Summary
- Discovery season 5 follows Burnham on a treasure hunt with new allies and enemies in the 32nd century.
- Captain Saru may get his own command, impacting his role on Discovery.
- Stamets plays a key role with the Spore Drive and the quest for the mysterious treasure.
After a long delay, Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and the crew of the USS Discovery are back, and they'll be ed by some new and returning characters over the course of Discovery season 5 picks up some time after the DMA disaster was averted, and it's likely that the impact of that on the show's regulars will be explored as the weeks go by. Tasked by the ever-engimatic Dr. Kovich (David Cronenberg) to retrieve a mysterious item from an 800-year-old Romulan ship, Burnham and the crew of the Discovery are thrown into a quest for a great prize that must not fall into the wrong hands.
With the "greatest treasure in the known universe" on the line, Burnham and the crew will need some allies from the 32nd century Star Trek timeline. As well as her loyal crew, Burnham will again be assisted by Cleveland Booker (David Ajala), the Federation President, Laila Rilak (Chelah Horsdal) and Starfleet iral Charles Vance (Oded Fehr). As the extensive Star Trek: Discovery cast prepare to say goodbye, it looks like they'll get a suitably cinematic and emotional send-off.
When Does Every Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Episode Premiere (& How Many Are There)?
Star Trek: Discovery returns in April for season 5, and here is the premiere date for every episode of Disco's final season.
17 Sonequa Martin-Green as Captain Michael Burnham
The USS Discovery's legendary captain is at the heart of the action in season 5.
Sonequa Martin-Green returns as Captain Michael Burnham in Star Trek: Discovery season 5. After a breakthrough role as Sasha Williams in The Walking Dead, Sonequa Martin-Green has led Discovery since 2017, and will be bowing out when the show ends this year. Between seasons 4 and 5, Martin-Green appeared in Space Jam: A New Legacy and guest starred as the Green Ghost in Invincible.
Since arriving in the future, Burnham has quickly become the most important captain in Star Trek's 32nd century, which is presumably why she's been trusted to lead season 5's intergalactic treasure hunt. From the clips and trailers, Burnham will be right in the thick of the action, engaged in gunfights in corridors and surfing on starships. It also looks like Burnham will be forced to reconcile her strained relationship with Cleveland "Book" Booker (David Ajala), after his betrayal in Star Trek: Discovery season 4.
16 Doug Jones as Captain Saru
Will Burnham's Number One get his own command?
Doug Jones' history-making Saru is also back for Star Trek: Discovery season 5. It's been teased that Saru will be offered the "position of a lifetime" in the season 5 premiere, meaning that he may no longer be Burnham's second-in-command. Burnham and Saru are seen in an exciting adventure on a forest planet in the final Discovery trailer, a mission that is referred to as the pair's "last dance". The specifics of Saru's new role and how it plays into season 5's larger story remains to be seen. Between Star Trek: Discovery seasons 4 and 5, Doug Jones was seen as Baron Afanas in FX's vampire comedy What We Do in the Shadows.
15 Anthony Rapp as Commander Paul Stamets
Has Stamets finally rolled out his revolutionary Spore Drive?
Anthony Rapp's Paul Stamets looks to play a key role in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, as he's glimpsed holding a "key" to what is presumably tied to the treasure. Stamets will also presumably be dealing with the fallout from Ruon Tarka's theft of the spore drive technology in season 4. Tarka's protoype spore drive was destroyed, drastically setting back the rollout across the whole Starfleet armada. It will be interesting, therefore, to see if Stamets' ion project has finally been adopted by 32nd century Starfleet. Anthony Rapp recently voiced Orpheus in the videogame Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical.
Discovery's Spore Drive Is Better Than Star Trek's Traditional Warp
Star Trek: Discovery's controversial spore drive is a technological leap forward that solves many problems Starfleet has with warp drive.
14 Wilson Cruz as Doctor Hugh Culber
Discovery's answer to Counselor Deanna Troi.
13 Reasons Why star Wilson Cruz will reprise the role of Star Trek: Discovery's medic and counselor, Dr. Hugh Culber. Wilson Cruz teased that Discovery season 5 is a high note, and the trailers reveal that Culber s Burnham and Book on an away mission, stretching his legs beyond the Discovery. Culber also expanded his skills in Discovery season 4, taking care of the crew's mental health as well as their physical wellbeing. Gene Roddenberry was inspired to create Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) for that very reason, making Culber a successor to the beloved Star Trek: The Next Generation character in season 5.
13 Mary Wiseman as Lieutenant Sylvia Tilly
Tilly is back full-time for Discovery's final mission.
Lt. Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman) had a reduced role in Star Trek: Discovery season 4, but is restored to series regular for Disco's finale. Tilly left the Discovery to become an instructor at Starfleet Academy, presumably setting up Discovery's spinoff series. The trailer for Discovery season 5 reveals that Tilly will be part of the ongoing treasure hunt, as she's seen disguised as an alien inside some large alien structure. As one of Discovery's best-loved characters, it's fitting that Mary Wiseman's Tilly returns for the final outing. It remains to be seen if Tilly's arc in Discovery season 5 will set up the Starfleet Academy show.
12 David Ajala as Cleveland Booker
Burnham's lover will be seeking her forgiveness when he returns to Discovery.
At the end of Star Trek: Discovery season 4, Booker set off to make amends for his potentially catastrophic actions against Species 10-C. Book was ordered to assist the efforts to resettle refugees from the destruction caused by the DMA as recompense for his theft of the experimental spore drive. Booker returns to the USS Discovery in season 5 to help Burnham and the crew track villainous couriers L'ak and Moll. Burnham and Books' relationship faced its biggest challenge in Discovery season 4, so it will be interesting to see how that impacts one of the most enduring love stories in modern Star Trek.
11 Blu del Barrio as Ensign Adira Tal
Stamets' protégé will Discovery's treasure hunt.
Ensign Adira Tal (Blu del Barrio), Star Trek: Discovery's young science whizz, will also be returning in season 5. Still working under the tutelage of their mentor and adoptive father figure, Paul Stamets, Adira will aid the Discovery's quest for season 5's treasure. Adira is the first recurring Star Trek character to identify as non-binary, using they/them pronouns. Adira is a strong example of the hugely positive work that Discovery has done to improve LGBTQ+ representation in the Star Trek franchise. Most recently, Blu del Barrio was one of a number of Star Trek actors to lend their voice to the 2023 videogame Starfield.
Other Star Trek actors who appear in Starfield include Tim Russ, Nana Visitor, and Armin Shimerman.
Star Trek's First LGBTQ+ Romance Almost Happened In TNG Season 2
Gene Roddenberry pushed for an LGBTQ+ couple to be included in an early episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
10 Tig Notaro as Commander Jett Reno
Discovery's comedy engineer returns for season 5.
Stand-up comedian Tig Notaro will return as Commander Jett Reno in Star Trek: Discovery season 5. Reno is a recurring character who made her debut in Discovery season 2, and ed the crew as they traveled into the far future. Reno is the USS Discovery's acerbic engineer, and will have a role to play in the ongoing search for season 5's mysterious treasure. In the trailer, Tig Notaro is seen holding all manner of sci-fi props, suggesting that Reno will have to do some dazzling engineering work on the fly at some point in Star Trek: Discovery season 5.
9 Callum Keith Rennie as Captain Rayner
How does the Kellerun Captain fit into Burnham's treasure hunt?
Battlestar Galactica's Callum Keith Rennie plays Captain Rayner, one of Star Trek: Discovery season 5's new characters. It's been confirmed that Captain Rayner is a Kellerun, and that he is a wartime leader struggling to readjust to the Federation's time of peace post-Burn. It's also been teased that Rayner has a personal vendetta against the villainous Moll (Eve Harlow) and L'ak (Elias Toufexis). How Rayner's past with Discovery season 5's primary antagonists will interfere with Burnham's quest for the treasure remains to be seen. From The X-Files to The Umbrella Academy, Rennie is a stalwart of genre TV, so his involvement in Star Trek feels long overdue.
8 Eve Harlow as Moll
One half of Discovery season 5's villainous double act.
The Night Agent's Eve Harlow s Star Trek: Discovery season 5 as Moll, one half of the villainous criminal duo. Harlow is no stranger to sci-fi, having started out in Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, before appearing in The 100 and Next. Moll has been described as a former courier, who is now an intelligent and strategic outlaw. Moll's partnership with L'ak is romantic as well as professional, suggesting that the couple are a dark reflection of Burnham and Book's former partnership in Discovery season 3. Moll is also described as single-minded, and not intimidated by Captain Burnham or the judgment of Starfleet and the Federation.
