Earth Is Joining the Federation (Again)
One of the final scenes of Discovery’s fourth season saw Captain Burnham and various Federation dignitaries play host to the arrival of the President of United Earth—as the world seeks to rejoin the Federation, as a show of thanks for Starfleet’s aid during the DMA crisis. It turns out that after the events of the Burn in the time between Discovery season two and three, Earth was one of the first member worlds to secede from the Federation, transforming itself into an isolationist, inward-looking, paranoid militaristic society that remained increasingly skeptical of the Federation’s capacity to survive over the course of seasons three and four. At least, until it got to see first-hand what unity and co-operation could still do in this changed and put-upon galaxy.
Also, this probably won’t come up in season five, but we should note that the President of United Earth who engages in this process to rejoin the Federation is played by famous Georgia Democrat (and avowed Trekkie) Stacey Abrams. Please do not try to think about squaring that with everything I just said about United Earth’s political attitudes, because Discovery sure as hell didn’t.
