Star Trek: Discovery Made A Change For Saru In Season 3 That 'Intimidated' Doug Jones

At the beginning of its third season, "Star Trek: Discovery" went through something of a soft reboot, with fans often debating about what worked and what did not. Thanks to a complex season-two story about a malevolent machine intelligence, the U.S.S. Discovery was forced through a portal in time, depositing it in the year 3188, about 900 from their starting point. The crew of the Discovery found the future to be bitter and broken. It seems a galaxy-wide cataclysm — nicknamed The Burn — destroyed every active starship a few centuries earlier. The last remaining scraps of the Federation went into hiding while a vicious crime syndicate, the Emerald Chain, rose to power in its absence. The Discovery, equipped with now-ancient technology, had to fight the Emerald Chain, locate the Federation, and attempt to help a galaxy they didn't understand. 

On a show where most of the characters were unbalanced, violent, and weepy, the calm, gentle, and clear-thinking Saru (Doug Jones) stepped up to serve as the captain of the U.S.S. Discovery. Saru, unlike the incidentally murderous crew, was prudent and cautious, slightly less inclined to take the Discovery on reckless acts of attack than the impulsive and weepy Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green). 

While "Discovery" was less about its central captain than previous "Star Trek" shows (Michael Burnham was the main character), it was no less stressful for Jones to play a starship captain. The captain had to give orders, delivery tech-heavy dialogue, and make bold decisions on camera. Additionally, because all the characters have to listen to their captain, so too do the viewers. That kind of attention stressed Jones out as an actor. He admitted as much in a 2021 interview with TrekNews. Saru, he said, was equal to the challenge of becoming the captain of the Discovery. He, as an actor, was far less eager.

Jones, it should be noted, is best known for his roles playing monsters and non-human creatures; in many of his roles, his face is covered by monster makeup. Jones played a zombie in "Hocus Pocus," a kangaroo man in "Warriors of Virtue," the faun in "Pan's Labyrinth," and a fishman in both "Hellboy" and "The Shape of Water." He's played various other ghouls and creatures in films like "Doom," "The Lady in the Water," "Crimson Peak," "Legion," "The Watch," and "The Bye Bye Man." He's not known for being a leading man. 

Jones has been fine with this, and even understood that he'd be playing a supporting player in "Star Trek: Discovery." Becoming captain, though, was more of a role than he had even expected to play. He admitted: 

"The biggest challenge in season three was that Saru wanted to be the captain of a starship; Doug Jones, not so much. I was intimidated by the responsibility and the gravity of it. I took on the challenge of being captain in season three, with way more dialog and more scenes to be a part of. It's a lot. I knew, in the beginning, I was going to be the second fiddle in the show, and I was happy with that. It was still Michael Burnham's show — Sonequa Martin-Green is still the lead of our show, no question. But to be a captain was a daunting responsibility." 

The captain's chair was capably handled by Saru throughout the third season. For a full season of TV, Saru was allowed to grow into a more confident character. This was the next logical step in the character's arc, given that he recently had undergone a biological change that made him braver.

Jones admitted that he has a lot in common with Saru, at least when it comes to bravery. In the early episodes of "Discovery," it was explained that Saru's species, the Kelpiens, are typically raised to be food for another, stronger, cannibalistic species. Kelpiens had evolved to be incredibly wary of danger and lived in a constant state of fear; they were prey. Kelpiens also possessed a small bundle of fleshy ganglia under their ears that would "activate" when they reached a certain age. When a Kelpien's ganglia activate, they turn into uncontrolled, murderous monsters. 

This was revealed to be propaganda, and Kelpiens' fear ganglia merely fell off in time. When they do, Kelpiens become mature and brave. Saru had already outgrown his ganglia and was slowly becoming more resolute as a result. Jones remarked on this development, saying: 

"I have imposter syndrome as a person anyway, so I just had to say to myself 'Oh, I'll have to fake my way through this one.' But now remember, Saru was coming at this captaincy without his threat ganglia, which means he was coming at the captain's chair with courage. It's taught me a lot." 

The fifth season of "Star Trek: Discovery" will debut on April 4, 2024. At the end of the fourth season, Saru was still a captain, and there's every reason to believe that he will receive his own command, moving forward with cautious courage and emotional availability. Trekkies will see his fate soon enough.