Paramount, out now

A treasure hunt for the crew of the Discovery and a jump into their future…

For the last seven years, Star Trek fans have followed the adventures of the crew of the Discovery, from their 23rd century origins to their jump to the far future of the franchise, going where no one had gone before (even beyond the shenanigans of the temporal conflicts that we saw in Enterprise). It’s had some real highs – notably the second season introduction of the Enterprise crew that led directly to my personal highpoint of this new “third era” of Star Trek, Strange New Worlds – and some real lows (which we’ll draw a veil over). No one realised when planning of the fifth season was underway that it would be the final run for Michael Burnham and her crew – something that is clear in the final episode (for which we get a commentary and other attention in this set) which has a time jump in the middle for the coda, for which not everyone was able to return.

Our reviews of the episodes themselves can be found elsewhere on the site – the shortened running time I think benefitted the storytelling – and the season definitely benefits from binge viewing rather than the once a week approach (not something I think generally applies to Star Trek). The set has the aforementioned commentary and deleted scenes from the finale, as well as a nice focus on Olatunde Osunsanmi, one of the genuinely nicest people I’ve met in 30 years in this business, and star Sonequa Martin-Green. We learn some more about the characters generally and there are two more general featurettes, one looking at the different departments, the other at the season as a whole. There’s also the inevitable gag reel.

On a personal note, Discovery will always have a special place for me, after being invited to MC the panel at WonderCon mid-second season, and spending time with the effects team. There’s an opportunity now to buy the whole series as a box set, and I wonder how future Trek fans will view it when seen as a whole.

Verdict: The presentation of these final episodes is strong both visually and aurally – a 4K set would of course take things up the next level – but this rounds things off well. 7/10

Paul Simpson