star trek discovery list

Star Trek: Discovery

• Sonequa Martin-Green as Cdr. Michael Burnham
• Doug Jones as Cdr. Saru
• Anthony Rapp as Cdr. Paul Stamets
• Mary Wiseman as Ensign Silvia Tilly
• Shazad Latif as Lt. Ash Tyler / Voq [ 1-2 ]
• Wilson Cruz as Dr. Hugh Culber
• Michelle Yeoh as Capt. Philippa Georgiou
• Jason Isaacs as Capt. Gabriel Lorca [ 1 ]
• Anson Mount as Capt. Christopher Pike [ 2 ]
• Tig Notaro as Jett Reno [ 2- ]
• David Ajala as Cleveland Booker [ 3- ]
• Blu del Barrio as Adira Tal [ 3- ]
• Callum Keith Rennie as Cdr. Rayner [ 5- ]
• Emily Coutts as Lt. Keyla Detmer
• Patrick Kwok-Choon as Lt. Gen Rhys
• Oyin Oladejo as Lt. Joann Owosekun
• Sara Mitich as Lt.Cdr. Airiam [ 1-2 ] / Lt. Nilsson [ 2- ]
• Ronnie Rowe Jr. as Lt. Ronald Altman Bryce
• James Frain as Sarek [ 1-2 ]
• Mia Kirshner as Amanda Grayson [ 1-2 ]
• Jayne Brook as Adm. Katrina "Kat" Cornwell [ 1-2 ]
• Mary Chieffo as L'Rell [ 1-2 ]
• Rachael Ancheril as Cdr. Nhan [ 2 ]
• Ethan Peck as Cdr. Spock [ 2 ]
• Alan Van Sprang as Capt. Leland [ 2 ]
• Oded Fehr as Adm. Charles Vance [ 3- ]

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Star Trek: Discovery

The fifth and final season of Star Trek: Discovery finds Captain Burnham and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery uncovering a mystery that will send them on an epic adventure across the galaxy to find an ancient power whose very existence has been deliberately hidden for centuries. But there are others on the hunt as well … dangerous foes who are desperate to claim the prize for themselves and will stop at nothing to get it.

Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-4 are streaming exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., the UK, Canada, Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia and Austria. Seasons 2 and 3 also are available on the Pluto TV “Star Trek” channel in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The series streams on Super Drama in Japan, TVNZ in New Zealand, and SkyShowtime in Spain, Portugal, Poland, The Nordics, The Netherlands, and Central and Eastern Europe and also airs on Cosmote TV in Greece. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

Season four of Star Trek: Discovery finds Captain Burnham and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery facing a threat unlike any they’ve ever encountered. With Federation and non-Federation worlds alike feeling the impact, they must confront the unknown and work together to ensure a hopeful future for all.

Follow the voyages of Starfleet on their missions to discover new worlds and lifeforms, and one Starfleet officer, Michael Burnham, who learns that to truly understand all things alien, she must first understand herself.

Cast of Characters

No matter how bad things get, the one thing you always have is a choice.

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Star Trek: Discovery

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Star Trek: Discovery is the seventh series set in the Star Trek universe. Created by Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman , Discovery was originally set roughly a decade before Star Trek: The Original Series , set primarily aboard the starship USS Discovery , before jumping from the 23rd century to the 32nd century .

The series was announced by StarTrek.com on 2 November 2015 . According to the press release, " The brand-new Star Trek will introduce new characters seeking imaginative new worlds and new civilizations, while exploring the dramatic contemporary themes that have been a signature of the franchise since its inception in 1966 . " [1]

It is produced by CBS Studios and Secret Hideout ; the executive producers are Fuller, Kurtzman, and Heather Kadin .

The first series to be developed for the CBS All Access subscription platform, it began airing on 24 September 2017 , with a preview broadcast of the premiere episode, " The Vulcan Hello ", on the CBS network ; the second episode being released on All Access on the same day. In the US, subsequent episodes were released exclusive to CBS All Access. The first season ran for a complete fifteen episodes, being released on successive Sundays, finishing on 11 February 2018 , with a mid-season break between November and January. [2] [3] The second season ran for fourteen episodes, between 17 January 2019 and 18 April 2019 , again released via CBS All Access, this time on successive Thursdays. The third season ran for thirteen episodes, also on Thursdays, from 15 October 2020 to 7 January 2021 .

Outside the US, the series was available on Netflix from 25 September 2017 and ending on 16 November 2021 , except in Canada, where Space and Z carry the series in English and French, respectively. The series was slated to begin a global rollout on Paramount+ in 2022. [4] However, on 24 November 2021 , it was announced that the program would instead release beginning on 26 November 2021 with the first two episodes in all markets where Paramount+ is currently available, with new episodes releasing weekly. In those markets still without the service, it will be made available on the free ad-supported streaming service Pluto TV on the same timetable. [5]

CBS aired the first season of Discovery on terrestrial broadcast, beginning on 24 September 2020 , exactly three years after " The Vulcan Hello " first aired. [6]

Discovery was the first official Star Trek live-action production the former franchise owner, Paramount Pictures , neither owned nor was involved with on any level (although since Viacom and CBS re-merged to form ViacomCBS in 2019 , Star Trek television is once again under the same corporate umbrella as Paramount – a distinction made even less significant after ViacomCBS rebranded itself as Paramount Global in February 2022 ).

On 2 March 2023 , it was announced that the series' fifth season would be Discovery 's last and will air in 2024 . [7] [8]

• 1.1 Special guest star
• 1.2.1 32nd century
• 1.2.2 23rd century
• 2.1 Season 1
• 2.2 Season 2
• 2.3 Season 3
• 2.4 Season 4
• 2.5 Season 5
• 3.1 Writing
• 3.4 Casting
• 3.5 Participation interest
• 3.6.1 Tie-ins
• 3.6.2 Products
• 4 Reactions
• 5 Related topics
• 7 External links
• Sonequa Martin-Green as Michael Burnham
• Doug Jones as Saru
• Anthony Rapp as Paul Stamets
• Mary Wiseman as Sylvia Tilly
• Wilson Cruz as Hugh Culber (2019–)
• Shazad Latif as Ash Tyler (2017–2019)
• Rachael Ancheril as D. Nhan (2020)
• Blu del Barrio as Adira Tal (2021–2024)
• Tig Notaro as Jett Reno (2021–2024)
• Callum Keith Rennie as Rayner (2024)
• Jason Isaacs as Gabriel Lorca (2017–2018)
• Anson Mount as Christopher Pike (2019)
• David Ajala as Cleveland Booker (2020–2024)

Special guest star

• Michelle Yeoh as Philippa Georgiou / Philippa Georgiou (mirror) (2017–2020)

Recurring characters

32nd century.

• Ian Alexander as Gray Tal
• Andreas Apergis as Xi
• Noah Averbach-Katz as Ryn
• Avaah Blackwell as Ina
• David Cronenberg as Kovich
• Orville Cummings as Christopher
• Luca Doulgeris as Leto
• Shawn Doyle as Ruon Tarka
• Oded Fehr as Charles Vance
• Rothaford Gray as Tareckx
• Eve Harlow as Moll
• Ache Hernandez as Kyheem
• Chelah Horsdal as Laira Rillak
• Vanessa Jackson as Audrey Willa
• Hiro Kanagawa as Dr. Hirai
• Janet Kidder as Osyraa
• Ian Lake as Tolor
• Alex McCooeye as Lee'U
• Linford Mark Robinson as L'Teis Kardashev
• Seamus Patterson as Harral
• Katherine Trowell as Bandra
• Tara Rosling as T'Rina
• Phumzile Sitole as Diatta Ndoye
• Giovanni Spina as Sta'Kiar
• Elias Toufexis as L'ak
• Jake Weber as Zareh
• Annabelle Wallis as Zora
• Adrian Walters as Taahz Gorev

23rd century

• Jayne Brook as Katrina Cornwell
• Mary Chieffo as L'Rell
• Conrad Coates as Terral
• Emily Coutts as Keyla Detmer
• Raven Dauda as Tracy Pollard
• James Frain as Sarek
• Riley Gilchrist as Shukar (mirror) / Shukar
• Harry Judge as Gorch (mirror) / Gorch
• Mia Kirshner as Amanda Grayson
• Patrick Kwok-Choon as Gen Rhys
• Clare McConnell as Dennas
• Kenneth Mitchell as Kol , Aurellio
• Sara Mitich and Hannah Cheesman as Airiam
• Sara Mitich as Nilsson
• Ali Momen as Kamran Gant
• Chris Obi as T'Kuvma
• Oyin Oladejo as Joann Owosekun
• Ethan Peck as Spock
• Rebecca Romijn as Una Chin-Riley
• Ronnie Rowe, Jr. as R.A. Bryce
• Christopher Russell as Milton Richter
• Damon Runyan as Ujilli
• Sonja Sohn as Gabrielle Burnham
• Hannah Spear as Siranna
• Alan van Sprang as Leland
• Terry Serpico as Brett Anderson
• Rekha Sharma as Ellen Landry / Ellen Landry (mirror)
• David Benjamin Tomlinson as Linus
• Sam Vartholomeos as Danby Connor
• Chris Violette as Britch Weeton
• Romaine Waite as Troy Januzzi
• Bahia Watson as May Ahearn
• Rainn Wilson as Harry Mudd

Episode list

DIS Season 1 , 15 episodes:

DIS Season 2 , 14 episodes:

DIS Season 3 , 13 episodes

DIS Season 4 , 13 episodes

DIS Season 5 , 10 episodes [9]

Development

William Shatner claimed that a " 3 movie deal and then a new series [has] been in the cards since 2007 - 2008 . " [10] After the release of the Star Trek reboot in 2009 , Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci pitched an animated series to CBS, similar to their series Transformers: Prime for The Hub (now Discovery Family). [11] However, Orci said the success of the first film did not indicate whether a new show would be viable, explaining, " One movie doesn't make a trend. Two movies starts to indicate that there is a trend and it's viable. It will become more real as the year goes on. " [12]

By 2009, Bryan Fuller desired to produce a new live-action Star Trek series. " I told my agent and told the people of J.J. Abrams ' team I want to create another Star Trek series and have an idea that I'm kicking around, " he explained.

" I would love to return to the spirit of the old series with the colours and attitude [...] [of] the '60s fun and I would love to take it back to its origin [...] Star Trek has to recreate itself. Otherwise, all the characters start to feel the same. You always have a captain, a doctor, a security officer, and you have the same arguments based on those perspectives. It starts to feel too familiar. So all those paradigms where it takes place on a starship have to be shaken up. " [13]

In 2013 , after the release of Star Trek Into Darkness , a CBS Broadcasting representative reiterated interest in reviving Star Trek for television, in response to a comment from Abrams that he had heard the studio was not interested. [14] On 19 January 2014 , Fuller stated he "would drop everything" in order to become the showrunner for a Star Trek television series, commenting,

" I think it's finding a philosophy about it [that would be important], and I think there is such an interesting philosophy happening now with our identity as a planet and taking responsibility for what's happening on the planet, and I think I would make it about identity, in a specific way. " [15]

Meanwhile, however, Brannon Braga mentioned "the word on the street" was that " they probably won't do one until the movies have run their course, " while Rod Roddenberry concurred with this by saying he believed there would not be another series until after the conclusion of the films. [16] [17] In an October 2015 interview, comics writer Mike Johnson suggested the Tholians might "cause major trouble for the Federation" in the next Star Trek television series. ("Top 50 Alien Species!", Star Trek: Ongoing issue #50, " Live Evil, Part 1 ") Another idea for a new live-action Star Trek series, conceived by Worf actor Michael Dorn , would have focused on Worf as a captain . As early as 7 November 2015 , Dorn confirmed the newly announced series will not be the concept he had wanted. [18]

Netflix , Amazon , and Hulu all offered money to distribute the show, [19] but CBS Corporation President and CEO Leslie Moonves opted to develop the series as CBS All Access' first piece of original content, anticipating that millions would subscribe to watch the show. He also revealed,

" Our international distribution guy is going crazy; he can't wait to get out to the marketplace and sell [it]. Right away, we're more than halfway home on the cost of the show from international alone. The risk is small in seeing the track record. " [20]

Robert Hewitt Wolfe speculated the decision also " allows for good budgets so it makes sense for Star Trek." [21]

On 9 February 2016 , it was officially announced that Bryan Fuller would serve as showrunner on the new Star Trek series. David Stapf, President of CBS Television Studios, explained,

" When we began discussions about the series returning to television, we immediately knew that Bryan Fuller would be the ideal person to work alongside Alex Kurtzman to create a fresh and authentic take on this classic and timeless series. Bryan is not only an extremely gifted writer, but a genuine fan of Star Trek . Having someone at the helm with his gravitas who also understands and appreciates the significance of the franchise and the worldwide fan base was essential to us. "

Fuller himself said, " It is without exaggeration a dream come true to be crafting a brand new iteration of Star Trek with fellow franchise alum Alex Kurtzman and boldly going where no Star Trek series has gone before. " Added Kurtzman,

" Bringing Star Trek back to television means returning it to its roots, and for years those roots flourished under Bryan's devoted care. His encyclopedic knowledge of Trek canon is surpassed only by his love for Gene Roddenberry 's optimistic future, a vision that continues to guide us as we explore strange new worlds. " [22]

On 26 February 2016 , it was announced that Nicholas Meyer would be joining the show as a consulting writer and producer. [23] In an interview conducted the next day , Meyer expressed hope in getting to write some episodes, but was not yet sure how big the writing staff would be. Still to begin work on the show, Meyer said he was waiting to be notified when to do so. He did, however, have some ideas about what the new show would entail. Meyer elaborated,

" I think it's going to be a different Star Trek . It will go in a different direction. And I think that is probably good. Because the thing that mainly troubles me about Star Trek is the fear of it being maybe re-treads of itself [....] And I think that Bryan [Fuller] – who is a very clever fellow – has ideas – some of which I’ve heard – that are innovative and different. Different is what got me interested. "

Meyer also said Fuller considered Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country to be his touchstone for the new series. [24]

On 3 March 2016 , it was announced that Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth would be joining the show as executive producers. [25]

On 17 March 2016 , two photographs apparently showing behind-the-scenes test shots surfaced, but were later proven to be from an unrelated project. [26]

On 22 April 2016 , Pop Goes The News reported that it would be filmed in Toronto, Canada, saying CBS had booked studio space back in September 2015. [27] According to CBS' VP of communications Kristen Hall, however, CBS hadn't yet confirmed the shooting location by this point. [28]

Also in April 2016, Mark Worthington was confirmed as the series' production designer. Worthington's resume, in addition to confirming his own involvement, also revealed that Alex Kurtzman would direct the pilot episode. [29]

On 30 April 2016 , it was reported that the show would be filmed at Toronto's Pinewood Toronto Studios . [30] On 2 May 2016 , the Toronto location was confirmed in a tweet by CBS. [31] This marked the second time (after Star Trek Beyond ) that a Star Trek live-action iteration was not to be produced physically in Hollywood, [32] in itself a further indication of the diminishing relevance of Hollywood as a motion picture production hub, a trend that had set in in the early 2000s. [33] [34]

On 3 May 2016 , it was reported that the show would be available in weekly installments rather than a whole season all at once. Its premiere would simultaneously air on CBS' TV network and All Access, with subsequent episodes exclusive to All Access (for US viewers). [35]

On 18 May 2016 , the first teaser trailer, along with the logo for the show, was released, simply naming the series as " Star Trek ". [36]

On 6 June 2016 , it was reported that the project's code name might be "Green Harvest". [37] The Canadian industry union IATSE 873 confirmed the working title as "Green Harvest" and dated the filming between 26 September 2016 and 15 March 2017 . [38]

In a red carpet interview at the Saturn Awards on 22 June 2016 , Fuller revealed that the first season would be comprised of a thirteen-episode story arc. Filming was scheduled to take place from September 2016 to March 2017 . [39] This was to be the second season-long story arc in Star Trek history, the first having been in season 3 of Enterprise .

Fuller noted, " We are not subject to broadcast standards and practices. So we can have profanity if we choose – not that I want to see a Star Trek with lots of profanity. But we can certainly be more graphic than you would on broadcast network television. " [40] That also meant episodes could be longer than a typical broadcast show. [41]

On 18 July 2016 , Netflix was announced as the international broadcaster for the series in countries where it is available outside the US and Canada. In Canada, the series would air on Space in English and on Z in French. [42]

On 1 August 2016 , Bryan Fuller suggested that the series would be set prior to The Original Series , stating that the registry number of the Discovery was a clue as to the placement of the series in the timeline. He also stated that it would be possible to read a connection, "or not", to Section 31 in some aspect of the first season. [43]

On 8 August 2016 , Bryan Fuller tweeted a picture on Twitter for a makeup test for Discovery which was possibly a hint for the inclusion of an Andorian . [44]

On 10 August 2016 , Bryan Fuller announced that the series would take place in 2255 . [45] According to Fuller, the basis for the first season would incorporate "an incident in the history of Starfleet that had been talked about but never fully explored." [46]

In a radio interview on 27 August 2016 , Fuller revealed more details. The female lead would be the first officer of the Discovery and referred to as " Number one ", honoring Majel Barrett-Roddenberry 's character from TOS : " The Cage ". [47]

On 9 September 2016 , Fuller tweeted that the events of TOS : " Balance of Terror " would provide the "touchstone" for the series' story arc. [48]

On 14 September 2016 , Fuller announced that the series premiere would be delayed until May 2017, in order to ensure the quality of the show was not compromised. CBS agreed with the move. [49]

Variety reported, on 26 October 2016 , that Bryan Fuller would no longer oversee day-to-day operations on the show, but would remain executive producer. He was to remain involved in breaking stories and providing support for showrunners Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts . Sources indicated that CBS, while satisfied with the materials he had created, was concerned that Fuller had too much on his plate with his involvement in other work. This included Starz's then-upcoming drama American Gods . [50] Akiva Goldsman joined the show to provide additional support. [51] Fuller later clarified with Newsweek , on 2 December 2016 , that he was no longer involved with the production. [52]

According to issue #1 of the 2017 Emmy Magazine (p. 21), Star Trek: Discovery has a reported budget of US$6 to US$7 million per episode. [53]

At the CBS upfront presentation on 17 May 2017 , it was announced the first season had been extended to fifteen episodes. Talking Trek (now After Trek ), a post-episode discussion show, was also announced. [54]

The premiere date for the series was announced on 19 June 2017 , when it was revealed that the first season would be split into two airing blocks. [55]

On 23 October 2017 , it was announced that the series had been renewed for a second season, which began filming in April of 2018. [56] [57]

On 27 February 2019 , it was announced that the series had been renewed for a third season, with Michelle Paradise becoming co-showrunner with Alex Kurtzman . [58]

The renewal for the series' fourth season was announced on 16 October 2020 ; the renewal for the fifth season was announced on 18 January 2022 . [59] [60]

Aaron Harberts and Gretchen Berg have said the characters will be more conflicted and not as perfect as characters from previous Star Trek series. Harberts said they would hold true to Gene Roddenberry's idealised view of future Humans with " how we solve those conflicts. So we do have our characters in conflict, we do have them struggling with each other, but it's about how they find a solution and work through their problems. " [61]

Having the female protagonist be given the traditionally male name of Michael is one of Fuller's signature motifs: other examples include Chuck in Pushing Daises and Jaye on Wonderfalls . [62]

In contrast to previous shows, the writers are ready to kill off characters even if their actors aren't planning to leave the series. [63]

Due to Gene Roddenberry 's belief religion would die out by the 23rd century , writer Kirsten Beyer felt references to God should be avoided, quipping to Jason Isaacs when he ad-libbed on set "for God's sakes", that "for f–'s sake" would be more likely. [64] Gretchen Berg later clarified, " I don't necessarily agree with [Isaacs'] quote. On a show about diversity and with different points of view, I feel like you have to accept that some people believe in God, some people want to worship a potato, and some people don't want to believe in anything. I think there is room for that on Star Trek . " [65] Harberts later confirmed that the incident had been taken out of context and was specific to Lorca at that juncture, not the show in general. He also expressed interest in exploring the issue of faith or lack of it in later episodes. [66]

Even when the series was yet to begin airing, a second season had already been mapped out, with a third season beginning to be mapped out. [67]

The writers regularly consult Memory Alpha. According to Harberts, the series' writing team are themselves "fanatical" about fact-checking the information they discover on the wiki. For example, they sometimes rewatch, or ask researcher Anthony Maranville to rewatch, an entire episode based on a single detail from one of Memory Alpha's many entries. [68]

Writing for Season 2 began in January of 2018. [69]

In August 2020 Kurtzman said that writing for Discovery had continued during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the writers' room meeting via Zoom. [70] On 16 October 2020 Season 4 was officially announced.

The teaser title card for Discovery

Bryan Fuller was adamant the Klingon make-up be updated for the show. Aaron Harberts noted, " In the different versions of Trek , the Klingons have never been completely consistent. We will introduce several different houses with different styles. " [71] According to Neville Page , who also designed the Klingons for Star Trek – though the Klingon scenes were cut from that film as released – and Star Trek Into Darkness , Fuller mandated most of them should be bald. [72] Page, and fellow lead designer, Glenn Hetrick  continued to identify the baldness as an enduring part of Fuller's intentions for the Klingons, allowing them to reveal what was on their heads (such as in AT : " Lethe ").

The lead costume designer is Gersha Phillips . The Starfleet uniforms were originally similar to those in the original series. [73]

The teaser clip presented at the San Diego Comic-Con on 23 July 2016 was scored by Fil Eisler as an audition for the show. At the following year's panel, Jeff Russo was announced as the series' composer, and it was revealed that he had already completed work on the Discovery theme. [74] Russo recorded the theme, along with the score for the first episode, with a sixty-piece orchestra in Los Angeles on 27 July 2017 . [75]

Russo returned for Season 2. [76]

The show was announced to have a female lead. [77] The first cast member, Michelle Yeoh , was revealed by Nicholas Meyer in an interview on 22 November 2016 . [78] Anthony Rapp and Doug Jones were confirmed the following week. [79]

Bryan Fuller commented that the cast should be diverse. "Star Trek is a show of firsts. And in researching the characters for this new iteration of Star Trek , I've been talking to Mae Jemison , who's the first black woman in space, and who saw Star Trek in the '60s and who saw Nichelle Nichols on the bridge of a ship and said, 'I see myself in space.' So there's something wonderful about the legacy that Nichelle Nichols represents as giving a gift to people who weren't previously able to see themselves in the future. We are going to be continuing that tradition of progressive casting and progressive character work to be an inclusive world. " He also said "eventually, eventually" there will be appearances from previously established characters. [80]

On 24 May 2016 , it was reported that some fans wished to see Castle and Firefly alumnus Nathan Fillion in the series. [81] It was even suggested that this was why Fillion ended his commitment to Castle . [82] Bryan Fuller ideally wanted Angela Bassett and Rosario Dawson ; Bassett declined due to prior obligations, and there is no evidence Dawson was ever approached for consideration. [83]

Star Trek alumnus Tony Todd also expressed interest in working on the new series and even confirmed he is on a casting list of the studio. [84] [85]

In late October, it was reported the cast would feature, in addition to the female lead, an openly-gay male lead, a female and a male admiral , a male Klingon captain, and a British male doctor. [86]

Early news stories of Sonequa Martin-Green's casting in December 2016 identified her character as "Lieutenant Commander Rainsford"; [87] CBS' official announcement on 3 April 2017 changed the name to "Burnham".

On 28 April 2017 , it was announced that Shazad Latif had been re-cast as Lt. Tyler, being replaced in the role of Kol by Kenneth Mitchell. Three other cast members were also added: Rekha Sharma as Commander Landry, Clare McConnell as Dennas, and Damon Runyan as Ujilli. [88]

Wilson Cruz's casting as Dr. Culber was revealed at the San Diego Comic-Con panel on 22 July 2017 .

Participation interest

Marina Sirtis has expressed interest in reprising her role as Deanna Troi in a phone interview with MZNOW , saying, " I loved playing her... It would be interesting to me to go back now, twenty years later and kind of go 'who did she become? Who is she now?' I would find that very interesting, and I would love to do that. " [89]

Both Kate Mulgrew and Jeri Ryan have expressed interest in reprising their roles as Kathryn Janeway and Seven of Nine respectively. In an interview with the TODAY show, Mulgrew said, " I want to be the admiral and I want to boss them around. " Ryan, in an interview with Digital Spy , said, " My understanding is that it's in a very different world from any of the previous shows – but never say never. It'd be fun to just drop in and revisit her – not that I want to revisit her all the time! " [90]

Scott Bakula , Jonathan Frakes , and Nichelle Nichols have also expressed interest in appearing on the series. [91] [92] [93]

In an interview with "Variety", Martin-Green's Walking Dead co-star Andrew Lincoln expressed his desire to appear on the show, possibly with alien make-up on. [94]

According to Michael Dorn 's publicist, brief discussions were held between Discovery producers and Dorn about a possible role on the show, but that there are no plans for him to appear on it at this time. An Orlando Sentinel writer expanded on the publicist's statement by stating that Dorn was offered less than one percent of what he had been paid for his last appearance as Worf. [95]

Robert Duncan McNeill has stated that he had to turn down the chance to direct an episode of Discovery due to being unavailable but that he would "love to do it". [96]

The show's title was revealed by Bryan Fuller at the San Diego Comic-Con on 23 July 2016 with a clip of the title ship, the USS Discovery (NCC-1031). [97] [98] The promo was produced in three weeks and scored by Fil Eisler as an audition for the show. It greatly resembled the Ralph McQuarrie concept art for the canceled film Star Trek: Planet of the Titans , which the staff could not confirm at the time for legal reasons. [99]

Fuller also announced, at a press junket immediately thereafter, the show would be set in the prime timeline, though Fuller declined to say exactly when in that timeline it would be set.

↑ John Van Citters has chosen "DSC" as the series' official abbreviation. [100] This is consistent with the studio's use of "VGR" for Star Trek: Voyager , but MA will use the abbreviation "DIS" for Discovery , for consistency with using "VOY" for Voyager .

On 31 January 2017 , a trailer was released, showing behind-the-scenes footage of early filming. [101]

Ahead of the CBS upfront presentation on 17 May 2017 , the first official promotional image of the series was released, featuring Yeoh and Martin-Green in character on location in Jordan. [102] At the presentation, Martin-Green appeared to debut the first full trailer for the series, which was released online immediately afterward. [103] A trailer featuring the same footage recut was released by Netflix at the same time. [104]

The first official teaser poster for the series was released alongside the trailer, with a second released to accompany the announcement of the season premiere date. Two further limited edition posters were released at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2017 . At the Discovery panel on 22 July 2017 , a second full trailer debuted, featuring the first footage of Isaacs' Captain Lorca and Wilson's Harry Mudd. The trailer was released online shortly after the panel. [105] [106]

The overall first year publicity efforts of CBS Television Studios on behalf of Discovery were coordinated by its Vice President Communications Kristen Hall , [107] which earned her an industry award nomination in 2018, the ICG Publicists Award; she did not win, however. [108]

Season 3 title card

At the Mission New York convention in September 2016 , it was announced that IDW Publishing would produce comics (written by Mike Johnson ) and that Gallery Books would produce novels (the first by David Mack ) tying into the series. Both tie-in lines are coordinated with the events of the series, and are supervised by Discovery writer Kirsten Beyer. [109]

In August 2017 , it was announced that Star Trek Timelines would be updated to include characters and ships from Discovery , including Philippa Georgiou, Michael Burnham, and Saru. [110] [111] In October 2017 , more Discovery characters were added to the game including Gabriel Lorca, Ash Tyler, and Harry Mudd. [112] A month-long event, Discovery: A New Frontier , gave players the opportunity to acquire other characters and ships from the series. [113]

In September 2017 , to mark the start of the series, Perfect World made Discovery 's Starfleet uniform available to players of Star Trek Online for a limited period. [114] In January 2018 , the publisher announced that the " Discovery Lock Box" would be added to the game, giving players the chance to win ships, weapons and equipment based on those of the series, including the Crossfield -class , the Sarcophagus , and the Walker -class . [115] Starting in the autumn of 2018, Age of Discovery allows players to create a character from the Discovery era. [116] Later additions include the uniforms worn by the crew of the ISS Charon and ISS Shenzhou and several weapons used by the Emperor .

Under Eaglemoss Collections ' Hero Collector imprint, Penguin Random House published the Star Trek: Discovery Designing Starships volume of the Designing Starship reference book series on 3 September 2019 . From an in-universe perspective, a number of DIS ships are also covered in the Star Trek: Shipyards - Starfleet Ships 2151-2293 volume from the Shipyards series. Starfleet ships from the show's third season will also be covered in the second edition of the Star Trek: Shipyards - Starfleet Ships 2294 to the Future reference book . [117]

Anovos produced a phaser pistol prop replica in December 2017 [118] and released a phaser rifle late in 2018. It began to retail Starfleet uniforms (replica costumes) in the summer of 2018 [119] and markets upscale "Studio-Scale Filming Miniatures" of the USS Discovery , USS Shenzhou , and USS Enterprise ( as seen in DIS ) along with a number of Eaglemoss and QMx products. [120] [121] Rubie's Costume Company also produces DIS costumes.

In January 2018, Eaglemoss Collections ' Hero Collector brand premiered the Star Trek: Discovery The Official Starships Collection partwork , featuring starship miniatures , dedication plaques , and a figure from the series. Other ships from the series were also released as larger models within the Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection , and polyresin busts of DIS characters were featured in the company's Star Trek: The Official Busts Collection . Following the release of its 33rd (numbered) issue in 2021, the company's DIS starships will be marketed as part of the Star Trek Universe: The Official Starships Collection .

QMx debuted its magnetic DIS Starfleet insignia badges at the San Diego Comic-Con in July 2017. FanSets launched its first wave of collectible Discovery pins in August 2017. [122]

Hallmark released a Keepsake Christmas ornament depicting the USS Discovery in July 2018. Another DIS ornament that featured Commander Saru and Michael Burnham was released a year later.

Beginning in August 2018, McFarlane Toys began to retail a series of seven-inch articulated figures which will eventually feature characters from DIS. [123] [124] [125] Toy weapons and accessories for role-play were planned but the production of phaser pistol toys was halted after regulatory issues (and the ensuing retailer reticence) came to light, due to the toys' perceived resemblance to real firearms.

Titan Merchandise debuted DIS "Titans" vinyl figures at a 2018 convention and planned to put them into wide retail release during 2019. [126]

Gentle Giant released a Saru bust in the summer of 2018, followed by figurines of Michael Burnham and the Torchbearer. Its toy division, Gentle Giant Toys , announced that it planned to release Fleet Flyers "starship danglers" in the autumn of 2018 but they did not reach retail and had been placed "on hold" as of February 2019. [127] [128] [129]

Branded as Polar Lights products, Round 2 began to release plastic model kits (and display models) of DIS starships in early 2019. [130]

Ukonic/Robe Factory released a USS Discovery pizza cutter in 2021.

On 13 July 2021 , ViacomCBS Consumer Products and Playmates Toys jointly announced that the latter had acquired new licensing for " action figures, vehicles and ships, role play and other toy categories ", and slated the first of these products for retail release in 2022. Among other Star Trek series and films, this licensing encompasses Star Trek: Discovery , Star Trek: Lower Decks , Star Trek: Picard , and Star Trek: Prodigy . [131]

Rick Berman responded to the new series with cautious optimism. On his Twitter feed, he tweeted, " I wish them nothing but good luck and smooth sailing. Just hope it stays true to Gene's vision. " [132]

Brannon Braga likewise wished the new series well, commenting on his Twitter feed, "Star Trek is a vast canvass with many artists. Constantly evolving. Godspeed to Mr Kurtzman. " [133] Braga additionally remarked, " Hopefully with the new series they can get back to more meditative storytelling. " In Braga's opinion, the new series is vital to ensuring Star Trek continues for another fifty years. He stated, " It's all about making sure the next television show is really good and finds a new generation of viewers to keep it going. " ( SFX , issue 270, p. 68) He later commented, " With Discovery , I am honestly as excited to see it as any other Star Trek fan. I devour each new trailer the moment it comes out. " [134]

Robert Hewitt Wolfe admitted to not knowing anything about the new series, apart from having read about it online, and stated he is currently too busy to write for it. He also commented, " Sounds like it could be great though. " As for the way the new series will be released, he stated, " Subscription streaming is an extremely successful model & allows for good budgets so it makes sense for Star Trek." Wolfe tweeted a "congrats" message to Bryan Fuller, upon him being named as the series' showrunner, adding, " You have the conn. Do us proud. " [135] [136] [137]

David A. Goodman reacted to news of the series by saying, " Hope it's good, will watch it even if it's bad. " [138]

As for whether he and wife Denise Okuda will be involved in working on the new series, Michael Okuda remarked, " We'd love to be involved. Kurtzman already has a talented, experienced team from the last two films, but who knows? " [139] Regarding the announcement that the series will be run by Bryan Fuller, Michael Okuda stated, " Congrats, Bryan! Go boldly! " [140]

Rene Auberjonois dismissed the notion that the new series will feature himself and Nana Visitor portraying their respective Star Trek: Deep Space Nine characters of Odo and Kira Nerys . [141]

On Seth MacFarlane 's Twitter feed, he recommended, " Let's make this new Star Trek series optimistic, eh? I think we're all dystopia'd out. " [142] MacFarlane incidentally, actually put his money where his mouth was, as he is the creator/star/producer of the Star Trek: The Next Generation inspired science fiction series The Orville , adopting the former's upbeat tone and which almost simultaneously premiered with Discovery in September 2017 on FOX TV, thereby de facto becoming a competitor for the latter, as it has inevitably led up to many fans and reviewers making head-to-head comparisons between the two. The overlapping airings continued when the respective second seasons of both series started their run in January 2019.

Former Star Trek , but now- The Orville , science consultant André Bormanis has stated, " When it comes back to TV, I hope they do something more in the spirit of the original. Everybody in Hollywood who has ever had even the smallest association with Star Trek I'm sure has a 'How would you do the next Star Trek ?' answer. I would probably do something a little more like Captain Pike's adventures. Go back to that era where it was a little more rugged, a little more fifties' sci-fi sensibility. " ( The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years , p. 39)

Press reactions to the series' announcement pondered how Star Trek could appeal to a new generation and compete against darker, more mature shows of the 21st century, like Game of Thrones , The Walking Dead , and Ronald D. Moore 's reboot of Battlestar Galactica . [143] [144] [145] [146] National Post felt there was no need for a new series, arguing Star Trek had become a quaint retrofuture series akin to Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers . [147] The Independent was one of the few to argue the optimistic future of Star Trek would make a welcome antidote. [148]

Other articles concentrated on the decision to produce the series for streaming, with some expressing deep cynicism over the idea. [149] [150] [151] Others noted the decision was a win-win in terms of keeping the series going. [152] [153] [154] [155]

Den of Geek and io9 noted most fans would prefer the show be set after The Next Generation , Deep Space Nine , and Voyager instead of in the same timeline as the film series. [156] [157] UK magazine SFX reported that was the most wanted request for the series. Other requests, in order of most desired, included: having the new crew undertake a multi-year mission in a starship rather than having them occupy a space station; focusing on controversial social issues; retaining a sense of fun; and introducing new alien species and technology. The magazine also determined that their readers' "dream cast" for the series included Dan Stevens as the captain, Rooney Mara as the first officer, Gina Torres as the doctor, Nick Frost as the engineer, and Wil Wheaton as the Federation President . ( SFX , issue 270, pp. 36-37) USGamer expressed hope that the series' success could revive interest in Star Trek video games after the failure of the movie tie-in . [158]

During an interview given at CinemaCon (11-14 April 2016), Brent Spiner commented that "looking at such a pedigree" working for the show, he thinks it is going to be fantastic. He also remarked that J.J. Abrams allegedly just became a producer of the show. [159] In an interview with SFX magazine (issue 275, p. 67) that was published around the same time, Spiner remarked, laughing, that all the new series had to do in order to work in the 21st century was simply "to be there." He added, " And just be entertaining [....] And I think there's a good chance it'll work. There's a really great bunch of people attached to that project, really talented people. I have no doubt that's going to be a really huge success. "

A lawsuit alleging that elements of Discovery had been copied from an unreleased video game called Tardigrades was filed on 19 August 2019 , and dismissed on 20 September 2019 . The judge found that Discovery "is not substantially similar to [ Tardigrades ] as a matter of law." Memory Alpha was cited in the finding. [160] The case was appealed, but on 17 August 2020 the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the lower court's decision. [161] [162]

In April 2021 , the third season of Discovery won the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Drama Series. The show had previously been nominated in 2018 and 2019 for each of the first two seasons. [163]

As of 2021, Discovery has been nominated for ten Emmy Awards , mostly in "technical" categories such as visual effects and makeup. It has won two: "Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup for a Series, Limited Series, Movie or Special" and "Outstanding Special Visual Effects In A Single Episode".

Related topics

• DIS directors
• DIS performers
• DIS writers
• DIS recurring characters
• DIS studio models
• Character crossover appearances
• Performers considered for DIS roles
• Star Trek: Discovery novels
• Star Trek: Discovery comics
• Star Trek: Discovery soundtracks
• Star Trek: Discovery on DVD
• Star Trek: Discovery on Blu-ray

External links

• Star Trek: Discovery at Wikipedia
• Star Trek: Discovery at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Star Trek: Discovery at the Internet Movie Database
• Star Trek: Discovery writers at X (formerly Twitter)
• 3 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

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Season 2 – Star Trek: Discovery

Where to watch, star trek: discovery — season 2.

Watch Star Trek: Discovery — Season 2 with a subscription on Paramount+, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

What to Know

The second season of Discovery successfully -- if stubbornly -- cleans up the problematic storylines of Trek past while still effectively dramatizing new takes on the lore.

Audience Reviews

Cast & crew.

Sonequa Martin-Green

Michael Burnham

Michelle Yeoh

Philippa Georgiou

Shazad Latif

Anson Mount

Captain Christopher Pike

Anthony Rapp

Paul Stamets

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Tv news & guides, this show is featured in the following articles., critics reviews, season info.

Discovery Episode Chronology

• 1x01-1x02- "The Vulcan Hello" and "Battle at the Binary Stars"
• It's specifically stated that the episode starts on May 11, 2256. The final scenes of the episode take place some time later, but there's no clue as to how long. We'll just assume that it's not any farther in time than the end of the next month, so June 2256.
• 1x01-1x02- May 11, 2256
• 1x02 Epilogue- Range of May 12- June 30, 2256
• 1x03- "Context is For Kings"
• Six months have past since the end of the last episode. Allowing "six months" to mean anything from five and a half to six and a half months, and continuing with the idea that the last episode ended sometime between May 12, 2256 and June 30, 2256 we end up with a range of October 27, 2256 to January 15, 2257 for the first day of this episode.  It spans four days.
• 1x03- Range of October 27, 2256- January 15, 2257
• 1x04- "The Butcher's Knife Cares Not For the Lamb's Cry"
• One day after the end of the previous episode. Since that took place over four days, this gives us a range for this episode of October 31 to January 19.
• It is also said, in Klingonese, that it has been six months since the Battle of the Binary Stars. Usually in Star Trek, we could assume that dates spoken by aliens have been translated to Earth time periods. However, as Discovery shows Klingons speaking in Klingonese with subtitles, I prefer to conclude that this actually refers to six Klingon jar. According to the Klingon calendar system used many times in the novels (see here ), each Klingon jar takes 40.57 Earth days. So again assuming this refers to something between five and a half and six and a half jar, we can arrive at a range of dates this episode could fall into. 
• May 11, 2256 converts to 47-48 A'Kahless, Year of Kahless 881 in the Klingon calendar system. Five and a half Klingon jar later would be 25 Doqath, Year of Kahless 882. Six and half Klingon jar later would be 24 Xan'lahr, Year of Kahless 882. These dates convert to December 22, 2256 and January 30, 2257.
• As will prove even more important later, however, the six month ago reference could also refer to six calendar months having past since the event. Just as July 1 could be said to be six months after January 31, since the calendar pages have flipped six times in that span, a date earlier than five and a half months after the Battle of the Binary Stars could conceivably be referred to as six months later. In this case, as the battle took place on the final day of the month of A'Kahless, any time in the month of Doqath could be referred to as six months later. 1 Doqath, Year of Kahless 882 converts to December 2, 2256. This gives us a more acceptable start date for the range this episode can fall into, as will be seen later.
• Accounting for the latest date the previous episode could fall on, we can trim the end date of the range back and arrive at somewhere between December 2, 2256 and January 19, 2257. And since the previous episode has to fall four days before this one, we can trim the start date of that range as well. Similarly, if 1x03 was six months after the epilogue scene of 1x02, we can trim the beginning date of that range back.
• 1x02 Epilogue- Range of May 16- June 30, 2256
• 1x03- Range of November 28, 2256- January 15, 2257
• 1x04- Range of December 2, 2256- January 19, 2257
• 1x05- "Choose Your Pain"
• It's been less than three weeks since the last episode. I could interpret this to be anywhere from eighteen to twenty days later. This gives us a new range of December 20, 2256 to February 8, 2257 for the first day of this episode. Though the episode is not perfectly clear, I believe it takes place over two days.
• This episode is also said to be seven months after the Battle of the Binary Stars. Stretching that to seven and a half months, this episode couldn't take place any later than December 26th. This reference shows why the earlier date was necessary for the range I developed by interpreting the Klingon dates as I did. So we know we are on the right track, and there is nothing inconsistent with using the Treklit version of the Klingon dating system.
• Tightening up the farthest end date for this range forces us to also tighten the end date for the previous episode's range, as it can't take place less than 18 days previous. This again trims the range for 1x03 and 1x02.
• 1x02 Epilogue- Range of May 16- June 19, 2256
• 1x03- Range of November 28- December 4, 2256
• 1x04- Range of December 2- December 8, 2256
• 1x05- Range of December 20- December 26, 2256
• 1x06- "Lethe"
• Less than a week has past since the last episode. I interpret this as between four and six days. So assuming the last episode took place over two days, this episode occurs some time between December 24 and January 1.  I'd say this episode also takes place over two days.
• 1x06- Range of December 25, 2256- January 2, 2257
• 1x07- "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad"
• No real chronological clues in this episode, other than a possibility that the party depicted in the episode could be a New Years Eve party. Though there are no overt signs of it. It does seem that a week or more has past since the last episode.
• 1x08- "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum"
• No clue how long it's been since the last episode, but this episode seems to span two days.
• 1x09- "Into the Forrest I Go"
• Picks up the same day as the last episode. 
• It is said that Tyler's imprisonment was exactly 227 days long.  This could either mean that there were 227 days between the first day of his captivity and the last, or that he was freed on the 227th day, meaning that there were 226 days between the first and last day.  This span is between episodes 1x01 and the second day of 1x05.  Since we know 1x01 took place on May 11 that means the second day of 1x05 occurs on either December 23 or 24, 2256.  Amazingly this falls within the very specific range that I have developed during this process for that episode. 
• We can tighten up all many of the other ranges based on this more specific date.
• 1x02 Epilogue- Range of May 16- June 17, 2256
• 1x03- Range of November 28- December 1, 2256
• 1x04- Range of December 2- December 5, 2256
• 1x05- Range of December 22- December 23, 2256
• 1x06- Range of December 27- December 30, 2256
• 1x07- Range of December 28, 2256- January 2257
• 1x10- "Despite Yourself"
• Picks up the same day as the last episode.  No other clues are given, but the episode seems to take a few days.
• 1x11- "The Wolf Inside"
• The day after the end of the previous episode.
• 1x12- "Vaulting Ambition"
• The same day as the "The Wolf Inside."  Still no clue as to when relative to the first have of the season this arc takes place.
• 1x13- "What's Past is Prologue"
• The day after "Vaulting Ambition." But the episode concludes nine months after "Into the Forrest I Go." 1x08-1x13 seem to only take place over about a week's time. Given that there is an indefinite gap between 1x07 and 1x08, we will have trouble nailing down exactly when this nine months gap ends. If the time between 1x07 and 1x08 is short, this episode could end in October. If it is anything more than 3 months (which seems too long), this episode ends sometime in 2258.
• 1x07- Range of December 28, 2256 - January 2257
• 1x13 Epilgoue- Range of October 2257- 2258
• 1x14- "The War Without, the War Within"
• No real clues, other than that it picks up directly after the previous episode.
• 1x15- "Will You Take My Hand"
• Again no concrete clues, but one thing of note. Burnham says the first episode occured "a year ago", so while quite vague (we know it was at least seventeen months ago), we can assume that means this episode is still in calendar year 2257, and so referring to May 11, 2256 as "a year ago" is accurate.  This makes the rest of the undated 2257 episodes take place no later than March, to still be nine months before.
• The final scenes take place an unstated amount of time after the rest of the episode.  Future information, both in Season Three, and in the novel Die Standing imply that by the final scenes, we have crossed over into 2258.  This also gives a clean break between years for each season.
• 1x08- Range of January - March 2257
• 1x09- Range of January - March 2257
• 1x10- Range of January - March 2257
• 1x11- Range of January - March 2257
• 1x12- Range of January - March 2257
• 1x13- Range of January - March 2257
• 1x13 Epilogue- Range of October - December 2257
• 1x14- Range of October - December 2257
• 1x15- Range of October - December 2257
• 1x15 Epilgoue- Early 2258
• "Section 31 Bonus Scene"
• No clues at all, other than that it takes place after Season One.
• Short Treks "Runaway"
• No clues at all, other than that it takes place after Season One. 
• Short Treks "Calypso"
• No specific date other than "almost a thousand years" after "the crew left."  Given the events of the second season finale, at this time I am left to conclude that this takes place at least around the year 4000.
• Short Treks "The Brightest Star"
• No specific dates other given. Interviews with the writers point to about 2238.  2x06 dated these events as "18 years ago", so assuming 2x06 takes place in 2257 that makes this short 2239.
• Short Treks "The Escape Artist"
• While much could be said about the implied timeframe of this short, weather pre-I, Mudd or post- I, Mudd, in the end there is no concrete chronological information given, other than that it must take place at some point after Mudd's previous Discovery appearances.
• 2x01- "Brother"
• Picks up directly after the epilogue of 1x15.  Seems to take place over the course of two days.
• 2x02- "New Eden"
• Picks up directly after the last episode.  Takes place over two days.
• 2x03- "Point of Light"
• No indication of how long since the last episode, but this one takes place over at least two days.
• 2x04- "An Obol for Charon"
• Takes one day.  New Eden took place "this week".  And Brother was last week.  This means there's probably no gap between 2x02 and 2x03, or 2x03 and 2x04.
• 2x05- "Saints of Imperfection"
• I think this episode takes two days.  It seems to pick up on the same day as 2x04 and continues until the following day.
• 2x06- "The Sound of Thunder"
• I would say this has to be the same day as 2x05, and only the following day from 2x04.  Culber's return is very recent, and Saru is getting his first medical exam in the wake of 2x04.  I would guess this episode spans at least four days, depending on travel time.
• 2x07- "Light and Shadows"
• The Burnham portion of this episode seems to take several days, while the Pike portion takes only five hours.  This discrepancy is probably accounted for during the next episode, where everything syncs back up.  It's hard to pinpoint a day count for this though.
• 2x08- "If Memory Serves"
• I'm just going to guess that by the time this episode is over, almost a week has past since 2x06.  So little hard evidence to go on.
• 2x09- "Project Daedalus"
• Takes place during one day.  Seems to begin the day after 2x08.
• 2x10- "The Red Angel"
• Picks up on the same day as 2x09.  I think it spans at least three days.
• 2x11- "Perpetual Infinity"
• Stars mere hours after 2x10 and only takes up two hours.
• 2x12-  "Through the Valley of Shadows"
• It seems this episode starts the day after 2x11, and proceeds at least into the next day. 
• It's said it has been months since the events of 2x03.  I can only concretely account for 17 days having elapsed.  Therefore there must be some significant travel time not accounted for in many of these episodes, specifically 2x06, 2x07, 2x08, and 2x10.  If an extra week of travel time took place during each of these episodes, then we would be approaching a time period that could reasonably be called "months".
• 2x13- "Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 1"
• Picks up just after 2x12 and takes place on that day, or through the next day at the most.
• 2x14- "Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2"
• Picks up the same day as 2x13.  The final scene takes place 124 days later. 
• Based on evidence in Season Three, and the novel Die Standing, this episode takes place in 2258.  Serendipitously, there is just enough time after the Enterprise's refit for Pike to command another five year mission ending in 2263 and then pass command off to Kirk.
• Short Treks "Q&A"
• There is no chronological data in this episode.  Never the less, everything we know about Spock's career, from canonical and non-canonical sources, leads me to place this event in 2253.
• Short Treks "The Trouble with Edward"
• No chronological data is given in the episode, but we can assume this takes place after Discovery Season Two, sometime in 2258.
• Short Treks "Ask Not"
• Again no chronological info is given, but we can assume this takes place after Discovery Season Two, sometime in 2258.
• 1x01- May 11, 2256
• 1x02- May 2256
• 1x03- Late November 2256
• 1x04- Early December 2256
• 1x05- Late December 2256
• 1x06- Late December 2256
• 1x07- January 2257
• 1x08- Early 2257
• 1x09- Early 2257
• 1x10- Early 2257
• 1x11- Early 2257
• 1x12- Early 2257
• 1x13- Early 2257
• 1x14- Late 2257
• 1x15- Late 2257
• ST1- Late 2257
• S31- Late 2257
• 2x01- Early 2258
• 2x02- Early 2258
• 2x03- Early 2258
• 2x04- Early 2258
• 2x05- Early 2258
• 2x06- Early 2258
• 2x07- Early 2258
• 2x08- Early 2258
• 2x09- Early 2258
• 2x10- Early 2258
• 2x11- Early 2258
• 2x12- Early 2258
• 2x13- Early 2258
• 2x14- Early 2258
• 2x14 Epilogue- Mid 2258
• ST2- Circa 4000

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Star Trek: Discover team up with Captain Christopher Pike on a mission to explore seven signals. The crew work together to uncover the meaning of the Red Angel while Michael considers the return of Spock.

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In the grand Star Trek tradition, CBS All Access’ Star Trek: Discovery has introduced us to Starfleet officers that we absolutely love. The series, now in its pulse-pounding second season, has started to really dig into the interpersonal relationships that really make this franchise special. Saru and Burnham’s deep trust, the sweeping romance of Paul and Hugh , Stamets and Tilly’s unlikely mentor/mentee dynamic, Pike’s everything –all of it’s just great, and it’s why we stick with Star Trek decade after decade!

But unlike every other Star Trek show, Discovery’s cast is a bit more… fractured, is a word to use. Star Trek (or TOS ) and Star Trek: The Next Generation (or TNG ) both had casts led by a dynamic captain with a crew backing them up. That’s not the case with Discovery , the first Star Trek show to not focus on a Starfleet captain. Beyond that, a lot of the characters have gotten promotions or changed roles, or they’re part of departments we rarely see highlighted on Trek shows (WTF are you doing, Stamets?). The actual bridge crew, the officers that do essential things like handle operations or pilot the ship, are mostly on the periphery! Who are they, and who does what?

That’s what this list hopes to suss out. Below you’ll find a list of all the major Star Trek officer positions, who fulfilled those roles on TOS and TNG , and who does the job on the currently-airing Discovery ( DIS ). As you’ll find out, a whole lot has changed regarding how Starfleet staffs a ship.

Commanding Officer

• TOS: James T. Kirk
• TNG: Jean-Luc Picard
• DIS: Gabriel Lorca (deceased), Christopher Pike (active)

Of all the positions in Star Trek , this is the one that’s always easiest to identify. Which character is top-billed and gets all the action? That’s the captain, like Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart). Leave it to Discovery to complicate matters, though, because “top-billed” and “gets all the action” actually describes Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green, who is not the captain! Initially, the USS Discovery was captained by Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs) until he was outed as an evil citizen of the Mirror Universe at the end of Season 1. Then Saru (Doug Jones) took over as acting captain until the arrival of Captain Pike (Anson Mount) in Season 2.

First Officer

• TNG: William Riker

It’s the first officer’s job to make sure that the crew carries out all of the commanding officer’s orders, and he also takes an active role in leading away teams while the captain remains on ship. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) pulled double duty as the first officer and the science officer. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) was Picard’s number one. Saru started out as the chief science officer of the USS Shenzhou and became the first officer of Discovery , a role he still fulfills today.

Chief Engineer

• TOS: Montgomery Scott
• TNG: Geordi La Forge
• DIS: Jett Reno

It’s the chief engineering officer’s job to make sure the ship runs smoothly, and you usually see them away from the main bridge and down in the bowels of the vessel. This is what Scotty (James Doohan) did on the first series, and it’s the role Geordi (LeVar Burton) took on in Next Gen after spending the first season as the helmsman. As for who acts as the chief engineer on Discovery , well, that’s confusing. You’d think that job would fall to Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp), but his job is more specific than that (more on him later). There is an engineer on board Discovery as of Season 2, though, and that’s Jett Reno (Tig Notaro), survivor of the USS Hiawatha disaster and new (although rarely seen) addition to the Discovery crew.

Science Officer

• DIS: Michael Burnham

On a vessel tasked with exploring the far reaches of space, you need someone with a science background on board to help make sense of new alien worlds and species. Spock fulfilled that role while serving as Kirk’s number one. By the time of Next Generation , science officers had become less common on Starfleet vessels. Still, science officer duties sometimes fell to Data (Brent Spiner). On Discovery , Michael Burnham–you know, the show’s lead character–is actually the science officer. There’s also another science officer on board: the scene-stealing Linus !

Chief Medical Officer

• TOS: Leonard McCoy
• TNG: Beverly Crusher, Katherine Pulaski
• DIS: Hugh Culber, Tracy Pollard

This job really needs no further explanation past the title, does it? These people keep the rest of the crew alive. That’s what Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) did in the original series and it’s what Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) did a generation later (there’s also Pulaski , but Trek fans don’t like talking about Pulaski). On Discovery , that job falls to Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz) as well as Tracy Pollard , who filled in for Culber while he was, uh, dead-ish.

Communications Officer

• TOS: Nyota Uhura
• TNG:  Pendleton
• DIS: Milton Richter (former), R.A. Bryce (active)

The communications officer handles all transmissions incoming and outgoing, a gig that becomes stressful when you’re trying to communicate with potentially hostile entities. Uhura served as communications officer, playing an important role in pop culture. That’s why it’s kinda wild that TNG just didn’t have a communications officer, at least one that was onscreen. Geordi name drops a Chief Pendleton in one episode, but we never see him. The communications officer torch was picked up in Discovery Season 1 by Milton Richter , and then carried by R.A. Bryce (Ronnie Rowe Jr.) in Season 2.

• TOS: Hikaru Sulu
• TNG: Geordi La Forge, Wesley Crusher, various
• DIS: Keyla Detmer

When you get down to it, who has the most necessary job on a ship? The helmsman–you know, the person that actually flies the ship . Sulu (George Takei) flew the Enterprise through a bunch of missions in the first series. Geordi sat behind the “wheel” in the first season of TNG before moving to engineering. After that, a series of helmsmen took their turn, including Sariel Rager and Ro Laren . Oddly enough, the most notable TNG helmsman is probably teenager Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton). On Discovery , Keyla Detmer (Emily Coutts) has served as the helmsman for both the USS Shenzhou and USS Discovery .

Tactical Officer/Security Chief

• TOS: Pavel Chekov
• TNG: Natasha Yar (deceased), Worf
• DIS: Ellen Landry (deceased), Ash Tyler (former), Nhan (active), Gen Rhys (active)

Over the course of canon, chief tactical officer and security chief have been combined into one role. Chekov (Walter Koenig) had the job, as did Worf (Michael Dorn). It’s also a dangerous job; TNG’s Tasha Yar and Discovery’s Ellen Landry both died while on the clock. Ash Tyler stepped into the role on Discovery until his true identity was uncovered. Now Nhan (Rachael Ancheril) has transferred over to Discovery from Enterprise and serves as security chief. Separate from the security chief, Gen Rhys acts as Discovery’s tactical officer.

Operations Officer

• DIS: Joann Owosekun

Data’s primary job on the USS Enterprise was as the operations officer, the man (or rather android) in charge of keeping track of the resources being allocated to all parts of the ship, from navigation to engineering. On Discovery , Joann Owosekun (Oyin Oladejo) keeps everything running smoothly.

Transporter Chief/Spore Stuff

• TNG: Miles O’Brien
• DIS: Paul Stamets, Airiam

The transporter chief does exactly what you think they do: they control the super important transporter system. During the original series, that role fell under the umbrella of engineering, hence (the misquotation) “beam me up, Scotty.” Miles O’Brien (Colm Meaney) served as transporter chief on TNG before being promoted and moved to Deep Space 9 .

And then there’s Discovery , a show that doesn’t have a transporter chief (that we’ve met). It does, however, have a whole department devoted to the ship’s one-of-a-kind spore drive that allows the ship to essentially teleport long distances via the mycelial network. All that spore stuff is kind of a massive transporter, one that transports the whole ship. Stamets and Airiam (Sara Mitich S1; Hannah Cheesman S2) are in the very small spore department.

• TOS: Various
• TNG: Wesley Crusher
• DIS: Sylvia Tilly

Ensign is the rank usually assigned to officers fresh out of Starfleet Academy. At first, ensigns were mostly the redshirts that beamed down to alien planets just to die. For a long time, TNG’s Wesley Crusher was the most recognizable ensign in Trek canon, until Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman) came along and started seeing action on a weekly basis (seriously, she does a lot for an ensign).

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Full Cast of Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 - Every Main Character & Actor Who Appears (Photos)

As Star Trek: Discovery ’s final season commences, the principal actors from the hit series must say goodbye to characters they have played for several years.

When Star Trek: Discovery premiered in 2017, it was met with its fair share of backlash. Trek die-hards criticized the show’s design, cast, and even the time period in which it was set.

Still, Discovery won over a good portion of fans, many of whom were just glad to have a new Star Trek series again, after the franchise’s extended absence from television. Now, the show has launched Season 5, set to be the show’s final voyage.

The Characters & Actors of Star Trek: Discovery Season 5

Sonequa martin-green - michael burnham.

Sonequa Martin-Green plays Captain Michael Burnham, the adopted sister of Star Trek icon Mr. Spock. Burnham was given command of the series’ eponymous starship, the USS Discovery, at the end of the third season, after the cast wound up in the far-flung future of the 32nd Century.

Apart from her work on Discovery , which is undeniably her most well-known role, Martin-Green has also been a part of shows like The Walking Dead and The Good Wife .

Doug Jones - Saru

Veritable chameleon Doug Jones portrays Saru, Burnham’s first officer. Saru is a Kelpian, a species with a kind of biological early warning system that acts like a sixth sense. Saru has served as a fan-favorite since the series began, with many viewers calling for him to take on Discovery’s captain‘s chair.

Doug Jones has appeared in many major projects, but he is often completely unrecognizable, buried under prosthetics and makeup. He was Abe Sapien in the Hellboy movies and the Amphibian Man in 2017’s The Shape of Water .

Anthony Rapp - Paul Stamets

Anthony Rapp plays the groundbreaking role of Commander Paul Stamets, a science officer and one of the two first openly gay Star Trek characters (The other being Stamets’ husband Dr. Hugh Culber).

Rapp has long been a fixture of stage and screen, having performed as a part of several high-profile Broadway shows, such as Rent , in which he was an original cast member. 

Mary Wiseman - Sylvia Tilly

Sylvia Tilly, brought to life by Mary Wiseman, started the series as a quirky but very driven cadet on board Discovery. Later on in the series, after the crew’s one-way trip to the future, she took a teaching position at Starfleet Academy.

Mary Wiseman is most famous for her part as Tilly but she’s also appeared in Baskets and the Western show Longmire to name a few.

Wilson Cruz - Hugh Culber

Wilson Cruz plays Dr. Hugh Culber, one of the USS Discovery’s physicians. Earlier in the series, Culber was killed by another, out-of-control officer. But eventually, the good doctor was brought back to life through the use of the mycelial network.

Cruz cut his teeth on the classic 1990s teen drama My So-Called Life , playing Rickie. He’s additionally had roles on hits like Grey’s Anatomy , Monk , and The West Wing .

Blu del Barrio - Adira Tal

Adira Tal is portrayed by Blu del Barrio. The character’s backstory involved them becoming the host for a Trill symbiont called Tal, which they inherited from their romantic partner. Currently, Adira is a Starfleet ensign, having been granted commission in Season 3.

Blu del Barrio holds the significant distinction of being Star Trek ’s first openly non-binary actor. They are also a graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Callum Keith Rennie - Rayner

Callum Keith Rennie’s Rayner is a new character for Season 5 of Star Trek: Discovery . Rayner is a Kellerun, which is a species first introduced in the 1994 episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , “Armageddon Game”.

Rennie has a lengthy resume, starring in a vast array of Canadian shows and films. He has also acted in the Battlestar Galactica reboot as well as Showtime’s Californication .

David Ajala - Cleveland “Book” Booker

David Ajala plays Book, a man introduced to the crew upon their arrival in the year 3188. As a Kwejian, Book can empathically connect with plant and animal life, including his pet cat Grudge. He also has a close personal bond with Michael Burnham.

Alaja previously had roles in Nightflyers and CW’s Supergirl , where he played the villainous Manchester Black.

Eve Harlow - Moll

Moll, played by Eve Harlow, is a pirate who is seeking an ancient technology that has ties to the classic Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “The Chase”.

Eve Harlow has acted in favorites such as NCIS: Los Angeles and The Rookie . She also played the recurring character Tess on Agents of SHIELD .

Elias Toufexis - L’ak

L’ak, a green-skinned alien of unknown descent, is played by Elias Toufexis. He serves as Moll’s literal partner in crime.

Toufexis has appeared in another popular sci-fi series The Expanse , as well as several other television series, like Shadowhunters and Criminal Minds .

Oded Fehr - Charles Vance

Oded Fehr plays Admiral Charles Vance, who was introduced to Star Trek: Discovery in Season 3. As commander in chief of Starfleet, Vance wields a considerable amount of influence within the spacefaring organization.

Fehr would be best recognized for his character of Ardeth Bay in 1999’s The Mummy and its 2001 sequel. He’s also guested on shows such as The Blacklist and How to Get Away With Murder .

Chelah Horsdal - Laira Rillak

Laira Rillak, in addition to serving as Federation president, is of multi-species descent, a hybrid of human, Cardassian, and Bajoran genetics. Typically, Starfleet and Federation top brass are portrayed as having lesser quality moral fiber, but Rillak has stood out as an exception.

Chelah Horsdal has appeared in a wide variety of movies and series including Arrow , Hell on Wheels , and Rise of the Planet of the Apes .

Tara Rosling  - T’Rina

T’Rina is a Vulcan woman who first showed up in Discovery in the seventh episode of the third season. Since then, she has become romantically linked with Saru. T’Rina is also president of Ni’Var, the planet formerly known as Vulcan.

In addition to her Star Trek role, Rosling has also cropped up in The Expanse and The Handmaid’s Tale .

David Cronenberg - Kovich

David Cronenberg portrays Dr. Kovich, a Federation agent and galactic historian. Kovich first appeared in Discovery ’s third season and has gone on to become a well-liked recurring character.

As a veteran filmmaker, David Cronenberg is credited with bringing the genre of body horror into popular culture. His newest film, The Shroud , will hit theaters this year.

Tig Notaro - Jett Reno

Comedian Tig Notaro breathes life into Jett Reno, the fast-talking, wise-cracking Discovery engineer with a heart of gold. Reno has more than cemented herself as an audience favorite.

Alongside Notaro’s standup work, she’s had parts in Community , Bob’s Burgers , Suburgatory , and many more.

Star Trek: Discovery can be streamed exclusively on Paramount+ . The next new episode premieres on Thursday, April 11.

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Star trek: discovery season 4 cast & new character guide.

Star Trek: Discovery's diverse cast gets even larger in season 4 as Captain Michael Burnham's crew returns along with the Federation's new President.

The cast of Star Trek: Discovery season 4 got even bigger as new faces joined the crew of the titular starship. Set in the 32nd century, Star Trek: Discovery explored the farthest point in the Star Trek timeline. The USS Discovery also had a new leader in Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) , who finally assumed the post that she has waited a thousand years for, which was even more challenging than she imagined. Here's everything you need to know about Star Trek: Discovery's season 4's cast changes, including some important Star Trek: Discovery season 5 updates.

After Burnham solved the mystery of the Burn in Star Trek: Discovery season 3, the United Federation of Planets was resurgent and on the verge of uniting the galaxy once again. However, a new threat in the form of a massive gravimetric anomaly capable of destroying entire worlds threatened the Federation's efforts at peace and prosperity. When Captain Burnham and the USS Discovery launched to investigate the anomaly, they encountered a mystery that put the safety of the entire Federation at stake. In addition, Discovery's various crew members continued adjusting to living in the Federation of the 32nd century and many of them were faced with personal obstacles that could change their destinies in the distant future.

Related: Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 Ending Explained

Star Trek: Discovery already boasts one of the largest and the most diverse cast of any Star Trek series. In Star Trek: Discovery season 4, the entire crew of the USS Discovery returned with the exception of Michelle Yeoh's Emperor Phillipa Georgiou, who left the series in season 3. Moreover, Star Trek: Discovery also welcomed a major new character, Federation President Laira Rillak (Chelah Horsdal), a powerful personality who butted heads with Captain Burnham. Here are all of the returning characters and everyone else joined the cast of Star Trek: Discovery season 4.

Sonequa Martin-Green As Captain Michael Burnham

After Michael Burnham assumed the role of being Captain of Star Trek 's USS Discovery , her leadership skills were truly put to the test. Michael had to juggle the demands of commanding her starship and once again trying to save the galaxy with the pressures placed on her by the new Federation President. Michael's relationship with Book (David Ajala) was another factor that made Burnham's captaincy a challenge. Sonequa Martin-Green also starred in The Wa l king Dead and Space Jam: A New Legacy .

Doug Jones As Captain Saru

Captain Saru left the USS Discovery to Michael Burnham in order to return to his homeworld of Kaminar with Su'Kal (Bill Irwin). In Star Trek: Discovery season 4, Saru was torn between his responsibility to Kaminar and his desire to return to Starfleet and the upgraded USS Discovery . Doug Jones is best known for his roles in The Shape of Water and What We Do In The Shadows.

Anthony Rapp As Commander Paul Stamets

Lt. Paul Stamets pus himself in charge of investigating the gravimetric anomaly threatening the galaxy, but the mystery threatened to consume him. While Stamets had the support of his partner, Dr. Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz), and their new 'family, Adira Tal (Blu del Barrio) and Gray (Ian Alexander), Paul also had to form a bond with Book, who shares the navigation of Discovery's spore drive. Anthony Rapp is best known for playing Mark Cohen in Rent.

Related: Discovery Season 4 New Uniforms Bring Back Star Trek Tradition

Mary Wiseman As Lt. Sylvia Tilly

Ensign Sylvia Tilly stepped up to become the new First Officer of the USS Discovery, which earned her a promotion to Lieutenant. In Star Trek: Discovery season 4, Tilly, who is Michael's best friend , faced a new personal challenge that made her question her role in Starfleet and her duties aboard the Discovery. Mary Wiseman also appeared in Longmire and Baskets.

Wilson Cruz As Dr. Hugh Culber

Dr. Hugh Culber is the USS Discovery's Chief Medical Officer and also took on a dual role as the ship's Counselor, which placed him in charge of the troubled crew's emotional well-being in Star Trek: Discovery season 4. Notably, Culber also successfully found a way to give Gray's (Ian Alexander) consciousness a synthetic body. Wilson Cruz is best known for his roles in My So-Called Life and Rent.

David Ajala As Cleveland "Book" Booker

Although he isn't part of Starfleet, former courier Cleveland Booker (and his cat, Grudge) joined the crew of the USS Discovery. Along with being Michael Burnham's love interest, Book also shared control of the spore drive with Paul Stamets. In Star Trek: Discovery season 4 , Book suffered an unimaginable loss that changes him forever. David Ajala is best known for his roles in Supergirl and Nightflyers.

Blu Del Barrio As Ensign Adira Tal

Adira joined the crew of Star Trek: Discovery in season 3 and they became the host of the Trill Tal symbiont, making them Adira Tal. In Star Trek: Discovery season 4, Adira stepped into the role of an Ensign and faced the pressures of living up to Starfleet's ideals while also hoping their love interest, Gray, was able to get a physical body. Del Barrio plays Star Trek's first non-binary character and Star Trek: Discovery is their first television role.

Related: How Star Trek Succeeds At Diversity Where Other Sci-Fi Fails

Ian Alexander As Gray Tal

A Trill, Gray is Adira's partner who was bonded to them through the Tal symbiont. Having existed only in Adira's mind, Gray was fortunate that the USS Discovery's Dr. Culber made good on his promise to manifest a physical body for Gray. Ian Alexander plays Star Trek's first transgender character and he also starred in The OA.

Oded Fehr As Admiral Charles Vance

The Commander-in-Chief of Starfleet, Admiral Charles Vance became a believer in Michael Burnham after she and the USS Discovery unlocked the mystery of the Burn and saved the Federation from Osyraa (Janet Kidder) and the Emerald Chain. Oded Fehr is best known for starring in The Mummy and Resident Evil movie franchises.

Chelah Horsdal as Federation President Laira Rillak

President Rillak has taken a special interest in Captain Burnham, but she also has very different ideas about what makes an effective leader. As the new President of the United Federation of Planets , Laira Rillak had an ambitious plan to continue to expand and restore the luster of the Federation. Chelah Horsdal is best known for her roles in The Man in the High Castle and Hell on Wheels .

David Cronenberg As Dr. Kovich

The mysterious Dr. Kovich is a resource of knowledge about the Federation. In Star Trek: Discovery season 4, Kovich took on a new role helping to oversee Starfleet Academy. David Cronenberg is the award-winning director of The Fly , A History of Violence , and Eastern Promises .

Related: Why Director David Cronenberg Acts In Star Trek: Discovery

Tig Notaro As Commander Jett Reno

Lt. Jett Reno continued to apply her genius to the USS Discovery's Engineering section. The acerbic Reno also resumed her crucial task of wittily poking fun at her by-the-book Starfleet crewmates . Tig Notaro is a comedian and actor who has appeared in Army of the Dead and Lucy in the Sky.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 4's Returning Cast

Emily Coutts as Lt. Commander Keyla Detmer: Detmer is the USS Discovery's hotshot pilot. Emily Coutts also appeared in Glowbies and Clarice .

Oyin Oladejo as Lt. Commander Joann Owoswkun: Owosekun is the USS Discovery's Operations officer. Oyin Oladejo has also starred in Endings and Six Guns for Hire .

Patrick Kwok-Choon as Lt. Commander Gen Rhys: Rhys is the USS Discovery's Tactical officer. Patrick Kwok-Choon is best known for his roles in Wynonna Earp and Diggstown .

Related: Strange New Worlds’ Proves Pike Is Better Than Picard In 2 Ways

Ronnie Rowe as Lt. Commander Ronald A. Bryce: Bryce is the USS Discovery's Communications officer. Ronnie Rowe has also appeared in Diggstown and Pretty Hard Cases .

Sara Mitich as Lt. Commander Eva Nilsson: Nilsson is the USS Discovery's spore drive operations officer. Sara Mitich's other roles include Private Eyes and The Expanse .

Tara Rosling as President T'Rina: The President of Ni'Var (formerly Vulcan) , T'Rina hopes to negotiate her homeworld rejoining the Federation. Tara Rosling has appeared in The Handmaid's Tale and The Expanse .

Sonja Sohn as Gabrielle Burnham: Gabrielle is Michael Burnham's mother who joined the Qowat Milat sect of Romulan warrior nuns introduced in Star Trek: Picard . Sonja Sohn is best known for starring in The Wire and Marvel's Luke Cage .

Related: Picard Season 3's TNG Reunion Is Making 1 Big Mistake

Annabelle Wallis as the voice of Zora: The USS Discovery's advanced computer is a sentient AI named Zora. Actor Annabelle Wallis has onscreen roles in The Tudors, Peaky Blinders , and The Mummy .

Star Trek: Discovery Season 4's New Cast And Characters

Shawn Doyle as Ruon Tarka: The mad scientist Ruon Tarka joins the USS Discovery's crew and helps to determine the origins of the DMA. Shawn Doyle was also in Frequency, Ashgrove , and The Comedy Rule .

Osric Chau as Oros: When Tarka was imprisoned, he befriended another scientist named Oros. Osric Chau also had roles in The Flash, Nancy Drew , and the Shudder horror movie Superhost .

Rothaford Gray as Tareckx: Cleveland "Book" Booker's father is named Tareckx. Rothaford Gray has also appeared in Max Payne , Exit Wounds , and Death to Smoochy .

Related: Strange New Worlds’ Uhura Retcon Fixes A TOS Mistake

Ache Hernandez as Kyheem: Book's brother is named Kyheem. Ache Hernandez was also in Private Eyes , Jet t , and Bad Blood.

Luca Doulgeris as Leto: In Star Trek: Discovery season 4, Book returned to his home planet to witness and participate in his nephew Leto's coming-of-age ceremony. Prior to making his Star Trek debut, Luca Doulgeris also appeared in 8-Bit Christmas .

Star Trek: Discovery Season 4’s Cast Changes: Why Sylvia Tilly Left The Ship

As a new Starfleet Lieutenant and First Officer of the USS Discovery, Sylvia Tilly faced new challenges that allowed her to discover her true strengths, but also ultimately led to her leaving the ship in Star Trek: Discovery season 4, episode 4 "All Is Possible." Although it's true that Sylvia Tilly's exit from Star Trek: Discovery greatly alters the show's dynamic, it also allowed Tilly to find her true calling. In the said episode, Tilly saves several uncooperative cadets from dying during a shuttle crash, which led Kovich to offer Tilly a role in Starfleet Academy as an instructor for new recruits. As Tilly came to terms with the fact that this was the change of direction that she was looking for, she said her goodbyes to Burnham before warping away.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Updates: Here’s Everything We Know

Star Trek: Discovery season 5 has been officially greenlit, which means that Sonequa Martin-Green, Anthony Rapp, Wilson Cruz, David Ajala, Doug Jones, and Blu del Barrio will all be reprising their roles on the Starfleet ship and elsewhere in the series. As for the plot of Star Trek: Discovery season 5, the details are still vague. That said, Burnham's promise to "get to work" at exploring the frontier in the ending of Star Trek: Discovery season 4 indicates that the series could return to the beloved sci-fi franchise's roots: actually exploring the 32nd-century galaxy. Although the studio hasn't released many Star Trek: Discovery season 5 updates yet, it would be safe to also assume the return of characters like Ian Alexander's Gray Tal, Tara Rosling's President T'Rina, and Oded Fehr's Admiral Charles Vance, as well as Chelah Horsdal's President Rillak. The next season could even overrun Star Trek: Discovery 's season 4 changes with the possible return of Mary Wiseman's Lieutenant and Starfleet Academy instructor Sylvia Tilly.

Next: Why Discovery’s Season 4 Bridge Crew Was Missing In Episode 5

Star Trek: Discovery is streaming now on Paramount+.

• April 26, 2024 | Michael Dorn Wanted Armin Shimerman To Play The Ferengi That Worf Killed In Star Trek Picard
• April 26, 2024 | Podcast: All Access Gets To Know The Breen In ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ 505, “Mirrors”
• April 25, 2024 | Prep Begins For ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Season 3 Finale; Cast And Directors Share BTS Images
• April 25, 2024 | Jonathan Frakes Sees Opportunities With Streaming Star Trek Movies, Weighs In On “Filler Episodes”
• April 25, 2024 | Recap/Review: ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Reflects On Its Choices In “Mirrors”

Recap/Review: ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Reflects On Its Choices In “Mirrors”

| April 25, 2024 | By: Anthony Pascale 114 comments so far

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Episode 5 – Debuted Thursday, April 25, 2024 Written by Johanna Lee & Carlos Cisco Directed by Jen McGowan

A solid episode with plenty of lore and character development gets weighed down with a bit too much exposition.

No, I didn’t kiss you in the past last week, what makes you say that?

WARNING: Spoilers below!

“Maybe we’re not so different.”

As the crew regroups following the time bug incident that lost them 6 hours, they try to trace the trail of their main rivals in the search for the Progenitor tech. Book takes this time to reflect on the choices he has made in life and how it isn’t too late for Moll; perhaps he can redeem the daughter of his mentor and namesake Cleveland Booker. Stamets and Tilly figure out the trail didn’t disappear into nowhere: Moll and L’ak went through a wormhole. The aperture isn’t big enough for the Disco, so the captain assigns herself to shuttle duty—over the objections of her new XO, who is still struggling a bit. After a little bonding over old Kellerun poetry, she leaves him with “I know you can lead this crew” and heads off with her ex. Returning to their old banter, including some teasing about what happened during her time tour last episode, Book and Michael head through the wormhole. Things get really choppy as they fly through exotic matter “deaf and blind,” losing comms with the Disco, and dodging debris. Skilled piloting and good ol’ Starfleet engineering saves them, but things aren’t so hot for Moll and L’ak, whose ship is spotted cut in half. Their only hope for survival is another relatively intact ship that looks familiar. A 24 th -century scientist hiding a clue in this pocket dimension on a shipwreck from another universe makes as much sense as anything.  It’s the ISS Enterprise—and that’s no typo. If the “Mirrors” title wasn’t clue enough, the ISS does it: Things are about to get Terran, again.

After docking, Michael and Book make their way through the mess of a ship to the bridge with more playful banter. The warp drive has been bricked and all shuttles and escape pods are gone, very out of character for ruthless Terrans. They track three quantum signatures in sickbay, but start with a trace in the transporter room, which looks more like a makeshift refugee camp. A chronicle reveals the crew mutinied after the Terran High Chancellor (aka Mirror Spock) was killed for making reforms. A certain Kelpien rebel leader (aka Mirror Action Saru) led refugees to the Prime Universe, where they abandoned ship. While Book expositions, Michael puts a piece of her badge (and its important Prime Universe quantum signature) in a locket she finds. Pay attention BTW, or you will be confused later. In sickbay, they find Moll and L’ak, Moll and L’ak, and Moll and L’ak—until they take out the holo-emitters so the four former couriers can face off for real. Book tries the “I knew your father” gambit and is immediately rebuffed by Moll’s serious daddy issues. The baddies figure they have the clue so they have all the leverage, but Michael uses that locket as a bluff, claiming she has the real clue. Still, no deal with the Federation is good enough because they need the Progenitor tech to get rid of an Erigah… a Breen blood bounty. That’s right, L’ak is Breen. Holy refrigeration helmet , Batman.

Mirror McCoy was a bit of an evil pack rat.

“You both still have choices .”

Cut to a series of Burn-era flashbacks when Moll was delivering dilithium to the Breen Imperium. The “bucket heads”  are not amused by the wisecracking courier who gets into a fight with one of them, but she turns the tables, revealing she knows he’s a disgraced member of the royal family—and she even knows his name. It’s L’ak, of course. He is intrigued by her plan to skim more latinum, getting payback for being humiliated for this cargo duty demotion. Soon enough, this unlikely pair is hooking up between cargo containers and he even takes off his helmet to show her his face, as well as his “other face.” It turns out the Breen have two: the one we have been seeing with L’ak and a glowing eyed translucent one.  Later, the star-crossed romance is threatened when Moll is drawn to the lure of even more latinum by delivering to the Emerald Chain. Before they can sort out if he should join her, Uncle A-hole shows up, not happy about his nephew’s little interspecies exchange program. He’s also not cool with L’ak using that old face and not the “evolved” glowy face. L’ak is given one chance at redemption: Kill Moll. He picks door number 2, killing some guards but sparing Primarch Ruhn, who declares the Erigah. L’ak knows this means they will never stop hunting him, but Moll is all-in on being a fugitive, so they escape together. Ah, true love.

Back on Mirror Enterprise, the standoff devolves into another quick firefight as the Breen/Human duo chooses not to take the offered off-ramp before going too far down the bad guy road. Moll and Book end up outside force fields that pop up around sickbay, so she reluctantly agrees to a ceasefire. The current Cleveland Booker tries again to connect, but Moll only has bad memories of a brutal childhood of abandonment after her Cleveland left her on her own at age 14. L’ak is all she has. L’ak feels the same about Moll, telling Michael that he would die before being separated, but seems open to the idea of them sharing a cell in the Federation pen. On the bridge, Book pivots to use his relationship with Michael to connect, but Moll’s need to get back to L’ak means no waiting for computer hacking, so she starts yanking out wires. The resulting short does lower the forcefield, but now the ship is out of control. Their shuttle is flung off with the jolt and there’s only eight minutes until the Big E is squished in the little wormhole. Book takes his final shot, handing over his phaser and telling Moll she is the only family he has left. She finally relents and they head to sickbay, where Michael and L’ak have resumed fighting. The captain gets the upper hand and ends up with the clue L’ak was holding and the Breen is left with a knife in his side, but impressed by the locket bluff. Moll arrives and is super pissed, so the Disco duo makes a quick exit before things escalate into yet another phaser fight. This former courier couple’s double date is over.

Uh, can you go back to the other face now?

“Maybe we can shape our own futures too.”

As Moll tries to patch up her boyfriend, Michael and Book work through the problem on the bridge, deciding that the tractor beam as their only hope. Over on the Disco, they detect an oscillating pattern, 3-4-1-4, which means something to Rayner. He now wants the nerds to figure out how to open the wormhole aperture big enough for a ship, offering kegs of Kellerun booze for the best idea. Adira sparks a team effort and Rayner rallies around the crowdsourced solution involving a hexagon of photon torpedoes. “We are only going to get one shot at this. I trust you will all make it count, red alert.” That’s the stuff. With what may be the last seconds of her life, Michael lets Book know she shared a “happy” moment with his past self during the whole time bug incident. Discovery fires the torpedoes and the crew is surprised to see the ISS Enterprise emerge at the last minute from the permanently collapsing wormhole. Everyone releases their tension as the captain informs her crew they saved her… but why is the Enterprise about to fire? A warp pod is launched! It’s Moll and L’ak. Before you can say “plot armor,” they escape to another episode. The captain returns to the Disco to tell Rayner she’s impressed with how he handled the crew during her time away, and he tells her how impressed he was with her subtle “3-4-1-4” message using the Kellerun “Ballad of Krull.” Alien poetry FTW!

In the background of the episode, Tilly has been noticing that Dr. Culber seems out of sorts. Everyone else leans on him, so she offers to be a friendly ear. As things wrap, Hugh takes her up on her offer over drinks at Red’s, admitting that ever since he was possessed by a Trill a few episodes back, he has been feeling a bit off, and he’s beening having some trouble coming to grips with the quest they are on with questions “so big and impossible to grasp.” He is not sure his matter-of-fact husband will understand what Tilly points out is a sort of spiritual awakening. This thread is left unresolved, unlike Adira’s mini-crisis of confidence: They were losing their science mojo due to guilt over the time bug, but got it back through Rayner’s tough love and being the one to come up with the hexagon of torpedoes solution. Things wrap up with Michael and Book looking over their prize, the latest piece of the map and a mysterious vial of liquid hidden inside, ready to set up the next episode once Stamets unlocks its secret. Burnham is starting to see a pattern with these clues and how the scientists who left them were trying to teach lessons along the way to the successful questers. The clue hidden in the ISS Enterprise came from Dr. Cho, a former Terran junior officer who later became a Starfleet Admiral. This happy ending for her and the others from Saru’s band of Mirror refugees fills them with hope as they can’t wait to find out what they will learn when they put the map together. There are just 2 more map pieces and 5 more episodes to go.

I think I have a thing for being possessed—no judgment.

Love stories

This halfway point episode is a bit of a mixed bag. Strong performances were a highlight, bringing extra life to welcome character development for both heroes and villains. But valiant attempts to expand upon franchise lore got weighed down in overly complicated exposition. And for an episode with a strong (and yes, often repeated) theme about choices, some of the directorial choices just didn’t work, potentially leaving some audience members confused or requiring a second viewing to follow the narrative. On the other hand, the episode carried on the season’s reflection on Discovery’s own lore and the evolution of its characters. David Ajala stands out as the episode MVP as he shows Book’s struggle to navigate the emotional complexities of his own choices and those of Moll while desperately trying to forge a new family connection. While some of the action scenes in this episode felt a bit perfunctory, the show is still getting better (for the most part) in finding moments for those character sidebars to talk about their emotional journeys and relationships. That was especially important in this episode, which took a closer look at how the events of the season are impacting some of the key romantic pairings of Book and Michael, Paul and Hugh, and Moll and L’ak.

Eve Harlow—and especially Elias Toufexis—stepped up to add layers and nuance to Moll and L’ak, with Discovery finally embracing how fleshing out adversaries and their motivations goes a long way towards making your plot hold together. The nicely drawn-out reflection of their love story with the rekindling one between Michael and Book adds another layer to the more obvious meaning behind the episode title “Mirrors.” Moll’s single-minded anger and L’ak’s desire for safety now all make sense, as does their unshakable bond. The episode also did a good job weaving in a handful of substories, including Rayner’s growing connection with the crew, with a nice sprinkling of Kellerun lore-building — adding some color to his character. Callum Keith Rennie continues to be a stand-out addition for the season, although Doug Jones is sorely missed, presumably not appearing in two episodes in a row for some scheduling reasons. Culber’s spiritual journey also gets just enough time, as it and these other substories all feel like they are heading somewhere without distracting or spinning their wheels, something that often weighed down mid-season Discovery episodes in past seasons.

Okay, let’s just agree we both have daddy issues.

Under the mask

The reveal that L’ak is a Breen was a surprise, but also nicely teased through the previous episodes. Fans of Deep Space Nine should relish finally getting some answers about this enigmatic race and finally having a first look under those helmets. “Mirrors” picked up on many elements from DS9, including the Breen language, refrigeration suits, neural truncheons, and the position of Thot , while adding lots to the lore, including some worldbuilding behind this new Breen Imperium and its “faction wars.”

Setting the Breen up as what appears to be the real big bads for the season involved a lot of data dump exposition here, surely keeping the editors of Memory Alpha busy for the next week. The notion that Breen have two forms with their signature suits and helmets allowing them to hold the more “evolved” form and face makes sense. If one were to get nitpicky, the Breen aren’t supposed to bleed, but perhaps that was a function of his suit; fill in your own headcanon. L’ak’s desire to hold the other, less evolved form making him a pariah in Breen society has echoes of allegorical episodes such as TNG’s “The Outcast.” That being said, the nuances are still not entirely clear, and fans who like the lore shouldn’t have to rewatch scenes to pick up the details. It feels like some details were cut, perhaps because this episode was already trying to cram in too much exposition with the Breen, Kelleruns (they boil cakes?), and the Mirror Universe.

Like the previous time travel adventure, this was a mid-season bottle show, this time using the conveniently located Strange New Worlds sets. Bringing back the ISS Enterprise was clever and fun, with the twist of how this time the Mirror Universe came to us. If you follow closely, “Mirrors” did a nice job of filling in some lore gaps and tying together the MU storylines from the first visit in “Mirror, Mirror” to follow-ups in Deep Space Nine , Enterprise , and Discovery . There is now a nice throughline from Emperor Georgiou saving Mirror Saru through to Mirror Spock, killed for the reforms he instituted after being inspired by Kirk. However, the redress of the Enterprise sets was not very inspired, with only a smattering of Terran wall sconces and some repainting, instead of demonstrating the brutality of the Empire with elements like agony booths. But what was even more missed was the promise of any character crossovers. There was a lot of talk about Mirror characters like Spock, Saru, Dr. Cho, and others, but we don’t get to see any, one of the many examples of how this episode broke the golden rule to show not tell. There were plenty of opportunities for a flashback or holo recording. Burnham longingly gazing at her brother’s science station is no substitute for Ethan Peck with a goatee.

We’re back!

Final thoughts

“Mirrors” is a decent episode, but it could have been much better with a few tweaks here and there. While not falling into the pointless plate-spinning trap of past mid-season Disco outings, it still dragged a bit for something so jam-packed with lore and revelations. Still, it provided a nice hour of entertainment, and possibly more with rewatches to catch up on the little details. The episode also continues the season’s welcome trend of weaving in the show’s own past, which makes it work better as a final season, even if they didn’t know that when they crafted it. Season 5 hits the halfway mark, and it’s still the best season yet, and hopefully the second half of the season will nail the landing.

Wait, we’re in this episode too? Anyone remember their lines?

• Like the previous episode, “Mirrors” began with a warning for flashing images.
• The episode is dedicated “to the loving memory of our friend Allan ‘Red’ Marceta ,” the lead set dresser who died in a motorcycle accident in 2022.  Presumably the USS Discovery bar “Red’s” was named in his honor.
• This is the first episode where Book’s personal log starts it off.
• Stardate: 866280.9
• Booker examined wanted notices for Moll from the Federation, Orion/Emerald Chain (who have a new logo), and the Andorian Empire.
• Tilly was able to reveal the wormhole by compensating for the “Lorentzian Coefficient,” referencing the real Lorentz Factor used in special relativity equations.
• A new ensign on the Discovery keeps a Cardassian vole as a pet.
• The ISS Enterprise was built at Tartarus Base, possibly referencing Tartarus Prime , from the TOS novel The Rings of Time .
• Moll refers to Breens as “bucketheads” (just as Reno did to Emerald Chain Regulators last episode). This could be a nod to the use of “ bucketheads ” in Star Wars as a derogatory term for stormtroopers.
• Moll’s mother died on Callor V in a mine for Rubindium , a substance first mentioned in TOS “Patterns of Force.”
• Linus can play the piano.
• Breen Primarchs may be a nod to the genetically engineered Primarchs from Warhammer 40,000 .
• How does Book know that Pike’s catchphrase is “Hit it”?
• This is the third (of five) season 5 episodes in which Oyin Oladejo and Emily Coutts do not appear, but their characters, Detmer and Owosekun, are mentioned when they get the honor of escorting the ISS Enterprise back to Starfleet HQ.
• Even though we didn’t see it warp away, presumably the missing intermix chamber was replaced, otherwise Owo and Detmer’s trip is going to take a very long time.
• Tilly says her long day makes her feel like she has been through a Gormangander’s digestive tract.

Remember when Mudd hid inside a Gormagander? Gross.

More to come

Every Friday, the TrekMovie.com All Access Star Trek Podcast  covers the latest news in the Star Trek Universe and discusses the latest episode. The podcast is available on Apple Podcasts ,  Spotify ,  Pocket Casts ,  Stitcher and is part of the TrekMovie Podcast Network.

The fifth and final season of  Discovery debuted with two episodes on Thursday, April 4 exclusively on Paramount+  in the U.S., the UK, Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia, and Austria.  Discovery  will also premiere on April 4 on Paramount+ in Canada and will be broadcast on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel in Canada. The rest of the 10-episode final season will be available to stream weekly on Thursdays. Season 5 debuts on SkyShowtime in select European countries on April 5.

Keep up with news about the  Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com .

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waste of ISS Enterprise

While I enjoyed the episode overall, the ISS Enterprise was a huge letdown and not even worth being an easter egg with what little they did with it. They should have just made it a generic constitution class ship from the mirror universe.

It felt like it was nothing more than a budget saver. Use existing sets from the other show. Which is weird because one of the arguments in favor of mini seasons is it allows more money to be spent.

That’s exactly what it felt like. Along with the missing, yet again, Detmer and Owosekun.

There must have been some deep budget cuts for the season.

Detmer and Owosekun were replaced by other characters so I don’t think they are missing for budget reasons. It’s more likely that the actresses were unavailable.

I get the budget issues considering what’s going on with the studio. But the end result was it showed that there isn’t much difference at all in the 900 years between the SNW Enterprise and the aesthetic of Star Trek Discovery. They both look as if they were set in the exact same era.

And there really shouldn’t be much. Discovery is from the same era, as the Enterprise. While the ship gets a technological upgrade, why would it get an interior design makeover?

Since it was deemed important (Stamets certainly makes since) that the crew stay on the Discovery, I would certainly think that psychologically having its design aesthetics stay similar to what it was would help give the crew a little bit of their past to hold on to, versus having all physical interactions be with a timeline that they aren’t native to.

Now where we should see it is in native places in this time. And we have seen some differences in design from standard Starfleet settings, versus Starfleet settings on this time (I actually wish we got more).

I did wish for a little more of self reflection from Burnham’s point of view as the ISS Enterprise should of course remind her of Spock (the Enterprise tie in), but also Georgiou (the ISS tie in). We get a small brief nod to Spock, but nothing to Georgiou (and while I still question the use of the character, there is no question that Burnham did have a connection with her, even if its primarily transference from her former Captain, not the mirror Universe Empress.

It’s not just the ship. It’s everything. Everything else looks like it matches the ship’s aesthetic. As if 900 year old retro is the current fad in design.

That’s always been my issue with Discovery.

To me that is part of the downfall of going so very far into the future. What aesthetic you make should be radically different. Not just shinier.

Agreed. The last two episodes just felt very budgeted and basically bottle episodes. And this just felt like a twofer, a way to use an existing set and add a little fan service but that’s all it was. I thought the Enterprise itself was going to be a viral part of not just the episode but the story overall.

Instead it was just a backdrop. And yeah it’s obvious they cut the budget for this season but all the live action shows have felt this way starting with Picard season 3 and SNW season 2. That all felt pretty bare a lot of the times. I guess this was all during Paramount+ belt tightening and probably not a shock why the show was cancelled.

And maybe the I.S.S. Enterprise should have been the refit or maybe the Phase II Enterprise? That would have been a lot of fun but combine a lack of vision with a reduced budget and this is what you get.

Looking back on “In a Mirror: Darkly”, season 4 of Enterprise was dealing with a reduced budget but managed to recreate sets from TOS, introduced a few new set pieces and did a lot of great effects work.

This was a missed opportunity.

Which was added by stretching that story over two episodes, so that they had the budget to recreate the sets they used. Having half the episode count, doesn’t really help avail yourself to planning out a two parter for a way to save costs.

If Picard could pull off recreating the bridge of the Enterprise D for three days of shooting with barely half the budget of Discovery season 5, they could have done something equally as fun for Discovery on the cheap without actually having to building anything new and using the Enterprise as a crutch. They could have come across Deep Space Station K-7, where the exterior would have been immediately familiar and with interiors served by redressed sets from virtually anything available from Discovery or SNW.

I thought Discovery is basically the PII Enterprise?

The Phase II Enterprise looks like a slickly modified version of the Enterprise from TOS, falling squarely between the Enterprise from TOS and the refit. The “Star Trek: Phase II” fan series did a great job bringing it to screen.

No, Discovery resembles the Enterprise concept for the Planet of the Titans movie.

I don’t get that. I never assumed that the Enterprise (or its mIrror Universe history) was going to feature in significant manner (certainly the producers and promotional department didn’t make a significant deal about it). Perhaps it’s the time difference. But I literally assumed it would be as significant as the Defiant going in and out of phase like TOS “Tholian Web” the time difference. And that was primarily set dressing. That’s not a bad thing. I mean Tholian Web is considered one of the better third season episodes.

And the only reason I assumed it was the Enterprise versus another Connie, is simple to give Burnham a moment to reflect on Spock. Now I do freely admit that I wish this was a slightly larger moment. But I never expected it to be anything but a small moment. Roughly my preconceived notion would be something like Spock’s Mind Meld scene with La’an in SNW where she is able to get a peak into Spock thinking about his sister and the emotion that comes with it. It’s a very brief scene, but I thought SNW did a good job in conveying the emotional aspect, especially from a half Vulcan/ Half Human.

Ok fair enough. This is probably more my hang up and to be fair since they never really promoted the the Enterprise being back then clearly they weren’t trying to make it that big of a deal.

But same time a lot of people do feel there could’ve been more done. The main problem is it just feels like a ridiculous stretch this ship itself is even there. It’s a ship from 900 years ago from a DIFFERENT UNIVERSE that conveniently happens to be the ship that gives them their next clue. I know it’s Star Trek so whatever lol. But when you go through the effort to present it I think it would’ve nice to build a bigger story around it. It could’ve just been any ship.

When you feel like the Mirror Universe has been nothing but a let down after the initial TOS episode, It’s really not a surprise. There’s really nowhere to go with it, but I did find that the fulfilling of the promise that Prime Kirk spoke to Mirror Spock about from the original TOS episode quite satisfying. The ship’s inhabitants embraced the benevolence of the prime universe, and I thought that was great.

I felt the idea that the MU people just easily adapted was pretty ridiculous. But then, they admitted SNW was an alternate timeline. It’s not a stretch that alternate extends to all the Secret Hideout productions.

I’m not sure I would feel the same about Picard given it depicts the Prime events of ST:2009. The others tho yeah I think of it that way too. Although The Chase does make that harder to swallow about DISCO

I liked the MU in DS9. It was fun to revisit and a great reminder of the Prime Directive. But… after that it got tiresome.

It was pretty benign there, but the problem with it, is finding it plausible. It was a fun idea in the 1960’s, and it had a good message. After that, it an indulgence. The notion that that the same people would even exist in the same fundamental places, and that the same ships would exist with virtually the same crew just seems like too much of a stretch even for modern Star Trek.

That’s my only complaint about this episode. Seeing the tantalus field show up would have been really cool. When Michael talked about how she was sure that Mirror Spock was a savage just like the other Terrans, I was sure that we would see a recording or something of Ethan Peck in a goatee to prove her wrong. Or flashbacks with Ethan Peck and Paul Wesley as their mirror counterparts would have also been cool.

All the stuff with the Breen and Mol and Lak was really cool though.

“ waste of ISS Enterprise” should be the official episode description.

waste of series

They ate Mirror Saru in season one…

Was that Saru or another Kelpian? It’s been a while since I watched Season 1, but I recall Mirror Saru saving Burnham from Tyler just as Voq’s personality re-emerged. I know Mirror Georgiou served Burnham some Kelpian, I just didn’t remember it being Mirror Saru.

Mirror Saru saved Michael from Tyler in The Wolf Inside, which was the episode that preceded the one in which they ate the food made from a Kelpien (Vaulting Ambition).

Looking at Memory Alpha now, it says that the chosen Kelpien ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVQSipQlJR8 ) was played by someone other than Doug Jones, but they look so much alike that I thought for sure she had chosen Mirror Saru.

As per Memory Alpha, we never saw him again after The Wolf Inside until season three, but that was in the alternate timeline Carl sent Georgiu to, so it wasn’t the same Mirror Saru.

Nope, that was another Kelpien.

“They ate Mirror Saru in season one…”

They didn’t.

Wasn’t Mirror Saru established as having survived in Season 3 (can’t remember the episode name).

A s per Memory Alpha, we never saw Mirror Saru again after The Wolf Inside until season three, but that was in the alternate timeline Carl sent Georgiu to, so it wasn’t the same Mirror Saru.

Loved this episode. I liked seeing the I.S.S Enterprise though i would of loved to of seen maybe a video log of Mirror Spock.

As a big fan of DS9 I’m glad we finally get to see what a breen looks like and the 32nd century breen outfits look great.

I enjoyed seeing Book/Burnham trying to get through to Moll/L’ak and i hope they can eventually get through to them. With this season about connections and 2nd chances i can see Book and Burnham talking both of them down before they do something that they can’t come back from.

The shot of the I.S.S Enterprise coming out of the ‘wormhole’ is probably one of my favorite CGI scene in all of Trek.

I’m glad they didn’t. I think the conceit of using the I.S.S. Enterprise was not much more than a budgetary decision to be able to use the sets. Could have made it a different constitution class, but then they don’t get to tell the story of the crew’s transformation into our society. Just don’t think about it too much.. because that universe is just pushing out its own doppelgängers into our universe.. which seems problematic. lol.

As a big fan of DS9 I’m glad we finally get to see what a breen looks like and the 32nd century breen outfits look great.

Any kind of big reveal was bound to be disappointing, I suppose. Still, the idea that they were just another latex alien was a letdown. I had always hoped that the Breen were gaseous or plasma creatures.

Ethan Peck with a goatee would have been EPIC

“This is the way.” 😉

But seriously that was a pretty good episode. I’d like to see a 31st century restored Terran empire that never went through “the burn.”

“ The reveal that L’ak is a Breen was a surprise ”

It really wasn’t, though. That was many viewers’ guess since the beginning of the season, and it’s been a common discussion on many websites. The surprise would have been if he HADN’T been a Breen.

I am on a lot of other sites and I haven’t heard anyone thinking he was Breen. And I don’t believe anyone voiced that in Trekmovie either.

LOL. It’s been a common theory.

Obviously not THAT common. LOL

I’ve seen the theory mentioned in the comments here on TrekMovie.

Yes, quite common from what I’ve been reading. I just commented on this very site a couple weeks back that I liked the idea, when somebody else theorized it (forget who it was)!

I guess it’s just where you go for these discussions but yeah the first YouTube review of episode one I saw theorized Lak was a Breen in the first scene he was in when he took off his helmet. And this was obviously before the species was mentioned on the show.

So yeah some people caught on the first episode the way others theorized Tyler was Voq the first time he showed up. Others needed more convincing.

I never saw it but I certainly don’t read the majority of comments. And almost never watch video reviews. Now Voq, was something I remember seeing in many places. Though in fairness, the amount of conjecture done about any Trek series for its Pilot and early couple episodes has been in my experience far more than what you see for most regular episodes. So that shouldn’t;t surprise me.

It was a surprise to me.

The Breen being so ordinary looking was a bit of a surprise.

Well, one of their forms are. It explains the frozen wasteland/tropical paradise. Their “evovled” form needs cryo suits, their “normal form” doesn’t

Was a surprise to me. Then again, I don’t run around the internet and over analyze the show.

This season started out so well. What happened? It’s falling apart.

I hate to a agree. But its once again a long slow burn (pardon the bun) that I fear is going to lead to another whimper of a conclusion. I feel like the season could have been a movie instead. Where is Chapel?!

Wrong show. Chapel is on SNW. The ending was rewritten and new scenes were shot to make it a series finale. They had already started shooting when they got the word that it was ending after season 5.

presumably on Her show, SNW?

“pardon the bun” …🍔⁉️

What’d that poor bun do for it to be in need of a pardon? 😋

This is what happens in every single season of Discovery. Two lovers who want to destroy the galaxy so they can get to paradise was the plot of season four, and now they are recycling the exact same plot for this season.

Did you watch the show. In no seasons has two lovers wanted to destroy the galaxy….Period. L’ak and Moll want to pay off their bounty. Nothing about what they are doing is about wanting to destroy the galaxy.

Outside of the destruction caused by the aliens referred to as 10-C, did any character want to destroy the galaxy let alone a couple. The only couple we had, was one person wanting peaceful means of communication to prevent destruction, while the other wanted to use force to ensure the destruction doesn’t occur. In no case does that equal people wanting to destroy a galaxy.

I can understand not liking the show, but to have such a misconstrued concept of the plot of the seasons shows a shocking lack of basic understanding of what the plot and motivations of the characters are.

I mean the show has plenty that one can find legitimate issues with. Thats not one of them.

They want to pay their bounty by giving a weapon of potential mass destruction to the Breen, thus destroying the galaxy, as seen in the time jumps last episode. They want to do that so they can escape to the Gamma Quadrant while the Breen take apart the Alpha Quadrant.

Last season the scientist wanted to let the 10-C species bulldoze the Alpha Quadrant so he could get across the galactic barrier to meet his lover in paradise, without caring what happened to trillions of other lives.

It is the same basic plot point. Your analysis is incorrect, Wood.

I think you’re overreacting a little. As always.

This episode was disappointing and fell flat. The return of the ISS Enterprise from the mirror universe was of no interest. I had hoped to possibility see a video log from Kirk, Spock, or another familiar character. Why not explore other Constitution Class Starships like the ISS Lexington, Hood, or Potemkin? Enterprise, Enterprise, Enterprise. (Sigh)

Maybe cause the enterprise is the trek ship pretty much everyone knows even if they are a new trek fan or a casual trek fan or not even a trek fan it is so engrained and intertwined with the name Star Trek that is why they chose to make it the iss enterprise instead of one of the others you mentioned

Because exploring a random ship isn’t the plot of the episode. It’s basically set dressing. Having it be the Enterprise versus a different Connie, gives it a tie to the lead character and part of her family she left behind. That it sorry wise. Another ship wouldn’t have any emotion aspect to the characters. Now production wise its to save a ton of money, as creating a random ship with multiple settings to take use of takes money (if your trying to give it the same level of production that you see for the primary ship). Now of course they could have just created a redress of an existing set to be random alien ship of the week. Those usually aren’t done to the same level of using the existing bridge set of another show. So it serves a small story purpose (ie a setting), it serves a small character purpose *reflection for Burnham, and it serves a production purpose (having high quality set pieces without having to build or do a serious redress and thus saving some money).

Seems rather obvious, to me.

I’m annoyed by what they seem to be doing with Owosekun and Detmer this season. I assume that the actors are absent because Paramount wanted to pay them less, and that’s poor treatment for characters who have been around since practically the beginning of the series.

“ I’m annoyed by what they seem to be doing with Owosekun and Detmer this season. ”

…as opposed to the previous four seasons, when all they did was sit in chairs and look meaningfully at each other?

Which is all Sulu and Chekov do in the average TOS episode. So yes, it’s aggravating for them to be replaced by other actors who are doing the same thing.

I doubt they are paid exorbitantly as recurring guests. It could be similar to what happened in season 4 and Bryce Ronnie Rowe Jr’s absences – he had another gig.

I have a theory that before it was decided that Disco would be cancelled, they were going to replace some of the characters. I think Owosekun and Detmer were going to be replaced, and also that Rayner would become captain and Burnham would go away to do something else. But then that didn’t work out, and so to us it just makes no sense why those two main characters are suddenly missing.

You might be right — I hadn’t considered that revamps due to cancellation might be involved.

Well… It is what it is . This was easily the worst episode of the 5. Tropes galore and really bad plot contrivances.

It feels like the reshoots for when they got the cancelation news are getting dropped in throughout the season. A lot of scenes appear grossly out of place. It feels like they just aren’t even trying anymore to be honest. As flawed as the show has been one thing that never came across among the other problems was a lack of trying.

I am loving the addition of Rayner and the professional Starfleet officer energy he is bringing to the ship. I also liked when he told Burnham the mission was too dangerous for the captain to go on. He is turning out to be a nice counterbalance to the unusual way Discovery has been run as a Starfleet ship after season 2.

I hope he doesn’t get killed off.

Sorry but this was another big fat ‘meh’ for me. This was very very disappointing. Nothing of consequence happened. We learn Mol and Lak backstory basically and it is cool we learn that Lak is a Breen which has been the leading theory since he showed up but it just felt sooo bare overall. Like another Discovery infamous spinning wheel episode where they do the bare minimum to move the plot along but just through a lot of action scenes and inconsequential dialogue to feel like we were getting any real development.

And the biggest elephant in the room (or dimensional wormhole) was the ISS Enterprise. Such a let down. It almost felt like a gimmick or just shoehorned fan service. There was no real reason it needed to be there other than HEY THE ENTERPRISE IS BACK!

Again one of the problems with this show, no real development just there for another connection. Think about what they did with In a Mirror Darkly on Enterprise. They brought in the Defiant as obvious fan service from TOS but the ship had a very vital part to the story. It helped changed the dynamics of the MU. It wasn’t there just for show like this was. And Anthony made a great point the redress felt like a joke. It just felt like an excuse to use the set but little else.

Here it was nothing more than just a backdrop and a really forced one at that. And the whole Saru thing just felt very contrived.

I did like all the Breen stuff though and hopefully they will be the big bad the rest of the season. I still think they should’ve used the Breen as the main villain for SNW instead of the Gorn but I digress.

But yeah this is probably the weakest one for me which is disappointing since last week is my favorite so far. I’m getting a little nervous now. It’s usually the second half of the season this show begins to falls apart but still open minded. Still enjoying it overall but please don’t end up a tedious bore like last season felt once it got to its mid season.

You have one last chance Discovery, make it count!

I never considered the Breen in SNW before, but that’s a cool idea. Yeah, I would’ve liked that much more than the Gorn.

For me it was literally the first Gorn episode I thought the Breen would’ve been a better idea. You get the same type of stories and it doesn’t feel like it’s breaking any canon like the Gorn obviously does. I ranted enough about it but nothing about their appearance on SNW feels remotely canon anymore.

But the Breen could’ve been a great substitute if they wanted a known species not named Klingons and zero canon issues.

Agreed. I always enjoyed the mysterious quality of the Breen. Seems ripe for exploration.

This season is largely working for me. Not as good as last week, but the chase is enjoyable. I have a little trouble buying that Mol and L’ak fell in love so fast. I would have liked to have seen that handled better.. but the slow burn of the plot works because of what they do to sustain individual episodes. Only episode I thought was kind of wasteful was the one on Trill.

That is a big part of the problem, yes. The characters have little chemistry.

The flashbacks took [place over an extended period of time, it wasnt THAT fast

They both felt like outcasts in their family/society, fusing them together like lightning. I had no problem with that as it gave me a Bonnie & Clyde-vibe which is historical.

It’s fine, but the romance piece just isn’t clicking for me.

Tarka was a similar situation last season with the reveal of his motivation not really moving me, but I’m also not the biggest fan of waiting several episodes to fill in a lot of backstory in a flashback. It’s not easy to pull off, and Discovery hasn’t really perfected it.

It’s a wonder I stuck with Lost as long as I did, now that I think about it.

“ it’s still the best season yet ”

Well, it was for the first two episodes, but the three since then have been a downward spiral. Seasons one and two were much better than this week’s episode and last week’s.

I’ve enjoyed it all except for the Trill episode. I think it’s been fun with a faster pace.. which has helped with a lot of issues that haven’t gone away. Raynor has been a very welcome addition to the cast.

Overall, very entertaining!

For complaints: any other constitution ship would be cool – but I also feel like we don’t know what happens next – there could be some Prime Mirror Universe people out there. & the “hit it!” joke felt like Dad was in the writer’s room.

Otherwise, I the pairings felt very TOS. Rayner is a little bit Serious Scotty when performing a captain’s role. And he took pride in rescuing her – which is feels good.

For me, this season has been 5/5.

Personal Log. Stardate: Today.

Week 4 of not-watching Discovery continues without incident. Opinions gleaned from critics on the latest episode seem to confirm that ‘mid-season malaise’ has been reached right on schedule.

Based on the collective opinion of commentators, there have been a grand total of one episode out of five that qualifies as “actually good”.

In conclusion, it appears the decision to not-watch until the penultimate episode has been vindicated. The plot points I am privy to following the one episode I watched are:

– There is a chase (or ‘The Chase 2.0’) for the Holy Grail / the technological marvel Salmone Jens left behind.

– The Cylon is now the First Officer.

– The Trill and the Robot are no longer together.

All in all, I remain confident that the recap at the beginning of the penultimate episode should be sufficient to fill in all the key points required.

Again, my thanks go out to the resolute souls who manage to endure what I could not.

these threads are for people to talk about the episodes they have seen. CLOSED.

Am I wrong or did the DS9 episode Through the Looking Glass make a reference to the Mirror Spock being on Romulus? Also given all the DS9 cross overs with the Mirror Universe you would think Burnham would have known something more about her brother’s counterpart.

Spock was not mentioned in Through the Looking Glass. We know between Crossover and the new dedication plaque of the ISS Enterprise that he reformed the Terran Empire and was killed for it. Burnham has clearly boned up on a lot of info since coming to this century, but easy to assume the future history of the mirror universe wasn’t part of that. Also, that info could have been lost or been classified.

Wow! The Breen. From CGI to burn victim.

Does anybody think the Commander Rainer is gonna become the Commandant of Starfleet Academy?

Everything involving Book is incredibly tedious. They brought back the ISS Enterprise as a way to resurrect the OG Enterprise in continuity. Perhaps it ends up as the Enterprise Q or whatever, if Saru is in command then ok. Burnham insisting on going on the away mission is diametrically opposed to how TNG dealt with this – e.g., when Riker as captain insisted on boarding the Borg cube in Best of Both Worlds, and his senior officers reminded him his place was on the bridge. I guess everyone got much dumber in the 32nd century, but “dumber” is Discovery’s whole concept.

This post missed an important Easter egg towards the end: Morn was at the bar “Red’s” just like he did on Quark’s on DS9.

We don’t call out or find every little egg, but when the bar was introduced last season we noted the Lurian (Morn’s species), who has been there ever since. We don’t usually do repeated easter egg bits for each episode

Yay! Good seeing the Breen again and their evolved design in the 32nd Century is great.

Boo! Pretty much everything else except Rayner who is the best character in the show.

Imagine they used the Star Trek: Tour set in Trekonderoga for the ISS Enterprise? What a cool surprise that would have been. But nope, we got the generic canon-breaking Discoprise. Not surprised.

I swear if they make the new Enterprise in the 3190s a refitted Constitution, I will facepalm. Just a stupid idea, when you have far superior tech and designs in the future time period. Please don’t, Disco-writers. Bad enough they did it with the Ent-G (one of my few criticisms of the great PIC S3).

here are 6 points for a reply to each of your issues with snw and dsc as a whole and this episode in particular

1.there is already a constitution class in the 32nd century it’s design was also used pre burn in the late 31st century so i dought they would refit iss enterprise like they did with the discovery plus they did say the ship was being taken to a federation storage facility

2.as for why they used the snw sets and cg assets well two reasons for one location/budget convenience as snw is shot in toronto at the same studio as dsc is and two they have said from the start they visually updated the 23rd century to fit visually better between ent era and tmp era mainly star trek 5/6

3.and there is nothing canon breaking about any of the new shows as they give explanations that tie back to enteprise and first contact since enterprise tied into that movie for the reasons of in unverse changes to the prime timeline universe and that is time travel to fix the past either on it’s own or part of the temporal cold war

4.and the temporal Cold War which later turned into the temporal wars is the reason the discovery was refited and givin the -A at the end of the registry is to hide the fact the ship and crew time traveled and broke the law agaisnt any form of time travel that was put into place after the temporal wars and a smaller part to protect starfleets butt

5.and if you have to don’t look at seasons 1 and 2 of dsc and snw as prequels to tos but as sequels to ent and then veiw ent as a sequal to first contact as i hear it makes it easier for some tos fans to enjoy these trek shows

6.or use the in universe reasons for the changes mentioned above in point 3 to be able to enjoy watching new trek shows mentioned above in point 5

Would it have been too much if Dr. Cho was instead Marlena Moreau? Just saying. Kind of like Dax in Jinaal… I feel like they are making all of these deep cuts, why not make them count a bit more to the overall lore, instead of just throwing the ISS Enterprise in with no good reason. Making these deep cuts actually count towards the overall lore might make the obvious (potential) budget cuts, set reuses, etc. be a bit more forgiving. Giving loved characters some finality that affect the course of this in our face galactic scale quest… might make it hit harder? Maybe I’m wrong, I’m sure someone here will think so lol

Overall the episode was okay. I do understand using the ISS Enterprise since this is supposed to be the final season of Discovery it was a nostalgia play and kind of wrap up the history of that ship in regards to the series. But overall it just seems kind of mashed together. Have to see how it ties in with the rest of the season.

I would say this episode along with the one before it were definitely the weakest of the season. They started out with a bang on the first few, and while I know that they tend to slow down in the middle of the season before ramping up the action for the final few, this episode dragged. There were also a few things with the Breen and the Enterprise that seemed a bit confusing:

– The Breen have 2 faces…great! Awesome twist to the species and fantastic to finally be able to see them after all the mystery around them in DS9. If the second face is supposed to be the more evolved one though, why do they need the masks and the suits? Can the more evolved face not breathe in a standard atmosphere? When L’ak and his uncle opened up their masks, they seemed fine, so there’s still quite a bit we don’t know about why they use that whole setup, especially when they’re around their own people

– Does the more evolved form extend past the face?

ISS Enterprise

– The stardate on the commemorative plaque is 32336.6. Popping that number into a couple of online stardate calculators puts that around mid-2355, which would be a few years before the prime universe Enterprise-D was commissioned in 2363. They mentioned that Dr. Cho came back to the Enterprise to hide the clue, so the assumption is that she also placed the plaque there at the same time. The timing doesn’t quite add up though because The Chase took place in 2369. Nobody would have known about The Progenitors or their technology before that, so they were at least 14 years off with the plaque

– If this Enterprise has been caught in extradimensional space since at least 2355, that means it’s been there for over 800 years by the time it’s discovered. How does it still have power?

– It’s been discussed by the Disco production team that the Discovery-era Enterprise was designed so that it could eventually be refit into the TOS Enterprise. The ISS Enterprise was contemporary with Kirk’s version and was seen on screen in TOS in that configuration. Why is the version in this episode the Discovery one? I know the real-world explanation is that it was easier to just re-use that model to align with the sets, but we saw a TOS-era Constitution class USS New Jersey at the Fleet Museum in Picard, so they had that model available to use. Just a bit sloppy

– How did Stamets immediately know that the ship exiting the wormhole was the ISS Enterprise and not a different prime Constitution class ship?

Photon Torpedo

– The solution to hold the wormhole open for the Enterprise to escape was to remove the payload from the torpedoes and replace them with antimatter. Photon torpedoes are matter/antimatter weapons, so this is a little confusing. Are they taking out the matter and just loading them with more antimatter?

I don’t know that it’s been there for 855 years.. not sure if it’s kind of like the Nexus or the black hole in Trek 09, where time does things differently. My guess is, that’s how the people on board were able to integrate into society. Their doppelgängers were long deceased.

Here’s the other thing… if the idea of revolution started with Mirror Spock, and the crew of the Enterprise more or less went along with him.. this is a way of explaining how they didn’t spread the idea to teh rest of the Empire.. they were lost in space and didn’t have much, if any, influence off of their own ship.

But they did spread the idea enough to weaken the empire to the point where it could be conquered.

Yeah I was wondering that also. It’s possible since it was extradimensional space that it didn’t put them in exactly the same time that they left. Also odd that they said Dr. Cho went BACK to the Enterprise to hide the clue. That’s a pretty risky trip unless the wormhole was more stable back in the 24th century.

It is strongly implied, if not explicitly stated, that the wormhole’s instability was caused by the Burn. So, it had to be more stable in the 24th century.

they never said that the ship would be refited into the tos version as they said those 60’s sets and ship model design would not look good or belivable as from our future with modern filming cameras they said from the start they visually updated the mid 23rd century to fit better visually between ent era designs and tmp era designs mainly using Star Trek 5/6 as the basis for the tmp era side of the designs

as for the new jersey that was just a pandering memberberry easter egg for the fans that hate the visual updates and even blass has said he objected to using the 60’s design for the ship and pointed out that it should have used the snw model for it and that it was all on terry who was more interested in filling episodes with those easter eggs and memberberries like all the stuff on daystrom station and for having data come back instead of having a brand new soong type android that was exactly as alton soong designed it to be a amalgamation of data lore lal and himself

I feel like I’m seeing the same episode over and over, what a waste this series is became.

Great episode! This season has really been fantastic so far. The writing has been consistent, the acting of the principals is fantastic, and the pacing has been great.

I really loved the scenes with Rayner in command. That worked so well!

Loved getting the backstory about Moll and L’ak – it really did add layers to their characters and their story. And the reveal that L’ak was a Breen! I never saw that coming! Was great to know more about the most underdeveloped and mysterious alien race in Trek history.

Seeing the ISS Entreprise was a treat! I am guessing it was lost quite some time after mirror Spock took over from mirror Kirk. Nice Easter Egg… better than having some unknown ship in there.

Looking forward to the remaining episodes.

Did anyone else see “Morn” (or one of his species) sitting at the bar in Red’s?

Yes, I did catch that. It was a fun detail.

Seriously, an episode doesn’t go by without at least one eye roll over the touchy feely huggy share my feeling vibe that is shoe-horned into worst places. I wonder what this series would be like if Bryan Fuller had stayed on…

It would had been .. a Star Trek show, not this happy sad feeling sharing at all costs every single time somebody speaks.

I have a question because I’m really confused:

So discovery originally was set less than a decade before ToS. (And then they ended up far in the future)

The ISS enterprise is a reference to the ToS episode about the mirror universe. So that means the ISS enterprise is a contemporary with ToS and the USS enterprise, which means Dr Cho (who was expressly stated to be Terran) was about back in Kirk’s day.

However the progenitor technology and science in general was only discovered in TNG under Picard and i think it was expressly stated that the scientists that hid this research were originally asked to research it after the discovery by Picard in the first place.

TNG is set in the 24th century but ToS is set in the 23rd century – theirs about a hundred years between them.

So I’m trying to understand the timeline here because at the moment, from what I understand, it’s a human from the 23rd century somehow became a scientist on a study in the late 24th century and then stole the research and helped hide it with her 4 pals.

I thought for sure the Real Captain Lorca would be found in the transporters.

What a waste of an episode… filler and feelings…. Rinse and repeat

What an empty, disappointing episode. Discovery feels smaller and smaller every season.

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Commander Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie) isn’t thrilled by this prospect, pointing out before she leaves that it’s too dangerous a mission for a captain to undertake. But Burnham disagrees that this is enough of a reason to stop her; it’s a nice reminder that this is a show and a character that originated in the time of James T. Kirk, a time when captains didn’t stay behind in the face of danger.

But it’s not only that, there’s something else going on. Burnham gives Rayner permission to be blunt, quoting a classic work on Rayner’s native Kellerun , The Ballad of Krull , asking him to “serve it without a crumb of ossekat .” (As far as made-up Star Trek idioms go, that’s a pretty good one.)

It’s also the beginning of a sudden and relentless onslaught of references to Rayner’s culture, but more on that later. What’s Rayner’s problem? He’s uncomfortable with the prospect of being left in command of a ship and crew that aren’t “his.” Welcome to being second in command, buddy.

Book and Burnham take off, heading into the wormhole and finding it to be an inhospitable place. They quickly drop out of communication range with Discovery , there’s ship debris everywhere, including the wreckage of Moll and L’ak’s ship…. and what’s that, the  ISS Enterprise ?!

(A side note before we get too excited about that: what is the deal with all the empty space in the new shuttlecraft set, introduced in last season’s “All Is Possible”? The two pilot seats looked like they were crammed into the corner of a huge unfurnished room.)

Okay, Enterprise time. Burnham and Book rightly surmise that this is where Moll and L’ak must have escaped to and beam to the ship, which of course turns out to be a redress of the Strange New Worlds  standing sets. A quick scan identifies that no one else is aboard — though the clue, which Moll and L’ak have found, does also have a lifesign, hmm — and that Moll and L’ak are holed up in sickbay. Burnham takes a few moments to ponder her visit to the Mirror Universe back in Season 1 and wonder what the alternate version of her half-brother Spock might have been like (bearded, for one).

And aside from some brief storytelling about Mirror Saru’s role as a rebel leader, that’s about it for the Terran Empire of it all. Star Trek: Discovery has spent plenty of time in and around the Mirror Universe already, and I personally don’t think they need to revisit it again. But introducing the  ISS Enterprise — the ship that started it all with The Original Series ’ “Mirror, Mirror” — and then not doing anything momentous with it? Strange decision, and one that makes it ultimately feel more like this was a way for the show to get to reuse a set on the cheap than it does a materially significant addition to the episode.

In fact, in some ways it’s actually a detriment to the episode. If the action had been set on any other ship it would have been fine, but being on the ISS Enterprise I kept expecting something — like seeing Paul Wesley as Mirror Kirk slinking around, or finding Anson Mount camping it up as Mirror Pike in a personal log. If they’d set the action on a generic derelict ship, what we got wouldn’t have seemed like a let down. As it is though, I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop… and it simply never did.

Maybe in a subsequent episode, it’ll turn out that there’s an advantage in having an entire functional starship composed of atoms from another universe at Starfleet’s disposal — or to have a convenient collection of Constitution -class sets available for that Starfleet Academy show to borrow once in a while — but until that happens (if it even does) the use of the ISS Enterprise just seems like a name drop and a “We have to set the action somewhere , why not here?” instead of a significant use of the setting and the huge amount of lore and history that comes with it.

It’s like setting something aboard the Titanic without ever mentioning any icebergs.

As Burnham and Book make their way down to sickbay they do find evidence that the ship was being used in a way that seemed unusually gentle for a Terran Empire vessel: signs that children and families were aboard at one time, and that they were the kind of people sentimental enough to have keepsakes and favorite stuffed animals. But again, nothing about this seems like it needs the Mirror Universe connection. Ships of people trying to escape adversity are already a Star Trek staple.

Burnham and Book find Moll (Eve Harlow) and L’ak (Elias Toufexis) in sickbay, and after a valiant but ultimately unsuccessful attempt at getting them to surrender, everyone starts shooting. Moll and L’ak have a Breen blood bounty — an erigah — on their heads and surrender is simply not an option. During the firefight a lockdown is triggered, forcefields coming down that split the group into pairs: Burnham and L’ak stuck in sickbay, while Book and Moll able to go back to the bridge to try and reset sickbay.

Pairing off also gives Book the opportunity to continue his efforts to connect with Moll, and I have to say, I don’t think I’m a fan. Setting aside the portion of this that’s purely a strategic attempt to forge a connection with someone who is very to keen to kill him, my first reaction to the way Book talks to Moll about her father (and his mentor) was distaste.

I don’t think Book meant it this way, but the way he’s written in these scenes feels unpleasantly close to the “Well, he was a great guy to me , I never saw him do anything bad” response that’s sometimes made to accusations of misconduct. A person can be wonderful to some people in their life and terrible to others; both experiences are true for the people who received them, but they’re not mutually exclusive.

Book is preternaturally empathetic, and yet he doesn’t seem to see how continually assuring Moll that her father loved her is an act that’s both unwanted and actively painful for Moll to hear. I understand that Book is just trying to bring a sliver of comfort to Moll – but in the process he’s dismissing her own experiences of her father and his place in her life. Unless Moll asks him for this, it’s really none of Book’s business.

I suspect they’re setting up Moll’s character for a nice, cathartic arc where she comes to terms with her life, forgives her father, releases her past, whatever. And when that happens in real life that’s great — but it doesn’t always, and that’s okay too. If Moll never sees in her father the man Book saw in his mentor, it’s not a character failing. Discovery is really hammering home the theme of confronting one’s past in order to take control of one’s present and future, and I think it would be valuable if they included an example of a character learning to do the latter… without having to be okay with the former.

And to return to a question I posed in my review of “Under the Twin Moons,” I know Book is isolated and excruciatingly lonely after the destruction of Kweijan and his split with Michael, but the weight he’s placed on his relationship with Moll as “the closest thing he has to family” seems like he’s setting himself up for disappointment. Maybe I’m just a cynic, but this does not feel like a hopeful storyline to me. Not everyone wants to be family, and right now it doesn’t seem like Moll’s been given much of a choice in the matter — despite her frequent and very powerful explanations of why she’s not interested.

Clearly frustrated with Book’s topic of conversation and desperate to return to L’ak, Moll makes a reckless decision to brute-force a solution and overload some circuits. It works, and the forcefields in sickbay come down, but it also sends the Enterprise onto an unstoppable collision course with the too-small-to-pass-through and also going-to-be-closing-forever-soon wormhole. They’ve got eight minutes to figure this out.

Meanwhile aboard Discovery , we see Rayner’s struggles to interact with the crew. This thread could have gone so many different ways, Rayner seeming “too good” for a temporary command, him seeing this as his chance to do things “better” than Burnham or show how it’s “really done,” but instead the show takes the much more subtle and satisfying route: Rayner is deeply respectful of the captaincy, as a rank and a role, and really doesn’t want to step on Burnham’s authority.

He’s more than willing to disagree with her on command decisions , but he doesn’t question her command . And more personally, he doesn’t want his gruffness and lack of experience with this crew to cause problems. He’s trying, in his own Rayner way, and more importantly he’s succeeding — and, as we see as he shepherds the crew through figuring out how to communicate with and then rescue Book and Burnham, the crew does their part and meets him halfway.

Rayner is learning that he needs to tone down his temperament just enough that he doesn’t come across as an actual asshole to this crew, and the crew is learning that his gruffness isn’t a sign of disrespect but simply a desire to cut to the chase and get to direct, actionable information with a minimum of fluff. There are shades of Nimoy’s Spock or Voyager -era Seven of Nine here, but couched within a distinctly different temperament, and it’s fascinating to watch. I’d love to have seen him interacting with the crew of the Antares , where he presumably felt more comfortable.

The interpersonal stuff with Rayner and the crew is great; where Rayner’s thread feels distractingly like a box being checked is the explosion of “Rayner is a Kellerun!” being shouted from the bulkheads. I could practically hear the writers yelping out a panicked “Oh crap, we forgot to say what kind of alien Rayner is!”

Again, Discovery is back to its old self with the clunky, heavy-handed, and oddly paced character work. Rayner goes from having zero cultural touchstones to having about five in the span of the 15-20 minutes of screentime that his story gets this week. They’re good touchstones, don’t get me wrong — I’m skeptical of Kellerun citrus mash, I have to be honest, but I’d give it a try; not so sure about boiling a cake though — they’re just very present .

As with Rayner’s alienness, the frequent flashbacks throughout the episode to Moll and L’ak’s meeting and courtship feel like a “We forgot to explain this and now we’re trying to reference it!” correction. The content of the flashbacks is fine, there’s a lot of interesting Breen worldbuilding for a species that’s been mysterious from the start — and watching Moll and L’ak’s relationship grow from one of mutual convenience to one of true love is genuinely moving. But the way it’s woven into an episode that, again, feels like it’s composed of bits and pieces of storyline, makes it hard to shake the sense that I was watching a To Do list get checked off.

By the time the season is over it might be clear that there was simply no extra room to give a full episode over to Moll and L’ak’s meeting, or maybe an episode without any of the main cast wasn’t something they were willing or contractually able to do, but I would have loved if these flashbacks were pulled out and expanded into a full-length episode of their own. Some of the worldbuilding felt hasty to the point of hindering the emotional beats — at times I wondered if I’d forgotten a whole bunch of Breen lore and at others I was just trying to keep up with what was going on.

For example, my confusion about L’ak’s comment about having two faces, which Moll seemed to completely understand — “Duh, everyone knows the Breen have two faces” — was a distraction in the middle of an otherwise nice and significant moment. This is later clarified as the translucent face and the solid face, but again I was distracted from fully appreciating an interesting bit of Breen culture because I was busy applying what I’d just learned back to the previous scene.

The quickly (and maybe not totally clearly articulated notion) that Breen deliberately restrict themselves to their translucent form for reasons that are entirely to do with avoiding any perception of weakness is a potent if hasty bit of social commentary, and as I said I nearly didn’t catch it.

Whether holding the translucent form requires the armor for protection or the armor necessitates the translucent form — it seems like it would be more comfortable wearing that helmet all the time if you were the texture and consistency of lime jello — this is surely a metaphor for the increasingly rigid, isolating, and emotionally and sometimes physically unhealthy things men in certain circles feel they must do to be appropriately masculine. Seeing L’ak free himself from that rigidity is powerful.

With the forcefields in sickbay down, Burnham and L’ak immediately spring into action:  Burnham trying to get the artifact from L’ak and L’ak simply trying to get away. They fight, and Burnham impressively proves she can hold her own against a Breen. When L’ak accidentally falls on his own blade, Burnham grabs the clue and speeds to the bridge where she manages to get a message to Rayner through some tractor beam trickery. The message? Another reference to that classic of Kellerun literature that gives Rayner the info he needs. Hey, did you know Rayner was a Kellerun?

The ISS Enterprise makes it through the wormhole, Moll and L’ak zip away in an escape pod, and it’s time to wrap things up. We head to Red’s for a quick but significant moment between Tilly (Mary Wiseman) and Culber (Wilson Cruz), as Tilly offers advice and an ear to a Culber who’s going through a quiet existential – maybe also spiritual? – crisis.

OBSERVATION LOUNGE

• In addition to the dedication plaques on the bridge, the ISS Enterprise has an additional plaque in its transporter room — one which, despite recounting the heroism of rebel action hero Mirror Saru, still states “Long Live the Empire.”
• The transporter room plaque is marked with “Stardate 32336.6,” which is about 9 years before the events of “Encounter at Farpoint.”
• The plaque describes the fate of Mirror Spock, who was killed after instituting the reforms which later led to the fall of the Terran Empire (as described in DS9’s “Crossover”).

The full text of the ISS Enterprise transporter room plaque:

The new High Chancellor presented hope and justice as if they were natural to our world. His words, “The light of hope shines through even the darkest of nights” became our rallying cry. He spoke of reform, and changed many of us. But some saw this as weakness. They killed him, and we sought help from an unlikely ally: A Kelpien slave turned rebel leader.   He spoke of visitors from another world… a near perfect mirror cast our darkness into light. With his aid we secured the Enterprise and stayed behind to continue his work. We bear scars from our escape, but our hope remains. May it carry us into a pristine, peaceful, and just future.

• Not counting L’ak’s previous appearances this season, this episode marks the first time we have seen the Breen in live action since their involvement in the Dominion War in Deep Space Nine.  (The species has appeared in  Star Trek: Lower Decks three times.)
• The 32nd century Breen wear updated encounter suits clearly based on the designs introduced in  Deep Space Nine ; their digital speech is extremely faithful to the incomprehensible noises Breen soldiers have spoken in past appearances.
• Given the fact that Moll appears to be just fine in the environment of the Breen ship, I guess Weyoun was right when he said the Breen homeworld was “quite comfortable” in “The Changing Face of Evil.”
• When L’ak is stabbed he gently oozes some green goo — but as we learned in “In Purgatory’s Shadow,” Breen do not have traditional humanoid blood.

• During his time in command of Discovery , Rayner never sits in the captain’s chair.
• This episode closes with a dedication plaque that reads “In loving memory of our friend, Allan ‘Red’ Marceta”. Marceta was, I presume, the namesake for Discovery’s bar.
• Someone aboard Discovery keeps a Cardassian vole as a pet. Going by Tilly’s reaction, and what we know from  Deep Space Nine , this is not a good thing.
• Linus (David Benjamin Tomlinson) plays a mean piano.
• Owosekun and Detmer get the off-screen cherry assignment of flying the ISS Enterprise back to Federation Headquarters, alone. I’m thinking that’s going to inspire some fanfic…

We don’t learn what this week’s clue is, though we know there’s a blue vial tucked away inside it, but we do learn that the crew of the ISS Enterprise did indeed make it to our universe. The scientist responsible for hiding this particular clue there was one of them, a Dr. Cho, who eventually made it all the way to branch admiral.

They strove for something positive and succeeded against all odds. Hopefully Discovery will be able to do the same as they continue their pursuit of Moll, L’ak, and the Progenitors.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 returns with “Whistlespeak” on Thursday, May 2.

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'Star Trek: Discovery' season 5 episode 3 'Jinaal' is a slow but steady affair

Humans have evidently evolved beyond the need for stairs in the 32nd century as teleportation has replaced the simple act of actually walking to places

Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Star Trek: Discovery" season 5, episode 3

The latest installment of "Star Trek: Discovery" season 5 on Paramount Plus adds a little water – and possibly some fertilizer – to the various different story seeds sewn last week. 

Entitled "Jinaal," the primary plot revolves around a revisit to the planet Trill and as you may recall, the last time we spent any length of time here was the episode " Forget Me Not " (S03, E04), which was not terrible. In fact, it was undeniable highlight of the third season, which itself had some of the best we've seen from "Discovery." Incidentally, that was first look at the Trill homeworld since " Star Trek: Deep Space Nine " episode "Equilibrium" (bizarrely, also S03, E04). (If you need a recap on how to watch Star Trek: Discovery, check out our Star Trek streaming guide for Paramount Plus .)

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Curiously, in that episode "Forget Me Not," Dr. Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz) was given a rare and welcome chance to shine and he does so once again in this episode as well. To briefly recap, Adira (Blu del Barrio) and her lover, a Trill named Gray (Ian Alexander), were aboard a generation ship way back when. They were both orphans, very much in love, and Gray had just received his symbiote when the ship was struck by an asteroid and everyone was ordered to evacuate. Unfortunately, Gray was fatally injured and the only way to save the symbiote was for Adira to join with it. And that's how it was for all of season three right up until the fourth season episode " Choose To Live " (S04, E03). 

Then, after all of that, Gray Tal has his consciousness transferred out of Adira and into an artificial synth golem before heading back to Trill to complete all that monk-style studying. And now you're all caught up. 

While a trip back to Trill is nice, you can't help but start to wonder if this fifth and final season will end up a 10-episode long epilogue as it ties up all its loose ends, almost like season five of " Babylon 5 ."  Commander Jett Reno (Tig Notaro) pops up in this episode at last, which more or less just leaves Commander Nhan (Rachael Ancheril), whom we last saw in the episode " Rubicon " S04, E09, to make an appearance. Although Ancheril's IMDb page does currently say, "Coming up in 2024, Rachael will be seen again in 'Chucky' season three [and] 'Star Trek Discovery' for its final season," so who knows. 

The big highlight this week was, as we alluded to above, Cruz's chance to stretch his acting chops just a little bit and he does not disappoint. The two biggest grumbles however, are the dialogue written by a writer who just saw "Lethal Weapon II" for the very first time and that the notion of teleporting around the place instead of just walking, has been taken to ludicrous extremes. 

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"Star Trek: Discovery" seems to be at peace with lifting from other IPs, sci-fi or otherwise. We've seen a nice " Close Encounters of the Third Kind " reference with mashed potato and we've even seen a fun nod to "Scooby-Doo," but these were all subtle. Then there was the extremely unsubtle " Die Hard " thing and then in " Scavengers " (S03, E06) the writers went  way  beyond homage and practically lifted a set piece directly from the 1987 movie "The Running Man." The premise was the same, the effect was the same and even the setting was practically identical.

This week's insight into what classic movie the Gen-Z writers of "Discovery" have recently discovered comes from a legendary scene with equally legendary dialogue between Sgt. Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) and Sgt. Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) during a rescue attempt after the latter learns that the toilet he's been sitting on has been rigged with a bomb in the first "Lethal Weapon" sequel. Lest we forget, this underrated action extravaganza also gave us Leo Getz and immortalized phrases like "diplomatik immunitee." and "but, but...you're blick."

Still, at least it was just a line or two of dialogue this time and not an entire set piece. My other main grumble with this episode as we mentioned above is the carefree abandon with which transporters are used. And I've touched upon this before. Despite beaming becoming a very common part of everyday life of the 32nd century, to the extent that folk use transporters instead of stairs and even to just change outfits, like we saw in the season four premiere episode — but the thing is, transporters kill you .

The creators of " Star Trek " have never officially confirmed that transporters kill you. However, solely based on the science, transporters do kill you. In simple terms, these teleportation devices scan every molecule in your body and briefly store them in the pattern buffer, while at the same time, the original body is to all intents and purposes, disintegrated. The transporter then converts the scanned copy into energy and beams the data stream to the desired location, where the body is rebuilt, from a sub-atomic level, using technology similar to a replicator. It's comparable in principle to a fax, except this fax machine destroys the original, to prevent duplication, although that has been known to happen.

The issue is essentially an existential one. Since our bodies are made up of identifiable matter, why won't transference of consciousness occur? What makes our consciousness so unique? What's the difference between an identical copy and you? If you were to put your copy into a different room that you hadn't been into, would you be able to see it? No. It's a perfect copy, but it's not you. There is a good article on Ars Technica that really goes into detail on this.

Still, all of this banter aside, this episode is not ... terrible. It is very evenly paced and that, despite the not-exactly edge-of-seat storyline, makes it bearable. Every sub-story seems to be given equal time and brief-but-enjoyable interplay between Lt. Tilly (Mary Wiseman) and Captain Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie) is fun. Plus, of course, we get to see the Trill homeworld again, which is nice. 

In other "Star Trek" news, " Strange New Worlds " has been renewed for a fourth season, while " Lower Decks " will end with its previously announced upcoming fifth season, expected to air sometime this year. Creator Mike McMahan and executive producer Alex Kurtzman posted a statement on the Star Trek website: “While five seasons of any series these days seems like a miracle, it’s no exaggeration to say that every second we've spent making this show has been a dream come true. Our incredible cast, crew and artists have given you everything they have because they love the characters they play, they love the world we've built, and more than anything we all love, love, love Star Trek."

Meanwhile, "Strange New Worlds" is currently in production on its third season, which is set to debut in 2025. It seems that all of this combined with the fact that "Section 31" ended up as a movie , casts doubt over the future of the Starfleet Academy spin-off and hopefully signals the end of the idiotic idea of "Star Trek: Legacy." Perhaps Paramount should look to cancel other ludicrous endeavors like the proposed Picard movie instead of cancelling decent shows in their efforts to tighten purse strings. 

The fifth and final season of "Star Trek: Discovery" and every episode of every "Star Trek" show — with the exception of "Star Trek: Prodigy" — currently streams exclusively on Paramount Plus in the US while "Prodigy" has found a new home o n Netflix.  

Internationally, the shows are available on  Paramount Plus  in Australia, Latin America, the UK and South Korea, as well as on Pluto TV in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland on the Pluto TV Sci-Fi channel. They also stream on  Paramount Plus  in Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. In Canada, they air on Bell Media's CTV Sci-Fi Channel and stream on Crave.

 —   Watch the bittersweet trailer for 'Star Trek: Discovery's final season (video)

 —  'Spaceman' sees Adam Sandler shine as a cosmonaut in crisis in Netflix's somber sci-fi film (review)

—  Star Trek's Seven of Nine returns in new novel 'Picard: Firewall' (exclusive)

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'Star Trek: Discovery' Season 5's Captain Rayner Ran His Ship Like a Pirate

Callum Keith Rennie also discusses coming into 'Discovery's final season, getting into prosthetics, and how much he has in common with Rayner.

The Big Picture

• Callum Keith Rennie's Captain Rayner brings conflict and depth to Star Trek: Discovery 's final season.
• Rennie discusses his experience on Star Trek: Discovery , praising the supportive cast and crew, despite the initial challenges of joining an established series for its last season.
• In Season 5, Episode 4 "Face the Strange," Burnham and Rayner must work together within a time bubble to save the universe.

As Captain Michael Burnham ( Sonequa Martin-Green ) embarks on one last adventure with her crew, Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 is bringing a few new characters along for the ride. Chief among those newcomers is the blunt, war-worn Captain Rayner. Played by Battlestar Galactica alum Callum Keith Rennie , Rayner is Burnham's new second in command on the Discovery , taking over after Saru ( Doug Jones ) took a different position at Starfleet.

Having lived through The Burn, Rayner doesn't have time for niceties and butts heads with Burnham almost immediately — so naturally, she takes it upon herself to give him a second chance when Starfleet is ready to cut him loose. Last week's episode saw him, rightfully, put in his place a bit as Tilly ( Mary Wiseman ) attempted to help him connect with the crew, much to his chagrin. In Season 5 Episode 4, "Face the Strange," Rayner and Burnham are thrown into a time bubble, forcing them to work together if they ever want to get back to the correct timeline and prevent the universe from being destroyed.

Ahead of the episode, I sat down with Rennie to dig into Rayner's backstory, what we can expect from him in the rest of the season, and what it will take for Rayner to truly connect with the crew of Discovery . During our conversation, we also discussed Rennie's history with sci-fi, what it was like joining Discovery for the show's final season, and what he's taking away from the whole experience.

Star Trek: Discovery

*Availability in US

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Taking place almost a decade before Captain Kirk's Enterprise, the USS Discovery charts a course to uncover new worlds and life forms.

Rennie is no stranger to science fiction, having had roles in such series as The Umbrella Academy , Jessica Jones, and Battlestar Galactica. As Battlestar Galactica was the series that turned me into a sci-fi fan, and perhaps Rennie's most recognizable role, I had to ask him about being a part of such massive and beloved franchises within the genre. "It's amazing," he said. For Rennie, even though Battlestar was also a reboot of a classic series , the show's success was a lot less predictable than the mainstay that is Star Trek . He explained, "Like, say Battlestar , when I started on that I had no idea where that one was gonna go. Discovery was already very established , but I actually didn't let any of that into my [head], because I went, “That's not gonna help.” So, I didn’t. Now, I'm feeling the world of it. Now, I'm sensing what the world of Discovery is and how many people love it, and how it fits. "

Discovery also isn't his first experience with Star Trek , "I watched the original. That was my thing, and that was it," Rennie told me. While he may have missed some of the series' in between, saying, "There's big chunks of time where I just didn't watch a lot of TV, so I missed all of the other stuff," he'll always make time for The Original Series when he comes across it, "even if the old Star Trek comes on, I'll still watch it because that was my Star Trek . Jim Kirk, and all of that. "

While we've gotten a pretty good sense of who Rayner is in these first four episodes, most of his backstory remains a mystery. Rennie revealed that "some backstory comes up in a few episodes." Part of his gruff exterior will be explained as we'll "get a sense of why he's maybe got a chip on his shoulder and has some unprocessed resentments about a bunch of things that maybe have played out in his work in a negative way."

Rennie Calls 'Star Trek: Discovery's Latest Episode "Amazing"

"Face the Strange," is such a classic Star Trek episode, employing the ever-entertaining sci-fi trope of sticking our main characters in a time loop, both to put an obstacle in their path as well as to bring them face to face with some of their own demons. For Rennie, the episode really put the science in science fiction. "It was like, 'Whoa! What's happening? I don't get it.' There's just so much science stuff and talk, so much jumping about to places and history and stuff." But he had high praise for his fellow castmates as well as the crew behind the camera." Lee [Rose] being the director, you're in great hands. Being in scenes with Sonequa, you know that you're gonna be in it , and it was great. I watched it again last night, and there’s just an amazing amount of stuff in there. It was just an amazing episode. "

In this episode, Burnham and Rayner are tossed back in time to the first season of Discovery , bringing them both face to face with the version of Burnham who's fresh off her own demotion in Starfleet . Throughout the episode, it becomes quite clear that Burnham and Rayner have a lot more in common than either of them might have realized. When asked if this experience might put them more on equal footing, Rennie confirmed that "he's learned an understanding of the crew." He went on to point out that we haven't seen the relationship that Rayner had with his own crew.

He explained: "We're not on the Antares talking about his crew, which I think is an important part that we missed, where you go, 'How did I see my people on my particular ship? And how well did I know them?' No one's asking me how well I knew everybody because I did, but if I've only been there a brief time, you're only gonna have facts." He admits that it is important for Rayner to connect past the surface level. "Through that particular episode, you learn and go, 'Yes, it is good to know what people are up to and where they're from,' because in that particular instance, it saved us. So, I learned a thing, and I give a, 'Yes. Got it. Thank you.'"

Rayner Will Have to Shorten the Distance Between Himself and the Discovery Crew

While it doesn't sound like we'll be getting any flashbacks to Rayner's time on the Antares Rennie believes that he'd spent a similar amount of time with that crew as Michael has with hers. "We didn't get to inhabit that, I get to make it up in my own mind," he said. "But for me, it was more like a pirate ship that I had. " While Rayner comes off as the more stubborn, stick-to-the-mission Captain between him and Burnham, Rennie doesn't think he was quite so strict on his own ship. He said:

"That's the way I perceived it. It wasn't some rigid, completely stoic, boss fest, but a little bit of a wild card ship. We're gonna go into things that nobody else wants to go into, or knows how to deal with, but we would. "

While the walls around Rayner are still pretty high, Rennie explained that we will see him "shorten the distance" he's put between himself and the crew of the Discovery. "There's a great bit, there's an episode where Burnham leaves me again to take control of the ship. There's an interaction with everybody in a certain way because they don't like me yet. [Laughs] And I need some help a little bit, but I've created a distance, and I have to shorten that distance between everybody." He went on to say there are plenty of "fun dynamics" to look forward to and Rayner's insistence on keeping everyone at arm's length will likely come back to bite him.

Star Trek has quite a long list of original alien species created for the franchise, and Rayner just happens to be a Kellerun, a race that hasn't been seen since Deep Space Nine . In classic Trek fashion, Kelleruns appear mostly human with the most visible difference being the shape of the ears. As he follows in the footsteps of the likes of Leonard Nimoy and any actor who has ever played a Vulcan or a Romulan, I asked Rennie about getting into prosthetics for the role. "Those guys are great. Rocky [Faulkner] was great, Nicola [Bendrey] was great." While it was certainly an extra step the process was brief enough that it didn't bother him to come to set a bit earlier than usual. "That was probably an hour, and I really didn't think about that enough to go, 'Oh, that's right. I have to get up earlier.' But I think we got it down to an hour and a bit for just the ears because there’s a lot of stuff on them."

Despite the agonizing wait of sitting in front of a mirror for an hour, Rennie noted that Faulkner and Bendrey made the make-up experience as fun as it could possibly have been. He said: "I don't love just sitting there looking at myself for an hour, but there's music and great company and coffee, and it became a really sweet part of the day, and then another sweet part of the day where I download. " It wasn't his first time getting into prosthetics, but his previous experience had been brief. After playing Rayner across an entire season, Rennie admitted by the end, removing the glue actually started to feel like you'd expect pulling costume glue off your ears to feel. "There was a point near the end where the glue-on, glue-off became quite painful for a while."

The Support of the Cast and the Fans Are Highlights of Rennie's 'Star Trek' Experience

While this is Rennie's first season on the show, it's the final bow for Star Trek: Discovery . When asked what he'd be taking away from this experience, he had nothing but high praise for the cast and crew. As a newcomer on a well-established show, jumping into the fifth season had a bit of a learning curve. "I found that coming into the show was difficult for me because it was unlike a show that I'd been on before. It was already very well established." He went on to say:

"I pat myself on the back because I made it through, and there was this wonderful group energy that helped me do that. The good naturedness of the show was something that I maybe haven't worked on. There was a wholehearted goodness about it, which was quite nice, which overlapped into how people treated each other and mutual respect. Also, I kind of blocked out all Star Treks in my mind, so I'm there not thinking of Star Trek history. I'm just doing scene-to-scene and working on this stuff, and then it finishes, and then I forget that there's an incredible vast following of the show that somehow you are now part of it like that. All of that, this is all relatively new to me."

As a new addition to an already established group, I pointed out that it seemed as though Rennie's experience mirrored that of his characters, and he agreed. "I'm excited for people to see the season. And then, coming into it playing, “I don't want to be liked. It doesn't matter if I'm liked. I'm there to do my job, like Rayner, and I'm doing it. And then there's the after-effect of an incredible fan base that seems to be very supportive ."

You can watch our full conversation in the player above, and catch the latest episode of Star Trek: Discovery now on Paramount+.

'Star Trek: Discovery' Season 5 Review: One Hell of a Final Ride

Watch on Paramount+

Star Trek: Discovery Just Brought A Legendary Original Series Episode Back Into The Mix

Let's fly ... away from spoilers . Read no further if you haven't watched the latest episode of "Star Trek: Discovery."

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the strangest of them all? In "Star Trek," that title goes to one of the zaniest concepts ever introduced into the canon: The Mirror Universe. The idea of our alternate selves living completely different lives somewhere out there is no longer the sole domain of perhaps the nerdiest franchise in all of sci-fi (although shows like "For All Mankind," "Foundation," and "3 Body Problem" are creating some stiff competition), the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or the best episode of "Community" ever made . Fans might be surprised to find out that many in the scientific community believe the theory is worth discussion these days . But "Trek" put its own unmistakable fingerprints on the multiverse by emphasizing one in particular that stands at odds with the usual Prime Universe -- one that poses a fundamentally moral dilemma between the paragons of Starfleet we know and love, and the absolute worst versions of themselves.

It doesn't come as a huge surprise that "Star Trek: Discovery" would use its final season to travel full circle and return to the Mirror Universe that played such a significant role back in season 1 (even if, ironically, there might be a parallel universe out there where we were able to see  former showrunner Bryan Fuller's more complex and nuanced take on it ). But what's sure to shock and delight longtime fans in episode 5, aptly titled "Mirrors," is a deep-cut reference to arguably one of the most influential hours of "Trek" ever made, and the one that introduced the Mirror Universe in the first place.

Read more: Every Star Trek Show And Movie In Chronological Order

A Different Kind Of Black Mirror

There might not be any sinister goatees or chest-baring V-necks in sight throughout this episode of "Discovery," but the lasting effects of "The Original Series" episode "Mirror, Mirror" are plain to see. Upon entering the wormhole that took scavengers Moll (Eve Harlow) and L'ak (Elias Toufexis) into multidimensional space, Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Book (David Ajala) discover the wrecked remains of their ship ... alongside the still-functioning husk of a familiar-looking Starfleet vessel, emblazoned with the name, "ISS Enterprise." For those who haven't brushed up on their 1967 "Trek" lore (and, quite frankly, shame on you if that's the case), Burnham helpfully points out that this isn't exactly the same starship captained by the fabled James T. Kirk thousands of years ago. It's one that has somehow found its way from the depths of the Mirror Universe (the exact specifics are oddly brushed aside) and remained stranded ever since.

But then "Discovery" goes a step further and hearkens back to "Mirror, Mirror" more thematically. While exploring the derelict ship, Burnham and Book stumble upon information about the previous occupants of the ISS Enterprise and specifically that of a certain Kelpian who rose from a slave to a leader in his own right. That, of course, refers to none other than the Mirror version of Saru (Doug Jones) seen in season 3, whom Emperor Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) saved from certain death and pointed towards his proper path. Where the ending of "Mirror, Mirror" suggests that Mirror Spock is still "a man of integrity" despite the ruthlessness of the Empire he serves, "Discovery" reconfirms that even the comically rampant evil of the Mirror Universe is no match for the stubborn idealism of "Trek."

New episodes of "Star Trek: Discovery" stream on Paramount+ every Thursday.

Read the original article on SlashFilm

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All the Stars Attending the 2024 White House Correspondents' Dinner, Hosted by Colin Jost

The star-studded dinner is a celebration of the First Amendment at its core, but media outlets always manage to sneak a few A-list celebrities onto the guest list

We've reached the weekend of the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner — the most star-studded event in political journalism — when celebrities, government officials and the president of the United States join White House reporters in celebrating the First Amendment right to a free press.

While the prestigious dinner (and the glamorous parties sandwiching it) is intended to bring journalists together, they have also become a hotbed for celebrity sightings, as media outlets bring along A-list talent in an unspoken competition of who knows who .

For the 2024 WHCD on Saturday, April 27, SNL 's Colin Jost was tapped to deliver the roast of President Joe Biden — and he'll have plenty of entertainment peers in the room watching. Aside from the president, vice president, first lady, second gentleman and all your favorite news anchors, here are the biggest stars attending this year's White House Correspondents' Dinner.

Molly Ringwald

Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images

Pretty in Pink actress Molly Ringwald will attend the White House Correspondents' Dinner as one of ABC News' guests of honor. Ringwald, 56, recently starred as Joanne Carson in FX series Feud: Capote vs. The Swans , which is now streaming on Hulu.

ABC News, FX and Hulu are all owned by Disney, likely explaining why the news network signed her up.

Da'Vine Joy Randolph

David Fisher/Shutterstock 

Newly minted Oscar winner Da'Vine Joy Randolph will join in the weekend festivities as another of ABC News' A-list guests. Fresh off a successful award season for her supporting role in The Holdovers , Randolph, 37, is one of the most exciting names in Hollywood right now.

As Hulu's Only Murders in the Building teases its upcoming fourth season , in which Randolph may reprise her role as Detective Dee Williams, ABC is no doubt excited to bring her along.

Theo Wargo/Getty 

Jon Hamm will be CBS News' star celebrity guest during this year's WHCD events, likely in connection to his work with the network's parent company, Paramount. The 53-year-old Mad Men alum joined the cast of two upcoming Paramount projects: Landman , a drama series about big oil in Texas, and Transformers One , an animated film that will exist within the Transformers world.

He is reportedly arriving with his wife, actress Anna Osceola .

Keri Russell

Courtesy of Netflix

Keri Russell , 48, recently handed fans of The Americans a new favorite show with Netflix's The Diplomat , in which she stars as a rugged foreign service officer thrown into the more polished role of U.S. ambassador to the U.K.

Now, she'll get a chance to live like her on-screen character, attending the WHCD as an esteemed guest of Deadline.

Rosario Dawson

Araya Doheny/Getty

Rent actress Rosario Dawson , who is very active in politics and even dated New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker for two years, will appear at the White House Correspondents' Dinner for the second year in a row as a guest of ABC News.

Dawson, 44, plays the titular character in Star Wars: Ahsoka on Disney+, and recently starred in the 2023 film Haunted Mansion , solidifying her ties to the Disney family.

Rachel Brosnahan

Frazer Harrison/Getty 

Rachel Brosnahan of Marvelous Mrs. Maisel fame will join CNN's entourage on Saturday, April 27, as she prepares to enter the DC Comics Universe with her starring role as journalist Lois Lane in the 2025 Superman reboot . DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Pictures — which are producing and distributing the film, respectively — are both owned by CNN's parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery.

Political thriller fiends may also remember Brosnahan, 33, for her recurring role in House of Cards as former sex worker Rachel Posner, a love interest of White House chief of staff Doug Stamper.

Naomi Biden

First granddaughter Naomi Biden — the eldest daughter of Hunter Biden — had a memorable moment in the national spotlight during her 2022 White House wedding , and is no stranger to the White House Correspondents' Weekend events. She will be a guest of ABC News this year.

Biden, 30, has obvious ties to politics, but she also married a political junkie. Her husband, Peter Neal , interned at the White House during the Obama administration, and contributed to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. Both Biden and Neal are now Ivy League law school graduates.

Caitlyn Jenner

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Caitlyn Jenner , 74, will again join Fox News at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. The former Olympic gold medalist and reality TV star waded into conservative politics during California's 2021 gubernatorial recall election , landing in 13th place.

Months after her bid for governor, Jenner was hired as an on-air contributor for Fox News.

Shannon Finney/Getty Images for The Rocket Foundation

Quavo , 33, will attend the dinner as a guest of ABC News. The rapper rose to stardom as one-third of the hip-hop group Migos , which also featured his nephew, Takeoff. In 2022, Takeoff was shot and killed while attending a private party in Houston with Quavo.

Now building a solo rap career, Quavo has also turned to activism. In 2023, he met with Vice President Kamala Harris and members of Congress to advocate on behalf of "millions of families" who have been effected by gun violence, and in March, his foundation launched an initiative that will grant $100,000 to organizations that are working to minimize violence in his local Atlanta community.

Colin Jost & Scarlett Johansson

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You can't have a White House Correspondents' Dinner without a host, and this year, emcee Colin Jost is expected to arrive with his wife, Scarlett Johansson , for moral support before taking the stage.

Other WHCD Guests — Including More Celebrities, Politicians and Government Staffers

• Jeff Zients, White House chief of staff
• Alejandro Mayorkas , secretary of homeland security
• Janet Yellen , secretary of the treasury
• Bill Burns, CIA director
• Ben LaBolt, White House communications director
• Lisa Monaco , U.S. deputy attorney general
• Andrew McCarthy , actor and member of the "Brat Pack"
• Chuck Schumer , Democratic Senate majority leader
• Wes Moore , Democratic governor of Maryland
• Chris Sununu , Republican governor of New Hampshire
• Amy Klobuchar , Democratic senator for Minnesota
• Pramila Jayapal , Democratic congresswoman for WA-O7
• John Kirby, White House national security communications adviser
• Jen O'Malley Dillon, chair of Biden's 2024 reelection campaign
• Reince Priebus , ABC contributor and Trump's former White House chief of staff
• Sonequa Martin-Green , Star Trek: Discovery actress and The Walking Dead alum
• Wilson Cruz , Star Trek: Discovery actor and My So-Called Life alum
• Gina Raimondo, secretary of commerce
• Steve Ricchetti , counselor to President Biden
• Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Biden 2024 campaign manager
• Mike Turner, Republican congressman for OH-10
• Ken Buck , recently retired Republican congressman for CO-04
• Antony Blinken , secretary of state
• Evan Ryan, White House cabinet secretary
• Mike Donilon, senior Biden 2024 campaign aide
• J.B. Pritzker , Democratic governor of Illinois
• Chris LaCivita , Trump 2024 strategist
• Darrell Issa, Republican congressman for CA-48
• Mark Warner, Democratic senator for Virginia
• Mike McCaul, Republican congressman for TX-10
• Herbie Ziskend, White House deputy communications director
• Christine Wormuth , secretary of the Army 
• Tim Kennedy, former Green Beret sniper and UFC fighter
• Paul Abbate, deputy FBI director
• Eric Van Nostrand, assistant secretary for economic policy for the treasury
• Rufus Sewell , actor and co-star of The Diplomat
• Debora Cahn, writer and producer for The West Wing, Homeland and The Diplomat

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

• Jermaine Dupri , Atlanta-raised rapper
• Dallas Austin , Georgia-born songwriter and record producer
• Jake Sullivan , national security adviser
• Jennifer Granholm , secretary of energy
• Shalanda Young , director of the Office of Management and Budget
• Miguel Cardona , secretary of education
• Liza Acevedo, second gentleman's communications director
• Michael Kikukawa, assistant White House press secretary
• John Fetterman , Democratic senator for Pennsylvania
• Gisele Barreto Fetterman , former second lady of Pennsylvania
• Sonja Thrasher, White House press assistant

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Original ‘Star Trek’ Enterprise Model Is Found After Being Missing for Decades

The 33-inch model surfaced on eBay after disappearing around 1979. An auction house is giving it to the son of Gene Roddenberry, the creator of “Star Trek.”

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By Emily Schmall

The first model of the U.S.S. Enterprise, the starship that appeared in the opening credits of the original “Star Trek” television series , has been returned to Eugene Roddenberry Jr., the son of the creator of the series, decades after it went missing.

“After a long journey, she’s home,” Mr. Roddenberry wrote on social media on Thursday.

For die-hard Trekkies, the model’s disappearance had become the subject of folklore, so an eBay listing last fall, with a starting bid of $1,000, didn’t go unnoticed.

“Red alert,” someone in an online costume and prop-making forum wrote, linking to the listing.

Mr. Roddenberry’s father, Gene Roddenberry, created the television series, which first aired in 1966 and ran for three seasons. It spawned numerous spinoffs, several films and a franchise that has included conventions and legions of devoted fans with an avid interest in memorabilia.

The seller of the model was bombarded with inquiries and quickly took the listing down.

The seller contacted Heritage Auctions to authenticate it, the auction house’s executive vice president, Joe Maddalena, said on Saturday. As soon as the seller, who said he had found it in a storage unit, brought it to the auction house’s office in Beverly Hills, Calif., Mr. Maddalena said he knew it was real.

“That’s when I reached out to Rod to say, ‘We’ve got this. This is it,’” he said, adding that the model was being transferred to Mr. Roddenberry.

Mr. Roddenberry, who is known as Rod, said on Saturday that he would restore the model and seek to have it displayed in a museum or other institution. He said reclaiming the item had only piqued his interest in the circumstances about its disappearance.

“Whoever borrowed it or misplaced it or lost it, something happened somewhere,” he said. “Where’s it been?”

It was unclear how the model ended up in the storage unit and who had it before its discovery.

The original U.S.S. Enterprise, a 33-inch model, was mostly made of solid wood by Richard C. Datin, a model maker for the Howard Anderson Company, a special-effects company that created the opening credits for some of the 20th century’s biggest TV shows .

An enlarged 11-foot model was used in subsequent “Star Trek” television episodes, and is now part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum , where it was donated by Paramount Studios in 1974.

Mr. Roddenberry, who said he gave the seller a “reward” for its recovery but did not disclose the terms, assembled a group of “Star Trek” production veterans, model makers and restoration specialists in Beverly Hills to authenticate the find.

The group included a “Star Trek” art supervisor, Michael Okuda, and his wife, Denise, an artist on “Star Trek” television series and films, and Gary Kerr, a “Trek x-pert” who served as technical consultant for the Smithsonian during a 2016 restoration of the 11-foot model.

“We spent at least an hour photographing it, inspecting the paint, inspecting the dirt, looking under the base, the patina on the stem, the grain in the wood,” Mr. Roddenberry said.

“It was a unanimous ‘This is 100 percent the one,’” he said.

Gene Roddenberry, who died in 1991 , kept the original model, which appeared in the show’s opening credits and pilot episode, on his desk.

Mr. Kerr compared the model to 1960s photos he had of the model on Mr. Roddenberry’s desk.

“The wood grain matched exactly, so that was it,” he said on Saturday.

The model went missing after Mr. Roddenberry lent it to the makers of “Star Trek: The Motion Picture,” which was released in 1979, Mr. Maddalena said.

“This is a major discovery,” he said, likening the model to the ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz,” a prop that was stolen in 2005 and recovered by the F.B.I. in 2018, and that Heritage Auctions is selling.

While the slippers represent hope, he said, the starship Enterprise model “represents dreams.”

“It’s a portal to what could be,” he said.

Emily Schmall covers breaking news and feature stories and is based in Chicago. More about Emily Schmall

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