‘Star Trek: Short Treks’ Writer Teases “Calypso” Mystery

The writer of the next installment of Star Trek: Short Treks is teasing some intriguing mysteries in “Calypso.”

Michael Chabon is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of such novels as The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay and The Yiddish Policeman’s Union. He’s also been a fan of Star Trek since he was a child.

“My dad watched The Original Series, I remember that as a small child, but it was on too late for me to watch,” Chabon tells The Jewish News of Northern California. It seemed very grownup and incomprehensible. I must’ve been 4 or 5. But I remember his attachment to it. When I was 10, I had a babysitter. The Original Series was on syndication everywhere, and she was a Trekkie, self-described. She turned me onto it. We had it on every time she was over. She would go to conventions and come back with cool stuff. She was my introduction to the show and to fandom all at once.”

He explains that he got pulled into the Star Trek universe through his relationship with producer Akiva Goldsman.

“I was working on a film project with one of the producers of Discovery and now the Picard project, Akiva Goldsman,” Chabon says. “They were just starting to assemble possible ideas for these shorts, what became Short Treks, and I was in the room while he was talking about it. I’m a big fan and I had told him I’m really enjoying Discovery. So he was about to ask if I wanted to write this — before the question was out of his mouth, I said yes.”

“Calypso” will be Chabon’s Star Trek and television debut. The trailer for the episode revealed it takes place 1,000 years after Star Trek: Discovery. Chabon’s description suggests fans may be left a few lingering questions by the time the episode is done.

“It is about a castaway who is rescued by the Discovery, in the far future, and is rescued by the AI of the starship,” Chabon explains. “It’s about the relationship that forms between the mysterious castaway and the AI. And there is a mystery of what it’s been doing for the last millennium. By the end, some mysteries are explained and others remain mysteries.”

Are you excited for the next episode of Star Trek: Short Treks? Let us know in the comments.

“Calypso” debuts Thursday, November 8th at 9:30 pm ET on CBS All Access.

The first season of Star Trek: Discovery is available to stream in its entirety on CBS All Access in the U.S., through CraveTV in Canada and through Netflix in other international markets.

Star Trek: Discovery Season Two is now filming in Toronto and will premiere on CBS All Access on January 17, 2019.