Summary
I’m gladStar Trek: Discoverynever used a time travel plot to go back in time. Since it brought backStar Trekafter a long absence of the franchise on the small screen,Star Trek: Discoverywas under a lot of pressure. Fans wanted the new era of sci-fi TV to be precisely the kind ofStar Trekfans had missed sinceStar Trek: Enterpriseended in 2005. With such high stakes,Star Trek: Discoveryhad to tread lightly — but still boldly go and eventually pave the way for newStar TrekTV showsand movies.
Star Trek’s new show had to achieve the perfect balance of nostalgia and fresh narratives. Since time travel is such a popular science fiction trope, especially inStar Trek, a time jump seemed like a good idea. Commander Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) andStar Trek: Discovery’s charactersfound themselvesjumping into the next century at the end ofStar Trek: Discoveryseason 2.Not only am I glad that the time jump wasn’t into the past, but I’m also happy thatStar Trek: Discoverynever ended up featuring a time travel plot that would’ve sent characters backward in the timeline.
20 Best Star Trek Time Travel Episodes & Movies, Ranked
The Star Trek franchise has done a lot of time-travel stories in various shows and movies, and some have been undeniably better than others.
Why Star Trek: Discovery Going Back To The 23rd Century Would Have Been A Mistake
A time travel episode would have shifted Star Trek: Discovery’s momentum
From its very first season in 2017,Star Trek: Discoveryhad a lot to prove. Taking on the mantle of the soleStar TrekTV show at the time was daunting. It had to live up to its famous predecessors,Star Trek: VoyagerandStar Trek: Enterprise.Star Trek: Discovery’s spore driveset it apart from otherStar Trekprojects, as did the reintroduction of characters Lieutenant Spock (Ethan Peck) and Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount). However,Star Trek: Discoverystill had to be careful about changing too much of the already established canon, so delicate pacing was established early on.
I’m gladStar Trek: Discovery’s saga was about creating new stories, not revisiting old ones for nostalgia’s sake.
I think that ifStar Trek: Discoveryhad gone back in time, the progress it made would’ve been promptly destroyed.Star Trek: Discoverywas a serialized show, soeven a one-off episode about time travel would’ve ruined the over-arcing plot and careful pacing.Star Trekcreatives also undoubtedly wanted to steer clear of tropes and narratives that had been done in nearly everyStar TrekTV show until that point. I’m gladStar Trek: Discovery’s sagawas about creating new stories, not revisiting old ones for nostalgia’s sake.
Why Discovery Is Ending With Season 5 & What It Means For Star Trek
Star Trek: Discovery ending with season 5 came as a surprise. Here’s what we know about why the flagship Star Trek series is wrapping up.
Star Trek: Discovery Reconnected With Star Trek By Focusing On The Future
The 32nd-century time jump paved the way for a new and exciting Star Trek canon
Traveling forward to the 32nd century allowedStar Trek: Discoveryto chart its own course in theStar Trektimeline. This was a bold and risky move, buttime travel gaveStar Trek: Discoverya new lease on lifeand ensured it didn’t get caught in the web of established canon, which is really tricky to do.Star Trek: Discoveryneeded space to be what it needed to be, and the 32nd century provided that space. Going back, even with a single-episode time travel plot, would’ve risked the show’s precariously balanced development and set it back — literally.
Star Trek: Discoveryseason 3 did revisit the 23rd century Mirror Universe as a way to write out Michelle Yeoh’s Emperor Philippa Georgiou and set upStar Trek: Section 31.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, the spin-off ofStar Trek: Discovery, continues tobring back classicStar Trekin a lot of new and exciting ways.The pressureStar Trek: Discoveryhad when it started eventually lessened, allowing its later seasons to take even bolder narrative leaps and test the limits of what fans thoughtStar Trekhad to be. I think traveling back in time would have erased the effortStar Trek: Discoverymade in its first few seasons to stand apart but still be adjacent to previousStar Trekshows and movies.
