The fifth and final season of Star Trek: Discovery continues on Thursday with the fourth episode, and we have details, a couple of new photos, and a clip WITH SPOILERS.
Episode 4: “Face the Strange”
The fourth episode of the season, “Face the Strange,” was written by Sean Cochran and directed by Lee Rose. It debuts on Paramount+ on Thursday, April 18.
Synopsis:
On the way to the next clue, the U.S.S. Discovery is sabotaged by a mysterious weapon, leaving Captain Burnham, Rayner, and Stamets as the only crew members who can possibly save the ship in time.
Co-showrunner Michelle Paradise previously teased this episode saying, “Mind bending and exciting, and a heck of a lot of fun.”
NEW Photos:
Eve Harlow as Moll and Elias Toufexis as L’ak (Paramount+)
Eve Harlow as Moll and Elias Toufexis as L’ak (Paramount+)
Clip
You can see a clip from “Face the Strange” from the latest episode of The Ready Room below…
Season trailers
Here is the trailer released in February.
And the season preview released with the first episode…
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 also premiered 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 debuted on SkyShowtime in select European countries on April 5.
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I haven’t watched this season at all. I stopped after the first three or four episodes last season (I think I watched maybe ten minutes of the finale). Is it worth starting again?
It’s the same old weepy CW style melodramatic nonsense where they stop in the middle of action to spew uncontrollable emotional diarrhea all over each other but it’s got good VFX and a few good characters, including my boy Saru. Which is why I’m still watching, even though it makes my blood boil at times.
I tried the free first ep, but didn’t even make it through the teaser to the opening credits.
I’m sure you watched it all.
Yeah that still bothers me too but at least no one has cried yet, including Burnham.
That’s at least a positive lol.
It had great promise in the season premiere, but then it degenerated into the same problems the show has always had: protracted, melodramatic “here are my feelings on my sleeves” scenes that get in the way of the story; SMG’s annoyingly weird brand of whisper-acting; a lot of time wasted on dud characters Adira and Gray; and a general lack of plot movement. The best exchanges this past week involved Rayner and Tilly. Pretty much everything else fell flat, and the Trill story was very much a miss.
The three episodes we’ve had this season are filled with a lot of needless padding, and they could easily have been edited down to two episodes covering the same ground, which would have made them tighter. I had cautiously optimistic hopes for this season based on the trailers and the first episode, but it feels like they’re just going to repeat the mistakes of the previous seasons.
The excesses and mistakes being made by the Discovery team perplex me. These are talented people who care about what they’re doing. I know this from their other work, and from working alongside some of them. So I often find myself scratching my head, wondering how they aren’t doing a better job of it. So much time is squandered on this show, and Michael Burnham is such an inconsistently written character, portrayed by a one-note actress who has never learned how to emote without whispering or crying. Frankly, Discovery’s cancelation is a euthanasia.
Working alongside some of them? You’ve piqued my interest!
“needless padding” is such a key problem with the new style of many streamers.
The show runners seem to have a decent idea that could serve as a pretty good base for a 2 – 2 1/2 hour movie, but they seem to think it’s better to stretch that into 10 episodes, pulling it past the point of viability ‘like butter scraped over too much bread’
I get that we’re no longer in the world of 25 episode Trek seasons, and for sure there were clunker episodes in that era, but at least then they had to come up with many different ideas, even if there was a consistent thread across a season. DS9 was peak serialization + one-off ideas. SNW is at least trying.
The Section 31 movie which I don’t think will be any good could at least prove the point that a single idea should be a single movie, vs 5 too many episodes. IMO, all the seasons of Picard also suffered from this malady. Three tightly edited Picard movies would have been much better
Discovery might have benefited if it had been reduced to a 3- or 4-part miniseries for the season. There just isn’t much there to justify the number of episodes they have to fill.
I’m actually hoping that the Rayner character is them highlighting how the members of Discovery are different and that its just the style of how these characters do things.
It’s absolutely worth it- it’s a massive improvement on Season 4 and is elevated on every level.
I agree it’s better than the previous season but the same issues are still there. The main storyline is perhaps the biggest improvement. It’s worth stating the obvious though, that at this point things aren’t going to change. So just know that going in. Watch for what YOU like otherwise you will spend way too much time focusing on the negative.
No Star Trek show is perfect, they all have their flaws. But I do agree with your last point. I’m not sure why anybody would watch a show they don’t enjoy- I don’t find hate-watching to be a particularly healthy thing to do.
I completely agree. I think most people accept that not everything or everyone will be perfect. As a result, some criticism is warranted . Unfortunately, I think some take it too far. It’s almost become common in fandoms to hate watch. I tend to think the opposite….If it’s not working it’s always ok to move on and find something worth your time. I wish more would realize that.
I completely agree with you. Hate watching and then bashing the show ad nauseam is really annoying. If you don’t like it… don’t watch. Simple as that. Nope. People love to claim they couldn’t watch it all or haven’t bothered to watch in years… yet continue to post. Move on.
Every second of this show I watch is hate watching – which is why I haven’t done it since Season 2, episode 3. Absolutely no regrets – my time is much too valuable to waste. It’s disheartening to say the least that I don’t watch modern Trek (my go-to is still TOS after all these years), but from a mental health standpoint it’s necessary for me not to see this stuff lol
What they should do is have Discovery jump to the 43rd century. That way, they could start with a clean slate and have more creative freedom to do what they want.
Yup. Totally agree. Fingers crossed it stays that way.
I’m watching the episodes as they drop on Thursdays. One problem I noticed is that a serialized arc doesn’t work over ten weeks.
I watch to support the franchise.
If I were you, I’d wait until the season ends and binge it out.
These arcs need to be over several seasons and build up to the final big plot reveal and conclusion in my opinion. DS9 spread the dominion war out over several seasons and other popular streaming shows have done the same with their stories.
+1
Yes.
I can say without any hesitation I truly enjoyed the first two episodes. They were fun and really love the storyline they are using with a big TNG connection.
But really did not enjoy the third episode at all though and felt it fell back to some of the same Discovery flaws. But I seem to be in the minority on that one as a lot of people really did seem to enjoy it
But overall I’m very hopeful we”re going to get a great season so fingers crossed. And the reviews for episode 4 are really strong so that’s a positive at least.
The only advice to give you is just watch the first three episodes. If they grab you then keep watching. If not then you’re probably not to like it and just stop right there.
Maybe the best idea is just to wait until it’s done, listen to the reviews and just binge it; which I was also considering after how disappointed I was over season 4.
Trek is Trek….
….and sometimes Dreck. (💬🇩🇪) 🤷♂️
Are they talking to a Hunter?
Nobody disliked season 3 and 4 as much as me however credit were credit is due season 5 is a vast improvement so far
My reaction is similar to yours. Was frustrated and annoyed by seasons 3 and
4, but am finding season 5 a lot better — “so far”.
I’ve particularly enjoyed the addition of Rayner, Moll and L’ak. Writers have been setting up an interesting dynamic between Raynor and Tilly; they could end up learning a lot from each other, perhaps even become valued friends.
Or, based on the past four seasons, it could all go right down the drain.