Episode:104
The Butcher

Jack's Rating:

With tensions and stakes high as Starfleet continues in their efforts to end the war with the Klingons, Burnham begins to settle into her new position aboard the USS Discovery.

Features:
Stardate: Unknown
Air Date: 10/08/17
Director: Olatunde Osunsanmi

Episode:113
What's Past is Prologue

Jack's Rating:

Michael, Saru, and the rest of the Discovery crew fight to return to their own universe with the help of an unlikely ally.

Features:
Stardate: 1834.2
Air Date: 01/28/18
Director: Olatunde Osunsanmi

Episode:203
Point of Light

Jack's Rating:

A surprise visitor brings shocking news about Spock and dredges up past regrets for Burnham.

Features: The Klingons
Stardate:
Air Date: 01/31/19
Director: Olatunde Osunsanmi

Jack's Review
I'll admit that following New Eden would make any episode a rough watch. The Klingons on the show have hair now at least (yes, I am one of the old farts that hates the new look) and Kurtzman's attempts to retcon the new look is feeble at best. I still think it has to do with the split of Paramount and CBS during season one's formation. If Paramount retained the rights to the look of a character then CBS couldn't use it. Now that they are all one big happy fleet again we can slowly start to show the Klingons we know and love again. Imagine how people would freak if Worf showed up looking like one of the Discovery space orcs?

Episode:213
Such Sweet Sorrow

Jack's Rating:

When Discovery's crucial mission does not go according to plan, Burnham realizes what must be done.

Features:
Stardate:
Air Date: 04/11/19
Director: Olatunde Osunsanmi

Jack's Review
Okay, I give the art department huge props here. They were able to update the Enterprise to make it fit the visual asthetic of the show while paying homage to the original set. The analog controls were a great touch but they should have explained them a bit better - Control couldn't take over a ship controlled by analog.

Episode:214
Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2

Jack's Rating:

The crew of the USS Discovery explores new worlds and civilizations.

Features:
Stardate:
Air Date: 04/18/19
Director: Olatunde Osunsanmi

Jack's Review
A worthy space battle and intense plot for a finale. Pike is on point and Saru and the Discovery bridge crew are terrific. The final scene with Michael and Spock is a tad silly, but overall a worthy end to a decent season with several high points and classic episodes. I did spot a strange writing glitch. I mean, if the emergency blast door can withstand a photon torpedo blast why not make the whole ship out of that material? Why design an emergency door with only one lever? Why not beam the admiral out after she throws the lever? The TOS Enterprise had force fields....why the bulkhead? Just throw up a force field instead of the plot device blast door? Ah well...it was still a fun finale.

Episode:301
That Hope Is You, Part 1

Jack's Rating:

Arriving 930 years in the future, Burnham navigates a galaxy she no longer recognizes while searching for the rest of the U.S.S. Discovery crew.

Features: Time Travel
Stardate:
Air Date: 10/14/20
Director: Olatunde Osunsanmi

Jack's Review
A great start to the season. I haven't said anything about Sonequa Martin-Green's acting until now, so here we go. She has a very strange range. Stoic and maddeningly superior one moment, crying like a teenager in another. She plays the character well, but I am not sure if I am a fan of her acting style. The superfast talking gets on my nerves too. Now, that is out of the way, so I need to give her huge props on this episode. The way she acts after getting hit with that gas is hilarious and overall the episode is a blast.

Episode:302
Far From Home

Jack's Rating:

After the U.S.S. Discovery crash-lands on a strange planet, the crew finds themselves racing against time to repair their ship. Meanwhile, Saru and Tilly embark on a perilous first-contact mission in hopes of finding Burnham.

Features: Time Travel
Stardate:
Air Date: 10/21/20
Director: Olatunde Osunsanmi

Jack's Review
Oh man, Jake Weber is terrific. He will always be John Campbell from Hell on Wheels and Hirsch from U-571 to me...but I will be adding Zareh to that list now. This is a great Western-style episode which is probably why he is so good in the Zareh role. He is the perfect menacing bully.

Episode:313
That Hope Is You, Part 2

Jack's Rating:

As the Emerald Chain tightens its grip and the mystery of the Burn is finally solved, Burnham and the crew have one last chance to save themselves - and the Federation.

Features:
Stardate:
Air Date: 01/06/21
Director: Olatunde Osunsanmi

Jack's Review
Okay - a fun and fitting end to the season. However....it does contain one of my biggest complaints - a hobby of mine - in all of modern Trek. The turbolifts. For the love of anything and everything holy someone make the writing team actually watch episodes of Star Trek! The turbolifts are elevators that operate in a shaft like the vacuum tubes at your local bank. They can go up, down, left, right, etc....but they still operate within the confines of the bulkheads of the ship. So....why do we have some city-sized empty space with the turbolift flying around like a shuttlecraft? It's basic physics. The USS Discovery is about the size of your local shopping mall. Add in all of the corridors, rooms, labs, equipment, and materials that make up the ship and guess what you don't have? A city-sized empty space within the walls for a turbolift to fly around in like a shuttle. Other than that....it was a fun ending.

Episode:401
Kobayashi Maru

Jack's Rating:

After months spent reconnecting the Federation with distant worlds, Captain Michael Burnham and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery are sent to assist a damaged space station.

Features:
Stardate: Unknown
Air Date: 11/18/21
Director: Olatunde Osunsanmi

Jack's Review
Okay - I am going to get the two things I really dislike about Discovery out of the way in this first review.....Let me start off by saying that I still dislike the fact that Burnham was made captain after her antics from season 1....you remember - staging a mutiny, starting a war, getting her captain and countless others killed, being court-martialed....all that stuff. Also, as a professional designer, I can state that I absolutely detest the detached nacelles on the new ships. The writers even exposed it as a vulnerability in season 3 - just a few episodes after the things debuted on-screen. It's the laziest possible solution to "How do we make future spaceships look even more futuristic?" - that being said, I will now digress into the review of the first episode. The episode has a nice Star Trek feel to it. Problem to be fixed, away mission to rescue people, peril and the unknown, nosy politician trying to horn-in on the captain's decisions. I just wish the show was episodic and not serialized because I fear this gravitational anomaly storyline will fizzle about two-thirds through the season - but I do hope I am wrong. The crew of DISCO is moving along nicely and the bridge crew is starting to feel like a real crew and not a bunch of characters that get random speaking lines from time to time. Book continues to be a terrific character, as does Adira. Overall, a decent start to the fourth season overall.

Episode:402
Anomaly

Jack's Rating:

Saru returns to help the U.S.S. Discovery uncover the mystery of an unusually destructive new force; as Burnham leads the crew, she must also find a way to help Book cope with an unimaginable loss.

Features:
Stardate: Unknown
Air Date: 11/25/21
Director: Olatunde Osunsanmi

Jack's Review
A really fun episode that, overall, shows the growth of Discovery. There is a genuine connection between the viewer and the characters now. The bridge crew is becoming less background characters and more real contributors to the crisis at hand. I was actually a tad emotional with the return of Saru. Stamets is becoming one of my favorite characters. And the ability for us to chuckle at the gravity surge effects while still feeling a sense of dread is well done. Overall, it really does feel more like Star Trek. I just think that Burnham needs to take some command courses. She questions herself too much, lets her emotions get in the way of decisions, and needs way too much hand-holding.

Episode:412
Species Ten-C

Jack's Rating:

As the DMA approaches Earth and Ni'Var, Captain Burnham and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery attempt to make First Contact with the powerful species responsible before it's too late.

Features:
Stardate: Unknown
Air Date: 03/10/22
Director: Olatunde Osunsanmi

Jack's Review
Not a bad episode, but when facing a completely new species that may or may not hold the key to saving the galaxy, do you really need to take a sidebar about your crush? Discovery is too much about the touchy-feely emotions of the characters without giving us any substance to the characters. It's like watching 8-year-old girls play with Barbie dolls dressed in Star Trek clothes. But you know what? I still watch it and have learned to accept and enjoy it.

Episode:413
Coming Home

Jack's Rating:

The DMA approaches Earth and Ni'Var. With evacuations underway, Burnham and the team aboard the U.S.S. Discovery must find a way to communicate with a species Ten-C before time runs out.

Features:
Stardate: Unknown
Air Date: 03/17/22
Director: Olatunde Osunsanmi