The hype around Discovery has been steadily growing and growing. But now we have a release date. November 18th! (Friday 19th for Netflix) And finally, after a lot of back and forth and character bumps, Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) finally steps up to the big chair and takes charge of the Discovery. You could say it’s Been a long road, but finally, her time is near!
This series of Discovery seems to be bringing in the big guns, as soon as the Federation began to recover from its Dilithum shortage, we now have something even bigger to contend with. Like, really big. You think it’s a long walk down to the shops, but that’s peanuts to this threat.
The new trailer sees the Disco entering this anomaly and Burnham being thrown around in the captain’s chair while suffering many a horrible crunching sounds. All while Tilly (Mary Wiseman)narrates on the length of life in comparison to the rest of the universe. This all feels a little morbid and I can’t help but feel we are being primed for a terrible character death. (If it’s Grudge, we riot).
At the Starfleet meeting, we see a few new faces, races and one I’m so excited to see again. Ferengi!
First off, we have Chelah Horsdal as Federation President Rillak. Half-human, half Cardassian, it’s nice to see our favourite space lizards make a return to Trek. Hopefully, Cardassia held up over the years. Wilson Cruz mentioned that Chelah Horsdal, “She just slipped right in and became part of the family.”
But Cardassians aren’t the only returning races!
A slightly tweaked design for a Ferengi captain. I have to say, I dig it, it stays true to the original design of the race while leaning into Andrew Probert’s original design from 1987 when working on TNG.
But enough about alien designs in Star Trek, no one gets hung up on those. We’re here to talk about Burnham! During NYCC, Sonequa Martin-Green talked about the evolution of her role and how the character of Burnham has changed from series one to series four with the Captain’s chair looming.
Sonequa Martin-Green: “Everything has led to sitting down in that chair and assuming that role… And that year alone [between episodes 301 and 302] was essential. Because, really for the first time, it was a second to breathe and stop and ask myself as Burnham, ‘What and who am I actually?’ I have always had someone to tell me who I should be. And I have always done my best to excel at that. But I’ve overcompensated and I’ve made a lot of mistakes because of it. So who am I actually? And now I can be that person… But I love what Burnham’s mother said, where duty and joy go hand in hand. And that you can actually choose both. And I love that in this season coming up, you see these people finding out exactly how they can choose both in their own lives and in their own ways.”
Given these little tidbits, I wonder if this will be an examination of the character of Burnham and her journey to becoming captain. Burnham has had a less than spotless record when it comes to her Starfleet service. So it makes me wonder how this history will play into her role as a captain.
Anthony Rapp also mentioned that the friction that grew between Burham and Stamments is not over yet.
Anthony Rapp: Stamets is opinionated and has strong feelings, but he’s also incredibly loyal. So I think yes, we’re going to be able to work together. There may be a little poke here or there to allude to what happened, but he’s also a responsible officer, and a loyal friend and is capable of forgiveness.
I know one of the core foundations of Star Trek was originally “No personal conflict”, but given the actions of Michael in the last series, can we blame Stammanets? This may lead to some very interesting character friction, it will be interesting to see how it is resolved, or if it will ever be resolved, come series 4.
One important question for series 4. Who’s driving the ship? At the end of series 3, it was revealed that Book could also use the Spore Drive interface. Funnily enough, Stamets and Book never actually shared a scene in the previous series, thankfully that has been remedied. Rapp and Ajala spoke about this during the panel.
David Ajala: I was hoping you weren’t going to ask because that’s very sensitive… We share the keys… In one of the episodes, we actually speak.
Anthony Rapp: Yeah, I think for the first time in the whole series. I don’t think our characters ever actually had a direct interaction… [Ajala interjects: We covered ground] I was very, very glad when I read that script, that I got a chance to act in a scene or two with David Ajala, who’s been a tremendous addition to our cast and a capital human being.
Talking about carrying story arcs over from series 3 to 4. Culber hasn’t forgotten his promise. Speaking about the relationship between Adira and Grey, Wilson Cruz talks about Culber’s plan to help Discovery’s favourite couple.
Wilson Cruz: “When Dr. Culber makes a promise, he keeps that promise… So we we find a way to make sure that Gray is seen as promised and, and we get to see just how vital he becomes to a story and to our mission. And I’m just excited about the fact that we have finally an official trans character on the show in Star Trek, in the universe. And he does an amazing job and I can’t wait for you guys to see.”
Personally, I am very excited for the continuing story of Adira and Grey, it was one of the high points for Star Trek as a franchise and I really hope we get a lot more of them as characters as they reconnect in series 4.
One of the last questions for the cast was to describe the series in 1 word.
Sonequa Martin-Green: “Honorable”
Blu del Barrio: “Dream-like”
David Ajala: “Endurance”
Wilson Cruz: “Resilience… through uncertainty”
Mary Wiseman: “Stretching”
Anthony Rapp: “Crucible”
Michelle Paradise: “Growth… with all of our characters”
This is such a tease though! We know so little about this series and they layer on such tantalising words like this on top of an action mystery trailer? Ah Star Trek, you never fail to build hype in me.
Watch The Season 4 Trailer…
Star Trek: Discovery returns for its fourth season on November 18 on Paramount+ in the United States and on CTV Sci-Fi Channel in Canada, followed by a November 19 return to Netflix in all other international territories.
Which series are you more excited for? Prodigy, Discovery? Excited about both? Let us know! I know I’m just happy for more and more Star Trek content. With Lower Decks ending its second series soon, I’m excited to see that we pick right back up and get rolling.
