Star Trek: Discovery ending with season 5 is a surprise move that will have a ripple effect on the Star Trek franchise on Paramount+. On March 2, 2023, the announcement came that Discovery's upcoming fifth season will be its last, with heartfelt statements made by executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Michelle Paradise, series lead and producer Sonequa Martin-Green, who portrays Captain Michael Burnham, Paramount chief programming officer Tanya Giles, and David Stapf of CBS Studios all praising the success of Discovery.
Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman are credited with creating Star Trek: Discovery, which has undergone behind-the-scenes changes and creative revamps since it launched on the CBS All-Access streaming service in 2017. Originally a prequel series set before Star Trek: The Original Series, Discovery jumped 930 years into the future of Star Trek's canonical timeline at the end of season 2. Discovery was not met with overwhelming love from hardcore Star Trek fandom since its inception, but it endured and found its creative footing. Discovery's success became the cornerstone of Star Trek's expansion into an entire universe of new series streaming on Paramount+, which includes Star Trek: Picard, the animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Prodigy, and its direct spinoff, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
Why Star Trek: Discovery Is Ending With Season 5
Star Trek: Discovery's fifth and final season will stream on Paramount+ sometime in early 2024, but the reasons why the series is ending reportedly has to do more with the overall business of streaming and the landscape of the marketplace. A detailed analysis by TrekMovie examined the pressures Paramount Global is under to cut costs and make the Paramount+ streaming service profitable, which is an issue every streamer, including Netflix, HBO Max, and Disney+, is dealing with. Paramount CFO Naveen Chopra announced that 2023 will be their "peak year" in streaming investment, which means the company is starting to trim its bottom line as Paramount+ merges with Showtime and becomes pickier about which series to finance. Star Trek: Discovery ending seems to be a result of the changing business of streaming.
Evidently, Star Trek: Discovery season 5 was not intended to be the end of the series. Variety and THR reported that "additional filming" will take place in 2023, presumably to add scenes and turn the season 5 finale into a proper series finale. No one at Paramount+ has used the word "canceled" to describe Discovery's fate, but this is essentially what has happened. Still, Paramount intends to send Discovery out in style with media events in different markets throughout the year to celebrate the inaugural Star Trek series from CBS Studios and Secret Hideout, and build toward the yet-unannounced season 5 premiere date.
Discovery Ends As A Star Trek Success Story
Star Trek: Discovery has its share of loyal fans and detractors, but there is no arguing that there would be no Star Trek universe on Paramount+ without Michael Burnham's show leading the way. Discovery helped keep the nascent CBS All-Access streaming service afloat in its early years before its rebranding into Paramount+. The two live-action and two animated Star Trek shows that launched since 2020 were made possible by Discovery. Star Trek: Discovery was the franchise's first foray into serialized prestige television, and it raised the bar for Star Trek series in terms of cinematic visuals and production values.
Further, Star Trek: Discovery broke important ground for diversity, inclusiveness, and LGBTQ+ representation. Sonequa Martin-Green is the first Black female lead of a Star Trek series, and Burnham became the first Black female Captain to lead a Star Trek series. Anthony Rapp's Paul Stamets and Wilson Cruz's Dr. Hugh Culber were the first openly gay couple in a loving marriage portrayed in Star Trek. Discovery season 3 added Blu del Barrio's Adira Tal and Ian Alexander's Gray as Star Trek's first non-binary and transgender stars. This opened the door for further representation in the other Star Trek series, like Jesse James Keitel portraying the non-binary Captain Angel in Strange New Worlds.
What Happens To Star Trek After Discovery Ends?
Star Trek on Paramount+ had a historic 2022 where all five Star Trek series aired new episodes, resulting in a new episode of Star Trek nearly every Thursday throughout the year. Star Trek entered 2023 with much the same hoopla but Star Trek: Discovery season 5 both not premiering until 2024 and ending, along with Star Trek: Picard season 3 being its final season, casts a pall over the franchise. When Picard and Discovery end, Strange New Worlds, which will stream its completed season 2 episodes later this year, will be the lone live-action Star Trek series on Paramount+. This is unless the live-action Section 31 or Starfleet Academy series that Alex Kurtzman announced are in development happen.
Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4 and Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 are currently in production to be released later in 2023, but it remains to be seen if either animated show will get another season order. Although, animation is cheaper to produce than live-action so it's a decent bet. There are also rumors Strange New Worlds season 3 will begin production later in 2023. Paramount+ placed Captain Pike (Anson Mount) and Lower Decks' Ensign Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) front and center in its Superbowl commercial, which is a good indication both Trek shows have an immediate future on the streamer. Five years is an eternity in today's streaming landscape so Star Trek: Discovery's run can be considered a success by any measure, and its positive impact on Star Trek will continue to be felt into the future.
Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 premieres in 2024 on Paramount+.