Why is Star Trek: Discovery ending with its season 5? All to know
Star Trek: Discovery season 5 is arriving on Paramount+ on April 4, 2024. In March 2023, Paramount announced the upcoming fifth season as the series finale. The decision comes in the wake of Paramount's cost-cutting drive for streaming content.
Out of the ten episodes, the first two are dropping simultaneously for the premiere of the final season. The show will conclude with season 5 episode 10 on May 30, 2024. While the previous seasons had 13 to 15 episodes per season, the finale has just 10.
For the uninitiated, Star Trek: Discovery is a science-fiction series airing on Paramount+. Created by Alex Kurtzman and Bryan Fuller, the series is produced by CBS Studios.
Star Trek: Discovery is the seventh series from Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek franchise. The series premiered in September 2017 and concluded four seasons in March 2022.
Star Trek: Discovery season 5 is the final season for the series
As mentioned before, Paramount has announced the conclusion of the series with the fifth season.
However, this came as a surprise for the cast and the crew at the time of announcement, as the series reported good viewership and the streaming platform reported an increase in subscriptions.
The series received an 86% average approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the first season getting 82% and the fourth season getting a 92% rating. With nominations in the Peabody Awards, Primetime Emmy, Critics Choice and many more, Star Trek: Discovery became one of the most-watched shows on Paramount+.
The reason behind pulling the plug on Star Trek: Discovery seems to be financial re-adjustment. Like most media companies, Paramount has also been trying to handle losses from streaming content by reducing their spending on the same.
As Paramount has plans to build the Star Trek franchise with a repertoire of movies, series and spinoffs, winding up some of the content may seem like a wise decision.
What is Star Trek: Discovery about?
Star Trek: Discovery follows a spacecraft named Discovery, that started its journey in the 23rd century and travelled 900 years into the future, to the 32nd century. The crew of the spaceship helps build the future of humankind while trying to bring order across the galaxy.
While protagonist Commander Michael Burnham was sent on the USS Discovery as a punishment for inadvertently starting a war, after traveling into the future, she's promoted to the rank of captain of the ship.
In the third and fourth seasons, the crew of the USS Discovery find the United Federation of Planets disjointed, which they help rebuild.
However, they discover some type of space anomaly causing destruction across the galaxy. They assume these events are being brought on by unknown aliens.
In the upcoming Star Trek: Discovery season 5, the spaceship will embark on a galactic mission to search for an ancient power. However, danger awaits them, as other groups are also looking for this mysterious source of power.
Which other Star Trek shows are scheduled to arrive on Paramount+?
Paramount is the current home for the Star Trek franchise. While Star Trek: Picard concluded in 2023, the adult animation, Star Trek: Lower Decks will release its fifth season this year. Moreover, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is expected to go into production in 2024.
However, season 2 of Star Trek: Prodigy will be released on Netflix in 2024 after Paramount+ cancelled it after season 1.
Among the spinoffs, the notable ones are Short Treks and Strange New Worlds, both of which have been released. However, Star Trek: Section 31 is a much-awaited Michelle Yeoh starter "event film". While it has completed its filming, the production house is yet to announce the release date.
Watch the first two episodes of Star Trek: Discovery season 5, the series finale, on April 4, 2024, as it premieres on Paramount+ in the US, Canada, the UK, Latin America, Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy, Austria, South Korea and Australia.