Yahoo News Star Trek: Discovery boss talks shocking cliffhanger
Warning: This article contains major spoilers for the first two episodes of Star Trek: Discovery.
Star Trek: Discovery boss Alex Kurtzman has opened up about the explosive end to the show's second episode.
The series premiered its first two episodes in the US last night (September 24) and on Netflix in the UK this morning (September 25) to largely positive reviews.
It also delivered a major plot twist when Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) committed Starfleet's first act of mutiny and saw her mentor Captain Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) killed at the end of the second episode.
Daring? Yes. A gamble? Certainly – but what inspired such a bold idea? And what's next for Burnham who has yet to board the USS Discovery?
Well, Kurtzman has at least a few answers.
"When Bryan [Fuller] and I started talking early on, we came to the idea that there's something very powerful about setting the audience up to believe they were going to be able to predict what was going to happen and then pull the rug out by the end of the second episode," Kurtzman told Entertainment Weekly.
"So that you're left going, 'I really can't stay ahead of us, this is not what I thought it would be'.
"And we weren't trying to do that as a gimmick, we did it because Burnham is Starfleet's first mutineer, and that's a deeply emotional story. In so many ways, the rug is pulled out from under her as well."
During the interview, Kurtzman also revealed the series has been immaculately planned and that 'there's a grand design to season one'.
But what of episode 3 after that bold opener?
"There's a time jump," Kurtzman said. "It's not a radical time jump. In many ways we designed episode 3 to almost be a new pilot.
"People were set up to expect one thing, and something very different episodes. The USS Discovery doesn't show up until the third episode, along with its crew - which is our main cast.
"Burnham and the audience are going to have a reset. Burnham believes she's headed to a prison colony and is met with an unexpected surprise that has to do with the Discovery and its captain."
Can't wait.
Star Trek: Discovery continues next Sunday (October 1) on CBS in the US and on Monday (October 2) on Netflix in the UK.
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