What does God need with a starship? The venerated Captain James T. Kirk once asked this question of a crazed alien pretending to be God in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier after the U.S.S Enterprise was hijacked by Spock’s half brother, Sybok.
Recent reports about Star Trek: Discovery not using the word “God” caused a stir amongst Trek fans, most of whom cited the The Final Frontier as proof that Star Trek wasn’t shy about religion. And it seems all of you nerds were right: Discovery will certainly refer to “God,” according to the show’s executive producer Gretchen Berg.
“In our room, it’s something we discuss a lot,” Berg told Nerdist. “I don’t necessarily agree with [Isaacs’] quote. On a show about diversity and with different points of view, I feel like you have to accept that some people believe in God, some people want to worship a potato, and some people don’t want to believe in anything. I think there is room for that on Star Trek.”
In fact, “God” has already been used “quite a bit,” Berg said. “They are allowed to say it [God]. God fits in the patchwork in everything that is represented by Star Trek.”
So, there you have it. As Discovery is technically set to take place before Kirk ever became captain of the Enterprise, Sybok should be happy to hear that his desperate search won’t be changed by these newly recognized events in the past.
Star Trek: Discovery debuts on CBS and CBS All-Access on September 24.
