Why The Uniforms In The Star Trek: Discovery Season 4 Teaser Mean More Than You Think

As fans prepare for Star Trek: Discovery season 4, there are many who wonder where the series will pick up after the end of season 3. Now that a teaser for the new season has been released, the most diehard Trek fans are poring over every detail of the footage, hoping to gain some insight into what the upcoming Discovery episodes might have in store. 

One of the biggest changes that's likely to come with the new season is actually hiding in plain sight, though. In this case, it's a change in the colors that the crew are wearing throughout the season. While the uniforms in the Star Trek universe may not seem like a big deal, the ones seen in the Discovery season 4 teaser suggest that the show may be shifting its tone so that it feels more like the series that came before it. Although it's a small detail, it's one that should get Star Trek fans excited about the possibility of what's to come. 

In most of the Star Trek shows, the crew's uniforms are a variety of different colors. The colors are meant to represent the role that person plays on the ship, and are an easy way to visually distinguish one person from the rest. The Star Trek movies mostly got away from that idea, and instead gave every member of the crew an almost identical uniform. Instead of different color uniforms, the only difference between members of the crew is the color of the undershirt that they're wearing, which is a much more minor detail. 

Every Stark Trek series kept the uniforms separate colors — until Discovery, which chose to model its look after the movies by giving all of the crew the same gray uniform. In season 4, though, it seems like the series has decided to change course in this regard. Based on what's seen in the teaser for season 4, each crew members' uniform has a distinct color palette, suggesting that Star Trek: Discovery is moving more towards the franchise's roots in previous series. 

There's a strong legacy of Star Trek shows that lean into the campy elements of Discovery's premise while also wringing real drama out of individual moments between characters. Discovery may have started out as a series that wanted to be a slightly more serious version of Star Trek, but in its fourth season, the new uniforms suggest that the show may be ready to have a little more fun.