Star Trek: Discovery will return for a third season

We’ve still barely caught up with the Red Angel, whatever it is, but CBS just confirmed that Star Trek: Discovery will be coming back for a third season. Discovery will also add Michelle Paradise as a co-showrunner alongside Alex Kurtzman, making her the fifth showrunner to come aboard the Discovery in its relatively short tenure exploring the known universe.

“The massive success of Star Trek: Discovery‘s second season launch exceeded our expectations in both driving subscriber growth and generating a phenomenal response from Star Trek fans,” CBS All Access Executive Vice President Julie McNamara said. “With Alex Kurtzman and Michelle Paradise at the helm, we look forward to continuing Star Trek: Discovery‘s journey, growing the Star Trek franchise on CBS All Access and bringing fans new Star Trek stories for many years to come.”

We’re about halfway through Discovery’s second season, which is set to have 14 episodes. The show’s first season consisted of a handful of separate-ish story arcs, from Michael Burnham’s redemption to the Tardigrade drama and then on to the deeper, darker mad science and Terran Empire stuff. So far, Season 2 has drifted between a more episodic formula and the mystery of Spock, in what’s likely a season-spanning story arc, though honestly we’ll be happy with whatever happens as long as we don’t ever have to hear about the mycelial network again… ever.

While Discovery Season 2’s standalone adventure episodes are fluffier fun, the show’s willingness to plunge into the dark side of Starfleet keeps us coming back. That aspect of the show is apparently compelling enough that it’s even inspired a Discovery spin-off centered around Starfleet’s morally ambiguous black ops team Section 31 starring Discovery’s excellent Michelle Yeoh.

In the US, the new season of Star Trek: Discovery will continue its exclusive run on CBS All Access. That means fans of the latest iteration of the well-loved series will have to keep ponying up for yet another streaming service if they want to keep up with Burnham, Saru and Tilly as they navigate the vastness of space with only an intergalactic moral compass and the mycelial network (ugh) to guide them.