Star Trek: Discovery (TV Series) Face the Strange (2024) User Reviews

A fun time travel episode with a few problems

[Misterniska · 7/10 · 21 April 2024]

So far, this was the best season 5 episode of Discovery. Although the narrative itself is ripped off from Voyager's Shattered (where the captain and commander also jump through different points in time), it is still fun to see them go through different phases of Discovery's history.

And, for once, the personal connections that Burnham and (surprisingly) even Rayner have with the crew, actually amount to something as it helps them to convince the characters in the past to let them carry out their mission. It was also good to see Stamets back in action as Anthony Rapp did a great job, especially his conversation with Reno.

Michael of Season 1 facing off with the current Michael was also pretty nice and I liked the spin that nobody in the past could imagine a mutineer becoming a Starfleet captain.

On the down side, the concept could have been used more fully - the time jumps could have included Michael having to convince Lorca (which would have been much harder than doing the same with Airiam), especially considering that he's from the Mirror Universe and not divulging that to the crew in order to protect the timeline. Also a different possibility would have been pitting Burnham and Rayner with Pike or Spock which could have been a great Strange New Worlds cameo.

In the end, the episode was enjoyable but it could have been that much more with such a premise.

Face the Strange

[Prismark10 · 7/10 · 18 April 2024]

With First Officer Rayner still being Captain Jellicoe lite. Thinking he is still captain rather than someone sent by the Federation to early retirement and saved by Burnham.

So this is an episode that has Rayner and Burnham having to work together. Discovery has hit a time bubble after a malevolent bug gets into the ship. It is a weapon.

With the future of the Federation looking bleak. It really is a race against and with time.

Once again an old school Next Generation episode. The story and the final series does feel like a tribute act.

In it's own right it was an enjoyable episode as we get to see the crew of the Discovery from the past.

The show is still fun

[head1993 · 8/10 · 18 April 2024]

Except for some terrible camerawork at a specific part early in the episode it still feels fun and engaging. Elias Toufexis, Anthony Rapp, Callum Keith Rennie and Tig Notaro are all fantastic. Sonequa Martin-Green is a strong lead, although her character can be lacking (which is not the actors fault). Ofcourse the episode looks wonderful, the sets are as beautiful as always. The writing on the show can be a bit under written or too on the nose, it's fine but there's some squandered potential that could have led to more engaging character work. No Saru this episode, which is sad as he's the best character on the show

PROS +Callum Keith Rennie getting in the groove +Special effects are on point +Tig Notaro +Fun characters

CONS -That horrible camerawork early in the episode -Story feels a bit too familiar -Writing is a bit on the nose -No Saru :(

Face the Strange

[NerdyRomulanCyberman · 10/10 · 18 April 2024]

This episode was phenomenal! I was not a big fan of seasons 3 and 4, but season 5 has improved drastically. While not quite the levels of the first two seasons, this was the best episode of this season yet!

This episode deals with the legacy of Discovery and its effect upon the Star Trek universe. Whether you have loved or hated this show, this ship and this crew have ventured into crazy scenarios that have changed the timeline of this galaxy forever. We venture to pinnacle moments in Discovery's history, such as the events of Such Sweet Sorrow. We see the extent that Michael Burnham has evolved as a character.

This episode is amazing at having us reflect upon what has happened, but it also succeeds in advancing this season's plot. It develops what might occur in the future and helps bring clues to what defeat would mean for the universe, raising the stakes in much better ways than the past two seasons.

The moments with all characters showing how they evolved and how they remember themselves now are chilling. I had goosebumps all throughout this episode. The scenes with Airiam were so well done and an amazing message to the character to sacrificed their life so that this crew may continue to fly.

Now, this episode does not make up for the bad writing of the past two seasons, but it's a start. I so glad that we might still end up as friends, Discovery. But, that hope rests with you.

Episode 504

[bobcobb301 · 22 April 2024]

Finally we got an episode that was a little bit fun and a little bit outside the box.

Time travel is a staple of any kind of sci-fi show, but for some reason has not been utilized as much as it could have been on Star Trek: Discovery. It is such an easy way to create fun episodes, but for some reason was just not turned to.

There are a lot of logic flaws in this episode, and you could easily nitpick a bunch of small things, but I choose not to do that because I have complained enough about this show as of late.

I enjoyed a lot of this and that is more than enough for me because it has been awhile since that was the case.

Best of the season

[santiagoeliceche · 8/10 · 24 April 2024]

I kinda liked the first two episodes, but i hated episode 3. So boring, the thing with Adira, it was just horrible. But, while I was watching this without any good expectation, it really made me had a great time. It was fun, intense, very well set, and I can keep on. Obviously, it is not perfect, but for sure it's the best of the season. Stamets being there is a good thing, and how Rayner is now becoming a better person thanks to what he learnt from Burnham is other great thing, too.

I did not like, for example, how everyone was so mean or acted in a weird way at future Michael in the old Discovery, that was just weird, but it's just a detail.

8/10.

Discovery is coming back to to StarTrek trak... finally

[JDufva1212120 · 9/10 · 3 May 2024]

The season five is the first season where this serie should have originally been... and this just my opinion. Previous ones didn't meet my expectations. Now this is promising. I hope we don't lose this as seen with earlier seasons. Now in s05e04.

Characters are coming better, acting is better, dialogs are improving, story is following computer games which might be good but the beef for me is how those characters are developing. Still hoping that these extraordinery miracle manouvers with ships will vanish (episode1). Those are just so... hmmm... too great to be approved.

And sorry, I'm not the fan of continuous actions, I have still some time to follow up (imagine) how people really would develop in such a environments. Somehow feeling that marvel multiversum s*it is the only which solds nowadays. I'm happy that some 80's/90's "normal" positive atmosphere is met again. Story and characters are hard to build, but easy to destroy.

Feelings save the day, again!

[goggolya · 1/10 · 18 April 2024]

Another episode where it doesn't matter what the question is, the answer will always be 'feelings'.

The story is unoriginal and the main plot didn't move forward. This episode was a copy of Voyager's Shattered.

Plot holes:

• Discovery has a Spore Drive, but somehow the bad guys can still keep up with them! They even have time to order a super rare weapon from a webshop, get it delivered and go pay for it on a random planet. After that they go back to check the previous clue again. Even after that they go to Trill and infiltrate the monks' ceremony. They do all this while Discovery's crew is on Trill. The writers totally forgot just how big space is and travel takes time...

• No matter what time period Michael is in, on the floor in the ready room the Starfleet logo is still the 32nd century version.

• Airiam could've just told Past Michael to stand down. But instead we got a speech & emotions check scene.

• Rayner says he read all the crew profiles, but still didn't know about Stamet's Tardigrade DNA...

• Burnham said "I never gave up". She totally forgot that it was Lorca who gave her a second chance and motivated her because she herself totally gave up...

• Last week Tilly went full Karen on Rayner. This week it was Stamets. In a military organization where chain of command exists you can't just go and bully your superior officer to show more emotions!

• Michael is such a hypocrite. She chooses her new second in command for his skills, experience and personality. But later does everything she can to mold him to be a better fit for ship Therapy. They just can't stand it if someone is different than they are and try to forcefully convert anyone who steps aboard that ship...

• The writers forgot that the transporters filter out every dangerous thing, like weapons. The time bug is a centuries old tech that Starfleet knows about. It should be in their database. The transporters should've caught it. Also Zora should've found it. It was giving out a loud sound while it was navigating the ship, even the crew caught onto it. The A. I. is dumb and useless until the plot requires it not to be...

• In the future when Michael was talking to Zora she could've easily downloaded all the clues and data regarding the Progenitor tech. This would've ensured they get there first! Michael isn't the brightest light bulb in the room...

Treading water and time

[probabilitysurfing · 5/10 · 21 April 2024]

This is a time travel episode that does not move the plot forward at all. It takes up time and space for a chase story that is simple and needs some filler episodes. The real story is that Rayner is perceived as a toxic male and Tilly and Michael are tasked with fixing him. (Tilly in the previous episode). The time-travel technobabble uttered to explain how they will save the ship/Federation/universe was eye rollingly silly, but since there was no phony earnest teary-eyed breathlessness during those scenes, I liked it in a relative sort of way. Also, there was very little of the Tilly character is this episode, which is why I gave it 5 stars instead of one.

It does the impossible...

[matzucker · 4/10 · 19 April 2024]

... by making a time-travel episode dull. Typically such episodes are Trek staples of entertainment - not all of them are great, but many are, and those that aren't are at least a fun hour. This here is neither fun nor entertaining nor enlightening. The point is really just to (once again) show how everybody in this crew loves each other - yet in most of these cases we have never seen how these relationships develop to that point - and how everyone thinks Burnham is just the best, including her sanctimonious self when she encounters a younger version of herself.

The plot is so heavy on meaningless technobabble that it's incomprehensible what's going on or why it matters. On top of it all, the directing is so uninspired that despite the (allegedly) high stakes, characters just stand around in two-shots with no blocking whatsoever.

All in all, uninspired filler that wasted a good opportunity to bring some actually interesting characters from earlier seasons back. Why Airiam and not Lorca, Tyler, Georgiou?

Poor Rayner gets a few extra lessons in friendship, empathy and pep talks

[tomsly-40015 · 5/10 · 19 April 2024]

Well, at least the science part of the fiction is finally starting to take shape. Although the story of timeline-twisting spiders is pretty far-fetched and Stamet's exposition orgies still have nothing to do with the technobabble of the other Star Trek series. With Stamets, every scientific and technological problem somehow always sounds like magic (probably because he was exposed to the magic mushrooms in engineering for too long). Can't they just synchronize the transporter's annular confinement beam to the warp core frequency in order to polarize the chroniton particles in the ship's hull into a higher state of temporal flux? That would do the trick just as well. And it would sound more like Star Trek.

The episode reminds me of the VOY episode "Shattered". Here, too, various events take place on board the ship, each in a different timeline. Chakotay, like Burnham in this episode, tries to unravel the timelines with the help of his comrades in order to get back to his own time. However, I gave this VOY episode a rating of eight stars. In my opinion, "Face the Strange" doesn't deserve more than five stars, even with a lot of goodwill.

Unfortunately, this episode is also dragged down into the typical DIS sentimentality by the omnipresent "We are family" mood. In the end, our three Starfleet officers do not free themselves from this unfortunate time loop through technology, logic, professionalism, prudence and their training and experience. No, the solution to the riddle is once again the crew's unshakable friendship, the connection to each other, the long and never-ending speeches with tears in their eyes in front of the entire crew and the mutual pats on the back. However, all this talk about friendship and connection doesn't convince me. In Star Trek "The Michael Burnham Show" (aka "Discovery") everything begins and ends with Michael Burnham. While in the other series all senior officers were their own stars in individual episodes - from B'Elanna Torres to Beverly Crusher, Julian Bashir, Malcolm Reed or La'An Noonien-Singh - the Michael Burnham Show is all about Michael Burnham. Characters like Keyla Detmer, Gen Rhys or Linus (I even had to google their names) are nothing more than garnish. Where is this much-vaunted friendship when there is virtually no interaction between these extras and the main characters? They didn't even make it onto the cover shot.

And of course Rayner learns his lesson again and from now on will organize game nights in order to finally get to know the crew better. After all, his "Don't shoot, we're the good guys" persuasive speech almost fell flat due to all too superficial facts about his comrades and far too few tears in his eyes. He was barely able to stop short-haired Burnham from shooting him point blank with her phaser. After a few rounds of Truth or Dare, I'm sure he'll know Burnham a lot better. Poor Rayner. The only reason he's included in season five is to constantly show him off as a dull, emotionless loner who is then taught a lesson in friendship, companionship and feelings by Burnham, Tilly, or one of the other preachers aboard Discovery. Why Burnham made him her new Number One remains a mystery. She makes it abundantly clear that everyone has to play by the crew's rules and Rayner's way of doing things won't be accepted. He is nothing more than a useful idiot who is always reprimanded at the end with "I told you so" phrases.

Unwatchable

[marchalprin · 1/10 · 18 April 2024]

The first two seasons of the show were fantastic! Seasons 3-5 are pathetic. How has this even happened? Cancel this series now and stop the damage you're doing to the beautiful Star Trek legacy. Watching these episodes is a complete waste of time. I'm done.

There are a few good characters like Suru and Staments, but Michael is very overdramatic to a point where it just seems fake. She was such a great character in the first couple of seasons and it's disturbing to watch now. You guys screwed this up and you need to fix it. No Star Trek fan is going to like the series and anyone that is not a Star Trek fan that you're trying to pull in has no reason to watch this because the stories are horrible. What a waste of everyone's time and money. I'm canceling my Paramount+ subscription now. I've been threatening to do it the last few seasons, but it's just gotten worse. Lifelong Star Trek fan with an open mind here and you guys just have ruined it.

time loops etc

[spearhawk-17706 · 5/10 · 19 April 2024]

While this episode was fun to watch it felt rushed, it felt like it was not planned for completely, it was a hot mess of all things put together. I little more planning would have been nice or make the story into a few episodes.

There was many oopsies in this episode, among them Tilly, the time jump should been recorded while in season 2 or 3 because the Tilly we saw now was not anything like the Tilly in the season 2 or 3.

Also it started the episode 15 years earlier, so in other words they could not figure out even first clue until 15 years later..??

It was instead a "FEELGOOD" episode that ended in where they started, so in storyline it pushed the story maybe 2 inches, not good unless planning on spending a ton of episodes developing the story somewhat further.

So unlike season 2 (the best season hands down) this was dissapointing.

How Does This Even Happen?

[Vvardenfell_Man · 5/10 · 18 April 2024]

Attempts have been made to reintegrate the show with the rest of the franchise--the Guardian of Forever was the best recent example--but the showrunners seem to have given up on even reconnecting with the interesting elements of the first couple seasons. In an episode about reconnecting with the past and appreciating the things you've lost over time (I think that was the emotional core, but with so many cooks, it's hard to tell what anyone was supposed to get out of this) there might have been more references to the good things about this show.

This show is at its best when it has performers who are given something real to work with. Anthony Rapp deserves a humanitarian award for his ability to act while tolerating the obviously ludicrous production culture on this show; every scene involving his character is immediately elevated by his committed and professional performance.

If it weren't for Michael....

[asterblasterth · 3/10 · 21 April 2024]

....I think this could've been a decent show if this was the first season and you scroll past the touchy feeling scenes. But alas, it's not and she is still here.

This season isn't as bad and annoying like the last four seasons, but I can't get past the actress Sonequa and her character Michael.

I mean she annoys me as an actress with the soft speaking and at times, when the situation doesn't ask for it, highly emotional voice and her character is like this all knowing and always right being. I mean even in this episode with time running out and the universe on the line she's the deciding factor. And the only reason she agrees is because smoke is being blon up her behind. I mean come on...

Luckily they minimized the parts of Saru, Adira and Tilly otherwise this sheason would've been unwatchable like the first four seasons. I like the introduction of the character Rayner to offset the high in their feelings crew.

But it's too little too late and it's understandable this show is being cancelled.

This season could have been over last week

[the-ossi · 5/10 · 20 April 2024]

On the pro side of this episode: the writer himself admits, that Michael's carreer is more than unlikely.

On the cons: I got remembered by season 1 Michael, why I started to dislike Michael in the first place. She's a no one, has nothing to say, yet decides what's best for all and the dump crew is simply following her.

Plus: this season arc could have been over last week. Discovery found the second clue before all others. Great. If that tech is so dangerous, destroy the damn clue! Riddle cannot be solved, tech remains lost. The end. But no! We must give our semi intelligent bad guys every friggin chance to get to the clues and the device. Urgh!