Star Trek: Discovery season 1 drew a lot of controversy due to how disconnected it was in tone and continuity from previous Trek shows, with everything from the use of the F-word in one scene to the redesigned Klingons offending some fans. In contrast, season 2 is going very much in the opposite direction and attempting to bridge the gap between Discovery and The Original Series, which is set 10 years later in Trek history.
This “syncing up with canon” is something that showrunner Alex Kurtzman’s very keen to do from now on. Kurtzman took over on Discovery this season, replacing previous EPs Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts, and told StarTrek.com that he hopes the series will last several years yet, as long as the story keeps being refreshed.
“It can go for a long time. Trek…a lot of the series have gone for a long time, and the key is to constantly find a way to reinvent while also always delivering what people expect from the show.”
Of course, say Discovery runs for seven seasons – much like The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager did – that would mean it would start to impede on the timeline of TOS. That’s not a problem for Kurtzman, though, as he promises that season 2 will solve any lingering plot holes that exist when comparing the two shows. Chiefly, why Spock never mentioned his human adoptive sister before.
“Well, we are syncing up with canon. So, we know we’re 10 years pre-TOS, but there are a lot of big questions like, ‘How come Spock has never mentioned his house is from Michael Burnham?’ And this season is all about understanding what that relationship is, and by the end of the season, we will be synced up with canon.”
Spock will soon show up on Discovery, as played by Ethan Peck. We already met his captain on the Enterprise, Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), in the premiere and Kurtzman has previously teased that this season will explore what made Spock the man we know him as from TOS, which is another way in which it’ll line up with wider Trek lore.
And it’ll all go down on Star Trek: Discovery, which airs every Thursday on CBS All Access.