Commentary: ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Gets A Rare Happy Ending

As storytelling entered the era of streaming, shows became darker and more dramatic generally speaking. Each tried to wow audiences with controversial endings that left their characters fractured and broken. Even stories with happy endings didn’t leave their characters unscathed. There’s always some sort of wound they have to recover from. Very rarely does a streaming show end  a solidly positive note, but that’s exactly what Star Trek: Discovery accomplished.

After a season’s long scavenger hunt, this season — the program’s last — ended in dramatic fashion. The technology they were after for the entire season was sent into a black hole on Burnham’s (Sonequa Martin-Green) orders. The season end soon followed, with Burnham and Booker (David Ajala) beaming away from Saru’s (Doug Jones) wedding, but the end of the show was something different. There’s an epilogue following Burnham into the future, where we learn she married Book and had a child with him. The two of them lead a quiet life while their son serves in Starfleet. The show closes as Burnham takes the Discovery away for its final, classified mission.

This epilogue is distinct and separate from anything else that takes place in the show, including the final season. No mention of anything that happened in the final season exists in the epilogue. Therefore, it stands on its own as a true ending. One notable thing about this conclusion: there is absolutely no negativity. Everything about it shows Burnham at the end of a happy life. She became an admiral in Starfleet, married her true love, and had a successful child with him. She even got to say goodbye to the ship she called home for so long during a nostalgic moment. Very rarely do shows give audiences something so definitive. It’s a refreshing change of pace for an era of dark storytelling.

Star Trek: Discovery is now streaming on Paramount+.