The 1960s Star Trek show did not have the chance to do a true series finale. All of its successors did though, until now. From The Next Generation to Deep Space Nine to Voyager to Enterprise to Picard, every show had the opportunity to make a final statement and sum up the years of adventures in some fashion. Yet, despite being the primogenitor of the franchise, The Original Series just sort of ends, with the sense of the conveyor belt simply stopping, and its last output accidentally becoming an end, if not quite the end.

And yet “Turnabout Intruder”, infamous though it may be, is a surprisingly fitting finale for TOS. It features the good notions and abiding themes of the 1960s show: the idea that this crew knows their captain well enough to sniff out a fake; that become a well-functioning team that can work through even the most unorthodox problems, and that after seventy-nine episodes’ worth of outlandish adventures, they remain open to new and unexpected possibilities. It also features the bad ideas and problematic elements that plagued series time and again: from a mixed-at-best perspective on women to William Shatner’s over-the-top acting. In that, the show’s final outing is an inadvertent but strangely apt swan song for the series.

In its new season, Star Trek: Discovery follows in those hallowed, unexpected footsteps. This is Discovery’s fifth and final year on the air, but as reported by the cast and crew, they didn’t know that when writing or filming it until the last minute. Despite the promise of a hastily-shot coda to give the show an air of finality, that makes this last leg of Discovery’s mission an accidental ending, not unlike the one endured by the original Star Trek series.

And yet, in the same spirit, this last batch of episodes also feels like an unexpectedly fitting farewell. Through the first four episodes at least, Discovery’s fifth season represents the good and the bad that fans have come to expect from the show since it began in 2017.

True to form, the new season features an existential threat to the galaxy as we know it. The plotting promises a convoluted, season-length mystery box to be cracked open piece-by-piece and week-by-week. The quieter scenes involve characters trumpeting their close connections to one another with expressions of kinship that feel told more than shown, and boast the expected announcements of one’s inner feelings in ways that come off more clunky than natural.

What’s more, in line with Michael Burnham’s (Sonequa Martin-Green) familial bond with Sarek, the arrival of Pike’s Enterprise, and more, the new season also features a prominent connection to the Trek of old. This attempt to mortgage the goodwill of the earlier Star Trek series veers closer to the excesses of Picard and than the remixes of Strange New World, but it will undoubtedly get people talking. More to the point, it’s another instance of Discovery dying as it lived in its closing volley, despite the jump to the 32nd century.

At the same time, though, the new season includes plenty of the things Discovery has done well over the years. The stories of rebuilding and evolving the Federation continue to resonate. One episode ably vindicates the bonds between Burnham and Saru (Doug Jones), one of those character connections that felt earned from the first season to the last. And a series-best high concept outing serves as both a recognition of how far Michael has come as a character, in-universe and out, and an affirmation of the flavor of leadership and mutual trust Discovery has presented in its time on the air.

Not for nothing, season 5 also introduces some new elements, which generally enhance the proceedings. The best among them is the addition of Battlestar Galactica veteran Callum Keith Rennie to the cast. He plays Captain Rayner, another of Starfleet’s leading lights and a member of the old guard, who clashes with Burnham over her style and her methods. Rennie’s performance is top-notch, and in a show where the crew has self-consciously grown quite cozy over the years, Rayner’s presence as a foil adds some much-needed conflict to the show’s scene-to-scene dynamics.

Best of all, though, he’s a walking embodiment of a challenge to Burnham’s (and by extension, Discovery’s) way of doing things, and through that, a chance to show their value. Through the eyes of an outsider, the show manages to highlight why the looser, more open and freewheeling style Discovery has adopted is worthwhile, and even suggests there’s hope for the goodhearted souls of the old ways to see that new light. As the show finishes its last tour of duty, this thematic throughline succeeds as a way to champion the series’ mission and essential perspective, in a way that suits the series’ conclusion.

In the same way, one of the season’s major thematic aims, that stretches across characters and storylines, is a search for meaning after you’ve done it all. Burnham finds herself looking for the spark beyond the mission du jour. Stamets (Anthony Rapp) wonders aloud about his next chance to do something momentous. Dr. Culber (Wilson Cruz) searches for spiritual import after some mind-bending experiences. Adira (Blu del Barrio) wrestles with how things have changed and what the future looks like with them and Gray (Ian Alexander)’s long-distance relationship. Saru mulls over and adjusts to his own next big step. And Tilly (Mary Wiseman) puzzles through how to teach her students at Starfleet Academy to see the deeper meaning in their Starfleet service beyond their day-to-day duties.

As with most of the season’s elements, some of these plot threads work better than others. For every bold, experimental outing that elevates the show, Discovery also includes something like the dragged-out “Will they reconcile?” storyline for Burnham and Book (David Ajala) that feels tired from the jump. For every great tribute to what a character or a relationship has meant to the show during its run, there’s an interjection from a tiresome duo of bog standard antagonists, laden by improbable intersections with our heroes to slog through. Through its first quartet of episodes, DIscovery’s fifth season is another game of ups and downs.

But that has been Discovery’s M.O. from the beginning. While the show has thankfully leveled out and improved over the years, its last batch of stories comes with the merits and flaws that have marked it for some time now. As with The Original Series, this final run promises to represent the show as it was, good and bad, as Discovery makes its exit. That feels right somehow.

So much of the new season asks, “What do you do when you’ve done it all?” By this point in the show, Burnham and company have saved the galaxy from catastrophic events on multiple occasions. They’ve solved mysteries that puzzled scientists of both the noble and mad varieties. They’ve overcome their personal hang-ups to become a well-functioning crew and, as the inimitable Captain Janeway liked to put it, a family. How you find challenge and meaning after all of that is a valid question, one that perplexed Captain Kirk in both his Shatnerian and Piney incarnations. Time will tell how the writers intend to answer it, but it’s a worthy notion to explore as the show approaches the end of its run.

Maybe the true answer, though, is that these questions are a sign that it’s time to say goodbye. Discovery’s accomplished plenty in its four seasons. It promises to accomplish more in its fifth. And however unexpected the final voyage may be, that meditation on seeking meaning in the shadow of having already been through so much leaves this last season feeling a closing statement for the series that is as appropriate as it is accidental. Thankfully, that puts Discovery in good company.

Star Trek: Discovery begins its final voyage on Paramount+ on April 4th.