Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery season 5 in general and episode 6, "Whistlespeak" in particular.

Summary

• Saru has been conspicuously absent from several episodes of Star Trek: Discovery season 5.
• The missed opportunity to focus on Saru's wedding with T'Rina as a subplot in season 5 is a mistake.
• The absence of Saru, a main character, is a sad development for Discovery's final season.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5 has completely sidelined Saru (Doug Jones) which is disappointing for the show's final season. Discovery season 5, episode 6, "Whistlespeak," which was written by Kenneth Lin and Brandon Schultz and directed by Chris Byrne, saw the USS Discovery and her crew continue their search for the Progenitor's technology on the planet Halem'no, where Captain Michael Burnham (Soneqa Martin-Green) and Lieutenant Slyvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman) were forced to break the Prime Directive to save the planet's inhabitants. However, for yet another episode, one important character was noticeably absent from the show's ensemble.

Saru has been a fixture on Discovery's cast of characters since season 1 and is as representative of the show as Captain Burnham. Played to perfection by Doug Jones, Saru introduced the Kelpian race to Star Trek canon and has become one of Discovery's most beloved characters. He has also enjoyed one of the most interesting character arcs of the entire series and continues to have great potential in Discovery season 5, which is why it's so surprising that the show's final season has utilized him so little compared to other characters.

Saru Has Been Sidelined In Star Trek: Discovery Season 5

The Kelpian has been absent for multiple episodes

Discovery season 5, episode 6, is the third straight installment where Saru has not appeared. Barring some appearances in the season's first three episodes, and a brief glimpse of his unconscious past self in episode 4, Saru's acceptance of a Federation Ambassador position in order to focus on his relationship with President T'Rina (Tara Rosling) has kept him out of Discovery's search for the Progenitor's technology. Given his main character status in seasons 1-4, however, Saru's omission from Discovery season 5 is both noticeable and disappointing.

Losing out on the opportunity to wrap up Saru's storyline properly is a sad turn of events for Discovery's final season.

Saru's season 5 exclusion isn't the first time that Discovery has sidelined a main character. In season 4, Tilly bowed out of several episodes in the middle of the season. However, the character returned in the season 4 finale and has taken up a bigger presence in season 5, especially in episode 6. Unfortunately, a larger role in the following season isn't possible for Saru, given that season 5 will be Discovery's last. Losing out on the opportunity to wrap up Saru's storyline properly is a sad turn of events for Discovery's final season.

Why Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Not Focusing On Saru & T’Rina’s Wedding Is A Mistake

Saru and T'Rina's wedding would be a great counterpart to season 5's main storyline

Saru's absence in Discovery season 5 is all the more disheartening because the show already set up the perfect storyline for him apart from Discovery's crew. The glimpse of Saru's life as an ambassador and marriage preparations with T'Rina that episode 3 provided showed that using Saru's new path as a B-story to Discovery's main plot is completely feasible. Not only that, but a deeper exploration of Saru and T'Rina's relationship and the challenges of planning their wedding could act as a wonderfully lighthearted and romantic counterpart to Discovery season 5's more serious A-story.

Saru has already been through so much change and growth during his time on Star Trek: Discovery. Being able to see this final phase of his development, especially knowing that the show only has a limited number of episodes to wrap up his story, is crucial to making season 5 well-rounded. Hopefully, Saru can return to his main character status in season 5's final four episodes, or at the very least, the coda that was retroactively shot and added to the show's series finale will feature him and T'Rina more heavily.

New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery season 5 stream Thursdays on Paramount+.