What Does the Future Hold for 'Star Trek'?

Images: Paramount+.

APRIL 12, 2023 - With the announcement that Star Trek: Discovery will end after its fifth season and the prediction that Picard’s third season will be its last, fans of Star Trek may be left wondering where the remaining franchise series might be heading. Beware of spoilers!

The oldest of the continuing series is Star Trek: Lower Decks which will be back for a fourth season this year. So far, no official release date has been announced, but the first three seasons appeared in August and ran through October. A 10-episode season has been ordered and promises to build on past storylines.

While we wait for a trailer, Lower Decks creator Mike McMahan has given fans at least some idea of what’s coming in Season 4: more T’Lyn, the Vulcan character who was introduced in the season 3 episode “wej Duj.” In an interview with IGN, McMahan said he was surprised by fan reaction to T’lyn, who is voiced by Gabrielle Ruiz.

“I wish I had known everybody was gonna love T'lyn as much as I love T'lyn,” McMahan said. “Because T'lyn is basically not in Season 3. You get a little bit with her. But then in Season 4, I went to T'lyn town. I want to know what she's up to.”

Another character who might pop up again is the exocomp Peanut Hamper. After her introduction in Season 2, the little robot-that-wouldn’t showed up again in Season 3. This time around Peanut Hamper (voiced by Kether Donohue) found herself locked up in a cell next to the evil artificial intelligence AGIMUS (voiced by Jeffrey Combs). At the episode’s conclusion, it appeared that the two artificial life forms might be partnering up. Could Season 4 feature a robot rebellion?

Strange New Worlds, like most prequels, is somewhat boxed in by the established canon that follows it. The cast and crew of the show proved themselves up to the challenge of making something awesome in that space during Season 1 and Season 2 has several plot threads to follow up on.

In addition to Captain Pike's continued struggle with the knowledge of his tragic fate, Season 2 could also delve more deeply into the characters of Spock and Number One, exploring more of their backstories and personal lives. At the conclusion of Season 1, fans were left wondering what will become of Number One who was arrested when Starfleet learned she lied about being a genetically engineered Illyrian. In addition, Strange New Worlds has established itself as an ensemble drama and has plenty of room to maneuver as we learn more about Uhura, La'an, Ortegas, and a certain Scottish engineer whose voice was heard at the end of Season 1.

Perhaps the strangest thing fans of Strange New Worlds have to look forward to is a promised crossover event. While the details remain a closely-guarded secret, it has been confirmed that characters from Lower Decks will make a live-action appearance in Season 2 of Strange New Worlds.

On March 28, Paramount+ announced that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 will premiere this summer on June 15 with 10 episodes appearing weekly on Thursdays. 

Of the three returning Star Trek shows, the one with the clearest future is Prodigy. Although aimed at a younger audience, the show found a place with Star Trek fans of all ages as it followed the adventures of a rag-tag bunch of teens being mentored by a hologram version of Kathryn Janeway. At the end of Season 1, most of the young explorers found out that they had essentially been allowed to skip the boring years of Starfleet Academy and jump straight to joining a starship crew. 

Season 2 will presumably pick up where Season 1 ended with Dal, Rok-Tahk, Jankom Pog, Zero, and Murf serving as acting warrant officers on the crew of starship commanded by the real Janeway as it attempts to locate Captain Chakotay who appears to have been thrown 50 years into the future. The final member of the Protostar’s crew, Gwyn, will have her own adventure where she will return to her home planet of Solum in an effort to change the effects of first contact. Fans of Season 1 will remember those disastrous effects are what set her father on his mission to travel back in time and destroy Starfleet.