Star Trek: Discovery may be ending soon.
The sci-fi series, which is currently airing the second half of its season 4 on Paramount+, has been renewed for season 5 last month. Though the ViacomCBS-owned streaming service didn’t mention that season 5 will be the show’s last, a number of Trekkies think that the recently announced batch of episodes will serve as the final installment of the Sonequa Martin-Green-led series.
For one, some fans think that the shortened episode count of Star Trek: Discovery season 5 implies that the series is wrapping up. Season 1 of the show has a total of 15 episodes; season 2 consists of 14 episodes; and seasons 3 and 4 both have 13 episodes each. Season 5, however, will only have 10 episodes. But since the majority of the ongoing and upcoming Star Trek shows ― Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Lower Decks, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ― only have 10 episodes per season, it’s also possible that Paramount+ only ordered 10 episodes for season 5 of Star Trek: Discovery just for uniformity reasons.
Other fans, meanwhile, are referring to a July 2021 interview of Inverse with series star Doug Jones, in which the Saru actor revealed that Star Trek: Discovery was only intended to run for five seasons. “They told me they had a five-year plan,” Jones said at the time while recalling his earliest meetings with the show’s creative team.
While it’s unclear whether Star Trek: Discovery will stick to its original five-year plan, Jones himself said that he won’t be surprised if this is no longer the show’s blueprint, as several changes happened on the show behind the scenes over the past few years. “That was, like, three showrunners ago,” Jones told Inverse last July. “Those people weren’t even around anymore. I’m sure [the series] could go on much longer now. Or will go on much longer.”
Though speculations that Star Trek: Discovery is ending with season 5 are mere rumors as of this time, the show’s cancellation is inevitable, as there are already a couple of Star Trek offshoots in development at Paramount+. For instance, the long-gestating Star Trek: Section 31 and the recently rumored Star Trek: Starfleet Academy are both expected to replace any ending Star Trek shows.
A new episode of Star Trek: Discovery season 4 arrives on Paramount+ at 3 a.m. every Thursday. Star Trek: Discovery season 5, meanwhile, doesn’t have a release date yet.
