Summary
- L’ak and Moll are new villains on Star Trek: Discovery season 5 with a one-sided feud against Commander Rayner.
- Elias Toufexis praises Callum Keith Rennie’s depth in portraying Commander Rayner on the show.
- Eve Harlow worked with Rennie before Star Trek: Discovery season 5, and he remembered her.
Star Trek: Discovery season 5’s new villains L’ak (Elias Toufexis) and Moll (Eve Harlow) don’t have the same animosity towards Commander Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie). All three new characters were introduced in Star Trek: Discovery season 5’s premiere. Before he was demoted and became First Officer of the USS Discovery, Captain Rayner led the USS Antares to hunt Moll and L’ak across the galaxy, to no avail. Catching Moll and L’ak is Rayner’s driving, but unfulfilled, obsession.
Star Trek: Discovery season 5’s newest cast members, Elias Toufexis and Eve Harlow, spoke to Screen Rant in an exclusive upcoming interview, and they were asked if they could give their perspective on Commander Rayner’s yet-to-be-revealed backstory with Moll and L’ak. Toufexis indicated that Rayner’s beef with the renegade lovers is one-sided. Read his quote below:
Elias Toufexis: In terms of his relationship with Moll and L’ak… They don’t care about him. I’ll tell you that much. They don’t.
Elias Toufexis also praised Callum Keith Rennie for the depth and nuance of his performance as Commander Rayner in Star Trek: Discovery season 5:
Elias Toufexis: He’s a great actor and I love Rayner. What’s great about Rayner, for me, is it could be a very one-dimensional character. It could easily even be played one-dimensionally. And Callum is such a wonderful actor that you see layers getting broken down episode by episode. That’s what’s great about him.
Eve Harlow revealed she worked with Callum Keith Rennie years before Star Trek: Discovery season 5, but she had forgotten. Read her quote below:
Eve Harlow: And I worked with him like over 10 years ago this TV show he was on. And he remembered, and I hadn’t. I was like, ‘Oh dang. Hey again, years down the line.’
L’ak & Moll Want The Progenitors’ Treasure In Star Trek: Discovery Season 5
Commander Rayner isn’t on Moll and L’ak’s minds
Commander Rayner may be hunting Moll and L’ak, but the couriers-in-love aren’t concerned about the Kellerun Starfleet Officer in Star Trek: Discovery season 5. Little is known about Moll and L’ak’s true goals, but they appear to be hunting the Progenitors’ ancient life-creating technology so that they can sell it to the highest bidder. Rayner has crossed paths with them in the past, but Moll and L’ak have easily evaded and escaped the USS Antares, which has continually infuriated Rayner.
In Book’s mind, Moll is ” the closest thing to family” he has left.
While L’ak is still a mystery, including which alien species he belongs to, Cleveland Booker (David Ajala) has ties to Moll. Moll is a human whose real name is Malinne Booker, and she is the daughter of Book’s mentor, Cleveland Booker IV. In Book’s mind, Moll is “the closest thing to family” he has left. But like Commander Rayner’s obsession with Moll and L’ak, Booker’s feelings towards Moll in Star Trek: Discovery season 5 are likely equally one-sided.