Season 3 of Star Trek Discovery was some fantastic world-building and an open invitation to explore a fresh and exciting universe filled with fascinating characters.

Star Trek: Discovery has its flaws (like any version of Trek), and it also has its haters. I am not one of them. I want to talk about the season that just ended, and how wonderful season 3 ended up being. So spoiler alert, if you haven't watched it already.

Countdown: 3, 2, 1...

First, there is this:

Season 3 ends with a tribute to Gene Roddenberry, and to his original vision for Star Trek, exemplified with the quote above. This bit of wisdom hit really hard right now. In an era where I feel like people are no longer able to understand the words coming out of my mouth (because they have been radicalized and given a new dictionary with words that mean different things) I can empathize with just how valuable true communication is.

Me: "Oh...you want to drain the swamp? That 'sounds' kind of good? Does 'swamp' mean corrupt politicians who lie and grift people for money? Oh...no? (surprised look) It means people who question a corrupt politician and don't sanction the corrupt politician with universal power? It means news people and media and democratic votes? That's the swamp!? Oh okay...thanks for taking the time to define that...uh...yeah I'm not a supporter of 'drain the swamp' if that's what you mean by 'swamp.' Thanks again...byeeee." So yeah...talking the same language is incredibly important. Want another example? "Right to work" doesn't mean your "right to have a job." It means, "the right of an employer to pay you dirt wages and replace you immediately with another person if there are any hiccups with you at all." It's all in the language, and it messes up communication between individuals.

The world of Star Trek is probably as close to my idea of what true heaven must be like than any other thing I can think of. A place where people can communicate instantly with one another via technology? Where there are consequences for people who do bad things? Where there is diversity, inclusion, and respect for people of all sexualities, gender identities, religions, and alien backgrounds? Wow. You can sign me up.

There are a number of things that I really thought were amazing about this season.

1. Michael is now Captain of the Discovery. This is exciting, and when it happened, it just felt really right. She has made agonizingly tough choices and was always at the moral center of the show because of those choices. There was this ongoing guilt that she obviously wrestled with in regards to the insurrection she started in the first episode of Discovery when she tried a mutiny against Captain Georgiou. Her choices in season three weren't much better, which ended up forcing Captain Saru to demote her from the position of "First Officer." To have the Star Fleet of the 32nd Century recognize in Michael the same brilliant chaos that existed within Captain Kirk, and then sanction it, felt like a wonderful equalization of the sexes. Kirk got away with so much, because he was a man. But it felt like Michael (who did the exact same crap) couldn't get away with it because she was a woman...until she could. That was great. Equality at last.
2. Can we talk about Gray for a moment? I love this character, and it's awesome that they will be part of Adira's story arc going forward. I just wonder if they will use some holo-emitter technology, similar to the doctor in Voyager. It's also fantastic that we now have non-binary characters in a major franchise. Discovery is breaking so much new ground, with the first openly gay couple (the engineer and the doctor) and now a non-binary couple consisting of a Trill and a former host who has lost their body.
3. Now that the Emerald Chain is out of the way, I assume that Discovery is going to be visiting the former Federation worlds and trying to get them to rejoin the Federation. That will be a very interesting story arc for the fourth season.
4. This season surprised me with the reunification of Romulus and Vulcan. In retrospect, I shouldn't have been surprised, especially given that this was a key pair of episodes in Star Trek: The Next Generation. But I was. I also loved it, and it fits really well into the retrofit reboot that J.J. Abrams did when he blew up original Vulcan. The Romulans and the Klingons have now settled on a new homeworld, having abandoned the original worlds which they used to reside upon. That's a great thing. Also the challenge that Burnham had for the council was a fascinating episode. It was one where we got to explore her character through analysis, and I loved it.
5. I didn't expect Book to be able to operate the spore drive, because of his natural empathic abilities. I wonder if Betazoids could possibly do it too? Anyway, I didn't see that one coming, and it's great. Now they have a backup person who can use the mushroom network.
6. Star Trek: Discovery's third season did a lot to setup Strange New Worlds, which (I hope) is a series that takes place in the Discovery timeline. The universe of the 32nd century is incredibly interesting, and I want more.
7. "The Burn" ended up being a fantastic story hook by which to explain the Federation's devastation, and to offer hope for every single person invested in this future. I'm very much intrigued by the alien "Su Kal," who is a Kelpian that is emotionally connected to dilithium crystals. When he screamed because of the death of his mother, every source of dilithium in the Federation blew up. That's a fascinating hook that one cannot ignore, and I wonder what it means going forward.
8. Did anyone love that Michelle Yeoh's "Empress" exited the show in a Guardian of Forever episode? I didn't see that one coming either. I'm going to miss "The Empress" as much as I'm going to miss "Baby Grogu" in The Mandalorian. Both of those characters were just stand-out secondary characters that stole every scene in which they appeared.