Character Insight No. 259: What the Renewal of Discovery means for Character Development

Welcome back to Character Insight!  This week, we respond to this week's news that Star Trek Discovery will get a second season with a look at what that means for character development in this show.  This segment will not contain significant spoilers for the current run of Discovery, just some general information.

https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp259

According to the showrunner Alex Kurtzman, the primary story idea for a second season developed from a big idea that emerged in the middle and late parts of season 1.  As these episodes have not really aired yet, nobody can guess yet where the plot of this next season will take viewers.  However, it is clear that as long as there are interesting stories to tell, and more importantly, viewers tuning in to CBS All Access, this show will continue on.  Hey, at least this won't be like Firefly!

So far on Discovery, we have about 6 main characters and a lot of recurring characters in the mix, as the show runners tell us the story of the USS Discovery and the Klingon-Federation war.  Most of those 6 main characters have had individual character beats to help explain their background and where they may be headed as officers and people.  Obviously there's a heavy focus on the primary protagonist Michael Burnham, but the show has not lacked for development of the other crew around her, at least so far.

By providing another set of episodes and a second large story arc for these characters, there will be much more time to learn about these main characters in depth.  Conflicts between the characters can have time to develop and fully resolve, which may not have been truly possible with only a 15 (and honestly 13) episode run in season 1.  While season 1 will likely maintain a high level of focus on Michael Burnham, a second season may provide opportunities for deep dives into one or more other main characters, whether they be new or in the current 6.  Alternatively, if the character path for Burnham becomes as complex and interesting as other TV characters like Walter White on Breaking Bad, the focus could remain on her...but that just depends on the stories to be told.

Additionally, a second season and possibly more than that will allow for recurring characters to come and go with more regularity, which adds depth to the universe we focus on in the bridge crew of one ship.  As evidenced by how many different characters I've been able to cover on Character Insight for shows like Enterprise and TOS, it does not take long to make a canvas of characters worthy of in-depth analysis.

While it will be awhile before this segment covers these new Star Trek characters in detail, it is good to know we will be receiving enough of this series to have sufficient complexities and top moments to cover for a multitude of characters.  So your humble segment host, just like most of you out there, is jumping for joy on the news of the second season renewal.

We'll be back next week with a regular segment.  If you want to Choose Your Pain as the Klingons say, send in those characters you love that I have not covered yet, Discovery excluded of course.

-----

Contact me with segment suggestions @BuckeyeFitzy on Twitter! Thanks!