Summary

• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds successfully developed its crew in just 2 seasons, a problem that has plagued Star Trek: Discovery for 4 seasons.
• Strange New Worlds features an ensemble cast and episodic storytelling, allowing for the development of each character and showcasing life aboard the Starship Enterprise.
• Unlike Discovery, Strange New Worlds is built to eventually feature everyone, creating a genuine found family dynamic among the crew . Hopefully, Discovery season 5 will also flesh out its crew in its final season.

In just 2 seasons, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds solved a problem that has plagued Star Trek: Discovery since its inception. Strange New Worlds just wrapped up a lauded season 2 full of bold "big swings," including a comedic crossover with Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek's first-ever musical episode. Meanwhile, Star Trek: Discovery awaits the premiere of season 5, which is also its final season, after what could amount to a two-year wait, something fans will also endure before Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 arrives.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5 is highly anticipated in part because the new episodes promise a shift in direction for the series toward more bold adventure. Discovery was designed as a new kind of Star Trek series; tightly-serialized and cinematic instead of episodic and philosophical. Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and the crew of the USS Discovery specialize in facing down worlds-ending threats to the United Federation of Planets, and they've saved the galaxy repeatedly in both the 23rd and 32nd centuries. All throughout, Discovery's primary focus is Michael Burnham, whose actions drive the show's stories, with Discovery's crew rallying around their heroic Captain, often to the detriment of their character development.

Strange New Worlds Solved Discovery’s Undeveloped Crew Problem In Just 2 Seasons

One of the oldest criticisms lobbed at Star Trek: Discovery is that the show's focus on Michael Burnham and serialized storytelling has left much of the ing cast still undeveloped after 4 seasons. Bridge crew like Lt. Commander Kayla Detmer (Emily Coutts) and Lt. Commander Joann Owosekun (Oyin Oladejo) remain largely ciphers despite a few featured moments. Meanwhile, many fans still can't identify Lt. Commander Roland Bryce (Ronnie Rowe, Jr.), Lt. Commander Gen Rhys (Patrick Kwok-Choon), or Lt. Commander Nillson (Sara Mitich) and what their exact roles are aboard Discovery. Episodes spotlighting these characters to get to know them and their stories better have been few and far between.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds solved Discovery's problem because of the show's episodic nature, and by the end of Strange New Worlds season 2, fans are now intimately acquainted with and invested in the entire crew of the USS Enterprise. Strange New Worlds season 2 even downplayed Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) to give more emphasis to Number One (Rebecca Romijn), Lt. La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong), Ensign Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush), and Dr. Joseph M'Benga (Babs Olusanmokun), who all received spotlight episodes. Impressively, Strange New Worlds season 2 introduced Lt. James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) and Commander Pelia (Carol Kane), quickly making them beloved characters with relatively few scenes.

Why Strange New Worlds’ Characters Are Developed Better Than Discovery's

Unlike Star Trek: Discovery, Strange New Worlds is designed to leap from character to character and genre to genre, yet it serializes character development so everyone aboard Captain Pike's Enterprise grows and changes, with the audience along every step of the way. Both Discovery and Strange New Worlds are well-cast, but Discovery is structured with Michael Burnham as the undisputed lead character and everyone else tiered to her. Captain Pike certainly leads Strange New Worlds, but the show is built to eventually feature everyone, and Strange New Worlds was brilliantly cast so that each character can hold center stage when it's their turn to be featured.

Strange New Worlds is also written to be much more of an ensemble, and the series takes its time to showcase life aboard the Starship Enterprise, whether it's exciting or mundane. For every crisis Pike's crew faces, there are also multiple, welcome scenes of Ortegas, Chapel, Uhura, Una, La'an, and even Pike, Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck), and Dr. M'Benga simply enjoying each other's company, whether it's dinner in Pike's quarters or sharing a drink in the Port Galley. As a result, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' crew feels like a genuine found family, even more so than Discovery's after 4 seasons. Hopefully, Star Trek: Discovery season 5 left some room to flesh out the Disco's crew so audiences get to know them better, at last, in its final season.