Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-4 and the trailers, teasers, and announcements for Season 5.
With Star Trek: Discovery’s fifth and final season due to premiere in just a few weeks’ time, I thought it could be a good moment to look ahead! Season 5 is going to be the show’s last chance to tell a different kind of story, explore under-utilised characters, and potentially lay the groundwork for Starfleet Academy and other possible spin-off projects. It’s also Discovery’s final opportunity to win over sceptical Trekkies – hopefully bringing to a close one of the most contentious chapters in the history of the Star Trek fan community. Suffice to say there’s a lot that needs to go right!
I admit that I have concerns already, even at this early stage. The revelation that Season 5 wasn’t originally written with the show’s cancellation in mind could prove fatal, and last-second re-writes and pick-up shots could end up feeling obvious and tacked-on. Then there’s the premise itself: is the mystery at the story’s heart going to be yet another re-hash of the tired “all life in the galaxy is in danger and only Burnham can save it!!!!” trope?
On a personal note, I’ve been feeling burned out on Star Trek since midway through last year – and even though I still consider myself a fan of the franchise and want to see it succeed, I’ve stepped away from Star Trek over the past few months. I haven’t finished watching Strange New Worlds’ second season, nor even started Lower Decks’ fourth, and I haven’t played either of the Star Trek video games that were released last year despite having planned to do so.
Discovery’s fifth season thus exists in a strange place for me at this time. I don’t feel a great deal of hype or excitement for its premiere, not in the same way as I did for all four of the show’s previous seasons. If I’m being brutally honest with my introspection… I can’t even say with 100% certainty that I’ll watch it as it’s being broadcast, or whether I’ll pick up Paramount+ later in the year for a month or two and watch it then. I’d love to be able to say “stay tuned for weekly reviews,” as I’ve generally enjoyed the process of writing reviews for Seasons 3 and 4. But at this point… I’m not 100% committed to doing that.
But enough about that for now! I have a longer piece on the burnout I’ve been feeling – which you can find by clicking or tapping here – if you’re interested to read more.
As I look ahead to Discovery’s fifth season, there are several loose ends that I’d like to see the series tie up, some narrative traps that I hope can be avoided, and a couple of fantasies – that will almost certainly go unfulfilled – about the series tying its 32nd Century setting closer to the rest of Star Trek. It’s these points that we’re going to look at today. I’m calling this piece my “wishlist” for Season 5!
But first, I have to give my usual caveats! Firstly, I have no “insider information,” and I’m not claiming that anything discussed below will be included in Discovery’s upcoming season. This is a wishlist from a fan, and nothing more. Secondly, we all have different opinions about what makes for a good Discovery story. I’m offering my subjective take on what I’d like to see included, and you are free to vehemently disagree with all of the points I raise. Nothing about this is “objective” in any way! Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get started!
Wish #1:
A proper ending.
Season 5 is to be Discovery’s swansong, and I’m already deeply worried about that. Comments from people who worked on the season – most notably director and Star Trek legend Jonathan Frakes – have confirmed that last-minute re-writes and extra filming sessions were required to “make the finale into the finale” after news of the show’s cancellation broke. To me, that suggests that Season 5 was not written with the show’s cancellation in mind, and that raises some pretty big concerns about how conclusive and definitive its ending will be.
There are many different ways to bring a story to its end. I’m not, for example, suggesting that the entire main cast should be killed off, nor that the show’s end needs to be explosive and dramatic. But other Star Trek shows have done their best to give their crews a proper send-off – whether it was Deep Space Nine showing its characters going their separate ways, Voyager finally making it home, or even Enterprise’s ultimately disappointing attempt to show the founding of the Federation. Discovery’s characters deserve an ending, in whatever form that may take.
Let’s be blunt: there won’t be a Picard-style resurrection for these characters in twenty years’ time. While it’s still possible that we might see the likes of Tilly or Kovich in Starfleet Academy (assuming that series is still going ahead amidst the neverending chaos of the Paramount corporation), for most of the crew, this is the end. And that end, however it may come, needs to be worthy of the show and its great cast of characters.
At the very least, I’d like to see all of the main characters get an ending to their respective arcs and stories – and if we can stretch things out, there are several prominent secondary characters who deserve that, too. Again, we don’t need to see anything explosive or dramatic for everyone; something as simple as Admiral Vance choosing to retire with Burnham taking over as head of Starfleet could be one way to handle those characters, for instance. One way or another, though, we need to get an ending that feels conclusive… and doesn’t feel like it was written on the back of a napkin in twenty minutes because Paramount’s executives have no idea what they’re doing.
Wish #2:
Lower the stakes.
Discovery has, over its four seasons so far, put the entire Federation in danger no fewer than four times. Putting Earth itself in the firing line at the end of Season 4 was just the icing on the cake… but it’s past time to try something different. Other Star Trek shows have used the “massive galaxy-ending threat” storyline quite sparingly – and that’s been to their benefit. It’s only Picard that’s come close to over-using this trope as much as Discovery.
There are so many stories that can be told in this wonderful sci-fi setting that don’t require such high stakes. Stories can focus on individual characters, factions, planets, and so on without forcibly cranking the drama up to eleven. This is now Discovery’s last chance to tell a story that doesn’t involve some sort of existential threat to the Federation and/or the entire galaxy, and I’d really like to see how Captain Burnham and the other characters thrive in that kind of narrative environment.
The season’s original premise seemed to tease a mystery – one that could tie into the events of The Next Generation or even the Picard eras, which could be a ton of fun. Unravelling an archaeological mystery, searching for some kind of hidden treasure, and striking out on a bona fide adventure are all ideas that could make for an entertaining and compelling story.
Some of my all-time favourite Star Trek episodes (and favourite Discovery episodes too, come to that) are smaller character-focused pieces, or stories that put exploration and adventure at their core. We’ve seen glimpses of this in Discovery, with episodes like An Obol for Charon in Season 2 and Choose to Live in Season 4, but those stories still came along as part of season-long arcs about imminent threats to all life in the galaxy. It would be great if Discovery could take this last opportunity to tell a story with lower stakes and let us see how the characters we’ve come to know would cope with an altogether different kind of mystery.
Wish #3:
Finally explain the events of the Short Treks episode Calypso.
If you’ve been a regular reader for a while, you might remember this particular point from my commentary leading up to Seasons 3 and 4 as well! Thus far, Discovery has taken steps toward embracing some of the plot points from Calypso – including the creation of Zora from a merging of the ship’s computer and the sphere data, as well as the use of the term “V’Draysh” to refer to the post-Burn Federation. But on the other hand, the ship’s retrofit, the galaxy-wide ban on time travel, and the show’s current place in the timeline have all taken steps away from what we saw in this mini-episode.
Maybe I’m one of the last people to still give a shit about Calypso. It was a fifteen-minute mini-episode produced in 2018 for the sole purpose of trying to retain subscribers to what was then still called CBS All Access in between seasons of Discovery. Maybe I should just… write it off. But because Calypso still feels like such an outlier – and a mysterious one at that – I can’t. I want to see some kind of conclusion to its story, and with this being Discovery’s final season, it’s all but certain to be our last chance to get one.
A big part of me suspects that Calypso will be brushed aside by Paramount. It seems clear at this point that it was written at a time when Discovery was flirting with cancellation after an unimpressive first season, and could have served as a kind of epilogue to Season 2 with only a couple of narrative tweaks. It also set up Season 2 in suitably mysterious fashion, leaving us wondering about the thousand-year time-jump and the state of the galaxy in the far future.
If left unresolved, Calypso wouldn’t be the only outlier in the history of the franchise – not by any means. Star Trek’s world has grown and evolved over decades, with storylines and ideas falling by the wayside. Maybe it would be too complicated to write an explanation for Calypso in the confines of a ten-episode season that also has a lot of work to do for other characters and storylines that are arguably much more important. But with talk of a mystery that could be centred on the 24th Century… I can’t help but wonder. Could some kind of time-travel be on the agenda? And if so… could the USS Discovery and its computer end up hidden in a nebula for hundreds of years, waiting for the crew to return when the time is right?
Wish #4:
A major connection to the Picard era.
For two shows in the same franchise that were in production simultaneously for three full seasons, there’s been remarkably little crossover between Picard and Discovery. The inclusion of the Qowat Milat from Picard’s first season has been the biggest, but it feels like both shows missed open goals when it comes to making bigger connections. I don’t want to see Star Trek go down the Marvel route of making every show and film one piece of a bigger puzzle – because that kind of storytelling has its own limitations. But there’s more Paramount could do to connect disparate parts of the Star Trek franchise, even with Picard and Discovery being set centuries apart.
A teaser trailer for Season 5 (which was only shown at a fan convention, as far as I can tell) featured a Romulan scout ship of the same design seen in The Next Generation – according to reports from those who saw it. Combined with what we know about the story’s “ancient mystery,” some kind of connection to the 24th Century seems to be a possibility – and that’s great! Anything that ties into The Next Generation and the shows of that era would be wonderful to see.
But there’s got to be more to it than just a hit of cheap nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake. A successful story that ties into the events of The Next Generation and Picard could do a lot for the languishing Picard spin-off pitch – Star Trek: Legacy. Many Trekkies, myself included, would love to see another series or film set in the Picard era, and Discovery’s final season could help set it up and rally more support.
In any event, this is Discovery’s last chance to connect to Picard. With Picard having concluded its run, perhaps the necessity of such a connection is lesser now than it was a couple of years ago… but I’d still like to see something more. It doesn’t have to be a major appearance by a main character or anything like that – though that could be absolutely phenomenal if handled well – but if Discovery could do something more to connect with its sister show, I’d appreciate it!
Wish #5:
Undo some or all of it?
This isn’t something I’m sure I want to see – hence the question-mark! But Discovery’s 32nd Century has certainly been a departure from what we’ve come to expect from Star Trek’s incredibly positive and optimistic take on the future. Furthermore, its place in the timeline casts a shadow over practically every other Star Trek story; the knowledge that the Burn will come along and cripple the Federation is now forever present, and that can have an impact on how future stories are perceived.
For much of Season 3, I wondered whether Discovery’s writers were planning to “undo,” through time travel, parallel universes, or other technobabble shenanigans, the Burn and the post-apocalyptic 32nd Century. Going that route could’ve even tied in with Calypso, the Short Treks episode we discussed a moment ago. It didn’t happen in the end – and Season 3 came to an end with the Burn’s cause being explained and the Federation beginning the slow task of rebuilding.
At this point, with two full seasons set in this time period and having been introduced to several genuinely interesting characters, wiping out this version of the 32nd Century would be difficult to pull off from a narrative standpoint. In-universe, however, there are still some good arguments for doing so. Saving the lives lost during the Burn is one, as is saving the future from more than a century’s worth of strife and difficulty. Going back in time could also save Kwejian and other worlds from last season’s dark matter anomaly.
I doubt that this is the way Discovery will choose to go in its final season… but there are arguments in favour of resetting the 32nd Century to bring it more in line with the rest of the franchise – especially if Paramount hopes to make the 32nd Century the setting for other projects. Starfleet Academy seems all but certain to be set in this era, and while there’s something to be said for stories about rebuilding after a disaster… Discovery hasn’t really done much with that idea so far. Maybe it would be better to admit now – before it’s too late – that “post-apocalyptic Star Trek” was a mistake, and find a way to undo it.
Wish #6:
A big-picture look at the state of the galaxy and its factions.
Star Trek has built up its factions and their relationships over the course of decades, and only rarely has the franchise “zoomed out” to take a broader look at the shape of the galaxy. But with the 32nd Century still being a relatively new setting, there’s so much that we still don’t know about how the galaxy looks in this era. It would be great if Discovery could shine a light on at least some of the factions that we remember from past iterations of Star Trek, showing us what became of them over the centuries.
Several factions have been name-dropped over the past couple of seasons: the Borg, for example, and the Q Continuum. And we’ve seen background characters from races like the Ferengi and Lurians that indicate they’re still around. But other major races and factions from Star Trek’s past are noticeably absent: where are the Klingons, the Betazoids, or anyone from the Delta Quadrant? It would be great to catch up with even one returning faction and see what position it’s in – and if I had to choose, I guess the Klingons would be the most interesting. Not only has the Klingon Empire been a major faction across Star Trek’s history, but Captain Burnham and the crew had multiple run-ins with them in the 23rd Century.
If Discovery could zoom out, though, even just for a few moments, and show us other major players in the 32nd Century beyond the Federation and the Emerald Chain… I’d really appreciate it. It would be wonderful to see how the Star Trek galaxy has evolved over that time, as well as seeing how powers like the Klingons or the Borg coped with the effects of the Burn and its aftermath. With the Burn now 100% confirmed to have originated with the Federation… could that cause tension or even conflict? There’s a lot that could be explored here.
Setting up what the galaxy looks like beyond the Federation’s borders could also be to the benefit of Starfleet Academy and any other potential spin-off projects, giving them something to build from. Discovery’s 32nd Century feels very open-ended at the moment – and that can be a good thing, don’t get me wrong. But beyond just the curiosity of seeing more of the galaxy in this era, there are solid narrative reasons for establishing the status of major factions and races.
Wish #7:
Properly explain Dr Kovich and his role in the Federation.
Dr Kovich is a fun and enigmatic character, portrayed brilliantly by David Cronenberg. But he’s also mysterious to the point of being frustrating, and I’d like to see Discovery finally explain who exactly he is and what his role is within the Federation’s hierarchy. We’ve seen Dr Kovich as a psychiatrist, a military analyst, a commander with the authority to give orders, a teacher or professor, someone with classified medical knowledge, and more. Last season, he told Captain Burnham that he couldn’t accompany her on Discovery’s mission to the galactic barrier because he had “more important things to do,” only for that line to be ignored as the season came to a close.
So once more I’m asking this question: who is Dr Kovich? What’s his role in Starfleet/the Federation? Is he, as I’ve long suspected, the head of – or perhaps even the sole survivor of – Section 31? The latter could be an interesting tie-in with the upcoming Section 31 TV movie.
Enigmatic and mysterious characters are a ton of fun. But Dr Kovich has, for me at least, crossed a line. He seems to be too perfect; a master of too many trades and a jack of none. Narratively, he seems to be moved around at the drop of a hat to fill any senior role that the writers need – but with no explanation of how he has all of this classified information and knowledge of such a broad range of subjects. If he was part of Section 31 in this era, a lot of that would make sense.
Perhaps that will have to be my own personal “head canon,” though! Still, with Dr Kovich returning this time, it would be nice to learn more about who he is and what exactly his rank or position is within Starfleet or the Federation. He’s also a character who has the potential to reappear in Starfleet Academy… so if he can’t be given a full explanation or spotlight episode this time, maybe there’s still hope!
Wish #8:
Tee up the “next phase” of Star Trek.
Discovery’s cancellation, if you really think about it, could be a turning-point for the Star Trek franchise. It was the first made-for-streaming Star Trek series, the first fully-serialised show, the first Star Trek series on the small screen in more than a decade, and the first to explore this new 32nd Century setting. Its finale will mark the end of an era – so the question “what comes next?” should be firmly on the minds of executives and producers.
Discovery is bound to do something to lean into or set up Starfleet Academy – I think that’s a given. We already saw a “backdoor pilot” in Season 4, and I think Season 5 could expand upon that, perhaps giving some of the cadets from that episode more of a starring role. But beyond Starfleet Academy and Section 31 – another Discovery spin-off – what else can this final season do to give potential future projects a foundation to build upon?
There are many ways this could go – from doubling-down on characters and themes to killing off half of the cast or even overwriting some or all of this iteration of the 32nd Century. But if Discovery could use this final season to blaze a trail that other shows could follow – without leaving things unresolved or ending on a deliberate cliffhanger – I think that would be fantastic.
Star Trek’s future is up in the air right now, with three of the franchise’s shows all coming to an end and questions over Paramount’s future. Personally, I don’t think it’s impossible to imagine a time in the very near future when Star Trek is once again on hiatus. But a solid final season from Discovery could include something for fans to keep in mind – and for the franchise to return to in the future.
Wish #9:
Spend a bit more time with one or two of the secondary characters.
The question of Discovery’s secondary characters – and the bridge crew in particular – always feels like a contentious one in some quarters of the fan community. We all agree that Discovery was pitched as “the Michael Burnham show,” but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room to spend a bit more time with some of the other members of the crew… especially as Burnham has arguably seen her main character arc come to somewhat of a conclusion.
It was interesting in Season 4 to spend a bit of time with some of the folks at Federation HQ – T’Rina, President Rillak, and Admiral Vance all made fine additions to the show’s cast of characters, and several members of the crew also got moments in the spotlight. Not all of these character moments have worked as well as they should, perhaps, but I appreciate the effort!
It would be great if Season 5 could find the time to explore someone like Owosekun or Rhys a bit more. Or even to bring back someone like Gray, who was rather unceremoniously shuffled off the series at the earliest opportunity. Now that Burnham is firmly embedded in the captain’s chair, has resolved her issues with Starfleet, and settled her relationship with Book, there’s perhaps more of an opportunity than in past seasons to spend more time with other members of the crew.
Obviously in a ten-episode season with a mysterious main story, we aren’t going to have time for a detailed look at everyone. That’s a shame – but it is what it is! I’d settle for even a single episode with a focus on one of the secondary characters, or storylines featuring a couple of them spread throughout the season.
Wish #10:
Standalone episodes and storylines to offset the season’s main narrative arc.
When I think about Seasons 3 and 4, my favourite episodes and storylines were actually off to one side, not really part of the main season-long narratives in either case. Episodes like Terra Firma and Choose to Live were among the highlights of their respective seasons, and that’s because they did something that Discovery hadn’t really done before: self-contained episodic storytelling.
Since the likes of Lost and Game of Thrones set the entertainment world ablaze with incredibly popular serialised stories, that’s the only model that most executives have wanted to pursue. But a franchise like Star Trek was built on an older style of episodic storytelling, and that’s something many fans have long appreciated and want to see more of. It’s also, I would argue, why a franchise like Star Trek proved to be so popular in re-runs and on DVD: you don’t need to have followed a whole season-long story, it’s easy in most cases to just pick up an episode or two and have a great time. But that’s a longer conversation that we’ll have to save for another time!
Strange New Worlds managed to strike a wonderful balance in its first season. Characters could have season-long arcs, learning, growing, and changing as their adventures unfolded, but each week the crew would be in a different situation, orbiting a different planet, facing a different foe, or tackling a different challenge. This blend of serialised arcs with episodic storytelling was fantastic – and I would dearly love to see more of it in Star Trek (and on TV in general!)
I don’t expect Discovery to fully go down the Strange New Worlds route – as much as I’d love to see it. But there really ought to be time for a couple of standalone episodes, perhaps focusing on other characters off to one side as the ship and crew travel to their next destination. Opening up the season to new and different adventures would be well worth it!
So that’s it!
Those are ten of my wishes for Discovery’s upcoming fifth season. Although I’ve been feeling that sense of burnout that I described earlier, I do fully intend to watch Discovery this spring. Whether I’ll sign up for Paramount+ in April to watch it week by week or whether I’ll wait till June and binge it… I can’t be sure right now! But as I said shortly after New Year when I put together my annual “looking ahead” list, Discovery is a series that I’m looking forward to.
My biggest concern at this early stage has to be whether the series can manage to put together a solid, conclusive ending given that no such ending was originally written. Can re-writes and a couple of days of additional shooting make up for that deficit? Or will the series come to a close in unspectacular or even disappointing fashion?
I hope you’ll stay tuned here on Trekking with Dennis, because there will eventually be episode reviews and perhaps some additional commentary once Season 5 gets going. And when the series has broadcast its final episode, I’m sure I’ll have something to say about the way it ended – as well as perhaps taking a retrospective look at Discovery as a whole. Until then… Live Long and Prosper!
Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 will be broadcast on Paramount+ in countries and territories where the platform is available beginning in April 2024. Seasons 1-4 are available to stream now, and are also available on DVD/Blu-ray. The Star Trek franchise – including Discovery and all other properties discussed above – is the copyright of Paramount Global. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.
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