Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Season 1 finale of Star Trek: Discovery! Read at your own risk!
Star Trek: Discovery's Season 1 finale showed a lot of surprising stuff, but nothing was more shockingly stellar than what it saved for its final moments. The crew of the USS Discovery was heading to Vulcan when a distress signal came from a familiar ship, and a short time later, the Discovery was disc to disc with none other than the USS Enterprise, introducing some major franchise crossover moments in Season 2. This could mean a lot of things for the future, but we're essentially getting Enterprise team-ups with Christopher Pike, others, and maybe even Spock!
The Enterprise's connection with the Discovery is a guarantee, considering this freshman season ended with the original Star Trek's iconic ship sending a distress call, which certainly won't be ignored. And no, this won't be a Captain Kirk-led ship just yet, since one crew member alerted the bridge that the signal came from Captain Christopher Pike, Kirk's predecessor. Though this is a Kirk-less Enterprise, we saw a particular look shared by Michael Burnham and Sarek (who was on-board to get a ride to Vulcan) that seemed to indicate another fan-friendly face could be on-board that ship.
Star Trek: Discovery co-creator and executive producer Alex Kurtzman spoke with Variety about how big of a role the Enterprise will play in Season 2, and whether or not Spock will make a grand appearance:
The show is called 'Discovery.' It's not 'Enterprise, so yes, the Enterprise will play a part of Season 2 but it will absolutely not overshadow Discovery. And I think with Enterprise's arrival in the finale we recognize that the audience has a lot of questions about our synchronicity with the original series, which really means or synchronicity with canon. So the promise of the Enterprise holds the answers to a lot of those questions, including Spock's relationship with his half-sister who he's never mentioned. Which does not necessarily mean you're going to see Spock, just that we owe an answer to that question.
Alex Kurtzman didn't exactly confirm that a walking and talking Spock will be seen in Season 2, but one has to wonder why Burnham and Sarek's ears perked up so noticeably when the ship was mentioned, if not for their shared family member being part of its crew. It's entirely possible the two may have just been reacting to Captain Christopher Pike's name, since he is/was one of the Federation's most decorated captains. The last-minute reveal means we'll see more adventures with Pike at the height of his glory, which is something fans of the original Star Trek only got to witness in short order.
Jeffrey Hunter's Christopher Pike technically only appeared in the unaired pilot of The Original Series, though footage from that episode was used in a later episode, in which Pike was also portrayed by Sean Kenney. show's unaired pilot which each aforementioned episode contained footage from. For the updated film franchise, Bruce Greenwood took on the Pike portrayal. With the lesser-used character's upcoming appearance on Star Trek: Discovery, fans will get a rare chance to see the Captain live up to the prestige he's been given in the Prime universe canon.
Alex Kurtzman also mentioned to that Season 2 will bring more answers regarding how Star Trek: Discovery will fit into canon while not conflicting with the events of the O.G. Star Trek and the other shows that followed. The series is already on the right path to cleaning its violent world up a bit, as Burnham ended up saving the day, resolving the Klingon dispute and saving the day using Federation tactics, as opposed to mutiny-fueled genocide. The ship now has a new captain on the way (that hopefully won't be evil), and one would imagine next season will bring a version of Star Trek: Discovery closer in line with Star Trek values. Hopefully, not too far in line, though, as fans might start a mutiny of their own should this show lose some of the elements that have made it so enjoyable in Season 1.
Here's what else Kurtzman said that makes use thing the Discovery crew will be worthy of Pike's presence in the future.
Season 1 was really about the war and how the war tested our ideals as Starfleet. It was very much about Michael's story arc and her getting comfortable on Discovery. Fundamentally, it was really about bringing that crew together as a family. If you look at the crew in the beginning, they're very separate and they're not really connected yet. They are not sure of each other and their place on the ship. Over the course of the season, they really become a family.
A family that flies around the universe(s) together stays together. Season 2 of Star Trek: Discovery will air on CBS All Access, though no release date has been announced at this time. For more on upcoming programming, visit our midseason premiere guide.
