Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’season 3 premiere will honor a tradition popularized byStar Trek: The Next Generation.Strange New Worldsseason 3 is expected to premiere in 2025 on Paramount+,nearly two years afterStrange New Worldsconcluded with an epic cliffhangerin August 2023. Thankfully, Paramount+ has also renewedStar Trek: Strange New Worldsfor season 4, which begins filming early in 2025 for an expected 2026 release.
Star Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 2 endedwith Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) caught in a dire no-win scenario. Following a Gorn attack on Parnassus Beta, members of the USS Enterprise’s crew were kidnapped by the alien reptiles. Meanwhile, Captain Marie Batel (Melanie Scrofano), Pike’s paramour, has been infected by Gorn eggs and is on death’s door. However, Starfleet Command ordered Pike to retreat, so the Captain of the Enterprise must choose between not engaging the Gorn and rescuing his crew.Strange New Worlds’season 2’s final image wasa desperate Captain Pike and the words,“To be continued…”
Strange New Worlds’ Season 2 Cliffhanger Will Be Concluded In Season 3’s Premiere
“And now, the conclusion…”
AtSan Diego Comic-Con,VarietyinterviewedStar Trek: Strange New Worldsexecutive producers and co-showrunners Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers, along with cast members Rebecca Romjin and Ethan Peck. When asked whetherStrange New Worldsseason 2’s cliffhanger will continue into multiple season 3 episodes, Alonso Myers responded that, like otherStar Trektwo-parters thatStrange New Worldshomages,season 3’s premiere will be the conclusion. Read Henry’s quote below:
I’m just going to straightforward say we were trying to do something that was classic to Trek. And when you come back for the second part of a two-parter, it always says ‘the conclusion of.’ So come into season 3, I promise you you will see the conclusion of.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' seasonsconsist of 10 episodes, so it’s understandable that with limited real estate, the prequel would not pushStrange New Worlds’Gorn cliffhanger beyond a two-part tale.Strange New Worldsis episodic, likeStar Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation,and other classicStar Trekseries, andStrange New Worldsseason 3 has other “big swings” in store, like a Hollywood murder mystery directed by Jonathan Frakes. ButStrange New Worldsis doing its first two-parter with season 2’s finale and season 3’s premiere, which is an ode to one ofStar Trek’s most beloved traditions.
TNG Made 2-Part Cliffhangers A Star Trek Tradition
DS9, Voyager, Enterprise, and even Lower Decks did cliffhangers
Star Trek: The Original Seriesonly did one two-parter, “The Menagerie.” A two-part episode allowed for the repurposing ofStar Trek’s original, rejected pilot, “The Cage,” so that its footage was watched in-universe by Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) during a court-martial of Spock (Leonard Nimoy). However, it wasStar Trek: The Next Generationthat truly popularized theStar Trektwo-parter.Perhaps the greatestStar Trekseason finale/season premiere combination ever isStar Trek: The Next Generation’s Borg epic, “The Best of Both Worlds,” which is one of the classicsStar Trek: Strange New Worldsis genuflecting to.
How To Watch All Star Trek TV Shows In Timeline Order
The Star Trek TV franchise has existed for 57 years and consists of 12 shows (and counting). Here’s how to watch them all in timeline order.
Star Trek: The Next GenerationandStar Trek: Deep Space Nineeach had 7 seasons, which wasample time to deliver several two-part episodes.Star Trek: Voyager’s 7 seasons boasted several two-parters, which the series treated as mini-movies. PerhapsStar Trek: Enterprise’s best two-parter was its Mirror Universe saga, “In a Mirror, Darkly.“Star Trek: Lower Decks, set inTNG’s 24th century era, did its own two-parter homage with season 2’s finale that saw the arrest of Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis). Meanwhile,Star Trek: Prodigy’s two seasons consist of 20 episodes each, with several two-part episodes throughout, further honoringStar Trek’s tradition.
Why Star Trek: Discovery & Picard Didn’t Do Cliffhangers
Each season was one big story
Star Trektwo-parters weren’t significant events inStar Trek: DiscoveryorStar Trek: Picardbecauseboth series were serialized.Star Trektwo-parters are meaningful in the episodic format since they expand a story beyond the usual one episode needed. However,Star Trek: DiscoveryandStar Trek: Picardwere designed so that each season tells one continuous epic, with multiple episodes essentially serving as cliffhangers to lead viewers directly into the next episode. Yet despite being serialized,DiscoveryandPicardare still formatted like proper TV shows with each episode being a complete story as part of a larger saga.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' season 3premiere is highly anticipated, in part because fans are desperate to see how season 2’s cliffhanger is resolved, and also because of thelong wait betweenStrange New Worldsseasons 2 and 3.AlthoughStrange New Worldshas already released a clip from a season 3 episode where Captain Pike and his crew are turned into Vulcans, which reveals that everyone kidnapped by the Gorn is rescued and returned safely to the Starship Enterprise, it doesn’t change the desire to see howStrange New Worldsseason 3 will resolve season 2’s cliffhanger. Seeing and hearing, “And now, the conclusion…“whenStar Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 3 begins will be an extra treat.
