Summary
- Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Episode 5 shows Cleveland Booker having curious knowledge.
- Book immediately knew the ISS Enterprise was from the Mirror Universe and he knew Captain Pike’s catchphrase “Hit it!”
- Book’s knowledge of the Mirror Universe and Captain Pike’s warp catchphrase hints at unseen, past conversations with Michael Burnham.
Cleveland Booker (David Ajala) has traveled across the galaxy, but he knew two pieces of information that seem peculiar in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 5, “Mirrors.” Written by Johanna Lee and Carlos Cisco and directed by Jen McGowan, Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 5 sends Captain Michael Burnham’s (Sonequa Martin-Green) into interdimensional space, where the third clue to the ancient treasure of the Progenitors resides in the ISS Enterprise from the Mirror Universe. Book joins Burnham on this mission so that he can try to reach Moll (Eve Harlow), the daughter of his mentor, Cleveland Booker IV.
Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 5, “Mirrors” unlocks major pieces of Star Trek lore. Aboard the ISS Enterprise, Captain Burnham and Cleveland Booker find a plaque that offers new details about the Mirror Universe’s history. Burnham and Book later successfully pilot the ISS Enterprise into Star Trek’s Prime Universe. Meanwhile, “Mirrors” also reveals that L’ak (Elias Toufexis) is a Breen who rebelled against his people out of his love for Moll. In retaliation, the Breen placed an Erigah, or blood bounty, on L’ak and Moll’s heads. These are new facts Book learned, but what is curious is what Cleveland already knew.
Book Knew ISS Enterprise Was From Star Trek’s Mirror Universe
Cleveland Booker has never been to the Mirror Universe
When Cleveland Booker and Captain Michael Burnham flew a USS Discovery shuttle through a wormhole into interdimensional space, they quickly found the remnants of L’ak’s ship. Michael and Book then saw a derelict 23rd-century Constitution Class starship bearing the markings, “ISS Enterprise.” Oddly, it was Book, not Captain Burnham, who immediately identified this Enterprise, saying, “ISS? That’s Mirror Universe.” While Booker was correct, how did the 32nd-century courier know the ISS Enterprise is from the Mirror Universe?
In Star Trek: Discovery ‘s 32nd century, travel between the Prime and Mirror Universes has been “impossible for centuries” as a result of the Temporal Wars.
The simple explanation for how Cleveland Booker knows about the Mirror Universe is that Michael Burnham told him. Book was literally the first person then-Commander Burnham met when she arrived in the 32nd century. It took a year before the USS Discovery joined Burnham in the future, and Michael spent that time as a courier, traveling across the galaxy and falling in love with Book. It stands to reason that Michael told Book about her own harrowing journey to the Mirror Universe in Star Trek: Discovery season 1.
Book also asked Burnham if she ever met her adoptive brother Spock’s (Ethan Peck) Mirror Universe counterpart, but Michael never did.
Book Knows Captain Pike’s Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Warp Catchphrase
How did Booker know Pike says, “Hit it!”?
Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 5’s thrilling climax saw Captain Burnham and Cleveland Booker pilot the ISS Enterprise into Star Trek‘s Prime Universe. With the help of Commander Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie), the USS Discovery’s bridge crew found a way to widen the aperture of the wormhole, allowing the ISS Enterprise to exit interdimensional space. As Michael and Book launched the Enterprise’s impulse engines, Book suggested Captain Burnham say, “Hit it!” since she was in the Enterprise’s center seat. But Burnham replied it felt “weird” and stuck to her own catchphrase, “Let’s fly!”
It’s quite possible that Burnham had an off-screen conversation with Book about what her Captain’s warp catchphrase should be.
“Hit it!” is the personal warp catchphrase of Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) of the USS Enterprise. Pike debuted “Hit it!” when he was temporarily Captain of the USS Discovery in Star Trek: Discovery season 2, and Chris continues to say it in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. But how does Book know about “Hit it”? Again, Michael Burnham is the likely explanation. Upon her promotion to Captain at the end of Star Trek: Discovery season 3, Michael needed her own warp catchphrase, and she chose “Let’s fly!” It’s quite possible that Burnham had an off-screen conversation with Book about what her Captain’s warp catchphrase should be, and Michael told Booker about Captain Pike’s “Hit it!”
