But what will that foundation look like? Which alien races and planets will be a part of it? We got a glimpse of an answer to those questions in the trailer for Season 4, which shows the Federation leadership around a table. In the group, we see some familiar characters, including Ni’Var President T’Rin. We also meet some new characters, including the already much-discussed Federation president, whom we know from promotional interviews has a mix of Cardassian, Bajoran, and human ancestry—the main races involved in the struggle at the heart of Deep Space Nine story. The character seems to be straight-up DS9 fanbait, and I’m not complaining. Speaking of DS9 fanbait, the trailer also includes a shot of a Ferengi in a Starfleet captain’s uniform, implying that the Ferengi have also joined the Federation. The shot has gotten a lot of attention from Trek fandom for the redesign of the Ferengi look, but frankly I’m just glad to have Ferengi back in the Star Trek universe fold, as part of this strange new future. When the Ferengi were first introduced in The Next Generation, they were meant to be relatively straight-forward antagonists. When they were deemed insufficiently scary, they turned into comedic menaces. It wasn’t until DS9 that the Ferengi got some proper complexity through the recurring characters of Ferengi family Quark, Rom, and Nog. I’m eager to see what this new generation of Ferengi will look like, and how Star Trek: Discovery will use the traditionally hyper-capitalistic culture to tell its Season 4 story. How did Discovery go about choosing the characters who would make up the Federation leadership in Season 4? We had a chance to ask showrunner Michelle Paradise ahead of the season’s November 18th premiere. What questions do you have about the Federation in Season 4? Which alien races would you like to see incorporated into the story? Let us know in the comments below.
