Screen Rant presents an exclusive clip from Star Trek: Short Treks, the new collection of original short stories set in CBS All Access' expanding Star Trek universe arriving on Blu-Ray and DVD on June 2, 2020. Star Trek: Short Treks contains 9 short stories for the first time, including two animated shorts, and featuring the talents of Doug Jones (Commander Saru), Rebecca Romijn (Number One), Ethan Peck (Spock), Rosa Salazar (Captain Lynn Lucero), and Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike).
Following the blockbuster success of Star Trek: Discovery season 1, which brought Star Trek back to television in 2017 after a 12-year hiatus, Short Treks were conceived as a way to dive deeper into Star Trek: Discovery's themes and characters. The first Short Trek, "Runaway", premiered on CBS All Access on October 4, 2018, and was followed by "Calypso", and "The Brightest Star", all of which had a direct impact in the events of Star Trek: Discovery season 2. Six more Short Treks followed in late 2019-2020, including "Q&A" and "Ask Not", which featured the characters of Captian Pike, Number One, and Spock, who won over Trekkers in Star Trek: Discovery season 2 and will now star in their own spinoff set aboard the Starship Enterprise titled Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
In "Coming of Age," Screen Rant's exclusive bonus clip from Star Trek: Short Trek's Special Features, executive producer Alex Kurtzman and director Maja Vrvilo discuss writing for Mary Wiseman, who plays Star Trek: Discovery's Ensign Sylvia Tilly, in "Runaway". The inaugural Short Trek depicts the fateful meeting between Tilly and Mi Hani Ika Hani Ka Po (Yadira Guevara-Prip), a brilliant teenager who turns out to be the Queen of the planet Xahea. Po would return in Star Trek: Discovery's season 2 finale, "Such Sweet Sorrow", and her friendship with Tilly played an integral role in the U.S.S. Discovery's battle to save the galaxy from the rogue sentient A.I. called Control.
As seen in "Coming of Age", both Alex Kurtzman and Maja Vrvilo highly praised Mary Wiseman's performance as Sylvia Tilly in "Runaway". As co-writer of the Short Trek with Jenny Lumet, Kurtzman was impressed with the truthfulness of Wiseman's acting, which he described, as "brilliant... wildly emotional... she can do every flavor we throw at her." Because "Runaway" was shot quickly over three days, Vrivilo also spoke candidly about how she had no time to rehearse Wiseman and Guevara-Prip together and she had no idea how the short would turn out. Needless to say, it was a success.
Along with 9 Short Treks: "Runaway," "Calypso", "The Brightest Star", "The Escape Artist" (starring Rainn Wilson as Harry Mudd), "Q&A", "The Trouble With Edward", "Ask Not", and the animated shorts, "Ephraim & Dot", and "The Girl Who Made The Stars", Star Trek: Short Treks also contains over 50-minutes of bonus content. This includes "Shall We Dance", where writer Michael Chabon and director Olatunde Osunsanmi discuss the challenges of making "Calypso", "Ensign Spock's First Day", where Chabon talks about writing for Ensign Spock in "Q&A", "The Making of Short Treks", an in-depth discussion with Alex Kurtzman about how and why the new concept Short Treks were made, and two audio commentaries featuring Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet providing commentary for "Runaway" and star Anson Mount providing commentary for "Ask Not".
Star Trek: Short Treks releases on Blu-ray and DVD on June 2, 2020.