Star Trek: Discovery Just Did A Perfectly Sneaky Wrath Of Khan Callback

Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 9, "Lagrange Point" saw an interaction between Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Commander Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie) that was a subtle and clever callback to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Written by Sean Cochran and Ari Friedman and directed by Jonathan Frakes, Star Trek: Discovery's penultimate episode was a thrilling heist adventure as Captain Burnham led an away team into the Breen dreadnought to recover the portal to the Progenitors' ancient technology. Like any good heist, things go sideways, and Burnham calls an audible that evokes a similar gambit in Star Trek II.

Captain Burnham, Cleveland Booker (David Ajala), Ensign Adira Tal (Blu del Barrio), and Lt. Commander Gen Rhys (Patrick Kwok-Choon) donned Breen uniforms to infiltrate the massive dreadnought. However, Burnham's attempted thievery to beam the Progenitors' portal onto the USS Discovery was discovered by Moll (Eve Harlow), who now controls this Breen faction in the name of her husband, the late Scion L'ak (Elias Toufexis). Forced to unmask, Michael improvises a new plan for Discovery to blast the portal - as well as Burnham - into deep space. Burnham communicates her scheme to Commander Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie) with a code that harkens back a memorable Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan moment.

Captain Burnham & Commander Rayer’s Code Called Back To Kirk & Spock In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

"By the book."

In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Captain Spock (Leonard Nimoy) went "by the book" to fool Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban). Suspecting that Khan was monitoring their communications as Kirk led an away team to Space Station Regula I, the Admiral and the Vulcan communicated the status of the damaged Starship Enterprise's repairs by obfuscating their timeline. Using the code "hours could seem like days", Spock tricked the eavesdropping Khan into believing the Enterprise would be crippled for days when, in actuality, repairs were swiftly completed in a matter of hours.

Captain Burnham and Commander Rayner use a similar type of code and shorthand to pull the wool over Moll (Eve Harlow) and the Breen's eyes in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 9, "Lagrange Point". Burnham knew Rayner was listening on the USS Discovery's bridge, and she insisted on a "grum of osikod" from Moll. Michael then reminded Moll of their first encounter in Star Trek: Discovery's series premiere when Burnham hung off the side of her and L'ak's ship before closing with "my crew will come for me." Rayner knew exactly what the Captain was covertly ordering: Fly the USS Discovery into the Breen cargo hold to blow the Progenitors' portal and Burnham into space where they could be transported aboard.

Star Trek: Discovery Paid Off Burnham & Rayner’s Story Arc

Captain Burnham and Commander Rayner have become an excellent team

The code between Captain Burnham and Commander Rayner ingeniously paid off their relationship built throughout Star Trek: Discovery season 5. Initially rivals pursuing the same Red Directive mission, Burnham gave Rayner a second chance to become the USS Discovery's First Officer after the Kellerun was demoted from Captain and nearly drummed out of Starfleet. Rayner was a square peg in Discovery's round hole, but Burnham made the effort to understand her new Number One, even learning Kellerun history and phrases.

In turn, the abrasive Commander Rayner came to understand how his new Captain and crew operate, even if the USS Discovery's rapport ran opposite to Rayner's temperament. But Burnham and Rayner came to respect and trust each other, resulting in the Kellerun taking command of the USS Discovery with the full support of the bridge crew in Star Trek: Discovery's penultimate episode. Surely, Admiral Kirk and Captain Spock in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan would nod in approval of Burnham and Rayner's teamwork.