Although set far in the future, Star Trek has always reflected political issues in the here and now, and the upcoming fourth season of Star Trek: Discovery will be no exception. This season was the first filmed during the pandemic, and showrunner Michelle Paradise revealed that the experience crept its way into the scripts.
“We were in lockdown as we went into writing this season,” Paradise told Decider. “We were in lockdown when we started to shoot the season. But the pandemic, it was and is such a huge part of all of us as a global community … We couldn’t help but explore some of the things in our storytelling for Season 4, it was such a big thing.”
That said, don’t expect the characters to literally be getting sick, as Paradise clarified that it’s “not a one to one” thing. Instead, the season is about an Anomaly that is destroying large swaths of the galaxy, and this just as Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) has become the captain of the USS Discovery. No one hows to deal with the situation, so even though the details are different, the sense of helplessness and confusion is the same.
“In terms of what that means to us as as humans, what that means thematically, for things we were experiencing, uncertainty, those definitely play out this season, and we look at those things in terms of what our characters are experiencing, how it affects their relationships, and all of that kind of thing,” Paradise said. “Along with action, and adventure, and fun. That spirit as well. It’s not a downer.”
Ah, so it’s a fun pandemic metaphor.
Wilson Cruz: “This whole season is pandemic”
The cast members find parallels to real life, too. For instance, Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber) described how his character’s story reflected the experiences of social workers and first responders during these last couple years:
"For me, it was really a time to reflect on all of our social workers that have been dealing with that exact same issue in the past year; taking care of us, while taking care of their own families, and their own anxiety about the unknown of this pandemic. So I really thought about them, I held them in my heart this entire season. Because they really informed me, what this experience really is for Dr. Culber. This whole season is pandemic."
Star Trek: Discovery season 4 premiere this Thursday, November 18 on Paramount+.
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