Star Trek: Strange New Worldsis ending with season 5, and there’s only one thing I’m glad about regarding this development. After a two-year wait, the highly anticipatedStar Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 3 premieres July 17 on Paramount+. In 2024, Paramount+ renewedStar Trek: Strange New Worldsfor season 4, which is currently in production. Season 5 will now close out the hitStar Trekprequelwith a shortened six-episode season, which will begin filming in late 2025.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’now-formalized"five-year mission"falls in line with other Star Trek on Paramount+ series' trajectories.Star Trek: DiscoveryandStar Trek: Lower Decksboth ended with their fifth seasons in 2024, whereasStar Trek: Picardwas always planned for only 3 seasons, andStar Trek: Prodigymoved to Netflix to stream its two seasons.It’s unusual to know whenStrange New Worldswill end so far ahead of time, especially when season 3 - which is now the midpoint of the series - hasn’t even premiered yet.
The fate ofStar Trek: Strange New Worlds, as well as the other Star Trek on Paramount+ series, is a result of the changing nature of streaming and the sale of Paramount Global to Skydance Media. LongtimeStar Trekfans grew accustomed to the seven-year runs ofStar Trek: The Next Generationand its 1990s spinoffs. While it’s gloomy to know thatStar Trek: Strange New Worldshas already set its endpoint,there’s one big advantage to Paramount+’s plan, as well.
Strange New Worlds Knows Its Endgame
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' executive producers and co-showrunners Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers now have the benefit of planning out how their prequel will end. AfterStrange New Worldsseason 3, Goldsman and Myers know they have 16 episodes to wrap upStrange New Worlds' saga. What’s more,Strange New Worlds’endpoint has been known since its inception:Strange New Worldsends when Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) turns over command of the USS Enterprise to Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), which is whenStar Trek: The Original Seriesbegins.
InStar Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 3,the crew of the USS Enterprise is now at the midpoint of their journeyto becoming who they are inStar Trek: The Original Series.Lt. James T. Kirk(Paul Wesley) is learning the finer points of starship command. Lt. Spock’s (Ethan Peck) explorations of his human emotions will eventually lead him to fully embrace Vulcan logic. Ensign Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) is gaining confidence and agency, while Scotty (Martin Quinn) is on the verge of falling in love with the Starship Enterprise.
Even more intriguing than the known destinies ofStar Trek: The Original Series' legacy charactersiswhat happens to the people who won’t remain aboard Captain Kirk’s USS Enterprise.Star Trek: Strange New Worldswill canonically explain the fate of Lt. Commander Una Chin-Riley AKA Number One (Rebecca Romijn), and what happens to Lt. La’an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) and Lt. Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia). With its five-season plan in place,Star Trek: Strange New Worldsnot only has a road map but also knows how many steps until the show’s endgame.
What Happened To Star Trek: Discovery Won’t Happen To Strange New Worlds
Discovery Planned To Run For 7 Seasons
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' assurance that it will end in season 5 spares Captain Pike’s prequel from the misfortune that befellStar Trek: Discovery. In early 2023,Star Trek: Discovery’s cast and crew learned that the series would end with season 5 after production of the fifth season ended. To offerStar Trek: Discoverya more graceful way to end the series,Paramount+ allowed for three extra days to film a 12-minute epilogueto wrap up Captain Michael Burnham’s (Sonequa Martin-Green) saga.
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Star Trek: Discovery’s series finale, “Life Itself,” became an extra-long episode that wrapped up Captain Burnham’s pursuit of the Progenitors' ancient technology before leaping ahead 30 years to give Burnham and the USS Discovery’s crew a poignant conclusion. While it wasn’t ideal, especially consideringStar Trek: Discoverywas preparing for season 6 and even expected a season 7,Discoveryachieved a graceful exit despite its limitations.
Thankfully, Paramount+ learned from its mistake withStar Trek: Discoveryand gaveStar Trek: Strange New Worldsplenty of notice as to when its show will end.Star Trek:Strange New Worlds' final season can also become more of an event,since the popularity of Captain Pike’s series eclipsesStar Trek: Discovery’s. Announcing the end of a hit series in the middle of its run while offering two more seasons is an eyebrow-raising move by Paramount+, but it’s worlds better than what was offered toStar Trek: Discovery.
What A Short Final Season Means For Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
The Final Season Could Mean Bigger Episodes
UnlikeStar Trek: DiscoveryandStar Trek: Lower Decks, however,Star Trek: Strange New Worldsisn’t ending with a full 10-episode final season. For reasons unexplained,Star Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 5 will only be six episodes, giving the series a total of 46 episodes overall.
Comparatively,Star Trek: Lower Deckshad 50 episodes, whileStar Trek: Discoveryran for 65 episodes, since its early seasons were more than 10 episodes, because the show was initially co-financed by Netflix for international distribution.
WhenStar Trek: Discoverymoved to Paramount+ internationally as well as domestically, its season 4 and episode 5 orders became 10 episodes, which is standard for Paramount+.
While unconfirmed, there is a chanceStar Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 5 could have extended episodes, breaking the show’s usual hour-long format. At the very least,fans are hopingStar Trek: Strange New Worlds' series finale will be feature-length. If this happens,Strange New Worldswould provide new ersatzStar Trekstreaming movies, since there has been no movement by Paramount+ to develop newStar Trekstreaming movies after the release ofStar Trek: Section 31in January 2025.
All good things must come to an end, and this includes Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
All good things must come to an end, and this includesStar Trek: Strange New Worlds.Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers used to muse thatStrange New Worldscould be a ‘10-year show,’ and they recently teased their hopes to keep going and tellstories about Captain Kirk’s Starship Enterprise withStrange New Worlds’cast. The silver lining is thatStar Trek: Strange New Worldsstill has three seasons and 26 episodes to come, and that’s worth looking forward to.
