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Recap/Review: ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Returns With New Vitality And A Lore-Fueled Quest In “Red Directive”

| April 4, 2024 | By: Anthony Pascale 96 comments so far

“Red Directive”

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Episode 1 – Debuted Thursday, April 4, 2024 Written by Michelle Paradise Directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi

A strong season opener resets the series with a new tone and a new sense of adventure.

We’re back!

WARNING: Spoilers below!

“Surprisingly, I’m not dead yet.”

Things kick off in media space res action with Michael Burnham astride an unknown ship at warp telegraphing the pivot goal of this new season: “Never a dull moment.” Flashback to how her night started at a nice reception aboard the Disco celebrating Federation Day . The formal event is not unlike how the last season ended, but it’s been a few months, giving time for Tilly to settle in at the Academy, Stamets to get unsettled over the spore drive program being shut down, Michael to pretend to be over Book’s betrayal, and Saru and T’Rina (Sarina?) to master their cute couple dancing routine. The Kelpien has big news: he has been offered a job as a Federation ambassador, but he is conflicted about leaving Discovery versus spending more lovey-dovey time with the Vulcan prez. Vance kills the light jazz vibe by whisking Burnham away to Kovich’s super double secret “Infinity Room” for a briefing about a 24th-century Romulan science vessel found at the edge of the Beta Quadrant. She is being tasked with securing what Kovich ominously describes as “something vital to the security of the Federation,” brushing away any need to explain more by declaring the mission a “Red Directive”… Episode Title Alert!

Cut to the Rommie derelict with a couple of looters willing to risk a confrontation with the two Starfleet ships coming in hot knowing this must mean there is something “extra shiny” ( really? ) on board. Kovich orders Burham to use “any means necessary,” and she, Rhys, and Owo board, only to find nothing but an extremely dead Romulan and a very empty vault. Space Bonnie and Clyde come out of hiding and neutralize Owo and Rhys with a cool gun that shoots containment bubbles, leaving Michael and the duo with a phaser face-off: She will let them go if they hand over the old box they found. They choose door number 2 by blowing a hole in the floor, which sends Burnham flying (saved by programmable matter insta-space suit). She flies onto their cloaked ship and we’re back at the starting action. The USS Antares catches up; gruff Captain Rayner has a grudge with the thieves and won’t let go of his tractor lock, even though it risks getting everyone killed. Her attempts to stop the ship fail and she convinces Rayner to let go, allowing the baddies to escape within a flurry of 20 decoy warp signature drones. Kovich demands a “brilliant idea” and it’s time for Michael to get ominous: “I know someone who can find them.”  Who could that be?

Saru is wondering if the bridge is big enough for a Vulcan/Kelpien wedding.

“How can we make an excellent deal today?”

It’s Book, of course it’s Book. Michael awkwardly greets her former BF (and now Federation convict) so they switch to “very professional” mode. Rayner briefs them on Moll and L’ak, the former couriers and current MacGuffin possessors. Cleveland sorts out where they would go to unload the vintage knickknacks, so Vance orders the Antares and the Discovery to head to Q’Mau. Before she leaves, Michael enlists Sylvia Tilly to do some database snooping at Fed HQ to get around Kovich’s obtuseness.

The thieves head into a space bazaar to on the desert planet to find Fred the fence, who turns out to be an eccentric OG android . He is particularly interested in the puzzle box, which he opens with ease, speed-reading the old journal of Romulan scribbles and diagrams within. He offers 3 bars of latinum in a take-it-or-get-shot deal. Moll and L’ak choose to get shot, but it’s Fred’s goons who end up dead, and the synth is left with a big hole in his chest. The Federation trio arrives too late, but beam what’s left of Fred up to the ship as they split up to find the baddies. Back at the Academy, Tilly gets caught hacking but Vance saves her; he’s tired of Kovich’s mysteriousness, too. She finds an old garbled recording of a Romulan scientist talking about the secrets he has written into that same journal, dropping clues about “twin moons” and an “ancient technology” that “cannot fall into the wrong hands.” Jolan tru !

Michael, Book, and Rayner head out into the desert for a speeder bike chase, still finding time to bicker while under fire. Moll and L’ak get to their ship and plan to use some tunnels to escape. The trio has a fierce debate over how to counter this move, with Burnham warning Rayner that ordering the Antares to close the tunnel could trigger a town-destroying avalanche. Rayner decides to do it anyway, resulting in no avalanche, so no problem… except the thieves decide to trigger one anyway. Cue rapid-fire science chatter on the Disco to sort out how to save the town: The only solution is to use both ships as giant sand wedges to build a shield wall… that’s a new one. Mission-focused Rayner votes no, but reluctantly backs down, reminded Starfleet is all about saving the innocent and all that goody-goody stuff. With Detmer’s “I’m taking us in, brace!” the ships save the town, complete with exploding consoles, cool effects, triumphant music, and cheering locals. Rayner doesn’t join the jubilation as Moll and L’ak escape again, letting Burnham know he is definitely not her biggest fan. She and Book take a moment to decompress… and officially break up, just in time for Tilly to call: “Is this a bad time?” You think?

So Commander Data was your third cousin?

“I’ve got some answers for you and they are wild.”

Disco returns to space dock and Saru’s love life is headed in the other direction. The day’s events have reminded him of what is most important and he now realizes that his future lies with T’Rina. The stoic Kelpien is taking the ambassador job because she is also his family, “I want to be with you, always.” Aww. President girlfriend is moved (not to tears, she still is a Vulcan), so she does the logical thing, suggesting “we codify our mutual commitment in a more official capacity.” ICYMI, that is a Vulcan proposal. Still, aww. (He accepts, btw.)

In sickbay, Hugh and Paul have been sorting through Fred’s positronic brain, and thankfully Fred has a recording of the Romulan diary. Burnham spots a clue identifying the “twin moons” location, giving her leverage for a confrontation with Kovich who is looking at the wrong planet. She pushes past his obstruction for a mission that has been classified for centuries. Her little bit of blackmail works and he briefs her on what’s really going on. The long-dead Romulan scientist was named Dr. Vellek. He was one of those present when a certain Captain Jean-Luc Picard found a message left by ancient beings who created “every humanoid species in the galaxy.” Vellek found their technology and now “the greatest treasure in the known galaxy” is up for grabs and Moll and L’ak are already a step ahead in finding it… but not if Michael and the Disco can beat them to it. With a wry smile she readies for 9 more episodes of galaxy-trotting questing adventure with… wait for it… “Let’s fly.”

Michael tries to emulate how Picard used to sit in his chair.

Indiana Tones

Now that’s how you do a season premiere. “Red Directive” delivered on the promised pivot in tone for the series, introducing us to this new quest. Like with most Disco season premieres, there was plenty of action, but Olatunde Osunsanmi kept up a balanced pace, ramping things up for the set pieces while slowing things down for some poignant character moments. Surfing this wave ably was Sonequa Martin-Green delivering a standout performance. She helped set the new tone for the season as she added a layer of fun to Burnham, perhaps exemplified best by how she wrapped up the episode, trading in the usual existential dread with a sense of elation as she set out on the first stage of what is literally a treasure hunt. But she was far from alone, assisted by her co-stars, a strong musical score, and striking visual effects. It’s clear they want fans to come away feeling Indiana Jones vibes from the style of action to the music. The desert setting and Michael’s reveal that Kovich was looking at the wrong planet were clear homages but still not too heavy-handed. Speaking of planets, it’s a good start to actually visit a new one (Q’ Mau), which looked great, and there was even a little classic Trek vibe about how all the locals wore variations of the same outfit.

The episode still had a strong sense of Trek’s consistent theme of teamwork and being stronger together, from romantic unions like T’Rina and Saru to reluctant collaborators like Burnham and Rayner, with their ships and crews syncing up to save the day. Callum Keith Rennie is a fantastic addition to the cast, bringing back some of that gruff Lorca energy from season 1—as he came into conflict with pretty much everyone with a welcome layer of snark. The return of Mary Wiseman’s Tilly is also welcome, as she was sorely missed in the second half of season 4, and she can still deliver those fun lines, but the character has also grown through her time away at the Academy. Other character arcs were also reset, notably Cleveland Booker, who is facing the consequences for his actions last season. Some beats do feel like retreads: Paul Stamets still feels lost in a role that has become mostly a technobabble and exposition generator, but maybe there will be some payoff for the bit about collecting old wire? …probably not. Still, that Paul/Hugh moment was a nice bit of fun, as everyone seemed to be playing with the new tone. Even T’Rina is getting in on it, playfully threatening Saru with a mind meld. These 32 nd century Vulcans are picking up some naughty traits from their Romulan cousins.

Indy would have loved to have one of these.

Chasing Canon

The premiere nicely set up our season bad guys, Moll and L’ak, who are atypical villains. The stakes may be historic and galactic, but this pair is just in it for the LOLs and dolla, dolla bills latinum. They are sort of a dark reflection of Michael and Book, former couriers who have taken a different path now that the galaxy is flush with dilithium again, a fresh take for a series that often falls short when it comes to its villains. And this idea of how the galaxy has been changing since the Discovery crew ended “ The Burn ” at the end of season 3 was a nice bit of 32nd century worldbuilding, another area the series has been lax on. Rayner himself is a great example of a relic of the Burn era, no longer fitting in with this new world. There were even some lines about threats from the Breen and Tholians… dare we hope these things will actually be followed up later in the season? It’s always hard to tell what is being telegraphed, but it’s likely there are many bits of foreshadowing in this opening episode. While they were doing all this worldbuilding, would it have killed them to explain what exactly a “Red Directive” is? This may seem nitpicky, but understanding these parameters (like with General Order 7 or The Omega Directive ) helps set the dramatic stakes, which were hinted at with the conflict early on between Michael and Kovich over the use of lethal force.

And finally, Discovery is fully embracing the whole Star Trek of it all with more of links to franchise lore. The scene with Fred the android and all his quirkiness was delightful and hopefully, we will get more of actor J. Adam Brown’s “effervescent” takes on the 32nd century if Stamets can rewire him. Making Rayner a Kellerun is quite the deep cut, and Michelle Paradise tells TrekMovie they plan to build some backstory for the one-off alien race from DS9. Of course, the big thing everyone is going to be talking about is the “appearance” of Jean-Luc Picard, or at least a screencap from the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “The Chase.” Turning a random background Romulan from that episode into this Dr. Vellek (now played by Michael Copeman) is just the right kind of retconning. Discovery is picking up a fascinating thread that TNG left dangling and unspooling it into a whole season, and I love it. And they really hung a lantern on their mystery box tendencies by literally introducing a puzzle box and then opening it up right away, showing us the canon goodies buried inside. This is a message: We get it, we are trying to do better.

You guys got any more self-sealing stembolts?

Final thoughts

The new tone and style set up what looks to be a more episodic adventure with the next clue and destination already queued up at the end of episode 1. The reduction to 10 episodes (to conform with all the other Paramount+ Trek series) is probably a plus for this show, since it tends to drag in the middle of its serialized seasons. After a two-year absence, Discovery’s return is a bit bittersweet as we know it’s the final season, especially as the show appears to be hitting its stride and picking up some of the best qualities of other modern Trek shows. But for now, we can just enjoy the ride and in this case, fans don’t have to wait for episode 2.

Think he is deactivated enough?

• “Red Directive” was released simultaneously with the second episode of the season (reviewed separately).
• The episode was dedicated “For JP, with love,” honoring J.P. Locherer , a camera operator for the series who passed away in 2022.
• The “Tonic 2161” cocktail celebrating the Federation’s first millennium is still popular in 3190… perhaps because it tastes “ like jumja sticks .”
• There is a new member of the bridge crew named Lt. Naya (Victoria Sawal), apparently replacing Lt. Nilsson.
• The guy Tilly was crushing on is named Lt. Jax (Gregory Calderone).
• Programmable matter bracelets can convert phaser pistols into phaser rifles.
• Andorians make champagne, and Tilly likes it.
• The spore drive program lost out to the Pathway Drive , a prototype propulsion system installed on the USS Voyager-J , first seen in season 3. Burnham was part of the short list of potential captains for the Voyager-J in season 4.
• The Romulan science vessel was the same design used in the TNG episode “The Next Phase.”
• There is at least one tribble running (rolling?) wild through the corridors of the USS Discovery.
• This is the third USS Antares in Trek canon; the last one seen was a Miranda-class in Deep Space Nine .
• Romulan Tan zhekran puzzle boxes were introduced in season 1 of  Picard.
• Tilly asks “I can’t crash all these kids onto an ice moon to teach them that, right, could I?” referencing how she got the cadets to work together in the season 4 episode “ All is Possible .”
• In addition to trying to sell the puzzle box, Moll and L’ak also had 24th-century isolinear chips , PADDS , and a self-sealing stembolt .
• Fred says he hasn’t seen relics like those for 622.7 years, indicating he has been in operation since at least the 26th century. It’s likely he’s even older than that, since his design was akin to Data and the Coppelius androids seen in the early 25th century.
• Fred’s serial number was AS0572Y, with Stamets guessing the “AS” as an homage to 24th century scientist Altan Soong .
• Linguist Trent Pehrson , who constructed the Romulan language for Picard, consulted for this episode.
• Portions of the Q’Mau desert sequence were filmed by a second unit in Brazil’s Lençóis Maranhenses National Park .
• Kovich gave Burnham the key to the Infinity Room, which will probably be important later.

I know I like to say “Let’s fly,” but this is ridiculous.

More to come

Every Friday, the TrekMovie.com All Access Star Trek Podcast  covers the latest news in the Star Trek Universe and discusses the latest episode. The podcast is available on Apple Podcasts ,  Spotify ,  Pocket Casts ,  Stitcher and is part of the TrekMovie Podcast Network.

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  will also premiere 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 debuts on SkyShowtime in select European countries on April 5.

Keep up with news about the  Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com .

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The episode was fantastic i really enjoyed it and i find it to be the best season opener of Discovery and so far the best season opener of any of the modern Treks.

I loved the callbacks to the TNG episode The Chase and the little Easter eggs planted through the episode and this is how you do nostalgia correctly. You let it come naturally and not shove it into the cracks of a very weak/paper thin story that i felt Picard S3 did.

I loved seeing Tilly again and Admiral Vance again continues to shows that he is not a bad guy like some admirals have been.

I found Raynar to be a bit of a jerk but hopefully his character evolves through the season.

The CGI was as always fantastic and i loved the sequence of both Discovery/Antares being a shield wall against the avalanche.

Liked this one and really enjoyed the promo for the rest of the season.

Did my eyes deceive me or was the derelict in the Nebula in the promo the Enterprise?

Looked like the Enterprise or another Connie emerging from some kind of nebula and a beam was coming from it.

It helps if you view it using a ******.

When Michael and Book approach the green nebula the word Enterprise is visible as is 1701 in the ruin.

It almost looks like it says ISS, but couldn’t make that part out well.

That’s weird cause we know what happened with both the 1701 and 1701-A

I wonder if it’s some sort of portal in time and the Enterprise emerges through and now “hey here’s a chance for the Discovery crew to go home” on the Enterprise before the portal or wormhole closes.

But going back would defeat the fact that Discovery & her crew were wiped out of all records pre-TOS. In the 2nd Short Trek “Calypso”, the Discovery had been abandoned (going on memory I think it was parked in a nebula) 10,000 years with orders to remain until the crew returned. I guess they could have gone back to their time, but they would have to live with new identities and could never contact family or old friends.

welp – seems just like Enterprise they may have finally found the right formula just in time to get canceled.

Enterprise feels slightly less lonely. :/

The first season of Enterprise had some of the greatest episodes of Star Trek, and they werent as self referential. As a stand alone, f.e. Fight or Flight is really great.

Agreed. A lot of great episodes those two first seasons. It’s amazing how much I took that show for granted back then.

A Constitution in the trailer :)

I enjoyed it but it struck me how often the characters were quipping in deadly situations and with seconds to spare. There’s ‘being calm under pressure’ and treating the situation like it’s no biggie. I felt episodes 1 and 2 did more of the latter than the former.

I also noticed how often people entered rooms uninvited (normally due to Insta-transport) and how people have stopped announcing tbemselves when speaking though communicators: they just start taking through them whether the person on the other end is ready or not

These are obviously very nerdy nitpicks but I hadn’t noticed it to such a degree before!

Its a bit of a coincidence, but its not the first time the Romulans were interested in the technology of the Progenitors, because they did the same thing in the PC video game Star Trek: Hidden Evil and Salome Jens reprised her role as the Ancient humanoid aka Xa-Tal from The Chase, however she does get killed by the Romulans who are interested in the destructive powers of a coveted genetic seed

Now THAT was good.

It was truly amazing fun.

In the trailer it was the 1701… must have been A obscured.

I zoomed in. It may be the ISS Enterprise…

Ooh! Yes! That would also explain the sickback set seen in the trailer.

Interesting and possible link in the future (pun intended) to the S31 movie?

Fred reminded me of Data.

I am crossing my fingers that Stamets and Culber revive Fred at some point. He was way too much fun to off so quickly!

If his positronic brain was untouched, then what’s the deal? Fred should be fine. Just fix the hole in his chest. For a synth who has been around for centuries, his apparent demise should not have been quick or easy. Just seems like Fred would have been more durable, more prepared, and simply better than what we saw.

It’s funny cause his looks reminded me of Data but his demeanor reminded me of a Vorta. Like the Izzy Top one.

Is that an Iggy Pop / ZZ Top cover band?

Awesome! Finally one of my favourite NextGen episodes gets a season-long sequel. This is so essential.

Loved poor Fred. There was a German pop song back in the 80s and 90s during Trek’s heydays titled “Fred vom Jupiter” (“Fred from Jupiter”). I had to think of that one, too.

It was so good. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time! I’m curious what’s up with L’ak. His head glimmered when he took off his helmet. Made me think. He kinda has some Romulan features, like the arched up brow bones and the shape of his ear area. He could be a Romulan/Reman hybride. Or maybe he’s from the parallel universe.

Overall a FANTASTIC episode!

I really loved so much about it especially the main twist it’s all built around The Chase, one of my favorite Star Trek episodes. I have known this twist for a few weeks now so was looking forward to the reveal and it did not disappoint. Like so much in Star Trek there are so many stories I wish they follow up and this is a pretty big one lol. The creation of life itself.

But this episode was just a lot of fun. Loved all the action sequences, especially the desert chase (but LDS did it first chasing down the Romulans in Crisis Point 2 ;)) and the opening with Burnham.

The two new villains are also cool and I’m seeing theories that Lak could be a shape shifter or even a Breen. Please bring the Breen back please!! Also loved Fred which I also knew about a head of time and loved how much he looked like Data. And Rayner was great. That dude comes off like a total hardass and I love it lol. Glad he’s going to be the first officer.

And they really used the 32nd century pretty well here. I liked seeing all the proto matter stuff with the weapons. And also cool we’re starting to learn so much more about it.

It still wasn’t perfect though. It’s still Star Trek: Discovering your feelings with all the touchy feely stuff and Book and Michael working through their stuff. I get it, that part was necessary but some of it still lingered too long for me. And the scene with drunk Tilly and her 16 year old crush on some guy was eye rolling. It’s crazy she’s supposed to be a teacher. But whatever.

Overall though it was a great episode and probably my favorite premiere episode for Discovery although Brother is still pretty great and pretty close to a tie. But this one edges it out with the cool Progenitors twist.

Hopefully we’re going to get a great season and it’s pretty strong out the gate. But I remember saying something like this the last three are too. 😂🙄

But I would love this season to be the Enterprise season 4 or Picard season 3 of Discovery and go out with a huge bang. Great start so far though.

I wasn’t Crazy about drunk Tilly either. Hacker Tilly was much better. Also liked that Staments found something to do in this episode now that the spore drive is going to go away. Vance and Kovich were great additions as always. Rayner has promise and I am glad that Rhys and Owo got something to do off the bridge. Saru as diplomat wasn’t my first choice but he would be great in the role.

Overall this was one of the better season starts for Discovery. I was surprised by that because I never felt like The Chase needed a follow up. Let’s hope they can sustain the mystery as the season goes on!

Heya! I never liked the Burnham Book stuff myself but we were warned fairly well on that no matter what becomes of this season Discovery will still be Discovery.

You could give me Saru and T’Rina romance scenes for the whole season because that is something they have really done well. When I think how badly SNW does romances it elevates how good this is.and how romances can be interesting rather than just really annoying. Also Saru is just a wonderful character and by far the best character on Discovery and SNW. Whish we had more like that, Hemmer was probably my second favourite in Nu Trek.

I wonder has anyone figured out what self-sealing stembolts are actually for after 800 years. Aside from O’Brien I don’t think anyone else actually knew.

Well, they were treated in this episode as a relic, and not even a prized one at that (Fred was apparently the only dealer who wants stuff that old). So they aren’t used for anything anymore, except as neat historical artifacts (and maybe to repair super old tech here and there, would laugh if they ended up taking it and using it later this season).

Back during DS9, they were obviously used for bolting objects together, without requiring manual sealing. lol, jk, someone find O’Brien

I know we’ve only seen the first two, but I have a renewed hope for this season.

Wow such an improvement! Really enjoyed Raynar really good character just what this season needed.

So is this the light hearted “action comedy” genre of Star Trek now?

Well that’s what you get when people complain Star Trek is getting too dark

Give me dark over light hearted action or SNW sit com any day. Like the awful reboot movies this is hard to take seriously at times. Pretty depressing road Star Trek is on, not too enthusiastic really and honestly I can see the Academy show being rubbish also. Jeez I know it’s a completely different show but I watched Shogun episode 7 back to back with Discovery season 5 01. I really wish we could have Star Trek that was on that level of just being a great series like Shogun is.

Blame the fact a large section of the fandom championed The Orville and the success of Lower Decks (among some fans, not me, alas) for the MCU quippy comedy tone of Trek now. I felt DS9 got the balance right. It was 85% serious, 15% goofy as hell. Trek is in danger of reversing that ratio. That said, I did enjoy this. It’s not at SNW levels of quippery yet.

Yep that’s why I get so frustrated and you’re right MCU quippy tone really sums it up. I enjoyed this episode on the whole but the light hearted action was not for me. The truth is DS9 just had much better writers than we have now with contemporary Trek. For all Discovery’s failings it is still much better than the TOS reboot movies for me which felt more Marvel than Trek.

It was an exciting episode. I’m looking forward to seeing the rest of the season.

It will be interesting to see if that nebula in the season promo ends up being the final resting place of the ISS Enterprise.

That was awful. Granted, I’ve rarely enjoyed the show (though I loved the fourth season). Still, just one ill-conceived idea after another after another. All seemingly built upon one of the absolute worst ideas TNG ever had! And the second episode was even worse.

Looking forward to being done with this series.

Not a huge fan of Disco – still too emotional and quippy for my tastes. So far these two eps are fine; usually how I feel about the premier of Disco (barring S1).

That said, I take exception to you calling “The Chase” one of TNG’s worst ideas. Reverse evolution and Scottish ghost lovers would like a word. In fact, I think The Chase is one of TNG’s better ideas. Thematically, the idea that no matter our physical differences, we are all actually commonly human is exceptionally Trek. And the final scene between Picard and the Romulan commander is just the perfect cap to that episode – the idea that greater men and women can begrudgingly see the future they can’t accept yet, but maybe they can move toward it.

I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy it, but I think its actually one of those tonally on the spot TNG episodes that delivered what it wanted to – a huge chase, to discover that the great powerful secret was really just a fundamental truth of the human condition that no one wants to accept, except those humanists seeking an optimistic future.

Get ready for what I’m about to say – I enjoyed this episode a lot. There are soem issues, sure.. but overall.. I found it really intriguing, and the call back to The Chase.. I quite liked it. We’ll see if they can deliver on it’ spromise. I have a fear of some reductive reveal, but we’ll see. The only part I found outright cringey was the starships stopping the avalanche. Just felt dumb and certainly not organic. But overall, I’m in for this ride.

Agree about the starships stopping the avalanche. That bit jumped the shark a little for me.

Yeah, felt like an opportunity to show off effects, not anything that made sense.

Just finished watching the premiere… so far so good. Will PVR and watch E2 tomorrow. Cautiously optimistic! We shall see if they can keep it up.

Hey where is everybody?? This place is dead. I expected to be a lot more posts by now since this is the first Trek show we gotten since last year, it’s been off the air for two years, it’s final season and strong critic reviews.

But very few posts so far. Odd.

We were all busy enjoying the episodes!!

That’s the crazy thing. When episodes are great you usually get a ton of posts praising it.

Not this time. Just weird.

Maybe that should be your clue to how most people actually feel

I turned it off after about 5 minutes or so.

It only comes out in the UK today so won’t be watching till later after work.

Actually you’re right. I was a little surprised when I clicked on this thread this afternoon to only see around 20 posts. I come back tonight and it only jumped up by another dozen or so.

To see a comparison I went and saw how many posts did the first episode of Picard season 3 got and that had over 600+ posts. Obviously not all in one day but it probably got over 300 the first day alone though.

Then I looked at SMW season 2 opening episode and while not as big as PIC it still got over 400 posts.

But then I looked at Discovery season 4 opening episode posts and it only had 140 posts from over 2 years ago.

So I think that tells you a lot in terms of interest this show has these days. To be fair it still gets more than the animation shows easily but it has fallen off quite significantly over the years. In fact the first episode of the series, The Vulcan Hello, still has the most posts out of any episode or show here with over 700. That’s when the hype was enormous at the time obviously.

Five seasons later and the premiere looks like it may not even reach 100 posts which IS surprising.

But that may change later with future episodes if word of mouth is really strong. And of course it may not reflect actual viewing patterns but that’s mostly in the dark anyway.

Ok got more curious and looked at Discovery other season premieres.

Brother (season 2): 440 comments.

That Hope is you (season 3): 345 comments.

Kobiyashi Maru (season 4): 140 posts.

There’s been a drop every season, but looks like from season 4 on there was a big drop off. Again it’s hard to say how it reflects overall interest with this being such a smaller board but maybe it should tell us why the show got cancelled IF it does reflect overall interest or trend in fandom, even as a microcosm.

Again will probably never know.

This is exactly what I mean.

I didn’t start posting here until after season 4 of Discovery ended but I been lurking and reading here since the first season and it was certainly a lot more discussion around the show in the earlier seasons. I guess it does partly prove people are less interested in this show compared to the beginning at least. Same on boards similar to this one. Just not a lot of back and forth like the old days. More so on Reddit but even that’s lighter than usual in terms of traffic.

But maybe more people will show up if the season stays popular.

The Picard season 3 threads were fun! That’s what really got me to sign up here because I wanted to talk about that show as much as possible and this place didn’t disappoint during that season. A lot of wide spread discussions every week. I’m sure half those posts for the opening episode were mine though. 😂

To be fair, a lot of those 100+ post articles have been filled with bickering, and that’s simmered down a little. Also, I would guess the episodes people tend to like ironically don’t get talked about much.

Sure there is some of that but this is actually quite low in general. And there are actually threads where it’s gotten into the hundreds of mostly praise like every first season episode of Picard for example.

There seems to be a lack of interest here; especially for a show that’s been off the for so long. But that could be the other issue as well that it’s been off so long some have just moved on.

Lower Decks also didn’t get much engagement here last season. It’s a shame.

Yeah very true. But the animated shows never gets the same kind of attention as the live action shows anywhere except YouTube oddly, especially LDS. But pretty low to moderate in other places.

I don’t really keep track of that sort of thing. Wouldn’t know where to start gauging YouTube comments, that’s usually such a clusterf**k once you get past the first couple popular comments.

I can deal with Reddit and Disqus boards. The main Star Trek Reddit mods aren’t exactly chill, but it keeps things calm. I do think the tone of discord here in recent weeks could have been a tipping point for a good few people. Too many discussions got completely subsumed by what could politely be described as “personal distractions,” (I am not blameless there), and trolling can hit pretty hard here.

“Wouldn’t know where to start gauging YouTube comments, that’s usually such a clusterf**k once you get past the first couple popular comments.’

Yeah YouTube can feel like a swamp at times. But if you stick to the more balanced and more positive sites like Trekyards, Trekculture, etc the comments are more balanced. I stay from the ‘NUTREK IS TOO WOKE’ channels. 🙄

And thankfully those ‘personal distractions’ has now mostly disappeared since a certain someone has been banned.

The irony is all the whiny posts over people being overly negative about this show the last few weeks and yet the negative comments have been pretty subdued so far.. No one is attacking or berating each other and everyone is just giving their opinions and moving on. The views have been fairly balanced on both sides.

Only ONE person took everything so personally and tried to fight with everyone because they didn’t like other opinions.

They should’ve been banned long ago and was just too disruptive. Sorry just being real about it.

You’re not missing the “JUST WAITING FOR THE 35 L-O-U-D VOCAL HATERS HERE WHO REPEATS THEMSELVES 35 TIMES A DAY (ALTHOUGH I REPEAT MYSELF WORSE THAN ANY HERE) TO SAY SOMETHING MEAN ABOUT DISCOVERY SO I CAN GET TRIGGERED ABOUT IT BECAUSE IT’S ALWAYS ABOUT ME!

AND BTW, I SAW THAT POSTER LEGACY SAY SOMETHING MEAN ABOUT DISCOVERY WITH JUST TWO LINES AND I DON’T LIKE IT. .SHE DOESN’T KNOW OR CARE WHO I AM BUT I’M GOING TO MAKE IT MY BUSINESS TO STALK HER HARDER TO GET HER ATTENTION. I’M NOT A BITTER AND CRAZY OLD MAN WITH DEEP PERSONALITY ISSUES I’M JUST REALLY OBSESSED OVER A TV SHOW!!”

PS: “I STILL DON’T LIKE LDS! AND HATE IT’S CANON!!!!!!!!”

I mean look how dull the boards have become? People just discussing things calmly without the resident lunatic turning everything up to an 11. Who doesn’t miss the crazy? 😂

Lol fortunately no, I do not miss that lunacy. I think I speak for everyone here as well. 😉

And what’s more funny Legacy hasn’t even bothered commenting on any of the new episode yet. Looks like she just has no interest in it.

But judging by the lack of posts here she’s clearly not alone it seems.

That is what’s hilarious. The guy was losing his marbles over a new poster here who just gave a couple of opinions about the show but didn’t seem to care that much one way or the other. She seem way more interested in discussing in what she likes about Star Trek instead of what she hates.

But for some bizarre reason he took it as some personal front against him and all things holy and began giving her grief over it. Now the former resident lunatic lost his chance to be beligerant here for the entire season over someone who never had an inkling to talk to him, respectfully asked him to ignore her and makes about 10 posts here a week lol. It’s the final season and now he can only lurk here and locked out of the conversation. Poor baby.

Ok last time I bring it up I just find the whole thing utterly hilarious but also deliciously deserved. 😉

Ok back on topic! Yeah I thought the episode was good. Hopefully more people will post in the next episode.

Ha ha, I got caught up in the “watch it now” article and didn’t know this one was here. There are only 17 comments there so I got confused too.

Yeah it’s weird man. This place is a graveyard but it’s not much better on TrekCre either. Not even a hundred posts. This is definitely not the Picard season 3 crowd lol.

Marked improvement! The production values are hard to beat, and the space chase and ships stopping the landslide were pretty epic. The quest is set up well enough, and I don’t really mind it being a sequel to The Chase.

I do like Rayner, I’m a sucker for any no-nonsense character in this ensemble. Villains have some promise, liked the android, and I’m moderately invested in Saru’s romance still. The more laid back tone is welcome and fits with a version of Burnham we didn’t see nearly enough but know is there from early season 3.

Some expository dialogue was a bit clunky, I still don’t vibe with Tilly at all, and the new intrusive transporters will always be hilarious to me, but honestly nothing crazy to whine about. Hope this bodes well for the future.

Also, question for the people who know this show better: Burnham knew that planet from the diary right away because she’d been there in another episode?

I knew it was going to be a good episode when we finally got to see how CBS Studios did the animated STAR TREK pre-roll for Discovery for the first time. I crossed my fingers for it, I was really hoping they would do it, and they did: Disco materializes in front of the camera before warping off to trace the Starfleet shield. PERFECT!

Do I wish that this vibe had been there in seasons three and four? I do. Am I sad that we only have eight episodes left? I am! Will I savor and enjoy each one of them? I sure will, if they keep up this high level of quality that I saw tonight.

Let’s fly, Discovery!

I forgot Disco has never gotten its own pre-roll.

Lower Decks’ is still my favorite with the koala, but it goes to show how engrained this has gotten for me in such a short span of time – when they did the special one for “The Last Generation” I did an audible, “Aww!”

Why didn’t their mouths fill up with sand during the hover bike race through the desert? Now, I’m asking for a friend but personally that was one of the stupidest things I’ve ever seen.

They had shields. Only explanation I can think of.

Yeah. You see their shield bubble at one point.

This definitely was a great start to the season! A very solid episode overall that was actually fun and action packed with a great tie in to TNG.

I didn’t love this episode as much as others seem to but definitely good. I knew what the twist was ahead of time but didn’t feel spoiled at all. And it’s nice we didn’t have to wait 5+ episodes to know what it was like the last 3 seasons. And the Chase is an amazing story to follow.

That is the thing about Star Trek and TNG in general where they have stumbled upon these amazing discoveries just to totally move on to something else the next week.

That episode just felt like another Tuesday for the crew of the Enterprise and I think when I originally saw it literally was on a Tuesday lol when the show aired in my area.

Anyway it’s great we can get a full on story and being so far into the future makes it more interesting for me.

And I really enjoyed all the 32nd century stuff. We’re finally getting a deeper dive into it and it’s obvious they are setting up for Starfleet Academy.

Also all the new characters were fun to watch and really excited to learn L’ak backstory since the actor confirms he has another TNG connection. Rayner looks like he’s going to be interesting to watch too.

Oh and loved Fred. Some amazing Data vibes. Totally there for it.

I did have some downs, some of the Tilly stuff wasn’t great and the usual Discovery bringing up personal stuff in a crisis showed up but it was kept to a minimum.

But no real complaints. This was great overall and set up the season well with strong action, mystery, humor and FX. I just hope this keeps up which is ALWAYS this shows problem IMO, but we’ll see.

Score: 8/10

A couple of things:

Loved meeting Fred. Aren’t Coppelius class a druids conceived as twins?

Did anybody else spot the two shots of the Constitution-class ship in the trailer for the rest of the season?

I tried to like Disco for four seasons. I canceled my Paramount Plus after the end of the last season of SNW. I watched this ep free on YouTube, curious if there was any improvement. My thought are that the writer strike must have caused the show to pay less for worse writers. That was just awful. Bad writing. And bad acting. And bad directing. I can’t even understand how Burnam is a captain. She’s wrong about everything all the time and so full of herself. If she had listened to Leoben then they would have caught that ship. Tilly is written so poorly. You can be autistic and not be a cartoon. Same with Stamets. How is that guy such a supposedly accomplished actor? It’s like he and the guy who’s his husband are acting in a Cartoon. Over the top, silly, 2 dimensional. The cut of the scenes and action are hap hazard and plot remind me of the last two Star Wars movie. Made up as they went along and McGuffins to drive the plot instead of story and acting and relationships. RIP Disco. I won’t be renewing my membership till something else Star Trek comes back.

I though Season 4 was the worst. Now they proved me wrong. This first episode was barely watchable, all flashes and feelings, but zero Star Trek. What a shame this series had become after the first 2 seasons.

Strange, I didnt enjoy the episode as much, have only seen the first one, yet. My mistake was, I dabbled in the first season last few weeks and must say Lorca is dearly missed. Shroomdrive aside, still stuff in S1 that irks me, but I came around and rewatching is fun. Maybe DSC S5 has to sit a few years until I come around to it as well. As with ENT, at the time somehow terrible, but in hindsight and fresh rewatches comes across very smooth as dutifully executed Berman Era Trek.

Well and The Chase, positive message (TV was different back then) but a throwaway episode. Dont have to explain why almost all actors dressed up as aliens have a head and two arms and two legs in-universe, no need to explain the klingon ridges as with that Augment virus. But whatever, take it as your starting point. Threshold is another Episode, Id like not to be reminded of. Hopefully the Pathway drive remains under that speed limit that will… well you know. Or this might have been Discovery Season 6. Liked parts of S3, liked most of S4. Lets see what happens. .

Kind of a minor thing, I suppose, but after the ship they were chasing does its flippy thing that throws off all those false warp signatures…couldn’t they simply follow the one that they visually saw the ship take? Like..that-a-way…

I vote for a moratorium on desert planets for the next 20 years at least. It’s officially cliche. :D

Scientifically and statistically speaking, there are probably way more frozen, rocky and desert planets than Earthlike ones. I’m surprised that they don’t go to more places with lower / higher gravity and thinner / denser atmospheres, but that’s hard to do in live-action.

I’m impressed they got in that second unit photography in Brazil to help. After years of easy-access to deserts in California, those are now ironically pretty exotic to shoot with a Toronto-based series. It’s only the conversation at the end between Burnham and Book where the AR wall didn’t look so convincing.

I haven’t seen the show since season 1 and I watched the first episode for free on YouTube. I have a few thoughts and questions:

– why is Michael Burnham doing everything as the captain? She’s never on the bridge sending away teams on missions and all of the bridge officers never leave their bridge chairs.

– why is the federation sending a 900-year-old ship on away missions? That would be like us asking Ghengis Kahn’s army to fight against drone warfare.

– if the objective was to prevent the Sith looking girl from Asohka and her boyfriend from leaving the Romulan ship, why didn’t they just blow it up?

– the technology used to spread humanoid DNA throughout the galaxy is probably fairly self evident from a scientific perspective. It’s probably some kind of gene sequencing methodology that was done by the progenitors, which unfolded over millions of years. I don’t see why it’s a mystery or a such a big deal to get a hold of. That’s like trying to find the technology that created the Grand Canyon. It was the Colorado River. I’m not going to chase down two people just because they bottled some of it and ran away.

– The speeder bike scene was when I started tuning out. They were yelling some exposition about an avalanche and I was so bored. None of this was intellectually stimulating or thought provoking in the slightest.

All in all, my rating is D+ for the episode.

To your first points:

The in-universe answer to why Burnham does everything could be explained as that just being the way they did things in the 23rd century. Archer often led away teams, and Kirk led most of his. Maybe Admiral Vance should give her a talking to about how that snot how it’s done anymore, but if Captain Rayner is any indication, things may have reverted a little since The Burn.

Discovery has been given a full refit while being familiar enough for this crew to acclimate. They’ve been pretty generous with how quickly everyone form the 23rd century has adjusted to 900 years of advances, there’s no denying that though.

Not really sure how blowing up the Romulan ship solves the main objective of securing the ship and what’s on it…

Thanks for answering my question. I still wouldn’t ask Ghengis Kahn to break a Pentagon encryption, so I’m not sure why Starfleet is relying on Tilly to do so. Did they all have to go back to school to catch up?

I’m also still not clear about why finding the tech that the progenitors used to spread life is such a big deal. It’s not like our society is in a race to capture the stardust that derived carbon based life. Makes no sense.

I’ve always had an issue with how easily everyone picked up on how to handle 32nd century… everything. Tech, history, politics, social cues… they’re smart, but in the span of what, 3 years? They’re all caught up? it’s one of those things that’s been a frustration as it’s tied into how little all of that has actually been explored on the show – the Federation and its borders have felt very claustrophobic. I don’t even remember anyone but Burnham researching their long-deceased families. For a show that’s all about self-care and exploring feelings, that was kinda glossed over.

As for Genghis Khan being called upon to decrypt something… I’ll go one better – it’s silly to bring back Khan Noonien Singh to basically do the same. Into Darkness had bizarre logic too.

As for the tech… yeah I dunno. Logically you’d think that every society has progressed beyond the tech of the Progenitors in the last few million years. But that was also baked into the motivation of everyone in “The Chase” too. The galaxy is rebuilding, so perhaps its just the allure of a possible shortcut to regaining a technological edge?

The motivation for everyone in “The Chase” was to solve a puzzle, which they did. The prize was finding out the common origin of humanoid species. The progenitor hologram basically stated how they did it, and that was that.

But remember that the Cardassians and Klingons both went into it thinking the prize would be an all powerful technological secret – one thought it was a weapon, the other an unlimited power source. So the same logic applies – modern species thinking long lost technology from millions of years ago would give them a massive advantage over their rivals.

I was glued to my seat. Otherwise I’d have got up and switched it off.

Myself, I was bored. Bored by the stupid action and plot devices that made no sense. Like a paralysis ray that paralyzes your body but not your mouth? Or starships of considerable mass that can fly into the atmosphere and saucerplant into the ground but cause no residual damage anywhwere to the terrain or the city? Or the effects of an apparently unshielded body being on top of a ship travelling at warp? Or getting hit by a chunk of space debris?

I’ve been looking past Disco’s flaws because I like and actors and mnay of the characters. But at this point the flaws are vastly outweighing the good parts.

“Maybe you didn’t notice it, but your brain did.” Mr. Plinkett

I suppose Altan Soong may be the best possibility, but it could have been Adam or Arik. At least they didn’t have Brent Spiner playing him. :-) Although that might have been interesting.

Just got to see this today (Sunday), because I’ve been sick, so I’m late to the party. I hope everyone hasn’t gone home already. :-)

I thought the chase sequences went on way too long and weren’t actually very interesting. I’d rather watch Michael talk about ideas than watch her ride a motorcycle across the sand for a really. long. time.

So, Michael went against orders AGAIN by setting her phaser to stun and trying to talk things out. I mean, normally, I’m all in favor of talking instead of violence, but the one person who knows what’s going on says getting the thingy back is so crucial that phasers should be set to kill. If the one person who knows what’s going on says that, maybe Michael could consider believing him?

But how cool that they’re following up on “The Chase!” I’d be excited about that if I thought the season would mostly be about the ideas, but it’s probably just going to be more explosions and car chases. *sigh*

Something about the closeups in this episode felt clumsy to me. I don’t know enough about filmmaking to use the right language, but they didn’t feel organic; it felt like HERE’S A CLOSEUP NOW. Eric Cheung, you know way more about all this stuff than I do — what’s the right terminology for what I’m trying to say here?

Although there were things I didn’t like about the episode, to me, the entire episode was worth it for the scene of two starships stopping an avalanche by driving their noses into the ground and extending their shields. I’ve never seen a starship DO that before, and that’s so cool! To me, that’s worth WAY more than characters riding on stupid motorcycles. Cool idea, Michelle Paradise!

It made me smile to see the character named “Moll”. In the early 20th century a female companion of a gangster, was called a Moll or Gun Moll.

Two Federation starships crashing into a sandy planet, head first, to cause a barrier to stop a landslide. So idiotic and over the top, just like everything on Discovery.

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Preview: Star Trek: Discovery 503 “Janaal”

Following up on last week’s two-episode premiere, Star Trek: Discovery returns for the third installment of its fifth and final season with “Janaal.” The episode is written by Kyle Jarrow & Lauren Wilkinson and directed by Andi Armaganian .

Today, we have a clip along with seven new photos from the episode — featuring Keith Rennie as Rayner, Mary Wiseman as Tilly, Wilson Cruz as Culber, Tara Rosling as President T’Rina, Doug Jones as Saru, Blu del Barrio as Adira and Ian Alexander as Gray Til.

You can check out the new photos below. Please be aware of some minor spoilers.

Official description:

On Trill, Captain Burnham, Book, and Culber must pass a dangerous test to prove themselves worthy of the next clue. Adira reconnects with Gray and Saru’s first day as ambassador is complicated by his engagement to T’Rina.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5 castmembers include Sonequa Martin-Green (Captain Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Saru), Anthony Rapp (Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), David Ajala (Cleveland “Book” Booker), Blu del Barrio (Adira) and Callum Keith Rennie (Rayner). Season five also features recurring guest stars Elias Toufexis (L’ak) and Eve Harlow (Moll).

Stay tuned to TrekNews.net for all the latest news on Star Trek: Discovery , Star Trek: Prodigy , Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , Star Trek: Picard , Star Trek: Lower Decks, and more.

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Why ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Built Season 5 Around a Classic Episode From a Legacy Series

By Adam B. Vary

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SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses major plot developments in Season 5, Episode 1 of “ Star Trek : Discovery,” now streaming on Paramount+.

By the end of the episode, however, the mission has pushed Burnham and her crew to their limits, including slamming the USS Discovery into the path of a massive landslide threatening a nearby city. Before they risk their lives any further pursuing this object, Burnham demands that Kovich at least tell her why. (MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW.)

Kovich’s explanation evokes the classic “ Star Trek: The Next Generation ” episode “The Chase” from 1993 in which Capt. Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) — along with teams of Romulans, Klingons and Cardassians — learn that all humanoid life in the galaxy was created by a single species that existed billions of years earlier, and seeded thousands of planets with the DNA to pass along their legacy. (Along with presenting a profound vision of the origins of life, the episode also provided an imaginative explanation for why almost all the aliens in “Star Trek” basically look like humans with different kinds of forehead ridges.)

Kovich tells Burnham that the Romulan scientist was part of a team sent to discover exactly how these aliens — whom they call the Progenitors — made this happen; the object they’re seeking winds up being one part of a brand new “chase,” this time in the 32nd century, to find the Progenitors’ technology before it can fall into the wrong hands. 

“I remember watching that episode and at the end of it just being blown away that there was this huge idea where we all come from,” Paradise says. “And then they’re going to have another mission the next week. I found myself wondering, ‘Well, then what? What happened? What do we do with this information? What does it mean?’”

Originally, Paradise says the “Discovery” writers’ room discussed evoking the Progenitors in Season 4, when the Discovery meets an alien species, the 10-C, who live outside of the galaxy and are as radically different from humans as one could imagine. “As we dug deeper into the season itself, we realized that it was too much to try and get in,” Paradise says.

Instead, they made the Progenitors the engine for Season 5. “Burnham and some of our other characters are on this quest for personal meaning,” Paradise says. Searching for the origins of life itself, she adds, “feels like a big thematic idea that fits right in with what we’re exploring over the course of the season, and what our characters are going through.”

That meant that Paradise finally got to help come up with the answers to the questions about “The Chase” that had preoccupied her when she was younger. “We had a lot of fun talking about what might’ve happened when [Picard] called back to headquarters and had to say, ‘Here’s what happened today,’” she says. “We just built the story out from there.”

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Release schedule for all 10 episodes of Star Trek: Discovery season 5

I n under a week, Star Trek fans will be watching the fifth and final season of Star Trek: Discovery , the Star Trek series that kicked off a whole era of Star Trek series. Picard , Strange New Worlds , Lower Decks , Prodigy ...it all started with Discovery , which aired its first episode back in 2017.

The beginning of the end begins on Thursday, April 4, when Paramount+ will upload two episodes at once. Episodes will come out on every Thursday thereafter until this story is told. Here's the full schedule:

• Episode 401: “Red Directive,” April 4
• Episode 402: “Under the Twin Moons,” April 4
• Episode 403: “Jinaal,” April 11
• Episode 404: “Face the Strange,” April 18
• Episode 405: “Mirrors,” April 25
• Episode 406: “Whistlespeak,” May 2
• Episode 407: “Erigah,” May 9
• Episode 408: “Labyrinths,” May 16
• Episode 409: “Lagrange Point,” May 23
• Episode 410: "Life Itself," May 30

Speaking to SFX Magazine , Star Trek: Discovery showrunner Michelle Paradise even shared little hints about what's to come in each new episode:

• Episode 401: “Red Directive”:  “Launching the mission. The mission is a red directive. An exciting mission that launches us onto our season, and it’s super-secret.”
• Episode 402: “Under the Twin Moons”:  “A lovely Burnham and Saru episode.”
• Episode 403: “Jinaal”:  “Culber like you’ve never seen him before.”
• Episode 404: “Face the Strange”:  “Mind bending and exciting, and a heck of a lot of fun.”
• Episode 405: “Mirrors”:  “[Long pause] I’m trying to think of something that won’t be spoilery! Surprising encounters and surprising new information about our heroes.”
• Episode 406: “Whistlespeak”:  “Oh, classic TOS-style adventure!”
• Episode 407: “Erigah”:  “Tense and unexpected.”
• Episode 408: “Labyrinths”:  “Oh, just an incredible gorgeous location, incredible scope and a singular journey for Burnham.”
• Episode 409: “Lagrange Point”:  “Discovery in a location where you’ve never seen her before.”
• Episode 410: “Life, Itself”:  “Part of me wants to say the end of an era. But that just sounds so sad. I don’t wanna say that! Hopefully it’s all the things that  Discovery  has always been. Action, adventure, heart, family, love, sci-fi wonderfulness, beautifully acted, beautifully directed, production values, gorgeous VFX. It’s everything we have always had in  Discovery  in one episode.”

Even as Discovery ends, its legacy will live on. And I don't just say that metaphorically. There's a Section 31 movie in the works starring Michelle Yeoh as Philippa Georgiou, the semi-reformed tyrant character she debuted on Discovery . Star Trek: Discovery ushered in a whole new era, and while it will be sad to see it end, hopefully it will go out on a high.

All new episodes of Star Trek: Discovery will air on Paramount+.

This article was originally published on winteriscoming.com as Release schedule for all 10 episodes of Star Trek: Discovery season 5 .

'Star Trek: Discovery' Season 5: Release Window, Cast, Trailer, and Everything We Know so Far

Burnham and the crew of the Discovery will be returning with a new season later this year.

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What is 'star trek: discovery' about, when is the release date for 'star trek: discovery' season 5, who is in the cast of 'star trek: discovery' season 5, who is the crew behind star trek discovery season 5, is there a trailer for star trek: discovery season 5, how to watch previous seasons of star trek discovery, when did star trek: discovery season 5 film, when is star trek: discovery season 5 coming out.

Great news Trekkies, not only is Star Trek: Picard coming out with a new season in February, but it won’t be long until there’s a new season of Star Trek: Discovery as well. The adventures of Captain Burham and the rest of the crew in the 32nd Century will be continuing when Season 5 of Discovery lands on Paramount+ later this year.

Related: 'Star Trek: Discovery' Season 5 Video Goes Behind The Scenes for a Special Set Tour

The series Discovery was originally set quite early within the Star Trek timeline , taking place around ten years before the events of Star Trek: The Original Series . All that changed after a time travel incident at the end of the second season which sent the crew forward in time by about 900 years.

Unlike most ships in Star Trek which use dilithium to achieve faster-than-light travel, the Discovery uses a highly experimental mycelial spore drive. This fungi-powered drive becomes invaluable when Burnham and the crew discover that in the 32nd Century, there is no more dilithium, making it impossible for most ships to even travel at Warp 1 (light speed).

It's been confirmed that the 5th and final season will premiere with two episodes on Paramount + on April 4th, 2024 . The first two episodes will be in the US, the UK, and Canada. The entire season has a total of 10 episodes, with new episodes premiering every Thursday.

Sonequa Martin-Green stars as Michael Burnham. Burnham hasn’t had an easy go of it over the course of the series thus far, but the end of the fourth season sees Burnham shining in her role as Captain of the Discovery as she works to help Starfleet and the Federation rebuild. Martin-Green has received rave reviews for her portrayal of the complicated Burnham and has even won two Saturn awards. She was previously in The Walking Dead , where she played the role of Sasha Williams. Martin-Green has also had recurring roles in The Good Wife , New Girl , and Once Upon A Time . She also played the wife of LeBron James in Space Jam: A New Legacy .

Doug Jones plays the role of Saru , the previous captain of Discovery, a role for which he won Saturn Awards in 2019 and 2021. Jones is a skilled contortionist and has played roles including Abe in Hellboy and Hellboy II , the Faun and the Pale Man in Pan’s Labyrinth , and the “Amphibian Man” in The Shape of Water .

Anthony Rapp, the Broadway icon who played Mark in RENT , plays Paul Stamets. Stamets is the brilliant and intense scientist who invented the mycelial spore drive. (The character was even named after a real mycologist!) Stamets is also the first regularly appearing character in Star Trek to be openly gay.

Stamets’s husband Dr. Hugh Culber is played by Wilson Cruz. Cruz played Ricky Vasquez in the 90s teen classic My So-Called Life . He currently voices Romeo on the children’s series The Casagrandes and played Dennis Vasquez in the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why .

Slyvia Tilly, the young and often naive cadet who has slowly worked her way up, is played by Mary Wiseman. Tilly is Wiseman’s most well-known role, but she also played Trinity in the dramedy Baskets , starring Zach Galifianakis , and was also in the series Longmire .

Adira Tal is played by Blu del Barrio . Both del Barrio and Tal identify as nonbinary, a first in the Star Trek franchise. Del Barrio also plays Raine in The Owl House and was recently in Steve Buscemi ’s The Listener .

The character of Cleveland “Book” Booker, will also be returning for the fifth season. Book, an empath, is played by David Ajala . Ajala previously played Manchester Black in Supergirl and was also in Nightflyers .

Be sure to keep an eye out for David Cronenberg as well. The legendary director of films including The Fly , Videodrome , and eXistenZ plays the role of Kovich, a Starfleet operative with mysterious motives.

Some new actors joining Discovery for the fifth season include Callum Keith Rennie of Battlestar Galactica fame, Eve Harlow of The 100 , and Shadowhunters ’ Elias Toufexis .

For all the talent on screen, there’s just as much behind the scenes as well. Discovery was created by Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman . Fuller is the creator of iconic series including Dead Like Me , Hannibal , and the canceled far too-soon classic, Pushing Daisies . Fuller was initially set as the showrunner for the first season but eventually left the position due to creative differences. He previously worked on Star Trek series including Voyager and Deep Space Nine . Kurtzman is also the co-creator of the Star Trek series Picard and Strange New Worlds . Both Fuller and Kurtzman are executive producers for Discovery and Kurtzman is a co-showrunner of Discovery along with Michelle Paradise . Paradise has previously worked on The Vampire Diaries ’ spinoff The Originals and also wrote, produced, and starred in the series Exes and Ohs .

The Star Trek franchise has always mixed the fantastical with the scientifically grounded and Discovery is no exception. The science/technical advisor for Discovery, and the rest of the Star Trek franchise is Dr. Erin MacDonald . Dr. MacDonald is an astrophysicist who has previously worked studying gravitational waves. Her books include The Science of Sci-fi and Star Trek: My First Book of Space.

A teaser trailer for Season 5 was shown at 2022’s New York Comic Con and was then released on YouTube. While a full trailer has not yet been released, the teaser gives fans plenty to look forward to. Cronenberg’s Kovich opens the trailer by telling Burnham that “the greatest treasure in the known galaxy is out there,” and questions what she’s waiting for. The visually stunning trailer is a feast for the eyes and ears while revealing relatively few plot points. “Let’s fly,” indeed.

Star Trek: Discovery , as with the other current Star Trek series, is streaming on Paramount+, making it easy to catch up if you’re a newer fan of the series, or to just do a quick rewatch to refresh your memory if it's been a while since you’ve seen the series. When the fifth season releases later this year it will also be released on Paramount+. While previous seasons of Discovery have tended to have longer seasons, ranging between 13 and 15 episodes, Season 5 will only have a 10-episode run, giving it a structure similar to Picard and Strange New Worlds .

Watch on Paramount+

Related: 'Star Trek: Discovery' Season 5 First Image Shows Michael Burnham on a Strange New World

After Paramount+ announced that the series had been renewed back in January 2022, pre-production began the following March and officially commenced in June before wrapping later that November.

An exact premiere date for Season 5 still hasn’t been announced but all signs point to late spring or summer of 2023. Perhaps a more definite date will be announced after Picard begins airing its new season in February.

So whether you’re a new or old fan, Season 5 looks like a fantastic ride, with plenty to get excited about. We can’t wait to reunite with the Discovery crew for another trip of a lifetime.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5: How Many Episodes & When Do New Episodes Come Out?

By Apoorv Rastogi

Viewers of Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 are wondering how many episodes are in the series and when each new episode comes out. The American science fiction series takes place in the Star Trek universe and is set ten years before the events of the original series. The show focuses on the escapades of the crew of the USS Discovery, led by Commander Michael Burnham. Having disrupted centuries’ worth of peace by igniting a war, Captain Burnham is court-martialed for her actions and ultimately reassigned to the Discovery. With the help of her crew, Burnham strives to explore new worlds and find an appropriate solution to the war.

Here’s how many episodes are in Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 and on what day new episodes come out.

How many episodes are in Star Trek: Discovery Season 5?

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 has ten episodes.

The episode list is as follows:

• Episode 1: Red Directive
• Episode 2: Under the Twin Moons
• Episode 3: Jinaal
• Episode 4: Face the Strange
• Episode 5: Mirrors
• Episode 6: Whistlespeak
• Episode 7: Erigah
• Episode 8: Labyrinths
• Episode 9: Lagrange Point
• Episode 10: Life, Itself

The series has continuously released a lesser number of episodes with each passing season. As a result, season five becomes the installment with the least number of episodes compared to its last two predecessors, which featured 13 episodes apiece. The series’ last season has already released its first two episodes. The remaining episodes are scheduled to come out every week, with the series finale set to air in May 2024.

The cast of Star Trek: Discovery includes Sonequa Martin-Green, who reprises her role as Captain Burnham. Joining her are a hoard of recurring faces, including Doug Jones, Mary Wiseman, Anthony Rapp, Wilson Cruz, David Ajala, and more.

When do new Star Trek: Discovery episodes come out?

New Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 episodes typically come out every Thursday.

The official synopsis for the series reads:

“The fifth and final season finds Captain Burnham and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery uncovering a mystery that will send them on an epic adventure across the galaxy to find an ancient power whose very existence has been deliberately hidden for centuries. But there are others on the hunt as well … dangerous foes who are desperate to claim the prize for themselves and will stop at nothing to get it.”

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Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Episodes 1 & 2 Streaming: How to Watch & Stream Online

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Episodes 1 & 2 Release Date & Time on Paramount Plus

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Includes More Adventure, Has ‘Amazing’ Start

Star trek: discovery season 5 trailer reveals final episodes.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5 release schedule - When is episode 3 on Paramount Plus?

The final season has begun.

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It's almost time for Trekkies to say goodbye to the Discovery crew, as Star Trek: Discovery is coming to an end with its fifth season.

The first two episodes are streaming now, with this new season following Captain Burnham and the crew as they go on an epic adventure across the galaxy to find an ancient power.

However, there are others on the hunt who are desperate to claim the prize for themselves.

Sonequa Martin-Green has returned to lead the cast for one final time, alongside the likes of Doug Jones and Wilson Cruz. But, after a barnstorming first two episodes, when can fans expect the third episode to be released?

Read on for everything you need to know about the release schedule for Star Trek: Discovery season 5 .

More like this

When will star trek: discovery season 5 episode 3 be released.

The first two episodes of Star Trek: Discovery season 5 were released at once, but the show has subsequently shifted to a weekly release, with each new episode arriving on a weekly basis, one after the other.

This means that episode 3, titled Jinaal, will stream on Paramount Plus from 11th April 2024 .

Star Trek: Discovery season 5 release schedule - When are new episodes out?

With the first two episodes of Star Trek: Discovery season 5 now available to stream on Paramount Plus , here is a full schedule of when future episodes will be arriving on the platform:

• Episode 1 – Red Directive – Thursday 4th April 2024 (out now)
• Episode 2 – Under the Twin Moons – Thursday 4th April 2024 (out now)
• Episode 3 – Jinaal – Thursday 11th April 2024
• Episode 4 – Face the Strange – Thursday 18th April 2024
• Episode 5 – Mirrors – Thursday 25th April 2024
• Episode 6 – Whistlespeak – Thursday 2nd May 2024
• Episode 7 – Erigah – Thursday 9th May 2024
• Episode 8 – Labyrinths – Thursday 16th May 2024
• Episode 9 - Langrange Point - Thursday 23rd May 2024
• Episode 10 - Life, Itself - Thursday 30th May 2024

What time do new episodes of Star Trek: Discovery season 5 come out?

For viewers around the world, new episodes drop at the following times:

• 8am BST (British Summer Time)
• 12am PT (Pacific Time)
• 3am ET (Eastern Time)
• 2am CT (Central Time)

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Star Trek: Discovery season 5 trailer

You can watch the trailer for the final season of Star Trek: Discovery right here now.

Star Trek: Discovery will continue on 11th April on Paramount Plus. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what's on tonight.

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Star Trek: Discovery

The fifth and final season of Star Trek: Discovery finds Captain Burnham and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery uncovering a mystery that will send them on an epic adventure across the galaxy to find an ancient power whose very existence has been deliberately hidden for centuries. But there are others on the hunt as well … dangerous foes who are desperate to claim the prize for themselves and will stop at nothing to get it.

Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-4 are streaming exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., the UK, Canada, Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia and Austria. Seasons 2 and 3 also are available on the Pluto TV “Star Trek” channel in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The series streams on Super Drama in Japan, TVNZ in New Zealand, and SkyShowtime in Spain, Portugal, Poland, The Nordics, The Netherlands, and Central and Eastern Europe and also airs on Cosmote TV in Greece. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

Season four of Star Trek: Discovery finds Captain Burnham and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery facing a threat unlike any they’ve ever encountered. With Federation and non-Federation worlds alike feeling the impact, they must confront the unknown and work together to ensure a hopeful future for all.

Follow the voyages of Starfleet on their missions to discover new worlds and lifeforms, and one Starfleet officer, Michael Burnham, who learns that to truly understand all things alien, she must first understand herself.

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Why 'Star Trek: Discovery' deserves more credit as a barrier-breaking series

Starship Discovery will soon be ending its mission, and what a journey it's been.

“Star Trek: Discovery,” which premiered in 2017, is entering its fifth and final season Thursday on Paramount+. And you’ll need the Captain’s Log to remember all the twists, turns and transformations the show has gone through since it began.

One thing that hasn’t changed, though, is the hate the series has received from some Trek fans. (“Discovery” has an overall audience score of 37% on Rotten Tomatoes, a stark difference from the 87% critic rating.)

While the show is far from free of legitimate criticism, many of the complaints seem unfairly – though perhaps tellingly – placed on the show’s focus on a Black woman commander, its LGBTQ+ stars and allies and its inclusive storylines. “Woke agenda” and other dog whistles frequently surface on Reddit and social media posts about the series.

That so much of the negativity is rooted in a backlash against inclusivity raises questions. After all, the "Star Trek" franchise has long emphasized and celebrated culture, diversity and humanity coming together and preserving the integrity of beings they meet across the galaxy.

"It doesn't make any sense, because (these fans) say they love this franchise," series star Sonequa Martin-Green says in an interview. The show “has always been about breaking those boundaries. It's always been about diversity and equality. And our world has changed since the last iteration of 'Trek.' We have a responsibility to push that needle forward and to stay true to that."

More: Issa Rae says Hollywood needs to be accountable. Here's why diverse shows are so important

The series is originally set before the events of NBC's original “Star Trek: The Original Series” (later jumping to the future) and follows Michael Burnham (Martin-Green), who became the starship’s captain, and the rest of the crew of the USS Discovery: first officer Saru (Doug Jones), chief engineer Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp), lieutenant and now Starfleet Academy teacher Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman), medical officer Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz), courier and Burnham’s love interest Cleveland “Book” Booker (David Ajala) and ensign Adira Tal (Blu del Barrio).

Many more characters have stood on the bridge, battled with Burnham, or otherwise make up the world of "Discovery." The series had some trouble finding the right footing, but it’s always had heart, especially in its recurring theme of redemption. And it deserves more support for what it has meant for the entire "Star Trek" franchise.

Here’s why “Star Trek: Discovery” deserves more credit:

Prioritizing diversity and inclusivity

A Vulcan philosophy (and one espoused by “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry) is IDIC, or “infinite diversity in infinite combinations,” and many of the related series, movies and books underscore this belief. “Discovery” also has diversity at its core: the show focuses on a Black woman who becomes captain. Stamets and Culber are an openly gay couple, and engineer Jett Reno (Tig Notaro) is a lesbian. And the show introduced a few franchise firsts: Adira Tal as the first nonbinary character in "Star Trek ," and their boyfriend, Gray ( Ian Alexander ), is the first transgender character , both introduced in Season 3.

More: 'Star Trek' documentary unveils star Nichelle Nichols' impactful NASA connection

Starting a new age of Star Trek

“Discovery” helped launch the CBS All Access streaming platform, a CBS subscription service that would eventually become Paramount+, as well as a new era of "Star Trek" series including “Lower Decks” and “Picard.” Before “Discovery,” the last Trek series was “Star Trek: Enterprise,” which ended in 2005.

Exploring strange new worlds

The second season of “Discovery” also served as a launching pad for the well-received spinoff, “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” which resurfaced popular characters from the original series including Spock (Ethan Peck), Captain Pike (Anson Mount), Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) and Number One (Rebecca Romijn).

Finding time for the simple things

In a few scenes scattered throughout "Discovery," we see characters like Culber and Stamets sharing a meal or talking about their day while brushing their teeth. It’s almost mundane, but there’s also something so lovely about watching LGBTQ+ characters who rarely are the focus in movies or television simply living their lives, being their whole selves. Burnham rocking braids at the beginning of Season 3 speaks cultural volumes. The subtle amid the big battles and overarching plots do have meaning, especially for those whose voices often go unheard.

Going boldly

The first season of “Discovery” went out of its way to highlight its connections to the original series: Burnham is Spock’s adopted sister, and there's a brief appearance by Spock’s father, Sarek. But it wasn’t always so neatly woven, sometimes seeming more like it was using franchise lore as a crutch. But “Discovery” wasn’t afraid to try new things, turning itself around after an overcomplicated first season and again after a very “TOS”-inspired second, slowly building up its own universe without relying too heavily on the old. 

The first episodes of Season 5 are a little rocky before it settles into a comfortable speed. 

"This time around, we wanted to bring in some levity," Martin-Green says. "But there's a grand sort of epicness to Season 5, even though we didn't know it was our last season when we were shooting it. I think looking back on it, and when we share it with the world, it'll seem that way because the season is so big. So people can expect a lot of fun. They can expect it to go really fast." 

It will be interesting to see if “Discovery” sticks the landing through the remainder of the season.

“The good outweighs the bad,” Burnham says in an upcoming episode about a mission, and that’s also true of “Discovery."

The fifth and final season of "Star Trek: Discovery" (two episodes now streaming, then weekly on Thursdays) streams on Paramount+.

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When does every star trek: discovery season 5 episode premiere (& how many are there).

Star Trek: Discovery returns in April for season 5, and here is the premiere date for every episode of Disco's final season.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Announces April Release Date & 2 Episode Premiere

Star trek: discovery season 5 trailer teases captain burnham's "last dance".

• Star Trek: Discovery season 5 premieres on April 4, 2024, with 2 episodes dropping on Paramount+.
• The episode titles and writers for each episode have been announced, promising a tonally different adventure.
• The 10-episode final season will feature a mix of episodic storytelling and an overall arc, keeping audiences engaged.

Here is when every episode of Star Trek: Discovery season 5 will premiere on Paramount+. The Discovery season 5 episode titles and the writers of each Discovery season 5 episode were previously announced in January 2024, along with a general premiere date of April 2024. Discovery season 5 promises a 10-episode adventure that's tonally different from previous seasons of Star Trek: Discovery , with Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and the USS Discovery taking part in a race for what is said to be "the greatest treasure in the known galaxy" .

Star Trek: Discovery season 5 premieres with 2 episodes on Thursday, April 4, 2024. Little is known about the plot of Star Trek: Discovery season 5, since the episode titles are free from any potential spoilers , and Discovery season 5 trailers and clips don't give much away. Although there are few details revealed, the Discovery trailer from New York Comic Con 2022 and exclusive clips that were released at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2023 and at CCXP in Brazil in December 2023 all promised the same fast-paced action set pieces and character-focused drama that audiences have come to expect from Discovery as the flagship Star Trek show on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 - Everything We Know

Star trek: discovery season 5 episode premiere dates, discovery season 5 streams thursdays in april & may 2024.

The dates and titles in the Star Trek: Discovery season 5 episode list are subject to change prior to their debut on Paramount+, but at the time of this writing, the premiere dates for each of the 10 episodes in Star Trek: Discovery season 5 are as follows:

The two-part Star Trek: Discovery season 5 premiere includes Discovery season 5, episode 1, "Red Directive" and Discovery season 5, episode 2, "Under the Twin Moons", which will both drop on Paramount+ on April 4, 2024. Following the two-episode season opener, Star Trek: Discovery will continue to stream new episodes every Thursday in April and May 2024.

Star Trek: Discovery Returns for Season 5

Discovery season 5 streaming dates close a 2-year gap between seasons..

It's been a long wait for more Star Trek: Discovery . The finale of Discovery season 4 streamed on March 17, 2022, meaning the gap of over two years between the end of Discovery season 4 and the start of Discovery season 5 on April 4, 2024, is the longest yet. By contrast, the gap between season 3 and season 4 of Discovery was only 10 months, lasting from January 2021 until November 2021; while a longer period of 18 months lapsed between Discovery 's 2nd and 3rd seasons. However, the wait will finally end with the announcement of streaming dates for Star Trek: Discovery season 5's final 10 episodes.

The 10-episode Star Trek: Discovery season 5 will allow for "more episodic adventures," according to executive producer Michelle Paradise. This kind of more episodic storytelling on Discovery season 5 will also retain an overall arc, similar to the style that has been well-received on spinoff Star Trek: Strange New Worlds . More to the point, the final season of Star Trek: Discovery should be worth the two-year wait, as audiences join Captain Michael Burnham and the USS Discovery's crew every Thursday this spring on the hunt for a powerful, mysterious artifact.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5 premieres April 4, 2024 on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Discovery

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Episode list

Star trek: discovery.

S2.E1 ∙ Brother

S2.E2 ∙ New Eden

S2.E3 ∙ Point of Light

S2.E4 ∙ An Obol for Charon

S2.E5 ∙ Saints of Imperfection

S2.E6 ∙ The Sound of Thunder

S2.E7 ∙ Light and Shadows

S2.E8 ∙ If Memory Serves

S2.E9 ∙ Project Daedalus

S2.E10 ∙ The Red Angel

S2.E11 ∙ Perpetual Infinity

S2.E12 ∙ Through the Valley of Shadows

S2.E13 ∙ Such Sweet Sorrow

S2.E14 ∙ Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2

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Invincible season 2 finale, Netflix’s Ripley, and more new TV this week

Plus: American Horror Story: Delicate, Star Trek: Discovery, and Elsbeth return

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Share All sharing options for: Invincible season 2 finale, Netflix’s Ripley, and more new TV this week

It’s April Fools’ Day, but this post is no joke: There is a lot of new TV to watch this week. In a lot of ways it’s a showdown of tense situations — “tense,” here, being used to cover things like Tom Ripley (Andrew Scott, in the new adaptation) trying to con his way into high society, American Horror Story: Delicate ’s Anna (Emma Roberts) attempting to figure what’s a real haunting and what’s in her head, Mark (Steven Yeun) trying to live up to the title of Invincible while he protects his family, or Larry David (Larry David) just trying to make it through the end of Curb Your Enthusiasm alive.

Lots to unpack in those stories, and beyond. Here’s the best new TV premieres and finales this week.

New shows on Netflix

Genre: Con-artist class warfare Release date: April 4, with all episodes Showrunner/creator: Steven Zaillian Cast: Andrew Scott, Johnny Flynn, Dakota Fanning, and more

Tom Ripley is always slippery, whether you’re encountering him in the original Patricia Highsmith novels or adapted to the screen. While he was last portrayed by Matt Damon in The Talented Mr. Ripley , here it’s Andrew Scott, rendered in stark black and white, as Ripley undertakes the same story as the film, and the tragicomic story of Ripley and Dickie Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn).

New shows on Hulu

American horror story: delicate part 2.

Genre: Rosemary’s Baby Release date: April 3 on FX at 10 p.m. EDT, next day on Hulu Showrunner/creator: Ryan Murphy and Halley Feiffer Cast: Emma Roberts, Kim Kardashian, Matt Czuchry, and more

Anna (Emma Roberts) should be enjoying having it all, in the running for the Oscar and with child. Unfortunately, things keep going mysteriously wrong, and she’s quickly losing time and sanity. Season 12b will pick up with where we left her last year before the season break — as the mystery mounts and the pregnancy progresses.

New shows on Max

Curb your enthusiasm season 12 finale.

Genre: Cringe comedy Release date: April 7 Showrunner/creator: Larry David Cast: Larry David, Cheryl Hines, Susie Essman, and more

Larry David is going out on top — or his version of it, anyway. This is the guy who co-created Seinfeld , as he is oft reminded, and left in the final season, but did come back for the final episode, as he is also often reminded about. Probably nothing to read into for this finale.

Genre: Drama Release date: April 7 Showrunner/creator: Will Tracy Cast: Kate Winslet, Matthias Schoenaerts, and more

The Chancellor is losing it — and now it’s time to see how everything really shakes out for her.

New shows on Prime Video

Invincible season 2.

Genre: Coming of age (as a superhero) Release date: April 4 Showrunner/creator: Robert Kirkman Cast: Steven Yeun, Sandra Oh, Sterling K. Brown, and more

Mark (Steven Yeun) is still trying to figure his shit out, especially as he comes to terms with a breakup and a complete confusion of his sense of purpose. And now Angstrom Levy (Sterling K. Brown) is back and threatening his family. Fuck, dude.

New shows on Paramount Plus

Genre: (Still a) Columbo-esque procedural Release date: April 4 Showrunner/creator: Robert and Michelle King Cast: Carrie Preston, Wendell Pierce, and more

That’s right, we’re doing it again! Elsbeth , the Good Wife spinoff centered around the best Good Wife side character, Elsbeth Tascioni (Carrie Preston), is back with the rest of the season. While it technically appeared in these very pages announcing its premiere earlier in February, the season now starts in earnest. Join us!

Star Trek: Discovery season 5

Genre: Science fiction Release date: April 4, with one episode Showrunner/creator: Alex Kurtzman and Michelle Paradise Cast: Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, David Ajala, and more

Star Trek: Discovery is returning for its fifth and final season. It’s the show that’s been driving the Star Trek TV renaissance (or, at least, the show all the other shows are building off of). And, as Susana Polo put it in her preview , “ Discovery has reached the final final frontier for a Star Trek show,” with the opportunity not seen in a quarter of a century.

New shows on Apple TV Plus

Loot season 2.

Genre: Comedy Release date: April 3, with two episodes Showrunner/creator: Alan Yang and Matt Hubbard Cast: Maya Rudolph, Joel Kim Booster, Nat Faxon, and more

Molly Novak (Maya Rudolph) is still trying to reconnect to the real world through her philanthropic efforts. In the process, she’s learning to be a little more human herself — often to, well, humorous effect. With Rudolph and Loot coming back for season 2, we can trust Molly is going to really, finally figure it out this time.

Genre: Contemporary noir Release date: April 5, with two episodes Showrunner/creator: Mark Protosevich Cast: Colin Farrell, Kirby, James Cromwell, and more

Sugar (Colin Farrell) is a world-weary private eye who needs a break, but is now booked for one more case. This modern noir — told vibrantly, both in palette and tone — follows that case, which, as these things do, turns out to be more complicated than meets the eye. (That is his real name, though.)

New shows on Crunchyroll

Wind breaker.

Genre: Shonen anime Release date: April 4 Based on the manga by: Satoru Nii

Haruka Sakura is lonely in his first year of Furin High School, recognized in town as the school with a bad academic rep that’s basically just for delinquents. Or at least he was bored, until he meets the members of Bofurin, a school organization comprised of said delinquents, who he learns are actually the sole protectors of the town.

The next level of puzzles.

Take a break from your day by playing a puzzle or two! We’ve got SpellTower, Typeshift, crosswords, and more.

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• The Inventory

Updates From Star Trek: Discovery , X-Men '97 , and More

Plus, ryan coogler and michael b. jordan's mystery vampire movie adds another major star..

The Lovecraftian fishing game Dredge is becoming a movie. The Crow reboot just got a bit of a delay. Jennifer Tilly teases a big Chucky return. Plus, what’s coming on the long-awaited return of Smiling Friends . Spoilers, away!

Untitled Vampire Project

THR reports Hailee Steinfeld is the latest to join Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler’s currently untitled vampire movie. Details on her role are currently under wraps.

Variety also reports Black Salt Games has partnered with Story Kitchen on a live-action film adaptation of Dredge , “the single-player Lovecraftian fishing adventure with a sinister undercurrent.” In the game, “players are invited to sell their catch, upgrade their boat and dredge the depths for long-buried secrets as they explore a mysterious archipelago and discover why some things are best left forgotten. Taking control of a fisherman and his boat, users explore a collection of remote isles and their surrounding depths to see what lies below. Selling the day’s catches to locals unearths more information about each area’s troubled past, but darkness ushers in the night’s worrisome eldritch horrors.” According to the outlet, Story Kitchen’s official logline describes the project as “ The Sixth Sense on the water” and “a grounded atmospheric cosmic horror blend of HP Lovecraft and Ernest Hemingway.”

Variety additionally reports the Sam Raimi-produced horror movie Don’t Move —in which “a seasoned killer injects a grieving woman with a paralytic agent” forcing her to “run, fight and hide before her body completely shuts down” — has been acquired by Netflix. Kelsey Asbille and Finn Wittrock star are attached to star.

According to Comic Book , the upcoming reboot of The Crow has been pushed back two months and will now release this August 23rd.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2

A behind-the-scenes photo from Jim Henson’s Creature Shop appears to confirm an animatronic Mangle is under construction for the Five Nights at Freddy’s sequel.

Bloody-Disgusting has a clip from Arcadian , the new monster movie starring Nicolas Cage in theaters this Friday.

Jennifer Tilly confirmed the Tiffany doll will “resurface” on Chucky during a recent interview with TooFab .

People absolutely love that doll. And I think this season was a little sparse on [the] Tiffany doll. There’s something very adorable about Tiffany. Tiffany the doll is very self involved. And it’s so funny to see her running around doing her Tiffany doll things. I understand why people have a love for the doll.” Tiffany-in-Jennifer Tilly is also very much Tiffany, but maybe not as compact and cute. So I think it’s nice to have a balance. I think they like to see me, but they also do like to see the doll. So, I think they’re going to be happily surprised when the doll resurfaces. Not to give anything away, but I do think that the doll is never gonna to be down for long. I think there’s always a place for the Tiffany doll in the Chucky franchise.

Star Trek: Discovery

Spoiler TV has photos from “Jinaal,” this week’s episode of Star Trek: Discovery . Head over there to see the rest.

Spoiler TV also has images from “Holes Are Bad,” the April 18 episode of Ghosts . More at the link.

Holes Are Bad – When Sam and Jay leave the ghosts home alone for the weekend in an attempt to have a romantic getaway, shocking revelations are made about two of Woodstone’s beloved spirits, on the CBS Original series GHOSTS, Thursday, April 18 (8:31-9:01 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs)*.

Smiling Friends

Adult Swim has released a full trailer for the second season of Smiling Friends premiering this May 12.

Finally, Nightcrawler returns in a clip from today’s new episode of X-Men ‘97 .

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel , Star Wars , and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV , and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who .