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Interview: Michelle Paradise Talks Season 4 Finale, What’s Next For Tilly And ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ – TrekMovie.com

March 19, 2022

The fourth season of Discovery wrapped up yesterday and TrekMovie had a chance to talk to executive producer and co-showrunner Michelle Paradise about the finale, and what’s next for the series which is set to go back into production for a fifth season this summer.

This season was set up as a sort of test for Michael as captain, starting with the episode “Kobayashi Maru.” Was her ordering the destruction of Book’s ship sort of her final test as captain? Her personal Kobayashi Maru?

It was certainly part of it. And yes, we went into season four asking in every episode, ‘What is Burnham’s captain’s journey in this episode?’ We really looked at it more as every episode would be sort of a mini journey, if you will. Some of them were tested. Some of them were just journeys in themselves to take us on a larger season four journey of her in the captain’s chair, and how does she change. And yes, when we get to the finale, being a captain, and the personal and the professional and how–in the case of Book– it all mixes, it wasn’t just that moment of having to order something that may kill him, it was – what does she do the moment after? And that Burnham–and Sonequa [Martin-Green], every time I see that scene, I just get goosebumps, honestly–where in the moment she believes he’s gone, and then has to pull it together and then turn and walk back to the captain’s chair and keep going and continue on the mission and move past that and then go down to the 10-C and continue communication efforts to save Earth, Ni’Var, and other worlds. It felt like it was all of those things. Not just one moment with Book’s ship.

Last season you dipped into a little Ursula K. Le Guin for the Su’Kal storyline. In developing the 10-C, were there also real science, and sci-fi influences, like Sagan or Clarke?

There were a couple of different things that we had going on there. First and foremost, we knew coming into the season that we were dealing with the DMA and ultimately these are stories about finding our way through those things and finding connection. And so it felt to us that when we got to the end of the season and actually got to the 10-C, we wanted obstacles for our heroes to be as high as was possible. So we wanted the 10-C to be literally and figuratively bigger than them, feeling like a massive obstacle. We deliberately wanted to take away the Universal Translator. We just wanted to make communication very difficult. We wanted the 10-C to be as alien to our heroes as they could possibly be. And then again, sci-fi is sort of a reflection of what the world is or could be around us. And if our heroes can do that, and overcome and find a way to communicate with this species, is that something for us as viewers and what we can do?

And you mentioned science, in particular, that was a huge component of the last three episodes and how they actually did communicate. We worked with biologists and chemists and linguists and with the organization METI. It actually took a few months for us to be able to figure out how to just break the communication piece of those last few episodes… And for those specific science fiction authors, we’re all familiar with their work. Those sorts of things are just kind of baked into the world in which we live anyway, and the influences for us and who we are and what’s on our bookshelves. I don’t recall if we had specific discussions in the room about those kinds of things, but certainly, we were influenced by all of that. I will say that the final image at the end of the season of Earth was very much inspired by the “Pale Blue Dot” of Earth from Cosmos… the Carl Sagan quote.

Doug Jones as Saru, Sonequa Martin-Green as Burnham, Chelah Horsdal as Rillak and Hiro Kanagawa as Dr. Hirai

Tilly was back in the finale, but she was a little different. Can you talk about Tilly’s arc and why you decided this was the time to bring her back?

Tillys had an interesting–I would say–series arc, When we come into the series itself, she’s younger, she’s still learning. She’s kind of our eyes into what is this world that we’ve just come into. And she’s changed very much over the course of the past three seasons. And then coming into the fourth season, as we do every season with all of our characters, we were looking at, ‘Okay who is this character? Where do we want to take them? How do we want them to change?’ And it felt like an interesting place to explore for Tilly was this idea of, ‘I am on the right path and I want to be in the captain’s chair.’ Because she’s always been driven to do that. And she’s talked about how her mom has been an influence on that, or at least it’s been implied, but it hasn’t been explicit in the way that it was in Episode 404.

So we really wanted to look at that for her and kind of explore what does it mean to want to be in the captain’s chair? And why has she always wanted that? And is there something else that she might want? Or is there something else that might be behind that? And the first four episodes kind of took her on an arc of exploring that, as all of our characters this season sort of had to explore what’s happening with them. Who are they in the face of this greater thing? What are the questions they’re asking about themselves? And then we sent her off to go to Starfleet Academy and she’s had some time to grow. And we thought it was a really cool thing, the way she comes back and is a bit more grounded. She’s changed in a way, as you pointed out. And I just really love those scenes between Mary [Wiseman] and Oded [Fehr] as Vance.

Can you say anything about the future of Tilly on Discovery or any other shows? Or are we done with Tilly?

We’ll never be done with Tilly. [laughs] Everybody loves Tilly. I can’t spoil anything into season five, except to say that we love Tilly. I expect that we’ll have her in the world and all of those things. She’s not going anywhere.

Mary Wiseman as Tilly and Oded Fehr as Admiral Vance

This season finale felt like you guys were really trying to tie everything up, including having a big character coda at the end. It almost felt like a series finale. Was it made with that possibility in mind, or did you know there would be more Discovery?

No. We expected that there would be more. It was never intended to feel like that. But I think where it might have that feel to it is that we knew going into season three that the underlying story thread from the last two seasons has been the state of the Federation itself. When we come into season three, the Federation itself is very much in disarray. Many member worlds have left including Earth. We always knew that if we come into that space, that rebuilding the Federation has to be part of the story, but there was no way to do that in one season. It just wouldn’t feel realistic. So we always envisioned that as a two-season arc. And especially when, in episode 303 [“People of Earth”], we set up that Earth is not a member. That’s what was teeing up the season four finale when Earth is going to come back. So the completion of that arc, coupled with the triumph of the DMA going way and we’ve communicated with 10-C and all those sorts of things, it did feel a bit like an ending. But it was never intended to be like this was going to be the end of the series itself.

A lot of fans are curious about the larger Trek universe in the 32^n/a century. This episode had a passing mention of the Borg and the Klingons have been mentioned, but we still don’t have a good sense of what’s going on with either. Have you been reluctant to focus on things in the greater galaxy, and now that you’ve kind of fixed the Federation, might you start looking over the border a little bit more as you look forward?

Well, I can’t say what is to come in season five, but I will say that yes, again that underlying story thread for seasons three and four had been what happened to the Federation? And how do we fix the Federation? And then we bring it back together again. Those were sort of the basics of that. That was very much our focus. In terms of what happens in season five and beyond, I can’t tell, or someone will slap my hand.

Wouldn’t it be you to slap?

I think it would be me, I would have to slap my hand, and that would be painful.

For season five, is Alex still co-showrunner?

Yes, he is still very much part of this, absolutely.

Each season on the show has adjusted and fine-tuned. So, are there lessons learned in season four that are being applied to season five?

Yeah, to your. As you said, we learn from every single season, and not just from every season, we learn from episode to episode, both creatively and logistically working to be better and reaching to be better and reaching to be the best possible version of this show that we can be. And the best possible addition to the Star Trek universe. The things that come to mind immediately are probably things that are perhaps less interesting to fans of the show itself, but there were a lot of lessons learned last season in the lines of production and logistics and how we shoot during a time of COVID. What that requires and how to make sure that we’re not only keeping people safe, which is the priority, but also getting through our days and making a great show. We have the brand-new technology in the AR wall, which is a phenomenal technology. And that also has a learning curve. And so we’ve learned a lot about that over season four will be able to come in and use it new ways in season five.

Alex has said that a crossover is inevitable, do you agree?

[Laughs] That is definitely an Alex question. I don’t know. He’s he has the 100,000-foot view of all of the Star Trek shows and what they’re all doing and what he’s looking for from each of them. For me, I’m very much focused on Discovery and what we’re doing here. I can’t really answer that question, and not because I’m trying to avoid spoilers or something, that would just be an Alex question.

Mary Wiseman, David Ajala, Wilson Cruz, Michelle Paradise, Sonequa Martin-Green, Blu del Barrio, and Anthony Rapp attend New York Comic Con 2021

All four seasons of Star Trek: Discovery are available on Paramount+ in the US and where Paramount+ is available around the world. In Canada Discovery can be streamed on Crave. Discovery is available as a digital download in additional international territories.

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