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Apr 4, 2024 · Red Directive: Directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi. With Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp, Mary Wiseman. Captain Burnham and U.S.S. Discovery are sent to retrieve a mysterious artifact hidden inside a 800-year-old Romulan vessel - but find that they're not the only ones on the hunt.
- Olatunde Osunsanmi
- 2024
- Action, Adventure, Drama
- 60
- Overview
- Summary
- Memorable quotes
- Background information
- Links and references
Captain Burnham and the USS Discovery are sent to retrieve a mysterious 800-year-old Romulan vessel; until the artifact hidden inside is stolen, leading to an epic chase. Meanwhile, Saru is offered the position of a lifetime, and Tilly's efforts to help pull her into a tangled web of secrecy.
Teaser
On board a ship going at warp, Captain Michael Burnham is hanging on to the outside of the hull, excited by the turn of events. Saru contacts her on his status as she reassures her before telling him to focus on his team while she goes inside the ship to get back something that was taken from a vault. As she uses her phaser to cut her way in, the ship's warp bubble starts to fail, prompting Saru to try and rescue her. Burnham grumbles that this wasn't what she expected when the night started. Four hours earlier... Burnham is gathered with Adira Tal, Paul Stamets, Hugh Culber, and Sylvia Tilly as Adira is finishing a joke. A waitress approaches them with Tonic 2161 and explains that this is to celebrate a millennium of the Federation being active, give or take a few decades due to The Burn. Stamets, however, is in a sour mood: Culber reveals that they're shuttering the spore drive program thanks to Ruon Tarka's theft of the prototype device during the Dark Matter Anomaly crisis and its destruction along with Booker's ship. Adira tries to reassure their parents that it just means Discovery is now one-of-a-kind, but Stamets would rather be someone other than "Scientific Luminary". Burnham is rattled by the mention of Booker, but she shakes it off and reassures Stamets that he'll do something just as great. Thankfully, her awkwardness is stopped when she is asked to meet with some of the dignitaries around. As she leaves, Stamets regrets mentioning Cleveland Booker as Tilly laments that Burnham hadn't talked to Booker in months. Culber thinks she's hiding something the way she's acting. Tilly goes to add something, but she spots someone in the distance and awkwardly apologizes as she leaves. With that, the Stamets-Culber family decide to go mingle. Elsewhere, Saru is dancing with T'Rina, who realizes that he has something on his mind. Saru reveals that President Laira Rillak has asked him to be Federation ambassador for a coalition of smaller planets, not wanting to make the mistakes of the past as the Federation continues to heal and expand. T'Rina agrees as the planets are close to the Tholian Republic and the Breen Imperium. However, this means that Saru needs to resign his commission from Starfleet, but deep down, he's worried about his relationship with T'Rina. Elsewhere, Burnham is confronted by Admiral Vance, who gives her an infinity-shaped device. "You're done shaking hands." Burnham and Vance are taken to a blank white room, the Infinity Room, where Kovich is waiting for them. Vance explains that an 800-year old science vessel has been discovered at the edge of the Beta Quadrant and they need Discovery to drop there and secure it. Burnham realizes that she's being deliberately told very little, forcing Kovich to reveal that this is a Red Directive, stopping Burnham's questioning and agree to assemble her crew. On the Discovery, the crew is gathered and the ship is prepared for departure. Burnham arrives with Kovich and gives everyone the details of what's going on before jumping to the location of a Romulan science ship. At the ship, two figures teleport inside and race towards their destination, blowing open the door to a science lab. After stealing a few items, they open their helmets, though Moll hates the smell. She sees that the USS Antares is on their way with L'ak pointing out that another ship (the Discovery) is coming. He suggests they have about eight minutes before they arrive and Moll discovers the source of the backup power's path. To L'ak's shock, the new ship arrived super quickly. He suggests bailing, but Moll convinces him to keep going. At Discovery, as they bring up the Romulan ship, Joann Owosekun notes there were two lifesigns that suddenly disappeared. Linus hopes that they just left, but Keyla Detmer thinks they actually cloaked. Burnham orders Gen Rhys and Owosekun with her, phasers on stun, but Kovich surprises them by saying that might not be enough. Burnham thinks that's excessive, but Kovich makes it quite clear that he wants the mission successful by any means necessary.
Act One
On the Romulan ship, Burnham, Rhys and Owosekun take the science lab with Rhys noting that their targets were there recently. Following their path, they reach another room, where they discover the corpse of a dead Romulan. Rhys finds a vault that had its cloaking device taken out. They open the vault to find it empty. Burnham realizes that Romulan tech takes a long time to decrypt, Rhys realizing they're still here. They quickly turn and open fire, forcing Moll and L'ak to drop their cloaks. They imprison Rhys and Owosekun in a strange bubble, forcing Burnham to chase them herself. A firefight ensues, forcing Burnham to change her phaser pistol to a phaser rifle to force them to stop and try to talk. However, they approach Burnham with a strange device. L'ak tosses it at her, causing a small black hole to eat up the hull and launch Burnham out into space, saved by her suit changed to a spacesuit. She contacts Saru to tell him to rescue Rhys and Owosekun, but when she spots the thieves' ship, she flies off to it. As she activates the suit's magnetic clamps, the ship comes into view and warps out. In the present, Burnham attempts to use her phaser to disable their engines when the ship is hit with a tractor beam. It's the Antares, captained by Rayner, who notes Burnham started without him. However, the ship's warp bubble is dropping rapidly; Rayner refuses to let the ship go and the Antares can't just stop it as it doesn't have pathway drive tech. Saru has Detmer bring Discovery in to save Burnham, but the ship is getting rattled and Kovich isn't happy. However, Burnham and Rayner are arguing as Burnham wants him to drop the tractor or they're all dead and Rayner refuses. Ultimately, he relents and drops the lock. As they drop out of warp, the other ship tosses out a number of probes before warping away as Burnham floats back towards Discovery, teleported back on the bridge and she drops into the captain's chair exhausted. Rayner contacts Burnham, letting her know that stunt now has 20 different warp signatures to try and figure out which one's the real one. Kovich sarcastically asks if she has a bright idea and she does. As the Discovery spore jumps to another planet, Burnham arrives in the cargo bay, where she meets a familiar face – Booker.
Act Two
As Burnham and Book walk down the hallway, they discuss why they were there, though Burnham congratulates Book on the work he's done for the refugees of the DMA and he wants to make sure he does his best to make up for what happened. At the security briefing, Rayner reveals Moll and L'ak's identities to them. The item they stole was a Romulan puzzle box that no one knows what's inside and Kovich refuses to reveal. When Kovich asks Book for his help, he easily picks out the right warp trail, leading to Q'mau or "Fred". Vance orders Burnham and Rayner to make their way to Q'mau, though it's quite easy to see that the idea of working with Burnham is not a thrilling one for Rayner. As they leave, Burnham tells Saru that the secrecy of this mission is so strange that even Vance is out of the loop. Saru decides the best thing to do is to ask someone outside of Discovery's chain of command, which Burnham understands. She also tells him that she'll miss him if he takes the ambassadorial position. He understands, but there's still so much to consider. For now, Fred. Elsewhere, a very obviously drunk-on-Andorian champagne Tilly is rambling to her male companion about various subjects as she arrives in her room, confusing the poor man. Whatever plans he had are stopped when she decides to send him out with a promise of more talking. As she plans to just sit back and nurse her hangover, Burnham calls asking for her help, but she suggests she says no. Tilly's in. Down on the planet, Burnham and Book teleport down, causing Book to reminisce about their times as couriers. Rayner drops in soon after and teasingly needles them as he notices that they're having trouble. Elsewhere in the trading outpost, Moll and L'ak make their way to a home which uses a scanner to confirm their identities before they go in. Stripped of their weapons, they meet with Fred, a Soong-type android. They offer their various items, ending with the puzzle box, which surprises Fred. With ease, he solves the puzzle box and reveals its contents: a journal. He flips through it quickly, but stops and focuses on a set of pages with a mysterious design on it. He offers three bars of latinum, but Moll and L'ak refuse, realizing that he reacted to the pages. They want higher. He refuses, and also refuses to return the items, demanding they leave. Instead, a fight breaks out. In the process, Fred is able to get a phaser pistol working and shoots Moll, prompting an enraged L'ak into blasting Fred. Moll is alright and finishes off the android. Meanwhile, Burnham, Booker and Rayner reach Fred's home to find the place in a shambles. After finding Fred's body, Burnham suggests they stick together as Book knows where things are but Rayner quickly runs out, suggesting splitting up. After requesting Saru beams up Fred's body, Booker and Burnham realize their next move: the sand runners. In medbay, Stamets and Culber take notice of Fred and marvel at his engineering. Even his memory drive is made in honor of Altan Soong. However, the components are so old, it'll take time to get everything just to try and get it out, more or less trying to download his memory. However, Stamets is a packrat and rushes off to get what he needs. On the planet, Rayner catches sight of Moll and L'ak and lets Burnham and Booker know. They arrive quickly, prompting Rayner to ask how they got there so fast. However, as they board their own Sand runner, Rayner races off ahead, infuriating Burnham before she and Booker give chase.
"Never a dull moment!"
"Captain, are you all right?"
"Surprisingly, I'm not dead yet! Focus on our team, I'll try to take out their engines."
- Burnham, making contact with Saru atop of L'ak and Moll's vessel while it is at warp
"It's good to see the Federation back, isn't it? And at peace."
"It really is."
Title
•By 1 January 2024, this episode's title was revealed by the Writers Guild of America West. (X) •The title was officially confirmed on 14 February 2024.
Story and script
•This episode's synopsis was revealed on 11 January 2024.
Production
•This episode is the first to introduce a new Star Trek intro animation featuring the Discovery jumping onto the screen. •The science lab aboard the Romulan scout ship is a redress of the Discovery mess hall set.
Starring
•Sonequa Martin-Green as Michael Burnham •Doug Jones as Saru •Anthony Rapp as Paul Stamets •Mary Wiseman as Sylvia Tilly •Wilson Cruz as Hugh Culber •Blu del Barrio as Adira Tal •Callum Keith Rennie as Rayner and\t •David Ajala as Cleveland Booker
Guest starring
•Oded Fehr as Charles Vance •David Cronenberg as Kovich •Annabelle Wallis as Zora (voice) •Tara Rosling as T'Rina •Eve Harlow as Moll •Elias Toufexis as L'ak
Co-starring
•Emily Coutts as Lt. Cmdr. Keyla Detmer •Patrick Kwok-Choon as Lt. Cmdr. Gen Rhys •Oyin Oladejo as Lt. Cmdr. Joann Owosekun •Orville Cummings as Lt. Christopher •David Benjamin Tomlinson as Lt. jg Linus •Victoria Sawal as Lt. Naya •Natalie Liconti as Lt. Gallo •J. Adam Brown as Fred •Gregory Calderone as Lt. Jax •Mei Chung as UFP Presidental Aide •Michael Copeman as Dr. Vellek •Julianne Grossman as EV Suit Computer (voice) •Addison Holley as Cadet Ross •Nicole Nwokolo as FHQ Security officer
Apr 5, 2024 · The fifth and final season of Star Trek: Discovery opens with " Red Directive, " where Captain Burnham and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery are sent to retrieve a mysterious artifact hidden inside a 800-year-old Romulan vessel – but find that they’re not the only ones on the hunt. Meanwhile, Saru is offered the position of a lifetime.
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Apr 4, 2024 · “Red Directive” Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Episode 1 – Debuted Thursday, April 4, 2024 Written by Michelle Paradise Directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi. A strong season opener resets the ...
Apr 4, 2024 · It's a different Starfleet in the 32nd century. There's a simple explanation for Star Trek fans who may be wondering why they've never heard of a Red Directive before: the Red Directive is an invention of Star Trek: Discovery season 5. There have certainly been countless Starfleet priority one classified missions, but a Red Directive takes ...
- John Orquiola
- Star Trek Lead Editor
Sci-fi. Star Trek. "Red Directive" is the 56th episode of Star Trek: Discovery, the premiere of the show's fifth and final season, released on Paramount+ on 4 April 2024. Cleveland Booker • Michael Burnham • Christopher (Lieutenant) • Hugh Culber • Keyla Detmer • Fred (android) • Gallo • Jax • Kovich • L'ak •...
Apr 4, 2024 · Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Episode 1 “Red Directive” Review. Believe it or not, two years have passed since Captain Burnham and the Discovery crew thwarted the galactic threat posed by the DMA.
