Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

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

Reviewed by Martin Liebman November 24, 2019

This review contains some spoilers for both seasons one and two of 'Star Trek: Discovery.'

Star Trek: Discovery's sophomore season is an exercise in narrative frustration, excess complexity, and slow-drip reveals, so slow that for every time the season seems to give an answer it asks two more new questions that cloud the previous response. Its also rewarding in the aggregate, from its fan service to its bold choices as the season reaches its apex. It's also a bit derivative, seeming to borrow many of its season arc storylines from James Cameron's Terminator universe and molding many of that franchise's ideas into this universe with a decidedly Star Trek spin. It's jumbled but generally joyful to watch play out. It's Star Trek after all, and still the most forward thinking and bold of any of the series yet (a title previously bestowed on Deep Space Nine which at time of writing remains the superior show in all of Trek canon in this reviewer's opinion). Discovery is certainly unafraid of the slow burn draw and forays into both narrative excess and drawn-out vacuousness with an eye on its own long game rather instant gratification from sequence to sequence or episode to episode.

The Discovery has rendezvoused with the Enterprise. With Captain Pike's (Anson Mount) ship in need of repair and Discovery in need of a captain, Pike takes temporary command and spearheads an investigation of mysterious signals appearing seemingly at random through the galaxy, signals which the Enterprise previously explored and left her crippled. As Discovery jumps from one signal to another, it becomes clear that there's some connective tissue to them, and that they may be tied to a mysterious figure known only as "The Red Angel" who in turn seems to be connected to Michael Burnham's (Sonequa Martin-Green) foster brother Spock (Ethan Peck) who had previously served under Captain Pike on the Enterprise but who has recently been under Starfleet psychiatric care before going on the run, accused of murders Pike and Burnham do not believe him capable of committing.

Season two features a two-fold villain that ultimately becomes one. On one hand is the mysterious Section 31, made famous in the future series Deep Space Nine but here every bit the dark, clandestine, operating-well-beyond-Starfleet-mission-statement organization that has in its employ more nefarious and shady figures, including the human-Klingon genetically engineered Ash Tyler (Shazad Latif), Terran Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh), and the strong-headed Leland (Alan van Sprang) (in a fun bit of fan service, Section 31 employs advanced technology, including communicator insignias which are not common to the Federation's rank-and-file until The Next Generation). The season's second villain is "Control," an automated defense system not unlike Terminator's Skynet that goes rogue and actively pursues Discovery and a massive download of mysterious self-preserving alien data that must be destroyed at all costs, which ultimately becomes Discovery's primary pursuit in the season. The similarities to The Terminator are uncanny: Control is a dangerous automated defense system gone rogue, it targets Michael Burnham in the John Conner role as its single greatest threat, and it even inhabits human form and is capable of self-regeneration not unlike the T-1000. Control ultimately takes control of Section 31, setting up an epic showdown and a space battle worthy of the big screen.

Discovery's second season takes the long and winding road from start to finish. Season one ends with Disco rendezvousing with the Enterprise, but it's only 17 minutes into season two that the world-famous NCC-1701 is left behind, not to be seen again until the season's final two episodes. The season drags its heels quite a bit, continually teasing Spock's role but not bringing the famous Vulcan to the screen until about halfway through the season, appearing here bearded and a bit disheveled and in deep inward emotional upheaval. It's a different look for and take on the character, but it largely works in Discovery's forward-thinking and envelope-pushing boundaries. Ethan Peck does a commendable job of balancing the character's confused genetics, innate struggles, and push to logic as a scientist, a brother, and a Starfleet officer. His relationship with Michael becomes the season's cornerstone, with much of the plot mere noise to facilitate their healing and reconnection. That reconnection comes largely through their shared experiences with the enigmatic "Red Angel," a mysterious figure that may be traveling through time and placing signals in a seemingly random order that take Discovery to several unique places, including a human colony in the Beta Quadrant, a sacred Klingon monastery, Saru's (Doug Jones) home planet of Kaminar, and to the wreckage of the U.S.S. Hiawatha where the Discovery crew meets one of the season's most interesting (and under utilized) new characters, Jet Reno (Tig Notaro), a refugee engineer who acts as something of a personality counterbalance to Tilly (Mary Wiseman) and Stamets (Anthony Rapp).

Ultimately, season two proves a bit too overlong, overstuffed, and overworked for what is an entertaining and largely engaging but not particularly radical or imaginative payoff. The season has some surprising answers to its most pressing questions (who is the Red Angel? What do the signals mean and who is sending them?) and advances some of its characters in a substantial way (Saru) but there's nothing here that's truly revelatory or seriously advances the greater Trek canon. It's actually more interesting to watch as the season fills in some character backstory, such as greatly expanding Pike and hinting at his future, and even visiting the off-limits Talos IV where Star Trek began with "The Cage." The fan service by-and-large works, and so does the greater arcing story, but it could certainly stand some fine tuning, a little less teasing and hinting and more of a linear path forward, taking out some of the filler and crafting a leaner, more focused narrative.

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

Star Trek: Discovery - Season Two arrives on Blu-ray with a 2.39:1 widescreen aspect ratio rather than season one's 2.00:1 "in between" ratio. The more cinematic scope suits the show well. Season two appears to have been shot on video and is densely noisy in general, most obviously in lower light, which is in truth much of the season. Discovery is a show made predominantly of blues and grays, cast in somewhat low light but obviously offset by clusters of high luminance in key areas such as the bridge, where various digital readouts and lights add some critical brilliance to the presentation. The colors as they are generally please, with good depth to the blue Discovery uniforms and the accenting gold and silver trim thereon. The Enterprise uniforms, familiar in color but reworked in texture, are amongst the season's most prominent highlights for tonal depth and intensity. Details please, with good, firm facial textures the norm, from various pores and freckles to Spock's dense facial hair. The uniforms present with strong, consistent visual density and clarity while props and envionirments, including digital landscapes and support, shine in high definition.

Getting back to that noise, or perhaps artificial grain inserted in post production -- it's difficult to tell -- there are numerous examples of weird, globular frozen chunks thereof around the 16 minute mark of episode two and holding very dense for several minutes thereafter around a fire. The frozen grain/noise actually carries over later in the episode (see a scene in the ready room at the 36-minute mark). It occurs again on Talos IV in episode eight around the 16:00+ minute mark and again at 27:00 where it actually moves in globular sync with characters. See again the six minute mark of episode ten in a Discovery turbo lift. At the 12:30 mark of "Through the Valley of Shadows," the entire upper portion of the frame bounces with the flames in a Klingon monastery. These are just a few of far too many examples where the noise behaves strangely, almost like it's adhered to the characters rather than an independent marker of the low light video shoot. There's certainly been some sort of unsightly processing that often renders the image unpleasant and at a few points nearly unwatchable.

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

Star Trek: Discovery - Season Two beams onto Blu-ray with a DTS-HD Master audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The track requires a modest volume adjustment but sounds by-and-large good once turned up. Even in the most demanding and complex sonic scenarios the track finds harmonious balance and excellent clarity in its dealing with all of the Sci-Fi sonic elements, some familiar within Trek lore, some unique to this show. The track uses all channels available to it fully and with care for presentation detail, offering fine imagining and properly realized directional effects as needed, notably in the chaotic space battle that defines much of the final episode. The low end is not timid, either. Listeners will note very strong bass as Disco orbits a planet in episode two and again in episode six when Michael and Saru are forced to beam off of a familiar planet. Additional strong cracks and low end response greet listeners when a shuttle is caught in a time rift in episode seven. Musical engagement pleases. Width and detail are excellent and surround integration is balanced. Dialogue is by-and-large free of issue, but there's a sharp edge to it in engineering in episode four, chapter two, and once or twice elsewhere throughout the season.

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

Star Trek: Discovery - Season Two contains extras across all four discs. Each episode save for the first also include a Promo (1080p, various runtimes) that previews the season and individual episodes. Audio commentaries and deleted and extended scenes can be found with each episode's selection tab while most other extras can be located under the "Special Features" tab. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase.

Disc One:

• Audio Commentaries: For "Brother": Sonequa Martin-Green and Alex Kurtzman. For "New Eden": Anson Mount and Jonathan Frakes.
• Deleted/Extended Scenes (1080p): For "New Eden" (4:57) and for "Point of Light" (4:14).
• Season 2 Promo (1080p, 1:14): A super-quick preview for the second season.
• Designing Discovery: Season 2 (1080p, 17:48): A detailed exploration of production design: computer controlled lights, sets and construction, detail and development, set tours, and more.
• Prop Me Up: Season 2 (1080p, 8:56): A look at some of the key props from season two: phasers, a Kelpien knife, Klingon weapons, a future alien probe, and more.

Disc Two:

• Star Trek: Short Trek: The Brightest Star (1080p, DTS-HD MA 5.1, 14:47): An additional story of Saru's people, the Kelpiens, as they live on their home world of Kaminar.
• Extended Scene (1080p): For "Light and Shadows" (1:26).
• Dress for Success: Season 2 (1080p, 16:00): As the title suggests, this piece explores some of the key costumes seen throughout season two.

Disc Three:

• Audio Commentary: For "Through the Valley of Shadows"" Anson Mount and Ethan Peck.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p): For "Project Daedalus" (0:32), "The Red Angel" (1:06), and "Through the Valley of Shadows" (6:17).
• Creature Comforts: Season 2 (1080p, 15:18): This supplement takes viewers into the world of alien prosthetic construction and implementation. Highlights include Kelpiens, Klingons, and Talosians.
• Creating Space (1080p, 10:12): Envisioning and building some of the key visual effects from season two.

Disc Four:

• Star Trek: Short Trek: Runaway (1080p, DTS-HD MA 5.1, 15:21): Tilly encounters an alien princess on board Discovery. This short is vital viewing prior to the season's two final episodes.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p): For "Such Sweet Sorrow" (1:29) and "Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2" (0:21).
• Audio Commentary: For "Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2": Olatunde Osunsanmi, Michelle Paradise, Jenny Lumet, and Alex Kurtzman.
• Putting It Together (1080p, 43:05): A comprehensive exploration of resolving the season's story lines and larger arc in the final two episodes. It explores the detailed process of putting the episodes together, including the writing process, preproduction meetings, photography, set design and prep, visual effects and stunts, editing, score and sound, and more.
• Star Trek: Discovery: The Voyage of Season 2 (1080p, 55:46): Another long and detailed piece, this one exploring the larger season assemblage: editing, cast and performances, plot points and the larger season and character arcs and evolutions, and more. This piece essentially moves through the season with cast and crew interview snippet commentary along the way.
• Enter the Enterprise (1080p, 10:33): Constructing the Enterprise bridge set, including updates and referencing the original 60s set piece.
• The Red Angel (1080p, 13:10): Conceiving, developing, and implementing the season's most mysterious figure.
• Gag Reel (1080p, 7:09): Humorous moments from the shoot.

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

Discovery's second season is too invested in pulling strings rather than telling its story in a more straightforward and satisfying fashion. While the writers pull it all together in the two-part finale there's too much clutter, manipulation, and teasing along the way. It's an entertaining ride, by-and-large, with some satisfying character moments and fan service, but it's ultimately a mild disappointment in the aggregate. Season three looks to be taking the series in a brand new direction but could be derivative of Voyager if it plays out as the tease suggests. CBS/Paramount's Blu-ray release of Star Trek: Discovery - Season Two features troubled video, decent audio, and a large assortment of extra content. Recommended.