10 Times Star Trek Dared To Be Different

3. Jumps Ahead

Star Trek: Discovery was Star Trek's return to the small screen. Its very existence was daring — and about time — after too many years. Eschewing the ensemble, it favoured a singular viewpoint character — exploration by, and of, Michael Burnham. That was an entirely novel approach for Star Trek. There were drawbacks. We still know very little about some of Discovery's other characters, even after five seasons. There were a lot of positives, too.

As Burnham, Sonequa Martin-Green became the first black female lead in a Star Trek show, a bold continuation of Trek's core values of diversity and inclusion. As Martin-Green told The Independent in 2017,

My casting says that the sky is the limit for all of us. […] I think it sends a message to any minority group that's been disenfranchised. We all benefit when we can see a picture of ourselves in a position of leadership, and I think that goes not just for women and people in minority groups — but for everyone to see that this is possible.

Burnham had quite the journey, too. From an initial low as "Starfleet's first mutineer," she traversed the centuries, gave hope back to the future, saved the galaxy (again) more than once, and became a captain (another first for Star Trek), later admiral. There were a couple of Terrans and an evil AI in there as well. We can only hope that Martin-Green gets to continue to break ground as Captain Burnham in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.