‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Is Officially Back for Season 4

Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 has just started streaming on CBS All Access, but in case you were worried this would be the end of the road for Commander Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and company, worry no more. As announced in a video featuring Green and Doug Jones (who plays Saru on the show) among others, Star Trek: Discovery is officially back in production on Season 4 starting November 2.

Tag-teaming on the announcement were Executive Producer and Co-Showrunners Michelle Paradise and Alex Kurtzman, along with Jones and Martin-Green who excitedly announced the news from the safety of their own homes. That doesn’t mean Season 4 will be filmed entirely over Zoom, though… Discovery will be headed back to its studios in Toronto, with COVID-19 safety protocols in place.

“Oh my goodness, I am so excited to be back on set,” said Martin-Green.

Jones added, “I am looking forward to the one thing I am always looking forward to when we get to come back for a new season of Star Trek, and that is to be reunited with my family again. The Trek family, the Discovery family…”

“It’s gonna be great to see everyone again, and I think we’re gonna really love on each other,” shot back Martin-Green.

The video continues with Jones wondering about the mechanics of hugging people on set in the middle of the pandemic (Jones is, no joke, famous for his hugs), before Martin-Green finished, “I’m so excited to be giving you a Season 4.”

Though no further details were offered about the season, it’s safe to assume that whoever makes it out of Season 3 alive will be back. Certainly Martin-Green and Jones, and one could expect that main cast members Anthony Rapp (who plays Paul Stamets), Wilson Cruz (who plays Dr. Hugh Culber) and Mary Wiseman (Ensign Sylvia Tilly) will also return. As for Michelle Yeoh, who plays Philippa Georgiou, it’s an open question when she’ll leave Discovery to go anchor her own Section 31 spinoff series, particularly since last we heard it was tentatively planned to begin after Season 3 of Discovery wrapped. There’s also Tig Notaro, who plays fan-favorite Jett Reno, and new cast-member David Ajala, who plays Cleveland “Book” Booker.

For the latter in particular, a lot probably depends on how Season 3 wraps up. In the premiere, Burnham found herself lost 930 years in the future (of her future) in the year 3188. There, she met Book, a courier — meaning he travels from planet to planet delivering goods in exchange for scant supplies of Dilithium. She also learned that the Federation is pretty much gone, as is most of the galaxy’s supply of Dilithium, and the crew of Discovery has yet to make it through the wormhole that stranded her in the future.

They’ll make it through (otherwise, you know, no show), but what happens next, whether they’ll stay in the future or head back, and whether Book will come with them… I mean, there’s 12 more episodes to go in Season 3, so stay tuned.

Another big change when Season 4 hits, which, based on previous season’s production and release schedules could be as early as July, 2021 or later, if COVID slows everything down, is that it will most likely debut on Paramount+, not CBS All Access. The service will be changing names some time early next year, to encompass all of ViacomCBS’s portfolio. That probably shouldn’t change how you watch the show, but just so you know!

New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery stream every Thursday on CBS All Access.

Where to watch Star Trek: Discovery