(courtesy IMP Awards)
What a wild ride the penultimate episode of Star Trek: Discovery is! With their spore-drive nav system not exactly up to code and the Breen hot upon their heels, Discovery has no choice but to jump with the hope that they’ll close enough to their target area. Not really what you need when it’s a neck-and-neck race to secure the Progenitors technology but it is what it is, and Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) is adept at making the best of a very bad situation and it looks, for a little while at least, as if the Federation will be the ones to get their hands on the tech that has the power to begin and end life. Sweet victory is at hand until, of course … it’s not and the Breen manage to spirit the shuttle-sized Progenitors tech hub onto their ship. What to do, what to do? Why beam onto the Breen dreadnought and get it back, naturally! Easier said than done but Burnham, Book (David Ajala), Lieutenant Commander Gen Rhys (Patrick Kwok-Choon) and Adira Tal (Blu del Barrio) give it a red hot go, get on the ship with the aim of Burnham and Book surreptitiously attaching a breaming device onto the container while Rhys and Tal break the code to the Breen’s shields so that it can then be beamed back to Discovery. Simple, right? In theory yes but nothing is simple when it comes to tactical manoeuvring and they are found out and what should be a quick snatch-and-grab becomes something else entirely with Burnham, Moll (Eve Harlow) and some hapless Breen volunteers catapulting into the interdimensional interior of the container while those left behind fight over retrieval of the container which takes places in spectacular fashion. It’s a riot! It’s clever and it sets things up perfectly for the final ever episode.
THE VERDICT: Honestly, as showdowns go, Star Trek: Discovery absolutely nailed it. There were twists, there were turns, there were moments of sure victory and blinding defeat and a tantalising sense that though the end of the journey is over, it still has some major distance to travel yet. What really impressed that amongst all the reasonably cloak-and-dagger shenanigans was that Michael and Book got to have a rare moment of confessional intimacy which, on the face of it is a little odd – the fate of the galaxy now and forever is on the line but let’s us share our hearts for just a mo’ – but which ultimately beautifully underscored the show’s ability to balance the tenderly intimate with the epically narrative. This was further exemplified by the care taken to present Moll as someone acting deep in the throes of horrific grief; she’s no angel but she is being driven not by political brinkmanship but rather a desperate need to be reunited with L’ak (Elias Toufexis), the man she loves. While the action sequences were compellingly good, it was the moments of quiet but powerful character interaction that made this episode really sing.
If you’re going to say goodbye, say it properly and so Star Trek: Discovery did with a well-used 1.5 hours approximately at its disposal. With the container full of Progenitors’ tech hurtling through space near a binary black hole and two sparring ships, the Breen dreadnought and Discovery, Saru (Doug Jones) trying, with the help of Commander Nhan (Rachael Ancheril) to stop rival Breen Primarch Tahal from arriving on the scene with three dreadnoughts, and Burnham and Moll trying to survive a batsh*t crazy, Alice in Wonderland-ish environment within the container, “Life, Itself” was full of things going on. The Progrenitor’s tech hub was a place of strange worlds and bizarre weather and endless Tron-like walks to nowhere, and if it wasn’t for the fact that Burnham picked a vital tip on how successfully summon the Progenitors, it would have well and truly been an errand that ended in massive failure. But this is a finale, and one for an American series at that, and so ambiguity could not be tolerated. Quite what that ending is must be left to the realm of SPOILERS! but suffice to say, the way Burnham dealt with the tech and who should have access to it was clever, insightful and wholly consistent with a character who has shown again and again that she thinks and feels deeply and that she’ll bring that to each and every decision she makes. While the great battles between the Breen and Discovery were impressive and wholly immersive, and included the spore drive jump to end all spore drive jumps (and an unexpected moment of forgiveness and mercy by First Officer Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie) which was sublime and touching in the midst of the klaxon hell of battle), it was the fact that quiet thoughtful moments, even when on mission, featuring just Burnham pretty much bookended the episode that really made the story fly and have the impact it did.
THE VERDICT: What an ending! Wrapping any TV series is HARD, and few have managed it perfectly – one of the few that really sang was the finale of Six Feet Under which was a JOY – but Discovery came very, very close to absolutely, completely nailing it. We got a thrilling end to quite possibly the series’ best season ever, which tied things up neatly in a way that felt right and proper, an epilogue that tied at the heartstrings quite fiercely ———- SPOILER !!!!! ———- seeing Burnham and Book years later still in love, the former as an admiral on one last mission on Discovery and the couple with a son about to take up his first commission as a captain was beyond wonderful and sweetly, meaningfully moving – and a goodbye to characters in ways big and small that gave the sense that after “Life, Itself” (even the title was delivered by Burnham in wistfully moving fashion) life did indeed go on and that, having saved the galaxy from misuse of the Progenitors’ tech (though even that was imaginatively not as straightforward as you think), Burnham et al were able to enjoy the saved universe they’d earned. And honestly that’s what you what at the end of a series – to know the characters you love are okay, that what they worked and wanted has come to pass and that life has been and will be good to them. We got all that and more and “Life, Itself” ended up being one of the best endings to any Star Trek show ever, a fitting end to a highly enjoyable show.
THOUGHTS ON THE SERIES OVERALL
I’ll keep this reasonably short and sweet but honestly, I loved Star Trek: Discovery. It earned so much irrationally unbalanced hatred from certain sections of Star Trek fandom, and for reasons I simply can’t fathom, but I loved it from the get-go and continued to love it throughout. Was it a perfect series? No, and some seasons were messy and a tad directionless at times and its penchant for constant reinvention, while admirable in its capacity for narrative rejuvenation, meant that getting a handle on its world-building could be a challenge. But it was that very ability to morph and change that ultimately gave it vivacity and life and its focus, in a way not seen since Deep Space Nine to offer a nuanced and fully-formed characters and great moral dilemmas well handled, meant there was an emotional hook to hold fast onto. I adored many of the characters but of all the people that made this show sing, and made even the most preposterous moments of storytelling and technobabble feel grounded and possible, it was Burnham who truly brought it home for me every time. She was rash and impulsive at times but also thoughtful, reasoned and caring, and being with her in each episode was like being with a friend who you know will do the right thing every time.
In a way comparable to Picard (Next Generation; played by Patrick Stewart) and Sisko (Deep Space Nine; played by Avery Brooks) but with an affectingly measured style all her own, Burnham gave voice to all the very best elements of Star Trek – its capacity for diversity, justice, truth, humanity and a whole slew of other traits that the 21st century is in desperate need of – and reminded us how good humanoids can be if you give them the chance. I also loved the diversity of the show. As a queer man who felt not completely seen in earlier Star Trek shows, Discovery offered so much rich diversity, most beautifully in the form of Chief Engineer Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp), his husband Dr Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz) and their adoptive kids non-binary ensign Adira Tal and and transgender son Gray Tal (Ian Grayson) who brought so much love and heart to a show full to bursting with it. Star Trek: Discovery always felt like coming home because of the strong sense of family that permeated it and its departure, at least from fresh new episodes, will be mourned because here was a place where we belonged, where goodness and rightness and just humanity reigned and where endings might’ve been largely happy but only after some very authentically expressed dark nights of the soul that felt real and true and which will resonate for quite some time to come.