All things Star Trek: Picard have kept us moving at warp speed these last two months, but we didn’t want to let the month end without checking in on that other series, Star Trek: Discovery!
The series officially wrapped production on the show’s third season this past week, as the team took to social media to share the news that the next 13 episodes of Discovery were in the can: including showrunner Michelle Paradise, Toronto-based executive producer Olatunde Osunsanmi, and several of the series cast.
Absolutely incredible work by the whole Discovery team. Can’t wait for all of you to see what we’ve cooked up for season 3! https://t.co/yOq89nXba8
— Michelle Paradise (@michelleparadis) February 25, 2020
That’s a wrap on Season 3!!!
Congrats to cast and crew on pulling off the impossible, again!#startrekdiscovery @CBSAllAccess #bestcastcrew— Olatunde Osunsanmi (@CenterWillHold) February 25, 2020
2 multiplied by 10 plus 1…Romeo Done. That’s a wRap. #startrek pic.twitter.com/t2izL3lx0G
— David Ajala (@iamDavidAjala) February 21, 2020
Of all the masks I’ve worn in my career, this may be my favorite.
Yes, that’s a wrap on @startrekcbs Discovery season 3 filming, and I’m celebrating with a hydrating mask.
(Before you ask, I don’t remember the brand name or manufacturer).#skincare #skinroutine #actor #actorslife pic.twitter.com/Z9mSRuYtiQ— Doug Jones (@actordougjones) February 25, 2020
While we still don’t know just when Discovery will be back on the air, we know from our conversation with series producer Heather Kadin back in January that the series could be ready for air by May 2020, though there’s no indication that CBS All Access will have Season 3 back on their schedule quite that soon.
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We also finally completed our Canon Connections entries for the Discovery-era Short Treks, which include the Captain Pike-and-crew-focused “Q & A,” “The Trouble with Edward,” and “Ask Not,” along with the animated entry “Ephraim and Dot.”
“Q & A” — Ensign Spock, Reporting for Duty
Spock beams aboard and introduces himself: “Ensign Spock, S-179-276SP, reporting for duty!” Spock’s serial number was previously established in The Original Series episode “Court Martial.”
Number One’s castigation of him “no need to shout,” is also clearly a winking reference to Leonard Nimoy’s performance as Spock in “The Cage.”
“The Trouble with Edward” — Iota Geminorum IV
Larkin claims to have modified the tribble – a native lifeform of Iota Geminorum IV – to become a food source. The home planet of the tribble was previously established in an Okudagram in Keiko O’Brien’s classroom “The Nagus,” an early-season episode of “Deep Space Nine.”
“The Trouble with Edward” — The Great Tribble Hunt
When facing tribunal, Captain Lucero is told that from Pragine 63, the tribbles made their way into Klingon space. This is likely a reference to the severe aversion of Klingons that tribbles have, and to Worf’s description in “Trials in Tribble-ations” of the Great Tribble Hunt that eradicated the species in Klingon space.
“Ask Not” — Tholians
“Ask Not” opens with a supposed attack on Starbase 28 by the Tholians. The reference to the reclusive race is the first in “Star Trek” canon since the “Enterprise” episode “In a Mirror Darkly.”
“Ask Not” — Starfleet Regulations
Pike and Cadet Sidhu quote a number of Starfleet regulations to each other that have appeared in previous Star Trek episodes, including the (little known, seldom used!) reserve activation clause (Star Trek: The Motion Picture,) Regulation 191, Article 14 (VGR: “Equinox”), and Directive 010 (VGR: “In the Flesh.”)
“Ask Not” — Testing Starfleet Officers
The test that Captain Pike forces Cadet Sidu through is reminiscent of the test undertaken by Wesley Crusher to join Starfleet Academy (TNG: “Coming of Age”), and the command test undertaken by Deanna Troi (TNG: “Thine Own Self.”)
“Ephraim and Dot” — A Love Letter to the Franchise
“Ephraim and Dot” is effectively a nine-minute-long Canon Connection, as Ephraim the tardigrade travels through much of the history of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701.
Episodes from the Original Series referenced in this short include “Space Seed,” “The Naked Time,” “The Doomsday Machine,” “Who Mourns for Adonais?” “The Tholian Web,” “The Savage Curtain,” as well as the movies “The Wrath of Khan” and “The Search for Spock.”
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Despite our late departure from spacedock on the Short Treks, our Canon Connections series will continue this week with a look a back at the first three episodes of Star Trek: Picard, so stay tuned for that — along with all the latest Trek news!