sbulgacs

I want to give this episode 5 stars, because it was okay, worth a watch. But it's not a standalone episode, and we had to sit through the worst Star Trek season of all time to get here. Season 4 of Discovery is worse than season 1 of TNG. The entire season could've been episodes 1,12 & 13. From the last 10 minutes of the episode, it looks like they were preparing for the show to be cancelled, making season 4 the final season of Discovery. However that isn't the case, it's going to be back for another season.

Here's a suggestion for the show runners for season 5, give each of the extended crew/cast an episode where the story is focused around them. Plonk Culber in a problematic medical scenario, do a Stamets, backed up by Reno scientific conundrum episode, a secondary bridge crew adventure with Nilsson, Owokesun, Detmer, Bryce and Rhys, without the main crew this could be a cool double episode. By this stage if we're still watching, it isn't for the over arching season storylines, which for season 3 and 4 are widely accepted as being dreadful, we're watching because we've become invested in the characters. In season 5 give them a chance to shine.

This episode was better than the previous 4 or 5 or 10 episodes, and that's not saying much. We're supposed to write what like 100 words or something? What's that 30 damn... So we're in the run up to the season finale, the extended bridge crew all got called by their names, which was nice. Still can't remember 1/2 of their names though, which for Star Trek after nearly 4 seasons is bizarre. The crew were childishly fighting with each other in the middle of a life or death situation. The bit about solving division was cheesy but not terrible. Appreciated Dr Culbers greater screen time. Give him an entire episode where he has to solve an actual medical conundrum, not one that entails therapy or monologing though! How many words is that now?

I mean what can you say? If you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all? Discovery season 4 has a Rotten Tomato audience score of 19! Which probably makes it one of the most disliked TV shows ever. As we can see average ratings on IMDB are also continually falling, as are reviewer numbers. Which obvs translates to people switching off. I'd also argue that if it weren't for people with an agenda consistently giving the show 10 stars, the IMDB rating for episodes would be much lower, probably down in the 3 region.

The first 2 seasons while messing with canon generally weren't difficult to watch, but mid season 3 something happened and episodes became just that, painful to sit through. I doubt the rest of season 4 will get any better. Due to the drop in viewing figures I was wondering if Discovery would get renewed for season 5, but it has been, although clearly not eagerly by the network, who seem to have put renewing it off right to the last minute. Let's hope some serious conversations were had behind closed doors, and the mistakes made in season 3 and 4 will be addressed for season 5. Because I honestly like most of the characters, by this stage we're invested, they just need/deserve much better writing.

However I suspect Discovery has gone so far off the rails and lost so many viewers it's become un-saveable.