The Discovery crew prepare for what could be their final mission.

There are spoilers below. If you want a brief summary – lots of great character moments, a surprise addition to the science crew of the Enterprise, and huge amounts of setting up for the finale.

I seem to recall reading that Discovery had received an extra episode for its second season, and logically it would appear to have been this one, which allows the impact of the finale next week to be felt even more strongly as the result of the time that we spend with the characters as they prepare. I doubt anyone seriously expected the auto-destruct of the ship to work – the Sphere data has been far too canny to allow something that easy – and I also suspect most people expected Michael Burnham to be donning the Red Angel suit at some point. We ended episode 12 with Control ready to attack to retrieve the data; we end episode 13 in much the same place, except with Enterprise alongside.

There are a few moments that you have to just go along with the ride for – how on Earth (or Vulcan) did Sarek and Amanda manage to get to where Discovery is… and then not spend time with their son (I know, it’s got to be that way for Journey to Babel to work, but that particular envelope is stretching really thin now). The letters home, the discussion between Culber and Stamets (even if that did stop the latter seconds after he’d been chivvying everyone else to get cracking because they’re running out of time), Saru’s farewell to his sister, the sheer joy of Tilly’s reunion with her Short Treks friend Po (and anyone who can ban snark by royal decree is going to be worth having as a friend), the farewell to Pike from the crew of Discovery… all terrific moments, earned this season as we’ve really got to know this crew more. The Pike and Georgiou farewell is beautifully played by Michelle Yeoh and Anson Mount – that wink adds so many layers to their interaction over the past few weeks.

And then we’ve got Enterprise herself, her bridge somehow feeling just like the one we saw in The Cage (and in that previously-on montage a month back), with Yeoman Colt around somewhere, according to the closing credits. Jeff Russo used Alexander Courage’s fanfare to underscore just how much it felt like coming home. Rebecca Romjin continues to excel as Number One – and I think we need at least a trilogy of backstory books for the new science officer who’s stepped up while Spock has been off the ship (those who were at the WonderCon panel may have done a double take!).

A couple of moments undercut potential plotlines – Jett getting the same vision of a missile through Enterprise’s hull towards the end of the episode suggests Michael’s plan hasn’t changed things as much as perhaps we’d hoped; and Spock’s presence on Discovery probably means the ship can’t finish up at the other end of time for season 3, as we know he returns to Enterprise. (There’s a loophole still in that last one, I know, but I suspect it’s unlikely).

The effects work (including some more unusual blinking), the musical score and the sound foley combine to give a strong background but it’s very much the characters at the foreground of this penultimate Trek – just as it should always be.

Verdict: These characters have earned the right to have an episode built purely around them as they prepare to face the final frontier – and kudos to director Olatunde Osunsanmi for bringing it all together. 9/10

Paul Simpson