Star Trek: Discovery Season One is over, but the first season of twists, turns, and surprises is still resonating with fans.
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The first season of Star Trek: Discovery began with the Battle at the Binary Stars, officially kicking off a war between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire. That war lasted throughout the entire season until the conflict was finally resolved by Discovery’s return from the Mirror Universe and mission to Qo’noS.
While the war was raging, Michael Burnham dealt with an internal struggle as she learned to balance her human nature and her Vulcan upbringing. She fell in love for the first time and was betrayed.
The entire Discovery crew went on an unexpected trip to the Mirror Universe, revealing what a dark reflection of Starfleet and the Federation could look like.
But it turned out the true Starfleet was being corrupted from within. Captain Gabriel Lorca was actually a would-be usurper of the Terran Empire’s throne, but he was foiled wound up trapped in the prime timeline while trying to escape his own demise. His manipulations secretly drove much of the Discovery crew and Starfleet’s actions as he attempted to get himself home.
Fans also got to meet Rain Wilson’s version of the Star Trek: The Original Series scoundrel Harry Mudd, as well as Burnham and the rest of the Discovery crew. Among them is Lt. Paul Stamets, the brilliant mind behind the ship’s experimental spore drive, and Saru, the first of his species in Starfleet.
The first season of Star Trek: Discovery was fun, and we’re already looking ahead to what could be in Season Two, but right now we’re looking back at the moments from Star Trek: Discovery that most caught us off guard or blew our minds. Keep reading to see what they are.
7. Mutiny on the Shenzhou
Star Trek: Discovery didn’t waste any time in shocking fans.
The series debuted with a two-episode premiere. “The Vulcan Hello” and “Battle at the Binary Stars” combined for what felt like a cinematic experience.
The episodes included a moment that some Star Trek fans felt was unthinkable when First Officer Michael Burnham mutinied against Captain Phillipa Georgiou, going as far as to physically subdue her.
This was especially confusing for classic Star Trek fans since Spock specifically states in the episode “The Tholian Web” that there is no record of a mutiny on a Starfleet vessel ever taking place.
Star Trek: Discovery later corrects this seeming deviation from continuity by clearing the charges of mutiny from Burnham’s record.
6. Star Trek’s First F-Bomb
Star Trek used the F-word for the first time in the Star Trek: Discovery Season One episode “Choose Your Pain.”
It was the least likely of all Discovery’s crew members who dropped the franchise’s first F-bomb, Cadet Sylvia Tilly. The moment came when she, Burnham, and Lt. Stamets were brainstorming ideas for how to keep Discovery’s spore drive working without continuing to torture the tardigrade creature.
“You guys, this is so f**ing cool,” Tilly exclaimed
Tilly at first apologized for the outburst, but Stamets reassured her. “No, cadet. It is f**king cool.”
This isn’t the first time that Star Trek has ever cursed, but the use of this particular expletive really emphasized what can be done on a streaming service as opposed to broadcast television.
5. Ash Tyler is Voq
Star Trek: Discovery called back to a classic Star Trek: The Original Series episode for this twist.
Ash Tyler was introduced as a prisoner of war held captive and tortured by L’Rell on a Klingon prison ship. When Captain Gabriel Lorca escaped that prison ship, he was sure to bring Tyler with him.
Voq was an albino Klingon who seemed destined to follow in T’Kuvma’s footsteps and lead the Klingons against the United Federation of Planets. He was ousted by Kol and left for dead.
It turns out they are one in the same. Ash Tyler the human did once exist, but he died and his physical appearance and memories used to reshape Voq to infiltrate Discovery.
The idea that a Klingon could be surgically altered to pass as a human was first introduced in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode “The Trouble with Tribbles.”
4. Captain Lorca is From the Mirror Universe
Fans had been suspicious of Captain Gabriel Lorca from the moment he showed up on screen.
Lorca was much more aggressive and fascinated with the art of war than any other Starfleet captain featured prominently on a Star Trek television series to date. He even kept a hall of weapons on board.
It turns out, the fans were right about Lorca. He wasn’t a Starfleet captain at all, at least not a captain in the Federation’s Starfleet. Instead, he was a captain in the Starfleet of the Terran Empire from the Mirror Universe and had been manipulating Burnham and the entire Discovery crew from the start.
3. The Terran Emperor
As if just ending up the Mirror Universe wasn’t surprise enough, the identity of the Terran Emperor was a real shocker.
Captain Phillipa Georgiou was a casualty of the Battle at the Binary Stars because of Michael Burnham’s betrayal and mutiny. Fans were disappointed at the idea that they’d have only gotten two episodes out of Michelle Yeoh’s role, but Yeoh and the show’s writers hinted that she may be back.
They weren’t kidding. In the Mirror Universe, it’s Phillipa Georgiou who rules the Terran Empire. Or at least it was until Lorca found his way back and overthrew her.
Now the deposed Emperor is roaming about the prime universe and getting into who knows what. Here’s hoping she’ll be back again in Season Two.
2. Culber’s Death
Star Trek: Discovery had a pretty high body count for a Star Trek show, but none of those deaths were as shocking or hit as hard as the death of Dr. Hugh Culber in the episode “Despite Yourself.”
Dr. Culber was trying to help Ash Tyler when the Klingon personality inside of him cause him to suffer a mental break. Tyler reached out and snapped the doctor’s neck in a moment of heartbreak.
The scene was disappointing for some fans, who felt like it brought a premature and underserved end to Star Trek’s first prominent homosexual relationship, that being between Culber and Lt. Stamets.
Culber and Stamets had a tearjerking reunion within the mycelial network and Wilson Cruz, the actor who plays Culber, has hinted that he’ll be back for more, so maybe there’ still hope for Culber and Stamets after all.
1. The Arrival of the Enterprise
It is hard to imagine any moment being more shocking or exciting for a Star Trek fan than when the USS Enterprise NCC-1701 swooped into view on screen in Star Trek: Discovery first season finale episode, “Will You Take My Hand?”
The moment came in the very last scene of the season. The duly honored and promoted Discovery crew had departed Earth and set course for Vulcan to pick up the ships new captain when they received a distress transmission from the Enterprise, under the command of Captain Christopher Pike.
The credits began to roll after showing the Discovery and the Enterprise coming nose to nose, and as an added flourish the original Star Trek theme played over the end credits.
If that doesn’t leave Star Trek fans begging for more, nothing will.
