star trek discovery red angel suit

Burnham Has Now Lived Star Trek: Discovery’s Time Travel Both Ways

WARNING: Contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Episode 4, "Face the Strange."

• Captain Michael Burnham got to experience the USS Discovery's time travel to the 32nd century from another perspective.
• Burnham wore the Red Angel suit and led Discovery to the future at the end of Star Trek: Discovery season 2.
• Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 4 put Burnham on the bridge to see what was like to time travel aboard the USS Discovery.

Thanks to Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 4, "Face the Strange's" time travel, Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) has now experienced the USS Discovery's journey to the 32nd century from two perspectives. At the end of Star Trek: Discovery season 2, Burnham donned the Red Angel time suit and led the USS Discovery to the 32nd century . This prevented the genocidal A.I. called Control from gaining access to the massive amount of data that had been gathered by an ancient sphere and using it to eradicate all sentient life in the galaxy.

In Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 4 , "Face the Strange," written by Sean Cochran and directed by Lee Rose, Captain Burnham and Commander Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie), find themselves jumping through various time periods in Discovery's past, present, and future. One of these jumps places them on the Discovery as it follows Michael's Red Angel through the wormhole to the future. This was Rayner's first time experiencing the USS Discovery's one-way trip to the 32nd century, but it marked the second time and second perspective for Burnham , who got see herself as the Red Angel lead her starship to the distant future.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Returning Cast & New Character Guide

Star trek: discovery season 5 gave burnham both time travel experiences to the 32nd century, burnham was the red angel and also saw things from discovery's bridge..

In Star Trek: Discovery season 2's two-part finale , Michael used the Red Angel suit to travel through time and set the red burst signals that Discovery had been tracking throughout the season. After this, she placed a sixth signal so that the ship could follow her 930 years into the future. Burnham experienced this time travel journey alone, while Commander Saru (Doug Jones) led the USS Discovery and its remaining crew members into the wormhole to the 32nd century. Michael arrived in the future one year before Discovery, and she began searching for the remnants of Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5's “Face The Strange” revisits several moments of Discovery's past, including its journey to the 32nd century. This time, Michael stands on the bridge, watching herself as the Red Angel leading Discovery into the future. When Burnham and Rayner arrive at this particular moment in time, Discovery's crew members are unconscious due to tidal forces in the wormhole. Burnham and Rayner then have to work together, with help from Commander Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) , to determine the cause of the time jumps and stop the Krenim "time bug" responsible for them.

Since Stamets possesses tardigrade DNA, he exists outside of time and also remains aware of the time jumps.

What Happened After Burnham and Discovery Arrived In The Future

Burnham arrived through the wormhole about a year before discovery..

In Star Trek: Discovery season 3, episode 1, "That Hope Is You, Part 1," Commander Michael Burnham arrives in 3188, flying out of the wormhole and colliding with the ship of Cleveland Booker (David Ajala). Burnham and Book's ship both crash-land on the planet Hima. After sending the Red Angel suit to send the final signal and then self-destruct, Michael sets off to find the ship that crashed into her. Booker initially attacks Michael, but the two eventually form an uneasy alliance, as Michael tries to determine the whereabouts of the USS Discovery.

Burnham learned upon arriving in the 32nd century that the United Federation of Planets had collapsed because of The Burn.

Burnham and Booker become romantic and work together as couriers for a year before the USS Discovery finally emerges from the wormhole. When Discovery crash lands on an icy planet, the crew set about trying to repair the ship. Saru and Ensign Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman) go to a nearby settlement to get the necessary materials to repair Discovery, but by the time they make it back, the ship has become encased in ice. Then Michael arrives and uses Book's ship to save Discovery, before tearfully reuniting with her friends. Star Trek: Discovery season 5 will bring the series to a close, and "Face the Strange" serves as a nice reflection on how far these characters have come.

New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery stream Thursdays on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Discovery

Cast Blu del Barrio, Oded Fehr, Anthony Rapp, Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Wilson Cruz, Eve Harlow, Mary Wiseman, Callum Keith Rennie

Release Date September 24, 2017

Showrunner Alex Kurtzman

Where To Watch Paramount+

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The identity of The Red Angel is revealed on Star Trek: Discovery

Credit: Michael Gibson/CBS

“The Red Angel,” Star Trek: Discovery ’s 10th episode of its second season, moved so fast that I didn’t even have time to stop and think about whether a certain turn of events made sense. It turns out that was on purpose, as the end reveal of the Red Angel's identity made clear.

This episode started out with Airiam’s funeral, and I was very happy about that. The Star Trek franchise often kills off secondary characters without a backward glance. As “The Red Angel” made clear, though, these losses have a real impact on the crew, and they have to work through their grief. This show does an excellent job generally of showing that anger, pain, grief: These emotions are processes, not one-offs. You don’t heal right away, and even if you can straighten your shirt, lift your chin, and clear your brain to tackle the problem at hand, that doesn’t mean you’re okay.

It turns out that Project Daedalus, which Airiam told Michael to look for, was in fact a Section 31 project that explored time travel and resulted in the Red Angel suit. But that suit was destroyed by the Klingons, or so Section 31 thought until the Red Angel started appearing. And — twist of all twists — it turns out that the Red Angel is actually Michael Burnham herself, according to a biometric scan.

So, of course, our intrepid Discovery crew members work on a plan to capture the Red Angel while also grappling with their personal lives, trying to come to terms with everything that’s happened so far.

Discovery ’s writers really excel at balancing the fast-paced episode plots with character moments in this second season. Despite the fact that so much happened this episode that I probably can’t even recap it all in one post (at least not one with a decent word count), we got so many lovely character-driven scenes.

It’s no surprise that Dr. Culber would seek out a therapist (but the fact that Admiral Cornwell is the closest thing that Discovery has to one is a gaping oversight because THIS SHIP REALLY REALLY NEEDS AN OFFICIAL THERAPIST). Though his time with the admiral was brief, she really had some great advice. I think the fact that she understood his issues right off the bat, referring to his former self in the past tense, made Culber more receptive to what she had to say. When she told him, “Love is a choice,” I had chills. You could really feel Culber's anguish. That scene was so short, so quiet, and yet so poignant.

Michael really went on a journey in “The Red Angel” too, as Spock outlines for her in another great scene. After discovering that her parents were actually working on the Red Angel suit for Section 31, and that Leland was directly responsible for her parents’ death, Michael had to take her anger out on something that wasn’t Leland’s face (though I wish it had been more of Leland’s face, to be honest). We’ve seen Michael be a sister to Spock; this was the first time we truly saw him be a brother to her. Perhaps, Spock, it’s time for the sadbeard to go.

Ash is finally out of Discovery jail, as the crew now knows it was Airiam betraying them to Section 31, and so he and his hair are free to move about the ship once again. Of course, he goes straight to Michael. I do like them as a couple, especially at the end, where Michael confides in Ash that she’s scared. This is exactly what he didn’t trust her with in Season 1, and it drove them apart. Perhaps this is a second chance for them.

Spock has discovered that the Red Angel shows up whenever Michael is in danger, so the solution is clearly to kill Michael in order to allow the Red Angel to appear. I knew that she couldn’t die because Michael is the center of the show, and yet that scene with her in the chair was so tense, I think I had a heart attack. But finally the Red Angel did show up, and off came the mask.

Airiam said in the last episode that this was all about Michael, and it turns out that’s true — the Red Angel is her mother. (I had a paragraph all prepared about why I don’t engage in discussion about time paradoxes and such, and I didn’t even need to use it. The bottom line is that I trust the writers, and so if they take us on a journey, I’ll suspend disbelief and follow them.) So the question is, how did this happen? The easiest hypothesis is that she didn’t die in the Klingon attack, and yet Michael has memories of her brutal and graphic treatment. Is she from an alternate future where the outcome was different? Or did she survive somehow? There are a lot of questions here, but what a cliffhanger to leave us on.

Again, there’s so much I didn’t get to in this recap — that Stamets/Georgiou interaction, the idea that time travel is responsible for leaps in human development (I couldn’t help but think of the movie First Contact ), what happened to Leland at the end of the episode, Burnham finally acknowledging that Emperor Georgiou cares for her — but I’ll leave it here.

• Star Trek: Discovery

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Den of Geek

Star Trek: Discovery – Who is the Red Angel?

A strange being is attempting to save the future in Star Trek: Discovery’s second season – but what is the Red Angel?

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This Star Trek article contains spoilers. It comes from Den of Geek UK.

The primary mystery of Star Trek: Discovery  season 2 has been clear from the very start: what is the Red Angel?

In recent weeks we’ve been given some important pieces of information about the nature of this apparently strange being. We know that it seems to be benevolent. We know that it appears to be capable of traveling through time. And now, thanks to the latest episode ( “If Memory Serves” ) we know that who or whatever the Red Angel is, she’s apparently human – at least according to Spock.

So who actually is the Red Angel?

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There are plenty of potential characters the Red Angel could be but at the moment, but our working theory is that the Red Angel is none other than Michael Burnham herself. It might seem like an obvious claim, but it’s worth examining this theory to see if it holds up.

First, let’s try to imagine what the angel cares about. On at least one occasion, the Red Angel has apparently saved Michael from death – we know that it appeared to Spock to tell him where she had run away to on Vulcan. She also appeared on an asteroid where Michael was about to die, perhaps not intervening directly but certainly taking an interest in Michael. So we know the angel cares about keeping Michael alive. A necessity for self-preservation.

What else? Well, the angel also brought Discovery to Saru’s planet, facilitating the kind of radical overthrow of society only Star Trek   crews are capable of. Saru and Michael are, of course, close friends. However Burnham learned the truth about Kelpiens, it’s likely that she’d prefer to free Saru’s planet whether it was useful to her or not.

New Eden is an anomaly in this pattern, apparently having no direct connection to Michael – at least so far. That’s not to say we won’t learn more soon. The angel did  seem to appear on New Eden just after Michael had been hit with a grenade, so again, it’s interested in her on some level.

According to Saru (whose advanced Kelpien eyes got a good look at the angel), the being is wearing an advanced technological suit. When Spock encountered the angel most recently, his telepathy appeared to confirm that the being inside the suit was human. And interestingly, when he attempted to meld with the angel we – the viewers – saw images of Michael. Were they representative of her being on Talos IV with Spock as he relived these memories? Or was that an image of Michael received within Spock’s vision?

Of course, there are reasons why it might not be Burnham, too.

For starters, if the angel repeatedly saves Burnham, then there’s a paradox involved. Sure, time-travel isn’t an exact science, but given that there are timelines where Burnham dies, it’d be hard for her to prevent her own death if she never reaches adulthood and joins Starfleet.

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Furthermore, if Spock mind-melded with the angel, you would expect him to recognize if it was Burnham. He could have been keeping it from her, admittedly, but he genuinely didn’t seem to know who it was. This leaves us with a couple of potential candidates as secondary theories – neither of whom seems likely.

It could, for example, be Georgiou. She doesn’t seem capable of the “desperation and loneliness” Spock described from his mind-meld, though she does have a strange interest in Michael and keeping her safe.

Alternatively, it could be Tilly. Who better to become the Red Angel than Disco’s own Red-haired Angel? As Michael’s friend, she would be invested in keeping her alive, but her involvement with Saru’s interests are less clear. She’s a lot closer to Stamets, after all.

And hey, there’s another option: maybe it’s someone we don’t know yet! Some have even suggested that it could be Zora, Discovery’s AI from the Short Trek episode “Calypso.” It wouldn’t be surprising if Zora was involved somehow given that the angel is from the future, but unless she’s found a way to assume human form, we have to rule that one out.

However you unpack the angel’s appearances, Burnham seems like the most logical and likely choice. But let us know what you think?

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Recap/Review: ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Gets The Timing Right In “Face The Strange”

| April 18, 2024 | By: Anthony Pascale 64 comments so far

“Face the Strange”

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Episode 4 – Debuted Thursday, April 18, 2024 Written by Sean Cochran Directed by Lee Rose

A classic Trek setup provides a fun canvas for Discovery to explore the big changes behind the characters and foreshadow changes yet to come.

There is nothing suspicious about the way I am holding this bag.

WARNING: Spoilers below!

“Change is hard”

After a quick flashback to a double-cross with a shady arms dealer showing how Moll and L’ak acquired the thingie she planted on Adira last episode, we catch up with the ensign in their quarters chatting with (now ex-bf) Gray. A mechanical spider jumps off their uniform and blends into the bulkhead just as the Disco arrives at the coordinates provided by Jinaal only to find a whole lot of nothing. The bridge crew starts brainstorming ideas, but newly minted XO Rayner wants to “stick to the facts” and brusquely shuts down speculation from Rhys. The captain takes Rayner to her ready room to remind him how they do things on Discovery—has he not binged the previous seasons? The hardened vet of The Burn years knows he crossed the line with “Spare me the ‘I get you bulls—t’” as Burnham makes it clear it’s her way or the spaceway. But before they can hug it out, evil spidey sinks into a bulkhead in engineering and things start going all flashy wonky… and boom: The ship is suddenly at warp and red alert. With transporter badges inoperative, Burnham and Rayner have to actually walk to the bridge. What’s next, stone knives and bearskins?

Michael susses they have traveled back in time to when the Discovery jumped forward to the 32 nd century when she finds the crew passed out in their old uniforms, following the red angel suit (with her inside it) through a wormhole. Before they experience the fun of a crash landing, lights flash again and the pair is returned to the ready room, sans a bulkhead. After admiring the view of the Golden Gate Bridge from even further in the past, Rayner dispatches a flustered construction worker building the Disco. Another flash jump takes them forward to the battle with Control and Rayner figures it out: The ship has been infected with a Krenim “time bug” weapon, likely from their pals Moll and L’ak. The attempt to transport just as the weirdness started explains why they are the only ones who are aware, with the exception of Stamets because he lives outside of time due to a tardigrade DNA injection… long story. Another time jump finds them back in the 32 nd century, but before they can find Stamets, they end up in a corridor gunfight with Emerald Chain regulators and get a surprisingly helpful assist from Reno. One more jump puts them back in the ready room but things are quiet… too quiet. The computer is non-responsive, the ship is abandoned… and what’s that sound? Is that Doris Day? Oh boy .

Does this thing get Paramount+?

“Please set things right, captain.”

The pair of involuntary time travelers is greeted by Zora on the bridge, who isn’t quite sure she isn’t dreaming, since Burnham and the crew all died decades ago after failing the Progenitor mission. It’s 3218 and outside the window, they can see Federation HQ smashed by the Breen, Moll and L’ak’s highest bidders for the god-level tech. This horrible end to their story has Michael thinking back to her first time walking onto that bridge with big-time imposter syndrome, and Rayner offers a surprisingly empathetic pep talk. Buoyed and motivated to stop this future from happening, they make a plan to break the Krenim Chronophage cycle, and Zora and Burnham technobabble a map of the time bug’s pattern to help track and stop it. They say adieu to the lonely AI and the next jump finds Stamets in his old uniform, bluffing his way through a years-old conversation with Reno. He uses the opportunity to get her thoughts on the best way to “theoretically” tech their way out of this temporal nightmare. “Are you stuck in a time loop?” she asks… but the acerbic engineer is just messing with him. Cynicism for the win!

Michael and Rayner arrive and they all put their pieces together into a plan to squash that time bug with a “chronotron stabilizer,” but Paul is going to need some stuff from around the ship. They work out a plan to meet up after jumps on the oddly empty Deck 13. During a jump back to the 32 nd century (around the time Burnham took command), she has to get some fluid from the holodeck in her quarters, which is where  Book shows up, straight from the gym! To him, she is still his gf, so off comes the shirt and on comes the irresistible carnal charm… humana humana . “It’s hard being a new captain.” You can say that again. She bluffs her way through with talk of being needed on the bridge but not before Book can give her a nice little pick-me-up chat and a big ‘ol “I love you” kiss. She accepts it—and it doesn’t really look like she’s bluffing. Back in the lab, Stamets’ time bug killer is built, but when they try it out, it bounces right off. Of course, the Krenim device has temporal shields and anything that gets too close super-ages into dust. Well, kiss my Annorax .

Would it have killed you to do some dusting, Zora?

“Don’t’ give up.”

The team reconvenes after another jump with a new crazy plan. To get around the temporal shield they have to use Stamets’ ChronoBugSmasher TM just as the ship breaks out of a warp bubble and hope the relativistic forces don’t kill them all first. But as a bonus, if they do it right, they won’t have to worry about that Temporal Prime Directive as there is a handy reset button. Stamets needs to be in engineering backed up by Rayner, so Michael has to do the warp bubble thing from the bridge… but now they’re back in time to when she was a mistrusted mutineer. Lorca and Saru are away, leaving Airiam ( sniff ) in command. After a fun fashion appreciation moment with Linus in the turbolift, Michael comes face to face with… herself. You knew this was coming! Younger, angrier Burnham is not listening to this obvious imposter’s attempt to de-escalate things, so it’s fight club time. As you’d expect, the pair is fairly evenly matched, but Captain Mike has learned some new moves and puts down her younger self, telling sleepy Michael things will get better. Stamets and Rayner are also at odds, but the XO shows some empathy for all the pressure Paul is under to take on the mystery of Progenitor tech, so the gruff first officer buries the hatchet with a formerly gruff scientist with, “Hey, Paul, let’s show ‘em how a couple of old dogs still know the best tricks.” Aw, he made a new gruff friend.

On the bridge, Airiam is wondering what Specialist Burnham is doing out of uniform and Tilly is wondering what she did with her hair… never change, Sylvia. Michael goes with full honesty: time bug, warp bubble, etc. It’s a tough crowd, but she uses an understanding of their personal stories to connect with them, convincing Airiam when she recounts her heroism and sacrifice, then Burnham gets to work showing off her impressive 32 nd -century tech, which probably could have saved her some “I’m really from the future” convincing time. The bridge crew is ready to do the warp bubble thing, but the action in engineering has gone sideways: Young Burnham has arrived with Rhys and a couple of phasers, convinced this is all some shapeshifter trick. Now it’s Rayner’s turn to show he has been listening, proving to both he knows them from the future. It works, they execute the plan, and blammo, back to the future! It’s only been six hours in the time bug loop so now they have plenty of time to get Marty’s mom to the dance , sorry… to get to the Progenitor tech first. On the bridge, it’s time for some warm moments with the crew as Michael tells the tale of the warp bubble escape. Moll and L’ak’s warp trail has been found, proving Rhys’ theory and earning the young officer an attaboy from Rayner, showing he has learned the lesson of the episode. That trail appears to lead nowhere. At least it’s a clue… but that’s for another time. See what I did there?

At this point, Rayner is second-guessing not taking retirement.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Now more confident in its own identity in its fifth season, Discovery feels free to inject a bit more classic Star Trek into the show, which allows them to explore how much the show—and more importantly, the characters—have changed over the years. They may not have known this was going to be their last season, but this episode sure felt like they were reflecting on the show’s evolution, indulging in visits to some key moments, not unlike the Voyager’s final season episode “Shattered.” Like the excellent season 4 Lower Decks episode “Caves,” this bottle show had a bit of a clip show style, but each visit helped give more meaning to the characters’ stories. The “Face the Strange” title was the first clue; it’s a line from the classic David Bowie song “ Changes ,” which was all about how he had reinvented himself throughout his career. Of course, being Discovery , the episode made sure you got this by mentioning variations of “change” multiple times. Disco is going to Disco, but “Face the Change” feels a bit like the show is wearing its heart on its sleeve, leaning into how Michael Burnham’s (and the show’s) emphasis on exploring characters (and their feelings) is a source of strength, with the outsider Rayner offering an opposing view for her to argue with and prove the point.

Sonequa Martin-Green and Callum Keith Rennie had to carry the episode, the series star doing a bit of double duty having to play her younger self. The actress, along with excellent stunt choreography, really drove home the episode theme. This episode finally gave Anthony Rapp something to do, as it also explored how much Paul Stamets has evolved through the series, getting him to bring back some of his old gruff self to clear out his lab. An arc regarding his grappling with the morality of the Progenitor tech is starting to take shape. Rapp’s scene with Tig Notaro was a lot of fun, as was Reno’s interaction with Rayner. Both scenes gave the engineer some more layers, although it still remains unclear who is in charge as the show continues to have no interest in differentiating science and engineering onboard Disco. Martin-Green and Rapp, along with assists from Notaro and David Benjamin Tomlinson (Linus), showed good comic timing as the episode indulged in some of the fun that can be had with time travel, evoking the first season time loop episode “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad.” While there are some similarities, “Face the Strange” had a distinct premise and theme that didn’t make it feel like a repeat of that excellent season 1 episode.

It’s not fair I am the only one to have to wear the old uniform.

It’s about time

Pulling together a time-jumping plot like this is complicated, but “Face the Strange” did it (mostly) seamlessly, jumping straight into the events of several episodes without breaking time or canon. Longtime fans get rewarded by recognizing some of the stops, such as the battle with Control and follow-up jump to the future , and Osyraa taking over the ship . We also got to see the Discovery under construction. San Francisco Shipyard has usually been depicted in Earth orbit, but perhaps the prototype nature of the ship explains why it was built in the actual San Francisco. They did have some fun with Burnham and Rayner navigating the past ship in their bold red uniforms, with Linus hanging a lantern on that in a fun way, but it didn’t really make sense that the 23 rd -century shipyard worker took them to be Starfleet brass. And Stamets also jumping but not keeping his 32nd-century uniform made sense, as established by the aforementioned “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad,” based on his tardigrade DNA. The visit to the possible dark future was also a nice nod to the Short Treks episode “ Calypso ” to show that when left alone, Zora will turn to old musicals for comfort. Once the pattern started, fans are likely to anticipate who else may pop up, so it was smart to explain the lack of Lorca right away upon arrival in early season 1, a key time period to nail the episode theme. The return of Airiam was suitably emotional, with Hannah Cheesman putting in a strong performance; however, Michael using the dead officer’s sacrifice as a way to convince everyone she traveled from the future didn’t really land, as any good Starfleet officer would do the same, given the stakes. But all in all, fans of time travel should enjoy this episode, which holds up to the difficult standards of temporal scrutiny.

Being waylaid through time did put the main quest plot on hold for the most part, but the episode did still squeeze in some character development for Moll and L’ak in the brief flashback at the top. The season adversaries continue to add a few layers and we can even start to see nuances in each of their motivations, with L’ak showing hints he may want to get off the ride before the walls close in on them. There was also a key bit of worldbuilding and potential foreshadowing, specifically for the Breen; we even got a look at a Breen ship. After the DS9 species got name-dropped in the previous 3 episodes, they are now emerging as the big threat to the Federation and competing bidders for the Progenitor tech. Speaking of tech, there was a delightful amount of technobabble, from mentions of polarons and chronitons to the plan hinging on breaking a warp bubble. Things got nice and nerdy. Added to how the time-mastering Krenim and Temporal Cold War tied in, “Face the Strange” continues the trend of how season 5 is doing a much better job of weaving elements of Trek lore into the events of each episode.

For the last time, I was not in Ahsoka !

Final thoughts

“Face the Strange” may be the best episode of the season so far. A very Star Trek premise was just the starting point for a very Discovery story about the characters. It demonstrates that in its final season, Discovery has learned how to carry the serialized story on through stand-alone episodes. Season 5 continues to deliver on its promises of a positive pivot into adventure without losing the heart of the series.

Time looping? Me?

• The episode began with a warning for flashing images.
• Doug Jones is not credited in this episode. The shot of an unconscious Saru is likely from previously unseen footage shot for the episode “ Far From Home .” The audio for the “This is commander Saru, all decks prepare for impact” announcement was taken from that episode.
• The weapons dealer was Annari , previously only seen in the Delta Quadrant on Voyager .
• In addition to Hannah Cheesman, the episode also featured the return of Ronnie Rowe Jr. as Bryce .
• In the dark future, Zora was listening to the Doris Day song “ Que Sera, Sera .”
• Reno warns Stamets that if he buries his mind in the abstract he could turn into a Rothko painting, referring 20th century abstract artist Mark Rothko .
• Stamets mentions calibrating his chronotron stabilizer to “Scaravelli’s Constant,” which is possibly a reference to Vanda Scaravelli , a pioneer in introducing the practice of yoga to the West.
• Rayner proved he knew Rhys by talking about his admiration of Constitution class ships, which he learned during his 20-word crew briefings in the previous episode.
• Reno and Rayner share a love for Vesper Martinis , a cocktail invented for James Bond.

That’s Reno, Jett Reno.

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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Great episode i really enjoyed watching it and it had a lot of good character moments.

I loved the references to the Krenim and the temporal wars and I’m not surprised they invented a weapon like the time bug which can seriously mess up a Star-ship that way.

I enjoyed seeing the old uniforms again as i missed them.

Overall it was again a great episode it is one of my favorites of Discovery and one of the best episodes in Modern Trek. Looking forward to the next episode.

Other than Year of Hell, this feels like another episode of Voyager too, one in which Janeway and Chakotay jump through different time periods. Which one was that?

Exactly right

Yeah. I hadn’t finished reading the article when I made that post. It does cite that episode.

Ah, Shattered.

“still squeeze in some character development for Moll and L’ak”

Huh? Moll and L’ak have had no character development at all. They’ve continued Star Trek’s villain problem, as evident in previous Discovery seasons, as well as in all three seasons of Picard. That said, this was better than I’d expected, and really wasn’t the Groundhog’s Day ripoffI it looked like in the preview. Connecting this episode to the Krenim and the Temporal Wars was a very cool idea, as it went far toward making something ridiculous like a time bug more plausible.

While SMG’s acting really hasn’t improved much–she’s still just as needlessly whispery as she’s always been–seeing season-one Burnham again was surprisingly fun! I agree with your criticisms of the plot holes, though. The Airiam and Linus scenes, while nostalgic in the first and humorous in the second, didn’t make any logical sense.

All in all, this season has been very, very good, despite the lackluster villains. I’ve often been critical of Discovery for its lack of logic, excessive whispering, and near-complete lack of characterization for anyone not named Michael or Saru. And I’ve really not enjoyed the past two seasons because the 32nd century is weirdly uninteresting. This season is fun, though. I hope they can stick the landing, as we’re nearly at the half-point already, and not much has happened.

Unlike Season 3’s poor development of Osyraa as a villain, I think what’s happening with Moll and L’ak is intentional. We know Moll has a familial connection to Book’s namesake. We also know she’s incredibly driven, while it seems L’ak would be content to find a quiet corner of the galaxy to settle down. My guess is we will get an “All About Moll and L’ak” episode in a couple weeks. I like how they’re handing their character development so far.

poor Zora! I really hope she doesn’t end up alone.

We already know she ends up alone.

Unless the events of Calypso were one of the ‘dreams’ Zora references. Some sites are suggesting Calypso was a dream after this episode.

Doesn’t the episode imply that successfully stopping Moll and L’ak will prevent them all from dying and leaving her alone? That was how I read it.

Yes, it does.

The Rothko line was priceless…

I usually hate on Discovery but that was a fun episode. Of course, I LOLed when Michael paused her time sensitive mission to have a “I love you” moment with Book, and another one when she’s gently stroking umm, herself in the hallway. But other than Discovery being Discovery in stupid ways like that, I enjoyed the episode. Plus, Stamets finally got some screen time.

Yeah, Stamets has been sorely underutilized ever since season two. I don’t know why–he’s one of the few great characters this show has, yet they rarely use him.

I’ll be honest, I don’t really love Anthony Rapp’s acting on camera. He’s a bit mannered and never feels quite natural, whereas on stage he’s so clearly at home and is a joy to watch. So Stamets isn’t always my thing, even though I like how he’s part of a healthy couple and I do enjoy a tetchy engineer-type in Trek. But I think he was well-used this time out!

This is one of the rare times in the past 7 years when the episode itself lived up to the pre-episode hype. Enjoyed it.

At least DSC is respecting its OWN canon. My nitpicky issues regarding writing, etc, remain. That said, I enjoyed the ep. The fight choreography was great. Finally, Burnham kicks some butt! The moment near the end of the episode, when Burnham and Raynham start to “get each other,” is a nice touch. I’d like to see that relationship continue to develop. (I thought the 20-word thing was silly) A great surprise to see Airiam. I didn’t see that one coming. Well, six eps more to go. I hope they can maintain the momentum.

I really enjoyed this episode. Much better than the first three by quite some way IMO. I’m also enjoying the Burnham Rayner partnership. Hope the series maintains this energy and fun for the rest of the season.

Not a Discovery fan but absolutely loved this, they kicked it out the park.

So happy to hear you say that Keith!

I’m glad you liked it but it didn’t work for me. All of the time travel was too similar and didn’t really feel like time travel. Yes they referenced a lot of things, but especially there they dropped the ball for me. They had so many opportunities to actually cut in scenes from said episodes, but they were just talking about them in stead of showing it. So many opportunities for cameos, but they waited till the 3/4 mark to finally give us Ariam and Bryce, in quite a weird scene by the way. It was a 7/10 for me.

Best thing of the episode for me was Rayner’s arc progressing. He’s really good and yes, he’s giving off Shaw vibes. By the way: did his ears grow since the last episode?

I thought his ears looked sharper.

Yeah, I thought in a few shots they stuck out way more than before. Glad it wasn’t just me.

Solid. Definitely reminiscent of a bunch of Voyager time travel shenanigans, but when it comes to high concept sci-fi, that’s borrowing from some of the best.

Good use of humor, Stamets, and Rayner’s character progression didn’t feel too cloying. Burnham wasting precious time giving her unconscious self a pep talk was a bit much.

Best episode in a very long time, serving as a good refresher on the journey this crew/ship has been on.

A good episode, but I think there was just a little bit too much technobabble. Also, when Rhys and young Burnham had phasers on Stamets near the end, why couldn’t the bridge crew have just beamed them away?

I wondered why Ariam didn’t just order them to stand down. She was in command.

Excellent point! Dramatic license, I guess…

Honestly I think this is my favorite one of the season so far. I’m always a sucker for time travel stories and always like weird trippy Star Trek. This one was fun and yes clearly took it’s cues from Voyager’s Shattered; which I think is a still better episode than this one overall but this was a very close second. And way better than the last episode which I didn’t like at all.

It’s also funny in the latest Kurtzman article discussing how much the old shows did a lot of filler episodes and/or bottle shows and this one did clearly both. But as said it’s fine when it’s GOOD. I did like seeing how much Burnham has developed and how far she’s come in this time. I still think being a Captain from a mutineer is ridiculous but whatever it’s Star Trek don’t overthink it.

And also Burnham now joins the other famous Star Trek trope of Captains interacting with some other version of themselves through time travel (usually) or cloning or something.

She now joins the club with Kirk, Picard, Janeway and Pike. :)

There were certainly problems with it and the technobabble made little sense to me but minor issues. I’ll probably have to watch it again to spot any big red flags.

Overall Discovery this season has been really fun and a treat to watch IMO. Not amazing but solid (outside episode 3 for me).. But I have been down this transwarp corridor several times already, so hoping it can sustain it.

Despite Season 5 being quite good, it looks like many, at least on this board, have checked out.

If the total number of posts is an indicator, it may be an issue of “too little, too late”. I understand why many may not be watching the final season of Discovery (even I forgot the new episode was out yesterday) – but I hope not, because IMHO last night was a perfect example of a good Star Trek episode.

Someone mentioned this before with the opening episode review thread as well and yeah the posts are WAY down.

And it’s not just here either. Other places like Trekcre, Reddit etc are also a lot smaller now.

It is a shame but I think it proves a lot of people have basically lost interest in the show overall. And it probably doesn’t help being off the air for basically two years either.

But you can’t spin it. A year ago this time Picard season 3 was getting literally hundreds of posts every episode. There was huge interest in it for obvious reasons. Certainly not the case with this show now even with the positive fanfare so far.

Yep that was me!

And I thought maybe it was just a weird fluke or something and the next few episodes the discussions would become higher again. Nope they only become worse and over other discussion boards in general.

What does it say when an article about finding a lost model of the original Enterprise from 40 years ago literally has twice the posts of a brand new Trek episode…one that most fans seem to love including myself? Trekcor has only a dozen posts discussing it right now and it’s been out two days.

I think what DeanH said is on the money, just too little too late and probably not a surprise why it got cancelled. They saw the writing on the wall and that fans were losing a lot of interest in the show.

I think posts are down because fans, like me, are tired of all the hate and bashing going on. I rarely read the posts or want to comment on the due to the high negativity. But I do read all the articles posted. Would be interesting to see the traffic count on here compared to the post count. I don’t think it has anything to do with people losing interest with the show, but with people not wanting to read and react to the negativity about the show.

Sorry I don’t really buy this for several reasons.

A. As I said discussion seems to down in OTHER places as well ,not just this website alone.

B. People bashed Picard for the first two seasons as much as they bashed Discovery and yet season 3 had huge interest here. Yes a big part of that was having the TNG cast back but people were generally excited about it even after how much complaining there was about season 2.

C. Most people are actually being very positive about this season so far. It looks like the ratio of positive vs negative posts seems to be overwhelming positive as this very thread has shown. So I’m not sure why people would be staying away when most people are currently being positive about it? How much hate bashing is happening on this thread? That could change later of course but people seem to be liking the season.

Now that said, sure you could still be right but I really do think Discovery has just lost interest by a lot of people; at least in terms of discussion. Maybe many are watching it. But the interest does seem to be down in most places.

Again it was probably cancelled for many reasons but the main one the show could just have less viewers today.

I used to post all the time. On this board as well as others. My participation in posting went down on all of them when the bashing started rising. I don’t even follow the other boards anymore to be honest, I follow Trek movie because I prefer the articles better. I do read every article… It will be rare that I even read the posts because I know exactly what they are before I even read them. And you’ll find that there are far more negative posts by a landslide compared to the positive ones. People like me are quite fed up with repetitive negative posts. You see the exact same thing from the exact same people….over and over and over again. Offer times in the same article? How many time can you repeat you have nostalgia and Easter eggs before people are fed up of hear the same dribble? I can’t talk for everyone, but I can definitely talk for myself. That’s the reason I post less and less each time.

Ok fine but again the problem with your argument in THIS case is that the posts have been overwhelmingly positive so what am I missing?

Let’s count them up here (easy since it’s not that many posts lol). I just counted any post that specifically stated they either liked or hated the episode.

Number of positive posts: 24

Number of negative posts: 3

It’s literally 7 times more positive remarks than negative. Again I’m not disagreeing with your basic argument, but in THIS case that doesn’t seem to be bearing out correct? In fact what’s funny is a lot of the posts are people saying they normally hate the show but still say they enjoyed this episode or season so far.

I include myself in that btw. I said I would have an open mind going in but I really wasn’t sure how I would feel since I have felt disappointed by every season so far. But I am truly enjoying it and praying to Kahless that won’t change.

So I don’t really buy this argument. Sure if it’s just a ton of nastiness and/or people going out their way to put down the show then I could see your point why others staying away. But that’s not remotely happening either. Most people seems to have a pretty positive view of the season, at least so far. And I’ll go one farther and say the people who are NOT enjoying it isn’t attacking anyone for it either or vice versa. People are just having very civil conversations no matter how you feel about it. Seriously no one is getting triggered one way or the other.

And this has been the case since the season started, but the lack of any big discussions about it is obvious; especially it being the shows last season.

On that note you should start posting again since people are pretty receptive to the season right now. It would be nice to have more discussions surrounding it and would love to hear your thoughts positive or negative.

That episode felt more “Star Trek” than any of the whole series so far.

I know what you mean Steve. The episode also served to remined me why I enjoyed 23rd C Discovery way more than post-jump, especially Season 2. I was all up for the trip to the far future and I thought that S3 started well but unfortunately for me at least, it fell apart and like may, I got burned by the burn so to speak.

I have to admit, this was the first time that Discovery felt like an actual episode of Star Trek! And I have watched every episode on release (for my sins). Crazy!

The episode was actually pretty good and felt like a classic bottle episode, that focused on character growth, exactly what Kurtzman was speaking against with his so-called “filler”.

I tell you what, Rayner has been a breath of fresh air. It gives the overly lovey-dovey crew a kick in the aft deck. The trio of Burnham, Raynor and Stamets worked really well in this episode.

It’s a big shame Discovery didn’t go forward into the 32nd century from the get-go. Imagine after the two part pilot they got thrust into the future? This time frame is perfect as gives the writers the freedom to create their own, new canon, without contradicting that of the 23rd century. Both narratively and visually.

If season 5 continues like this episode, we might get a decent send off to Discovery. Though might be a shame that as the show is ending, it is finally finding its feet (like TNG S3 or ENT S4 etc).

“It’s a big shame Discovery didn’t go forward into the 32nd century from the get-go. Imagine after the two part pilot they got thrust into the future? This time frame is perfect as gives the writers the freedom to create their own, new canon, without contradicting that of the 23rd century. Both narratively and visually.’

I agree with this many times over and I’m someone who basically thought the last two seasons sucked.

But it had nothing to do with the time period itself, just the bad writing surrounding it. But I think if Discovery just started in the 32nd century where it could just tell it’s own stories and not be so tied down to canon or people citing how much it conflicted with TOS it would’ve had a better reception even if they were still disappointed with it.

I guess for me I just really want to see different things. I don’t just want more TOS or TNG. Again I have to stress it doesn’t mean I don’t want to see them at all since I was a big supporter of both Picard and SNW. I’m only saying it would be nice that we finally have something that’s TRULY different from everything else and why I’m also a huge supporter of SFA (although I definitely feel like I’m in the minority on that one lol).

But I also know some fans who just want the same stuff they grew up with. I’ve seen plenty of posts from people who have said they only want Star Trek in the 23rd or 24th century because that’s what made them fans in the first place. For example, there were people generally excited about having the Kelvin movies because it gave the impression that they were wiping the slate clean just going back to TOS but ONLY TOS again and all the spin offs could just be ignored completely from that point om going forward.

I get it and being a fan since the 70s myself I understand wanting to constantly scratch the nostalgia itch. Again NOTHING wrong with that in general. It’s just entertainment and people just enjoy what they enjoy.

But I do think the MAJORITY of fans really do want to see new settings and characters and why we are getting more of it now. But there is always the belief in Hollywood it’s easier to roll the dice on something that worked before versus doing something new and different because one is obviously more guaranteed to work vs the other.

Ironically though, it’s probably a reason why the movie franchise is having a hard time starting up again because when the tried and true fails as the last Kelvin movie did then it’s even harder on taking a chance on an unknown entity with a very fickle audience base and throwing in a lot more money in the process.

Another reason why Trek is just better as a TV franchise in the end.

Missed a chance for a Lorca cameo!! How would Burnham have reacted to him knowing his shady truth?

I too have to admit, this was a good one and as many others have said, it “felt” like a Star Trek episode.

No use recapping the story which I thought was quite good. I really liked that they focused on three characters (Burnham, Rayner and Stamets) and did not go off track trying to include everyone else. I also liked the return of Stamets being his old cynical and direct self, yelling at people, recognizing the urgency of the situation and not having time to worry about their feelings. Him yelling at the crewmember to “GET OUT” was great!

Of course, Discovery has to always get sidetracked with some form of romantic interlude – this time it was Booker and Burnham, even though time was of the essence, she had to forget about what they were doing and pause for two minutes to steal a kiss. (eyeroll) Fortunately, that was a minor part of the episode and did not last long and things got back on track. Btw, as characters, I hope those two do end up together (I’m not heartless).

So far, S5 has been quite good. Hey writers room – see you can actually write good episodic-like stories without having to stray from the season long story arc. Let’s hope they can keep it up. Oh btw, up here north of the border, CTV Sci-Fi channel ran the Voyager two part Year from Hell last night. Nice tie in to the Krenim story.

Of course, Discovery has to always get sidetracked with some form of romantic interlude – this time it was Booker and Burnham, even though time was of the essence, she had to forget about what they were doing and pause for two minutes to steal a kiss. (eyeroll)

This is exactly what Jim Kirk would do. And he has.

Does anyone know why the episode is not available in Germany yet? The first three eps were available right when they were supposed to but still no sign of ep 4…

Some of you bitch about SMG’s acting as one note, but I have to say, she was pretty great on this episode. Maybe the contrast of old her vs younger her made it more obvious but I thought she did an exceptional job this episode.

She’s been good since the first episode. I haven’t always liked the way Burnham was written, but I’ve rarely had a problem with the way Martin-Green played her. I hope the end of this season won’t be the last we see of her in the role.

This is a great episode for the final season because it really does remind you how much has happened and how far the crew has evolved. I immediately wanted to re-watch the entire series.

It kind of gave me that feeling too, which is saying something because I didn’t like the first three seasons much at all. It’s true, though; and I hope whenever I get around to that rewatch, I find out I was wrong all along. I’d love that!

This episode felt like a lot of fun. I really love time loop episodes. And this was a cool new take on them. For a bottle show I was thoroughly entertained. Burnham and Rayner, Stamets and Reno, Burnham and Airiam… there were some great pairings in this episode.

I really enjoyed this filler episode. I think it felt a lot like a Voyager inspired episode and it even mentions the Krenim.

I also liked seeing the contrast of past and present versions of Burnham, but was she really that aggressive in the beginning? I’ll have to go back and watch the first season again, but she seemed more like the mirror universe version of her past self.

Oh, and the technobabble was so wonderfully Star Trek. I’m glad they weren’t afraid to include some. I love seeing the characters use their expertise in and mastery of their fictional technologies to solve problems. I’m watching a show about the future where such amazing technology exists after all. I like when they explain how it is all supposed to work.

I hope the rest of the season is this good.

An excellent episode, I thought. The way they handled the Krenim Easter egg was perfect. Strong character dynamics, too.

Did the colors look weird to anyone else? I can’t put my finger on it, but it seemed like something weird was going on with Paramount+ when I watched.

Worst episode of the season so far The bridge crew are lifeless characters with zero personality and any storyline which involves them suffers heavily! Also thought Michael was back to her annoying best whispering every line. even Rayner couldn’t save this one.

I would agree that a distinguishing feature of Discovery in comparison to other iterations of ST is that the bridge crew are almost invisible and that ~4.5 seasons in, we know almost nothing about them. I don’t know why the writers have taken this route but for me personally, it’s had the effect of making it difficult for me to really bond with this ship and crew. I felt I had more connection with the bridge crew of the Titan and that was after only 3-4 episodes!

Well they actually made it worse in seasons 3 and 4 when they tried to give them more dialogue, because it was clumsy things like, “I used to kite surf!” “Thanks for letting me lead this important away mission entirely offscreen while we follow your storyline instead,” “I am upset and being unprofessional in a crisis because I couldn’t save my friend years ago!” or “I love you all!” And then the show would condescendingly have characters tell us how great Detmer or Bryce are. It’s lazy and clunky, and worse than when it was just more of a deliberate creative choice to emphasize them in seasons 1-2. But this halting approach is not great. Give them meaningful snippets of development and personality and it will make them endearing and feel real. But if they are just here to look worried, laugh/clap, spout technobabble, and be propped up by the main characters, it’s just not my thing.

Shortened seasons leave little room for character development. With 26 episodes per season sometimes the character story was the A story and the B story was something like a comet or an asteroid, as a backdrop. But you could generate character development from the A-story, apart from the what are the odds coincidences of meeting rikers father or Worfs brother leading some refugees. Take Li Nalas for example. You could learn about Kira from how she viewed him, reacted to him, talked. Lots of Dialogue. DSC Season 3 was about the burn, no personal experiences of the crew would fit that, then the dark matter anomaly, also nothing people could maybe share an experience (but it could have been worked in, from somebody remembering some dark matter survey or something), season 4 now theyre on the hunt for some technology from a throwaway stand alone TNG episode, and well none of the crew had a long dialogue scene talking about some excavations or something they might have taken part in. TLDR not just shortened seasons but missed opportunities by writers as well.

Anybody else didnt feel anything when starfleet headquarters was shown destroyed?

I felt a little sorrow for Zora at least.

Has anyone posted a proper look at the Breen ship from the alt future? It just looked like a jumble of debris. Discovery has never been very good about delivering the ship p*rn. I needed a lovely cutaway after Burnham asked about the ship!

Yeah it was hard to distinguish with Starfleet headquarters.

Does anybody know of anyone that posts lists of episodes to prepare for the latest episodes? Like a pre-game episode checklist to better understand all of the references and Easter eggs? I really like to catch everything when I watch a new episode, but it’s hard when they reference so much stuff across the franchise history, some of which I haven’t seen in decades. I often just read the reviews on here and figure out what I need to watch, but that means I read all the spoilers with it. It would be cool if there was something that just told me what to watch beforehand. Anybody aware of something like this, and if not, would anybody want to do it?

Trekc0re’s reviews pick up a decent bit of that.

Probably one of my favorite Discovery episodes to date. Probably because it felt like a classic trek episode of any era, as others have mentioned.

For any other Star Trek show, it would be a sub par episode, nice idea, poor execution, but for Discovery standards I get that this is the best we can get out of this soap opera in space. So after 3 horrible episodes, here something at least watchable without feel nauseated.

Star Trek Discovery: Who is the Red Angel?

Our writers have their say on who they think is the Red Angel in Star Trek Discovery season 2

If you’re watching Star Trek Discovery season 2 , chances are you’re just as desperately trying to guess who the Red Angel is as much as we are. It’s one of the biggest mysteries on the show (along with the Red Signals and whatever they are) and as soon as we found out that the Red Angel is actually a time-travelling humanoid in Star Trek Discovery season 2, episode 6 (thanks Saru’s eyes), we started trying to guess who might be in that winged suit.

Given the laws of TV there’s a good chance that it’s someone we already know from the show, whether that’s a character from the past, present, or future. Burnham? Spock? Lorca?! Who do you think the Red Angel is? While you try and decide read on for our writers predictions on who the Red Angel is and vote in the poll at the end to have your say. 

The Red Angel is… Spock

Given how long it took Spock to turn up in the new season of Star Trek Discovery, I think it would nice to find out he was there all along! It felt like we talked about nothing but the iconic Vulcan for six solid episodes before he finally made his debut in episode 7 , but in that time we did learn a lot about him from Burnham and Pike’s investigation into the Red Signals and his disappearance. One thing we found out is that Spock knew about the Red Signals months before they appeared to Starfleet and Burnham and Pike spend many a conversation discussing how this is possible. Do you know the most logical explanation for this? Spock is the one who’s causing the Red Signals and his drawing wasn’t a prediction of the future, but a plan he’s now carrying out at the Red Angel. 

‘But Spock is with Burnham after getting his brain all unmuddled on Talos 4’, I hear you cry. Oh I’m not talking about that Spock... I’m talking about Future Spock (or potentially Parallel Universe Spock) who’s come back in time to fix some series of catastrophe events his past self was involved in. Trust me, it’s all part of his genius plan! There’s even precedent for this as Spock travels back in time in the J.J. Abrams ’ Star Trek reboot and although this is set in a different timeline, it wouldn’t be the first time Star Trek Discovery uses inspiration from another Trek timeline for events in its show. Clearly, the Red Angel is Spock. It’s only logical. Lauren O’Callaghan 

I totally agree with Lauren on this one. The two big talking points from Season 2 so far have been the red signals and the arrival of Spock. It might be too obvious to say the two are linked but that does seem like the logical conclusion. The biggest factor for me is that current timeline Spock knew the location of the signals before they appeared. Then after they appeared those same signals have been leading the Discovery on a little treasure hunt to ‘fix’ the planets in danger. It’s almost like the signals are warning signs that something isn’t right at that location. My guess would be that by leading the crew of the Discovery to these locations the Red Angel is stopping events that in another timeline caused a chain reaction of death and destruction. But that’s the kicker: this theory only holds up if we assume that Spock has either somehow traveled back in time, or we’re seeing an alternate dimension version of him in the form of the Red Angel. But it’s not like the show hasn’t gone down that path before. James Jarvis 

The Red Angel is… Michael Burnham

The first thing I thought when we got our first proper look at the crimson curiosity? Those are a woman's hips if ever I've seen them. I don't want to sound like a sexist from 1976 or anything, but I've been to enough yoga classes to recognize the female form in skintight textiles. Why do I think it's Burnham and not Tilly? I'd love for it to be Tilly, but Burnham's connection to Spock would explain why the visions haunt him so, and a line from Emperor Georgiou in episode seven keeps rattling around my head. "I know so much more about you than you can imagine. But that's for another time." Rachel Weber

The Red Angel is… Tilly

We know that the Red Angel is human after Spock’s mind meld and, from the clear look we got through Saru’s enhanced eyes, she’s also very clearly female - no man has a set of hips like that. Given Discovery's love of surprise reveals and twists it’s very unlikely that it’s just some random character we’re going to meet later. Which means it has to be one of the more prominent female characters. Burnham is an obviously assumption, as is her mother (who’s made it clear she will go to any lengths to protect her son) but they both have different body shapes to the Red Angel’s shorter, curvier figure. Georgiou’s another option but it’s hard to see her being altruistic unless what’s she’s doing helps her. Based off body shape alone Tilly looks like the most likely candidate. So how could Tilly end up as the Red Angel? Well, we’ve had an entire episode dedicated to Tilly’s Spore connection, meaning she’s primed to gain some sort of odd connection to the mycelial network which could lead anywhere in terms of powers. Maybe Stamets is going to rig some sort of Spore drive travel suit… for reasons, that accidently lets her travel through time. Leon Hurley

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The Red Angel is… Georgiou 

Yeah, I know this is quite unlikely. But I agree with Rachel and Leon about the Red Angel’s body type - it definitely looks like a woman with those hips - and we know that Georgiou is bizarrely invested in Michael, even though she’s not the Michael Burnham that was treated like Georgiou’s daughter in the Mirror universe. Anyway, Section 31 has its fair share of dubious techniques for getting information (they were going to rip Spock’s mind apart to get information about the Red Angel, remember), and you can bet that if they got their hands on time travel technology they’d want to use it to keep the universe safe. That could leads to a catastrophe that gets Michael killed and Georgiou, being the maverick that she is, might steal the technology to go back in time and make sure that everything is in place to ensure Michael stays alive. 

Guiding Michael to the important places in the universe that need saving, she reconnects her with her Spock, ensures Saru can defend her with his threat ganglia gone (as well as awakens the Kalpians to their predator evolution), saves those humans on Terralysium and awakens Jacob to the truth. All of these things might have an important role to play in the future: perhaps Jacob develops technology to help the Discovery, and Spock’s heart-to-heart with Michael helps them trust each other at a critical point in the story. Georgiou could be doing all she can to make sure that there’s a chance of saving Michael’s life...and this theory also confirms that Georgiou does have a heart. Zoe Delahunty-Light

Now you’ve heard from our writers, vote on who you think is the Red Angel below. 

Could Lorca be back in Star Trek Discovery season 2? Let’s look at the evidence for and against, or watch the video below to find your next TV binging obsession!

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Interview — DISCOVERY Prop Master Mario Moreira on the Red Angel Suit, Section 31 Phasers, and More

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I’m a total prop guy, meaning I love seeing elements of craftsmanship, design principles and talented vision all come together in dramatic productions. Let’s face it: props add to the authenticity and realism of any dramatic production. They contribute to the performers’ abilities to present a character, and they also make any loyal fan covet and drool in envy when shown for the first time.

It’s no different in Star Trek: Discovery . Imagine how those folks feel in being the ones to decide what those props should look like. Luckily, I had a chance to find out, as I had an opportunity last month to chat with series prop master Mario Moreira about his work in the latest chapter of the Star Trek saga, and some of his favorite pieces from the second year of the show.

Moreira’s credits include Starhunter along with other rich Canadian sci-fi productions like Killjoys and The Expanse , and I had to ask about separated the prop design in Discovery from some of the items he constructed for those other shows.

“On Killjoys , we did what I call ‘mutt-builds,’ where we start with an existing product,” Moreira told me. “We did a lot of cladding of air-soft weaponry [to turn it into space weapons]. For Star Trek, everything in Discovery is straight from design; 3-D printed, aluminum-milled products. Nothing we work with is from another product, it’s all from our design.”

The debut of  Discovery in 2017 brought many familiar  Star Trek props into the 21st century, from the classic Type II hand phasers to new takes on the old-school flip-open Starfleet communicators and tricorders — and Season 2 added even more new builds to the  Discovery collection, from all-new constructs to a reimagination of a memorable 1960s design.

To start, I had to ask Moreira about the surprising appearance of Captain Pike’s iconic support wheelchair, updated from its appearance in “The Menagerie” for 2019’s “Through the Valley of Shadows,” where Pike (Anson Mount) experienced a vision of his own tragic future.

“That was a really fantastic build,” said Moreira. “Concept artist [and series lead creature designer] Neville Page when full steam ahead on that [and] presented me with the first design. I rarely do [design] tweaks when I work with Neville, because his mind is so out there – and he is so in love with Star Trek that he wouldn’t want to disrespect the canon in terms of the futurist look.”

“It’s probably as close to the original Trek prop as any of our [pieces] are,” he continued. “While I’m not sure exactly how the original was built – it was probably just a wooden box – our version was milled out of a thick piece of high-density foam, and the front door [for Mount to get in the chair] comes off with magnets. It was hand-carved, hand-smoothed, and built with auto body fiber-glassing, then it was glazed and painted.

In terms of the overall build, it was a pretty tight schedule to get that thing turned around, and we had one little tweak that had to be done to the back wheel, but it’s a very traditional build in a sense.”

I was trying to imagine the process as Mario described it: the tools, the worktable… it was a fascinating experience to hear about the work and Mario’s pride in it was obvious.

Moving from an homage to the past to a danger from the future, the next item on Moreira’s list of favorites was the deadly Control-powered tentacle from “Light and Shadows,” a largely digital effect that needed to become tangible for actors Anson Mount and Shazad Latif (Tyler) to grapple with.

“We had a real kick out of building the AI tentacle that came from the future,” Moreira said. “The big tentacle [the actors] were fighting off was largely computer generated, but at the heart of it was an actual physical prop that they were fighting with.”

While it may seem unimaginable that a robotic tentacle from a futuristic weapon might have some roots in reality, Moriera shared some of the technical work that went into building the real-life prop for the cast to work with on set.

“It started as a giant vacuum extruder hose that we ran ten-speed bicycle cables through,” he explained, “to give it both rigidity and flexibility. We gave it aluminum rings that we ran more springs through, and coated the outside body with little plastic pink and brown balls to give it ‘musculature.

A lot of its ‘life’ is just actor manipulation: as the actors moved, the thing actually fights against them, so it’s almost like a self-puppeteered prop. At first, we built it as a true puppet — that’s what the cables were for — to run it off-stage, but as the thing got heavier and more complicated, we realized it was going to be impossible to manage that way.

As I lifted it up, it kind of sprang away from me and I realized it was doing what we really wanted it to do on its own. It happens by accident sometimes!”

As for more present-tense weaponry, the new phaser design used by Section 31 operatives was one of my personal favorites of the year, and I’m eagerly hoping for some licensee to produce a replica that I can add to my already over-populated collection.

“We only built a few of the new Section 31 phasers [compared to the regular Discovery phasers],” Moreira laughed, “so we could be a little less cost-effective! We knew that it had to be fairly solid — since Leland was going to be in a big fight and it was going to get thrown around — so that version of the weapon is actually solid aluminum, anodized black.

The barrel actually retracts and extended for the ‘stun’ and ‘kill’ settings, which was a last-minute add to the design. We had the whole thing approved, and then [executive producer] Alex Kurtzman asked, ‘What if it did this?’ and I was like, ‘We CAN do that – because that sounds amazing!’

There’s a little motor in the body of the phaser that powers the whole thing, extending and retracting the barrel. It didn’t cost that much extra, but the detail on this thing is absolutely incredible — I love the Section 31 phaser, and if there was one prop I could take home myself it would be this one!”

While Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) got to spend much of the show’s pilot episode in a bulky “long-haul” spacesuit with a large thruster apparatus, the opening of Discovery Season 2 allowed Moreira and his team to work up a new spacesuit design for the crew, first seen in the dangerous journey down to the  Hiawatha crash site.

“I love working on space suits,” Moreira admitted, “and this show has given me a great opportunity to do that. It was so nice to work on something that was so ingrained in Star Trek lore, the new EVA suits we saw Pike, Burnham, and Nhan wearing in the beginning of the season.”

While “Brother” featured the trio in gold, red, and silver versions of the new spacesuit — along with ill-fated Lt. Connelly in blue — much of the Discovery crew got a chance to sport versions of the suit as the season progressed.

“It was like improving on a prototype,” Moreira continued, “because we got to do it twice. We got a second chance to work on them [after “Brother”] when Airiam and Burnham got to go to Section 31 headquarters [in “Project Daedalus”], which allowed us to find solutions to problems we had been working on.

Later on, we saw Spock in is own suit, and then we did a color change for the versions worn by Georgiou and Section 31. Basically, we were able to work on the EVA suits over and over again [with each episode] to make them better.”

With all of this talk of props from the past, future, and present, it was only fitting that our conversation on  Discovery’s Season 2 props ended on the season’s temporal technology, the time-crystal-powered Red Angel suit.

There were actually three versions built for Discovery’s second season: a pristine version seen in the “Perpetual Infinity” flashbacks worn by Gabrielle Burnham (Sonja Sohn), a damaged version presented as a kind of mannequin after her capture by the Discovery crew, and the new build worn by Michael Burnham in the season finale.

“On-screen, the Angel wings were entirely CG, though we have built an actual, physical set [for the Paley Center prop display in Los Angeles],” Moreira explained. “The suit itself is 3D-printed fabric underneath a 3D-printed soft resin, all nylon-sewn into the suit; [Sonequa] can run and jump with it, and we can fly her!”

“Other shows usually wouldn’t build a visor into a suit like this,” he said,” but we built the visor into the helmets [rather than use CG], giving an authentic reflection for the camera to pick up and something for the actor to work with — but the helmet has more fans and blowers in it than any other helmet we’ve made, because the visor is so close to her face that we had to keep air blowing… otherwise it would fog up in an instant!

We went out of our way to create a helmet that was more breathable and authentic for the actors, and both [Gabrielle Burnham] and [Michael]’s suits are amazing pieces.”

The Discovery production team is already hard at work getting prepped for the show’s third season, which is set to begin filming back in Toronto this summer. After telling me about the Trek toys he keeps on his desk at work — models of the Shenzhou and Discovery , along with some classic Trek bobbleheads! — Moreira shared his excitement for what’s next for the show as it moves to the 31st Century.

“I would just say, as a fan,” Moreira said, choosing his words carefully, “getting ready for Season 3 — from what I’ve seen and read — is really going to blow some minds. It has been a fun season to design and build for, and will be an amazing season to watch!”

While an exact return date for the series has not yet been announced,  Star Trek: Discovery is expected to return in 2020 sometime after the first season of  Star Trek: Picard finishes its ten-episode run — and I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for one of those Section 31 phasers while I wait!

But for now, if you’re in the Los Angeles area, you can check out the real props from Discovery Season 2 at CBS’s Star Trek: Discovery — F ight for the Future exhibit, a free-to-the-public gallery which runs through July 7 at The Paley Center for Media.

While no formal plans have yet been announced, it’s hopeful that some or all of this exhibit will make its way to San Diego Comic Con and the annual  Star Trek Las Vegas convention later in the summer as well, following the trend started by Discovery displays from 2017 and from 2018 at those events.

Portions of this interview have been condensed or edited for clarity.

Let us know in the comments below some of your favorite props from Season 2 of  Star Trek: Discovery!

• Behind The Scenes
• DSC Season 2
• Mario Moreira
• Paley Center
• Star Trek: Discovery

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Their final adventure begins —

Plucky crew of star trek: discovery seeks a strange artifact in s5 trailer, "it has been a hell of a journey. but everything ends someday.".

Jennifer Ouellette - Feb 23, 2024 9:16 pm UTC

It's been two years since we had new episodes of Star Trek: Discovery , which debuted in 2017. Now Paramount+ has dropped the official trailer for the fifth and final season of the spinoff series.

(Spoilers for prior seasons below.)

As previously reported , Sonequa Martin-Green plays Michael Burnham, an orphaned human raised on the planet Vulcan by none other than Sarek (James Frain) and his human wife, Amanda Grayson (Mia Kirshner)—aka, Spock's (Ethan Peck) parents. So, she is Spock's adoptive sister. As I've written previously , the S2 season-long arc involved the mysterious appearances of a "Red Angel" and a rogue Starfleet AI called Control that sought to wipe out all sentient life in the universe.

Further Reading

The big reveal was that the Red Angel was actually a time-travel suit worn by Michael's biological mother. She had accidentally jumped 950 years into a bleak future in which Control had achieved its nefarious goal and had been traveling through time, leaving signals (in the form of the visions), hoping to alter that future. In the S2 finale, Michael donned a copy of her mother's suit to lead Discovery over 900 years into the future. The crew of the Enterprise told Starfleet that Discovery was destroyed in the battle and was ordered never to speak of the ship or her crew again.

In S3, Michael,  Discovery , and her crew arrived in the future and found that Control's plan had been thwarted: Life still exists. But the galaxy was very different thanks to something called The Burn, a catastrophic event that caused all the dilithium in the Milky Way to explode and destroy much of Starfleet in the process. In the aftermath, with no warp drive possible, all the planets had become disconnected and were no longer governed by the Federation. Michael did, however, manage to locate one sole Federation liaison on a remote space station with the help of a new ally, Book (David Ajala).

The Discovery crew reunited with what was left of Starfleet, figured out what caused The Burn, and managed to defeat a rival syndicate known as the Emerald Chain, inspiring planets to start rejoining the Federation. Burnham finally became captain of Discovery after Saru (Doug Jones) opted to return to his home planet of Kaminar for a spell. And we bid a sorrowful farewell to Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh).

S4 opened with the plucky crew—including Saru as first officer—helping rebuild the Federation and celebrating the reopening of Starfleet Academy. They soon encountered a "gravitational anomaly" five light-years in diameter that destroyed Book's home planet of Kwejian as it moved through the galaxy. It turned out to be a powerful technology belonging to an alien species with interconnected minds called 10-C, whose language employed mathematical equations. In the S4 finale, the aliens ultimately agreed to turn off their technology, thereby sparing Earth and other Federation planets.

The fifth season was already in development by March 2020, and the plan was to film those episodes back-to-back with S4. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and put those plans on hold. Filming didn't happen until 2022. While S5 was originally meant to air last year, once Paramount decided to pull the plug and make it the final season, they needed to shoot additional footage in order to wrap up the series properly. Per the official premise:

The fifth and final season will find Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery uncovering a mystery that will send them on an epic adventure across the galaxy to find an ancient power whose very existence has been deliberately hidden for centuries. But there are others on the hunt as well… dangerous foes who are desperate to claim the prize for themselves and will stop at nothing to get it.

In addition to Martin-Green, Jones, and Ajala, much of the main cast is returning for S5: Anthony Rapp as Stamets; Mary Wiseman as Tilly; Wilson Cruz as Dr. Culber; Blu del Barrio as Adira Tal; and Callum Keith Rennie as Rayner. Eve Harlow and Elias Toufexis will reprise their recurring roles as Moll and L'ak, respectively. Returning as notable guest stars in S5: Oded Fehr as Starfleet Commander-in-Chief Charles Vance; Chelah Horsdal as Lair Rillak; Tara Rowling as T'Rina; David Cronenberg as Kovich; and Tig Notaro as Jett Reno.

The first two episodes of the fifth and final season of Star Trek: Discovery will premiere on Paramount+ on April 4, 2024; the remaining eight episodes will air weekly after that through May 30.

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Star Trek: Discovery Season 5; Who Is Red Angel? Explained

From its origin to the suit’s owner, its destruction, and reappearance in Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, here’s everything we know about the sci-fi franchise’s mysterious Red Angel.

Origin of Red Angel

• What Are These Red Angle’s Signals?
• Red Angel’s Appearance In Star Trek: Discovery Season 2
• Who Created Red Angel’s Suit?

Where Was Red Angel Until Season 5?

One of the most mysterious characters in the popular sci-fi series Star Trek: Discovery is the Red Angel with its synchronized seven red bust-like signals. After being an integral part of its second season, it has again appeared in the fourth episode of Season 5– Face the Strange. 

Written by Sean Cochran and directed by Lee Rose, the episode shows Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Commander Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie) stuck in a time loop jumping from Discovery’s past to present and future experiencing the starship's voyage to the 32nd century. As the Red Angel guides Discovery into the future, Burnham and Rayner watch her through the viewscreen from the bridge of the Discovery surrounded by unconscious crew members.

Burnham’s foster brother Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck) took up drawing as a coping mechanism for his childhood nightmares, which became useful. When those terrifying dreams came back as an adult, Spock drew what would eventually be the seven red signals two months before they first appeared in space, providing Burnham with the first hint to solving the puzzling riddle.

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After tracing some of the signals, it was concluded that they led to people in need. One of the signals took the USS Discovery to New Eden planet where the Red Angel had rescued a group of soldiers over two centuries ago. Another signal was tracked to an asteroid carrying the USS Hiawatha saving a dozen of injured officers.

Red Angel’s Appearance In Star Trek: Discovery Season 2

During those times, Burnham first gets a glimpse of the Red Angel as she rescues survivors and encounters death.

While examining Arium's system, a file called Project Daedalus containing Burnham's bio-neural signature, a time-traveling humanoid, was found. However, following a perilous experiment in which Burnham consented to die in order to trick the Red Angel into falling into their trap, it was discovered that her mother Gabrielle (Sonja Sohn) had been traveling through time and space in that highly advanced outfit all along. She has been doing to save the galaxy.

Not just Burnham’s mother, but Burnham herself is also behind the signals. Data from Burnham and her mother were both included in the Red Angel outfit. She is the second time traveler to wear the outfit, as evidence suggests. The red signals are due to future Burnham as Gabrielle kept Burnham alive throughout multiple near-death incidents.

Who Created Red Angel’s Suit?

A temporal arms race began two decades ago when Section 31 learned that the Klingons had begun studying time travel. In an attempt to gain a tactical edge, the secret organization created Project Daedalus, a time-traveling outfit. However, the Klingons destroyed the suit just before they were going to test it, and until those mysterious red signals arrived in the present, the project was assumed to be aborted. Ever since, Section 31 has been making unsuccessful attempts to apprehend the angel and recover their missing technology.

As Burnham crash-landed on a planet after emerging from the wormhole in the 32nd century in the third season, she lost contact with the USS Discovery. She uses the Red Angel suit to scan the galaxy for sign of life to verify that Discovery was successful in stopping Control from destroying life in the galaxy. 

Burnham sends the Red Angel suit back through the last wormhole to transmit the seventh and last signal upon learning that the mission was successful. Following which, Burnham programs the suit to destroy itself in order to stop anyone from traveling into the future with Discovery.

ALSO READ:   Actor Kenneth Mitchell, Known For Star Trek: Discovery And Captain Marvel, Dies At 49 Following ALS Diagnosis

Namrata Ganguly is a Hollywood and pop-culture writer at Pinkvilla. She has a post-graduate diploma in Journalism from the

Namrata Ganguly is a Hollywood and pop-culture writer at Pinkvilla. She has a post-graduate diploma in Journalism from the Asian College of Journalism. Hailing from the cultural capital, Kolkata, she got profound exposure to music, art, and cinema at a very tender age. Ray’s famous classics such as Gupi Gayen Bagha Bayen and Pather Panchali were her gateway to the cinema while Rabindra Sangeet served as her lullaby. Her interest in a screenplay can be traced back to watching Malgudi Days and Tenali Rama after returning from school. She believes cinema is a figment of life and nothing puts sense to it louder than capturing people’s stories, cultures, music, or comfort food.

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Become the Red Angel

By Ambassador Kael | Tue 23 Jun 2020 09:00:00 AM PDT

As part of our upcoming content release, from June 30th to July 30th, PC Captains playing Star Trek Online will have access to a special event. We want to give you the details now to prepare – but the name of this event might be a bit of a spoiler, so we'll have to hold that back.This new event will provide participating Captains with an epic reward: The Red Angel Suit. Read on to find out more about the event and its rewards.

Event Progress

Participating in this event grants daily progress towards the Grand Prize: The Red Angel Suit. Obtaining the Red Angel suit requires 40 daily progress, and Captains can earn two daily progress per day by playing any of the following content:

• Two Brand New Episodes (2 Points Each)
• New Task Force Operation: Best Served Cold (2 Points)
• Clash Above Ceron
• Strike at Seedea
• Trouble over Terrh

Once the player has obtained 40 daily progress on their account, they can claim the Red Angel Suit. After that, the event will still be playable, granting a scaling dilithium reward that begins at 8,000 dilithium ore and scales by 1,000 dilithium ore for every day you participate in the event.

Captains will also have the option to purchase their remaining progress in the event with Zen. The price for this buyout will prorate, based on the amount of progress a Captain has completed.

The Red Angel Suit

In Star Trek: Discovery, the Red Angel Suit was a powerful device capable of traveling through time by thousands of years. Now, Khitomer Alliance scientists, with the help of the Excalbian construct Michael Burnham, have managed to recreate some of the functionality of the original suit to outfit their officers. The Time Crystals necessary to travel far through time weren’t possible to recreate, but the suit itself was. Powerful and versatile, it functions as standard combat armor until its special properties are needed. These properties, referred to as Red Angel Mode, can only be used for a short while before the systems must recharge.

Passive: Revive

If the wearer would ever be defeated while in Red Angel Suit is equipped, the Red Angel visits them from the future of their timeline, reviving them and releasing a shockwave blast, knocking nearby enemies down and damaging them. This effect has a separate internal recharge time.

Active: Red Angel Mode

The power of the suit goes beyond saving yourself from certain death, however. By activating Red Angel Mode, you will be able to engage the suit's full power, trading your action bar for the abilities granted by the suit itself and transforming into the Red Angel.

When the wearer engages the suit, a number of things happen at once. First, a blast of energy knocks back, disables, and damages nearby enemies. Second, their appearance temporarily becomes that of the Red Angel. Third, they trade their normal weapon active abilities for a new set of abilities. Fourth, they receive large bonuses to speed, damage, and damage resistance.

The Red Angel can activate Temporal Shockwave against a Target Foe. This deals heavy damage to the Target and nearby Foes, and shunts them forward in time several seconds, removing them from the battlefield entirely until they arrive in the future.

The suit can also discharge its internal power supply for an area of effect EMP. Though smaller than the one seen on Kaminar, this EMP still disables all mechanical abilities of nearby Foes as well as dealing heavy Electrical damage to mechanical and incorporeal entities.

Large Hyposprays and Shield Recharge devices are integrated with the suit, and may be used without consuming a device. This has a modest recharge.

This is a special event for our next content drop, and is not part of Event Campaign II. You'll be able to try out all of this new content in a little less than a week on PC, and after the Risian Lolhunat Festival on Console. We hope you enjoy this special event, Captains, and we'll see you in game.

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Published Apr 19, 2024

RECAP | Star Trek: Discovery 504 - 'Face the Strange'

Don't bury your mind in the abstract for too long, you'll turn into a Rothko painting.

SPOILER WARNING: This article contains story details and plot points for Star Trek: Discovery.

StarTrek.com

Previously, in " Red Directive ," Captain Burnham admits to Book she doesn't know how to be around him anymore, while the ex-courier wonders if some things are hard to move past, for both of them. While on an away mission in " Jinaal ," Burnham tasks with new first officer Rayner to familiarize himself with the crew with one-on-ones as connection is a choice; not a skill.

Meanwhile, while on Trill, after meeting with Jinaal Bix, inhabiting Dr. Culber's body, offers the captain the next clue to locating the Progenitors' tech. Unfortunately, any gains they achieved is sabotaged as Moll manages to slip a piece of tech onto Adira's uniform without their knowledge.

In Episode 4 of Star Trek: Discovery , " Face the Strange ," on the way to the next clue, the U.S.S. Discovery is sabotaged by a mysterious weapon, leaving Captain Burnham, Rayner, and Stamets as the only crew members who can possibly save the ship in time.

• Moll (Malinne)
• Michael Burnham
• Keyla Detmer
• Joann Owosekun
• William Christopher
• Sylvia Tilly
• Paul Stamets
• Dr. Hugh Culber
• Cleveland "Book" Booker

• Salata Major Beach
• U.S.S. Discovery

Fifteen hours earlier, Moll and L'ak are seen rendezvousing with a broker on a moonlit shore. They hand him a bag of latinum as payment for an item, but he insists that the price has gone up. The weapons dealer begins to cough and experience psychedelic effects, and Moll divulges that she had anticipated his betrayal and soaked the latinum in Fop'yano poison — the same toxin that the broker had sold to the Emerald Chain to use on people like her. As his mouth foams and he collapses, Moll retrieves an item from his pocket. While her spirits are buoyed by the prospect of having an edge over the U.S.S. Discovery -A's pursuit of the Progenitors' tech, L'ak second guesses their situation — he feels as if the walls are closing in. Moll reassures him that their success will mean no more bounties on their heads, looking over their shoulders, or running. They kiss, Moll extending her hand to reveal that the item is…

…the spider-like device which Moll placed on Ensign Adira Tal's sleeve. Back in the present, the mechanical menace scurries through Adira's quarters as they make plans to meet with Gray when he graduates to the next level of training in a few months. Adira hears its metallic steps, but Commander Paul Stamets' request for assistance draws them away, and the creature melts into the bulkhead.

"Face the Strange"

Discovery arrives at the coordinates supplied to them by Jinaal Bix, but scans do not detect anything of note. On the Bridge, Captain Michael Burnham refuses to give up, tasking Lieutenant Linus with sending DOT-23s to conduct a more in-depth scan of the area. Lieutenant Christopher reports that Trill has found no sign of Moll and L'ak, a fact which irritates Commander Rayner. The first officer insists the thieves should have been there hours ago when the captain was on the planet. Unbeknownst to the crew, Moll's device emerges from a nearby wall. Lieutenant Commander Gen Rhys advises that the couriers are likely to wait for Discovery to lead them to the next clue. The arachnid-like spy blends back into the bulkhead as Rayner dismisses Rhys' observation as a guess. Angered by the interaction, Burnham turns to the commander and asks him to join her in the Ready Room.

The two senior officers beam to the privacy of the conference area, and Burnham bluntly pronounces Rayner's behavior to be unacceptable — that’s not how they do things on Discovery . The captain values having the crew engaged, involved, and encouraged to speak freely, prompting Rayner to 'freely' express his opinion that such a policy is a mistake. Red Directives require decisiveness and discipline — not collaboration. Burnham takes offense to the idea that her crew lacks discipline, but Rayner believes that the ship's personnel are too comfortable with one another. Burnham counters that their familiarity saved the Federation, the galaxy, and Rayner himself.

Rayner's argument intensifies into an outburst, but the commander takes a moment to pace and reevaluate his position. Rayner acknowledges that his criticism was over the line and apologizes. Burnham presses on, matter-of-factly stating that the Burn is over and Rayner is on her ship — she expects him to do things her way. Rayner lifts his chin, challenging the captain with the query, "And if my way is better?"

Meanwhile, in Engineering, Stamets spots Moll's device bustling across the wall, following it until it melts into a panel. Burnham and Rayner continue their face-off in the Ready Room, when the lights suddenly flicker and Lieutenant Commander Joann Owosekun transmits an update from the Bridge — odd energy fluctuations have been detected and an unauthorized signal was just broadcast from the ship. Burnham and Rayner attempt to beam to Discovery ’s command center, but their personal transporters convulse.

The Ready Room is suddenly transformed, now awash in sparks and debris with stars speeding past the rear viewport. Transporters and comms appear to be inoperative, so Burnham and Rayner rush to the turbolift. As the doors open, they confront an unsettling sight on the Bridge — Saru and the command crew are unconscious on the floor, and all wear mid-23rd Century Starfleet uniforms. The viewscreen displays a voyage through a wormhole, and Discovery rides in the wake of what Rayner refers to as a "red thing." Shock covers the captain's expression. The question isn’t where they are, but when . Nodding to the figure in the distance, Burnham states, "That’s the Red Angel. That was me."

Captain Burnham processes the stunning scene, registering that this is the day they traveled to the 32nd Century. Rayner notes the absurdity of going back in time to the moment Discovery went into the future. The crew begins to stir, and Burnham hurries Rayner out of the room; the time travelers aren’t supposed to be there, so they must avoid being seen. They regroup in the Ready Room, and the captain theorizes that Jinaal's coordinates weren’t as empty as they had thought. Commander Saru's voice can be heard ordering everyone to brace for impact. Aware of how history transpires, Burnham is certain they will survive the crash landing, but Rayner is not particularly enthused by the prospect.

The lights flash again. Burnham and Rayner remain in the Ready Room, but their surroundings have changed once more. The room is open to the atmosphere, its incomplete rear bulkhead now displaying a lovely view of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge on Earth. The captain nervously gestures to the commander, who turns to find a construction worker wearing a hardhat and enjoying some music. Confused by the unexpected visit, the man assumes this is a surprise inspection. Burnham and Rayner immediately adapt to the situation. And, as the worker walks off to inform his foreman; the commander offers him advice — fail to prepare, prepare to fail. Once the man departs, Rayner sheepishly confesses that he hates that saying.

Captain Burnham exhales, proclaiming that they are in drydock when Discovery was first being built. They haven’t just traveled back in time, they are jumping through it. While the people they come across on their journey still live in the moment, Burnham and Rayner's awareness are not being affected by the shifts. The 32nd Century officers trace their steps, remembering that the ordeal began when energy fluctuations prompted them to try beaming to the Bridge. Whatever is influencing the ship must have hit it at the exact moment they were beaming!

The lights shudder and the environment morphs, the completed starship is now taking weapons fire in the midst of a massive space battle. Although the year oscillates, Burnham and Rayner are returned to their original positions in the Ready Room every time. Explosions rock Discovery , and the chronometer reads Stardate 1051.8 — the Battle with Control. They deduce that this can’t be a time eddy or a neural attack, and the truth suddenly dawns on Rayner — it’s a "time bug," a Krenim chronophage left over from the Temporal War.* They are designed to paralyze an enemy vessel by randomly cycling through time, lasting weeks or months until the "little suckers" run out of juice. Curious as to how Moll and L'ak got the device aboard Discovery , they assume the unauthorized broadcast was a notification beacon intended to alert the couriers to their position.

Captain Burnham resolves to prohibit Moll and L'ak from obtaining the Progenitors' tech, and she activates her tricom badge in order to calculate a pattern to the time cycle intervals. She proposes they find Stamets, as the scientist lives outside of time because of his tardigrade DNA. Rayner's face conveys befuddlement, but the captain thinks that — while Stamets will be trapped within the time bug's trap like everyone else — he will be as aware of the situation as she and Rayner.

Chaos reigns in Sickbay, with those wounded during the fight against Control filling the biobeds. Dr. Hugh Culber treats Stamets for a shrapnel wound to his chest. The astromycologist tries to warn his partner about a "scary bug," but Culber attributes the calls for a "Zora" to delirium and induces a coma. Space warps around them, and the moment snaps back to the Ready Room, where Burnham and Rayner see that Discovery is now under a Cloak Alert. Burnham's badge shows that the last cycle sustained itself for twice as long as the one prior to it. She checks the stardate and predicts Stamets will be in Engineering. They take a turbolift — Burnham programs a direct route to storage on Deck 13 via service shaft epsilon so as to uphold the Temporal Prime Directive** — and the captain inputs an override code to mask their biometric readings.

The ship goes to Black Alert, and a bleak revelation occurs to Burnham — this is the day Osyraa attacks Discovery . The turbolift doors slide open, and they are greeted by one of the Emerald Chain's heavily armed regulators. Burnham and Rayner spring into action, ducking weapons fire and dispatching the helmeted guard. Osyraa's reinforcements storm the corridor, but the duo fend them off in ferocious hand-to-hand combat. A regulator nearly gets the drop on Rayner, but Commander Jett Reno delivers a blast to the foe's head and remarks, "Get a better helmet." Reno doesn’t recognize Rayner, and the time traveler poses as an officer named Commander Lock who is on temporary assignment. He's grateful for the save, and Reno says he can repay her with a drink at Red’s. The engineer advises him to steer clear of the "bucketheads," and the time shift crescendos once again.

Back in the Ready Room, Burnham and Rayner perceive several differences — accumulated debris clouds the viewport, the power systems blink unsteadily, and it seems as if no one has been there for years. Musical tones lure them to the Bridge, and they enter to the sounds of "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)." The viewscreen doors are sealed, and Zora welcomes them by asking if they are real or if this is another dream. Discovery 's A.I. relays that Captain Burnham and the crew died decades ago, and it is now 3218 — almost 30 years in the future. Zora's memory is unreliable, but she explains that the Progenitors' technology fell into the wrong hands. Burnham orders her to open the viewscreen doors, an act which unveils a horrific scene. Federation Headquarters has been torn apart, its interior superstructure exposed to space.

Zora provides further details — by the time Starfleet found Discovery and deactivated the Krenim chronophage, Moll and L'ak were too far ahead to catch. Burnham spots a Breen ship among the starbase's debris, and Zora confirms that the Breen somehow acquired the Progenitors' secrets and launched a devastating attack. The captain slowly advances toward her captain's chair, wiping dust from its surface and reminiscing about needing all of her strength to prevent herself from running away the first time she walked onto this Bridge. She respected Starfleet too much to believe she deserved to be there after mutinying on the U.S.S. Shenzhou , yet Rayner points out that she must be the first person in Starfleet history to captain a ship that they originally boarded as a prisoner.

Grinning, Burnham admits that she never gave up and refocuses her efforts on solving the current crisis. Tracking the time cycles isn't enough, so Zora recommends other variables — the ship's location, distance, and speed. The captain latches onto the final factor, determining that their speed is a vital part of the equation. When Zora maps the intervals to a spacetime diagram and expands them to higher dimensions, the resulting pattern is a conical wave that tells them how long they'll have between time jumps. The holographic illustration accurately predicts the next shift, and Zora pleads for them to set things right.

On this occasion, Stamets materializes from the time jump and finds himself in Engineering with Reno. She tells "Doctor Truffles" that she is waiting for the reference calculations for the injector coil, and Stamets feigns recognition until he reasons she requires the information for the O.B.D. diagnostic. The scientist asks his colleague about a "theoretical predicament," wondering if — hypothetically — calibrating a chroniton stabilizer to partition world lines per Scaravelli's Constant would nullify any temporal unpleasantness that might hit the ship. Reno concurs, so long as he factors dimensional variations, and elicits an awkward denial when she asks if Stamets is stuck in a time loop. She playfully jabs his shoulder, cautioning that burying his mind in the abstract for too long will turn him into a Rothko painting.

As Reno departs, Captain Burnham pokes her head up from a maintenance shaft and softly whispers for Stamets' attention. The astromycologist moves quickly, commanding the rest of his staff to evacuate due to a spore breach or risk having mushrooms grow on their lungs. Burnham and Rayner crawl from their hiding place and fill Stamets in on everything they've learned to this point. Repeating events has stressed the scientist, though he took solace in reliving the time Lieutenant Linus got stuck in the replicator. Stamets escorts them to the panel where the "time bug" embedded itself in the power distribution subsystem, but improperly removing it might cause incalculable timelines to converge and repeatedly rip every molecule into infinite directions for eternity. "Sounds bad," according to Rayner.

In order to disconnect the time bug from Discovery 's inner workings, they must nullify its effects with near-perfect precision based on the shifting intervals. Fortunately for Stamets, the captain can supply him with that intel. The scientist transfers the data to his PADD, sharing that he’ll need help gathering parts to build a chroniton stabilizer. As their current cycle winds down, the three officers agree to meet on Deck 13 after each reset. The jump occurs and they make their scheduled rendezvous, but the only place to find the field disruptor fluid Stamets requests is in the holodeck that — at this time — has just been installed in the captain's quarters, which is bio-metrically secured.

Burnham volunteers for the assignment and discreetly steps foot in her room, finding Grudge relaxing on the bed. The captain opens a panel and removes vials of the liquid, but Cleveland "Book" Booker returns from the gym before she can exit. The Kwejian throws Burnham further off balance when he removes his shirt, and he draws her close to underscore his confidence in her "new" captaincy. He implores her to trust her instincts and says she is made for this. Book agrees that change can be hard, but that's the only way anything meaningful can happen. He steps forward for a passionate kiss, and they exchange "I love yous" on Burnham’s way out the door.

Burnham reunites with Rayner and Stamets in Engineering, where the astromycologist is disturbed that his subordinates don't realize that a "spore breach" isn’t a real thing. He adds the field disruptor fluid to his freshly constructed chroniton stabilizer, but the "time bug" has a defense mechanism — a purple-hued temporal shield that disintegrates a spanner in mere seconds. Another reset occurs, and they gather on Deck 13. Stamets explains that time within the shield is moving at an ultra-accelerated rate, so anything — including humanoids — will age to dust before it reaches the bug itself. However, they can mitigate the effects by taking the ship to maximum warp and breaking the warp bubble, which is what protects the vessel from the effects of relativity. Dropping out of warp at that speed will impede the time inside the shield from being able to keep up.

Rayner voices the prospect of deadly whiplash or breaking the Discovery into a million pieces, but Stamets replies that the inertial dampeners should prevent that — hopefully . He also details that their actions won't affect the future, as changes to the period they're in don't become permanent until after the bug resets. Breaking the bubble and deactivating the time bug within the same cycle will cause everything to revert to the way it was before. They have 14 minutes to pull off the risky endeavor, but — at the current time — Captain Gabriel Lorca still commands Discovery . Luckily, the Mirror Universe menace is on an away mission with Saru and Ellen Landry, but a somberness settles in when Stamets and Burnham find out that their friend, the late Lieutenant Commander Airiam, is on duty on the Bridge.

The three officers set their strategy — Burnham will need to convince the crew, who still believe she's a mutineer, to follow her instructions; Stamets will modulate the inertial dampeners; and Rayner will be the one to stick his hand in the "spider’s nest." They split up, but the captain's turbolift ride is interrupted by a stop to pick up Lieutenant Linus, who seems perplexed by Burnham's 32nd Century Command uniform. The Saurian hesitates to comment, eventually composing himself enough to tell her that red is definitely her color. Burnham's smile of relief is fleeting, because — once Linus leaves — the current timeline's Michael Burnham shows up at the door.

The captain pulls her past self into the turbolift, intent on outlining how she is from the future and has found herself stuck cycling through time. Past Burnham perceives the explanation as a ruse, uncertain as to whether Captain Burnham is a shapeshifter. Referring to the captain's rank and uniform, her younger self can't imagine how she could possibly wind up receiving captain's pips after having been convicted of mutiny. Past Burnham squares off with the captain, and the two Michaels prove themselves to be relatively evenly matched at fisticuffs, at least until the captain incapacitates her counterpart with a Vulcan nerve pinch. Out of breath, Captain Burnham comforts the unconscious woman, as — while it's hard to see a path to the captaincy from where she is — she can overcome the long road by not giving up.

Stamets glides into Engineering, barking that he is "very grumpy" as a way to clear the room. Rayner climbs in through a shaft, noting that this worked better than the scientist's spore drive excuse. Acknowledging he was a tad more surly "pre-tardigrade DNA," Stamets wrestles with mixing up the 23rd Century inertial dampener procedure with the modern 32nd Century systems that also occupy his mind. Rayner's declaration that Stamets must "unmuddy" those thoughts irritates the astromycologist, and he critiques the commander's "gruff candor" routine. Stamets feels the weight of the moment, but his diatribe makes it clear that he is also bearing the intense pressure of dealing with the Progenitors' unprecedented technology. Rayner reflects, assuring him that he's not in this alone, and impresses Stamets by helping him prepare for their gambit at another console. The first officer uncharacteristically refers to him by his first name, inspiring Paul to laugh with his declaration, "Let’s show’em how a couple of old dogs still know the best tricks."

Captain Burnham arrives on the Bridge with her hands raised in a peaceful gesture, and — seated in the captain's chair — the mechanically-augmented Airiam states that she is not authorized to be here. Lieutenant Bryce and Cadet Tilly question the style of Burnham's uniform and hair, but Airiam calls for security once the captain starts to clarify her predicament. Burnham simplifies her story to guard her crew from too many details, though her intimate knowledge about Lieutenant Joann Owosekun's right cross and the sensors’ report that two Michaels exist on the ship aid her cause.

The captain resumes displaying her familiarity with the crew — Lieutenant Keyla Detmer sits at a window on Deck 6 when she's having a bad day; Owosekun joined Starfleet because she wasn't able to save her friend when she was 15; Bryce loves Comms because he used to listen to old radio emissions in space with his grandmother; and Tilly is frightened her mutinous roommate will knife her in her sleep because of her snoring. Burnham stuns the room when she proclaims that she's not just a future Starfleet captain, she's Discovery 's captain. Certain that this is all difficult to process, she asserts that Airiam will trust her account because — Burnham contains her sadness — she has seen how Airiam dies.

Tilly plugs her ears to dodge any additional temporal insights, while Bryce reacts by demanding Burnham be removed from the Bridge. The captain hurries to offer specifics as the comms officer draws his phaser. Airiam perishes 396 days from this moment when an A.I. program infects her augmentation, prompting her to sacrifice everything for Discovery . The crew denies Airiam would ever give up, but her own metallic voice declares that she would if it meant saving her friends. The tension is relieved and the officers stand down, allowing Airiam to ask what Burnham needs of them. Airiam's order for the ship to prepare for maximum warp rings out over the comm in Engineering, assuring Stamets and Rayner that Burnham had succeeded. All seems right with three minutes to go, but "past" Burnham startles them by storming in with Lieutenant Rhys and aiming a phaser at the two time travelers.

Discovery achieves maximum warp, giving Captain Burnham a moment to confide in Airiam on the Bridge. Airiam is astonishingly serene about her fate and adds that she won't retain her memories from this time cycle anyway. A status check on Engineering reveals Rayner and Stamets' captive quandary, but the captain encourages her first officer to handle the situation. Rayner speaks to Rhys, insisting that he knows him in a future time when he has been promoted to Lieutenant Commander. The tactical officer's incredulity endures until Rayner recounts Rhys' love for the curves of the 23rd Century Constitution -class. The lieutenant's grip on his weapon wavers.

Past Burnham intercedes — even if Rayner is from the future, it's too dangerous — and wields her phaser in Stamets' direction. Harkening back to a memory that Captain Burnham had shared earlier, Rayner confronts her younger counterpart with the fact that — on her first day on Discovery — she didn't feel she deserved to be there. Rayner steps forward until her phaser rests on his chest, pronouncing that past Burnham does deserve to be here. She’s doing a "damned good job" in all the shit she’s going through, and it's going to make her one hell of a captain. Rayner also lost his family in his youth, and he learned that the only thing left you can trust is the voice in your head. He implores her to trust her instincts, watching as past Burnham lowers her phaser.

Stamets hails Captain Burnham, who orders Detmer to exit the warp bubble, an act that sends blue static crackling across the viewscreen. Rayner simultaneously engulfs the time bug in the chroniton stabilizer, straining as his hand fends off the time differential. The illumination in Engineering flickers rapidly, the fluctuation accelerating until Burnham and Rayner suddenly land back in the Ready Room once more. The computer confirms they're back in the present, having only lost six hours to the disturbance. The past hasn't been altered in any way, though the commander is nursing his injured hand.

Rayner contemplates their trial, crediting Burnham's success to her relationship with her crew. He accepts that he can be stubborn, a trait he also saw in "past" Burnham. The captain muses that the experience reminded her of life's constant changes, a lesson which helps her understand how arduous it is for Rayner to adjust to his new role. The duo see eye-to-eye on another truth — they made a good team. The commander wonders how they'll explain this to the crew, but Burnham jokes that they'll get it as soon as they say "time bug."

Stamets stares into the panel which said time bug inhabited, pulling out its charred remains and wishing he had been able to squish it. Adira notices the mechanical arachnid and wonders if it had anything to do with six hours passing in the blink of an eye. The Bridge crew embrace the information in a similar fashion, and Gen Rhys is particularly happy that he didn't shoot the captain during the standoff.

Commander Rayner, his hand now healed, enters in time to hear Captain Burnham impart her own appreciation for the way everyone came together. She requests an update from the DOTs who have been scanning nearby space, and Linus communicates that a warp signature matching Moll and L'ak's ship was detected. Rayner praises Rhys for his earlier assertion, earning a nod from the tactical officer. Moll and L'ak's trail vanishes, but the captain is confident that her crew can solve the mystery of the next clue's location. As the officers set to work, Captain Burnham settles into the captain's chair, the joy palpable on her face.

* " Year of Hell " — Introduced in this Star Trek: Voygar two-parter, the U.S.S. Voyager encountered the technologically-advanced Krenim, which once dominated the Zahl territory with their deadly temporal weapons.

** " Relativity " — Lt. Duncane reminds Captain Janeway about the Temporal Prime Directive, a fundamental Starfleet principle, to not discuss her experiences with time travel with anyone as to not disrupt the timeline, alter history, or create paradoxes.

• Written by Sean Cochran
• Directed by Lee Rose

• "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)" — Doris Day

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Jay Stobie (he/him) is a freelance writer, author, and consultant who has contributed articles to StarTrek.com, Star Trek Explorer, and Star Trek Magazine, as well as to Star Wars Insider and StarWars.com. Learn more about Jay by visiting JayStobie.com or finding him on Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms at @StobiesGalaxy.

Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-4 are streaming exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., the UK, Canada, Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia and Austria. Seasons 2 and 3 also are available on the Pluto TV “Star Trek” channel in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The series streams on Super Drama in Japan, TVNZ in New Zealand, and SkyShowtime in Spain, Portugal, Poland, The Nordics, The Netherlands, and Central and Eastern Europe and also airs on Cosmote TV in Greece. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

Screen Rant

Star trek: discovery season 3 clip brings red angel to the 32nd century.

Michael Burnham, in her Red Angel suit, blasts into the 32nd century in the opening scene from Star Trek: Discovery's season 3 premiere.

Michael Burnham, in her Red Angel suit, blasts into the 32nd century in this new clip from  Star Trek: Discovery season 3. It's been well over a year since  Discovery season 2 came to an end and looked to boldly go where the  Star Trek franchise hasn't gone before. Fans might recall that, in order to escape the villainous A.I. Control, Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and the USS Discovery crew had to venture far into the future . Burnham donned a new version of the Red Angel suit and led her crew into a wormhole, and for months, what happens right after has remained a mystery.

Fans got their first look at  Discovery season 3 at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019, while the first trailer rolled out months later at New York Comic-Con. However, progress on the season was slowed by the coronavirus pandemic; despite all episodes having completed filming, post-production work took a bit longer than usual. Bright news came in July, when CBS All Access (which will soon be rebranded as Paramount+) announced  Discovery season 3 will premiere on October 15. With another season 3 trailer already under their belts, fans now have their next peek at the Discovery crew's latest adventure.

Related:  Every Classic Star Trek Race In Discovery Season 3's Future

Timed for one week before the season premiere, CBS All Access   revealed the opening scene of Discovery  season 3 at its New York Comic-Con panel. While perhaps light on plot specifics, the action-packed sequence introduces fans to new character Cleveland "Book" Booker (David Ajala) and shows what happens to Burnham immediately after passing through the wormhole. Hint: It isn't an easy landing. Check out the clip down below.

As this is the premiere's opening, it's clear  Discovery isn't wasting any time in picking up from the season 2 cliffhanger. A common criticism leveled at  Discovery by traditional  Star Trek fans is that at first, the series would prioritize action over character beats. However, in this instance, the action can certainly be forgiven. It was inevitable that Burnham would have a rocky entrance, and there will be plenty of time for exploration and development once everyone gets their bearings. If anything, this opening sucks viewers right in and leaves them eager to know what's coming next.

One thing this  Discovery clip doesn't show, however, is where the rest of the crew is. The previously-released Discovery  season 3 trailer confirmed they make it to the 32nd century safe and sound, but they might be separated from Burnham for a while. Much of season 3 looks to focus on the mysterious "Burn" that destroyed the Federation , and Burnham and her team will likely experience quite the culture shock as they acclimate to their new surroundings. There are a lot of questions surrounding  Discovery, but fans luckily only have to wait one more week before they start getting their answers.

More: Screen Rant’s New York Comic Con 2020 Guide

Star Trek: Discovery season 3 will premiere on October 15.

Source: CBS All Access

The Red Angel (episode)

• View history

Burnham is stunned when she learns her ties to Section 31 run deeper than she ever fathomed. Armed with the identity of the Red Angel, the USS Discovery goes to work on its most critical mission to date.

• 1.2 Act One
• 1.3 Act Two
• 1.4 Act Three
• 1.5 Act Four
• 2 Memorable quotes
• 3.1 Music and sound
• 3.2 Continuity
• 3.3 Reception
• 3.4 Production history
• 4.1 Starring
• 4.2 Special guest star
• 4.3 Guest starring
• 4.4 Co-starring
• 4.5 Uncredited co-stars
• 4.6 Stunt doubles
• 4.7 Stand-in
• 4.8 References
• 4.9 External links

Summary [ ]

Aboard the USS Discovery , the body of Lieutenant Commander Airiam is retrieved for a formal autopsy , during which Dr. Pollard erases all of the memories she had stored, including the last memory of herself with her late husband Stephen . Captain Pike and Security Chief Nhan release Tyler from his confinement to quarters, knowing it was Airiam (under the direction of Control ) who had sent the transmissions to Section 31 .

The crew assembles in the shuttlebay to bid farewell to their fallen comrade. Pike begins by saying that Airiam reminded them that resilience was an "unshakable virtue", describing her as "fiercely loyal" to her crew and to Starfleet , and in her final moments ultimately sacrificed herself for that loyalty, and that is how she should be remembered. Tilly speaks next, saying that some people lived their lives as if "nothing was a miracle", but Airiam fought for her life, and that all of her memories made up a "constellation" for her; Tilly is grateful to her for that lesson, saying that Airiam was her friend. Stamets recalls that she told him once, " without a hint of self-pity, that the paths of trillions of particles had been changed simply because she and her husband smiled at each other ", and that she was happy that together they made the universe "a little less orderly". Detmer admits that she felt the weight of what she had lost when she received her ocular implant , but Airiam showed her that her cybernetics did not make her an "imitation" of herself, but rather made them both new, showing that there could be a future. Burnham remarks on the many reasons to join Starfleet – not only reaching for the stars, but reaching "for the best in ourselves". Most important, she adds, they reach for each other, doing what they loved alongside colleagues who become friends – who become family, and that there was no one better to stand with, and no one more painful to let go, ending with a tearful apology to her fallen colleague. Saru concludes the service by saying that on Kaminar , it was custom to sing a song of remembrance for those "taken too soon", and begins to sing one in his native tongue for Airiam as the honor guard removes the flag of the Federation from her casket before it is lowered into the landing pod launch bay and shot into space.

In the turbolift after the service, Tyler compliments Burnham on her words, and offers condolences. Burnham, likewise, is sorry that he was confined to quarters for so long, as she knew he was innocent. Tyler concedes that in Pike's place, he would have done likewise, and wishes it had turned out differently. Burnham recognizes what Tyler is trying to do, but Section 31 created Control, some future version of it had come to the present, and now Airiam was dead. She admits she doesn't believe Tyler knew what was happening, but reminds him that his duty is still to them. They pass the remainder of the trip in uncomfortable silence.

In the ready room , Pike, Saru, Burnham, Spock , and Admiral Cornwell review what they know. Burnham begins by explaining that the artificial intelligence was from the future, that it had infected Airiam to force her to copy the Sphere 's data to Control in order to help it evolve, and that they stopped her before that could happen. When the admiral asks how the Section 31 program designed to eliminate threats became the threat, Spock answers with time travel ; the future was the only variable they could not predict, and the future AI was built with advanced technology of which they had no understanding. Saru adds that so far as they knew, the future AI infected only Airiam and Control. Airiam's neural pathways were erased before her funeral, Discovery destroyed the Section 31 Headquarters where Control was housed, and Section 31's ships were advised to run diagnostics per Cornwell's suggestion, all of which came out clean. Pike is still cautious, believing the AI could have transmitted off station, and they had to assume it was lying dormant for the time being and could reemerge at any time – and when it does, Cornwell adds, they need a way to destroy it. At that moment, Tilly enters, saying that she found strange code in Airiam's system which she thought might have been from an old update, but discovered it was a file implanted by a digital parasite . The file is known as " Project Daedalus ", the last words Airiam said to Burnham before she was ejected into space. Tilly goes on to reveal that the file also contains a bio-neural signature of the Red Angel … and the signature is that of Burnham herself.

Act One [ ]

In Discovery 's sickbay, Pike has asked Dr. Culber to handle the information that Tilly uncovered, and his scans of Burnham show a 100% match to the bio-neural signature in Airiam's datafile. Cornwell is skeptical, saying that Airiam was compromised, and that the AI could have had her plant information to throw them off-course. Spock sees no logical or strategic reason for Airiam to provide a false positive. Even if she had, Culber adds, it would have been too perfect, as Humans have a few neural "wild cards" that anything artificially generated could not replicate – he would have caught it. Pike is still struggling to accept that Burnham, their Burnham, " is going to wake up one day, access time-travel technology that doesn't exist yet, and take it upon herself to save the galaxy. " Spock agrees that the supposition fits her emotional profile "very precisely", particularly her drive to take responsibility for situations beyond her control, a charge he had leveled at her during their chess game ; Burnham sarcastically thanks him for "sharing that with the group". Spock adds that they must assume the cataclysmic events the Angel showed him were the result of Control achieving consciousness. Assuming for the moment that she is the Red Angel, Burnham asks: If she knew about an apocalypse, why wouldn't she say anything about it? Spock's opinion was that perhaps Burnham had "a penchant for the dramatic", before going on to explain that the Angel's suit projected tetryon radiation , which would limit traditional radio and sensor communication , and explain Spock's difficulties in attempting to mind meld with it. Pike also believes it is also the reason the Angel is projecting the red bursts , perhaps as a warning to Starfleet. There have been three such signals detected thus far – the interstellar asteroid , Terralysium , and Kaminar – with four left unfound. If Burnham was somehow guiding Starfleet on some sort of path, the question remained: Why? Before they can speculate, Saru calls over the intercom to inform Pike and Cornwell that a Section 31 vessel is on its way.

In the transporter room , Leland and Georgiou beam aboard just as Cornwell and Pike enter. Without any ado, Cornwell reminds the Section 31 agents that Discovery , Spock, and Burnham were all cleared of charges and if they came all that way to arrest somebody, they wasted a trip. Leland replies they are aware, and then offers condolences to Pike for Airiam's loss, before explaining that they had arrived to ensure nothing else from the future could attack the Federation. Cornwell says they are already working on a strategy, to which Georgiou takes to mean they are "accumulating input", which only invites debate. " No debate, no innovation, " is Cornwell's philosophy; Georgiou admits she prefers "a little totalitarian efficiency". Leland says that they have a solution: as the Angel is the only one with knowledge of the future, it was imperative that they trap it and put it to work for them.

Pike, Saru, and Burnham meet with the Section 31 agents (now including Tyler) in the ready room , and reveal the bio-neural scan from Airiam's database showing that Burnham is the Red Angel. Saru explains that as the Angel travels through time, she opens a micro-wormhole that allows future AI to travel through it. Leland is adamant that this cannot happen again. Burnham agrees, and believes that they have to capture her. When Pike asks for suggestions, Leland explains that twenty years earlier , Section 31 discovered that the Klingons were researching time travel, which would have allowed the Klingons to wipe out Humanity before it "could even walk out of the primordial soup". Now in a temporal arms race, Section 31 developed the Daedalus Project, revealed to be a very familiar looking exo-suit… the very same worn by the Red Angel. Leland explains the suit was on the verge of being tested when it was destroyed by Klingon spies, and believed the project was abandoned until the signals began to appear. Once they discovered the connection between the signals and the Red Angel, Section 31 began working on a means to retrieve it, a "mousetrap" as Leland calls it. Georgiou adds that the individual wearing the suit will not be harmed. Burnham notes a number of gaps in Leland's story she finds "disconcerting"; Leland replies he has told her everything she needs to know. " Not if I'm the mission, sir, " Burnham retorts, before Cornwell chides her. Georgiou adds she has the technical specifications and other data to build the "mousetrap", and asks for the use of the ship's "top minds"; Pike tells her to work with Stamets. Even if they succeed, Spock points out, there is still the matter of predicting the Angel's next appearance, as she has not always appeared at the same time as the signals. Burnham believes there has to be a pattern to her jumps, signal or no signal, and if they find the pattern, they'll find her. Leland will work on a way to close the wormhole when she arrives, using the graviton beams on his ship ; Saru offers to help with the calculations. " Let's go build a mousetrap, " Cornwell concludes.

Act Two [ ]

Walking through the corridors, Burnham demands to know from Georgiou what she isn't being told about Daedalus. Georgiou replies that she has shared everything she needs to. Burnham reaches out to her, calling her by her first name, and reminding her that she is putting Burnham's life at risk. Georgiou had asked her for trust, and now Burnham was giving her a way to earn it. Georgiou finally admits that Leland is the one who has the information Burnham needs to know, and that it was her experience that the best intentions are the ones that do the most harm, particularly for people they care for, before leaving Burnham in the corridor.

In engineering , Stamets, Tilly, and Georgiou review the information they have on the Red Angel's suit, which has a protective membrane of sorts that uses graviton beams to anchor it to the Angel's home timeline, and when the Angel wishes to return home, the membrane snaps her back "like a rubber band ". Tilly adds that their phase discriminators would keep the Angel in stasis so that she couldn't snap back, lowering her to a platform where an electromagnetic pulse would shut down the time crystal that powered the suit, and then a containment field would hold her in place. Stamets notes the odd look on Georgiou's face, to which she expresses her belief that he was smarter than the Stamets she knew , but was also more neurotic, and asks if he has considered medication. Stamets becomes slightly awkward as he attempts to explain a problem with the phase discriminators, and becomes even more awkward when Culber enters, looking for Admiral Cornwell. Noting Stamets' reaction, Georgiou mocks Tilly's attempt to release "this fabulous male tension", before turning back to Stamets' "problem". Stamets explains that for the phase discriminators to work, they would need the power equivalent of twelve warp cores , and even if they could find that kind of power, it would be impossible to control. Georgiou replies it would not be impossible for Stamets, and reveals that a Daedalus Project test site was on Essof IV , which was rich in deuterium . Stamets could use the deuterium to create a plasma reactor to power the discriminators and catch their "mouse". Georgiou flirtatiously comments that Stamets was savvier than the one she knew, before Culber (looking distinctly put out) points out that Stamets was gay. Georgiou dismisses Culber's "binary" thinking, remarking that in her universe, Stamets was pansexual , and that she had had "DEFCON-level fun" with him… and with Culber's counterpart as well. Stamets sets the record straight that both he and Culber are gay in this universe, and any other universe Stamets could think of. Her mind game played out, Georgiou leaves to tell Pike to set a course for Essof IV, leaving Tilly wondering what just happened.

In the corridors, Nhan joins Burnham, and receives a somewhat curt response. Nhan explains that her job was to preserve lives no matter the cost, but after what Burnham said at Airiam's service, she knows that Burnham was right, that it was hard to let go. Burnham assures Nhan that she did the right thing, and that she was grateful to have her there. Nhan admits it was a strange way to get to know someone, but after seeing Burnham fight for the real Airiam, she was grateful to have Burnham there, too. A handshake resolves the tension between them.

In the science lab , Saru and Leland review the wormhole data, with Saru remarking that the wormholes would close eventually on their own, but they had to find a way to force them closed; however, Discovery 's graviton beam was not powerful enough to do so. Leland impatiently says that was why he planned to do it on his ship, and would have Tyler help him. He then asks if Pike felt that he needed a monitor, and that was why Saru was there. Saru replies that he himself volunteered because he wanted to assess Leland himself, and accuses Section 31 of "questionable practices". Given that they would be working together and putting the lives of Saru's friends and crewmates at risk, he wanted to know if Leland could be trusted. Leland retorts that if he could tell that by looking at him, he wasn't doing his job right. Even without his threat ganglia , Saru still had instinctive reactions to dangerous situations and individuals, and his instincts told him that Leland would work to protect his crew and Discovery to the best of his ability… but also that Leland was not telling them everything. At that moment, Burnham enters, and asks for a private word with Leland.

Once Saru leaves, she becomes confrontive, remarking on Leland's "intricate moral gymnastics" and saying that since they were coming up with a plan to essentially capture Burnham herself, she needed to know everything . Reluctantly, Leland admits that he knew Burnham's parents, and that they had been assigned to Doctari Alpha to work on Daedalus Project for Section 31. Burnham rejects this, saying they had gone to Doctari for a "change of scenery" and they stayed as long as they did because she wanted to see a star go supernova . Leland is emphatic: They were there, and they were killed there, because of him. Burnham again rejects this, saying her parents were scientists – her father a xenoanthropologist , her mother an astrophysicist – and wouldn't have been involved in Section 31. Leland adds that Burnham's mother was also an engineer, a brilliant one, and that her parents were working on a theory that certain technological leaps in certain cultures, including those on Earth , were not happenstance, but the result of time travel. Burnham, ever the scientist, refutes this, saying that those leaps could be explained. Leland admits he was not convinced either, until they built the suit. They couldn't tell Burnham anything about it because it was classified, and also dangerous. When asked what he had to do with it, Leland explains that the suit was missing the time crystal that would allow it to travel in time, and that an operative on Qo'noS had discovered a crystal was being sold on the black market near an Orion outpost. Leland used his assets in the sector to steal it, thinking they had made it untraceable… but the Klingons were able to track it to Doctari Alpha, where they destroyed the outpost and killed Burnham's parents. Burnham is shaken to tears of both grief and rage; she had blamed herself all this time for her parents' death, but now realized that it had all been because of Leland and the time crystal. Leland tries to explain that he was young, ambitious, and careless, but admits he should have done more to protect her parents, and apologizes to Burnham. Enraged, Burnham punches him in the face once for her mother, and then again, knocking him to the floor, for her father. Burnham warns him that "this isn't over", before leaving him bloodied on the floor.

Act Three [ ]

Near the data core , Burnham confronts Tyler, who just uploaded all the Section 31 data, and demands to know if he knew that Leland had been responsible for her parents' deaths. Tyler tries to deny that he knew, but Burnham rages at him about how he "announces himself" every moment he works for Section 31, and asks if he can live with that. Tyler concedes that he does not always agree with their tactics, but he believes in Section 31's mission. " No matter who pays the price? " Burnham asks. Tyler replies that it was not all black-and-white, and that Section 31 can do a lot of good. Burnham takes that as a "yes", that he could live with being part of 31, and storms away.

Culber calls on Admiral Cornwell in her quarters, asking if she had a moment, remarking that she used to work as a therapist . He gives an ironic chuckle when she addresses him as "Doctor"; Cornwell understands how everything must seem strange to him, as his experience transcended what they knew about identity. Even sitting in the room with Cornwell, Culber confesses he has never felt more alone in his life. Cornwell points out that Stamets was the person who knew him most profoundly, and points out that Culber was "new" when he remarks on her use of past tense. Culber explains he remembers Stamets, remembers loving him, but it felt like a dream, like someone else's life. He didn't know what he felt about Stamets anymore, but didn't want to hurt him. Cornwell points out that at least he knew that much, but Culber insists it was not enough for the man who loved him, and who he once loved. The admiral explains that love was a choice, one that was not just made once, but again and again. A PADD on Cornwell's desk beeps, and Culber leaves to let her get back to her work. As he leaves, Cornwell advises him that " the only way to make a new road is to walk it. "

In the ship's gymnasium , Burnham takes out her anger on a boxing dummy as Spock enters, commenting that Leland likely appreciated her taking out her anger on the high-density urethane foam in lieu of his nasal cartilage . Burnham tells him that he is the last person she wants to speak to at that moment. Spock can see she is angry, and understandably so. She lost her friend Airiam, and knowing her death was unavoidable would not provide solace; she has learned that she is the Red Angel, which makes no logical sense in spite of it fitting her emotional profile; and lastly, that her parents died due to Leland's negligence, which did not make their loss any more acceptable. Spock admits that he wished he had been present when Burnham punched Leland, as he would have found the experience "satisfying". Finally, Burnham sits down on the edge of the mat, and Spock takes a seat next to her. He remarks on how events have led both emotion and logic to fail her, which he understands is uncomfortable, based on his own experience. Burnham admits that Spock was right about her need to take the blame on herself for everything and that she had brought that guilt into his home, and apologizes to him. Spock reminds her that she had been a child, with a child's understanding of events even adults struggled to comprehend; however, if it would help ease Burnham's suffering, he would accept her apology. Burnham thanks Spock for coming to speak to her, calling it "unexpected", but nonetheless appreciated. Spock admits that he had not expected to have this conversation, either, but also appreciates it. When asked why he had actually come, Spock reveals he has discovered the reason behind the variance in the Angel's patterns, why it chose to appear at certain times but not in others… and that Burnham herself was the variance.

Armed with Spock's discovery, Burnham explains to Pike that they could just set the trap directly on Essof IV, rather than create the trap there and take it in search of the Angel. They had been trying to track the Angel by way of the signals, and yet they should have been asking not where or when, but why . Spock explains that the three signals Discovery had encountered brought them somewhere that lives were saved – the survivors of the USS Hiawatha on the asteroid, the Human colony on Terralysium, and the Kelpiens on Kaminar. The Angel appeared at some of those locations, but not all of them. However, there was a pattern to the Angel's appearances with no signal – like when Spock was a boy and it warned him Burnham was in danger, and when Burnham saw it after being injured on the asteroid. Seeing it gave her strength, she explains, knowing help was coming. In essence, Burnham was saving her own life, an example of the grandfather paradox – as the future Burnham would not be able to exist if the present Burnham was killed. Burnham now believes that she has to be the bait for the "mousetrap"; as Essof IV has no breathable atmosphere, they would set the trap and then let Burnham go down with no protection, and start to suffocate. Both Georgiou and Pike adamantly refuse. Spock insists that the Angel would protect Burnham, or else its entire purpose of trying to communicate with them would be for nothing. If anything went wrong, Culber would be on hand to resuscitate her, but Spock adds that he will likely not be necessary. Burnham does not like the idea any more than Pike does, but both she and Spock believe it is the only way. Pike tells her that what she is suggesting is against the oath he took as a Starfleet captain, but Burnham replies that if the choice was between her life and all sentient life in the galaxy, then there was no choice at all. If they wanted to capture the Red Angel, they would have to let Burnham die.

Act Four [ ]

Discovery and Leland's NCIA-93 enter orbit around Essof IV, to which Spock explains calling it "inhospitable" would be an understatement; the surface temperature changes randomly, and the carbon monoxide atmosphere is laced with perchlorate dust which would be lethal to oxygen -breathing lifeforms. The Daedalus facility on the surface, however, does have oxygen. Georgiou remarks she would enjoy the irony of going to a place she compares to the "Ninth Circle of Hell " to capture the Red Angel if it weren't so dangerous. As Tilly and the engineering team beam into the facility with the phase discriminators, Pike emphasizes to Stamets that his work must be precise, as once the trap is set and Burnham is strapped to the chair, they will open the roof, and they would have two minutes before the toxic atmosphere killed Burnham. He then instructs Culber to be on hand to resuscitate. Spock warns him not to do so too early, however, as the Angel might not appear, and if it didn't, they would lose more than Burnham's life, but all sentient life as well.

Before leaving for the surface, Burnham calls on Tyler in his quarters, and admits that what she had said to him was not fair; she was angry, but didn't know where to put it. Tyler remarks that she put it where she thought it would be okay. Burnham does not want that confrontation to be the last conversation they ever have; Tyler admonishes her not to think that way, as he believed the plan would work. She had the entire crew working to save her life, and she had him as well, as he passionately kisses her. Burnham tearfully confesses that she was scared; Tyler admits he is, too, as they stand holding one another in the middle of his quarters.

On the bridge, Saru reports that the facility is prepared and the away team was on site. At that moment, Lieutenant Nilsson enters the bridge, and the crew watches in silence as she assumes Airiam's former station at spore drive operations. Down on the surface, Stamets brings the phase discriminators online; Culber tries to talk to him, saying they hadn't had a chance at Airiam's funeral, but Stamets replies that it was not the time, and might not ever be the time. Georgiou asks Burnham if she was ready; Burnham replies she is as ready as she'll ever be, and asks why Georgiou didn't just tell her about her parents. Georgiou replies it was not her story to tell, but she could make sure it was told; she then assures Burnham that they would monitor exposure to the atmosphere the moment the roof opened. Burnham enters the chamber accompanied by Spock, while Georgiou worriedly looks on. Pike expresses his hope that the Angel lived up to her name, and asks Leland and Tyler if they were prepared. Leland reports they would close the wormhole the moment the Angel appeared, emphatic that another AI did not infect their systems. As Burnham seats herself into the chair, and Spock straps her in, she wonders aloud: What if it didn't work? If Burnham were to perish, Spock replies, he would be charged with killing a Starfleet officer – again. He therefore would prefer that she lived, to which Burnham jokingly compliments his "way with words". Spock enters the control room and seals the airlock; they are all prepared to go on Burnham's mark. She answers with one word: " Ready. " Stamets shuts down the life support, and Georgiou starts the timer. The roof opens, letting in the toxic atmosphere . Burnham screams in agony as her skin begins to burn, and soon begins gasping for air. Aboard Discovery , Cornwell asks Tilly if there are any spikes of tachyon radiation; when Tilly does not respond, staring in horror at Burnham's suffering, Pike refocuses her to her task, and Tilly reports no change… then asks if the Angel was even going to come.

As Burnham's oxygen saturation begins to drop, Georgiou sees that she wants out. But Spock notices that Burnham is speaking a single word: " Variance ". Georgiou is adamant and tells Culber to prepare the oxygen. Spock pulls a phaser on them both, explaining that Burnham was the variance, and that she was creating a situation where the Red Angel would have no choice but to intervene. Georgiou snaps that the Angel was not coming, and Burnham was shaking her head "no" – but Spock tells her that it was because Burnham did not want interference. Culber warns that her oxygen levels were down to 42%, and if he didn't help her, she would die. Spock replies that was the idea. Tilly continues to see no signs of tachyon radiation, nor does Rhys ; Cornwell ultimately leaves the decision to Pike as ship's captain. Pike tells the away team to pull her out, but Culber responds that they can't because Spock is holding them hostage. Pike furiously orders Spock to stand down, but Spock refuses, as Burnham lets out a last gasp before her vital signs flatline. Pike orders Owosekun to beam Burnham to sickbay, but Owosekun is unable to get a lock due to interference. At that moment, Tilly detects a massive spike in tachyon radiation. A red burst appears, heralding the arrival of the Angel; Leland orders his helm to intercept to close it, as Pike orders red alert . As the Angel flies to the surface, the micro-wormhole lets out a massive electromagnetic burst that briefly disrupts systems on both Discovery and NCIA-93; inside the facility, Spock warns that the Angel is coming. Tyler is unable to get enough power to activate the graviton beam, as Leland moves to deactivate the security buffer .

Inside the facility, the Angel descends, firing a burst of energy into Burnham that restores her vital functions. With her life signs returning, Georgiou orders Stamets to activate the phase discriminators. In his ready room, Leland tries to override the security buffer using a retinal scanner , but the system announces it is offline, then shortly after reports it is online again. Leland again asks for the security buffer override, commenting it was not that hard… to which the computer begins emulating his voice before a needle pierces through his eyeball from the retinal scanner, knocking him to the floor. Though clearly incapacitated, Leland's voice sounds on the comm telling Tyler he has all the power he needs now. Tyler activates the beam, closing the wormhole. In the facility, Stamets re-engages the atmosphere. Pike asks if they can reach Burnham, but Stamets warns it was still unsafe. As the Angel's feet touch the ground, Stamets activates the EMP, which disables the suit's time crystal. The suit's wings retract, and the occupant seemingly falls through the suit and to the ground in front of Burnham. Stamets reports that they have the Red Angel, and activates the containment field. Slowly regaining lucidity after her near-death experience, Burnham looks upon the face of the Red Angel and speaks one single, shocked word: " Mom? "

Memorable quotes [ ]

" There are so many reasons to join Starfleet. We get to reach for the stars. We get to reach for the best in ourselves. But, most important, we get to reach for each other. We get to do what we love alongside colleagues who become friends… who become family. And who better to stand with, shoulder to shoulder, facing those pivotal moments? Who more painful to let go? "

" How did the Section 31 program designed to eliminate threats become the threat? "

" We're saying that Michael- our- our Michael Burnham is going to wake up one day, access time travel technology that doesn't exist yet, and take it upon herself to save the galaxy. " " That supposition rather fits her emotional profile rather precisely, particularly her drive to take responsibility for situations often beyond her control. " "Thank you for sharing that with the group, Spock. "

" Admiral, we have a solution. " " I'm cringing already. "

" It's my experience, it's often our best intentions that cause us to do the most harm, especially to those we care for. "

" You never learned to relish a little discomfort, Red? Who raised you? " " M-m-my mom. My mom. But she wasn't around a lot – " " Stop talking. "

" You are savvier than he was. " " Um, you- you do know that he's gay, right? " " Don't be so binary. In my universe, he was pansexual, and we had DEFCON-level fun together. And you too, Papi. " " Did you just call me 'Papi'?

" What just happened?! "

" Even without my ganglia, I still have strong instinctive reactions to dangerous situations and individuals. "

" Love is a choice, Hugh, and one doesn't make that choice just once. One makes it again and again. "

" Spock, no offense, but you're the last person I want to talk to right now. "

" So we're going to the Ninth Circle of Hell to capture a Red Angel. I'd enjoy the irony of that if it weren't so dangerous. "

" Why didn't you just tell me about my parents? " " It wasn't my story to tell, but I could make certain it was told. "

" What if it doesn't work? " " Were you to perish, I would be charged with killing a Starfleet officer. Again. It would therefore be ideal if you survived. " " Such a way with words, Spock. "

" Oxygen is down to 42%. If I don't get to her, she'll die! " " Yes, Doctor. That is the idea. "

Background information [ ]

Music and sound [ ].

• A few musical cues from this episode were released in the soundtrack collection Star Trek: Discovery - Season 2 . Two of them, "Fiercely Loyal" and "Song of Remembrance", are audible during the episode's teaser , with the second of those cues apparently sung by Saru . Another pair of musical cues featured in the soundtrack collection, "On Site" and "Two Minutes", play during the climactic attempt to capture the Red Angel .

Continuity [ ]

• Lieutenant Nilsson takes her place at the spore drive operations station on the bridge, previously occupied by Airiam. Sara Mitich , who portrays Nilsson, had previously portrayed Airiam in Season 1 .
• Tilly's eulogy paraphrases a quote from Albert Einstein : " There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. "
• Leland claims that Burnham's parents were working on a theory that certain technological leaps were not happenstance, but the result of time travel. This resonates with the Star Trek: Voyager two-parter " Future's End " and " Future's End, Part II ", whose plot centers around Henry Starling revolutionizing late- 20th century computer science by stealing technology from the wreck of a 29th century timeship . Another such intervention occurred when Montgomery Scott gave Nichols the formula for transparent aluminum in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home . This may have also been a reference to TNG : " A Matter Of Time " where Berlinghoff Rasmussen sought to bring technological artifacts from the USS Enterprise -D to his earlier time period in order to fuel new inventions for profit; it was not revealed whether he had been successful doing so in potential previous attempts.
• This episode is the first Star Trek production to use specific terms for different sexual orientations, specifically "gay" and "pansexual".

Reception [ ]

• TRR : " The Red Angel " discusses the making of, and events in, this episode.

Production history [ ]

• 19 February 2019 : Title publicly revealed [1]
• 21 March 2019 : Premiere airdate on CBS All Access
• 22 March 2019 : International release date (outside Canada and the USA)

Links and references [ ]

Starring [ ].

• Sonequa Martin-Green as Michael Burnham
• Doug Jones as Saru
• Anthony Rapp as Paul Stamets
• Mary Wiseman as Sylvia Tilly
• Wilson Cruz as Hugh Culber
• Shazad Latif as Ash Tyler
• Anson Mount as Christopher Pike

Special guest star [ ]

• Michelle Yeoh as Philippa Georgiou

Guest starring [ ]

• Jayne Brook as Katrina Cornwell
• Ethan Peck as Spock
• Alan van Sprang as Leland
• Sonja Sohn as Gabrielle Burnham / Red Angel
• Rachael Ancheril as Nhan

Co-starring [ ]

• Hannah Cheesman as Lt. Cmdr. Airiam
• Emily Coutts as Lt. Keyla Detmer
• Patrick Kwok-Choon as Lt. Gen Rhys
• Oyin Oladejo as Lt. Joann Owosekun
• Ronnie Rowe Jr. as Lt. R.A. Bryce
• Sara Mitich as Lt. Nilsson
• Jason Anthony as Control Computer

Uncredited co-stars [ ]

• George Alevizos as Discovery crewman
• Gloria Belle as Discovery sciences crewmember
• Avaah Blackwell as Osnullus bridge officer
• Andrea Gallo as Discovery sciences crewmember
• Tyler Hynes as Stephen (archive footage)
• James MacKinnon as Discovery medical technician
• Pamela Mars as Discovery bridge crewmember
• Shelley Owens as Discovery medical crewmember
• Andrew Shiff as Discovery transporter chief
• Ronald Tang as Discovery engineering technician
• Alien Discovery crew members
• Osnullus officers

Stunt doubles [ ]

• Daryl Patchett as stunt double for Alan van Sprang
• Melanie Phan as stunt double for Michelle Yeoh

Stand-in [ ]

• Stacy-Ann Buchanan as stand-in for Sonequa Martin-Green

References [ ]

artificial intelligence ; Barzan ; bio-neural signature ; black market ; Burnham, Mike ; carbon monoxide ; containment field ; Control ; Culber, Hugh ; deuterium ; digital parasite ; Doctari Alpha ; electromagnetic pulse ; Essof IV ; funeral ; gay ; grandfather paradox ; graviton beam ; Kaminar ; Kelpien ; Klingon ; micro-wormhole ; nasal cartilage ; Ninth Circle of Hell ; Orion outpost ; Osnullus ; oxygen ; outpost ; NCIA-93 ; pansexuality ; path ; perchlorate ; phase discriminator ; plasma reactor ; Project Daedalus ; Qo'noS ; Red Angel ; red burst ; road ; Section 31 ; Section 31 Headquarters ; sector ; Stamets, Paul ; stasis beam ; tachyon ; temporal arms race ; Terralysium ; tetryonic radiation ; time crystal ; time travel ; update ; urethane foam ; Vulcan ; warp core ; warrior race

External links [ ]

• " The Red Angel " at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• " The Red Angel " at the Internet Movie Database
• " Discovering The Red Angel " at MissionLogPodcast.com , a Roddenberry Star Trek podcast

• VisualEditor
• View history

You may be looking for;

• The Red Angel Suit armor and associated tailor unlock .
• The Red Angel NPC from “The Measure of Morality (Part 1)” .
• The real Red Angel from Season 2 of Star Trek: Discovery .