After 5 years of retooling, poisonous fan backlash, tender reboots, continuity points and solid modifications, the crew of the USS Discovery warps into one last voyage with Star Trek: Discovery Season 5. Judging by the primary few episodes, the season appears to make a enjoyable, if unremarkable, curtain name.
Season 5 picks up with Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Inexperienced) and her crew following the path of a pair of thieves, Moll (Eve Harlow) and L’ak (Elias Toufexis) who’ve made off with the diary of a famed Romulan scientist. The Discovery receives a “purple directive,” that’s, a top-secret, precedence mission to reclaim the diary, which accommodates the placement of an historical expertise that created all life within the galaxy. Burnham and firm additionally should address the presence of Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie), an antagonistic, authoritarian captain demoted after inflicting a serious calamity whereas chasing the thieves.
Season 5 of Discovery has all of the hallmarks of a last season: a way of elegy, characters considering their future outdoors the ship, self-referential plotting and {couples} able to tie the knot and retire from Starfleet. It additionally continues the present’s backward slide into pandering fan service. The season works, in essence, as a sequel to a Star Trek: The Subsequent Technology episode…although we can’t say which right here.
One other Chase
Trek has by no means hesitated to beam again to its roots—a number of Subsequent Gen episodes basically remake these of the unique collection, whereas legacy characters (Sulu, Riker, Q) pop up in spin-offs. Nonetheless, doing a direct sequel to an episode from one other collection—one which quantities to a retread greater than anything—will go well with followers who really feel the present must one way or the other affirm their fandom. It does nothing, nonetheless, to differentiate Discovery as its personal story, or to maneuver the milieu of Trek ahead. A rotating group of showrunners in early seasons made Discovery really feel a bit schizophrenic in tone, however a minimum of these first couple of seasons handled philosophical conundrums—the guts of Star Trek from the very starting.
The third season of Discovery got here the closest to recapturing that Gene Roddenberry spirit, thrusting Discovery 1000 years into the longer term (thus eliminating these continuity issues) and specializing in rebuilding the Federation after a catastrophe. Even when that story collapsed within the season finale, the lead-up raised an fascinating query: how can Utopia maintain itself?
Sadly, the fourth season of the present roughly photon torpedoed this quandary in favor of a variety of effects-driven motion (to not point out a narrative that bore an uncomfortable resemblance to Star Trek: The Movement Image). This last season does the identical, and options loads of flash and motion, however little or no that can have interaction viewer feelings or mind.
That doesn’t, nonetheless, imply Season 5 isn’t enjoyable. Rennie, an actor who makes a speciality of taking part in cocky douchebags, brings his trademark gruffness right here. His clashes with Burnham and the remainder of the Discovery crew generate some actual friction, and at all times entertain. The particular results look glossy as ever, and the opening episodes (4 had been made out there to critics), function some wild chase sequences and shootouts within the halls of the ship.
All of it appears nice, and the actors do essentially the most they’ll with the fabric (Anthony Rapp and Inexperienced shine in Episode 4), but it surely doesn’t quantity to a lot past a run-of-the-mill house opera. Certainly, the MacGuffin of a superweapon appears lifted from Star Wars moderately than the perfect Trek outings. As villains, L’ak and Moll lack the character and crafty of the perfect Trek baddies.
Star Trek: Discovery marked the primary return of the Trek franchise to tv following the catastrophe of Enterprise some 10 years earlier. That present, which recycled the Subsequent Gen formulation used all through all of the 80s and 90s Star Trek tales, grew to become synonymous with franchise fatigue. Discovery additionally adopted the “Kelvin Timeline” films of the 2010s, produced and written by Alex Kurtzman, who now oversees the franchise for Paramount.
The Jar Jar within the Room
The 2009 film, which netted a large field workplace haul, basically remade Star Wars in Star Trek drag. Whereas standard within the second, the impression of that movie proved fleeting. The next sequel, Into Darkness—a laughably dangerous train in fan service—stalled any momentum the franchise had regained. The rushed-into-production Star Trek Past outright flopped on the field workplace. Paramount continues to insist that it has a fourth Kelvin reboot film coming down the pipeline.
Clever Trek followers shouldn’t rely their Tribbles earlier than they’ve spawned. A normal ambivalence among the many viewers, in addition to the solid & crew, coupled with the studio’s monetary woes, point out that the brand new film most likely won’t ever go away house dock.
All of this warrants point out as a result of Kurtzman’s involvement within the Paramount+ collection—together with Discovery, Picard, and Unusual New Worlds—appears the wrongdoer for small-screen Trek’s devolution right into a generic sci-fi motion romp. For Star Trek to catch hearth once more, for it to boldly go the place Trek has by no means gone earlier than, requires a artistic thoughts unafraid to take dangers or problem an viewers. Sure, typically which means adopting a cavalier fans-be-damned angle, however as the perfect episodes of Subsequent Gen (the Klingon succession arc), Deep House 9 (the Dominion Warfare), and Voyager (exploration of the Borg) proved, creativity will win followers over, even when it takes time for that to occur.
Discovery had (and has) all the best parts: a charismatic solid, fascinating characters, a wholesome finances, and a fandom thirsting for excellent Trek. The present might but discover the vector to warp to an impressive end, however for all of the motion and fan service, Discovery appears poised to turn out to be a present that by no means lived as much as its potential. Maybe at some point a Legacy collection will reunite Burnham, Saru, Staments, Tilly, and so forth. for an outing each considerate and flashy.
Season 5 of Discovery arrives on the heels of Netflix’s 3 Physique Drawback and Warner Bros.’ Dune Half Two, two tasks that understand nice science fiction leisure must pair breathtaking visuals with deeper ethical and philosophical points to resonate. Latter-day Trek, very similar to Disney’s Star Wars (The Final Jedi however), appears like a stale voyage into self-reference by comparability.
Staleness seldom quenches urge for food. For now, Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 presents a enjoyable, if forgettable, conclusion to Star Trek’s return to tv. Right here’s hoping Paramount+ subsequent opts for a Star Trek collection keen to research some new frontiers.
RATING: 7/10 SPECS.
Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 arrives on Paramount+ Thursday, April 4.
