Star Trek: Discovery characters face new frontiers
Star Trek: Discovery begins its second chapter tonight with a planned emphasis on character exploration.
Remember that when the first chapter of the latest incarnation of Star Trek launched last fall on Space in Canada and CBS All Access in the U.S., the Federation found itself at war with forever nemesis the Klingons and then exiled to places unknown.
The war took precedence in Chapter 1 of the first season. A tonal shift could be on the horizon.
For the actors, that means getting juicier material upon which to chew. Several storylines await, co-executive producer Aaron Harberts said in an interview. There’s the plight of the ship itself, stuck in an area in space unknown to the Federation and Starfleet.
The mystery of Ash Tyler (Shazad Latif), a former Klingon captive, will get more of a look. There’s the growth of Lt. Cmdr. Saru (Doug Jones), a member of the Kelpien race. In the forefront, however, remains Starfleet mutineer Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green).
Throughout the first chapter, an inner battle raged within the former first officer as she tried to make sense of who she is. Harberts said fundamental questions related to her will be explored.
“Is there such a thing as a second chance?” he asked. “Burnham’s going to have a reckoning and sort of a fascinating opportunity to have a second chance to look at her mutiny, looking at some of the actions she perpetrated in the first two episodes.”
Burnham’s story arc extends through to a number of characters her actions affected.
“We are indeed led by Michael Burnham’s character,” Jones, who can also be seen in the acclaimed film The Shape of Water, said on the phone.
But Jones, whose extensive work within prosthetics and heavy makeup allowed him to be cast in Discovery without an audition, said no actor is given short shrift.
“Every character on the show has their own backstory, their own arc, their own wants and needs and goals that you get to watch all of us go through. Saru is no different,” he said.
Saru, whose species is considered prey in his home world, may represent one of Trek’s most polarizing characters across any of the six series. He’s aloof while able to hold a grudge and, because he and Burnham served together before — during the incident where she felt mutiny justified — he maintains a lingering skepticism regarding her as an officer and member of Starfleet.
Jones appreciates the fact writers have given him so much with which to work this season.
“Television is so much a writer’s medium. They work that out,” he said. “They’re giving us such full-fledged personalities. I’ve never once felt there was any stock to my character whatsoever because I’m new and different to the universe.”
Harberts said the coming back end of season one will allow fans to better know the characters with whom they’ve begun to develop a relationship.
“One thing it did for the writing staff is it allowed us to then start these characters on journeys right away,” he said. “I think it allows the audience to see itself more in the characters because they’re not just paragons of virtue. These are people who have to figure out who they are and how they’re going to act.”
The crew will also have to do so together so that they can arrive back in their own corner of space. Where the Discovery crew landed at the end of episode nine has been a source of conjecture among fans.