Star Trek: Discovery has gone two places the original Star Trek series never went. First is arriving at a fourth season. The original Enterprise was yanked by NBC after three seasons. The network had it up against My Three Sons, Bewitched, Gomer Pyle and Mod Squad with a new day and time each season. Star Trek: Discovery does have the advantage of being on Paramount+ streaming so fans can watch when they want. Because of streaming, the series doesn’t have to worry about fans missing an episode through a DVR malfunction. This means that episodes can connect so the season becomes one big storyline. The second big thing Star Trek: Discovery has done is allow a ship’s captain to have a relationship that lasts longer than one episode. Star Trek: Discovery – Season Four continues to find new frontiers for a franchise that’s been futuristic for over 50 years.
After “The Burn” and a massive time jump that ended season three, the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery is adjusting to things. Captain Michael Burnham (The Walking Dead‘s Sonequa Martin-Green) is in charge of her ship and doing her best to restore membership to the United Federation of Planets. Her and Cleveland “Book” Booker (Supergirl‘s David Ajala) do their best to smooth things over with the leaders of Alshain IV. Things seem fine until the locals have an issue with a pet on board the Discovery. This leads to an exciting escape for the duo to kick off the season. We also learn that Burnham and Book are now a couple. This is rather startling since so many of the previous shows had captains that were married to their ship. Or when they did have a love interest, the person either was an evil alien in a human disguise or about to be killed by an evil alien. You’re pretty much signing up to appear in a single episode. But Discovery gives us this desire to have a friend for the end of the galaxy. They make a fine couple since he has to get her used to this new time period. Eventually she has to help him cope with a serious loss.
There’s a lot of coping with the various crew members of the Discovery. The jump in time has isolated them from their past. Saru (The Shape of Water‘s Doug Jones) finds himself back to First Officer instead of Captain of the ship which leads to a bit of change within him. Ensign Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman) decides on a career change. Chief Engineer Paul Stamets (Rent’s Anthony Rapp) and Medical Officer Hugh Culber (My So-Called Life‘s Wilson Cruz) are trying to make their relationship work out as they deal with so much change on top of the previous trauma their marriage had encountered.
The highlight of the season is David Cronenberg returning as one of the heads at Star Fleet Academy. Why don’t the producers allow the director of Scanners, Dead Ringers and Rabid create his own spin-off Star Trek series? Although him being on the show must have rubbed off since the strange creatures on new planets are rather grotesque although nothing too disturbing for fans.
Star Trek: Discovery -Season Four keeps the momentum going even after a major storyline with “The Burn.” This season has the crew not merely coping with the time jump, but a Dark Matter Anomaly that’s threatening their new world. There’s plenty of action for the crew and viewers over the course of the 13 episodes.
The video is 2.00:1 anamorphic. The transfers let you appreciate the bold new worlds. The audio is DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. The sound gets you in the middle of battle scenes. There’s also Dolby Digital 5.1 dub tracks in German, Spanish, French, Italian and Japanese. The subtitles are in English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Flemish, Norwegian & Swedish.
The Toll It Took (11:51) shows the crew working with masks between take to prevent COVID-19 spread. There was a bit of nervousness as people took tests before each day and a pod system to prevent spread in case it happens. The actors talk about taking off their masks right before the first take. Doug Jones talks about how he relaxes between takes because the makeup keeps him from doing much. The cast and crew reflect on staying full time in Toronto during the shoots since they couldn’t fly back and forth to Los Angeles and New York City.
Being Michel Burman: The Captain’s Log (14:22) has the show shift with Burman finally being commissioned as the captain. There’s talk of the new responsibilities with the role. Sonequa Martin-Green gets into her childhood and growing up in the South. It’s an emotional response from her to the change.
Creating Space (19:37) has Supervising Art Director Matt Middleton discusses using LED technology to create expansive sets. It’s a real Holodeck that lets the actors see the environment instead of faking awe in front of a green screen. They also show the new light rigs. This is the next level of matte painting. If you teach cinematography at a film school, you might want to pick up this Blu-ray to show your students the next level of shooting.
Star Trek Discovery: The Voyage of Season 4 (52:25) walks us through the season and the episodes. You probably don’t want to watch this until after you’ve seen all 13 episodes.
Gag Reel (2:47) stars with Doug Jones blowing his lines. We see the crew working on the sliding doors.
Deleted Scenes are included for “Choose To Live,” “The Examples,” “Rosetta”
Audio Commentary on “Coming Home” features Michelle Paradise, Olatunde Osunsanmi, Sonequa Martin-Green and David Ajala.
CBS Home Entertainment presents Star Trek: Discovery – Season Four. Starring Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp, Mary Wiseman, Wilson Cruz, David Ajala & Tig Notaro. Boxset Contents: 13 episodes on 4 Blu-ray discs. Release Date: December 6, 2022.
