We’ve reached the end of a great journey for Star Trek: Discovery! We’ve traced the career of Michael Burnham and it’s time to say good-bye.
But before that end, we last left Burnham in the portal of the Progenitors’ tech. She followed Moll, and there is a bizarre nearly infinite room inside. Meanwhile, the Breen are closing in on the portal with Discovery trying to fend them off. Another Breen Primark is approaching, and Ambassador Saru is intercepting. The Breen at the portal send out small fighter vessels to take out Discovery. Rayner decides to stop them while Booker and Hugh go to keep the portal safe and tractor beam it aboard Discovery. The shuttle their on has trouble with locking the tractor beam, but Hugh has a random memory from when he was possessed by the Trill scientist, and knows the frequency to lock on. It works, but the shuttle can’t move and basically holds it in place (which there is a reason for that which I’ll get to in a bit). Discovery ignites plasma that takes out all the smaller vessels, but the Breen ship is still approaching.
Inside the portal, Burnham and Moll reach an agreement in order to find the tech, but also duke it out to stop each other. They do find the tech, and Moll knocks out Burnham to attempt to open on her own. It results in her being incapacitated and the portal trying to pull itself toward a black hole, which is why Booker and Hugh keep it in place. Burnham regains consciousness in time to pull Moll away and figure out the puzzle to open it. Burnham goes to a different version of the tech room, and meets a Progenitor. She is told that making a copy of someone will work in all ways except the memories and who that person is, so they cannot revive L’ak. Burnham is also made the steward of the tech and before she decides what to do with it she wants to save her crew.
But, the crew has found a way to disable the Breen already. They split saucer and ship to use the spore drive to send the Breen several lightyears away. It succeeds. And Saru is successful with the other Primark, who has left the pursuit of the situation at hand. Burnham and the portal are back on Discovery safely, and she decides to send the portal into the black hole so no one person or species can have it.
Burnham meets with Dr. Kovitch to explain some things and close the red directive. It is revealed that Kovitch is Agent Daniels of the Enterprise series fame! He leaves Burnham the contact device that she has had this whole time and says there might be something in the future. He also says that he is going to offer Moll a position with him. There is a jump to Saru and T’Rina’s wedding with the crew of Discovery in attendance. Tilly has figured out a mentorship program for Starfleet Academy. Booker arrives in time for him and Burnham to reconcile and unite for good. They are interrupted with Kovitch contacting Burnham and they decide to take the call. It then jumps even further in the future to after Burnham is a retired Admiral, seemingly married to Booker and they have a son. Their son greets Burnham to pick her up for a last mission. Admiral Burnham is to take Discovery to a designated spot for it to wait (which seems an allusion to a Star Trek Short, “Calypso,” they did a while back). There is a nice scene with the crew of Discovery all saying good-bye on the bridge, which is either a flasback or allusion Michael is having. Discovery spore drives out, and we’ve reached the end!
Now our final Discovery thoughts…
Music
Mr. Daps: “The music was better this season than the rest of the season, I thought. However, I didn’t feel like it reached a level that has been found in other Star Trek series through the years. It did the job it needed to do. There were a few moments that were really quite enjoyable. However, I really wish they would use more themes that recurred through the show so the music really becomes another character. I liked that in this episode there was some more use of the theme for the series, and I would have liked more of that throughout the entire episode and season.”
Murray: “The music finally had some unique themes and scores for this episode. I liked the themes in the Progenitor portal, and the epilogue had some unique scores. But, there was something that bothered me about the epilogue score. The way I’d put it is it didn’t feel complete. It sounded a bit too sci-fi generic and didn’t quite make the mark for me. And that is a bit of a dissapointment for it being the last episode. I liked how it did incorporate the theme song, which is one of my favorite Star Trek themes. But, I wish they had a bit more with the soundtrack for this ending.”
Design
Mr. Daps: “Design really was solid this week. There was a LOT to look at and enjoy. I thought costumes were great, ship designs were fun, the whole Progenitor tech interesting, and the aging was top notch. This was an episode that I want to go back and watch again just to catch all of the details that I missed the first time through. Discovery went out on top in terms of design.”
Murray: “The design really outshined in this finale. The subtle portal looks inside the Progenitor space to the falling icicle stars of the Progenitor’s meeting space was almost magical for a very sciencey series. The dress uniforms and wedding costumes were superb in the epilogue. I think the makeup was surprisingly great for old Burnham and Booker. Elderly makeup is usually a miss in film and tv shows, even for those with big budgets. It was a good relief to see that it was so well done and believable. Overall, the production design helped make this a very big finale.”
Story
Mr. Daps: “I thought the story did a pretty decent job this week. I also thought it was interesting how the pacing was completely different in both stories. One was very intimate and at times, almost slow. This was inside the Progenitor tech. Outside, however, was a completely different story as it is a race against time and a classic Star Trek battle! I would say the only part that didn’t work as well as it could have for me was the coda. While it all made sense to me, it also felt like it had been added on.”
Murray: “The story was really split in two. We have the end of the mission with Burnham trying to get the Progenitor’s tech and Discovery keeping a battle from happening. It had a great connection to Saru keeping the Federation out of a war also. The other half was the wedding and going into the epilogue. That was almost an episode in itself, and could have been if they extended some things about it. The extended end really made it the first epilogue of Star Trek, in my opinion. We got the nice way of sending off both crew and ship. Even though it was a bit disconnected, it all fit in well enough.”
Hit or Miss?
Mr. Daps: “This week was a hit for me. It wasn’t a perfect episode. However, I enjoyed it. I also felt it did a decent job of wrapping up the storyline of the Discovery and her crew. While we don’t find out what happens to everyone, we do get enough resolution to be satisfied. There are some weird things with the final mission that if a sixth season had happened, I’m sure would have been answered. However, at the end of the day I think the entire crew of Star Trek: Discovery did a very honorable job of telling a story over the course of five seasons that really shared the whole story of this ship and her crew. Before this episode I was wondering about a potential future movie. After this episode, I’m not sure I feel the need. The story feels complete and that is a win.
Star Trek: Discovery has been an interesting series to follow as a life-long Star Trek fan. There were some things I really loved about this series, and other things I really struggled with (the Klingons and their storyline in season one being one of them). However, at the end of the day it has been a successful show that has brought in new Star Trek fans, told new stories, and even opened up more possibilities. And perhaps most importantly, it also has me excited about the possibilities for the future. And isn’t that what Star Trek is supposed to be about? So with that in mind, we bid adieu to Discovery and her crew and look forward to what it next!”
Murray: “You would think with a finale and an extended epilogue that it would be easy to say hit or miss. It wasn’t with this episode. I liked the Agent Daniels connection. I liked the whole high stakes of taking care of the portal. I liked the resolution of the Progenitors, and even the message given. Having a huge look at post-Discovery missions surprised me in a good way. That feels highly resolved. But, it was a long one without a clear sense of whatever happened to the rest of the Discovery crew (except Tilly). I know Discovery was supposed to be about Burnham, but we’ve all grown to like the rest of the crew. It made it hard to completely like. The whole final mission thing was a bit too vague, even if it connects with something we’ve already seen. I’m still calling it a ‘hit’ because they did great at how the mission completed, and things feel completely resolved. I think what even helped is having the Daniels reveal and not keeping that a secret for some possible something in the future.
So, here’s to Star Trek: Discovery! As much as Mr. Daps and I criticized some things, loved others, this ushered in the current Star Trek era we’re in, and I’m thankful for that. It ushered it in well to have what we have now, and we’ve been enjoying this era and what it keeps having in store! So I think Discovery got the send-off it needed, and I’m looking forward to more Trek!”
