star trek online race change

FAQ – Star Trek Online Beginners Tips and Tricks

44th flee t’s star trek online beginners guide, 90% of all frequently asked questions:.

Escorts – do heavy damage with their dual heavy cannons, but weak hull and shields. Compact designs, very maneuverable. Preferred for a ‘fighter-like’ playstyle. Cruisers – average damage through all beams but strong hulls and decent shields. Lowest turn rate. Preferred ‘tank’ class. Science Vessels – specializes on healing, debuffing and damage through exotic powers like Gravity Well. Average hulls but strong shields. Are the ‘space wizards’ in STO. Small Craft – Shuttles and Fighters. Weak damage, weak hull and shields, but the fastest and required for some unique missions.

There are also many additional sub-classes including Heavy Escorts, Dreadnoughts, Battlecruisers, Carriers with fighters, Reconnaissance and Intel Science Vessels.

The Klingon, Romulan and Dominion factions have comparable classes but with extra unique specialities, such as (battle) cloaks, Raider flanking damage or Singularity powers. Additional cross-faction ships have even more unique abilities.

Go here for some simple starting builds you can copy – this is very basic but serve you well while leveling. They work for Federation, Klingon and Romulan comparable ships (eg Escorts – Bird of Preys – Warbirds).

Trust us; we’ve been there, done that. As in real life, knowledge is (fire) power – knowing how and especially why a certain mechanic works does more for your DPS than just slapping a specific weapon on your ship. There’s math involved, but just playing the game you’ll understand the basics pretty quickly.

But okay, twist my arm, these are all bonnie ships cap’n!

Compiled by our resident 44th Ship Master Sukobi , the following are considered the top tier ships in-game at this time (March 2021). New ships are always released so this list changes every year.

Inquiry Battlecruiser and the Fleet Shephard / Qugh Battlecruiser — These are all dynamite energy beam/cannon ships with the same ship layout: Qugh has battle cloak, and Inquiry adds Intel abilities to the Miracle Worker seat. Fearsome ships.

Vaadwaur MW Juggernaut — Unrivaled in the Dual Heavy Cannon space, this is a difficult ship to explain but it’ll do the job and has the hull of a tank.

Tzen-tar Dreadnought Carrier — mixed carrier/torpedo. 6 tactical consoles, 5 forward weapons, 2 hangars, and still 2 aft weapons. The same mobility as the Inquiry/Shephard/Qugh. Strong hull and massive shields.

Tholian Jorogumo Carrier — Best of the support carriers with two hangars, heavy shields and Gravity Well. This ship is about being able to squeeze maximum support out of every single gear slot.

Klingon D7 , Federation Constitution MW Flight Deck Carriers would likely be the most ideal standard dps-based tanks. Plus classic lines to boot.

There is much more to cover and for a more in-depth overview of these ships see this detailed post (44th members only).

Just remember, buying these ships are no guarantee ; you will still need to outfit them with top-end gear for their max potential.

Also, as a 44th Fleet member, you will now have access to superior and unique Fleet versions of many Federation, Romulan and Klingon ships (extra console slot, increased stats etc).

No longer a true ‘must have’, but the Plasmonic Leech console , especially for power-starved Romulan ships, is a good investment. Another nice one is the Sustained Radiant Field console from the Iconian Reputation.

Like ground/ship traits, there are always new consoles and set bonuses changing the ‘meta’ of the game – adapt !

So, with those CrtH:CrtD ratios, if you want to get the most possible out of your ship, you buff [CrtD] on weapons and [CrtH] on consoles.

Star Trek Online Enterprise Discovery Voyager deep space nine combat weapons Kirk Spock phaser photon torpedo beam shuttle star wars MMO RPG boff doff pvp player bridge officer action

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• Star Trek Online Best Race - What To Choose

Star Trek Online has 45 species that can be chosen by players, but which is the best in the game? We’ll be going over the top 5 in our article here! Like most things in the game, the best races are not absolutely critical in order to complete content, and it is perfectly viable to play anything you want because you like the species! So let’s boldly go and start with Number 5!

5.  Human (Best for Tanking)

A classic but pretty handy to have around!

At Number 5 we have the Humans! Eternally the general, average, generic species in pretty much every game, humans in Star Trek Online have a very straight-forward but useful ability. In Space Combat, they give you a 30% bonus to subsystem repair and hull regeneration rate, and in Ground Combat, they give a 5% team exploit damage bonus.

What makes them useful is their subsystem repair and hull regeneration bonuses, since those are fairly difficult to stack without using expensive traits or skills. By combining it with some of the cheaper options out there (like using human bridge officers who also have the trait), you can get a reasonably high hull regeneration bonus.

Subsystem repair is also very handy in PVP or against enemies who use a lot of disables, since it reduces the time for those subsystems to come back online. The ground bonus, however, is pretty much worthless, making humans pretty average at

That said, they make excellent tank captains, and when combined with engineers, they can endure tremendous amounts of punishment in space combat.

Human details:

Humans are a race originating from the planet Earth in the Sol System. They were one of the founding races thatcreated the United Federation of Planets, along with Vulcans, Andorians and Tellarites. In Star Trek Online they are a playable race belonging to the Federation faction.

Species trait : Humans are inspirational leaders and work exceptionally well with others. Their Leadership inspires their comrades to work harder and faster than they otherwise could, and their Teamwork allows them to exploit combat opportunities created by teammates to great effect.

In Space: Increases Subsystem Repair and Hull Regen Rate in Space (30% in combat, 60% out of combat)

On Ground: Increases team exploit damage on Ground

What Humans Excel In:

• Very powerful hull regeneration bonus for Space Combat that makes them a natural pick for tanking roles. 
• Subsystem repair makes them very resilient to disable attacks which is good both for PVP and general content. 
• Can take full advantage of Human bridge officers who also come with the trait to get up to 100% bonus hull regeneration and subsystem repair!

Pick Humans if... 

• You like playing as a Human being in other games!
• You enjoy a tanking-centered role (though this is still useful even for DPS ships, so don’t feel limited).
• You want to be able to PVP and PVE equally well. 

4. Liberated Borg Human (Best for Support)

Note: does not come with your own drone army.

Liberated Borg were an option that was frequently requested in the early days of Star Trek Online, and when it was finally given, it proved to be quite powerful in that time period. While its power has diminished due to the presence of other competing traits and abilities, it’s still very good for people who have access to it. 

A quick note on the Borg is that they are only available to people with a Lifetime Subscription to Star Trek Online. I hesitated to include them due to this, but they’re good enough that I felt it would be unwise to dismiss them as an option for players with more discretionary spending ability. 

The Liberated Borg comes with a Space Combat bonus of +30 to Warp Core Efficiency, meaning that you get additional power levels naturally by simply having this as your captain. The old days had power being extremely difficult to come by, whereas in the modern age, power levels are easier to max out. It’s still something you want to do, and given that maxing it out can be costly in game currency, this can be a useful option to bridgethe gap. 

The ground bonuses it comes with is also very useful, giving you both health and shield regeneration increases. In a few ways, the Liberated Borg strikes a better balance at Space and Ground than Humans. 

Unfortunately, you can’t quite recreate Seven of Nine in the sense of having a mostly normal-looking character. If you’re a fan of the implants and the pasty skin, this is your pick!

Liberated Borg details:

Liberated Borg (also known as xBs) are former Borg drones who have been freed from the Collective. Their original race, prior to assimilation, may have varied by species but they are unified through the experience of being absorbed into the Borg, complete with mental and physical scars from the trauma.

Species trait: You are a former Borg drone, now freed from your connection to the Collective. You retain the rigid efficiency and internal metabolism of a Borg drone, giving your systems extra efficiency in space and your body extra regeneration and resilience on the ground.

In Space : +30 Starship Warp Core Efficiency

On Ground: +10% Health Regeneration/+6% Shield Regeneration

What Liberated Borg Excels In: 

• An excellent pick for any captain who wants that added power bonus, but especially good for Science captains who need the juice for their abilities. 
• Tanky in Ground Combat with a large degree of innate durability. 
• Customization options combine well with any of the unlocked costumes. 

Pick Liberated Borg if... 

• You loved Seven of Nine as a character and want to follow in her footsteps!
• Enjoy playing a more support oriented role or a “caster” class via the Science captain career. 
• Want a tanky set of traits for Ground Combat - Resistance is Futile.

3. Jem’Hadar Vanguard (Best for DPS)

Victory is dependent upon skill of the player!

The mighty Jem’Hadar Vanguard is an upgrade over the basic Jem’Hadar that Dominion players can access thanks to the Victory is Life! Expansion. With the upgraded version, you get a solid bonus to weapons damage, critical hit chance, and critical hit severity, while ground traits remain the same.

What makes this so good is the bonus weapon damage as a space trait! Bonus damage works by more or less bypassing the diminishing returns of “increased weapons damage”, ensuring that a 20% bonus is an actual 20% bonus, not 2% because of previous stacking effects.

Having this on a captain means that right out of the gate, you’re doing more damage than the average player!

The ground trait is useful by giving you the Shroud (cloak) ability as well as identical bonuses as the space trait. This makes the Vanguard the best at DPS for the Dominion and most factions.

Jem’Hadar Vanguard details:

The Jem'Hadar Vanguard are a version of Jem'Hadar specially bred on the orders of Odo. They are a premium race requiring purchase in the Zen Store for 600Zen small icon.png or as part of the Gamma Vanguard Starter Pack or Gamma Vanguard Pack. Like normal Jem'Hadar, Jem'Hadar Vanguard characters start at level 60.

Species traits : Jem'Hadar: soldiers were designed purely for combat, and are highly capable combatants in a multitude of environments. Their intense combat training has made them incredibly effective at defeating their opponents through superior offensive capabilities.

Ground: Bonus Damage for Ranged Weapons and Melee attacks, Critical Chance and Critical Severity.

Space: Bonus Damage, Critical Chance and Critical Severity.

Shroud: Allows you to briefly cloak and increase the damage of your next attack. The stealth and damage bonus expire when you attack, or when the duration time runs out.

What Jem’Hadar Vanguard Excels In: 

• Among the best DPS species in the game, with identical bonuses in space and on ground. 
• Has the Shroud ability, letting you naturally cloak without having to use a kit module when on ground. 
• DPS bonus is the best bonus to have, as it bypasses diminishing returns.

Pick Jem’hadar Vanguard if... 

• You enjoyed the Dominion in DS9 and liked Odo as a character!
• You want to play a DPS captain that has solid skills on both ground and in space. 
• Like the idea of having a character with a built in cloaking device in ground combat.

2. Joined Trill (Best For Support/DPS)

Alas, no inner voice of wisdom to guide you on your path.

Trill joined together conjure up images of Jazdia and Ezri Dax—beings with symbionts and the science to back it up.The Joined Trill in Star Trek Online certainly brings it to the forefront, with fantastic bonuses both in space and on the ground!

They get a series of major bonuses for the following: energy weapon training; projectile weapon training; shield restoration; hull restoration; damage control; exotic particle generator; control expertise; and drain expertise. As you can see, it’s a huge spread with a focus on the more science-oriented abilities.

They also get a bonus in ground combat! Health regeneration, radiation damage resistance, and toxic damage resistance are all increased, which is useful against certain types of ground enemies.

This makes them actually better, overall, than the Liberated Borg species, as their bonus skill points are spread across a large number of always-useful abilities. Trill are fantastic Science captains, easily able to use the full spectrum of bonuses to maximize their support or DPS.

Joined Trill details:

Joined Trill are symbiotic lifeforms and are native to their home world Trill. Trill is a playable race in Star Trek Online for the Federation and Klingon Empire once unlocked in the Zen Store. The Trill 'host' is very similar to a Human except for their spots, which are mostly seen on the sides of their heads. These spots run from their heads down their shoulders and carry on down their torso and legs to their feet.

Species trait : Joined Trill have access to the skills and memories of all of the previous hosts of the joined symbiote. The memories of your symbiote improve your abilities in a wide range of starship skills. Trill have naturally fast metabolisms which also increase regeneration, as well as providing resistance to Radiation and Toxic Damage.

On Ground: Hyper Metabolism. Bonus Regeneration, Bonus Radiation and Toxic Damage Resist.

            +10% Health regeneration

            +24.6% Radiation damage resistance

            +24.6% Toxic damage resistance

In Space: Joined Symbiote. Bonus Skill points.

            +3 Energy Weapon Training

            +3 Projectile Weapon Training

            +3 Shield Restoration

            +3 Hull Restoration

            +3 Hull Regeneration

            +7 Exotic Particle Generator

            +9 Control Expertise

            +9 Drain Expertise

What Joined Trill Excels In: 

• High spread of skill bonuses that are useful for any career choice. 
• Excellent bonus to science powers, making this a great choice for people looking to go into Space Magic builds!
• Ground Combat bonuses are useful with the high regeneration trait letting them act as an off-tank.

Pick Joined Trill if... 

• You loved the characters of Jazdia and Ezri Dax.
• You want a character that has a solid spread of utility options.
• You want to be able to use a Joined Trill as a KDF or Federation player.

1. Romulan Republic Alien (Best For Everything)

For when you want MAXIMUM creative options!

Aliens in Star Trek Online take a unique position. Unlike everyone else, they do not have a fixed set of traits and instead are able to select from a broad list of traits that are generally available to most factions. However, depending on the faction you create your alien with, the trait list is different.

So why the Romulans? Because the Romulans give you access to Romulan Operatives, which gives you increased critical strike chance and severity, and reduces the time required for recloaking.

What makes this so good? Well, besides bonus damage, critical strike chance is the most important DPS stacking stat in the entire game. Romulan Operatives, specifically the bridge officer variant, have long been used to increase this stat past the necessary 50% mark in order to reach the higher end of DPS metrics.

Starting with a Romulan Alien captain that has this built, it gets you going on that race earlier than you normally would, which is very handy. The extra slot option also lets you switch up how you build your character, so you can adapt them to tank, DPS, or heal.

All in all, it’s the best species in Star Trek Online by a large margin.

Romulan Republic Alien details:

The term Alien is used in Star Trek Online to globally define the customizable species for Starfleet, DSC Starfleet, the KDF and the Romulan Republic. These species are playable, but due to how involved the character creator is it is unlikely two people will create identical aliens unless they share their settings. Some players may be familiar with calling them Klingon Aliengens or Unknowns due to these being their previously used names during the game's beta stages.

Species trait: Your created species has enhanced flexibility in trait selection. You do not have any required traits;instead, you gain one additional choice of traits.

+2 Additional Personal Trait Slots (1 for ground, 1 for space)

What Romulan Republic Alien Excels In:

• Aliens are both the most versatile species in the game and the most powerful, thanks to the bonuses they get under the Romulan faction. 
• They can select extremely powerful traits to maximize DPS that other species (outside of Romulans themselves) are unable to access.
• Aliens can switch out their traits at any point, letting you swiftly rebuild your character to suit literally any task in the game!

Pick Romulan Republic Alien if…

• You want to have access to a huge variety of options in the character creator!
• You enjoy creating new builds and want something with added flexibility. 
• You like having access off the bat to the Romulan Warbirds, a powerful ship type with built-in cloaks (see my top 15 STO ships article!)
• You like one of the other races but want access to the best traits you can get. The character creator lets you get almost exactly the same visual results as any species in the game, with a handful of exceptions. This means you can make a “human” that has all of the Alien’s traits!

 And there we have it, folks! The best races to choose in Star Trek Online? I hope you enjoyed it, and remember that in Star Trek Online it isn’t critical to have the best of the best races. You can make any building work with any species. Just have fun!

See you on the other side, Captains!

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Star Trek Online Best Race - Which To Choose

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Star Trek Canon Is Suddenly Going In Several Different Directions

The venerable sci-fi franchise has to pick a future.

Star Trek has few equals when it comes to longevity. In 1966, The Original Series brought hardcore sci-fi concepts to network television, and in 1979, Star Trek: The Motion Picture became the most successful feature film based on a TV show. In the ‘90s, with Star Wars movies on hiatus and Marvel mostly limited to comics, Trek maintained several TV shows, a feature film empire, and countless tie-in novels.

“We [Star Trek] were actually a harbinger of things to come, just look at the universe of entertainment we currently live in,” LeVar Burton told Inverse in 2021 . Indeed, from the MCU to the Monsterverse, every genre franchise is trying to be a sprawling empire of TV and film. And while Star Trek is arguably the foundation for this reality, it still feels like an underdog constantly struggling to stay relevant. As Discovery and Lower Decks end in 2024, the franchise is poised to revamp its canon and make yet another comeback. Here are all the latest Trek developments, and what they mean for fans.

A New Trek Movie and a New Timeline?

What happened before this version of the Enterprise ?

The next Trek movie is thought to be an “Untitled Star Trek Origin Story,” which will take place before the J.J. Abrams-directed 2009 reboot film. Directed by Toby Haynes ( Andor ) with a script from Seth Grahame-Smith ( The Lego Batman Movie ), the movie (and the entire Trek film franchise) has g ained a producer in Simon Kinberg, best known for helming the X-Men film franchise from 2006 to 2019.

Notably, the Star Trek films have been completely separate from the current TV shows ever since Abrams’ 2009 Trek. While there are perpetual rumors about bringing TV and film back under the same umbrella, Alex Kurtzman remains in charge of TV Trek for now, so don’t hold your breath for, say, a Strange New Worlds film. But buried in these behind-the-scenes developments is a rumor that the prequel’s storyline will be set, according to The Hollywood Reporter , “...likely around modern times. It is said to involve the creation of the Starfleet and humankind’s first contact with alien life.”

As depicted in First Contact, humanity met the Vulcans in 2063. So if this rumor is true, it’s possible a third Trek timeline could emerge, one that contradicts the events of the Abrams movies (the Kelvin Timeline) and the ongoing TV shows (the Prime Timeline).

Star Trek has changed its history many times before, and Strange New Worlds recently altered the Prime Timeline to accommodate real 21st-century developments that the Trek of 1966 couldn’t anticipate. This could be a similar change, not a whole new timeline. Either way, the next Trek film appears poised to rewrite fictional history again.

Star Power For Starfleet Academy

Holly Hunter will lead the next Star Trek series.

Simultaneously, a major casting announcement dropped for the next live-action Star Trek TV series, Starfleet Academy . The lead will be acclaimed actress Holly Hunter, who, according to Variety , “will serve as the captain and chancellor of the Academy, presiding over both the faculty and a new class of Starfleet cadets as they learn to navigate the galaxy in the 32nd century.”

Casting a heavyweight like Hunter feels similar to what Trek did in 2016 when it was revealed that Michelle Yeoh would (initially) lead Discovery. Once again, a big name is brought in to give a new Trek series a fresh start. While Starfleet Academy is technically set within the Discovery timeframe, rumors suggest it will be young adult and even somewhat comedy-oriented, which means it has to win over a new demographic. So while Star Trek films are going back to the beginning, TV is heading into a risky future.

Picard Spinoff Legacy Is On Ice... For Now

Terry Matalas and Jeri Ryan, who’s the current captain of the USS Enterprise-G.

After the ending (and post-credits scene ) of Picard Season 3, showrunner Terry Matalas made it clear he was ready to make a spinoff series, tentatively titled Star Trek: Legacy , which would explore the further adventures of Captain Seven, Raffi, and Jack Crusher on the newly christened Enterprise-G . But with Paramount and CBS in financial limbo amid rumored mergers , Legacy has yet to be greenlit.

Now, it appears Legacy won’t likely be happening anytime soon. Terry Matalas has signed with Marvel to run Vision , a Disney+ series set after WandaVision . While Marvel fans should welcome Matalas’ talents, it suggests the balance of nostalgia and forward thinking that Matalas perfected on Picard won’t continue in future Terk shows.

Still, the future is uncertain. The next Trek film has already undergone several permutations, leaving fans with no idea what the final product will be. Starfleet Academy could shake up the idea of what Trek can be. As Spock tells us, “ there are always possibilities.” And whatever happens next to Trek canon, there will be no shortage of adventures to watch.

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• May 24, 2024 | Podcast: All Access And Lisa Klink Explore “Lagrange Point” On ‘Star Trek: Discovery’

Recap/Review: ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Finds The Right Balance In “Lagrange Point”

| May 23, 2024 | By: Anthony Pascale 104 comments so far

“Lagrange Point”

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Episode 9 – Debuted Thursday, May 23, 2024 Written by Sean Cochran & Ari Friedman Directed by Jonathan Frakes

The penultimate episode of the season sets up the finale with a great mix of action, heart, and even some fun.

I know you missed me.

WARNING: Spoilers below!

“What do we do now?”

We begin with Ambassador Saru returning to HQ, flowers in hand (aww), only to have his romantic moment with T’Rina diverted to a crisis meeting with the Prez. Rillak briefs the group on the last episode: Moll killed Ruhn, now Primarch Tahal’s fleet is heading to claim his dreadnaught, and it would be really bad news if she found out about the Progenitor Tech. On the Disco, they are still fixing the ship but risk using the spore drive to beat Moll to the coordinates. Upon arrival, they’re immediately pulled into a black hole—right next to another one. “That’s interesting.” Not now, Tilly! She rallies and sciences a way out of them being spaghettified , and the crew battles their way to safety, quickly spotting a curious cylinder in the Lagrange Point (title alert!) point between the holes, which must be what the 24 th -century scientists built to hide the Progenitor tech. They take in the moment to be dazzled by the awesome majesty of these binary primordial black holes as the secret home to the power of creation. This why they went into the final frontier, to find strange new… Oh shit, the Breen show up and tractor the cylinder into their shuttle bay. Zoink! You snooze you lose, space nerds.

I did miss you!

“I think they can do it.”

The Breen use the map as a key to open the container, revealing an extra-dimensional portal, so Moll starts sending Breen red shirts scientists in to figure it out. She doesn’t have the cryptic clue Michael got from Avatar Book, so the good guys have time if they can figure out how to beam the cylinder to the Disco. Adira suggests attaching transport locks, but how to get close enough? Cue the heist movie montage! The plan is to sneak a shuttle through a shield weak point to insert two teams dressed as Breen: Alpha to go to bridge and shut off shields, Beta to attach the transport lock. After some protective dad objections, Adira (with Rhys as security backup) are Alpha and Michael leads Beta, bringing Book along as pilot. Cleveland assesses the plan as “insane,” proven right as they fly into the dreadnaught’s exhaust with only seconds  before they are “deep fried.” Both teams beam in at the last moment… right next to some soldiers demanding answers. Banking on strict Breen hierarchy, Burnham chastises the soldiers and evokes the Scion, using the old fake it till you make it strategy of infiltration. Alpha team heads to the bridge, where they order a lowly officer away from his station with Adira sympathizing, “Everyone always picks on the ensign.” Beta heads to the shuttle bay with their usual banter, but take a quick sidebar so Michael can tell Book about the emotional epiphany she had in the mindscape last episode. Nice, but do you need to do this now?

Rhys and Adira prepare to drop some beats.

“This is getting weird.”

Back at HQ, Rillak is getting ghosted by Tahal so they debate dispatching the USS Mitchell to waylay the Breen Primarch, then settle on sending a less provocative shuttle with the same cool new Pathway Drive. Before T’Rina can provide a list of who could head up the mission, Saru volunteers. Later, they finally get their nice romantic moment and come to an understanding of how in their line of work they will always be faced with balancing their love with the logic required to choose duty over emotion. Speaking of duty, Rayner continues to pace the Disco bridge as he readies the crew for action and he isn’t about to sit in the captain’s chair, making it clear to acting first officer Tilly that he has no need for her “warm and fuzzy encouragement.” Stay gruff, my friend. On the dreadnaught, Michael and Book bluff their way through a checkpoint, knocking out the guards to get into the shuttle bay to see another Breen scientist sacrificed to the mysterious glowing cylinder. They need to shut off a quarantine field, so Book is tasked with distracting a guard and he goes with… flirting. No helmet and refrigeration suit can hide the sexy. As he agrees to a group hook-up at the oil baths, Michael gets to work on that field, but on the bridge, Captain Moll gets wind of the missing shuttle bay guards. She orders a total lockdown as more soldiers head towards the precious cylinder… too many even for Book to seduce.

Those DJs are really kicking it.

“I always knew my crew would come for me.”

Beta Team needs a distraction, so Rayner hails Moll, revealing the Disco wasn’t destroyed last week but fibbing that Captain Burnham was killed. He warns Tahal is coming for Ruhn’s dreadnaught, but Moll rejects the offer of protection from the Federation. The former courier soon finds Alpha Team, unmasks them, and grabs the transporter lock before it can be used. Michael and Moll trade barbs, but Rayner is listening closely and understands the coded message from his captain.  The crazy plan is to fly the Disco through the Breen shuttle bay containment field and beam Michael, Book, and the cylinder over when they get flung into space. Sure, no problem. Alpha Team drops the shields, but that gets unwanted attention, so Rhys jumps into action and even Adira gets in some hits before they’re beamed away to safety. Moll sorts out what the Starfleeters are doing and decides her best hope is to go through the interdimensional gate herself (with L’ak’s body safely stored in a portable pattern buffer). Burnham can’t let her get the tech, so she decides to follow, sharing one last poignant look with Book before being zapped away. Discovery dives through the energy barrier and all hell breaks as the cylinder floats out into space and disintegrates, revealing the pulsating glowing portal from within. Book’s now on the bridge (having found the time to change back into his cool leather coat, perhaps due to some transporter tech?) and reveals the captain is inside the portal. Scanners find nothing, so Tilly sums up: “She’s just gone.” Not on Rayner’s watch. The commander rallies the crew with a fine “ failure… not an option ” speech. They are going to get her and the tech back, period. To make his point, he (finally) sits in the captain’s chair with, “Let’s do this”… next week.

I’ll sit down when I am damned ready.

That was exciting

What an exciting episode, nicely setting things up as a first part of the two-part finale while still being a complete package on its own. Time flies by with good pacing from director Jonathan “two-takes” Frakes. He leans into the season’s pivot in tone with a sense of adventure and even some fun with heist movie motifs. Sneaking on board alien ships in disguise is classic Trek going back to “The Enterprise Incident,” but this time with a Breen twist, evoking Kira Breening up in DS9’s “Indiscretion.” The stakes are huge as the season plot comes to a head with Moll and now a looming new Breen threat potentially taking the Progenitor tech, and these bring along the VFX moments and dramatic bridge scenes we should expect from big-budget Star Trek. But this is also Discovery, and so what is woven throughout are key character moments driving home the season’s theme of connection. This may be exemplified best by the very welcome return of Doug Jones, who is giving us the perspective from Starfleet HQ as Saru and T’Rina find love in between moments of high-tension statecraft and diplomacy.

Michael senses she only has one episode left.

“Lagrange Point” pays off several character arcs that have been playing out this season, leaving Saru and T’Rina’s big day (presumably) for the season finale. Here there were more quick and even subtle moments that were still quite satisfying, especially seeing Adira come into their own by going on an away mission based on their own crazy idea, with the nervous but proud space dads sending them off like it was the first day of school. Adorable, yes, but it was also great to see Blu del Barrio show more range, with bits of humor—and it was really them doing the action scenes (check back later for Blu’s TrekMovie interview about this episode and more). The episode did make a big deal out of Rayner taking the chair, but it built up to this by picking up on threads from the season as he has earned the trust of the crew as expressed by Tilly, even as they hung a lantern on the show’s penchant for being all touchy-feely. The biggest payoff was for Michael and Book, broken up at the start of the season, now clearly realizing they are still in love. However, Discovery can’t help itself by having an inappropriately timed feelings discussion with Michael and Book on the Breen ship. This kind of thing isn’t really necessary and could have played better if she’d tried to have the conversation but was cut off, leaving everything that needed to be said in that brief beautiful moment they share only with looks before she goes into the portal.

Do they have Breen suits in my size?

Breen to be wild

It looks like they are saving all the big reveals about the Progenitors and their tech for the rest of the finale, but the ability to put their portal into the Lagrange Point of two primordial black holes is literally awesome, and Tilly seemed to imply the Progenitors may have even created those black holes, once again telegraphing this god-level tech probably shouldn’t end up in anyone’s hands. Season 5 also adds more to the lore when it comes to the Breen, although they do remain mysterious. It’s hard to grasp how Moll is now in command instead of Arisar, Ruhn’s top lieutenant who backed her coup. But there does seem to be a cult-like worship of the Scion and her association is the source of that power. More importantly, Moll seems to remain singularly focused on L’ak, but Eve Harlow’s over-the-top performance risks what we can assume is a coming redemption with Book in the finale. They were careful to show that even though she had little regard for Breen scientists, she had not gone full evil, saying she planned to drop Michael and Book off at some planet instead of killing them. We also learn that the Breen are polyamorous, like Denobulans, and they relax with oil baths, like Star Wars droids. Like with other little beats in the episode, they pick up on things established earlier in the season, like using the “anchworm” insult to good effect on the ship. This, as well as the nod to the Kellerun Ballad of Krul and “osikod” code from Burnham to Rayner, are little examples sthat show how this season is tied together more effectively than previous ones.

The Breen aren’t into walls.

For the setup to a season finale, there was a surprising amount of action, and not just with the spectacular space effects of the two black holes and battle with the Breen. The fight scenes on board the Breen ship with accompanying bluff-the-bad-guys moments were a bit familiar, but perhaps that was intentional as the episode had no time to waste. That said, there were moments that felt like they were skipping a step; after the Discovery crashes into the shuttle bay, the next moment Book is on the bridge wearing a new outfit. If you rewind and look VERY closely, you will see in the chaos of flying debris a tiny beam-out effect, but it felt like we missed something there. And if they could easily nab Book while he was in the shuttle bay, why not the cylinder as well? But it was still effective when the episode slowed down for some moments, including those back at Starfleet HQ, which added emotional beats and more context to the larger plot.

You’ll be back next week, right?

Final thoughts

In the end (and little nitpicks aside), “Lagrange Point” is a taut episode that stands on its own, but will likely be seen later as just part of the larger season finale as it ends on a cliffhanger. The balanced mix of action and emotion sprinkled with humor is the sweet spot for this series that we’ve been seeing throughout the season.

You better come back, the deposit on the wedding venue is nonrefundable.

• This is Jonathan Frakes’ 31st Star Trek directing credit and 8th episode of Discovery .
• At 46:57, it is the shortest episode of the season.
• A Lagrange Point is a real thing in celestial mechanics.
• Primarch Tahal leads the “3rd Flight” of the Breen factions.
• Once again Michael showed off her expertise in xenoanthropology (revealed in the series premiere) by knowing “Sarkaress” was a Breen festival, although it’s not clear why the universal translator didn’t know that as well.
• The vulnerability of an unshielded exhaust port is likely a reference to the Death Star from Star Wars .

Stamets is still shrooming.

More to come

Every Friday, the TrekMovie.com All Access Star Trek Podcast  covers the latest news in the Star Trek Universe and discusses the latest episode. The podcast is available on Apple Podcasts ,  Spotify ,  Pocket Casts ,  Stitcher and is part of the TrekMovie Podcast Network.

The fifth and final season of  Discovery debuted with two episodes on Thursday, April 4 exclusively on Paramount+  in the U.S., the UK, Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia, and Austria.  Discovery  will also premiere on April 4 on Paramount+ in Canada and will be broadcast on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel in Canada. The rest of the 10-episode final season will be available to stream weekly on Thursdays. Season 5 debuts on SkyShowtime in select European countries on April 5.

Keep up with news about the  Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com .

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I can’t recall offhand, but did we ever see Discovery’s engine room? I think they just showed the spore drive engine but never the warp engine.

It’s one of those things (like with who is chief engineer and who is chief medical officer) they never decided on. First it was ‘a’ science lab, then it was engineering.

Yeah, that was definitely one of the series’ major flaws.

Early on, they acted like we hadn’t, and that we would, but we never did.

I seem to recall this room being called engineering this season or last. It’s clearly at least an offshoot.

In Season 3 they, briefly, showed the Warp Core.

I’m pretty sure Stamet’s Lab became Engineering. You can sometimes see what’s supposed to be the core through the window.

No, and it really wasn’t necessary. The ship has engines, we get it.

And with that, there goes how many TOS eps right out the window?

Every show minus DS9 the engine room is a big part of the show and stories. This is the only one who apparently forgot they even had one.

TOS never showed the warp core.

They did, it just looked different, more like a particle accelarator then the one from TNG which set the standard, where Scotty would always be

Actually The Motion Picture set the standard. It may not have had the exact look of the core from TNG, but it did have the cylinder and lighting effects that were passed on to TNG.

One more episode of this extremely disappointing season to go. This one was moderately better than some of the others, but at this point I can’t imagine how they could possibly pull off a good season finale with this dull concept.

> extremely disappointing

How the fuck high are your standards?

(Go ahead and delete this, mods. I don’t blame you.)

To each their own. I really enjoyed the episode and it has been one of the best season we’ve had. I think we all get it. Discovery just isn’t your thing. That’s fine – you are entitled to your views. But there are quite a few of us that are actually enjoying this season. The writing have been fantastic this season (talking as a writer myself), the pacing has been great, and the acting has been wonderful.

What is the point of saying “We all get it?” I’m expressing my opinion, the same as anyone else here. If you don’t like my opinion, feel free not to read it. But there’s no need for that kind of response, and there is no “we”–you speak only for yourself. In any case, you enjoy the writing and acting this season, and that’s cool. I, for the most part, do not.

Oh, I seem to have touched a nerve. I only say that we all get it is because you have mentioned it several times before. Twice in this thread. That is all. “We get it” that you do not generally like Discovery – you have been quite vocal about it. And “WE”, meaning “others” understand that too.

But perhaps you should have read what else I said in my post… “to each their own”

No need to get snappy with me.

I have never said I dislike Discovery. On the contrary, I’ve said many times that I like some aspects of it, and have been consistent in saying so since season one. What I dislike are the needless melodrama, the whisper-acting, and how thin the plots have been since season three. That doesn’t mean I dislike the show. I’d argue it means the opposite. I keep watching because there are aspects I find enjoyable, and I keep hoping the show will finally rise up and meet its enormous potential.

Unfortunately, this season’s storyline doesn’t work for me. That is not the same as me not enjoying the show. I loved seasons one and two, and I thought season three had a lot of great things about it, too. It’s just four and five that have generally disappointed me. But there have been moments of greatness from time to time, even in these two disappointing arcs.

As for my getting snappy, I was responding in kind to “We all get it.” But that’s fine, I’m moving on

Thank you for moving all… from all of us.

You’re welcome–and I do mean you, since you don’t speak for anyone else.

Yes, but the guy is right, you do make that quite clear in your posts. They are more negative than positive. I think I read that you liked 2 episodes. But even then, you tend to focus on the negative aspects than celebrate the positive ones. But I get it. It’s your thing to nit-pick. I, for one, never understood your obsession with what you call whisper acting. Don’t really get it. But you do you. But I think that got you called out for trolling once.

I have pointed out many, many good things about the show, particularly in the first three seasons, so I don’t know what you mean. I loved Sarek and Amanda. I loved Lorca. I loved the mirror universe. I loved the Harry Mudd episodes. I loved the Ash/Voq arc. I loved the redesigned Klingons, and especially L’Rell. I loved Nhan. I loved Saru. I loved the diversity. I loved Stamets and Culber. I loved Reno. I loved Book during his first season. I loved Kovich.

I loved how Discovery introduced Strange New Worlds, and I loved the casting of Pike, Number One, and Spock. I loved Burnham’s mom. I enjoyed Control, despite thinking that concept fizzled out in the end. Last season, I made it clear I enjoyed the new characters. It was just the ending I didn’t like. I am a fan of Discovery and have never said otherwise. I like every Star Trek show, or else I wouldn’t be watching them, and I wouldn’t be commenting here.

As for the whisper-acting, it’s absurd to call it MY obsession. First, I’m not obsessed about it. Second, a ton of people–here and on other websites and in podcasts and on YouTube and in blogs and reviews, etc.–have pointed out how annoying the constant whispering is. So your point is moot.

As for my being a troll, I’m clearly not. I’ve been here for years and have been an active member of this board. I’m a lifelong fan and have been since the 1970s. There are people who come here and trash other people just because they like or dislike the show. I never do that. Those are the trolls, not me. I’m here for discussion. That’s the purpose of the board.

You tend to always focus on the negative when you post. Your comments tend to all have a “but” to them. “I love this…but…”

You tend to be the only one that talks about whisper acting. Haven’t seen anyone else talk about it here or on other boards. You got called out from the admin for troll like behavior mentioning this a few episodes back. No, my point is not moot at all.

You’ve been pissing on this since the first episode, so I guess you need to finish strong. By most accounts this has been a great season, and people are watching. So there’s that.

“Most accounts” is very subjective and kind of moot. I’ve read a lot of negative reactions to this season. Mine are hardly unique.

I will say looking at the reviews for IMDB the ratings are a lot lower than I expected GIVEN that people seem to at least like it. But the highest rated episode so far is episode 4 with a 7.1 which is decent but that’s the HIGHEST so far. The lowest rated is episode 6 with a 5.7 rating. In fact all the other episodes are in the 5s and 6s. That’s LOW.

Just for comparison sake SNW season 2 highest rated episode was TOS with a 9.0 rating. The lowest rated was subspace Rhapsody with a 6.9. But all the other episodes are in the 7 and 8 ranges which are sold ratings overall.

Now we’ll come to the most highly rated season in modern Star Trek so far with Picard season 3. The highest rated episode there is still the finale with a 9.4 which is still insane to me a year later but there it is. The LOWEST rated episode are episodes 2 and 7 tied at 8.2. Let that sink in that’s the Lowest rated episodes of the season. Picard season 3 are all rated 8 and 9. That’s abnormally high for any Star Trek show.

So your assessment is accurate. The season is rated higher than the last two but just barely. It’s shocking with people people fawning over how much they are loving this season but yet not a single episode has reached anything close to an 8. To clarify there isn’t a rating for this episode yet so maybe it will be higher.

But the REALITY is this season is still very mixed overall in the fanbase. I certainly do think a lot of people like it more, certainly more than last season. But Picard season 3 this is NOT!

I think what is happening is the people who isn’t loving it as much simply isn’t talking about it as much either. At least not here. But I could be wrong. That’s my only theory because the season is still rated fair to low on both IMDB and RT which currently has a 30% audience score. But I focus more on IMDB since the episodes are individually rated.

But you’re 100% right, yours is not unique in the slightest.

Another reminder that imdb as a metric has to be tempered due to review bombing. They’ve removed transparency to see the percentages of how people vote, but it’s guaranteed there’s a slew of unreasonable 1’s in the mix there.

This is why it’s hard to have an honest discussion about the show – people started review bombing it the second they added trans people to the cast, which makes it more difficult to talk about how at the same time the writing did change noticeably.

I know this but it’s season 5. I mean at this point it’s all been laid out.

Picard season 2 for example has the WORST ratings of any of the modern shows after the first two episodes. But then season 3 as said now has the highest.

So were people just review bombing season 2 of that show? Because it has lower ratings than even Discovery. Or maybe people just generally thought it sucked? That seems to be the consensus everywhere at the time.

At some point we just have to also admit maybe the majority of down votes are just people unhappy with the show?

And here is the biggest irony. The highest rated season of Discovery is actually season 1, the season that easily had the most acrimony and bitterness from fans since Enterprise season 1 lol.

Oddly that season is decently ranked today. It’s highest rated episodes are 12 and 13 tied at 8.1.

The lowest rated that season is #8 with a 6.8. In fact most of the season are in the 7 range. Not amazing but not awful either. Basically average which MOST Star Trek seasons are rated actually across the entire franchise.

So obviously it’s not like every season has been pounded into oblivion either.

But look these discussions really frustrates me because everyone wants to argue the online ratings .. when they are bad. NO ONE argues about them when they are good lol

If I came and posted every episode this season got an 8.1 everyone would be saying “SEEEE! People love this show!!!!”

And I only posted this because of Lorna Dune said that his view wasn’t in a tiny minority and he’s right… it’s not.

But yes people certainly love it here more than him which I think is accurate and fair. But other places online it is MUCH more mixed and those ratings are bearing it out.

As far as the Trans issue sorry I just don’t buy that. Were there any Trans characters in the first two seasons of Picard because those are rated just as bad as Discovery is minus a few stand out episodes.

And I went and looked at SMW episode that featured a Trans character in episode 7. It’s rated at a 7.2. Not amazing but decent right? And it’s not the lowest rated episode of the season either.

So sorry I don’t think it’s that. Some people YES, there are certainly the anti Woke idiots around, no doubt. But no not the main issue for its lower ratings. People have been complaining about this show for five seasons and we know it’s not those issues why most think it’s bad.

The IMDb ratings start to collapse the second they introduce Gray. Could be a coincidence, but my faith in people has been dashed. When they were visible, these numbers were filled with “1” ratings. It’s just skewing the numbers too much. I think the show got worse in seasons 3 and 4. But as bad as the numbers from IMDb fanboys who can’t even bear to rate When Harry Met Sally above a 7.7? Nah. There’s a mean-spirited agenda at work.

Ok fine and you could certainly be right. But again you also said the show just got worse in those seasons as well… which most people here (who didn’t like them) have also said.

Yes maybe that did have something to do with it but I think it’s clear it’s not the only thing either.

I was the guy saying Michelle Paradise should be fired because of HOW disappointed I was over seasons 3 and 4 and it obviously had nothing to do with Grey. I just thought it was generally bad outside of a few standout episodes.

The IMDB ratings are really just a self-selecting group of poll-takers who are motivated by having their likes and dislikes noted, somewhere. (Yeah, I doubt even Terry Matalas would rate the Picard finale that highly.) I wouldn’t put all that much stock in them, in any case.

We have this conversation every season lol.

And I say the same thing EVERY season, if you’re going to just dismiss every online poll then how do we rate anything???

When someone says people are loving or hate such and such show, OK, fine but where is it coming from? TikTok videos, viewing ratings, what people on a message board says?

Because here is a shock, every metric is online.

Look no one has to believe it, I say that all the time too lol, but for me these ratings seem to bare out what people are saying online most of the time. People seem to love SNW, guess what good ratings for the show in every poll. Not always amazing but decent. People think Nemesis was a bad movie, rating for that movie… not so decent lol.

I guess what I’m saying is I would like to see a pill that is completely left field of what people are saying online. I mean an EXTREME view.

And it’s not like Discovery is hated overall. The show has a 7.0 rating overall. It is the lowest rated show in the franchise but guess what 7 of the shows are all rated in the 7s, just higher than Discovery. The only shows that are rated 8 or higher are TNG, TOS, DS9 and SNW.

That sounds about right to me BASED on discussions on these shows everywhere.

But if people really hated Discovery or just review bombing it seems like it would be in the 5 or 6 range category.

Oh and lastly, I actually agree with most people here. I thought it was a pretty good episode and gave it an 8/10. I had some issues with it but it set things up well for the finale at least.

All said and done I was just defending Lorna Dune. Phil said he was the only one giving the season crap and while I knew that wasn’t completely true since it has been more mixed in other places for sure it’s hard to just base that any one place obviously.

But that’s the problem with message boards, right? You can go to one place and find people fawning over an episode. You can then go to another place and find the opposite responses on literally the same episode.

So yes your point isn’t wrong but that’s EVERYWHERE online today, right? So how do you determine how much something is liked consensus wise anywhere today? Especially something so subjective as a TV shows and movies?

But his view wasn’t coming out of a vacuum either and that’s all I was really trying to highlight. I haven’t even looked for any ratings for this season until today and yeah even I was a little shocked by it .. but not totally either.

I’ll make a deal with everyone now. Stop saying every one loves or hates something and I won’t post any of these polls. But you can’t keep saying “Well everyone truly loves such and such show except the vocal minority” but then dismiss ANY data that contradicts that U-N-L-E-S-S you have proof your statement can actually be validated. Fair right?

And guess what however it is validated will be 100% from online sources and we’re back where we started anyway.

Keep on posting your data Tiger please. You are by far the sanest person on these boards, I agree with you about 98% most of the time.

Thanks dude! I always appreciate it.

As I said I just wanted to present a more balanced picture and it wasn’t to prove that people thought the season actually sucked, simply that’s it’s probably a bit more complicated as well. That’s all.

I don’t doubt the season is more popular, especially when compared to last season which is EASILY the lowest rated season of the series.

But of course none of it matters just your personal feelings about it. But Lorna Dune is disappointed in the season probably moreso than a lot of people here including me. But he’s certainly not alone as proven and has the right to express it just the same.

Agreed to your terms about not assuming my preferences are shared by everyone, sir. But then, I never did. 😊

Yeah why I really enjoy talking to you because you really only discuss YOUR opinion and not obsess with other people’s thoughts.

For the life I just don’t understand why is it so hard to just to give your opinion about something without being so triggered over what anyone else says or that you feel your opinion has to part of some consensus to matter? But we see it over and over again lol.

Negative comments coming from the same people…over and over again… often in the same threads.

This episode was a really enjoyable one i loved every minute of it though i was a little disappointed by the shortness of it. Compared to the rest of the season that had episodes that were over 50 minutes long so i hope the final is a lot longer.

Jonathan Frakes again proves he is fantastic as a director and i hope he gets to direct some episodes of Starfleet Academy. The shot of Discovery cloaked and escaping the black hole’s gravity was gorgeous. A big thumbs up for the VFX team and their hard work.

Saru bringing flowers to T’rina was cute and great to see him again and President Rillak. I always enjoy seeing an away team infiltrating another ship. As it helps us the viewers get to know little more about the other team as in this case we get to know more about Breen culture.

The CGI shots of Discovery attacking the Breen Dreadnought and blasting/crashing it’s way into the shuttle bay was another gorgeous sequence. I hope we get a few more shots like that in the final.

They called this a two part finale, and… ok, sure. It’s really just episode 9 on a serialized show, so I don’t think it matters to call it a two part finale when every episode already connects.

100% this – Disco has always been a 6 episodes too many movie each season (same w/ Picard for that matter)

Something is telling me someone is about to become the new Emissary to the new worm/black hole aliens.

Sisko to return?! Whoa!

Not a chance.

lol.. yeah.. just being funny

lol if they did that I would be saying to Disco:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okMuq-NSq0M

No haha, but I was feeling some parallels. Let’s see what’s behind the portal next week.

I quite enjoyed it. It was a bit of a stretch with how many times they needed to fool the Breen crew… I’m a bit torn about DSC finishing next week. I feel bad for the fans who say this is “their Star Trek…” They’ll miss the show. I won’t miss it… I feel the show has run its course…what’s left to do??? (FWIW, I watch each episode as they drop. I support the franchise. When DSC is successful, it helps the franchise succeed…) I’m grateful for DSC’s success in bringing us SNW, LDS, and Prodigy. One more to go…finish strong DSC, finish strong…

I am with you. No matter what you think of it now, Discovery gave us a lot!

I agree. I hope they apply what they’ve learned about how to do a season to SNW, but I don’t think very many in this writers room are moving over there. That show needs some help. But DSC Season 5 feels like they looked at PIC S3 and took some good lessons about what made it so great without feeling like they copied it. There’s a lot they dialed back on this one, and that’s appreciated.

I won’t miss it… I feel the show has run its course…what’s left to do???

One thing is setting up the new Academy show, although they may have already done that a couple seasons ago with the Tilly Academy episode.

I actually agree with your view. I am constantly up and down with this show. I am certainly a little more up with this season but it’s still not amazing for me but yes decent.

I think it will take a few years after this show is over for people to assess it better. And I will say this, based on all the past shows it will probably bold well for Discovery in the end because so far every past show seems much more loved today vs when it was on minus TOS and TNG. I separate those because I think they were just as adored when they went off the air as they are today.

The others needed more time but all seems to be generally loved today if still not by everyone obviously. Maybe that will ultimately happen with Discovery as well.

Solid episode, right in line with the season. Nothing revelatory, but adequately fun for sure, which is all I’m hoping for at this point.. Action / Adventure has made this series work for me this season in a way it never has. I’m very worried that whatever is behind the curtain will be underwhelming and / or unimaginative. We’ll see.

Have we ever seen Discovery in battle mode? Cause if not, I thought it was pretty cool with the nacelles sitting on top of the secondary hull!

I noticed that too!! I was hoping someone else spotted it too. What a neat trick with the detached nacelles.

I can’t remember seeing it in any previous episode but then again I didn’t notice it during my first viewing of this episode so it’s possible I’ve missed it before.

Naturally, now that the series is in the bin, the show finds it’s groove. But that’s tradition, I guess. This one went a lot harder than I expected. Rayner brings that ‘Lorca’ energy the series has been missing since S1. Excited for the resolution, and overall conclusion… the only real criticism being pulling Book aside, mid-mission, for one of those patented Discovery heart-to-hearts, but at least Michael lampshades that before doing it. ;)

The only good thing about this episode is that we have to endure this stupid plots for just another one. This series can’t end fast enough, because the good episodes ended in season 2, and that was a long time ago.

Is Kovich inside?

That would be something haha, if the portal leads to the infinity room.

100% Saru dies in the finale. It couldn’t be more telegraphed

Very, very doubtful.

Remember it wasn’t filmed as a finale.

Maybe not this episode, but it’s been clearly stated that there were re-shoots for the finale. I also got the vibe that we may lose Saru, but I think the finale will play out the wedding as a way to wrap everything up – think Nemesis and Troi and Riker’s wedding (just at the end, not the beginning).

Rayner DESERVES a spinoff!

I’m on board with that. I had a few moments of questioning where I stand on him around mid-season, but after this episode, I have to say I will miss him when he’s gone. Keep him and Admiral Vance, and I think you’ve got a winner.

If it wasn’t for the fact that she’s 89 and probably not in the mood for a full head of makeup anymore, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they find Salome Jens inside that thing.

I’m not sure but was this the first time we saw those blue phaser beams fired by Discovery? They had a wonderful TOS feeling about them and finally, none of those ugly pulse phasers but a clear and continuous phaser stream like in the old days! Just a tiny detail but those are the things I get hooked on…

Weren’t Discovery’s Phasers blue when it faced off with Control?

Star Trek is so synonymous with beam weapons. Never made sense to shake that up the way JJ Trek and Discovery did.

Anthony, your recaps are always excellent and appreciated, your comment, “ They take in the moment to be dazzled by the awesome majesty of these binary primordial black holes as the secret home to the power of creation. This why they went into the final frontier, to find strange new… Oh shit, the Breen show up and tractor the cylinder into their shuttle bay. Zoink! You snooze you lose, space nerds.” — That REALLY made me laugh out loud. Well done sir!

You can always tell when he’s the writer. There’s just a different feel to his recaps.

I know NOTHING abut the finale but there are definitely hints that the Progenitor Tech is too much power for anyone to have, too much “God-Power” and I have a feeling after the awesomeness of the Progenitor Tech is fully revealed, I believe there will speeches about “No planet, no race, no person should this much power” and I’m guessing the Disco crew somehow destroy the Progenitor Tech for good so that no one can ever “Genesis” the universe(s) and then we see the new series finale, guessing there will be lots of hugging and crying, and that’s cool, that’s what this show does, it’s about the FAMILY.

…in which case the entire season will have been pointless.

Why would it be pointless? Why should the Federation have that much power? Isn’t there something about absolute power corrupts absolutely? I might have gotten the exact quote wrong. Burnham and the Disco crew should absolutely destroy the tech if given the chance … but I’m guessing there will be a big reveal where Burnham is given the opportunity to try and make peace with the Breen ..

Not remotely .

or they’ll take it all the way back to the start of time and they’ll become the Progenitors etc etc…they probably won’t let much of the crew or the ship keep kicking around in the future

I’m putting money on it taking them back to the moment Picard finds out about the progenitors at the end of “The Chase” and we encounter a CGI de-aged Picard who secretly begins the process of hiding the progenitors tech by meeting with all the scientists mentioned through the past Discovery season and showing that he ultimately inspired the whole process.

Yep, that’s what I’m thinking too. I’m also betting on a fast resolution to the progenitor problem that happens in the first 20 minutes, and then the last 30+ is the touchy/feely wrap up of the series.

Or maybe Burnham will finally find her inner strength inside and maybe she will forgive herself and stuff. Pure poetry.

Craft services on this show is awesome apparently ,…….Tilly , Adira , Helm officer , President of the Fed all look well fed …very well fed

You mean they look like …real people?

Here’s a fun fact: Powerlifters often look very round, because their musculature is adapted to lifting heavy weights above their head. They often do carry a healthy amount of fat because that’s the fuel for their muscles.

Having visible abs is a result of dehydration. That’s why bodybuilding is not the same as athletic training; it’s to create a look, not serve a purpose.

Even Olympic athletes come in different sizes and shapes, and have musculature / fat percentages attuned for their sport. Simone Biles is small and lithe, and Brittney Griner is tall and lean. One is trained to run and do springy flips across a mat, the other has to do a lot of start-and-stop running, passing and throwing.

Chase Ealey, the US women’s shot-put champ, is curvy and stocky, and incredibly strong. I’m sure she could lift you over her head before dropping you, but you seem to have already been dropped on your head as a kid.

This sort of sexist commentary isn’t welcome here.

Drop a selfie my dude.

I’m bothered by the fact that while Burnham and crew are standing around gazing at and pondering the cylinder before them, the Breen just pop in and grab it. C’mon, Discovery should have just yanked it the second it was in sight. Similarly with the transporter lock, the second it’s attached to the cylinder ZAPPP, just beam immediately!! Instead they wait around, and give Moll a chance to remove it. They just move soooo slowly, the ensuing complications are totally of their own making.

or just destroy the first part of the map in episode 2 and the universe is safe

The Breen grabbing the cylinder is the worst part of the episode if not the worst moment from the whole season. If they didn’t know the Breen were coming, that would be one thing. But knowing that they just barely beat them, they should have jumped on it as soon as they figured it out. But also, it’s a bad moment based on the fact that the Breen should not have had an easy time just warping in between two black holes and grabbing the thing that easily.

The blocking on that was really, really bad.

Is it the blocking or just the script? If the script doesn’t have them doing things like voicing concern about yanking it, there’s only so much you can do to enrich a scene like that.

The script could have cleaned up a bit I guess, but really, the scene needs to show that they’re out of range of the tractor beam and closing in as fast as they can. So yeah, they could have scripted it that way, but they also could have blocked the scene to show they were doing it. That there was urgency, that they were trying to get there and busy and talking while in action, instead of waiting on it. As it is, It makes the characters look incredibly stupid.

Yes! The Breen are right behind you; grab the thing as soon as you see it. Sheesh.

Wow, watched it again last night on CTV Sci-Fi, really enjoyed it again. Even though it was a shorter episode, the pacing really kept it fresh. The editing was superb and kept that tension going. Absolutely LOVED the chemistry between Tilly and Rayner in that scene on the bridge. I have said this before, but the addition of Callum Keith Rennie has been a huge win. He is an incredible actor. There is so much to say about this episode but it has definitely been my favourite of the season. Frakes did a wonderful job directing as always. He knows how to build tension and balance out a story. Well done!

Interdimensional god-tribbles are on the other side of that portal.

Well, well, well, another decent episode. Careful DIS, you may pull off a good season! ;)

I jest! I jest! – though loved seeing/hearing the upgraded phasers firing of the Discovery, was a cool shot. Plus, Rayner, honestly, that dude deserves a spin off or something. We’ve had more character growth and backstory for him in 9 episodes, then we have for most of the Discovery crew in 5 seasons! Hope he AT LEAST pops up in the Academy show.

Was the episode amazing? No. Was it Berman Era good? No, but DIS’ format is so different to those days, so a tad unfair. Was there some typical DIS cringy parts? Yes, BUT the positives outweighed the negatives and was a good romp. Here’s hoping the series finale pulls off a good landing.

What if Burnham actually finds a smiling koala on the other side of the portal? That would tie things up pretty neatly, I’d say…

Thank goodness for Callum Keith Rennie

***Once again Michael showed off her expertise in xenoanthropology (revealed in the series premiere) by knowing “Sarkaress” was a Breen festival, although it’s not clear why the universal translator didn’t know that as well.***

UT doesn’t translate or contextualize proper nouns.

Don’t know if this has been raised yet, but I wonder if the saltly interplay between Rayner and Tilly might be setting the stage for Rayner to be the head honcho in the upcoming Starfleet Academy series. I think he would be terrific.

Never mind. Just read that Holly Hunter will be top dog at The Academy. C’est la vie.

Not bad. Loved the shot of Discovery breaking into the shuttle bay. Exquisite high end VFX right there.

The story was well paced, just a few points off for Burnham and Book taking valuable time out of their dangerous and time sensitive mission to tell each other their feelings. It’s always so hamfisted. Ditto a little bit when Culber came to see his husband at the end and Stamets took time out from solving how he’d save the day… to reassure him. It’s nice on a human level, just clunky in a dramatic tv show with stakes (and professionalism) on the line.

Acting was solid form most of the cast. Tilly and Rayner are good together, Mary Wiseman’s line deliveries were delightful. Still do not find anything compelling about Moll or Eve Harlow’s performance.

Intrigued to see what they find on the other side of the portal!

Building on the idea that the Federation (or even just Discovery’s command crew) will realize that the Progenitor tech is too much for anyone in 3191 to be trusted with, and needing to keep it out of the Breen’s reach, my prediction is that the Discovery will be sent on yet another one-way trip – far into the future (~1,000 years or more, exact date unknown) with minimal or no crew at all, there to hold and protect the technology from falling into unworthy hands.

Maybe it will be just Burnham or Rayner who accompanies Discovery to the future. They will order Zora to maintain position and then set off to explore the future. But if Book is along, perhaps they will set off to reestablish a new Kwejian using the cuttings of the World Root, which Book received from Hy’Rell. (This may or may not require making use of the Progenitors’ tech – better if it doesn’t.)

Regardless, by some odd requirement of the time travel method employed for this trip, Discovery’s original nacelles will need to be restored as well.

And this, I submit, is how Discovery (and Zora) will – or at least could – be there waiting for Craft in Short Treks’ Calypso.

Fade to black, cue the credits.

Personal traits/Race-specific Personal traits

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Race-specific Personal traits (not to be confused with the unchangeable, innate species trait ) are optionally selectable Personal traits whose availability is determined by the player race . Races available to more than one faction, such as Alien or Liberated Borg, have the same trait choices available regardless of faction.

Note that, although it is available for all Federation and Romulan Republic characters, the trait Elusive is not available for Gorn captains of the Klingon Empire , and therefore listed as a race-specific trait.

Federation races [ | ]

• ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Andorian, Ferengi and Saurian captains have the effects of Acute Senses built into their species trait.
• ↑ Bajoran captains have an altered version of Creative built into their species traits.
• ↑ Betazoid captains have the effects of Telepathic built into their species traits.
• ↑ Ferengi captains have the effects of Natural Immunities built into their species traits.
• ↑ Human captains have the effects of Teamwork built into their species traits.
• ↑ Klingon captains have an improved version of Soldier built into their species trait.
• ↑ Liberated Borg captains have the effects of Efficient Captain built into their species trait.
• ↑ Saurian captains have the effects of Cold Blooded built into their species trait.
• ↑ Non-Joined Trill captains can select Superior Covert , which is exclusive to them.
• ↑ Trill captains have the effects of Natural Immunities built into their species trait.
• ↑ Vulcan captains have an altered version of Mental Discipline built into their species traits.
• ↑ Vulcan captains have an altered version of Physical Strength built into their species traits.

Klingon Defence Forces races [ | ]

Alien captains have access to every trait except the species-exclusive Bite , Borg Neural Blast , and Pounce .

• ↑ Gorn captains have the effects of Cold Blooded built into their species trait.
• ↑ Gorn captains have an enhanced version of Physical Strength built into their species trait.
• ↑ Gorn captains have the effects of Resilient built into their species traits.
• ↑ Lethean captains have the effects of Telepathic built into their species trait.
• ↑ 7.0 7.1 Nausicaan and male Orion captains have the effects of Physical Strength built into their species traits.

Romulan Republic races [ | ]

All RRF races have Acute Senses , Elusive , Peak Health , Physical Strength , and Resilient among their trait choices (or built into their species trait). Alien captains have access to every trait except Mind Drain , Borg Neural Blast , Infiltrator , Plasma Weapon Specialist , Romulan Operative , and Singularity Specialist .

• ↑ Reman captains have the effects of Acute Senses built into their species trait.
• ↑ Reman captains have the effects of Resilient built into their species trait.
• ↑ Reman captains have the effects of Telepathic built into their species trait.
• ↑ Romulan captains have the effects of Physical Strength built into their species trait.
• ↑ Romulan captains have a weaker version of Infiltrator (sans the Defense bonus) built into their species trait.
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