Down at the Disco: S4 in Review

Of all the Star Trek series, Discovery not only stands as the longest on air but also the show with the most changes during its four season run. Believe it or not, that mark is hit exactly five years ago this very day (in the US).

To put that into perspective, that's only 55 episodes in total which is equivalent to just over the first two seasons of TNG. Yet we've seen huge changes in the crew, five huge story arcs and a time jump of 1000 years.

All in a day's work for the crew of a Starfleet ship and now here we are, Coming Home and on the break to wait for the inevitable season five. Warning - possible spoilers ahead.

Season four's promo work didn't help it from the beginning. Starting out with another potential anomaly threat to the Federation it looked like a rerun of season three and suggested that the format could already be getting tired. 

It seemed to be correct with the first episode seeing Book's home planet of Kweijan destroyed by the mysterious DMA (Dark Matter Anomaly) and more prevaricating about the Federation rebuilding. If truth be told, that first half of season four was a bit of a mess. The anomaly seemed like a good idea with its ability to appear and disappear at will. Danger could indeed come from everywhere. But the problem was that everything else seemed to be more or less disposable.

For example, Adira was coming up as one of the more interesting characters on the show played by the wonderful Blu Del Barrio. The narrative around Grey's rebirth linked in well with Picard's own season end however by season end they were gone and Adira was relegated to background almost overnight. With Mary Wiseman stepping back and Tilly transferring to Starfleet Academy there seemed a natural gap in the cast but this didn't seem to be fully realised in this season. 

Even the "baddie" for the season in the shape of Shawn Doyle's Tarka wasn't a super villain or a moustache twirling nemesis as Ossyra played for the Emerald Chain. His lost scientist persona fitted more into a role fans would perhaps liken to Soran from Generations, driven by his personal need to get home rather than the bigger picture. Doyle's character didn't need to be evil to be effective in season four and after the host of enemies across the show it's one point that made a refreshing change. Tarka's relationship with Book hinged a great chunk of the season together and was a stronger thread to the overall arc right from the moment they decided to head off on their own.

But let's also remember something fairly significant about this season. It was filmed during the pandemic and just for that it deserves a ton of praise for just existing. Look more closely and you'll see that the season has actually been very cleverly crafted. It might not be everyone's cup of tea and it's unusual that there aren't more fisticuffs, explosions but for the first time, Discovery kind of went really sciencey. Most of the 13 episodes are bottle shows, confined to either standing Discovery sets, Book's ship and Federation headquarters. There's only a trade station, an ice planet, Kweijan and the deserted world of the Ten-C that are new sets. Even then you might suspect they were repurposed. Even the 10-C themselves were CG and barely seen at that.

If you have to give something to season four, it's the clever use of sets, space and storytelling given restrictions at the time to still manage to deliver a coherent arc. Perhaps the most impressive element of the season is that the conclusion didn't rely on the same hand to hand combat or battle situation that we've experienced many times before. Yes, the galaxy and more specifically Ni'Var and Earth were in danger but the answer came in the form of science rather than guns. Is this Discovery's most Star Trek solution ever? To have an alien race communicate mathematically, emotionally and chemically is inspired and truly franchise format breaking.  

The bulk of the second part of the season was dedicated to the Ten-C and the journey to locate them. For only the second time in Star Trek history has the story taken us outside of the Milky Way and into the utter unknown, even beyond the reach of the wonderful spore drive. 

But then that is what Star Trek was supposed to be about. Yes, there is the element of impending danger, the threat that Earth could well be destroyed but where season four of Discovery succeeded was in a peaceful solution that actually worked and made sense. Communication was the key and for the first time in its four season run it felt that we were boldly going. Star Trek was Star Trek and he Federation didn't need to shoot something a lot to win. 

The 32nd Century setting still feels uneasy but for a season troubled by very Earth-based challenges, this has to be seen as a success even if I wasn't blown away by the story as it seemed to be a tale already well-trodden in the franchise. Cudos also for the fact that both Detmer and Owosekun had more to do than sit at the front of the bridge for a season. While the latter was involved with the away team in season two's New Eden and Kayla Detmer has had some key piloting moments, this felt like the first time they were used to their full effect. The other bridge fillers were still around and as horribly under utilised but even this seemed to be a step forward in the audience being able to connect to not just Michael and Saru.

I'm not going to say that this has been a great year for Discovery even taking into account the mitigating circumstances. The show still appears to be finding its feet in the 32nd Century with season four becoming more of a "season two" of a soft reboot. Where Discovery worked was through tying in its classic links such as Pike and Spock. 

Season four ended very cleanly. No loose ends, nothing to resolve at the beginning of the already green-lit season five. The distant future offers the chance to reset and go their own way but we have lost a lot of the familiarity of the franchise through such a prominent time jump and hopefully season five will correct the rot. It will be without the chains of a pandemic and therefore stretch out beyond the confines of the studio walls to embrace the challenges of the 32nd Century.

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