The Star Trek franchise is looking lean after the end of Picard, Discovery, and Lower Decks but the last Trek shows standing continue Disco’s legacy.
Summary
- Star Trek: Discovery’s success paved the way for Strange New Worlds and Starfleet Academy, ensuring the franchise’s future beyond 2025.
- Lower Decks’ end marks the close of the 24th-century era, with Section 31 movie exploring past sins in the early 24th century.
- Despite gaps between time periods, the Star Trek franchise in the 2020s mirrors the cohesive era of the 1990s, promising a positive future.
When Star Trek: Discovery ends later this year, it leaves behind its two spinoffs as the last live-action Star Trek shows standing. Paramount+ recently announced that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has been renewed for season 4, while simultaneously announcing that Star Trek: Lower Decks would end with season 5. With Lower Decks due to end later in 2024, and the future of Netflix’s Star Trek: Prodigy unknown beyond season 2, 2025 looks like a lean year for televised Star Trek.
As sad as that may seem, there’s something positive about Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy carrying on the legacy of its parent show. After a 12-year gap, Star Trek: Discovery revitalized the franchise on TV. The success of Discovery season 1 and 2 laid the groundwork for the modern Star Trek franchise, and that can never be overstated. Without Discovery there would be no Strange New Worlds or Star Trek: Picard season 3, so it’s only right that it continues to push the franchise forward into 2025 and beyond.
Strange New Worlds & Starfleet Academy Are Star Trek: Discovery Sequels
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy are effectively sequels to Star Trek: Discovery, set in the show’s disparate timelines. Strange New Worlds tells the story of what happened after the USS Discovery time traveled to the far future, while Starfleet Academy will continue the story of Star Trek‘s 32nd century. Following the end of Star Trek: Picard in season 3, live-action Trek exists in two time periods; the 23rd and 32nd centuries, leaving a 900-year gap in the middle. That needn’t be an insurmountable gulf, as both SNW and Starfleet Academy are tied together by their connections to Discovery.
Star Trek: Section 31 , the franchise’s first streaming-exclusive movie, also follows on from the events of Star Trek: Discovery , via the character of Emperor Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh).
Looking back at the state of the franchise in the 1990s, post-Star Trek: The Next Generation, both Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager were thousands of lightyears apart. However, they felt part of a cohesive era, anchored by TNG. There’s a neat bit of symmetry then, as Star Trek: Discovery comes to an end, that there are two spinoff shows that are also wildly different in tone but anchored to a parent show. It’s easy to be concerned about the future of Star Trek, following recent cancelation announcements, but the shape of the franchise in the 2020s feels much like it did in the 1990s, which can only be a positive.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Ending Is A 24th Century Tragedy
While Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy may be the Deep Space Nine and Voyager of the 2020s, they won’t continue the story of the 24th century. Star Trek: Lower Decks ending with season 5 will bring an end to the 24th century period of the Star Trek timeline, at least when it comes to the TV shows. Michelle Yeoh’s Star Trek: Section 31 movie will reportedly focus on the untold adventures of the early 24th century, which could shed new light on classic Star Trek: The Next Generation characters.
Rachel Garrett, first introduced in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise” is confirmed to appear in Star Trek: Section 31 .
As enticing as that might be, it’s still disappointing that Star Trek: Lower Decks won’t get the chance to further explore what happened after Star Trek: The Next Generation ended. There’ll be a glimpse of the 24th century in Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 when it hits Netflix, but much of that will likely take place in an alternate future. While Star Trek fans will be well served for new adventures in the 23rd and 32nd centuries, there’s a gnawing sense that the franchise is missing out on all the exciting things happening in the 900-year gap between Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.
