Season 1 of Star Trek: Discovery was a bit of a mixed bag. Sure, there were some great new characters to fall in love with and lots of thrilling action and plot twists, but it still fell short of the mainstream TV re-invention of the franchise that the producers had hoped for. That might all change when season 2 airs in January 2019, though. Not least because Captain Christopher Pike is making his way to the bridge.
Yes, Inhumans star Anson Mount is set to play the role and will take command of the USS Discovery under orders from Starfleet. From what we saw of him in the Comic-Con trailer this summer, he seems to be a no-nonsense presence, albeit one with a subtle sardonic wit that looks like a good fit for the series.
Of course, Trekkies will know that Captain Pike was the captain of the USS Enterprise right before Kirk (his command sadly ended with him being crippled and disfigured), and according to star Sonequa Martin-Green, he’s going to help the Discovery crew with their PTSD, which stems from the whole Lorca situation.
A crew is almost defined by the essence of the captain. We went through the ringer with Lorca, and so there’s a little bit of PTSD there. There’s a little bit of distrust there because of what we’ve gone through and because we had someone who manipulated us and sought to kill us for his own gain. And so, Pike being the deeply rooted good guy he is, he is going to have an effect on us. He’s soothing in that way. He’s comforting in that way. And hopefully you will see us sort of galvanize because of that.
Continuing on, the actress touched on how there’s now a sense of levity due to the change in the crew’s situation. That being, they’re not fighting for their lives anymore.
There’s a little more joy just because we aren’t at war. We’re able to smile a little bit more. There’s a sense of levity that’s there simply because we’re not fighting for our lives.
Finally, Martin-Green promised that we’d see some more smiling and chuckling from Burnham in season 2, again because they aren’t fighting.
There’s certainly a heaviness that is present with me as Burnham, just because of everything that is driving me and because there are deep-seated problems there. So, those are still at play, for sure. But yes, you see the smile, and you see the chuckles that we allow ourselves to have, including Burnham, because we’re not fighting.
The second season of Star Trek: Discovery is yet to nail down an exact premiere date – though expect it in early 2019 – but there’ve been rumors that it’ll somehow connect to the Kelvin timeline. Either way, we know next year’s installment is set to bring Spock into the equation, and if that doesn’t excite you for another round of Discovery, well, then nothing will.