Star Trek: Discovery Episode 509 review, "Lagrange Point"

The penultimate episode of Star Trek: Discovery is upon us, which means our ride aboard the USS Discovery is about to come to an end. Must not cry yet, must not cry yet.

This fifth and final season of Discovery has been interesting. The cast wasn't aware that this would be their final hoorah until after filming it, so the season has a special air about it: it wasn't made as a final season, yet these last episodes definitely have series finale vibes.

Let's get down in the nitty-gritty of this penultimate episode. As always, SPOILER ALERT! Please read this recap and review at your own risk.

Star Trek: Discovery Episode 509 recap, "Lagrange Point"

The previous episode, "Labyrinths," left us sitting on the edge of our seats: the Discovery was 22 light years away from the Progenitor tech's location with Moll and her Breen crew on their heels.

Meanwhile, the folks at Starfleet have their own issues to solve: Primarch Tahal and her Breen crew have started to make her way towards the Discovery to see if she can use the situtaiton to strengthen her claim to the Breen throne. Yes, this is the same Primarch Tahal who completely annihilated Commander Rayner's family. That spells nothing but trouble.

The spore drive is still having issues, as Stamets can't guarantee the accuracy of the jump even though it's functional enough to attempt one. Since they're out of time, they choose to just punch it and figure out the rest later. Once they jump, they land in a spot in space where two black holes are merging, with the gravitational pulls going a little crazy. They spot the tech they're looking for; it looks like a barrel just floating around in space, undetectable by scanners, but our crew knows what they're looking for. As they sit there and debate how to bring it in, Moll's Breen Dreadnought arrives and snags the tech.

The Discovery crew studies their scan of the Progenitor tech and carefully considers their options. Michael reveals the message given to her back in the Archives: "build the shape of the one between the many." They make a plan built around the fact the Breen think they had destroyed the Discovery in the previous episode. They plan on beaming into the Dreadnought with two teams: one will disable the shields while the other finds the tech, and then all get beamed back onto the Discovery. Sounds like an awesome plan, what could go wrong? Right?

Adira volunteers to go. She and Space Dad Stamets are put on Alpha Team while Michael and Book make up the Bravo Team. Rayner selects Tilly as his Number One while Michael is away, and preparations begin to execute on this crazy plan. Meanwhile, Moll and her Breen are trying to figure out how to get the tech to work. They notice it acts as a portal, as soldier after soldier is sucked in and don't show up on scanners afterwards. Moll leaves the scientists to figure out how the tech actually works. She snags L'ak's body, placing it inside a contraption that she can carry with her at all times.

Once the Discovery crew beams onboard the Dreadnought, Michael immediately shows why she's a badass. As soon as the translator in her suit kicks in, she begins to take charge and assert dominance as a fake Breen, which gives both teams space to do their things. Meanwhile, Starfleet continues to try and reach out to Primarch Tahal as she makes her way to the Discovery's location, but she continues to ignore every hail and message. Enter Action Saru, who comes up with a plan to intercept her Dreadnought with a simple shuttle so as not to startle Tahal or start a fight (which would very much be a suicide mission). He volunteers to man the shuttle.

The two Discovery teams do quite well aboard the Dreadnought. They're able to bring the shield down as Michael and Book are found out and sent to the brig. Rayner hails Moll and tries to get her to take the bait, saying Michael was killed when the Dreadnought attacked prior to their jump. Moll discovers that was a lie and realizes Michael has been on her ship and under her nose this whole time. Michael, showing why she's a captain, uses specific terms so Rayner understands exactly what she'd like the Discovery to do: attack the Dreadnought compartment where the tech is while the shield is down so they can all be blown out of the ship and be beamed back to the Discovery. Hey, desperate times call for desperate plans, which would have worked just fine if only Michael hadn't entered the portal after Moll. But, you know, minor details.

And this is where this episode leaves us: waiting to see where the Progenitor tech has taken Moll and Michael and if Saru will be able to stop Primarch Tahal from joining the festivities.

Major takeaways from this episode:

I absolutely adore Rayner. With each passing episode, this is something I've found myself repeating to myself over and over again. His dynamic with Michael and the rest of the Discovery crew is incredible and something I sorely wish had been built on seasons ago.

Michael continues to prove that she's matured and is an excellent captain. The road has been bumpy for Michael as she's had to prove herself continuously throughout the series, and watching her do what she's always been meant to do is real-life inspiring and very satisfying.

With only one more episode to go, the stakes (and my expectations) have never been highe. Don't forget to tune into Paramount+ next Thursday, May 29th, to watch how it all ends with the series finale.

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