Yes, I'm a Trekker through-and-through, so the top item on my mind is the end of a Star Trek series.
In the finale, "Life, Itself," Burnham tries to unlock the Progenitor technology from inside a dimensional rift, and tries to convince Moll to work with her. Meanwhile, Discovery tries to keep a Breen dreadnought at bay, and Saru tries to prevent a Breen fleet from joining the fray.
Stepping back, I'd say that over the years, I've probably been more "pro-Discovery" than the average viewer. I have loved it for the elements I've pointed to many times over the years: the excellent acting of Sonequa Martin-Green, the astonishing production values, the truly diverse cast of characters which (for the first time in Star Trek) has included plenty of LGBT+ representation.
But it may be true that I cut Discovery some slack simply for getting this whole ball rolling again. As I'm winding up my reviews of Star Trek: Voyager, and on the cusp of turning to Enterprise, I've been thinking about some very complicated feelings I have about that latter show -- including that Enterprise basically killed Star Trek for years (until J.J. Abrams revived it). That alone casts a shadow of negativity over the series... and Discovery is exactly the opposite in that regard. For whatever flaws Discovery had, it's the show that reignited Star Trek to a point where five (!) different first-run Star Trek series were all in production at the same time. Second only to the original series itself, Discovery is the show most responsible for there being Star Trek right now.
Yes, Discovery did have its flaws. And I think once it spawned so many other Star Trek series to compare it to, those flaws became more evident... which is why I also may have been a bit more down on the last season than most. Or down on the formula, at least: no crisis is so great that we can't stop to dwell on our feelings; no episode is really able to stand on its own thanks to its total integration with a larger story arc.
So, bearing in mind that my perspective is one of a "more forgiving Discovery fan beginning to slowly sour on it," I thought the finale was fine. It was better as a season finale than a series finale. In tying up the fifth season Progenitor story, it resolved the story in really the only way it could have (spoiler, but an utterly expected one: no one ends up with the technology). It didn't quite have enough for all the characters to do (especially Tilly, Stamets, Adira, and Reno), but it addressed all the thematic elements of the season.
In particular, the way the episode dealt with spirituality was fittingly nebulous. Pointedly, the Progenitors were shown not to be "gods," having themselves found this technology rather than creating it. And Culber's season-long spiritual crisis was given both a spiritual and scientific explanation in the end, with Culber himself able to take from his journey whichever answer resonated with him more. Moll's story remained a big "whatever" for me (especially Booker reconciling with her), but that story needed a conclusion whether I was invested in it or not.
As a series finale? I think the episode was more of a disappointment -- and could only have been, thanks to the way it came about. After filming the intended season finale, the writers learned of Discovery's cancellation... but were given an opportunity to come back and conclude the series with a "coda" attached to the last episode. There were many compromises: some sets had already been torn down (limiting where the story could be filmed), and only three production days would be given to film whatever they wrote.
Unfortunately, the existence of the Short Trek "Calypso" basically necessitated that a large chunk of this coda be devoted to connecting the dots to what we were shown there. And the writers' greater investment in Burnham and Booker as a couple basically prescribed how the rest of the time would be spent. Put those two elements together, and you have almost no choice to go back to the well that multiple other Star Trek series have visited in their finales: a flash-forward to the future. It was an amazing concept when The Next Generation did it first; there were diminishing returns when Voyager and Enterprise went there too.
So what were we left with for the rest of the characters? A wordless "party" on the bridge, a moment that may have been Burnham's memory, or may have been her imagination. No real closure or goodbye for any of them, or even a hint (aside from a mention of Tilly's Academy teaching career) of how their lives went in the intervening decades. Yeah, this is probably the best they could do with just three days and only the bridge to work with. Still... it's disappointing.
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