Review: 'Star Trek: Discovery' on a Heroic Quest in the 5th and Final Season

The stakes have never been higher, nor have fan expectations. Season 5 of "Star Trek: Discovery" was billed as a fun action/adventure story, a galaxy-spanning romp that would lighten the mood of the last couple of seasons, which unfolded in a far future more than a thousand years from now and in a universe that's been significantly reshaped by the passage of centuries.

News of the show's cancelation put a different complexion on things; Paramount+, like other streaming services, is scaling back, and had axed another "Star Trek" show, the surprisingly excellent "Prodigy" (which is now on Netflix, and its upcoming second season will play out there as well). Will "Discovery" have a proper finale, or will a couple tacked-on scenes suffice to wrap everything up?

We're about to find out: The final season of "Discovery" arrives just in time for First Contact Day, with two of its 10 episodes dropping at once on April 4. Those two hours – along with the two that follow – meet the promise of a fast, fun, and frothy "Indiana Jones"-style adventure.

Things kick off with a derelict Romulan science ship fetching up in orbit around a distant planet. On board is a centuries-old secret that hearkens back to a civilization that flourished even deeper in the galactic past, a race that's barely remembered even in legend. But that ancient technology retains the power to usher in a glorious new age of technological marvels – or, if used by bad guys with selfish aims, to decimate the entire galaxy.

As if that's not epic enough, the beloved cast of characters are going through changes of their own; there are romantic and professional developments afoot, not to mention the return of Mary Wiseman in the role of Tilly, a fan favorite who largely stepped back for Season 4 but who's now back on duty on a weekly basis.

Captain Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) is the sort of larger-than-life superhero a Starfleet captain should be in this new season, which makes a point letting us know right away – as Burnham rides a rogue space ship as if it were a bucking bronc – that she's every bit the daredevil that a James Kirk might be, even as she possesses the tactical skills of a Jean-Luc Picard or a Benjamin Sisko. Romantic interest Book (David Ajala) is back on board to help Burnham in her pursuit of two scavengers who are looking to sell the aforementioned alien tech to the highest bidder, but who have little appreciation (or ethical concern) for what sort of catastrophe they might unleash.

Also joining the cast is "Battlestar Galactica" alum Callum Keith Rennie as Rayner, a hard-nosed captain whose experience of the 32nd Century is far less optimistic than Burnham's. Rayner is the sort who'll use a sledgehammer to drive a nail, which gives the show a bit more punch – especially since the scavengers the crew are chasing are happy to create chaos wherever they go, requiring our heroes to deploy both brains and brawn.

Even within the four episodes provided for critics' review, the season takes some time for standalone adventures that contribute to the overall storyline but feel largely self-contained. That works well with the season's overall structure. Burnham and company must cross known space to retrieve and assemble clues (quite literally, as it turns out), so an adventure to the planet Trill poses its own unique set of problems while driving the season's plot line ahead. In another episode, fans might feel a little bit of a nostalgic echo back to Season 1 and the trippy, semi-comedic beats of the episode "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad."

"Discovery," more than any "Star Trek" show before it, has a tendency to dwell in its feelings, and while this season doesn't bog down quite as much as the previous four (it can't; it's got places to go... a lot of them), it can still get a bit lachrymose and soapy, especially when Burnham and her longtime bestie Saru (Doug Jones) share heart-to-heart moments. That said, Jones inhabits Saru with as much curiosity and intelligence as ever, even as his love affair with latter-day Vulcan (or is it "Ni'Varian?'" T'Rina (Tara Rosling) deepens.

However, "Discovery" also offers more in the way of LGBTQ+ representation than any other "Star Trek" show. Married gay couple Stamets (Anthony Rapp) and Culber (Wilson Cruz) have formed a lovely bond with non-binary character Adira (Blu del Barrio), and their found family is thriving this season, with young Adira coming into their own in love as well as life.

Lesbian comic Tig Notaro returns as Chief Engineer Jett Reno (the character, too, is lesbian), and while she doesn't have a huge number of scenes in these first four episodes, she owns the screen when she's on it.

Wiseman, who has said she is "queer and proud," is as delightful as ever as Tilly. Wiseman's fellow queer actor Emily Coutts, who plays ship's pilot Detmer, is more or less relegated to the same second-tier status she and the rest of the bridge crew regulars have always had. Still, Coutts does have her moments to shine, as they all do.

The new season offers longtime fans some fun callbacks to previous "Star Trek" lore, and in its pursuit of a more action-oriented vibe, it borrows a bit from another popular sci-fi franchise (hello, desert planet and anti-gravity speed bikes!), but the show remains essentially what it always was. It's a different, though still familiar, take on Gene Roddenberry's vision of a utopian future. This is fiction, but to this group of heroes, science is real, math is a powerful tool, facts matter, and none of that gets in the way of a roaring good time. Jump aboard for these final voyages of the Starship Discovery – it's a hell of a ride as the series hits its home stretch.

"Star Trek: Discovery" Season 5 streams on Paramount+ starting April 5.