Star Trek: Discovery came along in 2017, and brought the franchise back to the small screen twelve years after the cancellation of Enterprise. I founded Trekking with Dennis in late 2019, so I don’t have reviews of Seasons 1 and 2 right now – but I hope to eventually write up re-watches of all of the episodes. Beginning with Season 3 I have reviewed every episode of the series, and I plan to do so for Season 5, too.
On this page you’ll find an archive of my Discovery episode reviews, fan theories, and plenty of other discussion pieces surrounding the show. A fifth season is in post-production and will premiere in early 2024, so when we get trailers or significant news, I’ll be sure to take a look here. Unfortunately, Season 5 will be the show’s last – Discovery was officially cancelled by Paramount in early 2023.
Season 5 Buildup:
A fifth season of Discovery has been filmed and is now in post-production. You can find all my pre-season articles here!
The end of the beginning… or the beginning of the end?
“After a creditable six-year run, and numerous cancellation scares, Discovery will be coming to an end…”
2022: A great and terrible year for Star Trek
“Pull back the curtain and I’m afraid it was a tough year for Star Trek…”
Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 – my thoughts on the latest trailer
“Discovery seems to be trying something different this time around…”
What happened at Star Trek Day 2022?
“Star Trek Day was… okay.”
What can we expect from Star Trek Day 2022?
“I’m glad Paramount is doing this, and I’m glad the event will be free to stream on the official Star Trek website…”
My biggest wish for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5
“It’s time to give Captain Burnham and the crew a break, and for the series to try using a genuinely different formula…”
A whole host of Star Trek updates and renewals… but trust in ViacomCBS is still hard to come by
“While these announcements are exciting, I can’t bring myself to fully board the hype train, not until we have more information about how and when these shows are going to be made available…”
Season 4 Episode Reviews:
You can find all of my Season 4 episode reviews right here!
Star Trek: Discovery review – Season 4, Episode 13: Coming Home
“Coming Home might just be the best episode of the entire season!”
Star Trek: Discovery review – Season 4, Episode 12: Species Ten-C
“If I were to be critical of Species Ten-C, what I’d say is that it probably took too long for the season to reach this point…”
Star Trek: Discovery review – Season 4, Episode 11: Rosetta
“Rosetta plodded along, constantly tripping over one big, unnecessary narrative cliché…”
Star Trek: Discovery review – Season 4, Episode 10: The Galactic Barrier
“One of the most exciting and interesting stories of the season so far…”
Star Trek: Discovery review – Season 4, Episode 9: Rubicon
“An episode with some stellar performances from both of its leads and a couple of guest stars stumbled under the weight of an unnecessarily heavy storyline…”
Star Trek: Discovery review – Season 4, Episode 8: All In
“When All In did find time for fun or interesting moments, they tended to be cut short in favour of returning to the contrived, less-interesting side of the story…”
Star Trek: Discovery review – Season 4, Episode 7: …But to Connect
“But To Connect told two stories about seeking out new life: the very core of Starfleet’s mission…”
Star Trek: Discovery review – Season 4, Episode 6: Stormy Weather
“Stormy Weather was a tense, dramatic, and incredibly exciting episode…”
Star Trek: Discovery review – Season 4, Episode 5: The Examples
“All in all, a truly outstanding episode…”
Star Trek: Discovery review – Season 4, Episode 4: All Is Possible
“A solid, thoroughly enjoyable episode…”
Star Trek: Discovery review – Season 4, Episode 3: Choose To Live
“Blu del Barrio put in the best performance of the season so far, showed off their range as an actor, and made these sequences feel incredibly emotional…”
Star Trek: Discovery review – Season 4, Episodes 1-2
“One of the big questions facing Season 4 at the moment is the nature of the gravitational anomaly…”
Season 4 Theories:
I wrote and updated a theory list while Season 4 was running. You can see how I got on here!
Star Trek: Discovery theories – Season 4 finale
“As the season wore on I did get some things right with my theories, even if some of my bigger ones were wide of the mark…”
Star Trek: Discovery theories – week 12
“We still have a long list of theories as we head into the season finale…”
Star Trek: Discovery theories – week 11
“This week has seen relatively little theory movement…”
Star Trek: Discovery theories – week 10
“Phew, this list is getting longer and longer…”
Star Trek: Discovery theories – week 9
“There are still some huge questions facing Discovery as we move into the final four episodes of the season…”
Star Trek: Discovery theories – week 8
“It’s all still to play for as we move into the final five episodes of the season…”
Star Trek: Discovery theories – week 7
“The second half of Season 4 won’t air until the 10th of February, so there was more time than usual to consider the implications of the most recent episode…”
Star Trek: Discovery theories – week 6
“We have quite a few theories still in play as we approach the mid-season break…”
Star Trek: Discovery theories – week 5
“We learned something incredibly significant this week that will most likely have a huge impact on the season’s main storyline…”
Star Trek: Discovery theories – week 4
“All Is Possible definitely shook up Star Trek: Discovery…”
Star Trek: Discovery theories – week 3
“Although this week’s episode mostly stayed away from the gravitational anomaly, we did get some theory-crafting ideas out of it…”
Star Trek: Discovery theories – weeks 1-2
“Season 4 is off to an exciting start – and there are plenty of mysterious elements to get stuck into…”
Star Trek: Discovery theories – week 0
“Let’s have a bit of fun and kick off my Star Trek: Discovery Season 4 theories one week early!”
Season 4 Buildup:
I wrote a number of articles in 2021 in between Seasons 3 and 4. Some were looking back at elements from Season 3, others looked ahead to Season 4. You can find all of them here.
We won! Kind of…
“When fans pull together we can do anything. Star Trek’s history is testament to that…”
What will the Discovery decision mean for Picard, Strange New Worlds, Lower Decks, and the rest of Star Trek?
“Will Trekkies around the world be able to enjoy any new Star Trek in the months ahead? Or will we see repeat after repeat of the Discovery mess?”
Should we #BoycottParamountPlus?
“Unfortunately, the way corporations see these kinds of social media campaigns is very dismissive and negative…”
Ten shows to watch instead of Star Trek: Discovery Season 4
“The person who coined the phrase ‘there’s no such thing as bad publicity’ evidently never met the marketing team at ViacomCBS…”
A Trekkie’s dilemma
“I feel sorry for the actors, directors, and the rest of the creative team, because their incredible hard work under difficult circumstances during the pandemic is now soiled by this truly disgusting corporate mess…”
Star Trek: Discovery won’t be available internationally.
“To make this announcement less than 48 hours before Discovery’s fourth season was due to premiere is beyond insulting. It’s the latest and most egregious ‘f**k you’ in a long line…”
Star Trek: Discovery – first Season 4 episode titles revealed!
“There are also four new photos that have been shown off along with the episode titles…”
Star Trek: Discovery Season 4 – The Story So Far
“Let’s head back to the beginning and run through all three seasons as briefly as possible! I’ll try to hit all of the most important and relevant points as we go…”
Star Trek: Discovery Season 4 – Death Predictions…
“A well-timed and well-executed character death can be shocking, impactful, and emotional…”
Star Trek: Discovery Season 4 – a wishlist
“I’d like to lay out some of my personal preferences for Season 4…”
Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 theory: The abandoned Borg origin story
“Whether a Borg origin story was actually present in the original Season 2 pitch or not is something we may never know…”
Star Trek: Discovery Season 4 – new trailer analysis
“The trailer was action-packed and exciting, with ample interpersonal drama and an awful lot to unpack…”
Star Trek Day roundup!
“Star Trek Day shone with passion and positivity, and that’s just what the franchise needed as it marked its fifty-fifth birthday…”
Star Trek Day 2021 predictions
“I’ve got a few ideas for what might be coming our way when Star Trek Day kicks off…”
Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 – did the Delta Quadrant escape the Burn?
“As the rest of the galaxy struggles to recover, maybe Starfleet will learn that the Delta Quadrant largely escaped the Burn…”
Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 – Could time travel have helped avoid the Burn?
“Time travel seemingly presents a way for the Burn to have been avoided – if we don’t dig too deeply…”
Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 – Could transporters have helped avoid the Burn?
“Would it have been possible for transporter technology to provide an alternative to some or all of Starfleet’s faster-than-light travel?”
Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 – what was the Burn?
“The ending didn’t flow from what had been slowly built up across the rest of the season…”
Star Trek: Discovery Season 4 – wacky ideas
“What I’m thinking of today are five storylines that could take us by surprise in Discovery’s fourth season…”
We’re halfway through 2021!
“I think that makes it a good opportunity to take stock and look ahead to the entertainment experiences that lie before us between now and Christmas…”
Star Trek: Picard + Star Trek: Discovery crossover theory – “the true final frontier”
“There was a line in the Picard Season 2 teaser which stood out to me…”
Star Trek: Discovery + Star Trek: Strange New Worlds crossover theory – the big mistake
“Ever since I watched Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2, something has stuck in my mind…”
Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 – my worst theory failures!
“All of these theories seemed plausible at the time – for one reason or another – yet ultimately proved to be way off base…”
Star Trek: Discovery Season 4 theory – Michael Burnham
“One of Discovery’s unique features within Star Trek’s broader canon has been the season-long captaincies of three very different individuals…”
Star Trek: Discovery Season 4: Factions of the far future
“There’s storytelling potential in re-introducing a faction from Star Trek’s past to a character or group of characters who are entirely unaware of their existence…”
Star Trek 2023: what could it be?
“No information was provided by Paramount Pictures or ViacomCBS about the film other than its June 2023 release date. So it would be foolish to speculate, wouldn’t it?”
Star Trek: Discovery – eight “gravitational anomaly” theories
“Star Trek’s past didn’t provide the key to understanding [spoiler] last season. Will something we’ve seen before come into play in Season 4?”
Star Trek’s “First Contact Day” event – roundup and impressions
“With so much going on, and so many amazing reveals, it’s hard to know what to talk about first!”
Some Star Trek updates for 2021-22
“These announcements were interesting, and I feel reasonably confident now that we’ll see three Star Trek shows this year instead of the two I had been expecting, so that’s fantastic!”
Preliminary Star Trek: Discovery Season 4 predictions
“I thought now would be the perfect time for some wild speculation… sorry, I mean preliminary predictions…”
Star Trek: Discovery – Was there a last-second change for Tilly?
“Something interesting happened as I was going back over the Season 3 finale of Star Trek: Discovery, and it turns out I’m not the only person who noticed it…”
Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 wishlist: a follow-up
“Now that we’ve seen the entirety of Season 3 I thought it would be fun to go back to that wishlist and see whether my wishes came true…”
23 weeks of Star Trek comes to an end…
“Star Trek feels like it’s in a good place. There are projects in the pipeline that should see the franchise grow and build on what both Discovery and Lower Decks have done over the last 23 weeks…”
Star Trek: Discovery theories – week 13
“Speaking of wrapping things up, that’s what we’re going to do today!”
Season 3 Episode Reviews:
You can find all of my Season 3 episode reviews right here!
Star Trek: Discovery review – Season 3, Episode 13: That Hope Is You, Part 2
“That Hope Is You, Part 2 hit all the right notes in that regard. It was a solid, incredibly fun, action-packed episode of Star Trek…”
Star Trek: Discovery review – Season 3, Episode 12: There Is A Tide…
“There Is A Tide was an action-packed thrill ride from start to finish…”
Star Trek: Discovery review – Season 3, Episode 11: Su’kal
“Though my initial reaction to that was some form of ‘what the actual fuck,’ I’m prepared to wait and see what the next two episodes have in store, and whether they can better explain how this happened…”
Star Trek: Discovery review – Season 3, Episode 10: Terra Firma, Part II
“Despite falling victim to some of the same Mirror Universe tropes that have plagued episodes in that setting, the two parts of Terra Firma have to go down as among the best Mirror Universe stories in the whole Star Trek franchise…”
Star Trek: Discovery review – Season 3, Episode 9: Terra Firma, Part I
“Terra Firma, Part I unfolded in some respects like the classic Dickens novel A Christmas Carol…”
Star Trek: Discovery review – Season 3, Episode 8: The Sanctuary
“A solid mid-season episode that was in parts standalone story and connected to ongoing events. There was a lot packed into its 45-minute runtime, but practically all of it worked well…”
Star Trek: Discovery review – Season 3, Episode 7: Unification III
“Unification III wasn’t bad, but perhaps the nicest thing I can say about it is that my complaints mostly stray into nitpicking territory…”
Star Trek: Discovery review – Season 3, Episode 6: Scavengers
“For that reason alone, Scavengers is currently my least-favourite episode of the season…”
Star Trek: Discovery review – Season 3, Episode 5: Die Trying
“Die Trying had some neat callbacks and tie-ins with past iterations of the Star Trek franchise while telling an interesting semi-standalone story for the bulk of its runtime. What we didn’t get was any significant advancement of the overall story of the season…”
Star Trek: Discovery review – Season 3, Episode 4: Forget Me Not
“[Forget Me Not is] in three parts: two great and one not-so-great, leading to a mixed episode that I’d say was okay but unspectacular, let down by one of its three constituent story threads…”
Star Trek: Discovery review – Season 3, Episode 3: People of Earth
“Episode three, People of Earth, continued the world-building seen in the first two episodes of the season, but definitely took the story in a darker direction. It also marked what seems to be a significant change in the character of Michael Burnham…”
Star Trek: Discovery review – Season 3, Episode 2: Far From Home
“After a solid start to the season last week, I was hoping for something at least as good this time around – and I wasn’t disappointed. Far From Home was on par with the season premiere, and in many ways was a co-equal half of the season premiere…”
Star Trek: Discovery review – Season 3, Episode 1: That Hope Is You
“Like the premiere of Star Trek: Picard earlier in the year, That Hope Is You builds up slowly and lays a foundation on which the story of the season can build. There was one especially bad line of dialogue, but other than that no colossal negatives to drag it down…”
Season 3 Theories:
I wrote and updated a weekly theory list while Season 3 was running. You can see how I got on here!
Star Trek: Discovery theories – week 12
“We’ll have to wait to see what the season finale brings. Until then, we have a few more theories to discuss…”
Star Trek: Discovery theories – week 11
“Su’kal shook things up in a major way after several weeks where the series made scant progress on its main storyline and attended to side-missions…”
Star Trek: Discovery theories – week 10
“We’ve reduced the number of theories from last week ever so slightly! As we head into the final three episodes that was bound to happen…”
Star Trek: Discovery theories – week 9
“Though a couple of theories we had going into the episode now seem unlikely, we’re also not at a point where we can really consider any debunked, and with no confirmations either, this week the theory list will grow longer!”
Star Trek: Discovery theories – week 8
“In terms of theories, The Sanctuary gave us a lot – certainly the most movement we’ve seen in several weeks. There are two theories being retired, two more being debunked, three brand-new ones, and several significant advancements…”
Star Trek: Discovery theories – week 7
“There were three confirmed theories in Unification III and a couple of new ones as we head into episode 8 later this week. I’m also retiring one theory that, while not officially “debunked,” now seems unlikely because of the way the story has shifted…”
Star Trek: Discovery theories – week 6
“Scavengers gave us a handful of new theories to work with as we enter the second half of the season, as well as debunking one theory and confirming another…”
Star Trek: Discovery theories – week 5
“Those are the theories I currently have in play as we approach episode six. Are all of them nonsense? Or am I missing a different theory that seems painfully obvious? It wouldn’t be the first time!”
Star Trek: Discovery theories – week 4
“From a theory-crafting point of view, Forget Me Not didn’t offer up very many new possibilities. It did, however, debunk one theory and confirm another…”
Star Trek: Discovery theories – week 3
“Discovery Season 3 continues to be fascinating, and thus ripe for finding new and interesting theories. I love that the story is still a mystery even after three episodes, and there are so many different ways it could unfold – including many I can’t even predict or imagine…”
Star Trek: Discovery theories – week 2
“From a theory-crafting point of view, Far From Home didn’t offer up as many new theories as the first episode, but there are still a handful of new ones coming on board – and a single debunking!”
Star Trek: Discovery theories – week 1
“The season premiere offered up several points for theory-crafting – and also managed to debunk a couple of pre-season theories that I had!”
Season 1-2 Episode Re-watches:
I watched Seasons 1 and 2 when they were broadcast – but it was before I founded this website! I hope to eventually write up re-watches of every episode, though, so watch this space!
Star Trek: Discovery re-watch – The Vulcan Hello/Battle at the Binary Stars
“I wanted to re-watch these two episodes to see if my opinion has changed now that we’ve had two full seasons to get to know Burnham and the crew. Will revisiting the story having seen Burnham’s character development across Seasons 1 and 2 make the experience better?”
Season 3 Buildup:
Below you’ll find a collection of articles that I wrote in the run-up to Season 3’s 2020 premiere.
Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 theory – warp drive
“This time we’re going to consider one possible effect of the Burn in detail. I hinted at this when I considered what the Burn could be…”
Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 episode titles have been revealed… let’s see what we can glean!
“The only sources I could find for what people claimed were the ‘real Discovery Season 3 episode titles’ were unofficial at best – and with all the made-up “rumours” that float around the online Star Trek and anti-Star Trek communities I wanted to wait for something more official before I commented! It took a little…
Star Trek: Picard + Star Trek: Discovery crossover theory: Control and the Romulans
“While Star Trek: Picard Season 1 was ongoing earlier in the year, I postulated a number of theories about what was going on in the show. One theory that I had related to Control – the artificial intelligence from Star Trek: Discovery Season 2…”
Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 wishlist
“I do have some theories for how the backstory and narrative of Season 3 will play out, but these are more general points that I hope are included. It’s a wishlist from a fan, nothing more…”
Star Trek: Discovery – the road to Season 3
“With the new season imminent I thought it would be a good idea to briefly recap what came before, and explain how Michael Burnham and the USS Discovery came to leave the 23rd Century behind…”
Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 – what is the Burn?
“Perhaps most importantly, we don’t know what the Burn is or what caused it. Fixing a problem requires understanding what the problem is and why it happened, so it will be absolutely essential for Burnham and the crew to figure this out…”
Let’s take a look at the second Discovery Season 3 trailer
“Taken as a whole, Discovery’s third season looks different to what we had before in terms of its setting, but also familiar. Burnham still seems to be the main focus of the plot, with the rest of the crew there to help out…”
Has Star Trek: Picard’s first season finale set up the plot of Discovery’s third season?
“Many of my theories during Star Trek: Picard Season 1 didn’t pan out, and this may simply be another that falls by the wayside!”
Could Voyager’s Doctor appear in Star Trek: Discovery?
“As a hologram who doesn’t age, we could definitely argue that The Doctor might have survived this long. But that isn’t the angle I’m taking…”
Star Trek: Picard Season 1 theory roundup!
“In a way, part of the fun of theory-crafting and speculating is knowing that you won’t always get it right… and boy oh boy did I have some seriously wrong theories!”
Comic-Con @Home – my thoughts on the Star Trek panel
“I’m not someone who would be able to attend Comic-Con due to disability, so in that sense I don’t feel I personally lost out in any way from Comic-Con going digital this year…”
Star Trek: Lower Decks arriving before Discovery Season 3!
“We got a little more information about Lower Decks in the announcement, including a first look at the ship the show is set on: the California-class USS Cerritos…”
Ten great Star Trek episodes – Part 6: everything else
“My first five articles looked at one Star Trek show apiece. Those shows each had at least three seasons’ worth of episodes to choose from, so it was relatively easy to pick ten great ones…”
Introducing someone to Star Trek for the first time
“There are two huge choices: which series should be their first contact, and then which episode…”
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has been officially announced!
“Wouldn’t you know it, they’re only making the Captain Pike show that everyone’s been asking for since Season 2 of Discovery aired last year!”
Another look at the Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 trailer
“Star Trek’s website and official Facebook page have chosen to republish the trailer, and while it isn’t exactly clear why they’ve done so (or why now), it does present us with a good excuse to take another look and see what we can gleam…”
Is a post-apocalyptic setting right for Star Trek?
“It certainly seems as though something absolutely massive has happened since we last saw the galaxy in the 2380s…”
Season 3 of Discovery – when is it set?
“If we’re to believe the ending of the second season of Discovery, the ship and crew have travelled into the far future – the late 32nd or early 33rd Century…”
Star Trek’s new Section 31 series enters production… meh.
“Section 31 was announced too early…”
Trekking with Dennis 