Star Trek: Discovery – Season Five [Blu-ray] [Region A & B

Season one was beset with production problems yet remained remarkably consistent in spite of that. Season two improved things considerably and season three proved the show could work with a new format. Season four delivered a solid season of ‘Trek-like’ storytelling and season five has topped them all.

Possibly because of the reduced episode count, the overall story arc seems far tighter with less of the (slight) padding in evidence last season. Tying the show back to season six of TNG was an interesting move and I think it paid off in a satisfying way. The reintroduction of the Breen, and giving them far more nuance, was also a welcome step.
The ending, finally linking into the Short Trek “Calypso” was a surprising move. Apparently this storyline had been reserved for season six had the show continued, but it was not to be. My only real complaint with this ending was that the edit from the original final scene to the new ‘coda’ was a little clumsy, but apart from that I loved the season and found the ending very moving.

I would like to close with the fact that I have been watching Trek for fifty years, so some of the accusations thrown at the show that it doesn’t appeal to ‘old’ fans is a nonsense. I didn’t find it “woke” (whatever that means on any given day) either, as every show has been as liberal as the era in which it was made would allow. Burnham isn’t a great captain because she’s a black woman, she’s just a black woman who’s a great captain. Same with Stamets: His sexuality has nothing to do with his intelligence… it literally isn’t an issue. Remember how even a black woman on the bridge was contentious to many during TOS? Now it isn’t a problem. Hopefully, as Trek has always been ahead of the curve, the same will apply to Discovery one day and we’ll just shrug and accept these people for who they are as opposed to what they are.