Blu Del Barrio Had An Ironic Reaction To Their Final Star Trek: Discovery Scene
"Star Trek: Discovery" is in the midst of its last official mission, as the Paramount+ series is set to sign off at the end of May after five seasons. The first "Star Trek" series of the streaming era has seen its share of highs and lows over the years, but the casting of Blu del Barrio, the first openly non-binary actor in the "Trek" universe, is undoubtedly a high point. The actor spoke to Comic Book Resources ahead of the show's ending, sharing takeaways from the experience and revealing that their last day on set was emotional — just not in the way you might expect.
"I could not stop laughing," del Barrio revealed when asked about how it felt to give these characters their "final send-off" in a portion of the "Discovery" finale that was filmed after the rest of the episode. "Everybody was crying, but I couldn't stop laughing," they reiterated. The actor compared their incongruous giggles to someone reacting oddly at a funeral. "I like, I went into it like when you cry at a funeral, I don't know what it was," they explained. "The direction was 'Cry. You can cry. You can be sad.'"
Discovery filmed an ending that called for its actors to cry
Though fans haven't seen the sequence in question yet, it's one that Comic Book Resources described as a "coda," and it was apparently filmed after principal photography wrapped. Director Jonathan Frakes previously told Variety that the show's planned two-part finale was suddenly turned into just one episode, leading to the need for additional footage "to actually make the finale the finale." Executive producer and director Olatunde Osunsanmi apparently finished the episode. Whatever happened behind the scenes, it resulted in a quick added shoot that called for the actor to cry, and as del Barrio told CBR with a laugh, they just "couldn't stop laughing."
It's tough to predict just how "Star Trek: Discovery" will end, given that only two "Trek" shows from the modern era have reached their conclusions so far. "Star Trek: Short Treks" seems to have fizzled out after season 2, but given its standalone nature, the show didn't have to offer up a grand finale (it also doesn't seem completely gone, as Paramount released "Star Trek: Very Short Treks" in 2023). "Star Trek: Picard," on the other hand, ended with a sentimental conclusion that satisfied fans of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," reuniting its cast in a meaningful way and signing off with style. Given the apparent compression of the "Star Trek: Discovery" finale, we have no idea what it might look like — but as with all things "Discovery," we trust it to be interesting and offbeat.
del Barrio is proud of being part of Trek history
All laughter aside, del Barrio got serious with CBR to relay the pride they feel at having brought one of TV's few romantic relationships between transgender characters to life. Their character, Adira Tal, ended up in a relationship with Gray, a trans character played by Ian Alexander. "I'm most proud of being able to portray a really wonderful and beautiful trans relationship," del Barrio said, adding, "There is very little stuff out with one trans character and we got two. I got to make something really beautiful with Ian that I'm very proud of, and I also now have a lifelong friend." It's true that trans couples are rare on screen: while Netflix's "Sex Education" recently broke down barriers by featuring a love scene between two trans partners, depictions of relationships like these are few and far between.
It makes sense that such a relationship would flourish in the diverse world of "Star Trek," a franchise that has spotlighted many different types of love over its half-century-plus existence. "Star Trek: Discovery" will always have a special place in "Trek" history, thanks in part to the way it's embraced queer characters in a franchise that has always had queer fans — even when their stories weren't portrayed on screen. "Being able to show a queer trans relationship in that way, in this universe so many years into the future [in] all its intricacy, I think is great, and I'm very proud of that," del Barrio told CBR.
Season 5 of "Star Trek: Discovery" is currently streaming new episodes on Paramount+ each Thursday.