While the Star Trek franchise prides itself in showcasing its main characters building found families, Star Trek: Discovery takes this to a whole new level -- especially as the Paramount+ original series moves into its fourth season. Chief Engineer Paul Stamets and his husband Doctor Hugh Culber, respectively portrayed by Anthony Rapp and Wilson Cruz, reexamined and rededicated themselves to their relationship as the USS Discovery transported 900 years into the future. Their familial unit also includes Adira, portrayed by Blu del Barrio, a human native to the 32nd century, who bonds to a Trill symbiont in Season 3.

In a roundtable interview attended by CBR and other press outlets, Rapp, Cruz, and del Barrio explained how the far-future of the 32nd century gives their respective characters additional room to grow in Star Trek: Discovery Season 4. They also teased how their characters are growing closer and stronger as a family in the upcoming season of the hit Paramount+ show.

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While Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 saw Stamets become something of a mentor and surrogate father figure for Adira, Rapp hinted that Stamets will continue to improve his relationship with Culber in Season 4. "He gets tested in his abilities to science his way out of things in a major way in Season 4," Rapp stated.

Much of Stamets and Culber's marriage was tested throughout the first three seasons of Star Trek: Discovery, notably with Culber being killed in Season 1 and then resurrected in Season 2. Rapp and Cruz assured fans that though the show's stakes are higher than ever, Stamets and Culber will grow closer as a couple. Cruz explained that Season 4 will see Culber "rely on Paul a lot more" and "allow himself to do that" while taking care of the entire crew as the Discovery's chief medical officer. "It was already a good relationship, but it's even better now!" Rapp stated, with Cruz adding that their characters "have a deeper respect for each other" in Season 4.

For Adira, Barrio felt that joining the Discovery's crew allowed them a chance at a fresh start. "This is the perfect fresh start and incredible human beings from a place and time that does not know Adira or what an Adira is and that, [for Adira], is priceless." Rapp and Cruz appreciated that the show's 900 years jump into the future gave them new technology and additional "room to grow" their characters who "can still learn [a lot] in this new future."

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In reply to a question from CBR about Adira's Season 4 character growth, del Barrio answered, "The first time that you see Adira in Season 3, they are overconfident and arrogant. They do have to slowly open themselves up, but, in Season 4, I think that's elevated. They are encouraged to ego-check where their walls are up where they don't need to be, check why they're up in the first place, and see how far they can push their comfort zone."

Reflecting on how Culber will change in Season 4, Cruz shared, "Culber did go through this identity crisis but what this new future afforded him was a clean slate -- a place to start over with this new body in this relationship that was now stronger and more secure with a family. When he died, he wanted to create a family he felt he deserved. He finds that life, literally, in the future: that's what it's afforded him."

While Stamets and Michael Burnham had a heated conversation in the Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 finale, Rapp did not see the moment as a longer-lasting "falling out" between the two characters. Instead, Rapp saw it as an emotionally charged exchange while both characters were under an immense amount of pressure. Rapp pointed out that Stamets and Burnham are both intelligent people that have been through quite a bit together and felt that this made the two capable of progressing beyond any past misunderstandings.

For their part, del Barrio felt that Adira's link to their deceased boyfriend Gray through the Tal symbiont could feature a twist on dependency in Season 4 as the crew rebuilds Starfleet and the Federation in the 32nd century.

Developed for television by Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman, Star Trek: Discovery Season 4 premieres Nov. 18 on Paramount+.

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