Why Discovery Is Ending With Season 5 & What It Means For Star Trek

Star Trek: Discovery ending with season 5 came as a surprise and causes a ripple effect to the Star Trek franchise on Paramount+. On March 2, 2023, the announcement came that Discovery season 5 will be its final season, with heartfelt statements made by executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Michelle Paradise, series lead and producer Sonequa Martin-Green, who portrays Captain Michael Burnham, Paramount chief programming officer Tanya Giles, and David Stapf of CBS Studios all praising the success of Star Trek: Discovery.

Star Trek: Discovery launched on the CBS All-Access streaming service in 2017 and was originally a prequel series set before Star Trek: The Original Series. Discovery jumped 930 years into the future of Star Trek's canonical timeline at the end of season 2. Discovery was not met with overwhelming love from hardcore Star Trek fandom since its inception, but it endured and found its creative footing. Discovery's success became the cornerstone of Star Trek's expansion into an entire universe of new series streaming on Paramount+, which includes Star Trek: Picard, the animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Prodigy (which is now on Netflix), and Discovery's direct spinoffs, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and the upcoming Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.

Why Star Trek: Discovery Is Ending With Season 5

A five-year run is an achievement in the streaming era

The reasons for Star Trek: Discovery ending reportedly has to do more with the overall business of streaming and the landscape of the marketplace. A detailed analysis by TrekMovie examined the pressures Paramount Global is under to cut costs and make the Paramount+ streaming service profitable, which is an issue every streamer, including Netflix, HBO Max, and Disney+, is dealing with. Paramount CFO Naveen Chopra announced that 2023 was their "peak year" in streaming investment, which means the company is trimming its bottom line. Star Trek: Discovery ending seems to be a result of the changing business of streaming.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5 was not intended to be the end of the series. Following the cancelation, Paramount+ allowed the cast and crew of Star Trek: Discovery to return to Toronto for 3 additional days of filming. Star Trek: Discovery's series finale, "Life Itself", directed by Olatunde Osunsanme and written by showrunner Michelle Paradise, is an extended episode that concludes with a special coda to wrap up the series and Discovery's major character arcs. Paradise promised fans Star Trek: Discovery would not end with a frustrating cliffhanger that would never be resolved.

Discovery Ends As A Star Trek Success Story

Star Trek owes its renaissance to Discovery

Star Trek: Discovery has its share of loyal fans and detractors, but there is no arguing that there would be no Star Trek universe on Paramount+ without Michael Burnham's show leading the way. Discovery helped keep the nascent CBS All-Access streaming service afloat in its early years before its rebranding into Paramount+. The two live-action and two animated Star Trek shows that launched since 2020 were made possible by Discovery. Star Trek: Discovery was the franchise's first foray into serialized prestige television, and it raised the bar for Star Trek series in terms of cinematic visuals and production values.

Further, Star Trek: Discovery broke important ground for diversity, inclusiveness, and LGBTQ+ representation. Sonequa Martin-Green is the first Black female lead of a Star Trek series, and Burnham subsequently became the first Black female Captain to lead a Star Trek series. Anthony Rapp's Paul Stamets and Wilson Cruz's Dr. Hugh Culber were the first openly gay couple in a loving marriage portrayed in Star Trek.Discovery season 3 added Blu del Barrio's Adira Tal and Ian Alexander's Gray as Star Trek's first non-binary and transgender stars. Discovery opened the door for LGBTQ+ representation in the other Star Trek series, like Jesse James Keitel portraying the non-binary Captain Angel in Strange New Worlds.

What Happens To Star Trek After Discovery Ends?

Star Trek will keep on going with TV series and movies

Star Trek on Paramount+ had a historic 2022 where all five Star Trek series aired new episodes, resulting in a new episode of Star Trek nearly every Thursday throughout the year. Star Trek entered 2023 with much the same hoopla but Star Trek: Discovery season 5 both not premiering until 2024 and ending, along with Star Trek: Picard season 3 being its final season, casts a pall over the franchise, although Picard season 3 and Strange New Worlds season 3 were huge successes with critics and audiences.

Star Trek: Lower Decks ending with season 5 later in 2024 accompanied the news of Strange New Worlds' season 4 renewal. When Discovery and Lower Decks are over, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, which is targeting a 2026 release, will join Strange New Worlds as the two remaining Star Trek series on Paramount+. However, after spinning off 5 new series and a made-for-streaming movie, Star Trek: Section 31, Star Trek: Discovery's run can be considered a success by any measure, and its positive impact on Star Trek will continue to be felt into the future.

Will Star Trek: Discovery Return For Season 6 Or Movies?

There are always possibilities.

Star Trek: Discovery planted numerous seeds for the Star Trek on Paramount+ franchise to continue to grow, but there is no indication that Discovery itself will continue with a season 6 after its season 5/series finale. Discovery's 32nd-century timeline will be continued by Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, with the potential for some Discovery characters to appear in the new series. A Star Trek: Discovery streaming movie on Paramount+ might be possible (depending on how Star Trek: Section 31 performs) but not any time in the near future with the general uncertainty surrounding Paramount's sale.

Star Trek's theatrical side is ramping up after nearly a decade since Star Trek Beyond premiered in theaters in 2016. Paramount Pictures announced an Untitled Star Trek Origin movie directed by Toby Haynes will start production later in 2024 for a 2025 or 2026 release. X-Men producer Simon Kinberg is reportedly negotiating to oversee the Star Trek theatrical franchise the way Alex Kurtzman runs Star Trek on Paramount+. And the ever-rumored Star Trek 4 produced by J.J. Abrams hopes to one day reunite the USS Enterprise cast led by Chris Pine. Star Trek: Discovery was a new beginning for Star Trek on television, and Captain Michael Burnham's series undoubtedly leaves Star Trek better than it found it.