‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Recap – ‘Red Directive’ & ‘Under the Twin Moons’

4/5/2024

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Sonequa Martin-Green as Captain Michael Burnham in Episode 501 of ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ – ‘Red Directive’. (Photo Courtesy of Paramount+.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the Season Five Premiere of ‘Star Trek: Discovery’. To revisit the Season Four Finale, click here.

If there is one particular season of storytelling, on television, that makes fans of a franchise as nervous as can be, it is the final season. Simply because, so many television shows have the tendency to not stick the landing when it comes to their farewell tour for a bevy of reasons. Sometimes, it is because of the fact that the final season is too ambitious and just goes places that don’t fit or work. Or the ending simply isn’t up to snuff and doesn’t resonate with the audience, and well… what fans are left with are complaints and a bit of sadness since they really want to properly bid farewell to a show they love. But what is incredible, is that there is one franchise that fans don’t harbor such nerves with since the Star Trek Universe knows how to bid a show farewell.

After all, the final season of The Next Generation featured enough highlights to forget about its missteps, especially its finale, and Deep Space Nine handled its farewell tour well, and even Voyager figured out how to stick the landing. Not to mention, even the new shows that are beginning to come to their end, continue to impress with their endings. For Picard featured some of the best Trek storytelling in years. If anything, the only real outlier is the final season of Enterprise. But that track record otherwise, is why it is safe to say that so much of us tuned into the season five premiere of Star Trek: Discovery on Paramount+, with a sense of joy in our hearts. For despite this being the farewell tour of the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery NCC-1031-A, we know deep down the show will handle that in a powerful manner and well, that reality was reinforced during this week’s season five premiere of the show.

For ‘Red Directive’ and ‘Under the Twin Moons’ offered up a lot of wondrous moments to say the least. For instance, these are a pair of stories that continued to build upon the hope that was injected into the galaxy in the season four finale. Since we came to learn that the United Federation of Planets and Starfleet were once again growing in strength, and that good people were working to correct the Federation’s past mistakes, and the majesty of these opening tales didn’t end there. Mainly because, it also didn’t take that long for this premiere to establish what the crew will be working to deal with in their farewell tour, and well… what lies ahead is quite the task to say the least. One that harbors ties to the core of the franchise and should lead to some powerful philosophical moments as the final season rolls along.

Sonequa Martin-Green and Doug Jones as Captain Michael Burnham and Captain Saur in Episode 502 of ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ – ‘Under the Twin Moons’. (Photo Courtesy of Paramount+.)

Courtesy of the return, of the species now known as ‘The Progenitors’. Or rather, the return of their mythos and their actions in the galaxy. Since these beings were the ones to seed all life in the galaxy, a reality that was learned by then Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the Enterprise of that era in the TNG episode, ‘The Chase’. And here, these beings are of note because a Romulan scientist named Vellek, who was there when Picard and his away team learned the truth from these beings, stumbled upon their technology and its location long ago. Which of course, he worked to keep a secret but, in these episodes, that secret is at risk of being exposed by a pair of villains known only as L’ak and Moll, and their desire to uncover the secrets of the Progenitors brought forth incredible action in this premiere and set the stage for incredible stakes this season.

Because the power to create life, to know it’s true building blocks, would be disastrous in the wrong hands and that really is a lovely setup for the final season of this show. For not only does it put the crew upon an epic quest, but it could potentially ground the story in some seriously beautiful concepts. The kind that could explore how we find purpose and meaning in life, and of course… how we are all one, and there were hints of that in the second episode of this super-sized premiere. Since there were grand discussions about second chances and what they can do for us, and of course… we were reminded of what this crew means to one another, since there was our first, final season farewell here. For this was the swan song for Doug Jones as Captain Saru, and that was bittersweet in nature. Granted, he may return for the finale, but for now… his time aboard the Discovery has come to an end, and Doug Jones deserves a massive round of applause for his work on this series and for making Saru someone we relate to and look up to.

In the end, this was just a triumphant return to form for Discovery, and a bittersweet one at that. After all, without this show, we wouldn’t be enjoying the wondrous amount of Star Trek we are now, so it wounds a bit that we only have eight episodes left of adventures with this crew. But at least now we know that no second will be wasted and that the mission will be worthwhile. Because that’s just how Star Trek handles its business when one of its shows goes off the air, and if the emotion present in this premiere, and the action present as well, is any indicator of what’s to come… then we are simply in for one final epic ride through the galaxy with a crew we adore and love. One that reminded us of the wonder of this franchise and how important these stories are to our daily lives, because of the hope they send our way. Until next time.

Watch ‘Star Trek: Discovery’

0 Comments