Star Trek: Discovery's final season is fast approaching, and viewers will soon get to see the endgame for Michael Burnham and the rest of the Discovery crew. Fortunately, Paramount+'s surprise cancellation of the series came with the opportunity to film an ending, but doing so was more complicated than readers might think. CinemaBlend caught up with Sonequa Martin-Green and learned why the shooting was stressful, while also being totally worth it.
CinemaBlend's Laura Hurley spoke with star Sonequa Martin-Green at SCAD TV Fest and asked about bringing Star Trek: Discovery to a close with the additional final scenes the cast and crew returned to film. When asked if there were any difficulties in getting the final part to come together, the confirmed that there were some "close calls" that could've kept it from happening, saying:
Oh yeah, there were, actually! That's a good question. There were. There were a few close calls because we only had, in addition to the limited time to write it. We also had very limited time to shoot it. So yes, everything was tenuous. Everything was, 'Oh man, this has to work because it's our only opportunity.' You know what I mean? And so we worked crazy hours just to make sure that we got everything because there was that sense of like, 'If we don't get it now, we ain't gonna ever get it.' But thankfully, everything worked, and we got everything in there.
It's wild to hear that there was a reality in which filming these final scenes for Star Trek: Discovery might not have happened for behind-the-scenes reasons. At the same time, it's not entirely surprising, given the unexpected cancellation that led other Trek stars like Jonathan Frakes to get candid with disagreements. Luckily, everything aligned for the cast and crew to produce an ending that gave stars like Doug Jones closure about the end.
CinemaBlend asked Sonequa Martin-Green if the ending truly made the series feel like a finale, especially given that Season 5 wasn't originally constructed to be the closing chapter of the show. The star gave a definitive answer to that and credited the writing staff for all their hard work:
Yes, it does now, because I gotta big up the writers for what they created. Because they had a very limited amount of pages and a very limited amount of time to create the scripts for this addendum shoot. They needed to wrap up everything like that [snaps fingers]. But I think that they knocked it out of the park. I really do. And so now it does feel like a series finale because we had that experience.
Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 will follow the crew as they search for an ancient artifact with some immense power. The series has dropped the Season 5 episode titles for fans to mull over, as well as the official announcement that Season 5 will premiere on April 4th! Check out the new poster that dropped along with the release date.
Season 5 is said to be more action-packed than previous seasons, and the footage released thus far has a different vibe. It's also reported that the nature of this season will allow Star Trek: Discovery to emulate Strange New Worlds and have a more episodic nature, which fans have responded to positively. Perhaps this is a sign that upcoming Trek projects will also follow this formula, but that's a question left mainly for future shows we'll enjoy with a Paramount+ subscription.
Here's hoping for the start of a great adventure when Star Trek: Discovery's final season begins on Paramount+ on Thursday, April 4th. I can hardly contain my excitement for the adventure, so I suppose it's a good thing I still have time to rewatch everything leading up to it.
