The intergalactic journey of U.S.S. Discovery is coming to an end. Paramount+ has revealed that they are ending Star Trek: Discovery with the upcoming fifth season of the show. It is set to release in early 2024. The official Star Trek Twitter account released a statement from both star Sonequa Martin-Green, who plays Captain Michael Burnham, and Discovery executive producer Alex Kurtzman and showrunner Michelle Paradise.
Discovery’s final season wasn’t necessarily meant to be the end. But according to The Hollywood Reporter, there will be additional filming to help craft a conclusion for the series. Discovery was historic for many reasons. Debuting in 2017, it was the first streaming series in the franchise’s history. It was also the first Trek series since the cancellation of Enterprise some 12 years earlier.
Discovery launched a whole world of Trek in the streaming world, first on CBS All Access, then on its successor, Paramount+. This lead to Picard, Lower Decks, Prodigy, and most recently, Strange New Worlds. Of course, it was also the first Star Trek series with an African-American woman in the lead, and the Trek series with its first regular trans character.
Discovery was unique in Trek canon for several reasons. It began as a prequel to the original series, set some ten years before the time of Kirk on the Enterprise. But at the end of season two, they propelled the starship Discovery over 900 years into the future. This allowed the show to explore a completely different era in the Star Trek timeline. It was also unique in that the lead character was not a Captain or Commander. But she eventually evolved into taking command of the ship by the end of the third season. It will be interesting to see if Star Trek remains in this time period for future series, or returns to the past.
The final season of Star Trek: Discovery will drop on Paramount+ in early 2024.
