Discovery At NYCC And PaleyFest
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This weekend, two events in New York City featured the creators and actors of Star Trek: Discovery. Note that there will be spoilers below.
Gretchen J. Berg, Akiva Goldsman, Aaron Harberts, Heather Kadin, and Alex Kurtzman were in attendance as well as actors Sonequa Martin-Green, Jason Isaacs, Doug Jones, Mary Chieffo, Shazad Latif, Anthony Rapp, Mary Wiseman, and Wilson Cruz.
Some of the topics included some things that changed during development of the show, the return of Georgiou, romance and what’s to come in next week’s episode.
TrekMovie‘s coverage included some of the discussions on what changed during production of the show. Alex Kurtzman explained that the tardigrade was originally slated to be a crewmember. “In the original conception, the tardigrade was one of the bridge crew members,” he said. “It was going to be like you come in and there was Mary and there was Shazad and then there is Ephraim [named for the first zoologist to observe tardigrades]. It would have been really cool because he would have just been there.”
According to StarTrek.com, Saru would have also been a little more alien in appearance. “Saru was supposed to have ten eyes,” they reported. “That idea was ditched when the prosthetics proved too complicated and limited Jones from using his eyes and facial movements to full effect.”
The Discovery bridge also went through changes, as it was originally planned to be a “two-story bridge.”
Michelle Yeoh made a surprise appearance at the New York Comic Con, where she told Jason Isaacs that “if you don’t look after my baby girl, I will come and kick your ass. And you know I can do that.”
Gretchen J. Berg told the crowd that Yeoh would return to Discovery. “You will see more of this woman on this show,” she said. Obviously this will be in flashbacks.
Sonequa Martin-Green spoke about Burnham, telling the fans that “as Burnham, the ground fell from beneath my feet. And, I am still falling. That moment in the shuttle was actually a blissful moment. Because being in a pit of despair and being in a shame spiral, which is what I’m in. Being all consumed by the feeling of guilt makes you yearn for the sweet release of death. All I can look forward to is penitence from my life sentence. I don’t have the courage or sensibility to kill myself.
“I am haunted by my decisions that I made in those days leading up to what turned out to be the Battle of the Binary Stars and the war with the Klingons and the death of my captain/mother. This is a story about redemption as much as it is about discovery. And the story of discovery of oneself through redemption. That’s the thick ugly stuff that we are delving into very courageously and bravely and respectfully.”
When asked about the potential for romance for the character, TrekCore reported that Martin-Green said, “they would be “covering everything with everyone,” but she wasn’t able to say more about it.
Fans were treated to a preview of next week’s episode, which will mark the debut of Shazad Latif as Lt. Ash Tyler, a prisoner from the USS Yeager who has been incarcerated for seven months. Rainn Wilson‘s Harry Mudd will also make his first appearance in the show.
“It’s an interesting episode,” said Harberts. “It’s about torture, about loyalty, and it sows a lot of seeds. It’s one to watch very carefully because it sows seeds for the rest of the season.”
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