STAR TREK: DISCOVERY
Star trek: discovery’s second season will investigate a mystery on a galactic scale. ian Berriman talks to showrunner alex kurtzman and star sonequa martin-green
Season two is here – and we’re reporting directly from the final frontier. Join us on set and meet the new Spock and Pike!
The war is over. The wounds have had a dermal regenerator run over them. The medals have been awarded. The Federation/Klingon conflict is history – thanks to a hydro-bomb nestled deep in the knobbly-browed aliens’ homeworld. But there’s no time for the crew of the uss discovery to rest on their laurels. a new 14-episode mission lies ahead, one which takes the series into really dangerous territory: risking the wrath of fans by recreating three more of the franchise’s historic characters – one of whom is arguably Trek’s greatest icon. in season one’s closing moments, discovery unexpectedly rendezvoused with the uss enterprise. season two kicks off with its captain at this stardate, Christopher Pike (anson mount, previously Black Bolt in marvel show Inhumans), assuming command for a vital mission: investigating the significance of seven mysterious red bursts, light years apart. are they a friendly greeting, or something more ominous? and with Pike present, it’s inevitable that his science officer will be drawn in: michael Burnham’s foster-brother, spock… when SFX meets with alex Kurtzman in new York, in town for Comic Con, we start by asking Discovery’s co-creator and showrunner why Pike was the right man for the job. “we owed [the audience] an explanation on the Burnham/spock relationship,” Kurtzman explains, “and spock doesn’t really come alone – he was obviously with Captain Pike at the time. so it came with the package.”
a very practical primary motivation. But there are additional benefits.
“The discovery crew was traumatised by lorca last year,” Kurtzman notes, referring to Jason isaacs’s captain, eventually revealed to be a fugitive from the mirror universe. “They trusted him and he betrayed them, so any captain who comes in, they’re going to be very suspicious of. and the fun for us has been watching Pike be the opposite of lorca. he comes aboard and makes it really clear that not only is he not lorca, but he recognises what everyone’s been through. and when he doesn’t know the answer to something he’s the first one to say, ‘i need help.’ That’s a unique captain who has the self-confidence to do that. lorca would never have done something like that.”
RESTORING TRUST
For sonequa martin-Green, once again the central focus as the now rehabilitated one-time mutineer michael Burnham, this means there’s a very different dynamic at the heart of the show.
“it’s a nice relationship, because lorca, with all his illicit behaviour, really hurt us!” martin-Green points out. “we had a starfleet captain who tried to kill us, and was using us. now we have this captain who’s a true starfleet captain, who operates in kindness and humility, and who values his crew. so we start building a real relationship with each other – and anson is incredible. he and i have such a connection, and i really feel like i can lose myself in the story with him. so i appreciate that we have this true starfleet captain experience now, because that was different for a long time.”
another advantage of bringing in Pike is that while his name is one Trek cognoscenti will
immediately recognise, we haven’t actually seen much of the character. he appeared only in the series’ original pilot (rejected by NBC, and not officially released until a 1986 vhs) and then – in both a disfigured form, and footage recycled from the pilot – in a 1966 two-parter.
“he was a very iconic figure but he wasn’t in it for very long, really, at all,” says Kurtzman. “so what’s exciting about all the new characters – spock, Pike and number one [Pike’s second-in-command – originally played by majel Barrett; now X-Men’s mystique, rebecca romijn] is that this is the unwritten chapter of who they were before we meet them in the original series.”
FAMILY VALUES
when it was first revealed that michael Burnham was fostered by spock’s parents, fans cried, “why did he never mention her before?!” now we’ll finally get answers. Just don’t expect them straight away, as it’ll be a fair few episodes before spock – who’s been having apocalyptic visions of “the end of all sentient life in the galaxy” related to a mysterious being referred to as the red angel – makes his debut.
“when discovery finds itself face to face with the uss enterprise, the first thing that Burnham wants to do is go find him,” martinGreen teases. “and he’s not there! he’s taken leave. so now Burnham has to embark on this journey to go find him, and be reunited. why exactly is he on leave? what’s happening? i can also say that it’s a complicated relationship – i wish i could say all the reasons why! But we find out pretty quickly all the reasons why it’s a very complicated relationship. and we are going to be doing the work! There’s no stone left unturned, as it relates to those two.”
according to Kurtzman, spock and Burnham are “very estranged” and have been for “many, many years”. what could have happened to drive a wedge between them? did michael hog their copy of Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland? maybe she teased spock’s pet sehlat?