Jason Isaacs Bids Farewell to Star Trek: Discovery… For Now

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Jason Isaacs, who played Captain Gabriel Lorca on Star Trek: Discovery, says farewell to his castmates on Twitter… for now. Star Trek fans clamoring for a return of their beloved franchise to its television roots got what they wanted this past year, but not in the way they expected. Star Trek: Discovery‘s debut season proved ambitious (if uneven), but clear reverence for Trek lore and a top-notch cast helped Discovery become a standout show of the past year.

While Discovery featured the flawed hero Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) as its protagonist, Jason Isaacs stole nearly every scene he was in as the U.S.S. Discovery’s brash Captain Gabriel Lorca. Discovery‘s reality-hopping first season found the crew battling the fascistic Terran Empire in an alternate dimension, leading up to the stunning discovery that Captain Lorca was in fact from the Mirror Universe all along.

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We can glean from the “Find Prime Lorca” sign that photo is a teasing allusion to Isaacs’ return as the Prime Universe Lorca, who was supplanted by his racist, sociopathic Mirror counterpart. The actor himself shared details of Lorca’s backstory that didn’t make it into the show’s dialogue, but to date there is no firm confirmation or denial that Prime Lorca is in fact dead.

The major – and often quite shocking – deaths which took place over the course of Discovery‘s first season placed fans in a constant, Game of Thrones-style state of anxiety when it came to the mortality of their favorite characters. Discovery has instructed us to believe that no one is truly safe in this version of Trek, leading to some criticism that the show may be “too dark” for what has traditionally been a more optimistic franchise.

Still, Star Trek: Discovery has managed to shake off many aspects of the previous series, such as featuring a conflicted, at times morally-gray lead character, a serialized (rather than staunchly episodic) approach to its storytelling, and a sincere, touching depiction of an openly gay relationship between major characters. We can criticize a show for its flaws (some uneven writing, the still-baffling retcon of the Klingons), but it seems disingenuous to bash a show for featuring an abundance of daring and ambition. Fans may yet see more of Lorca, but there’s also plenty of surprises in store for season 2.

Star Trek: Discovery is expected to return for season 2 later this year.