Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Set to Ditch Wacky Outliers as It Enters Its Final Seasons
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is charting a straighter course for its endgame: as the series heads into its final seasons, expect fewer offbeat detours and a tighter, more grounded run.
Strange New Worlds has never been shy about swinging for the fences. Crossovers, broad comedy, an actual musical — the show has tried it all. If you’ve been waiting for a pivot back to more straight-ahead Trek, that shift is coming… right as the series winds down.
Co-showrunner Akiva Goldsman says the final two seasons are dialing back the high-concept experiments and leaning into classic sci-fi adventure. They’re in production on season 5 now, and he frames the home stretch like this:
I think that it’s fair to say - as we come to the end of the show, because we’re making season 5 now - that we’re trending towards that, which is probably the center line of Star Trek. We’re trending now, beginning with season 4 and through season 5 to a much more singular sci-fi, action-adventure with emotional storytelling. The outliers are getting fewer and fewer as we focus on saying goodbye to each other and the fans.
Worth noting: they aren’t going full austere. Season 4 still includes a puppet-themed episode. So yes, fewer outliers — just not zero.
Big swings like the Lower Decks crossover or the musical tend to split the room, partly because of the math. With only 10 episodes a season, two or three experiments can dominate the vibe. Back in the pre-Discovery era, most Trek seasons ran around 26 episodes. That schedule isn’t happening anymore, but the old model gave the shows room to wander and still build relationships at a slower, breezier pace. In the modern 10-episode world, every detour is a bigger chunk of the season, and the character work has to hustle. Personally, I like the bold ideas — but in a short season, one offbeat hour can feel like it eats a whole week of momentum.
- Season 4: 10 episodes
- Season 5 (final): 6 episodes
- Total series count when it wraps: 46 episodes — which used to be not even two full seasons of old-school Trek
Another behind-the-scenes tidbit: the showrunners plan to pitch a Year One spin-off set on Kirk’s Enterprise. No guarantees it happens, but that’s the idea they’re floating once Strange New Worlds exits warp for good.
Bottom line: as the Enterprise crew aims for the finish line, expect a cleaner, more traditional Trek mix — sci-fi, action-adventure, emotional arcs — with fewer weekly curveballs, and a proper farewell baked into the storytelling.