Sonequa Martin-Green on the last season of Star Trek: Discovery: “I think people will be pleased.”

It’s a bittersweet time for us Star Trek: Discovery fans. We’ve waited three years to catch up with the mutineer-turned-commander-turned-captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), Saru (Doug Jones), Tilly (Mary Wiseman) and the crew of USS Discovery for the fifth season of the show, but with the new series comes its ending. Yes, after five seasons (the first of which was released back in 2017 and marked a new era of Star Trek with Star Trek Into Darkness writer Alex Kurtzman, who co-created the show with Star Trek: Voyager’s Bryan Fuller), we’ve come to the final voyage for Star Trek: Discovery.

The Discovery crew have been through a lot in those five seasons. From ever-changing captains, to spore drives and, of course, jumping 900 years into a desolate future. The new season will find Captain Burnham and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery uncovering a mystery that will send them on an epic adventure across the galaxy to find an ancient power whose very existence has been deliberately hidden for centuries. But there are others on the hunt as well…dangerous foes who are desperate to claim the prize for themselves and will stop at nothing to get it.

We sat down with Captain Burnham herself, Sonequa Martin-Green, to find out what we can expect from the last season, whether she thinks fans will be happy with the ending and some of her favourite memories of being in the world of Star Trek.

Let’s fly…

What was it like coming back for the fifth and final season of Star Trek: Discovery?

We actually didn’t know it was the last season – we had no idea! We just felt like it was another season and we had that normal experience. We wrapped and then a few months later, we found out that that was our last. CBS and Paramount+ allowed us to go back up for a little shoot so that we could officially wrap it up. That shoot was quick! We covered a lot of ground in a short period of time and we got to have all of our ‘lasts’. I’m grateful that we had both experiences.

What can you tell us about Season Five of Star Trek: Discovery?

Even though we didn’t know it was the end, it might feel like the end. It’s grand and culminating and conclusive in these in powerful ways. I think people will be pleased with the way the show wraps up – there’s a great deal of adventure and fun.

There’s a bit of a tonal shift in Season Five also, and we cover some of the biggest questions that you can have. We ask some deep questions. We reach all the way to faith.

I think that people will agree with us that it’s a full season and I think it’s one that people will be proud of.

Burnham has really been on a journey over the five seasons! Where do we find her this season?

Oh man! Well, as we’ve seen, Burnham has stepped into who she really is and what she’s meant to do. That took five seasons to do that right. And of course, it’s not finished. No one’s ever finished with that.

But what a journey [for her] – from mutineer to captain, and every twist and turn was earned. You really got to see the necessary trouble that you have to go through internally and externally in order to grow and in order to step into who you’re meant to be.

I just feel so grateful for being able to do it and that’s where we pick up with Burnham – she is just still on this journey of purpose and how she can facilitate it even more. How she can be true to it even more. That’s sort of where we pick up and then there’s such a journey from there [in Season Five]. And not just for Burnham actually, for everyone.

What are your favourite memories of playing Michael Burnham in Star Trek: Discovery?

There are a couple of moments in Season Five that I think about that I obviously can’t tell because it would spoil it!

I also go to the beginning of Season Three, when we first jumped to the future ahead of where any Trek had ever been. I think about a lot of the moments in that season. In that first episode of Season Three, there was a moment that I had never had before as Burnham, I had never had it before as an actor in general. It was a moment of just sheer letting go. It’s a blessing that there’s more than one [memory]. There are many.

Star Trek has gone in a few new directions with Alex Kurtzman at the – erm- helm. How would you describe this new era of Star Trek?

Alex Kurtzman has a lot to do with why it’s changed. He co-created the show with Bryan Fuller. Then when we started we were show run by Aaron Harberts and Gretchen Berg, and then Michelle Paradise came on board. All throughout I think that one of the main things that separates us is the hyper-serialisation and being a story told in chapters like a novel. Remembering what happened before, remembering what happened yesterday, and then Alex also brought a real cinematic feel to Trek on TV, which we had not seen before, not on the TV series.

I love that we have innovated Trek in several ways. There’s also the diversity that we took to the next level. That we took further than any Trek had ever taken before. Also, the character evolution and having these people change permanently is another one.

I think those are some of the things that make us different and those are some of the ways that we did our best to push the needle forward with the Trek franchise.

Audiences have been watching Star Trek since the Sixties. What do you think it is about this world that keeps viewers coming back?

I one thousand percent think it’s the core messaging. That we can all come together as equals. Let’s celebrate our differences and let’s reach across and connect with those who are different from us. I think that’s why. That’s such a message of hope. Connecting with those who are different from you, seeing their value. Seeing yourself in them, seeing them in you.

To me, these things remind me of Christ and that’s just me personally but, man, that’s unconditional love. That’s real empathy. That’s hopeful. I think that’s why it has been such a big part of our society and remained on people’s televisions for all these decades.

There has been a recent crossover episode with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Lower Decks. Would you ever be interested in doing a crossover episode?

Oh, man! I wouldn’t even know what series to be in but I would love to do a crossover episode! I don’t think we have the potential to be in anything just because of how we jumped to the future, and it was a difficult jump to the future so we can’t just be bopping all around unfortunately, but that would be so much fun!

The first two epsidoes of Star Trek: Discovery are out now on Paramount +. New episodes will drop weekly on Thursdays.