As we prepare for the upcoming Star Trek shows in 2024, there's a bittersweet feeling to it all. The franchise will bid farewell to Star Trek: Discovery, which unexpectedly ended, but was allowed to film a proper finale. Now, days after star Doug Jones shared that the ending gave him closure, another star of Season 5 is sharing why they were surprised about the show concluding.
Elias Toufexis, who plays Star Trek: Discovery's final main villain, L'Ak, in Season 5, spoke to Seán Ferrick at TrekCulture about his experience being a part of the series. When asked about when he found out about the cancellation, Toufexis explained he had already wrapped, so he wasn't a part of the team that went and filmed the additional footage that tied it all together. He did share his reaction to the news, however, after talking about what he learned of the ending:
I did get to talk to Michelle Paradise who’s the producer, writer, and she explained what they did and it’s great. It’s a really nice and beautiful ending. But [Discovery ending] was a surprise, there’s no doubt about that. I think they thought they were going a few more seasons or at least one or two more seasons. I don’t know why the big decision happened, but looking at it, it’s going to wrap up really well.
Based on Jonathan Frakes telling CinemaBlend that Star Trek: Discovery ending with five seasons "sucked," it's not too hard to believe the series thought it was going longer than five seasons. What is surprising to hear, however, is that a "few" more seasons were something on the table. A few more seasons would've landed the show close to a hundred episodes, which was a feat that EP Olatunde Osunsanmi believed would be hard for any modern Trek series to reach.
What is reassuring to hear is that Elias Toufexis, who considers himself a Trekkie, thinks Star Trek: Discovery received a "beautiful" ending despite the abruptness of which it stopped. The last thing this fandom needed was a finale as controversial as the one Enterprise had, something its co-creator still regrets to this day.
Here's hoping there will be no regrets on the way the upcoming series bows, as there are people who hope to see more adventures explored with the Star Trek: Discovery characters and the setting of the 32nd century. While not explicitly confirmed, it's been heavily speculated that the upcoming Starfleet Academy series will continue telling stories in that era.
Perhaps the finale will confirm that in some way, or maybe give some other moment that hints toward a potential future for the characters. I know that I would love to at least leave the series open-ended enough to allow for a future movie, assuming all the stars wish to return for something like that.
Star Trek: Discovery will premiere its final season in April, and those who wish to watch will need to have a Paramount+ subscription to enjoy it. The premiere is not long off, so now might be a good time to revisit the past seasons to be on top of any callbacks that might spring up in the upcoming episodes.
