‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Epilogue Was Supposed to Be Much Longer, But Paramount Rejected the Idea

Star Trek: Discovery was a major show. The series, which ran from 2017 to 2024, was a proper hit, and it generally received a lot of praise from both the fans and the critics. After 65 episodes and five seasons, the series ended on May 30, 2024.

But, the cancellation of the series came as a bit of a surprise for everyone; not that it was completely unexpected, but the cast and crew thought that they would have more space and time to conclude the story in a proper way.

Well, that did not happen. As was recently revealed, Paramount rejected a much bigger idea that the cast and crew had in mind, and that is how we got the 12-minute epilogue that concluded the series.

As you probably remember, the show ended with a 12-minute epilogue that wrapped up the 65-episode storyline. It was sweet, definitely, but there is a lingering feeling that such a popular show deserved more. And the initial idea was for the show to give us more.

“I remember from the moment we found out that the show was going to be ending and we were we were in talks with Paramount Plus about how we were going to wrap the show up,” series star Sonequa Martin-Green said during the recently held Trek Talks 4. “What they wanted was an additional episode to really be able to touch everyone’s stories, to really be able to close this thing out.”

And while the idea was noble, Paramount wasn’t really up for it. “We were  not able to be afforded that,” she continued. “So they said, it’s not going to be an additional episode. It’s not going to be, I think what what Alex and Michelle, originally wanted was a full two-hour movie finale kind of thing, right? And it was like, no, we’re not going to be able to do that. And it’s like, okay, well then what about an extra episode? No, we’re not going to be able to do that. Okay, what about like an extra like half of an episode or something like that?”

But, it turns out that such a concept was also too much for Paramount, and you know what happened in the end. “What they ended up having was about 12 pages.. closed it up in 12 pages, right? I feel like that’s how long the coda was. It couldn’t have been any longer than that, right, David? I feel like it was really short. … I remember being really sad when I found out about that because suddenly our options were very limited of what we were going to be able to touch in that short period of time.”

But, despite all of these ambitious plans and ideas, as well as the restrictions imposed by Paramout, Martin-Green said that they were happy. “Alex and Michelle have said this, we’ll keep saying this, that we’re grateful that they gave us this because they did not have to. And this is not always the case with shows. So we did get to close up and I am so grateful for that,” she concluded.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments below!