‘It Was a Genius Move’ Says Sonequa Martin-Green, Setting Up The Bold New Direction For Season 3 of STAR TREK: DISCOVERY

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede It’s a whole new world for STAR TREK: DISCOVERY, in more ways than one. As Season 3 begins Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on CTV Sci-Fi Channel, the characters will be dealing with the aftermath of the game-changing event at the end of Season 2. What occurred is about to be discussed in very general terms, so this is a SPOILER ALERT (the first two seasons are available for streaming on Crave, for anyone who needs to catch up). Sonequa Martin-Green, who plays lead character Commander Michael Burnham, was asked about STAR TREK: DISCOVERY’s ambitious reset, jumping ahead 930 years. “I was floored by the decision to do it, and I think it was a genius move,” Martin-Green said. “It was really something for Alex Kurtzman and Michelle Paradise and the rest of our producers and writers to think about how to take this to the next level. Because that’s what you want in a show. That’s what you want your series to do. You want it to get deeper, bigger, brighter, better every season. If you’re not improving, then what are you doing, you know what I mean?” It was suggested to Martin-Green that STAR TREK: DISCOVERY has kind of gone from prequel to sequel, and she appreciated that phrasing. “We (the characters) still are who we are – we do still come from 2256,” she said. “But this future comes with so much discovery, so much revelation, so much challenge, because we are 930 years ahead. Technology has advanced in such a major way, language has advanced in such a major way, science, all of it. And we have to acclimate. We might as well be, you know, exhibits in a museum. We’re so old to everyone! So we have to find where we fit. Can we fit? This is a group of geniuses, so we can – but it’s hard.” Of course, jumping ahead in time meant that Commander Burnham and the others who followed her through the wormhole had to say goodbye to virtually everything they knew, including some treasured friends. The final episode of Season 2 was quite emotional, illustrating how much range is required of science-fiction actors in the modern era. “Well, I love talking about this, because it is very different, and I’ll just be honest, we did have a Herculean task ahead of us when we started at the beginning of Season 1, because we had to be new and familiar at the same time,” Martin-Green said. “We were also committed to having a narrative story that is told chapter by chapter, because we were going to be hyper serialized, like most TV is today. So automatically we’re different (than the earlier eras of STAR TREK). Automatically there is an emotional weight that we have to carry, because we remember what happened yesterday. And just by remembering what happened yesterday, inevitably there’s going to be more emotionality.” Differences aside, Martin-Green said that she and the rest of the cast still regularly have “pinch me” moments, because getting to be part of the STAR TREK universe is such a special thing, in terms of both adhering to canon, and creating canon. “We’ve always talked about how innovation is the spirit of STAR TREK, and diversity, and equality, and indivisibility, and all of that,” she said. “And we’ve said to the audience that we will continue to do that. We will continue to push that envelope forward, because that’s what we should do as a STAR TREK iteration in 2020. And we have done that in Season 3, to tease a bit.” Any specifics about what’s coming up in Season 3 of STAR TREK: DISCOVERY? “I’m going to give a very generic answer: I wish I could tell you,” Martin-Green said with a laugh. “I will just say that a bunch of stuff is completely new, and then there are some things that have stood the test of time as well. It’s very zestful the way that it has been done, meaning, between what’s new and what has stayed (through the 930-year time jump). And then you have to ask yourself, well, why did this remain, you know? Why did this change? I love it. I think it’s going to be a wild ride.” billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv