My Top Ten Episodes of "Star Trek Discovery"

We've come to the end of the first "Star Trek" series I've finished in a very long time.  It had its lows, but it also had some highs that I think are worth looking back on.  Most of my picks are from the first three seasons, with one two-parter cheat.  Episodes are unranked and organized by airdate.  And spoilers ahead.

"The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry" - The big spectacle of the show's first two episodes shows off what the big budget can do, but the story doesn't really start to coalesce until the third episode, where we meet several characters, including Lorca and Stamets, and actually tangles with some proper science-fiction concepts - Tardigrades and the creation of the very important spore drive.  Yep, the Discovery runs on mushroom power.

"Despite Yourself" - It's the Mirror Universe!  And a major character has secretly been evil the entire time!  The early days of "Discovery" spent a lot of time reworking elements from the original "Star Trek" series, and the best update was definitely the Mirror Universe being run by a fascist version of the Federation called the Terran Empire.  So it's no wonder why the writers decided to spend a good chunk of the first season with everyone's evil doubles. 

"Vaulting Ambition" - Of course, the Mirror Universe doesn't really get fun until Empress Georgiou shows up.  She is in the running for the best character in "Discovery," and I'm so glad that the show decided to keep this campy version of her around long term.  We also learn what Mirror Burnham has been up to in the Mirror Universe with Lorca, there are agony booths, and the whole thing is just delightfully macabre and very much in the spirit of early "Star Trek."  

"Brother" - Here's our introduction to Captain Christopher Pike, who takes emergency command of the Discovery and kicks off the Red Angel storyline.  We also get a lot of new information about the relationship between Burnham and Spock, whose big reintroduction is saved for a few episodes later. This is also the first appearance of the delightful Jett Reno, played by comedian Tig Notaro, initially a marooned Starfleet crewmember.

"An Obol for Charon" - The big Saru episode.  Our favorite Kelpian thinks that he's about to die when a condition known as Vahar'ai is triggered by his encounter with an unknown life form.  Saru's one of the show's most dependably watchable characters, largely thanks to the performance of Doug Jones.  It's wonderful to see him get a turn in the spotlight, and take his first steps toward becoming the more assertive "Action Saru" of the later seasons.    

"Such Sweet Sorrow" - The final showdown against the rogue AI, Control, brings the second season to a close.  Discovery parts ways with the future crew of the starship Enterprise, who head off to do "Strange New Worlds," and Burnham gets to save her friends (and the universe) after getting closure with her mother.  This marks the end of the "Discovery" in this corner of the "Star Trek" universe, and unfortunately it's mostly downhill from here.    

"People of Earth" - Time jumps can be tricky things, but "Discovery" had one of the more successful ones.  After two episodes spent on separate adventures, Burnham has a big reunion with her ship, and we get a look at how Earth and the Federation are doing in 3188.  And the short answer is, not great.  I know the storyline didn't have the greatest resolution, but the initial setup and worldbuilding for the post-Burn timeline is fascinating.

"Forget Me Not" - 2020 doesn't seem that long ago, but it's when nonbinary representation really started ramping up in the mainstream media, and everybody developed pronoun trouble.  The introduction of Adira Tal stands out as a high point for "Discovery," though I wasn't always onboard with how their character developed throughout the rest of the series.  And the less said about Saru's subplot on improving crew morale, the better.

"Terra Firma" - This two-parter marks Michelle Yeoh's exit from the series, after a brief detour back into the Mirror Universe for a final test, and a meeting with my favorite legacy character in the series.  I sorely wanted more of "Carl," especially in this incarnation played by Paul Guilfoyle.  I'm glad that Georgiou got to go out on a high note, even though the character is supposed to be back in one form or another in future "Star Trek" media.   

"Coming Home" - The fourth season finale is the one with the Stacey Abrams cameo, but it also nicely wraps up the Unknown Species 10-C storyline and gives us a big action finale.  Because this is "Star Trek," the actual resolution comes from talking to the alien threat and convincing it to stand down, instead of fighting it into submission.  And I would have been perfectly okay if the show's creators decided to end the series here.    

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"Star Trek Discovery," Year Five

I admit I'm a little relieved that "Star Trek Discovery" is over.  I liked the first few seasons, but by the end the show was running on vapors.  It's honestly a little hard to remember that "Discovery" was originally launched to be the flagship of this era of the "Star Trek" franchise.  Jason Isaacs, Michelle Yeoh, and some weird looking Klingons featured heavily in the first season, and the "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" spun off from the second season with characters who were initially established as part of the "Discovery" universe. I thought the timeskip in the third season worked out fine, but Michael Burnham becoming Captain in seasons four and five signaled the show jumping the shark and running out of ideas.

After spending a season chasing down an unknown alien species, Discovery spends its last year on a treasure hunt to find the technology of the "Progenitors," the beings that may have created and seeded life across the galaxy.  However, they're up against Moll (Eve Harlow) and L'ak (Elias Toufexis), a couple of mercenaries who want the technology for their own purposes.  Tilly's back from the Academy to help finish out the series.  We also get one new crew member, Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie), a disgraced ex-Captain who Burnham decides to give a fresh start.  He's a more old fashioned hardass who clashes with the touchy-feely attitudes of the Discovery crew.  This makes for a briefly interesting dynamic with Burnham, but not much is actually done with it.      

The whole season is very underwhelming.  The stakes are low throughout, and it's difficult to stay invested.  Moll and L'ak are possibly the worst "Star Trek" villains of all time, a pair of sketchy criminal types who somehow stay one step ahead of Discovery for the entire season, despite far fewer resources.  Individual characters don't have any specific issues to work through beyond the same mild relationship troubles.  Saru courting the Vulcan T'Rina (Tara Rosling) is cute and all, but not compelling.  Booker is still around to be Burnham's love interest, but the writers have stopped trying to give him anything else to do.  Each episode is a self-contained, typically "Star Trek" adventure - we get a "time bug" that sends Burnham and Rayner time hopping, and a Prime Directive moral quandary on an alien planet - but none of them particularly noteworthy.  

The problem here is pretty clear, and it's been clear for a while.  Despite all the resources put toward the show, "Discovery" ran out of story to tell and had no good reason to still be on the air.  Few of the characters have ever been well developed enough to carry individual episodes on their own, and in the absence of a stronger central mission, they frequently feel like they're spinning their wheels.  I strongly believe that the show has the potential to be a "Strange New Worlds," but nobody ever put in the effort.  Too much of "Discovery" was action and spectacle first, and character last.  Occasionally there is a decent science fiction concept explored, or some callbacks to other parts of the "Trek" universe - "Enterprise" fans should keep their ears open during the finale - but there are too many shows now that present better alternatives.         

  

I've been a "Discovery" apologist for what feels like most of the show's run, and I still believe that the early seasons are worth a watch.  I hope this isn't the last we'll see of the characters, but after five season's it's time to move on.  

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