It's been confirmed that Star Trek: Discovery will end with its upcoming fifth season. Filming is mostly complete, but the news breaking now means there's time to ensure the season finale can serve as an effective series finale. Additional photography is set to take place, so the story may be reworked to some extent.
Remember, the show isn't set to return until early next year, so there's plenty of time to figure that out.
After launching in 2017, Star Trek: Discovery served as a comeback of sorts for the franchise on television. It also went some way in proving that the property works better on the small screen than the big one, particularly in the wake of Star Trek Beyond's theatrical release the year before.
This news has been beamed up not too long after we learned Star Trek: Picard will also end with season 3. Paramount is looking to spend less money on streaming in the coming years ahead of Paramount+'s integration with Showtime, so that could explain why Discovery's time is nearly over.
Executive producers and co-showrunners Alex Kurtzman and Michelle Paradise have issued a statement in which they say, "As lifelong fans of Star Trek, it has been an immense honor and privilege to help bring Star Trek: Discovery to the world...We can’t wait for you to see what we’ve been working on for this final season; we appreciate your patience in the meantime and trust us when we say it’ll be worth the wait."
Spin-off Star Trek: Strange New Worlds unexpectedly became the franchise's flagship series after launching to glowing reviews and massive viewership numbers. With a second season heading our way later this year, there's currently no indication that will be ending after that.
Kurtzman has previously suggested he's developing another spin-off, Star Trek: Academy, which would put the spotlight on young cadets. No official announcement has been made and it's unclear what role Star Trek will play on streaming moving forward.
Stay tuned for updates.