Discovery Season 5
The fifth and final season of the American television series Star Trek: Discovery follows the crew of the starship Discovery in the 32nd century, more than 900 years after Star Trek: The Original Series, on a galactic adventure to find a mysterious power that has been hidden for centuries and which other dangerous groups are also searching for.
The season was produced by CBS Studios in association with Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment, with Alex Kurtzman and Michelle Paradise serving as showrunners.
| Star Trek: Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Season 5 | |
 Promotional poster | |
| Showrunners | |
| Starring | |
| No. of episodes | 5 |
| Release | |
| Original network | Paramount+ |
| Original release | April 4, 2024 – present |
| Season chronology | |
Sonequa Martin-Green stars as Michael Burnham, captain of the Discovery, along with the returning Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp, Mary Wiseman, Wilson Cruz, Blu del Barrio, David Ajala, and Tig Notaro. They are joined by Callum Keith Rennie. Development on the season began by March 2020 so it could be filmed back-to-back with the fourth season, but these plans were altered by the COVID-19 pandemic. The fifth season was officially ordered in January 2022 and filming took place in Toronto, Canada, from June to November. Paramount announced in March 2023 that the season would be the last for the series, and additional filming took place a month later so the series could be better concluded.
The season premiered on the streaming service Paramount+ on April 4, 2024, with its first two episodes. The other eight episodes are being released weekly until May 30.
Episodes
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 56 | 1 | "Red Directive" | Olatunde Osunsanmi | Michelle Paradise | April 4, 2024 | |
| In the 32nd century, Captain Michael Burnham and the crew of the USS Discovery are assigned a top-secret mission by the mysterious Dr. Kovich to investigate an 800-year-old Romulan science vessel. Before they get there, couriers Moll and L'ak take something from the vessel. Kovich asks Cleveland "Book" Booker—formerly a courier and Burnham's romantic partner who is serving time for crimes against the United Federation of Planets—to help find Moll and L'ak, and he leads Discovery and the USS Antares to the planet Q'mau. There, Moll and L'ak meet with an android named Fred who reveals that the object is a Romulan puzzle box holding a journal. They kill Fred and flee. Burnham, Book, and Antares captain Rayner pursue the couriers and Rayner accidentally triggers an avalanche that threatens a nearby town. Burnham uses the shields on Discovery and Antares to save the town, allowing Moll and L'ak to escape. Later, Kovich reveals that the journal belongs to a team of 24th-century scientists who searched for the technology that the Progenitors used to seed the galaxy with life. | ||||||
| 57 | 2 | "Under the Twin Moons" | Doug Aarniokoski | Alan McElroy | April 4, 2024 | |
| Following his actions on Q'mau, Rayner is brought before a disciplinary hearing by Federation president Laira Rillak who believes that Rayner's recklessness is no longer suitable for the Federation. Using images of the journal that they retrieved from Fred's memory, Burnham and Discovery travel to the uninhabited burial planet of Lyrek where they believe the Progenitor technology, or a clue to it, is hidden. Burnham and her first officer Saru—on his last mission with Discovery before becoming a Federation ambassador so he can be closer to his fiancé, Ni'Var president T'Rina—transport down to Lyrek and disable an automated defense system using an electromagnetic pulse. Meanwhile, Book contacts Moll and L'ak posing as a fellow courier and learns that Moll is Malinne, the daughter of his mentor and namesake Cleveland Booker IV. Burnham and Saru find a piece of a map and also determine that the couriers are on their way to Betazed when the next clue is actually on Trill. Burnham learns that Rayner has been asked to resign from Starfleet and offers him a second chance as her new first officer. | ||||||
| 58 | 3 | "Jinaal" | Andi Armaganian | Kyle Jarrow & Lauren Wilkinson | April 11, 2024 | |
| Saru struggles in his new world of politics, Rayner reluctantly gets to know the crew of Discovery, and Burnham travels to Trill with Book, Dr. Hugh Culber, and ensign Adira Tal who reunites with their boyfriend, Gray. The pair decide to break-up due to their lives going in different directions. The team meet the host of a Trill symbiont, Bix, whose previous host Jinaal was a member of the 24th-century scientist team. Culber offers to have Jinaal's consciousness temporarily transferred to his body so Jinaal can take Burnham and Book to the next clue. He leads them into the wilderness where they are attacked by several large creatures. Realizing that the creatures are defending their nest, Book uses his empathic abilities to calm them. This convinces Jinaal that they can be trusted with finding the Progenitors' technology, explaining that the scientists hid the technology and the pieces of the map so it could not be found until someone worthy of that power went looking for it. He gives them his piece of the map and the coordinates for the next piece. Culber is left shaken by this shared-body experience. | ||||||
| 59 | 4 | "Face the Strange" | Lee Rose | Sean Cochran | April 18, 2024 | |
| Moll secretly tracks Discovery to Trill and plants a time bug, a weapon left over from the Temporal Wars, on Adira. When Discovery arrives at the coordinates of the next clue, the time bug activates and traps them in a cycle of jumping through time. Burnham and Rayner were transporting when the time bug activated and were left aware of what happened, while chief engineer Paul Stamets is also aware of what is happening due to his unique DNA. The three jump through various periods of the ship's history, including when it was under construction, fighting the malevolent AI Control, traveling from the 23rd century to the 32nd, being hijacked by Osyraa, and a possible future where Moll and L'ak have found the Progenitors' technology and it has been used by the Breen to devastate the Federation. Jumping to a few weeks after Burnham first boarded Discovery, she convinces the crew to help her, Rayner, and Stamets break the cycle and return to the correct time, confronting her mutinous younger self in the process. Being stuck in the time cycle gives Moll and L'ak a six hour head-start on the next clue. | ||||||
| 60 | 5 | "Mirrors" | Jen McGowan | Johanna Lee & Carlos Cisco | April 25, 2024 | |
| Moll and L'ak have entered an unstable wormhole. Burnham and Book enter in a shuttle and find the debris of Moll and L'ak's ship next to the ISS Enterprise, an alternate version of the USS Enterprise from the Mirror Universe. The ship was brought to this universe by refugees escaping the ruthless Terran Empire, and one of the refugees went on to join the 24th-century scientist team. She hid her piece of the map on the ship, which Burnham retrieves along with the next clue. Book attempts to reason with Moll using his connection to her father, but she is unconvinced because her father abandoned her as a child. Burnham and Book appeal to Moll and L'ak's love for one another, but L'ak reveals that there is an "erigah" bounty on them because he betrayed his people, the Breen, to be with Moll. They hope to sell the Progenitors' technology to escape the bounty and move to a peaceful colony in the Gamma Quadrant. Moll accidentally detaches the shuttle, forcing Burnham and Book to pilot the Enterprise out of the wormhole with help from Rayner and the Discovery crew. Moll and L'ak escape in a warp pod. | ||||||
| 61 | 6 | "Whistlespeak" | TBA | Kenneth Lin & Brandon A. Schultz | May 2, 2024 | |
| 62 | 7 | "Erigah" | TBA | M. Raven Metzner | May 9, 2024 | |
| 63 | 8 | "Labyrinths" | TBA | Lauren Wilkinson & Eric J. Robbins | May 16, 2024 | |
| 64 | 9 | "Lagrange Point" | Jonathan Frakes | Sean Cochran & Ari Friedman | May 23, 2024 | |
| 65 | 10 | "Life, Itself" | Olatunde Osunsanmi | Kyle Jarrow & Michelle Paradise | May 30, 2024 | |
Cast and characters
Main
- Sonequa Martin-Green as Michael Burnham
- Doug Jones as Saru
- Anthony Rapp as Paul Stamets
- Mary Wiseman as Sylvia Tilly
- Wilson Cruz as Hugh Culber
- Blu del Barrio as Adira Tal
- Callum Keith Rennie as Rayner
- David Ajala as Cleveland "Book" Booker
- Tig Notaro as Jett Reno
Recurring
- Annabelle Wallis as the voice of Zora
- Eve Harlow as Moll
- Elias Toufexis as L'ak
Notable guests
- Oded Fehr as Charles Vance
- David Cronenberg as Kovich
- Tara Rosling as T'Rina
- Chelah Horsdal as Laira Rillak
- Ian Alexander as Gray Tal
- Hannah Cheesman as Airiam
Production
Development
Development on a fifth season of Star Trek: Discovery had begun by March 2020, when work was taking place on the fourth season, to allow the two seasons to be filmed back-to-back, but these plans were altered by the COVID-19 pandemic. In October, executive producer and co-showrunner Alex Kurtzman said there were "years and years left on Discovery" and noted the precedent of several previous Star Trek series running for seven seasons each. A 10-episode fifth season was officially ordered by Paramount+ in January 2022, with the episode count reduced from previous seasons to align it with the service's other Star Trek series. In March 2023, Paramount announced that the season would be the last for the series, which came as a surprise to the cast and crew. The decision came amid cost cutting for Paramount's streaming content.
Writing
Kurtzman stated in October 2020 that all seasons after the third would continue to be set in the 32nd century. Co-showrunner Michelle Paradise indicated in August 2021 that writing for the fifth season was yet to begin. The writers were in "full swing" by March 2022, working simultaneously with post-production on the fourth season, and some scripts had been written for the fifth season by the time the fourth season finale was released on March 17. Paradise was working on the script for the season finale by late August 2022, and completed it on September 12.
Executive producer and producing director Olatunde Osunsanmi said the fifth season would take more inspiration for its themes and storytelling approach from Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Next Generation than the previous seasons did, and would feature "more exploration and more adventure". Frequent Star Trek director Jonathan Frakes said the season had an action-adventure style inspired by the Indiana Jones franchise rather than the "heavy emo" tone of the fourth season, and he indicated that this change was a mandate from the studios that the showrunners and cast had embraced; the cast and crew referred to it as "the adventure season". The season's story follows the USS Discovery on a galactic adventure to find a mysterious power that has been hidden for centuries and which other dangerous groups are also searching for.
Casting
The season stars the returning Sonequa Martin-Green as Michael Burnham, Doug Jones as Saru, Anthony Rapp as Paul Stamets, Mary Wiseman as Sylvia Tilly, Wilson Cruz as Hugh Culber, Blu del Barrio as Adira Tal, David Ajala as Cleveland "Book" Booker, and Tig Notaro as Jett Reno. They are joined by Callum Keith Rennie as Rayner, a war-time Starfleet captain struggling to adjust to peace. Rennie's casting was announced in October 2022, alongside recurring guests Eve Harlow and Elias Toufexis as outlaw couple Moll and L'ak. Also returning from earlier seasons are Oded Fehr as Charles Vance, David Cronenberg as Kovich, Annabelle Wallis as the voice of Zora, Tara Rosling as T'Rina, Chelah Horsdal as Laira Rillak, Ian Alexander as Gray Tal, and Hannah Cheesman as Airiam.
Filming
The series is filmed at Pinewood Toronto Studios in Toronto, Canada. Pre-production on the season began by March 2022. Osunsanmi said the season would continue to use the video wall that was built for virtual production on the fourth season, and the crew would take advantage of lessons learned about the technology the first time they used it. Filming for the fifth season began on June 13, 2022, and wrapped on November 20. Frakes directed the first half of the finale and Osunsanmi directed the second half. Osunsami did two or three days of additional filming in April 2023 to update the season's last episode so it could better serve as a series finale. Paradise said they did not need to make any changes to the rest of the season and felt audiences who did not know they made these changes would believe that the season was always intended to be the final one.
Marketing
To celebrate "Star Trek Day" on September 8, 2022, a video of Cruz giving a set tour during the filming of the season's fourth episode was released. The season was promoted during the "Star Trek Universe" panel at New York Comic Con in October, with Rapp and Cruz discussing the season alongside executive producers Kurtzman, Paradise, and Rod Roddenberry. Martin-Green joined the panel virtually from set to present a teaser trailer for the season which introduced major new cast members. Justin Carter of Gizmodo said the teaser was short and appeared to be primarily influenced by Indiana Jones. Samantha Coley at Collider said the teaser did not reveal much about the plot but she felt it had a "strong undercurrent of delight" that the fourth season did not. Coley said this could be the most fun season since the inclusion of Christopher Pike in the second season.
With the announcement that this would be the final season, Paramount said there would be events around the world to celebrate the series over the next year. However, cast and crew were unable to be involved in marketing during the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, which began in May 2023, and the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, which began in July. Paramount released an extended clip from the season, introducing its new recurring characters, at the Star Trek Universe panel at San Diego Comic-Con in late July; the panel did not include cast or crew members. Kurtzman briefly discussed the season at a Star Trek Universe panel at New York Comic Con in October, soon after the writers strike ended, but the panel primarily focused on projects that were not impacted by the strikes. The SAG-AFTRA strike ended in November, allowing the cast to participate in marketing moving forward. Later that month, Martin-Green discussed the series at a "Women in Sci-Fi" panel at Fan Expo: San Francisco. She promoted the series with Paradise at CCXP in December, where another clip was released.
A full trailer for the season was released during IGN Fan Fest in February 2024. Martin-Green, Jones, Cruz, and Rapp discussed the series as part of the event. Cheryl Eddy at Gizmodo highlighted the trailer's focus on "farewells", while John Orquiola of Screen Rant noted the trailer's focusing on the season's new characters. The season's first episode premiered at SXSW in mid-March, and will also be shown at WonderCon at the end of the month. Paradise discussed the series at both events with different members of the cast and crew; Cruz, who was unable to return for the additional filming, said marketing the series with the cast was cathartic.
Release
The season was originally expected to premiere on Paramount+ in the United States in early 2023, but this was pushed to early 2024 when the season was revealed to be the last for the series. The season premiered on April 4, 2024, with its first two episodes. The other eight episodes are being released weekly. In addition to the U.S., the season is premiering on Paramount+ in the UK, Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia, Austria, and Canada. The series is also broadcast on the CTV Sci-Fi Channel in Canada.
Reception
Collider named the season one of the most anticipated series of 2024. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported 83% approval based on 19 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Lightening up just in time for one last voyage, Star Trek: Discovery concludes with a quest that sends this particular crew off in rousing fashion."
Notes
References
External links
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