Star Trek: Discovery's Blu Del Barrio Had Wishes For Adira That Never Came True

When "Star Trek: Discovery" signed off last month, it left a few character arcs hanging. That's because the show's cancellation wasn't announced until season 5 had already wrapped, leading to a season finale that was reworked into a series finale with the help of quick rewrites and some additional footage.

Luckily, several main characters still got their happy ending despite the Paramount+ bait-and-switch, and Blu del Barrio's ensign Adira Tal was one of them. Adira joined the Discovery crew as an orphan with a Trill symbiont for a boyfriend. By season 5's ending, Adira had come into their own as a member of the crew, found a family in the form of parent figures Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) and Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz), and amicably ended things with their partner, Gray (Ian Alexander), after he was separated from them and placed into a body of his own.

Adira ends up helping out with a major mission during the climax of "Discovery" season 5 and even shares a sweet moment with their adopted dad, Stamets, before the show ends. They're also included in a sweet crew reunion flashback scene later in Captain Burnham's (Sonequa Martin-Green) life, which I would guess is the bittersweet sequence that left the actor giggling behind the scenes. When asked whether or not the actor was satisfied with Adira's arc in an interview with TrekMovie.com ahead of the finale, del Barrio said, "I think that I am satisfied where Adira leaves off [...] I think I got kind of lucky with how their story played out in season 5 and where they ended up."

Del Barrio noted that Adira was lucky to avoid the cliffhanger fate that could've befallen the character –- a not-unusual problem for LGBTQ+ characters in TV shows made in the era of mass streaming cancellations. "When I think about it, it could have been much more of a cliffhanger and that would have been so much more upsetting," they told the outlet. Ultimately, del Barrio thinks the finale and epilogue offer "a very positive note for them to end on," though, like any number of "Trek" castmates before them, del Barrio does wish they could've had a few more adventures.

"Of course, there was definitely a bunch of stuff that I wanted to do," del Barrio admitted. "I wanted them to be a part of a Mirror Universe episode. I wanted them to go on more way [sic] missions." The character joined the series in season 3, so they missed out on several major adventures, including the first season's extended Mirror Universe plot. Still, the actor doesn't seem to be mourning the end of their character's story arc, which is probably a smart move given how many former "Trek" castmates have made returns to the franchise during the current Paramount+ era.

It sounds like we definitely shouldn't rule out a return for the young Starfleet officer. "I had a bunch of stuff that I wanted to do and you know, 'Trek' is forever, so maybe in the future Adira can come back," del Barrio told TrekMovie. Hopefully, it'll be sooner rather than later: "Star Trek: Starfleet Academy" is currently in the works, and the series is set to focus on younger ensigns-in-training who could learn a thing or two from Adira.