Discovery Cast Have One Message For Fans Ahead Of The Final Season [SXSW 2024]

When asked what their parting words to fans would be, Kurtzman went first, addressing fans directly:

“The words ‘thank you’ fall short in how we feel toward you. The franchise really starts with you. Thank you for taking us in as family. That’s something we all heard on the conventions meeting you one at a time, was welcome to the family. And hearing that from an audience, that’s what we were working toward. And thank you so much for letting us be a part of that family.”

Trekkies can be very accepting, but they’re also a stingy crowd, and it takes a lot of effort to win them over and have them openly accepting new “Trek” shows into the franchise’s larger canon. Kurtzman feels that a contingency of “Discovery” fans did that.

Cruz, as mentioned, noted the diversity of characters seen in “Discovery,” which is certainly notable. “Star Trek” always sought to depict a future of diverse people working together to solve problems, but it wasn’t always graceful about it; queer representation was clumsy at best. “Discovery” has featured more backgrounds, genders, and sexualities than ever before, and it’s all presented matter-of-factly. Cruz is proud of that, as well as of the show’s ambitious, season-long story arcs:

“I think it’s worth saying here, we asked a lot of our audience with this new series. We were serialized. We were far more diverse than even ‘Star Trek’ has ever been. We took a lot of risks in story-telling, and you guys went on that ride with us. And I can’t even begin to tell you how grateful we are. And we’ll never forget it. Thank you.”

Fans are grateful, too.