Star Trek: Discoveryis often maligned for bringing the franchise back in such a drastically different way, but with the firstStar Trekshow in over a decade now over, it’s much easier to see all the positives the project provided for the future of the iconic sci-fi saga. TheStar Trek: Discoveryseason 5 finalebrought the show to a satisfying conclusion after seven years on the air, and while the modernized spinoff may not have been perfect, it still found several ways for the franchise to continue to thrive when it was time for the show to end.
Star Trek: Discoverystood apart fromeveryStar Trekshowthat had preceded it. Everything from its storytelling approach, overhauled aesthetic, and aggressive retcons led much of the franchise’s fan base to believe it either wasn’t part of the main canon or was taking place inStar Trek’s Kelvin Timelinethat JJ Abrams introduced in 2009’sStar Trekreboot movie. However,Star Trek: Discoveryis firmly planted in the Prime Universe, and the show’s legacy is far more good than bad.
10Star Trek: Discovery Brought The Franchise Back To TV Screens
There hadn’t been an active Star Trek show since Enterprise ended in 2005
Although there was a notable gap betweenStar Trek: The Original Series' cancelation and the premiere ofStar Trek: The Next Generation, the TV branch of the franchise then experienced its golden era.The Next Generationoverlapped brilliantly withStar Trek: Deep Space Nine, and the latter was then simultaneously on the air for a handful of years along withStar Trek: Voyager. After that, theStar Trek: Enterprise castwas left to keep the TV universe alive before the show ended after four seasons in 2005.It would then be 12 years untilStar Trek: Discoveryarrived.
Writer/director JJ Abrams had been working hard trying to get eyes back on Gene Roddenberry’s space opera with a new movie trilogy.
TheStar Trekfranchise wasn’t completely inert during these 12 years. Writer/director JJ Abrams had been working hard trying to get eyes back on Gene Roddenberry’s space opera with a new movie trilogy. Abrams’Star Trekmovies were incredibly respectful to the era in which they were set, leaving the story of William Shatner’s Captain Kirk untouched, and this was true for most members of theStar Trek: The Original Seriescast. Great though the movies were, it just wasn’t the same as experiencing weekly episodes - andStar Trek: Discoverymade that possible again after so long.
9Star Trek: Discovery Cast A-List Actors
Michelle Yeoh was just one of Star Trek: Discovery’s big names
The olderStar Trekshows tended to avoid established actors. In many ways, this was a huge benefit, as it meant the characters could be perceived without preconceptions caused by an actor’s previous roles. Many ofStar Trek’s best characters were embodied by actors who made their names in the franchise, so this casting trend is far from a negative trait of the TV shows. That being said,Star Trek: Discovery’s ability to attract big names didn’t just benefit the show, but also proved the franchise still had pull.
Star Trek: Discovery All 5 Seasons Ranked Worst To Best
Star Trek: Discovery ended its run with a fifth and final season, and now that the show is over, it’s clear which seasons were better than others.
TheStar Trek: Discoverycaststill featured up-and-comers, but actors like Sonequa Martin-Green as Captain Michael Burnham, Jason Isaac as Captain Lorca, and Michelle Yeoh as Philippa Georgiou paved the way for other stars to make their way into the franchise. Because of their presence,the upcoming projectStar Trek: Starfleet Academywill feature actors like Holly Hunter, Paul Giamatti, and Tatiana Maslany - all of whom might not have been cast if not forStar Trek: Discovery’s bold decisions.
8Discovery Made Star Trek Serialized
Previous Star Trek shows mostly confined their plots to single episodes
Pre-Discoveryshows from theStar Trekfranchise predated the advent of streaming services. As such, the vast majority of episodes were self-contained adventures, with any stories unfolding over more than one installment being a landmark occasion. Whileserialized dramas weren’t unheard of beforeStar Trek: Discovery, they were far less common in the context of a high-concept sci-fi universe. WithStar Trek: Discoverydebuting during the streaming era, it wasn’t required to wrap up each story in under an hour and could tell a much longer, slow-burning tale.
Star Trek: Discoverydidn’t forever change the format of the franchise’s TV shows - it just gave them another possibility to work with.
AlthoughStar Trek: PicardfollowedStar Trek: Discoveryin this serialized approach, there have been other shows since that have opted to stick with the original format of an adventure per week.Star Trekshows likeLower DecksandStrange New Worldaren’t serialized, whereasStar Trek: Prodigyhas adopted a hybrid approach. So,Star Trek: Discoverydidn’t forever change the format of the franchise’s TV shows - it just gave them another possibility to work with.
7Discovery Brought Star Trek Movie Quality Visual Effects To TV
Star Trek TV shows finally got the Hollywood glamor treatment thanks to Discovery
Although the sets and alien prosthetics had long been groundbreaking in the shows that came beforeStar Trek: Discovery, its debut in 2017 was a feast for the eyes compared to its predecessors. The older shows haven’t aged particularly badly, and the parts that don’t look great anymore just add to the charm. However,Discoverywas the firstStar Trekshow that didn’t look like it was being shot on a TV budget.
The budget for each episode ofStar Trek: Discoveryseason 5 make is reported to be around the $7-8M mark.
Many visual aspects of the franchise received an upgrade inStar Trek: Discovery. Not only was the camerawork like something out of a blockbuster movie, but the CGI and practical effects were also incredibly impressive. JJ Abrams' work on hisStar Trekmovies betweenStar Trek: EnterpriseandStar Trek: Discoveryhad clearly left its mark, butDiscoverymade sure never to step fully into the world of Abrams' movies.
6Star Trek: Strange New Worlds & Other Spinoffs Wouldn’t Have Happened Without Discovery
Star Trek: Discovery provided plenty of fuel for the franchise to continue
One of the greatest things aboutStar Trekis that every project always stands the chance of leading to the next. The entire franchise is built on spinoffs.Star Trek: The Original Seriesis arguably the only show to be exempt from this phenomenon, althoughStar Trek: Discoverycould also be said to fit this description due to the hard divide between the franchise eras. Luckily,Discoveryrevived the tradition and is responsible for several successiveStar Trekprojects.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academyand 2025’sStar Trek: Section 31movie also wouldn’t exist ifStar Trek: Discoveryhad never been made.
Because of their vastly different tones, it can be easy to forget thatStar Trek: Strange New Worldsis a direct spinoff ofStar Trek: Discovery- despite the latter being much closer in tone toStar Trek: The Original Series. OtherupcomingStar TrekprojectslikeStar Trek: Starfleet Academyand 2025’sStar Trek: Section 31movie also wouldn’t exist ifStar Trek: Discoveryhad never been made.
5Star Trek: Discovery Gave The Franchise A Brand New Era To Explore
The 32nd century is a compelling time in Star Trek canon
TheStar Trek timelineis made up of several eras that have been explored to varying degrees. While the 24th century is easily the most fleshed out in the franchise’s canon, the 23rd has also experienced a great deal of worldbuilding. AlthoughStar Trek: Discoveryseason 1 placed the show afterEnterprise’s era in the 22nd centuryand just beforeThe Original Seriesin the 23rd,Star Trek: Discoveryseason 2’s epic finale thrust the show into the unprecedented period of the 32nd century.
The Best Order To Watch Star Trek: Discovery’s Complete Saga
The Star Trek: Discovery saga, including Short Treks, spans several shows and timelines. Here’s how to watch the entire saga in chronological order.
Star Trek: Discovery’s final three seasons all took place in its new distant future setting, and a lot was learned about the state of Starfleet, the Federation, and other aspects of franchise canon. AlthoughDiscoveryis over, the era it introduced will continue to be addressed in upcomingStar Trekprojects - which could, in turn, spawn other spinoffs that then go on to contribute even more to the lore ofStar Trek’s 32nd century.
4Discovery Brought Back Star Trek Nostalgia The Right Way
Captain Pike and other established characters were folded into Star Trek: Discovery’s updated formula
Even thoughStar Trek: Discoverywas clearly trying to stand on its own two feet without having to rely too heavily on the franchise’s rich legacy, it would have been untenable to ignore previous events forever. So, althoughStar Trek: Discoveryseason 1 involved certain franchise tropes, like the Mirror Universe, the storyline was largely separate from previous shows. That being said, the ending of the first season took a hard left turn on this philosophy and brought back the USS Enterprise.
Showing the Enterprise in its original form would have been a little jarring.
However, although known characters like Captain Pike (Anson Mount), Spock (Ethan Peck), and Number One (Rebecca Romijn) did appear,Star Trek: Discoverydidn’t rely too heavily on nostalgia, and it updated everything and everyone that had appeared inThe Original Seriesto fit withDiscovery’s new vibe. While this seems like an obvious choice, as showing the Enterprise in its original form would have been a little jarring, similar instances have happened before in otherStar Trekshows - and with mixed results. So, it was a decision thatDiscoveryhad to make and that future efforts can learn from.
3Star Trek: Discovery Is The Perfect Jumping-On Point For New Fans
Discovery requires no knowledge of past Star Trek shows
All theStar Trekmovies and TV showscombine to tell one enormous story. For someone looking to begin watchingStar Trek, it can be incredibly overwhelming when choosing a starting point. Although most of the shows make sense in isolation, there are often references to other corners of the franchise that can easily be missed by the uninitiated. Even justthe three 90sStar Trekshows combined to form a staggering 21 seasons, andDiscoverywas clearly very aware of the intimidation factor. As such,Star Trek: Discoveryrarely delves into pre-established lore, which makes it perfect for beginners.
In short, if someone wants to watch a fullStar Trekshow to test the waters,Discoveryis one of the best options for that.
Star Trek: Discoveryalso has the benefit of only boasting 5 seasons, and while season 1 consists of 15 episodes, the following runs gradually decrease until the final batch of episodes totals just 10. While this could be seen as a downgrade from classicStar Trekshows, which would routinely consist of 20+ episodes,Discovery’s serialized storylines would drag out a little too long if they lasted more than their episode counts. In short, if someone wants to watch a fullStar Trekshow to test the waters,Discoveryis one of the best options for that.
2Great New Aliens And Planets Were Introduced in Star Trek: Discovery
Discovery wasn’t afraid to make huge additions to the franchise lore
Star Trek: Discoveryinitially seemed as though it was going to be restrictedto established settings and alien races that had previously appeared in the 23rd century or earlier. The show quickly dispelled that doubt with the presence of Saru (Doug Jones), but the franchise’s first Kelpien was just the first of several new races that eventually made their way onto the show before and after the massive time jump at the end ofStar Trek: Discoveryseason 2.
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“What’s Past is Prologue”
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Saru’s homeworld wasn’t the only new planet visited by the USS Discovery, either.Captain Burnham and her crew continued to be pioneers as the show went on, and although some of the new settings debuted far into the future of theStar Trektimeline, there’s no reason why they can’t be reused in successive prequels and sequels. Of course, there is a delicate balance that needs to be found here to avoid canonical clashes, but it is possible with enough care.
1Discovery Gave Star Trek Greater Representation
The first modern Star Trek show continued the franchise’s trend
Star Trekas a franchise has always been incredibly progressive, going back to TV’s first interracial kiss between Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and Lt. Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) inStar Trek: The Original Series. Since then, the shows have continued to push social boundaries and provide representation for actors of various backgrounds. For example, Captain Sisko (Avery Brooks) wasStar Trek’s first Black captain, andStar Trek: Voyagergave command of its titular vessel to Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) - the franchise’s first female captain.Star Trek: Discoverycertainly didn’t shy away from this trend.
12 Amazing Characters Discovery Gave Star Trek
Throughout its five seasons on Paramount+, Star Trek: Discovery introduced some truly amazing and unforgettable characters to the Star Trek universe.
Discovery’s representative ethos is no greater embodied than by its leading lady, as Sonequa Martin-Green’s Captain Michael Burnham was the first Black, female captain to lead aStar Trekseries - and all while the character bore a name traditionally reserved for men. Similarly,Star Trek: Discoveryalso introduced the first married gay couplewith Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) and Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz), but also the franchise’s first non-binary character, Adira (Blu del Barrio). All the characters were incredibly well-written, making sureStar Trek: Discovery’s increased representation will continue intoStar Trek’s future.
