The end of Star Trek’s current prequel series, Strange New Worlds, has always been a fixed point, but the way the series would conclude was in flux until very recently. Paramount+ confirmed that the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise will complete their five-year mission in its fifth season, which will also be the show’s shortest. Rather than the typical 10-episode order, Strange New Worlds Season 5 will feature only six episodes. That may be a disappointment to fans who’ve followed the show from the beginning, but according to star Rebecca Romijn, the final season was almost shorter still.
Appearing at this year’s Star Trek Las Vegas convention, Romijn — who plays Una Chin-Riley, First Officer to Captain Pike (Anson Mount) — shed some light on the fight to bring Strange New Worlds to the finish line. Initially, Paramount planned to wrap the series after four seasons and a feature-length film. Said film would have clocked in at “just” around two hours, a far cry from even a six-episode season. Romijn credited showrunners Henry Alonso Meyers and Akiva Goldsman with convincing Paramount to give the series a proper, if truncated, send-off.
Romijn’s comments align with Goldsman’s, who spoke to TrekMovie about the end of Strange New Worlds, and how it differs from that of Discovery. The latter was cancelled after production on Season 5 was completed — largely due to financial constraints — and while the producers reportedly asked for a chance to end the series on their terms, they were only able to shoot a brief epilogue tacked onto the finale.
The same “fiscal concerns” that plagued Discovery are still a factor for shows like Strange New Worlds, but according to Goldsman, “everybody wanted not to have another Discovery circumstance where it felt abrogated in a way that wasn’t thorough.” That let the two showrunners make the request of Paramount.
The duo reminded execs of the original premise of Strange New Worlds, which was to bridge the gap between Discovery’s early seasons and the beginning of The Original Series. The show would need all five seasons to get to that point, and fortunately, Paramount obliged. “Unfortunately, Discovery’s loss was our gain,” Goldsman explained. It’s a shame that both shows couldn’t get the ending they deserved, but one satisfying conclusion is better than none.
