Star Trek: Discovery

Lore & Background

The series begins around ten years before the events of Star Trek: The Original Series, when Commander Michael Burnham's actions start a war between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire. She is court-martialed, stripped of rank, and reassigned to the USS Discovery, which has a unique means of propulsion called the 'spore drive'. After an adventure in the Mirror Universe, Discovery helps end the Klingon war. In the second season they investigate seven mysterious signals and a strange figure known as the 'Red Angel', and fight off a rogue artificial intelligence. This conflict ends with the Discovery traveling to the 32nd century, more than 900 years into their future. The USS Discovery finds the Federation fragmented in the future, and investigates the cause of a cataclysmic event known as the 'Burn' in the third season. Burnham is promoted to captain of Discovery at the end of the third season, and in the fourth season the crew helps rebuild the Federation while facing a space anomaly created by unknown aliens. In the fifth season, the Discovery goes on a galactic adventure to find a mysterious ancient power that other dangerous groups are also searching for. The series features more serialized storytelling than previous Star Trek series but became more episodic in later seasons.

Reader's Guide

Star Trek: Discovery is notable as the first Star Trek series since Star Trek: Enterprise concluded in 2005, and it began an expansion of the Star Trek franchise, including the companion shorts series Star Trek: Short Treks, spin-off series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and spin-off film Star Trek: Section 31. The series' release led to record subscriptions for CBS All Access and it became the most viewed original series on both All Access and Paramount+. It received positive reviews from critics, who highlighted Martin-Green's performance and the time-jump to the 32nd century, as well as numerous accolades including two Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards for its prosthetic makeup and visual effects. Various tie-in media and two official aftershows have also been produced based on the series. The series was produced by CBS Studios in association with Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment. Fuller was initially set as showrunner but left due to creative differences with CBS. He was replaced by Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts, with producing support from Akiva Goldsman for the first season. Berg and Harberts were fired by CBS during production on the second season. Kurtzman took over as showrunner and was joined by Michelle Paradise starting with the third season.

Did You Know?

• Sonequa Martin-Green stars as Michael Burnham, a science specialist on Discovery who eventually becomes captain.
• The series features the first openly gay character in a Star Trek series, Paul Stamets, played by Anthony Rapp.
• Doug Jones portrays Saru, the first Kelpien to enter Starfleet, with prosthetics that took more than three hours to apply each day.
• The spore drive is an experimental organic propulsion system developed by Stamets, inspired by a real-life mycologist of the same name.

A Turbulent Creative Journey

The production of Discovery was marked by significant behind-the-scenes upheaval. Bryan Fuller, who co-created the series alongside Alex Kurtzman, was initially positioned as showrunner but departed before filming due to creative disagreements with CBS. Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts stepped in, with Akiva Goldsman providing producing support during the first season. However, Berg and Harberts were themselves let go by CBS while the second season was still in production. Kurtzman then assumed the showrunner role, and Michelle Paradise joined him beginning with the third season. The series was produced by CBS Studios in partnership with Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment. Despite these leadership changes, the show maintained a commitment to serialized storytelling that set it apart from earlier Star Trek entries, though it gradually shifted toward a more episodic format in its later seasons. Filming was based at Pinewood Toronto Studios in Toronto, Canada, where the franchise's visual language was reimagined through modern techniques and visual effects.

Michael Burnham — From Specialist to Captain

Sonequa Martin-Green portrays Michael Burnham, a science specialist aboard the USS Discovery whose actions inadvertently ignite a war between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. Court-martialed and stripped of her rank, Burnham is reassigned to the Discovery, a vessel equipped with a revolutionary propulsion system called the spore drive. Her character was deliberately designed as a non-captain protagonist to offer a fresh perspective within the franchise, though the writers always intended her eventual promotion to captain, which arrives at the close of the third season. Burnham is a human raised in Vulcan culture by Sarek, making her the adopted sister of Spock—a connection whose absence from other Star Trek media is addressed in the second season. Despite her logic-driven upbringing, she retains a rebellious streak that persists even as she grows more vulnerable over the course of the series. Co-creator Bryan Fuller chose to give her a traditionally masculine name, a pattern he had also employed with the female leads on three of his earlier television shows.

Leaping Nine Hundred Years and Reshaping the Franchise

One of Discovery's most consequential narrative decisions comes at the end of its second season, when the crew travels more than 900 years into the future, arriving in the 32nd century. This time jump fundamentally altered the series' setting and tone. In this far-future era, the Federation has fractured, and the crew investigates a catastrophic event known as the "Burn" that shattered interstellar travel. Burnham is promoted to captain at the end of the third season, and in the fourth season the crew works to rebuild the Federation while confronting a destructive space anomaly generated by unknown aliens. The fifth season sends the Discovery on a galactic quest for a mysterious ancient power sought by multiple dangerous factions. Beyond the show itself, Discovery catalyzed a broader expansion of the Star Trek universe, spawning the companion shorts series Star Trek: Short Treks, the spin-off series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and the spin-off film Star Trek: Section 31, along with tie-in media and two official aftershows.

New Species, New Voices — Casting and Design

Discovery introduced entirely new elements to the Star Trek universe, most notably the Kelpien species, portrayed by Doug Jones as Saru, the first Kelpien to serve in Starfleet. On their homeworld, Kelpiens were hunted as prey, which drove the evolution of an innate ability to sense approaching danger. Jones endured prosthetic applications that initially required more than three hours each filming day, and he modeled Saru's distinctive gait on a supermodel's walk—a practical solution necessitated by the hooved-foot boots he wore. Producers drew comparisons between Saru and earlier iconic characters like Spock and Data. The series also featured a layered dual role for Shazad Latif, who played both the albino Klingon Voq and the human Ash Tyler, with Latif credited under the pseudonym "Javid Iqbal" for certain Voq appearances to conceal the shared actorship. The show's broader visual approach reinvented existing franchise designs using modern techniques and visual effects, giving the series a distinctly contemporary aesthetic while honoring its legacy.