When one Star Trek door closes, another one opens. Within hours of the Star Trek: Picard series finale airing, we’ve already gotten a taste of the next Trek show coming down the pipeline with the first teaser trailer for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2.
The newest live-action entry in the Star Trek franchise, Strange New Worlds takes place before The Original Series and alongside the events of Star Trek: Discovery. The series follows Captain Pike (Anson Mount) and Number One/Una (Rebecca Romijn) as they guide the crew of the USS Enterprise through new discoveries and, yes, strange new worlds. Season 1 ended with the flash-forward introduction of Paul Wesley’s young upstart Jim Kirk and the arrest of Una following revelations about her genetic modifications.
And with this new trailer, we’ve got an even better look at where each character is headed in season 2.
Who is the Enterprise’s new chief engineer?
As fans of season 1 will remember, the Enterprise ended the season down a key crew member: Andorian engineer Hemmer (Bruce Horak) met an untimely death after being infected by the Gorn in season 1, episode 9, “All Those Who Wander.” Hemmer’s death was a heartbreaking moment and crucial character beat in the lives of people like Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), but it also left the Enterprise with a logistical problem: they no longer have an Engineer. Though Horak has said his involvement with Strange New Worlds isn’t over quite yet, this latest season 2 teaser gave us our first proper look at the character who will be serving as the new chief engineer on the Enterprise and Hemmer’s replacement: Pelia, played by Carol Kane.
Granted, we only get a few glimpses—including a shot of her in the corridors of the Enterprise—but we also get a peek at Pelia on an away mission, with Spock of all people. It’s not common for Engineers to head down planetside (we saw what happened last time an Engineer on Enterprise tried that; yikes), but from the looks of it, Pelia is more than gung-ho to get her hands dirty, which could prove for some interesting hijinks as we get to learn more about who she is and where she comes from.
Kirk and La’An, sitting in a tree?
One of the most surprising elements of the Strange New Worlds season 2 trailer was the prominence of Paul Wesley’s Captain Kirk. Though we got to meet him in the season 1 finale flash-forward, it’s been up in the air as to how exactly he’ll be introduced in the present day storyline. Though Pike got to know Kirk in the future, we’ve yet to see Kirk introduced in the present, but from the looks of the trailer, it won’t be long before he beams aboard the Enterprise. We get a few glimpses of Wesley’s Kirk in the trailer, and he’s curiously almost always paired up with Christine Chong’s La’An.
From the looks of it (or from Una’s ribbing, at least), it seems like La’An might have a bit of a crush on Lieutenant Kirk. Given that he’s known for his many amorous exploits with aliens, it’s entirely possible that Kirk and La’An could be a romance to look forward to in season 2. Curiously, though, the teaser doesn’t give us any interactions between Kirk and Spock in the present day; though a La’An relationship is all fine and dandy, it’s the Kirk/Spock relationship that fans know and love.
Wait, is that Una?
Another surprisingly prevalent element in the season 2 trailer is Una, considering she was dragged away in handcuffs at the end of season 1. In this new teaser, though, we see Una in her typical Starfleet uniform, seemingly assuming command in her usual duties as first officer. This would seem to imply that whatever charges Starfleet brought her in on didn’t stick, which is surprising considering the entirety of season 1 ended with her sudden and shocking arrest. Granted, like Kirk, we don’t know exactly when Una returns to the Enterprise, so it’s entirely possible that the clips of her in the trailer are from the back half of season 2, and that she won’t rejoin the Enterprise until a few episodes in. Still, the teaser makes virtually no mention of the fact that Una is in hot water with Starfleet: a major plot thread that will no doubt be addressed once season 2 kicks off.
Spock in the captain’s chair
The trailer ends with an instantly-iconic stinger: Spock (Ethan Peck) sitting in the captain’s chair and being oh-so-earnestly himself when Ortegas (Melissa Navia) asks him to come up with a snappy catchphrase for takeoff. Spock responds in typical Spock fashion: “I would like the ship to go now.” It doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but it’s classic Spock, and from the looks of the trailer, we’ll be getting to spend plenty more time with him in season 2.
In addition to his stint in the Captain’s chair and his away mission with Pelia, we also get a couple more hints as to what Spock’s up to this season: shots of him alone in his quarters playing his Vulcan lute (a nod to his hobby in The Original Series) as well as suited up in space gear alongside his will-they-or-won’t-they love interest, Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush).
Klingons, time travel, and nightmares (oh my!)
As for the rest of the trailer, there are plenty of little moments that hint at plot lines this season, the most notable being the Strange New Worlds debut of the Klingons! We get a glimpse of Spock drinking bloodwine (possibly on Qo’noS?) alongside a whole gaggle of Klingons, all of whom look much closer to the classic Next Generation or Deep Space Nine character design then the Klingons we’ve previously encountered on Discovery. In addition to seeing virtually every major crew member (including the mostly sickbay-bound Chapel and M’Benga) on miscellaneous Alien planets, we also get a shot of Uhura staring at a wrecked shuttle; I’m willing to bet money that this is the same crashed shuttle that killed her parents. Last but certainly not least, we got to see Kirk having some fun in a revolving door at a Roots (yes, the Canadian clothing store) alongside La’An—a beat in the trailer that’s played for comedy, which is a pretty major revelation that we’ll be seeing some time travel in Strange New Worlds season 2.
With new characters, returning fan-favorite species, plenty of classic Trek hijinks, and the arrival of Jim Kirk, Strange New Worlds is shaping up to be one of my most highly anticipated shows of the year—and luckily, it’s only a few short months until season 2 beams onto our screens starting June 15.
(featured image: Paramount+)
Published: Apr 21, 2023 03:12 pm