“To Boldly Go,” Storyline for “Star Trek: Discovery” Released!

News on the upcoming Star Trek: Discovery has been a little slow the past few months, but the wait is finally coming to an end. Last week brought the first look at Potter alumnus Jason Isaacs in the Captain’s chair, and this week the long-awaited storyline was revealed!

Seeing as this is the franchise’s first return to television since Star Trek: Enterprise left the air in 2005, it’s no surprise that showrunners Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts have kept most details under wraps. This new storyline reveals that there was plenty going on before the story really even starts to take place.

PreviousTrek incarnations have followed a captain, but Discovery is shaking things up and following the First Officer of starship USS Shenzhou, Michael Burnham, played by Sonequa Martin-Green.

Burnham was the first human being to ever attend the Vulcan Science Academy. She’s the sort of person who has her life completely planned out – and follows that plan – until she makes a decision that shakes things up. According to Harberts, this isn’t a decision to make lightly:

Burnham’s choice that we’re alluding to is [the] most difficult choice you can make — it affects her, affects Starfleet, affects the Federation, it affects the entire universe.

That choice will land her on a new ship, the USS Discovery, where she will work with Isaacs’ Captain Lorca, and that’s where the true story begins.

With the show lead being the first officer, the audience will get to see a different side of life on a starship. Berg discussed how this change will shape the show:

The joy is in the journey. The advantage to her not being in charge of the bridge right now is we get to tell stories from a very different point of view. It’s a fresh feeling because we’re not on the bridge all the time. We get access to more parts of the ship.

It’s a new series for a new audience, but that doesn’t mean that those before it have been forgotten. In fact, Trek fans will be excited to note that Jonathan Frakes, known for his role as Commander William T. Riker in Star Trek: The Next Generation, will be directing an episode in the first season. Frakes has also directed episodes of The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager in addition to two cinematic installments in the franchise, First Contact and Insurrection.

Check out Isaacs, Martin-Green, and the rest of the talented cast and crew in the premiere of Star Trek: Discovery on September 24, 2017, on CBS.