There’s been a lot of mystery surrounding “Star Trek: Discovery” and how it’ll fit into the pre-existing “Star Trek” universe and relate to the other installments. Executive producers have now clarified that it’ll be less like the original series — and more like later iterations.
Executive producer Akiva Goldsman told reporters at the Television Critics Association press tour on Tuesday how unique the show will be in the “Star Trek” franchise. He first that it would be the first serialized version of “Star Trek” — to the immediate disagreement from the audience — but then rephrased.
“It’s the most serialized version of ‘Star Trek’ that’s ever existed,” he said.
Yes, even more than “Deep Space Nine,” which is best known for being a serialized version of the franchise’s formula, “even in its last two seasons,” Goldsman added.
So what will the show cover? “Discovery” takes place in a time of war, leading up to the relative Utopia that fans experienced in the original series.
“We’re trying to find out who we are as a Federation and as a coalition of peoples in the face of adversity,” he continued. “So it’s entirely the outcome goal of the show to arrive at the Utopian principles that I think are endemic to ‘Star Trek.’”
The producers emphasized that the show is a character drama. The series, for example, follows Sonequa Martin-Green, who plays Michael Burnham. Martin-Green said at TCA that the main question of her character’s arc is how she’ll relate to her semi-adoptive father (played by Jason Isaacs) and that relationship, along with how she, as part of the Federation, will relate to those on the opposite side of the war.
The show, she said is “asking those deeply profound questions of ‘who am I and who are you and how do I relate to you?’”
“While we are in a more Utopian society in ‘Star Trek’ and that has always been the case in our iteration, there’s the conflict,” she continued. “There’s the inner conflict, there’s the collective conflict”
This goes into the war with the Klingons. According to Mary Chieffo, who plays the Klingon L’Rell, the writers have taken care to show both sides of the conflict.
“Really beautiful to read the script and see these parallel stories going on and see the conflicts arise,” she said.
In the end, the serialization of the “Discovery” is about, according to Isaacs, starting a conversation. As he said, the credits are only the beginning.
“You can start the discussion in your family about who we are on the screen,” he explained.