Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Episode 5 Review: Mirrors

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Episode 5, “Mirrors,” takes Burnham and Book through a wormhole into extradimensional space while Moll and L’ak’s origins take center stage. It’s a step down from last week’s stellar showing. 

Mirror, Mirror

The series unearths the Mirror Universe storyline for more mileage. Of course, it’s an opportunity to reuse the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ U.S.S. Enterprise set for the MU Enterprise. While it’s lovely to see the ole Enterprise again, giving her more of a Terran touch would’ve been nice. 

In addition to the Mirror Universe of it all, “Mirrors” brings the Breen, a species first seen on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, back into the fold. However, this episode delivers a first in Star Trek history by showing their faces. 

On the one hand, this season’s overarching narrative places the Breen and the Progenitors front and center. With L’ak now identified as Breen, keeping the species’ faces concealed behind their masks would be challenging. That said, there’s something more enticing about the mystery of the unknown. 

How does one deliver on that whopper of a payoff—showing the faces of a species introduced nearly three decades ago? Disappointment feels inevitable. Plus, the Breen were more intimidating with their masks and helmets. 

Moll and L’ak 

Admittedly, the Moll and L’ak origin story as a couple, while sweet, feels out of place with only five episodes left of the show. There really isn’t time to waste. If you remove their flashback scenes in “Mirrors,” you wouldn’t lose much. 

For example, we have bridge crew members who have been around since Season 1—crew members who are lucky if they get a few lines of dialogue per episode. Why not spend more time with them? Of course, this question would be better posed in, say, Season 2 or 3, but it wouldn’t be unreasonable to want to get to know Owosekun, Detmer, or Bryce better. 

The Good Stuff 

That said, one thing Star Trek: Discovery does well is give the underdog an obstacle to surmount. Callum Keith Rennie is a consistently grounding presence this season. Rayner getting to command while Burnham’s away is a delightful supporting storyline. 

Piggybacking off that, Rayner encouraging the bridge crew to participate in a brainstorming session is a fun moment. It makes the Discovery crew feel more cohesive. 

Burnham’s fight sequences are a blast (phasers included) and add a much-needed jolt of adrenaline to the episodic narrative. It’s the only moment where we truly feel the stakes, which are otherwise lacking. Additionally, David Ajala delivers a nuanced, vulnerable performance (Ajala is a talented performer who is always ready to play). 

Nostalgia Goggles 

After “Face the Strange,” this week’s episode feels choppy. Despite the big Breen stuff, there’s too much reliance on nostalgia. There’s nothing wrong with Easter eggs; this franchise thrives on them, but nostalgia in excess detracts from what makes Star Trek: Discovery stand on its own two feet. 

Here’s hoping next week is a bit stronger. 

Stray Observations: 

• Someone should keep a tally of how many times Burnham volunteers to go on away missions. Don’t get me wrong; she’s a badass. It just cracks me up how much she does this. 
• I’m glad Grudge didn’t go with Burnham and Book — she would’ve been toast. We must protect the queen with our lives. 
• The lack of Doug Jones will not stand. I need more Action Saru in my life. 
• I’d like to see Rayner in the captain’s chair of his own ship by the show’s end. Unabashed candor like that deserves a crew to command. 
• Linus the Saurian Piano Extraordinaire is available for weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs, wakes, divorce parties, and more! 
• Is it me, or did L’ak with his helmet on sound like Pedro Pascal as Din Djarin? If my eyes were closed, I would’ve thought I was watching The Mandalorian. 

What did you think of this episode of Star Trek: Discovery? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Star Trek: Discovery drops new episodes every Thursday on Paramount+. 

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