Star Trek: Discovery fans around the world were shocked when the show was pulled from Netflix days before the new season premiere. The actors were just as surprised.
The good news is that Star Trek: Discovery is back on TV, and it sounds like the fourth season if off to a good start! The bad news is that the show has been mired in controversy.
You see, while viewers in the U.S. can watch new episodes of Discovery on the Paramount+ streaming service, fans in many other countries were watching the show on Netflix. But Paramount pulled Discovery from Netflix literally days before the new season was going to drop. And because Paramount+ isn’t available in many countries yet, these fans literally have no legal way to watch their favorite show, at least not until Paramount rolls out its streaming service abroad sometime in 2022.
This move is the result of a high-level deal struck years ago with Netflix, but the particulars don’t matter when the end result for fans sucks so bad. Lots have made this displeasure known, and now, Discovery star Anthony Rapp — who plays chief engineer Paul Stamets — sympathized in a Twitter thread.
“I hereby reach out to our many international Star Trek: Discovery fans, who are understandably upset at the last-minute news that you won’t get to experience Season 4 until 2022,” Rapp wrote. “We cast members just found out about this as well and we share your disappointment and frustration.”
"I don’t pretend to understand how these sorts of deals for international rights are made (or unmade). I will say I wish we all had been told that this was coming, so we could have braced ourselves and then we could have helped spread the word to all of you.Having just been to Germany for FedCon, having traveled twice to DST in Birmingham and having interacted with countless international fans on social media over the past 4 years, I am keenly aware of how much love and support our show receives from many folks from all over the world.We remain deeply grateful to you all. We hope that when the show makes its way to you, you will continue to support the hard work that we all have done to bring Discovery to life. We are all of us saddened that you will have to wait months longer to experience Season 4.Thank you to those of you who’ve been tweeting out your honest and passionate and heartfelt responses. We see you, we hear you, and we are committed to doing our utmost to honor you with our work."
They didn’t tell the actors this was happening. There’s no way this looks like anything other than a dick move by the studio.
New episode of Star Trek: Discovery season 4 drop every Thursday…well, in the U.S., at least.
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h/t Digital Spy