During WonderCon, the creatives behind one of my favorite shows on TV, Star Trek Discovery, descended on Anaheim to talk a bit about the first season and working within one of the biggest TV properties of all time. I had some technical difficulties during this press room, so I’ll bring you some quotes from the showrunners Gretchen J. Berg & Aaron Harberts before getting to the video!

Tackling Deep Themes
Given what has been happening in the media with #MeToo and Anthony Rapp’s reveal about Kevin Spacey, the various storylines of the show became a part of a moment. I loved how the show handled Lt. Tyler’s sexual assault by L’Rell and wanted to share that admiration with the showrunners. They were surprised because of how early they worked on the storylines and that the show basically fell into the zeitgeist. Shazad Latif’s performance allowed them to show this different side to sexual assualt and his willingness to be vulnerable with Burnham was an interesting place to take it. Not only is it rich thematically, but it’s a great conflict with Burnham, Tyler, and L’Rell that can play out. By being on a streaming platform, they were able to explore this in a unique but tender way.

Spock?
Of course they didn’t reveal too much regarding season two but when pressed by me they did hint at the fact that because of where they are in the timeline and the fact that sibling stories are very powerful that there could be a chance to explore Spock as a young boy. It’s not confirmed though but I’m very hopeful!

Tamara Deverell – Production Designer

Hands down, this interview with Alan Van Sprang is one of the wildest I’ve ever taken part of. It’s not often you get surprised with an actor who also is surprised because he hasn’t been told about his character yet! Trek fans will know the long history of the organization he’s maybe a part of, but he’s also discovering it as he goes along.

If you want to know what organization he’s referring to check this out