Star Trek: Strange New Worlds wrapped up Season 3 recently, and while some catch up and check out the closer with a Paramount+ subscription, many are looking ahead to Season 4. With the news that the show will end with Season 5, the pressure is on for the remaining episodes to do some heavy lifting to bring the show up against the original series, and there might be worry about whether the showrunners are up to the challenge.
I had a chance to speak to co-showrunners Henry Alonso Myers and Akiva Goldsman about the Season 3 finale, and after talking about Captain Batel and other questions, I asked about the season as a whole and the episodes on the way. Specifically, what's on tap for Season 4, and how it may compare to what we've seen in Season 3
Henry Alonso Myers Compares Season 4's Overall Tone To Season 3
I enjoyed Season 3 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, but do feel like there was an imbalance in the amount of humor injected into the season vs. other genres. That said, I didn't volunteer that information to Henry Alonso Myers, which is noteworthy because he referenced how "serious" the next season would be in comparison:
I think that we're probably a little more serious in 4, but, you know we like to work in various genres.
While I didn't lead the question in that direction, I'm sure the co-showrunners have seen that criticism float around the internet from many fans as Star Trek: Strange New Worlds played out. "Wedding Bell Blues," "A Space Adventure Hour," and "Four-and-a-Half Vulcans" all had a humorous tone, bringing the grand total of comedy episodes in Season 3 to three. It may not seem like a lot, but in the context of a ten-episode season, that's nearly a third of the episodes.
It sounds like Season 4 will be a little less humorous, and we may get more stories with major character development similar to Ortegas' big episode with a Gorn. With the clock ticking on just how many episodes we're guaranteed to see some of these characters, I certainly hope that's the case.
Akiva Goldsman Details The Difficulty Of Making Strange New Worlds Season 3
Following Henry Alonso Myers' brief comment on the previous and upcoming season, Akiva Goldsman went a bit deeper with his answer. The Star Trek: Strange New Worlds showrunner started by talking about the production of Season 3, which was only one day from kicking off before the writers' strike began:
[Season] 3 was a very challenging season for us we had the strike and we had the loss of folks and we didn't quite get as strong a breath between? We’d stop and start, and folks who are really part of an episode then aren't there, and so you know it, in some ways a little more peripatetic than is typical for us. Season 4, I think, is our best work. Henry doesn't like it when I say that, but it felt very much in hand. We were always chasing a little bit on [Season] 3. [Season] 4 felt, in the best possible way, quite deliberate and fun.
As disappointing is it is to hear the co-showrunners admit that making Season 3 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds had a lot of challenges beyond their control, it's reassuring to hear those factors weren't in play when making Season 4. Presumably this will result in some tighter scripts, and maybe some storytelling that is a bit more ambitious in terms of what it's setting up and the pay off.
We don't know much about Strange New Worlds Season 4, outside of the fact that there will be a "puppet episode." That didn't exactly combat the fear that the series would be attempting to step away from leaning so much into humor, though I don't think anyone expected it to go away completely. I also wouldn't put it past this show to subvert expectations with an entirely serious episode where the crew is puppets, though I'm skeptical they're actually going to do that.
After Season 4, Paramount only greenlit Star Trek: Strange New Worlds for six episodes to wrap up the entire series. It's better than the movie plan that Paramount originally offered, but who knows whether that will give enough time to appease fans and make them feel like they got the most out of this series.
We have plenty of time to talk about Season 3 and what's ahead for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and to watch everything released thus far on Paramount+. Work on Season 5 is set to begin shortly, and while it'll take a while before any of us get to see it, I can't help but feel a little bummed to know it's the beginning of the end.
