In James Whitbrook’s May 16, 2024 Gizmodo review, the answer is yes: Star Trek: Discovery season 5’s “Labyrinths” revisits a character test that “Face the Strange” had already dramatized more compellingly. That is a critical judgment, not an objective ranking or evidence of audience consensus. Whitbrook’s case rests on how the episodes use their central devices: one forces Burnham into escalating encounters with other characters; the other keeps her in a prolonged solo mindscape puzzle.
What the comparison is about
“Face the Strange” is season 5, episode 4; “Labyrinths” is episode 8. Whitbrook treats “Face the Strange” as the season’s standout at the time of his review and sees “Labyrinths” as a less effective return to similar territory: Burnham must confront a test that reveals something about her leadership and growth. The official episode recaps verify the stories and credits, but they do not establish which episode is better. StarTrek.com’s episode materials provide the official account of each installment.
How the episodes put Burnham to the test
“Face the Strange”: character work through friction
In episode 504, a device sends Discovery through different points in its history. Burnham, Commander Rayner, and Stamets try to stop the threat before the time loop resets. The shifting setting creates pressure, while Burnham’s scenes with Rayner and her past self make the character work happen through interaction and conflict. StarTrek.com credits Sean Cochran as writer and Lee Rose as director. Read the official “Face the Strange” recap.
“Labyrinths”: an extended solo puzzle
In episode 508, Burnham enters a mindscape designed as a simulated library to face a test connected to the final clue to the Progenitors’ technology. A constructed version of Book is there, but he mostly withholds help while she searches for the answer. Elsewhere, the crew faces a Breen assault on the Eternal Gallery and Archive, and Moll turns against Primarch Ruhn as his conduct alienates his soldiers. StarTrek.com credits Lauren Wilkinson and Eric J. Robbins as writers and Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour as director. Read the official “Labyrinths” recap.
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Why Whitbrook finds “Labyrinths” less interesting
The distinction is not simply time travel versus a mindscape. It is what each device lets the episode dramatize. Whitbrook’s comparison can be understood along four connected lines:
- Pace and proportion: “Face the Strange” uses a compressed, escalating loop. In Whitbrook’s view, “Labyrinths” spends too much of its early runtime on its puzzle, delaying the action and antagonist developments.
- Clarity and engagement: The time-loop structure continually changes the situation around Burnham. The library test, by contrast, gives the reviewer too little dramatic momentum for its extended search to remain engaging.
- Room for character interaction: Rayner and Burnham’s past self challenge Burnham in active scenes. The constructed Book is largely withholding, leaving Burnham to work through the test with less interpersonal friction.
- Whether the growth feels new: “Face the Strange” makes Burnham’s character beat feel earned through its encounters. “Labyrinths,” Whitbrook argues, revisits a lesson the earlier episode had already delivered more strongly.
These are Whitbrook’s critical criteria, not measured scores. The official recaps confirm the plots and production credits, while the quality comparison belongs to the reviewer.
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What “Labyrinths” still gets right
Whitbrook’s criticism is qualified, not a claim that the episode fails in every respect. He praises Elena Juatco’s Hy’Rell and the archive setting, as well as the final action sequence and Moll’s break with Ruhn. Hy’Rell’s line, “May you gain knowledge elsewhere,” is recorded in the official recap. Those later and supporting elements work for him even as he finds the first large stretch less compelling than “Face the Strange.”
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.So, did “Discovery” repeat its best episode less successfully?
As Whitbrook frames it, yes: “Labyrinths” revisits a Burnham growth test, but its prolonged solo puzzle does not give the character work the same energy as “Face the Strange” and its time-loop encounters. The headline is a pointed review verdict, not a neutral episode-guide description. It also leaves room for what works in “Labyrinths”—especially Hy’Rell, the archive, and the later Breen and Moll developments.
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