With Saru’s new role as an Ambassador, Star Trek: Discovery fixes an old problem, but the series makes the same mistake again in Discovery season 5.
Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5
Summary
- Star Trek: Discovery season 5 resolves Saru’s role issue but introduces another with Captain Rayner as First Officer.
- Michael Burnham’s decision to make Rayner her Number One doesn’t solve the problem of having two Captains on the bridge.
- The dynamic between Captains and First Officers in Star Trek: Discovery keeps changing each season, adding new layers to the ongoing story.
Star Trek: Discovery season 5 seems to fix the problem of Captain Saru’s (Doug Jones) role on the USS Discovery’s crew, but the series immediately makes the same mistake again with Captain Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie). In Star Trek: Discovery season 4, Captain Saru voluntarily cedes command of the USS Discovery to the newly-promoted Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), which leaves Star Trek: Discovery with two characters holding the rank of Captain at the same time. Captain Saru gladly acts as Captain Burnham’s First Officer during Star Trek: Discovery season 4, but it’s not the best use of Saru’s skills or rank.
In Star Trek: Discovery season 5, the United Federation of Planets is slowly rebuilding in the wake of the Burn and first contact with Species 10-C. Federation President Laira Rillak (Chelah Horsdal) offers the inherently empathic Captain Saru a position as a Federation Ambassador, which would require the Kelpien resign his Starfleet commission. Saru accepts the offer and becomes an Ambassador, which allows him the time to marry his love, President T’Rina (Tara Rosling) of Ni’Var, leaving the position of First Officer aboard the USS Discovery wide open for whomever Captain Burnham should appoint.
Star Trek: Discovery Repeated Saru’s Mistake With Captain Rayner
Two Captains don’t need to be on Discovery’s bridge.
At the end of Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 2, “Under the Twin Moons”, Captain Burnham chooses Captain Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie) to be Discovery’s new First Officer, which doesn’t solve the problem of having two Captains on the bridge. Rayner had been Captain of the USS Antares, but Rayner’s command decision in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 1, “Red Directive”, accidentally inspired villains Moll (Eve Harlow) and L’ak (Elias Toufexis) to cause an avalanche that puts civilians in danger while also covering Moll and L’ak’s own escape. The subsequent hearing results in Rayner being grounded, and Burnham gives Rayner another chance as her Number One.
Captain Rayner and Admiral Charles Vance (Oded Fehr) are old friends, and Vance backed Rayner as Burnham’s new Number One.
It’s not a terrible choice for Burnham, but it makes an unusual story, since Rayner didn’t have to be a Captain to begin with. Captain Burnham’s decision to ask Rayner to be Discovery’s First Officer comes on the heels of Michael and Saru reflecting on Saru giving Michael a second chance in Star Trek: Discovery season 1, so it’s framed as Burnham paying it forward. Michael has the power to keep Rayner out of a forced early retirement by bringing Rayner aboard Discovery, but more importantly, Rayner’s no-nonsense, mission-oriented perspective is exactly what Michael Burnham needs in a First Officer. None of this is dependent on Rayner’s rank.
Why Star Trek: Discovery Has A First Officer Problem
There are a lot of shakeups in Discovery’s command structure.
Star Trek: Discovery‘s earlier problem, the many Captains of the USS Discovery, was solved with Captain Michael Burnham becoming Discovery’s permanent Captain in Star Trek: Discovery season 4, but with Saru’s departure to become a Federation ambassador, Star Trek: Discovery renews its First Officer problem. Compared to the more familiar format of earlier Star Trek shows, which had been grounded in the dynamic between their Captains and First Officers, each season of Star Trek: Discovery now has a different pair in command of the USS Discovery, and a different tone, signifying new chapters in the ongoing story of Michael Burnham’s character development.
| Captain | First Officer | |
|---|---|---|
| Star Trek: Discovery Season 1 | Captain Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs) | Commander Saru |
| Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 | Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) | Commander Saru |
| Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 | Captain Saru | Commander Michael Burnham, Ensign Sylvia Tilly |
| Star Trek: Discovery Season 4 | Captain Michael Burnham | Captain Saru |
| Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 | Captain Michael Burnham | Captain Rayner |
Star Trek: Discovery season 5 could have easily solved Discovery‘s too-many-Captains problem by choosing a different First Officer from Discovery’s crew after Saru resigned his Starfleet commission. Lt. Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman) has experience as First Officer, having served as Saru’s Number One in Star Trek: Discovery season 3, and the USS Discovery also has a wealth of potential First Officers among its bridge crew, most of whom are full Commanders. Captain Rayner is an unknown entity, but maybe a needed one, so while Burnham’s surprise pick of Rayner as First Officer may not solve the problem, it does make for an interesting twist to Star Trek: Discovery‘s final season.
