Short Treks didn’t last very long, but it was a unique series that fleshed out the characters.
Short Treks began in October 2018, running for a total of ten episodes, the last airing on January 9, 2020. Though the episodes were short, only lasting anywhere from eight to eighteen minutes, they gave viewers more information about the characters and insight into who they were and little glimpses of what made them tick.
The series was very popular and was even nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. Alex Kurtzman was interested in continuing it, but Covid-19 caused a shut down. Producers chose not to work on any new shorts after that. But now is the perfect time to bring them back.
With Paramount+ facing financial issues, Short Treks would be less costlier than full episodes of a series.
The original Short Treks focused mostly on Star Trek: Discovery characters. Now, there are more options, especially since there just isn’t enough time in an episode to share what could be crucial details about a character’s motives and/or backstory.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has a plethora of characters that we’d love to know more about, and there’s even the opportunity to show glimpses of character futures like Captain Uhura. And another option would be taking deleted scenes like the one from Star Trek: Picard about Worf’s backstory to pacifism and fleshing them out.
Even when the SAG-AFTRA strike ends, it will be quite some time before Star Trek will be full speed ahead with new episodes of Strange New Worlds and the release of the new series, Starfleet Academy. These vignettes could not only fill in the gap but give fans a chance to see parts of canon we might not ever be able to see…like Harry Kim’s promotion to captain, Jack Crusher’s speedy process through the Academy, and even Wesley Crusher’s time as a Traveler. The possibilities are endless.