‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Producers Comment on Losing Anson Mount as Captain Pike

Earlier in March, it was confirmed that Star Trek: Discovery would be losing two of its second season cast members. Anson Mount will be leaving the series where he plays Capt. Christopher Pike, as will Rebecca Romijn as Pike’s first officer aboard the USS Enterprise. The departures were to be expected given that Pike has years left to command the Enterprise before handing that duty over to James Kirk. Star Trek: Discovery showrunner Alex Kurtzman was on hand at Paleyfest and spoke to SyFy about losing Capt. Pike. “We will sync up with canon, and obviously if you know the story of Captain Pike, you know what his fate was,” he said. “It won’t be exactly what you think this season, but we will be consistent with that story. There will be a dimension shed on that story that you will not have known or have thought of.”

Executive producer Heather Kadin added, “If anything it’s not going to feel like a send-off, because I think that’s what everyone thinks is going to happen. I think it will just become incredibly clear why he’s not continuing on, cause he has to go do TOS, so we have to make sense of that.”

Actor Doug Jones, who plays Discovery‘s Cmdr. Saru, reflected on Pike’s time aboard the ship. “To get more of a backstory on him now has been delicious,” Jones said. “And who could have played him better than Anson Mount? I think he is doing such a beautiful job; he’s like the perfect captain. He’s strong, authoritative, but he’s also very warm and nurturing to his crew. We knew going in that we only had him temporarily, because we borrowed him from the Enterprise, right? He and Spock have to go back, and Rebecca Romijn as Number One, we can’t hold them all forever or the original series can’t play as it was filmed. But with him inevitably leaving, what does that do to the captain’s chair?”

That is a question that remains to be answered. Discovery was captained by Gabriel Lorca before he was revealed as an imposter from the Mirror Universe. Discovery was on its way to Vulcan to pick up a new captain when it received a distress call from the Enterprise, leading to Pike taking command to continue his own mission. Will Discovery resume course for Vulcan to pick up its previously appointed captain? Or could Saru or Burnham get a shot at the chair?

New Star Trek: Discovery episodes become available to stream Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. ET on CBS All Access.

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