While Star Trek: Discovery boldly took fans where they had never been before, it sounds like season 2 of the CBS All Access TV show will be heading back to the ’60s Original Series for some ideas.

Charting the early days of Starfleet and moving away from James T. Kirk, Discovery broke boundaries by being the first Star Trek TV show not to focus on the captain of a USS spacecraft. However, with a last-minute inclusion of the Enterprise before the credits rolled on February’s season 1 finale, Discovery teased a whole universe of possibles storylines in the next batch of episodes.

Discovery still promises to focus on its own ship rather than becoming just another Enterprise show, but expect the arrival of Captain Pike and his crew to have a big influence on the series. Speaking at WonderCon 2018 (via Comic Book) showrunners Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts revealed how they are turning to Gene Roddenberry’s acclaimed Star Trek: The Original Series for a more nostalgic tone:

“This was an interesting season because it was set against the backdrop of war. One of the things that we are looking forward to in season two is a tone that we can now be in a more of an exploratory phase, a more diplomatic phase, maybe a bit more of a ‘Trekian’ chapter of this.”


The pair were specifically asked if Discovery‘s modern take on the classic Trek uniforms could evolve into a more TOS-style of costume. Berg reminded audiences that Discovery is particularly close to when The Original Series happened but stopped short of confirming that the likes of Burnham, Saru, or Tyler could be found in a Shatner-esque yellow shirt or a doomed red shirt. However, Harberts certainly added some fuel to the fire:

“Well, we bump up against the Enterprise at the end of our finale, and we know what kind of uniforms they wear. So, we will leave it at that.”

Apparently, fans will also see a lot more of Doug Jones as the Kelpien Saru and there will be an expanded emphasis on the threat of war. While the Federation-Klingon war was touched on in Discovery‘s freshman year, the second half of the series focussed on the Mirror Universe and various Terran counterparts. Entering season 2, Discovery will be going back to basics to explore the ideals that made The Original Series a groundbreaking piece of television.

Set a decade before The Original Series and Shatner at the helm of the Enterprise, Discovery is also around two years before original pilot episode “The Cage”. Still, it is great to see that the showrunners are using the roots of the Prime Universe to shape their latest iteration of the long-running franchise. Star Trek has had something of a resurgence thanks to Paramount’s movie reboot in 2009, but Discovery was arguably another breath of fresh air for the property. With hopes to push the envelope even further, Berg and Harberts are preparing to beam fans up for another thrilling adventure when Star Trek: Discovery returns some time in the near future.