Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Star Trek: Discovery - Season Three Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 21, 2021

Star Trek: Discovery has literally been all over the map during its three year run. Season One followed a protracted war between the Federation and the Klingons, a war ignited by the show's protagonist, Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), while also diving into the famed "Mirror Universe." The show's Second season introduced Captain Pike, Spock, and the Enterprise into the Discovery timeline. Now, season three sees the intrepid crew hurtled about a millennia into the future where they find a vastly different universe, a Starfleet in shambles, and new possibilities for personal growth and group progress.

Having flown far forward into the future, Michael Burnham finds herself suddenly in the year 3188. Though Discovery was only moments behind her, the vessel is nowhere to be seen. As she attempts to navigate a strangely familiar, yet wholly unique, future scape, she comes to befriend, and rely upon, a man known as "Book" (David Ajala). Burnham quickly learns that whatever remains of Starfleet is but a fraction of what it once was. A century or so prior to her arrival, a mysterious event known as "The Burn" destroyed practically every ship in the Federation and with it its galactic presence and both the power it projected and the peace it so dearly sought. Now, the galaxy exists in turmoil. When Discovery finally reaches Burnham -- a year after her arrival -- the ship and her crew are suddenly the only vestige of the Starfleet that once was. Burnham makes it her mission to discover the cause of "The Burn," regardless of the consequences to herself. Meanwhile, what remains of the Federation, led by Admiral Charles Vance (Oded Fehr), finds itself at odds with a powerful Orion-Andorian syndicate led by the ruthless Osyraa (Janet Kidder).

The season begins inauspiciously with a difficult first episode that's entirely focused on Burnham and her struggles to place herself within the new world around her. It's proof that Discovery desperately needs the whole to thrive, which is not a bad observation because the show is laser focused on promoting the crew's sense of togetherness, acceptance, and ability to work best as a fully functioning collective unit. Consequences in this season and elsewhere always arise from someone -- often Burnham -- acting independently from the group. She pays the price in this season to be sure but what follows is a redemptive arc that sees her, of course, rise to the occasion when the going gets tough and the Federation leans on her blend of deeply rooted intelligence, quick thinking and improvisation, and physical wherewithal to save the day.

This third season follows a singular arcing story -- the quest to discover the cause of "The Burn" as Discovery and her crew attempt to fit into the next, next, next generation -- but in most every episode is some sort of self-contained story that might ultimately wrap its way around to the larger truth and bigger picture but sometimes leads to a disorienting muddle of this-and-that, leaving the "previously on Discovery" episode intros scrambling to yank pieces from here and there in order to refresh the befuddled audience. The connected yet divergent stories prove unified and disjointed at the same time. By the time the final three or so episodes air, it's all come together nicely and neatly, but the journey there can be like a bumpy jaunt at warp speed, as amazing sights and sounds zip by only to have them all double back and slow down, even within the confines and context of a high energy and relentlessly action-packed season finale.

Season three continues to leave some of the bridge crew in the shadows -- Bryce and Rhys remains little more than stand-in characters -- but it does take the time to more fully explore Detmer and Owosekun, the former in particular, but it's the latter who picks up the hero's mantle late in the season, albeit because of a convenient backstory nugget that's revealed just in the nick of time. Discovery just doesn't have time to do much with these characters; it's so busy working other story and character angles within the relatively tiny confines of a 13-episode season -- about half of a typical TNG outing -- that it's a wonder any of them earned some much needed screen time in season three. Perhaps season four will allow for more growth opportunities, though with newer, and more front-and-center characters like Adira and Gray to contend with...probably not.

Star Trek: Discovery - Season Three Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

For the most part, Star Trek: Discovery - Season Three's 1080p transfer is a delight. Detail is often spectacular. Uniforms, ship interiors, hair, and Saru's skin and prosthetics boast high yield textural depth and efficiency. Human skin close-up are beautifully intimate and razor sharp. The picture integrates practical elements and digitally rendered supports with seamless blend. Color output is terrific. The blue uniforms, the gold and silver trim, the colorful digital readouts, blue Andorian and green Orion skin, and all sorts of tonal expressiveness leap off the screen in some way in most every scene. Whites are crisp and black levels are true. The image's big -- big -- problem comes in some serious banding that plagues the show on and off for the entire season run. Look at the 31:50 mark of the season's third episode for an example. But beyond that there's frequent, and thick and screen dominating, banding in space and in a Trill cave in the season's fourth episode. Look five minutes into "Terra Firma, Part 2" and most anywhere in "Su'Kal," an episode that is littered with the problem. Banding can be so bad as to cripple many shots, but when it's absent the picture teeters on perfection.

Star Trek: Discovery - Season Three Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Discovery's third season beams onto Blu-ray with a solid, if not straightforward, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The presentation is certainly well capable in all areas. dialogue is clear, well prioritized, and center positioned; music is balanced and clear with wide front end berth and well defined surround fold; and action effects are nicely detailed and perfectly spaced around the soundstage. But it never really dominates. The track proves well defined and highly capable in delivering what is, mostly, a full service listen, but listeners might reasonably expect a little more kick and depth to blaster fire and a couple of concussive blasts (listen to episode one around the 29 minute mark) but there's plenty of zippy surround information at play, at least. There are some excellent standalone sound highlights here and there throughout the season, including swarming surround content during a torpedo barrage on a planet in episode eight, which in conjunction with panicked natural din delivers one of the highlight moments the track has to offer. Listeners will appreciate active surround information in "Su'Kal" as a creature sweeps and swoops through the rears, and through almost the entirety of the season's final episode which offers a barrage of Star Trek audio cues at near peak efficiency. The track doesn't step up in a big way; for the most part it settles into a place of comfort and well rounded excellence that serves the material well.

Star Trek: Discovery - Season Three Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Star Trek: Discovery - Season Three includes extras on all four discs, though most of them appear on disc four. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This season does ship with a non-embossed slipcover.

Disc One:

• Deleted Scenes (1080p): Scenes from "People of Earth" (0:56) and "Forget Me Not" (0:55).

Disc Two:

• Deleted Scene (1080p): Scene from "Unification III" (1:02).

Disc Three:

• Deleted Scenes (1080p): Scenes from "Terra Firma, Part 1" (1:32), "Terra Firma, Part 2" (7:02), "Su'Kal" (2:10), and "There Is a Tide" (0:27).

Disc Four:

• Deleted Scene (1080p): Scene from "That Hope Is You, Part 2" (1:01).
• Writer's Log: Michelle Paradise (1080p, 13:49): From Iceland for the premiere episode, Paradise hosts a look around the shoot.
• Star Trek: Discovery: The Voyage of Season 3 (1080p, 28:32): Looking at season 3's setting, story, characters new and returning, story elements and themes, cinematography and other technical details, season and episode structure, and much more.
• Stunted (1080p, 14:33): As the title suggests, this piece looks at the making of season 3's key stunt work in some detail, from conception to execution.
• Being Michael Burnham (1080p, 24:20): Sonequa Martin-Green's VLOG intercut with clips from the show.
• Kenneth Mitchell: To Boldly Go (1080p, 18:04): The Discovery actor talks about his role in the series and his battle with ALS.
• Bridge Building (1080p, 25:37): Looking more closely at the Discovery bridge crew.
• Gag Reel (1080p, 4:33): Humorous moments from the shoot.

Star Trek: Discovery - Season Three Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Discovery's third season starts slow but gains momentum as it progresses, driving towards a handful of fantastic final episodes that are as moving as they are action-packed. It's exciting to see where the show goes in season four with a blank slate and boundless possibilities and potential. CBS/Paramount's Blu-ray delivers solid if sometimes chunky video, a good lossless soundtrack, and a fine assortment of extras. Recommended, and packaging enthusiasts should be on the lookout for the SteelBook packaging variant.