Unfortunately, they did a cliffhanger.

Now you have to wonder if they can untangle it into one coherent finale episode, and if Paramount will even give them the approval to untangle it in the first place.

Here’s the first (big FWIW/grain of salt/etc) thing on the decision that’s I’ve seen (besides the TrekMovie article note that ‘it’s no secret that the show didn’t Nielsen chart’). From author Mike Chen on Bluesky.

From the few insiders I know, viewership was actually above expectations and this was more of a “future of the franchise” corporate decision. I’m expecting Trek to be in flux as there are SO MANY variables. Everything from tech stocks to Iran to midterms is impacting Paramount.

Leaving the link to his post here for reference but he has his posts hidden unless you’re logged into Bluesky.

Random reactions:

• Disappointed but not surprised.
• Even though the article leaves this an open question, I will be surprised if Kurtzman returns after this.
• At least they didn’t memory hole S2 as a tax write off.
• I wonder if they will attempt (and be allowed to attempt) to rework the S2 ‘cliffhanger-ish/lite’ ending into something else, or if it’s just impractical to rework a “part 1 of 2” episode into a 1 episode contained story.