Mol and L’ak escape. A bitter Captain Rayner beams up to the Antares. Meanwhile,  Culber and Stamets have recovered slowed-down images from the Romulan diary, which was read into Fred’s positronic memory just before he was killed. Meanwhile, Michael gets an encouraging call Tilly at Starfleet HQ; she’s hacked into Starfleet files, and has learned the real purpose of their mission…

Note: The avalanche and speeder-bike chase feel like so much filler thrown in for action’s sake, since the heart of the story is what comes next. The split-screen device used to show all three hero characters talking at once on separate bikes is convenient (and very 1960s), though it calls undue attention to itself.

Now that Tilly learns the truth, the ever-secretive Kovich finally comes clean with Burnham and with Admiral Vance as well; the diary contains notes from a Romulan scientist named Vellek (Michael Chapman) concerning the ancient race known as the “Progenitors”; the same alien race who once seeded the galaxy with the DNA to create humanoid life (see: Star Trek: The Next Generation’s “The Chase”). This seeding resulted in the thousands of similarly bipedal, two-armed, two-eyed beings seen throughout the galaxy, including humans, Romulans, Klingons, Cardassians, etc.  Whoever finds this knowledge might learn the source of life itself.  Knowing L’ak and Mol’s next destination is a planet vaguely listed as one with two precisely synchronized moons, Burnham quickly realizes it’s an ancient Romulan planet known as V’Leen.  Rising to the challenge of solving this most important of mysteries, a dispirited Michael gets her mojo back; “Let’s fly.” 

Note: Not to nitpick the astronomy too hard, but if planet’s description of having two exactly synchronous moons came from an ancient source, isn’t it possible that those two moons have long gone out of their previous synched positions?  Even now, our own moon moves away from the Earth at a rate of about 1.5 inches (nearly 4 cm) every year.  Mars’ inner moon of Phobos is in a gradually decaying orbit. Saturn’s orbital rings are slowly being reabsorbed back into the planet. Did Vellek’s diary take such long-outdated positions into account…?

“Under the Twin Moons”

Directed by series veteran Douglas Aarniokoski from a script by longtime series writer, Alan B. McElroy, “Under the Twin Moons” is the slower paced of the two-part opener, as it deals with the fallout from “Red Directive,” with both Antares and Discovery in spacedock completing repairs, following their crash landings to save the Q’Mau villagers. 

There is also the fallout from Captain Rayner’s plan to fire at the mountain being used against them by the escaping L’ak and Moll. This action brings Raynor’s 30-year captaincy into question, as his career is littered with similarly dangerous acts.  The inquest is being overseen by Federation President Rillak (Chelah Horsdal) herself (really? For a military inquest?). Raynor angrily and audaciously defends his actions, while Michael is asked by Admiral Vance to give her own honest assessment.  She admits she didn’t agree with Rayner’s plan and wouldn’t have fired at the mountain.

Note: So, if I understand the purpose of the inquiry, it’s that Capt. Rayner’s idea was used against him…not that he did anything wrong himself? Once again, DSC also falls back into its annoying habit of stopping the action cold to second guess itself. Every episode of Star Trek would be six hours long if Kirk, Picard, Sisko or Janeway had to stop and face the music after every miscalculation.  Starfleet captains act as ambassadors-at-large, making sometimes snap decisions on behalf of the Federation, and perhaps even making a mistake or two along the way.  “Risk is our business,” after all…

As Discovery is finished with its repairs (with persnickety DOT drones still cleaning dust off the hull), Burnham asks Admiral Vance for permission to bring Book along, which is granted.  They also commiserate about the fate of Captain Rayner, with both agreeing that he’s a good officer, despite his lack of decorum. Burnham also borrows Lt. Tilly from Starfleet Academy to join Discovery for one more mission.  With Tilly and Book back aboard, the ship spore-jumps away to the planet V’Leen, fully aware that Mol and L’ak have a healthy head start…

Note: This is something Discovery has done since Day One, and it may be my single biggest nit with serialized Star Trek, as opposed to the episodic variety; there are too many scenes (often under ticking clocks) that stop everything cold while characters talk about what’s on their minds.  Usually these protracted scenes could be summed up with a line or two of dialogue.  At least in other Star Treks, we’d see characters multitask; talking about their issues while their hands move. But with DSC, their hands literally hang at their sides while they simply shoot the breeze.  Watching DSC, I often find myself growling at the characters onscreen to get on with the mission, already.

Saru and Burnham beam down to L’Veen, a green, idyllic planet that is rigged with a series of boobytraps. With unusual EM interference preventing their beaming any closer to their target, Saru and Michael enjoy a nice long chat about his career and love life—often stopping dead in their tracks to do so (see: above notes about my biggest nit with serialized Star Trek).  According to Vellek’s diary, the dual eclipse will cross a nearby structure that should identify their target.  Before long, they find themselves under attack from a series of killer drones unleashed from the ruins of an ancient Promellian statue.  Pinned down by the drone’s fire, Burnham calls Tilly for assistance…

Note: Not surprising that V’Leen is filled with boobytraps, since it once belonged to the long-dead “Promellians,” a warlike race seen in Star Trek: TNG’s aptly-titled third season episode, “Booby Trap.”

Before Michael’s drone dilemma, we see Tilly in Engineering enjoying a nice long chat with Adira (Blu del Barrio) about her Trill lover, Gray, who is back on the Trill home world after downloading his consciousness into a new android body. Suddenly, they receive Michael’s urgent call from the surface. For some reason, the very scientist who was supposed to be a big help on this mission suddenly has butterfingers.  The typically out-of-the-box Tilly is now stumped on how to solve the drone problem, as attempts to find the control mechanism have failed. Burnham and Saru have a matter of moments before they’re taken out by the killer drones…  

Note: I realize that Tilly is often targeted as DSC’s comic relief (something that Mary Wiseman has a genuine knack for), but I don’t appreciate how she’s now make to look incompetent for the sake of laughs and for the shameless promotion of a new character, as we’ll soon see…

Thank goodness Captain Raynor jumps into the situation holographically (distance no longer means anything in the 32nd century), having been eavesdropping on their communications (an issue for another pointless inquest, no doubt). He’s angry—as we all are—at Tilly and Adria’s sudden fumbling, and gets them to think outside the box; something Adira and Tilly are supposed to be good at, mind you.  They finally agree that detonating a phaser at a safe distance should release a temporary electromagnetic pulse that might disable the drones long enough for Burnham and Saru to reach their destination.  Saru, who can run faster, sprints along, plants his phaser, and runs back.  The phaser detonates, and their plan works. For now…

Note: The EMP solution with the phaser detonation seemed a mite obvious to be so overlooked by Adira and Tilly.  Their characters were subverted to make Captain Rayner (the newest member of DSC’s ensemble) prove his worth, like incompetent children who need a big daddy figure to help them clean up their mess. Embarrassing…

With the drone issue temporarily averted, Saru and Burnham make it to the ancient ruins, where they see telltale signs that Mol and L’ak have beaten them to the punch. An ancient Romulan riddle has been scorched by phaser fire, but Saru is able to retrieve its characters by scanning past the superficial burns. The clues in the text point to the planet Betazed (Deanna Troi’s home planet from TNG). However, Saru realizes there’s more writings beneath where they are standing—a clue that Mol and L’ak missed. Using his superior Kelpien strength to move the heavy pillar, “Action Saru” (a terrible nickname that deserves to die) finds another clue that points them in the direction of the real destination; the planet Trill—something Adira is particularly pleased to hear.  Soon, the clock is ticking again, as new drones arrive.  Saru and Burnham are hurriedly beamed back to Discovery. 

Note: I’m eager to see followup on how Gray is adjusting to his new android body, which was arguably the most interesting subplot of DSC’s fourth season, yet it was only given an episode before it was more or less dropped. Saru and Burnham stumbling across the rest of the ancient text had me thinking of 1981’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” when Indy and Sallah realize Belloq’s staff is too long (“They’re looking in the wrong place!”). DSC’s story arc for season 4 seems to borrow much from the Indiana Jones movies.

Meanwhile, back aboard Discovery, Book is researching Mol and L’ak, trying to learn whatever he can about the two ruthless couriers, whose past is similar to his own.  With the assistance of Stamets and Culber in Discovery‘s hurriedly disguised engine room, Book decides to pay the two a holographic call over the subspace equivalent of the dark web (“dark comms”).  As a nervous Stamets grows impatient, Mol and L’ak answer; their holograms appearing on the Engineering deck.  Book makes an offer for their merchandise, but it’s a nonstarter.  Mol, however, seems intrigued at the mention of Book’s name.  The call abruptly ends, and Book wanders off, clearly distracted.  Naturally, Stamets and Culber don’t bother to ask why…

Note: Why press, right? I mean, it’s only a matter of galactic security, as well as the point of their entire mission and all… 

We then see a brooding Book, alone in his quarters with his cat Grudge, watching a recording of the holographic meeting that just took place in Engineering.  He sees something very familiar about Mol’s face.  He then asks the computer to de-age her appearance by 20-odd years, and he realizes she’s Malinne Ravel—the daughter of his mentor, the real Cleveland Booker, whose name Book’s been using as an alias.  For some reason, Book gets the notion that Mol is now the closest thing he has to a family right now, since the destruction of his home planet Kwejian (DSC S4.2; “Anomaly”).  

Note: The scene of Book recognizing Mol from his childhood is very similar to Spock’s recognition of his long lost brother Sybok (via a hostage tape) from “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier” (1989). At least Spock and Sybok shared a father in common; Book is now making Mol out to be his stepsister simply because her dad was his mentor figure (?).  That seems like a weak foundation to place such heavy expectations from a virtual stranger.

After jumping back to Starfleet HQ once more (again?), we see Burnham and Saru enjoying another chat about his future; this time in his quarters, which are filled with plants and other greenery from the Kelpien First Officer’s home planet. Burnham promises to keep his quarters as a living sanctuary to him and his world, and they’ll be available to him, should he ever decide to return.  Now she faces the issue of finding herself a new First Officer…

Note: While this scene is arguably redundant following their conservation on L’Veen, this is where all of it should’ve taken place; at the end of the episode, when the burden of their immediate survival wasn’t weighing so heavily on their heads.  “Under the Twin Moons” is somewhat sloppily structured compared to the tighter, more theatrical-feel of “Red Directive.” Sadly, neither episode is an example of Star Trek at its best.

The final bit of business sees Burnham interrupting a stargazing Captain Rayner, who’s lost in thought.  Rayner has been forced into taking early retirement, rather than face punishment for his actions on Q’Mau (for the ‘crime’ of accidentally giving your enemy an idea…).  Having been in his position 900 years ago, the once court-martialed Burnham recognizes a strength in Rayner.  She makes him an offer to be her First Officer, with Admiral Vance’s pre-approval.  Rayner prefers it over early retirement, though he warns Burnham he’s “not a yes man.”  She replies, “I’m counting on it.”

The End.

Note: Nice to finally see Michael finally ‘pay it forward’ by helping another troubled officer (after her own court-martial in the 23rd century).  This final scene between Burnham and Rayner is easily the best written scene of the episode, as it closes an arc we didn’t realize was still open.  It also eschews the navel-gazing sentiment of which DSC is too often guilty. 

Summing It Up

The season opener “Red Directive” is certainly the more action-packed of the two hours, as its pacing feels more cinematic than TV.  Unfortunately, my ongoing issues with DSC are still very present, particularly in the second hour, “Under the Twin Moons.” For example, that annoying tendency of DSC’s characters to simply stop whatever they’re doing (often in the middle of a crisis) to talk about their personal lives—their hands literally falling to their sides as they monologue away. Sigh. Clearly, DSC’s reputation as ‘emo Star Trek’ isn’t going anywhere…

The goal of this latest serialized season is certainly intriguing; uncovering the mystery of all humanoid life in the galaxy, as buried in the secrets of “the Progenitors.” This follows up the plot thread laid down in Star Trek: TNG’s “The Chase.” Unfortunately, it quickly becomes an ad hoc “Indiana Jones” quest, rushing off to various exotic planets looking for clues and hints to solve another puzzle (complete with ancient security systems being triggered; I half-expected a giant stone ball to come rolling after Saru and Burnham). The story lacks the epic feel one might expect in a quest to find our very creators, and becomes just another space riddle to be solved.  In that regard, it’s less a sequel to “The Chase” and more like a bigger-budget remake.  Hopefully, that changes as things progress. Also hoping it avoids the traps of Ridley Scott’s wildly problematic “Prometheus” (2012) as well.

On the plus side, I enjoyed the ‘codifying’ of Saru and T’Rina’s relationship, the addition of prickly Captain Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie) to the ensemble, and the nice callbacks to TNG, including the return of the Progenitor mystery, the 800-year old Romulan ship, and the Soong-class android “Fred” (J. Adam Brown). Frankly, I thought I had my fill of Soong-class androids after “Star Trek: Picard,” but Fred was a nice callback.  Unfortunately, we’re still not seeing much from the Discovery bridge crew, who’ve had little more than the occasional moment or two each throughout DSC’s run. This is very disappointing, since Star Trek became much more ensemble-driven after 1987 (as have all Star Trek spinoffs since).  Such lack of development feels like a throwback to the worst traits of TOS Star Trek.

For readers of this column, I’m not planning on doing analyses for all of this season’s episodes, though I might do a recap once the season is finished. These ‘episodes’ are more like chapters to a novel rather than complete stories, and frankly, it’s too taxing and time-consuming to review parts of a story than a cohesive whole. 

Whatever happens, I, as a longtime Star Trek fan, sincerely hope DSC ends well. The show’s cast and fans deserve that much. As I’ve seen with nearly every new incarnation of Star Trek since the early days of Next Gen back in 1987, I would safely bet the currently maligned DSC will someday find a loyal and passionate fanbase.

I suspect this has already begun, in fact.

Where To Watch 

“Star Trek: Discovery” is available to stream exclusively on Paramount+, along with all four previous seasons of the series, which are also available on physical media (DVD and BluRay), via Amazon, Borders and other retailers (prices vary by seller).