WHY WE LIKE IT: Callum Keith Rennie as Rayner.
WHY WE DON'T: Please don't make me watch The Chase again.
REVIEW: It's the start of a final season for Discovery, so there's a sense of setting at least some of the characters on the path to their destinations - Tilly flirting with another officer, Saru being asked in marriage by the Vulcan President, Stamets wondering what his legacy will be now that the spore drive initiative has been mothballed... And it's that last element that really taps into the theme of the season. What legacy will the show leave - uncertain given that it takes place a thousand years after the founding of the Federation, though some of its characters and concepts are still accessible down the timeline - but it's also about the Progenitors at the center of the larger story arc, who left us with all these battling humanoids, and now some technology that, if found, could change the face of the galaxy, or prove to be a super-weapon.
And let's address that. It seems modern Trek has not learned any tangible lessons from the success of Strange New Worlds or (we could argue) Lower Decks. They are still attempting these long-form stories that are often padded to the correct length (so could have been episodic after all), and in Discovery's case, are often about the same thing (some superweapon threatens the universe and the crew must hop around finding information, counter-weapons, or what-have-you). Clues left in a Romulan puzzle box that will require them to hunt other clues before the treasure falls into the wrong hands is just about as lazy an idea as I could imagine, but at least the danger is abstract as opposed to ongoing. There's less of an Apocalyptic feel that allows the characters to be a little lighter, give or take their usual angst (Burnham and Booker having lost touch, for example). The quest also seems to be based around giving us a tour of the Trek franchise, in this case TNG's legacy (there's that word again) and specifically the episode "The Chase", but also that era's Romulans, an android named Fred (a synth who would be from ST: Picard's era), and so on. We're starting out on a fannish journey, but since this is practically the ultimate end of the Star Trek universe (with that Short Trek with the empty future Discovery still looming), the finale really could go anywhere.
Three important characters are introduced, and much of the success of the season may well depend on them. The villains, Moll and L'ak are essentially Space Bonnie and Clyde, former couriers with access to all sorts of fancy tech and absolutely ruthless in their pursuit of latinum so they can "be free". They're Burnham and Booker just a couple years ago, but more desperate and less ethical. And whatever tricks they get up to on the trail of the same treasure motivates a lot of crazy sci-fi action, from Burnham riding cloaked ship's hull to a Pulp Fiction-like execution of the android, to speedbiking through the desert as two whole starships dive into the sand to shield a settlement from an avalanche. Discovery is certainly providing the film-strength action beats. The other new character - and my heart leapt when I saw Canadian veteran actor Callum Keith Rennie in the opening credits - is Captain Rayner of the USS Antares, a stubborn old dog assigned to the same mission, and a foil for Burnham. Having rising through the ranks during the Burn era, he's no-nonsense and impatient (though not humorless, I love his biting wit), and more mission-focused than people-focused, which is where he clashes with Burnham. Kind of a human name for (and I couldn't suss out the ears until his race was mentioned on screen) a Kellerun, bit of a deep cut - in DS9's "Armageddon Game", they're one of two races with absolutely ridiculous hair. Glad fashions changed in the last 800 years. He, more than anything, has me excited for this season (a bit like how Shaw proved to be Picard S3's secret weapon).
LESSON: It's not just DS9. Every show wants to leave something behind.
REWATCHABILITY - Medium: Some strong introductions, but there's a "here we go again" vibe coming off the seasonal arc.
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