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Star Trek: Picard - What To Know About Hugh, The Former Borg Drone

Hugh is unlike other Borg, and his part of the story in Star Trek: Picard seems like it'll be important.

By Phil Hornshaw on March 26, 2020 at 10:41AM PDT

Star Trek: Picard 's first season is now complete , and through its 10-episode run, it sees several Trek characters return, both from The Next Generation and other series. Jean-Luc Picard 's second officer aboard the Enterprise, Data , has already been shown to have a big influence, and Star Trek: Voyager 's former-Borg crewmember, Seven of Nine , plays a role in Episode 5 , " Stardust City Rag ." In Episode 3, " The End is the Beginning ," we saw another returning character from previous shows: Hugh, another former Borg who appeared on The Next Generation.

Hugh's presence on Star Trek: Picard was a pretty big deal. He and Jean-Luc shared the experience of being part of the Borg, but were eventually freed from the Collective. And Hugh and Picard shared another bond because of their experiences aboard the Enterprise. In a big way, Hugh changed Picard's perceptions of the Borg, and their meeting on TNG had profound effects on the way the Federation interacted with the cybernetic beings in later encounters. Picard might have destroyed the Borg for good, if not for Hugh.

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Now Playing: Star Trek: Picard Episode 3 "The End Is the Beginning" Breakdown & Easter Eggs

Regaining Individuality

Picard first met Hugh in TNG Season 5, in an episode called "I, Borg." The Enterprise discovered a crashed Borg ship, with four of its five inhabitants dead. Hugh, then designated Third of Five, survived, and Picard chose to beam him aboard the Enterprise. Dr. Crusher saved the Borg's life, and Picard and the crew began to formulate a plan.

They knew the Borg would not leave any drone behind and would eventually return to find Hugh and the other Borg from the ship, to either reclaim them or destroy their bodies. Knowing that, Picard figured that it might be possible to send Hugh back with some kind of computer virus that would infiltrate the Borg Collective and, potentially, destroy it. He put Data and Geordi La Forge on the job of creating the virus, while Crusher continued to nurse Third of Five back to health. In the meantime, La Forge started spending time with the drone to study it and figure out how he might create a Borg-killing virus.

Things changed, though. The more time Crusher and La Forge spent with Third of Five, the more they started to consider him a person, rather than just another Borg drone. Cut off from the Collective, Third of Five started to develop individuality. Eventually, La Forge and Crusher named him "Hugh," and Hugh started to consider La Forge his friend. Even Guinan, who hated the Borg for attacking her people's planet and nearly wiping them out, found herself struggling with the idea of using Hugh as a weapon after meeting him.

With more and more of the crew questioning the morality of the plan to commit what was essentially genocide against the Borg, Picard finally felt he had to meet Hugh--and discovered that the young Borg was, in fact, an individual, and deserved to be treated with the respect that Picard and the Federation afford all life. Picard offered to let Hugh stay with the Enterprise crew, but Hugh opted to return to the Borg Collective, fearing the Borg would pursue him and threaten the Enterprise if it couldn't locate its missing drone.

Corrupted By Lore

About a year later, in Season 6, Picard and the Enterprise encountered some Borg who were attacking colonies and Federation outposts. Immediately, it was clear these Borg were different from the Collective the Enterprise had encountered in the past. They cared about their comrades, referred to themselves as "I" instead of "we," and generally gave signs of being individuals, rather than just pieces of a hive mind. Picard had speculated when Hugh returned to the Borg Collective that his individuality might get transferred to other Borg, and that that could be just as destructive to the hive mind as the virus the Enterprise crew had tried to create. Turns out, he was pretty close to correct.

In "The Descent" and "The Descent II," Picard and the crew discovered that this particular group of Borg was led by Lore, Data's evil twin android brother. After Picard, La Forge, and Deanna Troi were captured by Lore and his band, Will Riker and Worf discovered another group of Borg who had broken away from Lore's. Among those Borg was Hugh, who explained that, yes, his individuality had spread and thrown his Borg Cube into chaos.

Unable to deal with being individuals, they started fighting each other, until Lore found them and gave them a leader to follow. Lore said he'd help the Borg find perfection by becoming wholly artificial like he was, but didn't really know how to make that dream a reality, and so started experimenting on Borg drones with horrifying results. Realizing what Lore really was, Hugh and those like him hid out from the group loyal to Lore.

Eventually, Data defeated Lore once and for all and had him disassembled. Hugh was worried that the Borg would again fall into chaos without a leader, but Picard suggested that Hugh could be the one the individualized Borg followed. That's where the Enterprise crew left them--as a group of Borg who had become something different from the other drones in the Collective.

So Where Has Hugh Been?

We're not sure what happened to Hugh in the years that followed. Picard and the Enterprise crew encountered the Borg Collective again in Star Trek: First Contact, so Hugh's individuality apparently didn't transfer to the entire Borg species, just to those on his particular cube. When we meet Hugh in Star Trek: Picard, he's changed significantly--he's no longer a Borg drone, but instead has been returned to humanity, with most of his Borg implants removed.

Though we don't know how Hugh got from leading a group of Borg individuals to his role on the Artifact, we do know that he used his knowledge of the Borg to help others "XBs," or ex-Borg. He led the Borg Reclamation Project on the Artifact, the disabled Borg Cube that the Romulans studied and salvaged on Star Trek: Picard. His work focused on helping other former drones re-acclimate to society. We also know that, unlike Jean-Luc, Hugh had a hard time adjusting to his life as a human. He suggested that people in society at large didn't trust him because of his former life as a drone.

Hugh's role in the first season of Star Trek: Picard built on the long-running story of Jean-Luc's interactions with the frightening cybernetic race. It also allowed the show to explore the more human aspect of what it means to be Borg. As Jean-Luc said, though the Borg are feared, they're a race of victims--and as Hugh showed, they deserve compassion.

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Picard's Jonathan del Arco discusses that hug, Hugh’s journey, and inspiration

Credit: James Dimmock / CBS

This interview contains spoilers for Star Trek: Picard 's seventh episode, "Napenthe," and has been edited for clarity.

While the character of Hugh has become something of a classic in any Star Trek context, it's easy to forget how little Jonathan del Arco's iconic character appeared on the screen. After all, he's only in two episodes of The Next Generation (and his role in the lackluster "Descent, Part II" is arguably entirely forgettable). The fact is that del Arco's performance in a single episode, "I, Borg," is so iconic that it has resonated with generations of viewers.

Now, in Picard , the Uruguayan-American actor is back in the Star Trek universe playing Hugh, and he's a far cry from the innocent teenage Borg we saw all those years ago. This Hugh (a straight line from where we last saw him in "Descent") is older, wiser, and much, much more jaded. But he's found a purpose in helping his fellow Borg, and new inspiration thanks to his meeting with Jean-Luc Picard.

SYFY FANGRRLS sat down with Jonathan del Arco via video conference to ask him about his thoughts on Hugh's future, that incredibly emotional reunion, and his role in Star Trek: Picard .

You're an activist for LGTBQ+ rights and immigrant rights. What did it mean for you to be able to tell this story right now?

So much. I mean, Alex [Kurtzman is] on the front lines of giving voice to a lot of things, and gay characters or gay actors being a part of the storytelling has always been a part of that aesthetic. And I've been very appreciative of that.

So as a gay man — I'm not playing a gay character, but to be able to play Hugh again with all the things I carry as a gay man and that I can put into my work is a great pleasure.

Credit: Trae Patton / CBS

After Hugh's first episode of Star Trek: Picard aired, you talked about how your original performance was based on your partner, who had recently passed away because of AIDS. Did you draw on those experiences again for this older Hugh, or was it something different this time?

I based [Hugh] on my partner that died, and you know, it wasn't a conscious choice. I was reading the script and I was newly widowed, maybe a year fresh off a loss, and a traumatic loss, because AIDS was not only horrible, but back in the day it was horrible on every level, social, every aspect of your life got ruined.

And when he had dementia, he was such an incredibly open-hearted innocent. And that was the sense of wonderment, and that was the voice I heard when I read the script. And so I played Hugh like him in that state, you know. So he has a lot of personal meaning for me.

It's in a weird way, I have processed my personal mourning of that loss. Obviously it's been 30 years, but in a way, a small amount of him lives on in Hugh and the original Hugh, and even today on the cruise, I'm still signing photos from "I, Borg." They like the new photos, but they still want the old one, you know, of Hugh.

It has a very special place in people's hearts, you know? And I think as an actor, when you tap into something real, that's a real human emotion. It took me this long to share my tricks behind the camera, how I got there emotionally. But I think we respond to that as audiences. We identify with loss. That's why the narrative is so effectual, affecting to people, is that I was using very real things that everyone can identify with, you know?

This time Hugh, to me, was more like myself. I was the survivor. I was a survivor. Right? You live with survivor's guilt, you manage your life, you move on.

The scene where my guys get shot at, I did use a lot of my feelings about having lost a lot of my friends and how incredibly crumbling that is, and psychologically destroying a person. I mean, there's probably the worst thing that could have happened to Hugh was to see people under his watch perish, you know?

Credit: Justin Lubin/CBS

It's a direct line from where we last saw him in "Descent, Part II," where Hugh is so disillusioned.

Yeah. It's ironic. It's ironic because "Descent," which was the one I didn't like at all compared to "I, Borg" — I thought it was just not in the same quality and realm. But ironically, if it weren't for that episode, I would probably never been in Picard , because it really set the stage for our next steps.

I'm sure you've been asked at countless Star Trek conventions what you thought Hugh's future might be. How does where he ended up in Star Trek: Picard line up with that?

I think it's very much in line. I think it's very, very much in line to how we left him in Next Gen , in terms of his sense of responsibility to his community, you know? And it really lines up with my own life, to be honest with you. It's very much who Hugh is, very much.

I fully admit I'd like to be a little bit more brave, as brave as he is, I think he's very brave as a person, and self-sacrificing. I don't think I'm quite at that place. I think he's a self-sacrificing being as evidenced by the scene. So yeah, I couldn't be happier with how he presented.

We got an emotional reunion between Jean-Luc and Hugh, one that was pretty perfect. You said on Twitter that the hug wasn't scripted and you asked if you could do it. Can you talk a little about your thought process there?

Yeah, it was what was a very small part of the script, which is always interesting to me, because sometimes the small parts that are written out have the most potential for interpretation. And I just had a sense about that. It's literally like a quarter of a page in the script where he's getting pulled by the ex-Bs and I show up and we have some niceties with each other and we were rehearsing it.

With Patrick, I was already getting a feeling of, like, I would like to see my dad again, who's been gone for 17 years, and just starting to feel that way about Patrick and seeing Picard again. And Hugh seeing Picard again.

When we were discussing what to do with the scene, Patrick said we need to greet, we should have some kind of greeting or something. And I said, "Well, if you don't mind, I'd like to hug you." And I had in mind that hug you see at international airports when people haven't seen each other in 20 years, you know, that passionate desire to touch the loved one, you know, and both of them so needy of it, right?

Hugh hadn't had human contact in that way probably ever, if not for a very long time, certainly since he's been on the Cube. And so yeah, that's what I thought. And then we rehearsed it and our director came back a little misty-eyed, and she goes, "Okay, that's really, really beautiful, we're going to do that." And so we did it and I had a feeling when we shot it, it would be one of those moments, I think I said to the director, "You just shot a classic Star Trek moment." She goes, "Really?" I'm like, "I think you did. I think it's a classic Star Trek moment because of that hug," you know? So yeah, it was great. I'm glad it worked out.

Credit: CBS All Access

It is a classic. Especially because I think Patrick Stewart — who is such an incredible actor — there's such pure joy in his response, which you don't see often from Picard.

Here's what funny. I didn't see that until I watched the clip because I was hugging him and couldn't see his face, so I had no idea what was going on. It's very moving to me as an audience to watch that laugh. He's like, "Oh, you're being loved." It was very powerful. The child is back, we all become children when we are around our parents.

Let's talk about that last scene. We say goodbye to Hugh in this episode of Star Trek: Picard . It's hard to see his death, given what he's been through and how much of a fan favorite Hugh is.

Yeah, I agree. I mean, I think that's what makes the great television, and that loss, I think, will be felt by the fans and anyone watching, especially in context to last week's episode, where I get to finally see my dad again, if you will. I think that they did a beautiful job setting the deck up for that moment to happen, because I think the loss will be felt.

I want people to feel what they feel and process their feelings about it, because I'm sure there will be plenty. Because I think when you have characters that are a part of your life for such a long time, and you have ownership of them — I just want them to know that I'm okay, you know? And that I'm very happy with the work, and I feel like we did a great job and the series is great and that they should keep watching it and enjoying it the way I will.

• Star Trek: Picard

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Picard: Jonathan Del Arco on How He Found the New Hugh

The ex-borg discusses his return to star trek, where hugh has been for the past 30 years, his relationship with elnor, and that big moment in “nepenthe.”.

One of the more surprising reveals in the ramp-up to Star Trek: Picard was that Jonathan Del Arco would be returning to the role of Hugh the Borg for the new series. Hugh was only seen in two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation which aired almost 30 years ago, but the character had a distinct impact on fans as he allowed us to peer behind the veil of that villainous cyborg race. We liked Hugh. We really, really liked him!

But much has changed for the character in the years since he had a glowing, mechanical eye and tubes coming out of his molded Borg suit. No, the Hugh of today is just a man with a tortured past -- and Del Arco wouldn’t have it any other way.

Finding the New Hugh

“I did a bunch of small things that were physical things to tie the two timelines together,” he says. “Obviously a lot of it was physically and emotionally [and] had to do with the fact that he was much more machine then than he is now. … I worked on creating some kind of connective tissue so when the fans saw it, it would be just enough. I didn't want it to be an overbearing, robotic thing because that would’ve been silly, or a copy or mimic of the speech pattern because, frankly, no one speaks the same as when they were 18 as when they're in their 40s or 50s, so I wanted it to be organic.”

I've changed as a person, Hugh's changed as a person. We're still the same people inside.

Again, the time that has passed for the actor has also passed for Hugh, and Del Arco used that to his advantage.

“I wanted to do a normal human evolution,” he says. “I’ve changed as a person, Hugh’s changed as a person. We're still the same people inside, but we developed ourselves. That was the challenge and it was really kind of one of the most fun slash scary things I've had to do as an actor, to kind of rediscover him.”

The Artifact and What Happened Since The Next Generation

After Jean-Luc told him in "Descent, Part II" that he, essentially, could be a leader, Hugh took that to heart and took charge of the ex-Borg from that episode. Eventually, they became part of the Federation, and then when the cube that would become the Artifact entered the picture, Hugh was the Federation’s natural choice to make sure there wouldn’t be a “humanitarian crisis” on the vessel.

“It went from bad to worse on the cube,” he explains. “And so he's got a sense of, ‘Oh my God, we've been abandoned,’ because the Federation no longer has [influence there]. We agreed to sign up for this thing with a full backing and now we're kind of alone on the cube. And though he’s free on the cube, he's actually also a prisoner. So I really researched that -- the Holocaust and how even in the ghettos in the Holocaust, they had leadership which … had a higher ranking than the prisoners. And all that was really fascinating to me because there's a lot of gray area, and gray area is really fun to play with as an actor. Sometimes it’s just black and white. So he had this struggle in trying to keep the line, push back when you can. Obviously we see what happens to him. You know, there's a limit to how much you can push back.”

Speaking of which…

The Death of Hugh

“It's very liberating knowing that this is how it's going to end, because I just thought, ‘I've only got one shot at this now to really end this right and to really, like, go big or go home,’ he says. “Don't leave anything on the table in terms of my investment and my work. This role is so incredibly important to me for essentially a variety of reasons, from personal to professional, but I really wanted to take what they'd written and do it justice and make good choices, be rational and have them make sense and have them be in line with what I want the legacy of the character to be.”

That Hugh spends his final episode and, indeed, his final moments with the Romulan Elnor (Evan Evagora) is surprising, and yet it works very well in the context of the episode as the two attempt to defy the Romulans who are running amuck on the Artifact. Indeed, Hugh gets a great final line when he says to Elnor, “I was that much of a hopeful fool again for a minute. Thanks for that.”

I think he saw a lot of himself in Elnor. Hugh used to have that sense of innocence, of righteousness.

“I was like, ‘This is Hugh’s last moment and I'm going to make some personal choices, and so I'll make them personal choices about how I want them to be,’” says Del Arco. “And I think there were a lot of things about Elnor that for me resonated as a gay man.”

There certainly is a spark between the two characters in that moment. And while reps for CBS say that Hugh has not been identified as gay, Del Arco took his own experience as a gay man into consideration when playing that scene.

“You know, I think he loved him,” he says. “I think in essence he might've been in love with him in the time that he was there. I think that the hope was really someone loves him. Someone who was idealistic. I think he saw a lot of himself in Elnor. Hugh used to have that sense of innocence, of righteousness. And all those things were hopeful to him, because he hadn't been in a space of hope for all this time. And I think for a minute he thought, ‘You know, I think me and the kid can go all the way with this. We could take the cube. We could save it.’ And there you go. It didn't work out.”

And yet… could Hugh return someday despite his death? This is Star Trek, after all. Crazier things have happened.

Talk to Executive Editor Scott Collura on Twitter at @ScottCollura , or listen to his Star Trek podcast, Transporter Room 3 . Or do both!

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“it was a devastating day:” how ‘star trek’ actor crafted surprising scene.

'Star Trek: Picard' actor Jonathan Del Arco's Third of Five, whom Picard helped free from his nemesis’ collective 28 years ago.

By Phil Pirrello

Phil Pirrello

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[This episode contains spoilers for  Star Trek: Picard ,  season one, episode seven.]

RIP, Hugh. Jonathan Del Arco’s Third of Five, a former Borg (or “Ex-B”) that Picard helped free from his nemesis’ collective 28 years ago in the classic  Star Trek : The Next Generation  episode “I, Borg,” was killed in “Nepenthe,” the seventh episode of  Star Trek: Picard . And in a tragic dose of irony, the fan-favorite character died aboard that from which he was set free — a Borg cube — moments after helping his liberator escape. 

Star Trek fans are on the verge of obsessive behavior (reference!) when it comes to all things Hugh, and this was not lost on the actor when  The Hollywood Reporter  recently spoke to him about Hugh’s impact on the franchise and how lucky he was to shoot Hugh’s final moments the way he did — which he learned was coming much later than one would expect. 

“I didn’t know until I was almost getting ready to shoot it,” Del Arco revealed. Whereas actors on shows like  Game of Thrones  had more advanced warning on being told when their characters were going to sign off permanently, Del Arco actually liked getting the head’s up when he did. 

“It’s probably a good thing I didn’t know way early because, the moment I did find out — which, of course, I was upset — it actually ended up liberating my work quite a bit. I mean, I was able to prepare — there were phone calls with [executive producer] Michael [Chabon] and everyone early on — but basically, I realized I had X amount of scenes and moments in which to work and do all the things I wanted to do with the character. And take some risks as an actor. And so, in a way, it was helpful, because, like when you know your character is going to die — the way humans know they are going to die in real life — you kind of live for the moment. And that’s what I was able to do building up to the scene.” 

Hugh’s death scene took place on a very emotionally taxing day that brought with it some physical pain as well.

“I got a cornea scratch from the contact lens I was wearing,” Del Arco explained, “so I was basically not supposed to be on set that day at all. But we had to get it done, though I was kind of blind. I couldn’t really see anything.”

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Despite the eye injury and the drama of the scenes, Del Arco said he was able to find comfort in between takes by listening to music. But the scene that arguably proved more tasking on him, however, was that which leads up to Hugh’s actual death — where the Executive Director of the Borg Reclamation Project is forced to silently, painfully, watch the duplicitous Narissa execute his fellow “Ex-B’s” as she interrogates him for Picard and Soji’s location. Tonally, the cold-blooded executions feel more out of a drama like  Schindler’s List , and not  Star Trek , with the former providing a certain historical context that Del Arco tapped into for his performance. 

“The bulk of my research for the show, actually, was on Holocaust survivors. I listened to hours of interviews with survivors, and researched the psychology of survivors — and, having lived through the AIDS crisis, and watching friends die — I used my experience there as well. It was a devastating day to shoot.” 

As emotionally grueling as the scene was, which the actor shot during a seven-hour period, Del Arco gave each take everything he had.

“I definitely had a couple of martinis on the way home,” Del Arco said, jokingly. “I have very few lines in that scene — Narissa has all the dialogue — so I’m mostly reactive. It wasn’t scripted for me to sob at all at that point, but I did it — and every single time we had to shoot that scene, I lost my shit.”

The episode’s director, Doug Aarniokoski, was concerned for his actor — especially since Del Arco gave 100 percent even when he was off-camera. And while he appreciated the director’s mindfulness there, Del Arco was “superstitious that that energy was going to go away, that level of performance, so I wanted to ‘stay in the zone.’ And then we shot the remaining final two scenes.” Del Arco also remarked how grateful he was that the production scheduled his scenes in sequence, so that his death would be his final one, as some shows do not always accommodate that. 

What wasn’t fun, Del Arco admits, was ultimately having to say goodbye to a character he has played for almost 30 years — he was the only  Next Generation  guest star actor to be asked back (so far) to be on  Picard . 

But being able to complete his character’s arc was among Del Arco’s favorite experiences of his time in  Star Trek . 

“Another that really stands out for me — and I know is sort of one of the iconic scenes in  Star Trek  history, a favorite of fans — is the one with me and Sir Patrick [Stewart] in [Picard’s Ready Room] from ‘I, Borg,’ where Hugh recognizes him as Locutus. And another would be reuniting with Patrick [on  Picard ] for our first scene together in years. I’ll always cherish those and my friendship with Patrick.”

New episodes of  Star Trek: Picard  are available Thursdays on CBS All Access.

How 'Star Trek: Picard' Director Jonathan Frakes Crafted That Surprising Scene

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Jonathan Del Arco

• Born March 7 , 1966 · Uruguay
• Height 5′ 7″ (1.70 m)
• Jonathan Del Arco was born in Uruguay from where he relocated with his family at the age of ten to Port Chester, New York, US. He is an actor and activist, best known for his roles of Hugh in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) and Star Trek: Picard (2020) and Dr. Morales in The Closer (2005) and Major Crimes (2012) . In 1976 his family relocated from Uruguay to Port Chester, New York, US. He became interested in acting as a teenager and moved to New York City after graduating high school. His first acting job was in a touring company of Torch Song Trilogy and his screen debut was an episode of Miami Vice (1984) . In 1990 Del Arco relocated to Los Angeles, appearing in both TV shows and theatre productions across California. In 1992 he first appeared on Star Trek: The Next Generation as the Borg drone Hugh, a role to which he later returned several times. Between 2007 and 2018 he played his longest-running role of the medical examiner Doctor Morales on The Closer and its spin-off Major Crimes. In addition to acting, he is an activist, partaking in political, environmental, and LGBT+ rights campaigns. He's married to Kyle Fritz. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Evil_Herbivore
• Spouse Kyle Fritz (? - present)
• Relatives Erin Regan (Niece or Nephew) Julian Ashby (Niece or Nephew) Solange Del Arco (Sibling)
• Has a Star Trek Action Figure in his likeness as the character "Hugh (Third of Five)", a Borg seen in I Borg (1992) in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) 's 5th season and also in Descent, Part II (1993) in the 7th and last season of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) .
• Revealed on twitter that his first names is/was Fernando.
• Fluent in Spanish and English.
• Environmental enthusiast.
• Served as an Obama Celebrity Surrogate for the 2012 Presidential Campaign, giving speeches across the country on behalf of President Obama.
• [on reactions he gets from fans of Major Crimes (2012) and The Closer (2005) , 2013] People love Dr. Morales. I have to be honest, I think I represent a side of a lot of people that in the work world where they feel like they are working with people that are just not as good as they are. [Laughs] There's that co-worker that is just not pulling their weight and I think Morales would be the person who would be like, "Just get out of the way and let me do my job". People are very tickled by me. They think Dr. Morales is very funny. So I have a lot of very positive response from people that recognize me. They'll say, "Oh my god! You're so funny on the show. We love it when you're mean to Brenda". Though early on they hated it when I was mean to Brenda. But they love the personality. They love that he doesn't take any bullshit from anybody and says it like it is and has no time for losers.

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A friendly reminder regarding spoilers ! At present the expanded Trek universe is in a period of major upheaval with the continuations of Discovery and Prodigy , the advent of new eras in gaming with the Star Trek Adventures RPG , Star Trek: Infinite and Star Trek Online , as well as other post-57th Anniversary publications such as the ongoing IDW Star Trek comic and spin-off Star Trek: Defiant . Therefore, please be courteous to other users who may not be aware of current developments by using the {{ spoiler }}, {{ spoilers }} OR {{ majorspoiler }} tags when adding new information from sources less than six months old (even if it is minor info). Also, please do not include details in the summary bar when editing pages and do not anticipate making additions relating to sources not yet in release. THANK YOU

• Memory Beta articles sourced from novels
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• 2399 deaths
• Liberated Borg
• View history
• 1.1 The Artifact
• 1.2 25th century
• 2 Alternate timelines
• 3.1.1 Appearances and references
• 3.2 External link

Biography [ ]

Designated "Third of Five", he was a member of the Borg Collective and dispatched in a Borg scout vessel which crashed on a unnamed planetoid. He was the only survivor of the crash whereupon he was discovered by the crew of the USS Enterprise -D in 2368 . They began to study him and with an attempt by Starfleet to use the drone to spread a virus into the Collective in the hopes that it would destroy Borg. However, the drone began to reassert its individuality after it had been cut off from the Collective whereupon Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge gave him the name Hugh. Ultimately, Captain Jean-Luc Picard allowed Hugh to return to the Borg with his newfound individuality rather than use him as a weapon. ( TNG episode : " I, Borg ")

However, rather than be reincorporated into the Borg Collective, Hugh's sense of individuality spread to his fellow drones. Sensing that his individuality had infected the vessel that had retrieved him, the Borg cut off their link to the vessel leaving it directionless and in a chaotic state. Rather than die from their newly-acquired status as individuals, Hugh and his fellow Borg were saved by the Android Lore who discovered their ship and saved them whereupon he established himself as their leader.

Despite what he had done, Hugh and a number of like-minded, liberated drones opposed Lore's leadership and separated from the main group. In 2370 , his group lived in secret on a planet that the rogue Borg had made as their homeworld. At the same time, Lore had managed to capture and brainwash his "brother" Data and when the crew of the Enterprise came to the world looking for him, Hugh encountered a member of their away team . At first angry at their actions, he decided to work with the away team once he learnt that his friend Geordi La Forge had been captured by Lore and was being experimented on. Taking his faction, Hugh and the Starfleet team stormed Lore's fortress and helped in ending the mad android's plans. ( TNG episode : " Descent ")

When Hugh was recognized as a leader to the independent Borg, there were some such as Enab who split off from their fellow liberated drones and attempted to find a means to recover the unity of the hive mind. Enab's group began to attack Tholian in worlds in 2371 in an attempt to research the secret of their natural hive mind but he was stopped by the crew of Enterprise -D before his actions brought a war in the quadrant. ( TNG comic : " Cry Havoc ")

Hugh and a tribe of his comrades later established a homeworld on a planet belonging to the Borg Collective which served as a dumping ground for damaged drones. He along with a member of his faction, a female former drone called Miko , saved what drones they could. Helping them renounce their implants and nanoprobes , he helped give them a new reason for living. In 2373 , after the destruction of the Borg Central Node by James T. Kirk , Hugh and his clan encountered a near dying Kirk. He helped teach Kirk several techniques designed to heal him after which he helped Hugh recover those Borg that survived the Node's destruction as well as freed them. ( TOS novel : Avenger )

The Artifact [ ]

By 2399 , Hugh had become a Federation citizen and head of the Borg Artifact Research Institute 's reclamation project . ( PIC episodes : " The End is the Beginning ", " The Impossible Box ")

Hugh was murdered by the Romulan Narissa , a member of the secret cabal called Zhat Vash , when he refused to give up the location of Jean-Luc Picard. ( PIC episode : " Nepenthe ")

25th century [ ]

By 2410 , he returned to the Delta Quadrant and joined the Borg Cooperative , with the goal of freeing other Borg drones from the Collective. ( STO - Delta Quadrant mission : " Jarleth System Patrol ")

Alternate timelines [ ]

A major tangent of the prime timeline was created in 2373 . Called the First Splinter timeline , this alternate reality 's Hugh became the leader of the Independent Nation of Borg and eventually died in 2380 . ( TNG novel : Greater Than the Sum )

In another alternate timeline, Hugh and Seven negotiated a treaty between the Borg and the Federation in 2390 to fight the Bajoran Ascendancy and the Grigari during the War of the Prophets . ( DS9 - Millennium novel : The War of the Prophets )

Hugh Culber

• View history

Commander Hugh Culber was a Human male Starfleet officer who lived during both the mid- 23rd and late 32nd centuries . He served as a physician and counselor aboard the USS Discovery . ( DIS : " Choose Your Pain ")

• 1 Early life
• 2.1.1 Federation-Klingon war
• 2.1.2 Resurrection
• 2.2 32nd century
• 3.1 Appearances
• 3.2 Background information
• 3.3 External links

Early life [ ]

At the age of sixteen, Culber was injured in a fall while hiking on the cliffs of Cabo Rojo , on Earth . Culber was rescued by a Doctor Kashkooli , who stitched and closed a puncture wound on his shoulder , which gave him a "very sexy scar.", as described by Paul Stamets . The experience inspired Culber to go to medical school . ( DIS : " The Sound of Thunder ")

Sometime after Culber completed his medical training , his tío Cesar died. Culber was angry, and determined that nothing would make him feel better at the funeral . His family posed Cesar at a poker table as part of el muerto parado , after which Culber and his cousins accidently snapped off Cesar's thumb and index finger , leaving Culber to use his training to reattach them. The experience left he and his cousins laughing the whole funeral long. ( DIS : " All Is Possible ")

Starfleet career [ ]

23rd century [ ], federation-klingon war [ ].

During the war in 2256 , Culber served with his husband, Lieutenant Paul Stamets , aboard the USS Discovery .

In 2256, Culber treated Stamets after he was injured in an unsuccessful test of the Discovery 's spore drive . ( DIS : " The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry ")

In December of 2256, Specialist Michael Burnham introduced Culber to " Ripper ", a tardigrade , after coming to believe that Ripper was experiencing pain during the starship 's spore jumps . Culber agreed to run some tests. Scans of Ripper's frontal lobe showed significant cumulative deterioration every time Discovery went to black alert . The next time Discovery went to black alert, Ripper collapsed into a state of extreme cryptobiosis , reducing water content levels to one percent. Culber could barely detect Ripper's vital signs , and neurological tests indicated Ripper was possibly sentient. Acting Captain Saru ordered Culber to re-hydrate Ripper for more spore jumps. Culber refused the order, stating that he would "not be party to murder." Saru then ordered Lieutenant Stamets to carry out the order. Unbeknownst to Commander Saru, Lieutenant Stamets injected himself with Ripper's DNA and operated the spore drive in place of Ripper. Stamets rationalized to Culber that he knew he would leave him if he allowed anything else to happen to Ripper. ( DIS : " Choose Your Pain ")

Following the Battle at Pahvo , when Stamets entered a state of catatonia , Culber believed his moments of lucidity were merely insane ramblings. ( DIS : " Despite Yourself ")

Tyler snaps Dr. Culber's neck

After Ash Tyler experienced nightmares of having undergone surgery following Klingon imprisonment, he asked Culber to perform an examination on him. Culber discovered that Tyler's skeletal structure and organs had been surgically altered and that the Tyler personality had been overlaid over that of someone else. This led him to try to ground Tyler, which triggered a reaction in Tyler, who broke Culber's neck , killing him. ( DIS : " Despite Yourself ") It was later discovered that Culber had been correct and that Ash Tyler 's personality had overlaid that of Voq , a Klingon. ( DIS : " The Wolf Inside ")

For his service during the Federation-Klingon War , Culber was posthumously awarded the Starfleet Medal of Honor . Paul Stamets accepted the award on Culber's behalf. ( DIS : " Will You Take My Hand? ")

Unbeknownst to anyone, when Stamets had cradled Culber after his death in one of his moments of lucidity, he had unknowingly drawn Culber's essence into the mycelial network where the jahSepp regarded Culber as a "monster" as he inadvertently killed many of them while defending himself as the network began attacking Culber as a foreign body. ( DIS : " The Wolf Inside ", " Saints of Imperfection ")

Resurrection [ ]

Part of Hugh Culber that survived in mycelial space

In 2257 , during a mission into the mycelial network to rescue Sylvia Tilly , Culber was found by Stamets, Burnham, Tilly and the jahSepp incarnation of May Ahearn who had sought out Tilly's help to deal with the "monster" in the network. After Culber's DNA was added to the jahSepp cocoon in the outside universe, May and the jahSepp were able to rebuild Culber's body through the cocoon, resurrecting him.

After his resurrection, Culber was subjected to extensive scans. ( DIS : " Saints of Imperfection ") Doctor Tracy Pollard ran every scan or test she could think of on Culber, to the point that Culber thought there wasn't a scan or test that she had not performed. While the scans showed his new body was healthy, Culber's body was completely new, with even the old scar on his shoulder gone. Pollard advised Culber that it would take time for him to get used to his new body and that, while she would continue to monitor his condition, he could resume a normal life. ( DIS : " The Sound of Thunder ")

Culber was reinstated in his post by Captain Christopher Pike , and helped in an operation on Essof IV to capture the Red Angel . ( DIS : " The Red Angel ")

Culber decided to transfer to the USS Enterprise , but he eventually changed his mind, when he realized that his place was with Stamets on the Discovery . He was among multiple crewmembers who volunteered to stay on board when Burnham took the ship forward into the 32nd century , to elude Control , with no chance of coming back. Along with the rest of the volunteering crew, Culber was presumed dead by Starfleet , based on the testimonies of the Enterprise senior officers. ( DIS : " Such Sweet Sorrow ", " Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2 ")

32nd century [ ]

After Discovery arrived in the year 3189 , Culber helped the crew adjust to their new lives in a time in which everyone they had known had died centuries earlier. In particular he helped Keyla Detmer deal with her guilt at being the one who piloted Discovery through the wormhole to the future. ( DIS : " Forget Me Not ")

Following Discovery 's finding of Federation Headquarters , Culber was interrogated and debriefed by a security hologram about his "death". He was then part of the away team that boarded the USS Tikhov to retrieve a seed sample from Urna to help a group of Kili refuges with a prion infection. Culber then helped the doctors treat the refugees.( DIS : " Die Trying ")

He also treated Philippa Georgiou for a unique condition which arose from her travelling across universes as well as through time. ( DIS : " The Sanctuary ", DIS : " Terra Firma, Part 1 ")

During an investigation into the Burn, Culber was beamed down to wreckage of the KSF Khi'eth in the Verubin Nebula with Burnham and Saru. During this time, a holoprogram disguised him as a Bajoran in an outfit that hid his medical supplies and away mission gear. When Osyraa attacked the USS Discovery , he elected to stay behind with Saru and Su'Kal on Theta Zeta they were on. Culber, along with Saru, Adira , and Gray Tal were able to convince Su'Kal to turn off the holo-program. He promised Gray that he, Adira and Stamets would help him be seen again by all. Culber and the others were then beamed aboard Discovery . Culber and Adira were then reunited with Stamets upon their return to Federation Headquarters. Culber, like the rest of crew, updated their uniforms and accepted Burnham as Discovery 's new captain. ( DIS : " Su'Kal ", " That Hope Is You, Part 2 ")

Five months later, Dr. Culber was present for the re-opening ceremony of Starfleet Academy , and had the chance to voice appreciation to Federation President Laira Rillak . Follow the recovery of the Deep Space Repair Beta Six escape vessel's second trip, Culber found Commander Nalas deceased. During this time, Culber also served as Discovery 's counselor in addition to Medical officer.( DIS : " Kobayashi Maru ", " Choose to Live ")

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• " The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry "
• " Choose Your Pain "
• " Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad "
• " Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum "
• " Into the Forest I Go "
• " Despite Yourself "
• " The Wolf Inside " (body)
• " Vaulting Ambition "
• " What's Past Is Prologue " (archive footage)
• " Brother " (holographic recording)
• " Saints of Imperfection "
• " The Sound of Thunder "
• " If Memory Serves "
• " The Red Angel "
• " Perpetual Infinity "
• " Through the Valley of Shadows "
• " Such Sweet Sorrow "
• " Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2 "
• " Far From Home "
• " Forget Me Not "
• " Die Trying "
• " Scavengers "
• " The Sanctuary "
• " Terra Firma, Part 1 "
• " Terra Firma, Part 2 "
• " That Hope Is You, Part 2 "
• " Kobayashi Maru "
• " Anomaly (DIS) "
• " Choose to Live "
• " All Is Possible "
• " The Examples "
• " Stormy Weather "
• " ...But to Connect "
• " Rubicon "
• " The Galactic Barrier "
• " Rosetta "
• " Species Ten-C "
• " Coming Home "

Background information [ ]

Culber is portrayed by Wilson Cruz . He stated about the character, " It was important for me, when we were developing Doctor Culber, that he had this big heart, but he was also someone who was formidable, who could stand up to authority, who, you know, had no problem voicing his opinions and insisting on going the right way. So, I think we achieved that. " ( AT : " Despite Yourself ")

External links [ ]

• Hugh Culber at StarTrek.com
• Hugh Culber at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• 3 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

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Star Trek: Discovery boldly goes where no Trek has gone before by saying religion is... OK, actually

‘Whistlespeak’ breaks from Trek tradition to be pretty chill about believing in a higher power

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Star Trek’s future is a secular one. Franchise creator Gene Roddenberry was an avowed atheist , and the series and its spin-offs have routinely criticized organized religion as manipulative, illogical, and detrimental to the evolution of a society. Individual members of the human race may have an undefined spirituality, a curiosity about the afterlife, or a sense of wonder at the unknown or unknowable, but specific religious beliefs are typically reserved for alien cultures.

But, if Trek’s fervently pro-science and anti-superstition has remained constant, so have the attempts by different storytellers within the franchise to approach religion from other, more tolerant angles. And the latest episode of Star Trek: Discovery , “Whistlespeak,” may present Trek ’s most even-handed take on faith to date.

Religion as childhood fantasy

Somewhat restrained by the standards and practices of 1960s television, Star Trek: The Original Series used sci-fi allegories to criticize religion as an institution that stifled advancement and expression. In two episodes (“The Return of the Archons” and “The Apple”), Captain James T. Kirk and his Enterprise crew encountered a planet where a population was cowed into willful ignorance or repression by a deity that turned out to be a computer, which Kirk summarily destroyed.

In the 1980s, however, Star Trek’s writers were free to take the gloves off and criticize religion directly. In the 1989 Next Generation episode “Who Watches the Watchers,” Captain Jean-Luc Picard is mistaken for a god by a Bronze Age civilization for whom religion is already a thing of the past. Picard is mortified to be the catalyst for what he, in no uncertain terms, views as a societal regression, and steps in to reveal the truth to his new worshippers, even at the risk of his own life.

The position of “Who Watches the Watchers,” and of Star Trek at large, is that people turn to the supernatural when there are questions they can’t answer, but that the answers will always come, eventually. The willingness to pursue those answers and the patience to avoid drawing rash conclusions is a sign of maturity. By contrast, inventing digestible but unsupportable explanations for life’s mysteries is a sign of immaturity , a phase to be grown out of.

Other people’s gods

After Gene Roddenberry’s death in 1991, there was a gradual shift in the way Star Trek stories approached religion. The human species had still exited the evolutionary stage at which religion was practiced, but many of their peers in the galactic community — such as the Klingons and the Bajorans — held strong religious beliefs. And these beliefs began to be explored in much greater detail.

In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , the human members of the command crew go to great lengths to not only respect but participate in the Klingon rituals of their comrade, Lt. Commander Worf. Ahead of Worf’s marriage to Jadzia Dax, his colleagues Captain Sisko, Chief O’Brien, and Dr. Bashir join him for four days of fasting and physical exhaustion (though not without complaint). When Jadzia is murdered and Worf fears her death has not earned her a place in the Klingon Valhalla of Sto-Vo-Kor, Bashir and O’Brien follow Worf on a potential suicide mission to win glory in her honor. Worf’s friends are content to take Klingon religion at face value, and the existence of Sto-Vo-Kor is never questioned.

During this era of Star Trek, alien religious beliefs were not merely tolerated, but validated. This is an important wrinkle in the case of the Bajoran religion on Deep Space Nine , whose worshiped Prophets are undeniably real: a species of non-corporeal beings who live outside of time and periodically intervene in the development of the nearby planet Bajor. Whether or not the Prophets have done the things the Bajorans worship them for is not up for debate, only whether or not they should be treated with religious reverence. Through DS9 ’s exploration of Bajoran politics, religious power is as dangerous as the person wielding desires it to be — not inherently malevolent or infantilizing towards its people. But, of course, since the existence of the Bajoran gods can be scientifically proven, their value as an analog to real-life religion is limited.

Discovery’s middle way

The streaming era of Star Trek under executive producer Alex Kurtzman, which began in 2017, has seen some new, minor references to religious practices in human society. For example, an unnamed background character serving aboard the USS Cerritos on Star Trek: Lower Decks can be seen wearing a hijab, indicating that some semblance of Islamic tradition is still observed in the 24th century. Not long after we meet Captain Christopher Pike during the second season of Star Trek: Discovery , we learn that his father taught both science and comparative religion.

But “Whistlespeak,” which comes midway through Discovery ’s fifth and final season, returns fully to the Original Series’ territory of a classic “weird alien religion” episode, and with a much more multi-faceted approach. Captain Burnham and her crew visit the planet Halem’no. which is nigh-uninhabitable except within the radius of a tower-like device that was secretly installed by a Federation scientist centuries earlier. The planet’s surviving inhabitants are a peaceful and friendly pre-warp civilization who believe that the towers are temples built by their gods.

Disguised as locals, Burnham and her friend and shipmate Lt. Sylvia Tilly join the faithful Halem’nites for a ceremonial marathon up to the towers as tribute to their divine saviors. It’s a joyful ritual that brings the entire community together, but there’s a shocking twist the Starfleet visitors only learn after the race is finished. Tilly and the marathon’s other winner, a Halem’nite named Ravah, are locked inside the tower, where they will eventually asphyxiate; a sacred sacrifice to keep the planet’s terrible storms at bay.

Though Starfleet officers are forbidden to interfere in the development of pre-warp civilizations, Burnham isn’t about to let Tilly (or Ravah) die to satisfy some arcane ritual. However, rather than tearing the whole society down like Kirk might have done, Burnham appeals directly to the community’s leader — Ravah’s father, Ohvahz — and implores him to stop the sacrifices, explaining the tower will do its work whether or not his child gives their life. Ohvahz is, naturally, open to the idea of not killing his child, but fears that revealing that their temple is actually an alien artifact will shatter his community and lead to violent conflict. What is their civilization without their faith and traditions?

“Better off,” is how Picard would probably answer. But Burnham’s response is more measured.

“There is still what you believe. Nothing we’ve shown you means gods don’t exist… it’s just that you know that there’s also us… Beliefs can evolve. Denying that can cause almost as much chaos as the worst storm.”

It’s probably no accident that Ravah, the teenager who’s supposed to be sacrificed in this episode, is gender non-binary, a trait which is not controversial for the Halem’nites but is condemned by many conservative religious groups here on present-day Earth. There’s also a parallel to the climate crisis, as the Halem’nites will need to learn to maintain the alien weather tower in order to keep their world safe. Would Christianity collapse if their leaders recognized that some of their flock don’t fit into the gender identities described in their holy texts, or that human intervention is required to undo human-made damage to the Earth? Probably not, and their inflexibility is only doing harm to their community. It’s not necessary to hold onto harmful policies or practices, nor is it necessary to throw out an entire system of beliefs because of new, contradictory, or unanticipated information.

Meanwhile, aboard Discovery, Dr. Hugh Culber has been trying to make sense of his own spiritual awakening, a feeling of connection to a higher power that has lingered with him since an out-of-body experience on a recent away mission. As a scientist, Culber’s first instinct is to investigate, understand, and catalog this sensation, but the explanation eludes him. He seeks the advice of his friend Cleveland Booker, a non-human with his own spiritual life, who essentially asks him, “Why do you need to understand it?” With this guidance, Culber decides that the value of his new spirituality is in how it feels, not where it comes from.

The approach to religion in “Whistlespeak” does not broadly condemn religion like The Original Series or The Next Generation , or rationalize and tolerate faith as a quirk of the other, like Deep Space Nine . Instead, “Whistlespeak” questions why a philosophy that is rooted in the unknowable should be attached to absolutes. Spirituality is what you make of it, whether that’s on an individual or community level. Religion can do harm, but it doesn’t have to, so long as its leaders and its believers are willing to embrace uncertainty. In this way, at least, science and religion can find some common ground.

Star Trek: Discovery is cracking open a box Next Gen closed on purpose

Star trek: discovery is finally free to do whatever it wants, the 10 horniest episodes of star trek, ranked by cultural impact, loading comments....

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Published May 9, 2024

WARP FIVE: Mary Wiseman Brings Her Academy Experiences Aboard Discovery

The Star Trek: Discovery actress on reuniting with the crew for their final mission.

SPOILER WARNING: This article contains story details and plot points for the fifth season of Star Trek: Discovery.

Welcome to Warp Five, StarTrek.com's five question post-mortem with your favorite featured talent from the latest Star Trek episodes.

The fifth and final season of Star Trek: Discovery finds everyone all hands on deck for a Red Directive mission as different factions are chasing a tool of immense power that could create life itself.

In addition to pulling ex-courier Cleveland "Book" Booker and new Kellerun first officer Rayner aboard the U.S.S. Discovery , Lt. Slyvia Tilly steps away from the Academy to aid Discovery to unravel the mystery around the Progenitors ' technology.

Ahead of the latest episode, " Whistlespeak ," which sees Tilly beaming down to a pre-warp planet with Captain Michael Burnham, StarTrek.com had the opportunity to sit down with Mary Wiseman to talk about Tilly and Discovery 's mission this season.

The Season Overall

StarTrek.com

Speaking to the action-packed, galaxy-trotting season, Mary Wiseman summarizes her experience, "It's really fun, expansive, and rewarding getting to go so many different places."

"It’s just really beautiful," adds Wiseman. "It gives you that sense of adventure, like new worlds, where we have to acclimate, have to figure out what the rules are. It keeps you very much on your tippy-toes, keeping that sense of adventure throughout the entire season."

The Trials of a Mentee

"Jinaal"

As revealed at the start of the season, Tilly questioned her impact with the latest batch of Academy cadets, finding a bigger thrill in hacking the Federation database to reveal the nature of their Red Directive mission .

As the season progresses, Tilly's presence and return has been crucial as she utilized her personable skills to challenge Rayner's approach, guide Ensign Adira, provide an ear to Dr. Hugh Culber, and decode each clue the Discovery acquires across their mission.

"Tilly had a lot of very healing mentor-mentee relationships in the early part of the series," states Wiseman. "She probably has some sense that those relationships made one of the most positive impacts of her life. She wants to give that back to other people, and it naturally gels with how she moves through the world, her values and beliefs. It’s a natural evolution that I really like."

"All Is Possible"

In "Whistlespeak," Tilly shares her doubts in her ability to connect with the latest batch of cadets with Burnham on the planet Halem'no.

"Tilly is very attuned to young people who are struggling to be seen, or those who feel confused or misunderstood," notes Wiseman. "She really listens and pays attention to people like that because that is how she felt for a very long time. It's a natural part of life that you want to protect people who remind you of yourself when you need protection and help."

"She's struggling to understand the kids at the Academy," continues Wiseman. "They’re from a totally different set of circumstances [and time] than her, but the desire to help is enough to push through any sort of problem or any sort of misunderstanding."

Tying it to Tilly's guidance of the Halem’nite Ravah in "Whistlespeak," Wiseman shares, "It's so sweet that she gets on this away mission is immediately like, 'Ooh, young person who is struggling, let me help you.'"

Callback to Season 1

"Context is For Kings"

In "Whistlespeak," as Tilly and Burnham take on the Journey of the Mother Compeer in order to enter the temple. Their run along the route mirrors the cadet drills she and Burnham endured when they ran laps throughout the starship upon Burnham's arrival on the Discovery in Season 1.

On sharing this moment with Sonequa Martin-Green and having the ability to weave in these series callbacks, Wiseman says, "It's very cool to be on a project for this long and have so many really well-established and beautiful relationships that have blossomed over time. It makes things really easy to act, and you feel really bought in and really invested in everything you do because you really care about the person standing opposite from you."

Being in Tune with the Needs of the Discovery Crew

"Mirrors"

Following the events of " Jinaal ," Dr. Hugh Culber struggles with the feelings and expansions of what he knows to be fact after possessing the consciousness of an 800-plus-year-old symbiont, which Tilly easily clocks.

"It's really nice when you’re around brilliant people," comments Wiseman, "especially if you find an area where you can offer them help. She sees the opportunity for [Hugh] to take care of himself when he's taking care of everyone else, to help him sort of [root] out what he’s struggling with and name it. She relishes that opportunity to give back to him because he's certainly helped her many times in the past."

And what's Tilly's read on the gruff first officer? "[Rayner] really pushes her buttons," Wiseman replies. "Tilly is so conscious of how everyone else is feeling, and I think it's particularly aggravating for her when she encounters people who don't appear to care for how they're impacting others; it really sets her off. That pulls something interesting out of her when she stands up to him [as seen in 'Jinaal']. They're probably a good pair in that they're very different and they can influence each other in really positive ways."

"It’s emotional," Wiseman reflecting on the season and series as a whole with her crew. "Endings are weird, but also really happy. This feeling of pride and a feeling of love. It’s a chance to reflect on the relationships you’ve formed [on- and off-screen], and the journey and how great it's been."

Blending in as a Halem'nite

"Whistlespeak"

To avoid violating the Prime Directive on Halem'no in "Whistlespeak," Tilly and Burnham don facial markings and attire that reflect the pre-warp society.

"It was such a fun and classic Star Trek thing to do," reveals Wiseman. "It was my first chance to actually go into the prosthetics trailer, which was very cool, because all my friends hang out there."

Not only did Wiseman get to trade out her Starfleet uniform, she also got to film outside of a sound stage. "Getting to be in the woods with Sonequa where it was so gorgeous was great," Wiseman raves. "And shooting at night, seeing Mars in the sky, being by the water, we got to take in all that fun and a lot of beauty."

"Getting to change or do something different is always really exciting," concludes Wiseman. "It felt so classic in a way to get to do an away mission where you're trying to blend in. I was really, really excited because of all the circumstances. It was a beautiful time."

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Christine Dinh (she/her) is the managing editor for StarTrek.com. She’s traded the Multiverse for helming this Federation Starship.

Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-4 are streaming exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., the UK, Canada, Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia and Austria. Seasons 2 and 3 also are available on the Pluto TV “Star Trek” channel in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The series streams on Super Drama in Japan, TVNZ in New Zealand, and SkyShowtime in Spain, Portugal, Poland, The Nordics, The Netherlands, and Central and Eastern Europe and also airs on Cosmote TV in Greece. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

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Yes, that character death in star trek: discovery season 5 episode 7 really happened.

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Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Returning Cast & New Character Guide

I think burnham's star trek: discovery prime directive violation is better than picard's in tng, i've been missing detmer & owosekun in star trek: discovery season 5.

Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Episode 7 - "Erigah"

• L'ak tragically dies in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 7, "Erigah."
• Moll makes a desperate move by teaming up with the Breen to find the Progenitors' treasure.
• Major consequences are in play as Moll seeks to resurrect L'ak with the Progenitors' technology.

Yes, that major character death in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 7, "Erigah," really happened. Written by M. Raven Metzner and directed by Jon Dudkowski, Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 7 sees Moll (Eve Harlow) and L'ak (Elias Toufexis) apprehended by Starfleet, but the Breen arrive at the United Federation of Planets' doorstep to collect the nephew of Primarch Ruhn (Tony Nappo). Refusing to get caught between the Federation and the Breen, Moll and L'ak enact a desperate plan to escape that tragically backfires.

Moll and L'ak were introduced as Star Trek: Discovery season 5's villains racing the USS Discovery in the hunt for the ancient treasure of the Progenitors. But Moll and L'ak's backstory, revealed in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 5, "Mirrors," shows them as troubled lovers on the run from the Breen, who placed an Erigah (blood bounty) on their heads. L'ak is a Breen and the nephew of Primarch Ruhn, one of the warlords competing to become the new emperor of the Breen Imperium. Star Trek: Discover y season 5, episode 7, "Erigah" clarified L'ak's true importance to Primarch Ruhn: L'ak is the Scion, a direct blood descendant of the late Breen Emperor. Controlling L'ak would bring validity to whoever becomes the next Emperor of the Breen.

L'ak was seriously injured in a fight with Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) aboard the ISS Enterprise in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 5.

As Burnham seeks the universe's greatest treasure in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, she'll need help from a host of new and returning characters.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Episode 7 Really Killed Off L’ak

The scion of the breen imperium is dead.

L'ak dies in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 7, "Erigah." Moll and L'ak were beamed into the USS Discovery's medical bay so that the grievously injured Breen could receive treatment from Dr. Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz) . But Moll and L'ak, who only want freedom to be together, decide to escape instead of letting the Federation and the Breen decide their fates. The Breen Scion created a distraction so that Moll break out of sickbay and steal one of Discovery's shuttles, but L'ak accidentally gave himself a fatal overdose of tricordrizine.

L'ak's death is a tragedy, not just for Moll but for the Federation.

Moll didn't make it to the USS Discovery's sickbay, and Cleveland Booker (David Ajala) was able to convince her to lay down her phaser and return to the medical bay to see the dying L'ak. Captain Burnham persuaded Primarch Ruhn to allow a Breen physican to treat L'ak but there was no way to save the Scion. L'ak's death is a tragedy, not just for Moll but for the Federation. Because Moll doesn't trust the Federation, she told Primarch Ruhn about the Progenitors' treasure, which means the Breen has now entered the race for the greatest and possibly most destructive power in the galaxy.

The Breen capture the Progenitors' technology and destroy the Federation in a possible future Captain Burnham saw in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 4, "Face the Strange."

What Happens To Moll In Star Trek: Discovery Season 5

Moll has one desperate gamble to resurrect l'ak.

Moll had a surprise for Primarch Ruhn and the Breen: she and L'ak are married. Because she is the Scion's wife, Moll was allowed to leave with the Breen, promising to find the Progenitors' technology for Primarch Ruhn. Moll throwing her lot in with the Breen, who despise her, is her desperate gamble to save L'ak. The Progenitors' life-giving technology is said to have the power to bring back the dead, and Moll hopes she can resurrect L'ak and the Breen will allow them to leave together in exchange for the Progenitors' power to conquer the galaxy.

The Federation council led by President T'Rina (Tara Rosling) agreed to turn Moll over to the Breen rather than instigate an immediate war.

Moll is between a rock and a hard place since she has to lead the Breen to the Progenitors' treasure without the clues . The Breen's only gambit is to follow the USS Discovery to the treasure and then overpower them and take it. Then, Moll has to persuade Primarch Ruhn to both let her resurrect L'ak, which would give Primarch Ruhn legitimacy to become Emperor, and hope Ruhn allows them their freedom. However, if Moll stayed on the USS Discovery, the Breen would have attacked the Federation, and she has no way of persuading Starfleet to let her use the Progenitors' technology to bring back L'ak. The death of L'ak launches Star Trek: Discovery season 5 toward its endgame and the conclusion of the series.

New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery season 5 stream Thursdays on Paramount+

Chris Pine Was Surprised by New ‘Star Trek 4’ Writer Hire Because ‘I Thought There Was Already a Script…I Was Wrong or They Decided to Pivot’

By Zack Sharf

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Chris Pine was taken by surprise when news hit that Steve Yockey, creator of the Max series “The Flight Attendant,” had signed on to write the script for “ Star Trek 4.” Why? “I thought there was already a script,” the actor recently told Business Insider during an interview on his “Poolman” press tour.

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“I honestly don’t know,” Pine told Business Insider when asked about “Star Trek 4” updates. “There was something in the news of a new writer coming on board. I thought there was already a script, but I guess I was wrong, or they decided to pivot. As it’s always been with ‘Trek,’ I just wait and see.”

Steve Yockey is the latest screenwriter to get a chance to pen the script for “Star Trek 4.” Attempts over the years to get the sequel off the ground have included an R-rated idea from none other then Quentin Tarantino. Another version of the project was to be directed by Matt Shakman (“WandaVision”) and written by Lindsey Beer (“Sierra Burgess Is a Loser”) and Geneva Robertson-Dworet (“Captain Marvel”). Shakman left the project to direct Marvel’s “The Fantastic Four” instead, and it fell apart soon afterwards.

In his Business Insider interview , Pine also said that it wasn’t until the third movie that he finally felt comfortable on set playing Kirk. The character was made famous by William Shatner.

“It’s interesting. Karl Urban decided to go head first into McCoy because Karl loved ‘Star Trek,'” Pine said. “With Spock, you have to do Spock-like things, plus Zach [Quinto] kind of looked like Leonard [Nimoy]. And then Kirk is a tricky one. You are the lead of the band of characters, so you don’t want to occupy too much space. It’s fine if they are doing a thing, but you don’t want to. And J.J. [Abrams] never asked me to do a thing, though I did do little nods to Shatner because it was fun.”

“But I would say I felt most in his shoes in the third movie. By that point, I think I mellowed into it and didn’t feel like I was trying too hard,” Pine added.

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Eight years after the last Star Trek film, Chris Pine is among the many who would like to know if there’s another voyage planned.

Pine is making the rounds to promote his new film, Poolman , and didn’t have anything to share on when the space franchise may be refreshed.

Pine was clear that communication from Paramount about the franchise has been fairly minimal ever since the release of Star Trek Beyond in 2016.

While television and streaming have lots of Star Trek projects, there has been no movement on a film. Rumors that Quentin Tarantino was interested in a Star Trek project never came to fruition, and multiple scripts have apparently been floated and fizzled.

Meanwhile, Chris Pine and many others wait and wonder.

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