[RavenSplat]

Episodes Discussion

"Life, Itself"

Airdate: 30/05/2024 (Paramount+)

This thread is for the pre and post discussion of the Season 5 finale "Life, Itself" - this will be a spoiler filled discussion so if you've found your way past the warnings in the activity stream and the spoiler tag on the thread, this is your last chance to turn back, or at least it will be at the end of this first post. You have been warned!

Life Itself
Trapped inside a mysterious alien portal that defies familiar rules of time, space, and gravity. Captain Burnham must fight Moll and the environment itself in order to locate the Progenitors' technology and secure it for the Federation.


"Life, Itself" is the tenth episode, 10 of 10.


Time for the finale of Star Trek Discovery, let us see how it plays out.

[Novalance]

Not a bad ending tbh

[merTYol]

Through its failings and successes, Discovery brought the Star Trek back to us after the end of Enterprise and the controversial JJ Movies. I think they did a great job with the finale. Seeing USS Discovery restored to original state to fit with the short trek, was a clever way of doing it as well.

Despite how some might feel. I think they did what best they could do with the plotlines they were boxed into with the production issues of the first season brought forward.

I will always be grateful for the work all these Actors/Actresses and the production team for bringing the love of Star Trek itself back to us. And looking forward to what they make for future.

[darthnovawave]

I thought they did a great job tying up loose ends like closing out the season, connecting the USS Discovery to the Short Trek episode, revealing the unexpected twist around Dr. Kovich, and giving a glimpse of happy endings for at least some of the crew (and leaves doors open for cameos in the Starfleet Academy series). I'd say this was easily Discovery's best season overall, which makes it bittersweet that they finally found their footing with their laat season. Now to decide what to binge until the next Trek series drops some new episodes.

[JByb04]

So this is the last episode thread.

Discovery divided the fandom at first. It was definitely a series I had a love / hate relationship with. But, once they jumped forward in time, that was when the series found its stride. At least in my humble opinion.

I was happy to see they DID tie it in to the short treks episode and Dr. Kovich was a welcome surprise. Although for a second, I thought he might have been Data, or perhaps Admiral Picard. It was nice to see Enterprise get acknowledged.

So godspeed Discovery and thank you for bringing Trek back to us after a long absence. It wasn't always an easy road for you or your crew. But your mission is complete.

[Solace]

I have some thoughts about the end.

I like how they tied up the loose ends, I was hoping we’d see more of the future crew and where they ended up, all we know is Tilly is still at the Academy teaching. I really like the newer 33rd century(?) uniforms. I’d watch a new crew with Leto Burnham as Captain.

The kovich twist was nice, but I was half expecting him to say he was Q, that would have been really fun after the whole no contact from the continuum in a while, yes you could argue they probably all died but I don’t think we’re done with the Q yet.

Its been a long road, time to step down Discovery.

[Heyallo]

That Kovich bit at the end, that made me lol, though seeing the enterprise related memorabilia made me think that it was either that or Q lol.

it also reminded me of a photo my friend Ross sent me, of him and LeVar Burton, with my friend wearing the OG visor. (this wasn't no con shot either)

[Chris Wilkinson]

I watched this episode yesterday and I was one of those people who shot at Discovery when it first came out, but it grew on me greatly in the second half of it's first season where it took us to the mirror universe.

The episode was good overall, but that last 20 minutes or so where we saw the crew at the end actually brought me to tears as it was such a nice send off for the show which, has brought Trek back to the mainstream after almost a decade and a half.

I always wondered how they were going to tie off the short trek issue but how they've done it was fantastic, I never saw that coming. The twist with Daniels was also unexpected but when they started showing off the memorabilia from TNG/DS9/Picard I did start to question who he was as it seemed odd to have those particular artifacts.

Overall, for a sendoff, I don't think the cast of Discovery could've asked for anything better. It's certainly better than some of the finales we've had in the past (I'm looking at you Enterprise).

[RavenSplat]

I found it to be a pretty good episode of Discovery. I don't think it was my favourite of the season and I have yet to decide where it ranks among the seasons (time for a full rewatch to decide maybe).

The first hour of the episode was ok. Moll vs Burnham was a decent sequence although I do wonder how Moll sturggled with that puzzle as the answer felt obvious to me from the moment I saw the triangles. The look of all the planets was cool though so that's a win.

The reveal that there are precoursers to the Progenitors was really interesting and I hope that get's followed up on at some point. The Kovich reveal was great and I loved all the little Easter Eggs in his office that they let us get a real good look at. The wedding was great and I loved all the fancy outfits everyone was wearing.

The last but with Book and Burnham just solidified the main problem I have had with Discovery since Season 3. In season 3 they started to expand the Bridge crew way more than before and then they leave them all behind during the finale scene. I haven't mentioned it on here before but I quite liked the relationship between Owosekun and Detmer and have felt they deserved a romantic ending together due to the chemistry I personally have seen on screen. And while it didn't do anythign to disuade that notion it also didn't do anything to reinforce it. The fact that our last moment with characters like Reno, Staments and Adira was just a silent scene that was in universe a flash back feels wrong to me. Not having Owo and Detmer even send a message to the wedding also feels off. I know there was a scheduling issue at the time but not even a mention from someone like Tilly of
'Detmer and Owosekun send thier best. They wish they didn't miss this but the ISS Enterprise has to come back the long way round.'

I do hope the Academy is able to give closure to characters other than the couples of Burnham and Book and Saru and T'rina as it has felt massively lacking for our main bridge crew. I'll compile some more thoughts maybe in another thread at some point but overall a good ending for Burnham and Book (Side note I love the new uniforms in the flash forward) and the resetting for Calypso (which I would love to know the explanation for by Starfleet) was a veyr nice touch. I hope Zora doesn't get too lonely out there in the great beyond though. But the unrefitting of the vessel is a weird choice in universe and I hope someone smarter than me can come up with a reason for it beyond we had to try and fix Calypso's place in the canon.

[WelshAvenger]

My $0.02

Overall, a fair send off for the show with an outcome that was fairly predictable. There was no way they were going to let anyone get that technology and putting it beyond the event horizon puts it out of reach of any civilization that hasn't mastered a way to retrieve it from a black hole.

I did think that Kovich was going to be Traveller Wesley but I'm really glad that they threw in Daniels as a nod to Enterprise.

That brings me to the end. From the very first episode, it was clear that Discovery was a departure from the standard Trek series in that the focus was always on Michael at the expense of the other crew, apart from Action Saru. The final fifteen minutes cemented that difference. What could have been better than the original crew turning up to escort Zora to her final destination. Yes, It was kind of a touching moment between Burnham and Zora but it felt hollow like no-one else cared enough to be there.

For all my nitpicking I enjoyed it and it didn't cheapen the series in a similar way to Enterprise's finale.

[JCarrill0]

The bittersweet end was all anyone could hope for.

I’m sad to see it end, yet await for something more, beyond the discovery

[darthnovawave]

The last but with Book and Burnham just solidified the main problem I have had with Discovery since Season 3. In season 3 they started to expand the Bridge crew way more than before and then they leave them all behind during the finale scene. I haven't mentioned it on here before but I quite liked the relationship between Owosekun and Detmer and have felt they deserved a romantic ending together due to the chemistry I personally have seen on screen. And while it didn't do anythign to disuade that notion it also didn't do anything to reinforce it. The fact that our last moment with characters like Reno, Staments and Adira was just a silent scene that was in universe a flash back feels wrong to me. Not having Owo and Detmer even send a message to the wedding also feels off. I know there was a scheduling issue at the time but not even a mention from someone like Tilly of
'Detmer and Owosekun send thier best. They wish they didn't miss this but the ISS Enterprise has to come back the long way round.'

The absence of Owo and Detmer bothered me too, but now that the season is over the showrunners have publicly stated their absence was due to the actors having real life commitments during the filming of those episodes. Keep in mind that nobody knew this was the final season when they were in principle production. I've also heard that Wilson Cruz was unavailable for the post-production reshoots, so his presence in the bridge celebration was all editing tricks and archival footage. Paramount's timing on the cancelation announcement just sucked all around.