In Australia it’s the 7th of January as of the writing of this article, meaning we only have 11 days until the first episode of Star Trek: Discovery season two drops on Netflix!

Because the United States is a day behind Australia, it’s about 11 days for them too.  Disco airs in the US on the 17th of January, and in Australia and the rest of the world on the 18th of January.

I am, as you would expect, excited!

Very soon we’ll get to take another look at the USS Enterprise, and we’ll also get a chance to see how our new Captain Christopher Pike and Number One fit into the overall season arc.  We’ll also get to see how the creative team behind the series handle Spock.

Speaking of that first episode, CBS All Access have released it’s name.  “Brother.”  That’s a very loaded title!

So far, that’s all we know.  If there is a synopsis I can’t find it.  What we do know is that “Brother” is directed by Alex Kurtzman, and that, presumably, Spock will in some way be a focus – though he will probably remain unseen.

To date, the creative forces behind Star Trek: Discovery have been quite successful at keeping season two a secret.  We know what they want us to know, and very little else.

We know we’ll eventually meet Tig Notaro’s character, Chief Engineer Denise Reno of the USS Hiawatha, and we will also meet a new character called Linus.

Linus is a Saurian and he looks fantastic!  This re-imagining of the species is beautiful, in my opinion.  It might be my favourite character make up to date.

We haven’t seen a lot of the Saurian species in televised or filmed Star Trek, though they do feature in Star Trek Online and of note, one of them is the current Federation President in the games universe.

As a Star Trek staple, they are perhaps best known for their brandy, a favourite beverage of Captain James T. Kirk and his Chief Medical Officer, Doctor Leonard McCoy.

The last time we actually saw a Saurian in canon was in 1979, during Star Trek: The Motion Picture.  As you can see, the amazing makeup team have been quite faithful in updating their look.

According to the wonderful Memory Alpha and thanks to the book The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, we do know a little bit about these reptilian Federation members:

“SAURIAN – A lizard person, very able, excellent space officers.  Learned to communicate in Earth tongue, have complicated vocal language of own.  Have upright, direct posture.  Intelligent.  Can breathe a number of gases.  Valuable in exploration of new areas because of enormous strength due to four hearts.”

Thanks to the Season Two trailer, we also know they’re susceptible to the common cold!

Along with these guys, we also, of course, see more of former Empress Georgiou, now a Section 31 secret agent.

That story line is one that particularly interests me.  Not because I’m a fan of Section 31, but because they seem to be one story point where the new creatives behind Star Trek have really brought continuity and canon undone.

How?  Everyone seems to know about them!  Pike, Burnham… in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine it was established they were so secretive no one had a clue they existed, not even Captain Sisko who was given a lot of information because of his role in the Dominion War.

It will be interesting to see what is going on there.

Other than the above, there’s not much other news to report.  Some new season two photos have been released, and you can see them at TrekCore here.  There are also a bunch of character posters that have come out, and you can take a look at them here.  They’re pretty snazzy.

This new season should be pretty awesome.  It started off rough with the sacking of Gretchin Berg and Aaron Harberts, but hopefully, under Alex Kurtzman’s capable hands, everything has settled down and we’re in for something special.

I’m definitely watching the new season for Burnham, Saru, Tilly and Stamets, but I’m probably most excited about Pike, Number One and Spock.

I also can’t wait to see what’s in store with the Red Angel and the mysterious signals.

We’ll see you in a little under two weeks for our first recap and review of the new season.

Live long, and prosper.