Posted in: Paramount+, Star Trek, TV | Tagged: Anthony Rapp, star trek: discovery

Star Trek: Discovery Star Rapp Talks Season 5 End, Cancellation Shock

Star Trek: Discovery star Anthony Rapp on learning the series would end with Season 5, filming additional scenes, the show's legacy, and more.

Since premiering in 2017, Discovery ushered in a new era for the Gene Roddenberry-created franchise, and as one of the first LGBTQ featured cast members of a Star Trek series, Anthony Rapp's Cmdr. Paul Stamets was one of a kind, not just because he was the USS Discovery's neurotic chief engineer. Still, he was also directly linked to the ship's unique mycelium spore drive that allowed the experimental Starfleet ship to travel instantaneously through space. It's a technology they would take into the 32nd century before sprouting a new branch to the upcoming spinoff Starfleet Academy. As the crew was enjoying the fruits of their labor and preparing to promote season five, Paramount dropped a bombshell, announcing that it would be their last, and expanding the finale, "Life, Itself," with a coda to wrap the series. Rapp spoke to TrekMovie.com at Creation's STNJ: Trek to New Jersey convention to reflect on how the cast and crew felt at the heartbreaking news, but also being grateful to have that final chapter of the series and crew, and hypothetically dive into what could have been if Stamets and his partner and Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz) saw a season six.

Star Trek: Discovery Star Anthony Rapp Reflects on Five-Season Journey, Taking in Cancellation News, Wrapping Series, and Planning for a Season Six That Never Came

"When we were filming season five, we did not know that was going to be on our last season. We thought there was at least one more," Rapp said. "We were even given the probable dates of coming back for season six, and then, I don't remember exactly how many months later, is when we got the very, very sad news that we were no longer going to be coming back." While season five already wrapped, the crew returned to film their final scene on Discovery's bridge that sees the crew congratulate one another, which in some respects, created some continuity issues with stars Emily Coutts (Lt. Cmdr. Kela Detmer) and Oyin Oladejo (Lt. Cmdr. Joann Owosekun), largely missing in season five due to commitments in other projects. The two returned for the slow-moving curtain call.

"That whole sequence that includes the flash-forward, that was really a gift that Paramount+ and CBS Studios and all the powers that be gave us to be able to at least do some kind of 'This is what happens to the people that you've been following for these five years,'" Rapp said. Star Sonequa Martin-Green, who will star in the upcoming CBS's Boston Blue, pushed for a two-hour movie finale, but Paramount shot down the idea. Rapp, who has since lent his voice to the 2024 video game Stray Gods: Orpheus, put some thought into what he would have liked to see Stamets do in Discovery season six.

"I think that the enormously challenging question that he's facing in all of season five is, what's next after his life's work was culminated in the mycelial network and spore drive and all of that made possible? 'Now what?' is a really, incredibly meaningful question that we as human beings have asked ourselves sometimes," Rapp said. "And that was to be very fertile and potent ground, and I thought that the way that that was navigated in season 5 was very interesting, and it was the most satisfying material I was given in season 5 was how what I was working on was interacting with this larger question of, what is my life's work going to be from here on out?… I'm very interested to know what Paul would dream up. This blend of biology and physics, I think is a really potent and interesting blend to always investigate." For more on Rapp talking about his Star Trek future, including whether he'll join fellow Discovery alum Mary Wiseman, Tig Notaro, and Oded Fehr for the upcoming Starfleet Academy, and if he sees Stamets teaching, you can check out the entire interview.

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