Star Trek: Discovery is about to air its season finale, a sure-to-be dramatic episode which will see the cast "find a way to communicate and connect with a species far different from their own before time runs out" (as per a Paramount+ summary that is).
That episode ("Coming Home") is sure to end on a cliffhanger, leaving fans wondering whether there will be another season.
Luckily for Star Trek fans everywhere, Paramount has already decided whether or not Discovery is getting a Season 5.
So, here's what we know about the future of the show.
Will There Be Another Season of Star Trek: Discovery?
Yes! In fact, Paramount ordered Season 5 of the show back in January, before the back half of this season had aired.
In January 2022, at the same time that the streamer announced when Star Trek: Picard was coming back for Season 2, it announced that the show was getting another season. At the same time, it also ordered new seasons for Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks.
In a statement, Star Trek franchise overseer Alex Kurtzman said of the renewals: "Four years ago, we made a promise to grow Star Trek into something it had never been before, and thanks to the incredibly hard work done by our many talented showrunners, writers, and directors, along with the extraordinary support of CBS Studios and Paramount+, we're keeping our word.
"Now our current shows are set up for the future as we work to build Trek's next phase of programming for years to come."
Will Season 5 Be the Final Season of Star Trek: Discovery?
Bad news—it's a possibility that Season 5 could be the crew's last trip across the universe (though that does seem to be unlikely, given the show's popularity).
Saru actor Doug Jones hinted at this in an Inverse interview in which he said, "they told me they had a five-year plan," when Discovery was first being pitched to him.
However, he also added: "That was, like, three showrunners ago. Those people weren't even around anymore. I'm sure [the series] could go on much longer now. Or will go on much longer."
Kurtzman may be envisioning a much longer run for the show. In a Deadline podcast in 2019, he outlined what he called "five to ten years of Trek."
Though he did not specifically say whether Discovery would be around for all 10 years of that, this does bode well for the future of the show. He then told The Hollywood Reporter in 2020: "I'm going to say, in all honesty, there are years and years left on Discovery.
"I think that because Star Trek, in general, has had a long history of going something like seven seasons minimum, and we just jumped into the future... it's not that it's a brand-new show, but it's a whole new set of variables with a whole new set of ideas and stories, and I don't think we limit ourselves to thinking, 'Oh, we're capped at this place.'"
Star Trek: Discovery Season 4 airs Thursdays on Paramount+.
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