The series finale. Spoilers.
A strong and enjoyable episode to wrap up the series, but it felt a little bit lacking as a series finale. As a season finale it was great – it bought together the threads from the season, plus it was an entertaining adventure. The writers were unusually restrained with the ‘Schrödinger effect’ jokes – they could have done a lot more than just a few ship callbacks, including a beautiful moment with a Galaxy-class Cerritos. Yes, it was another case of universe ending stakes for a Trek show, but that didn’t drive anything in the story.
There are some weak points. Rutherford’s arc comes from nowhere – a couple of references to the implant not working properly and all of a sudden it’s a major plot driver/character arc? It just wasn’t set up well enough across the season, and far too much of it was plugged into this episode. A side effect of not giving Rutherford very much to do in any of the episodes in this season.
The epilogue feels a bit tacked on to the episode, but at the same time it’s a better wrap up than some other series (cough Discovery cough). But it’s also a little bit odd how much it seems to be setting up another season, with Ransom getting a promotion and Mariner and Boimler set up in conflict. Perhaps the writers are thinking ‘never say never’ a bit…
Quick hits:
-
Cute Klingon chihuahua. Slightly less vicious.
-
Was that a transformation into a Discovery-era Klingon? That sets up a nice gag for the episode.
-
There seems to be a bit of technobabble set up going on here with the hull plating thing.
-
I do love the Cetacean Ops crew.
-
Some good ship callbacks.
-
‘Engage the core’ is a pretty good warp line.
938 down.