The fifth and final season of the American television series Star Trek: Discovery follows the crew of the starship Discovery in the 32nd century, more than 900 years after Star Trek: The Original Series, on a galactic adventure to find a mysterious power that has been hidden for centuries and which other dangerous groups are also searching for. The season was produced by CBS Studios in association with Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment, with Alex Kurtzman and Michelle Paradise serving as showrunners.
Sonequa Martin-Green stars as Michael Burnham, captain of the Discovery, along with the returning Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp, Mary Wiseman, Wilson Cruz, Blu del Barrio, and David Ajala. They are joined by Callum Keith Rennie. Development on the season began by March 2020 so it could be filmed back-to-back with the fourth season, but these plans were altered by the COVID-19 pandemic. The fifth season was officially ordered in January 2022 and filming took place in Toronto, Canada, from June to November. Paramount announced in March 2023 that the season would be the last for the series, and additional filming took place a month later so the season could better conclude the series.
The season is expected to premiere on the streaming service Paramount+ in early 2024, and run for 10 episodes.
Episodes
Lee Rose directed the fourth episode, and frequent Star Trek director Jonathan Frakes returned to direct for the first half of the series finale. The following writers are credited, in episode order, for the 10 episodes: Michelle Paradise; Alan McElroy; Kyle Jarrow & Lauren Wilkinson; Sean Cochran; Johanna Lee & Carlos Cisco; Kenneth Lin & Brandon A. Schultz; M. Raven Metzner; Lauren Wilkinson & Eric J. Robbins; Sean Cochran & Ari Friedman; and Kyle Jarrow & Michelle Paradise.
Cast and characters
Main
Sonequa Martin-Green as Michael Burnham
Doug Jones as Saru
Anthony Rapp as Paul Stamets
Mary Wiseman as Sylvia Tilly
Wilson Cruz as Hugh Culber
Blu del Barrio as Adira Tal
David Ajala as Cleveland "Book" Booker
Callum Keith Rennie as Rayner
Recurring
Eve Harlow as Moll
Elias Toufexis as L'ak
Notable guests
Oded Fehr as Charles Vance
Chelah Horsdal as Laira Rillak
Tara Rosling as T'Rina
David Cronenberg as Kovich
Tig Notaro as Jett Reno
Production
Development
Development on a fifth season of Star Trek: Discovery had begun by March 2020, when work was taking place on the fourth season, to allow the two seasons to be filmed back-to-back, but these plans were altered by the COVID-19 pandemic. In October, executive producer and co-showrunner Alex Kurtzman said there were "years and years left on Discovery" and noted the precedent of several previous Star Trek series running for seven seasons each. A 10-episode fifth season was officially ordered by Paramount+ in January 2022, with the episode count reduced from previous seasons to align it with the service's other Star Trek series. In March 2023, Paramount announced that the season would be the last for the series. This decision came amid cost cutting for Paramount's streaming content.
Writing
Kurtzman stated in October 2020 that all seasons after the third would continue to be set in the 32nd century. Co-showrunner Michelle Paradise indicated in August 2021 that writing for the fifth season was yet to begin. The writers were in "full swing" by March 2022, working simultaneously with post-production on the fourth season, and some scripts had been written for the fifth season by the time the fourth season finale was released on March 17. Paradise was working on the script for the season finale by late August 2022, and completed it on September 12.
Executive producer and producing director Olatunde Osunsanmi said the fifth season would take more inspiration for its themes and storytelling approach from Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Next Generation than the previous seasons did, and would feature "more exploration and more adventure". The season's story follows the USS Discovery on a galactic adventure to find a mysterious power that has been hidden for centuries and which other dangerous groups are also searching for.