the illyrians star trek

Star Trek: Who Are The Illyrians?

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One of Star Trek ’s defining features is its ability to create moral dilemmas for its characters, usually by introducing them to diverse civilizations and belief systems. In Star Trek: The Original Series , Captain Kirk and his crew come into contact with many peoples that have ways of life incomprehensible to us: the populations of Eminiar VII and Vendikar go to war virtually; the people of Beta III engage in a festival of destruction at the end of every day; and the Klingons celebrate death in battle. Diplomacy is the Enterprise crew’s most important tool, but in certain Star Trek stories, it’s clear that the Federation doesn’t negotiate with everyone.

The Illyrian people were first introduced in Star Trek: Enterprise , where they had a brief but brutal encounter with Captain Archer. Since this initial appearance, the Illyrians have been mostly absent from following series, only showing up recently in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds . Pike’s first officer Una Chin-Riley is revealed to be an Illyrian, and her identity must be kept secret in order to protect her career and citizenship within the Federation. The Illyrians are a race of people whose reliance on genetic augmentation always been shunned by the Federation, but modern Star Trek has begun to question whether this perspective is bigotry instead of caution.

RELATED: Star Trek: The Biggest Problem With The Portrayal Of Alien Species

The Illyrians were first shown in Star Trek: Enterprise , season 3, episode 19, “Damage,” in which they had a contentious first contact with Starfleet. In this episode, the Illyrians are portrayed as unfortunate bystanders in the aftermath of a battle between the Xindi and Captain Archer’s Enterprise crew . With a nearly sundered ship and an injured crew, Archer makes the decision to plunder the Illyrian ship for its warp coil, stranding the alien people in deadly space. The Illyrians are left with some trellium-D and a few crates of food, while the Enterprise makes its escape. There wasn't much negotiation during their first meeting, and practically no exchange of information about their beliefs. The Illyrians are presented as people who were in the wrong place at the right time, but not as a threat to anyone. This changes as the Federation becomes more familiar with Illyrian culture.

During the events of Star Trek: Enterprise , there is not yet any formal version of the Federation, but its ethos is being built (and occasionally transgressed). Earth was riddled with eugenics wars and unethical human augmentation in the 20th century, as revealed in Star Trek: The Original Series , season 1, episode 24, “Space Seed,” leaving most humans wary of genetic manipulation. Earth becomes one of the founding members of the Federation, and forms its basic values, including disbarring of any form of eugenics. This zero-tolerance policy doesn’t allow for special cases, and results in the generalization and exclusion of the Illyrians, which proves to be short-sighted.

In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , season 1, episode 3 , “Ghosts of Illyria,” the Federation’s ban on Illyrian membership is first put into question. The episode depicts the Enterprise crew’s arrival on Hetemit IX, the home of an abandoned Illyrian colony, and the resulting crisis. Una Chin-Riley, Pike’s Number One, is the only crew member resistant to a disease that spreads through the Enterprise, and as a consequence must reckon with her identity as a genetically modified Illyrian. The Federation’s opposition to genetic engineering meant Chin-Riley had to lie about her race to enlist in Starfleet, and in this episode, she wonders if the Federation was the one at fault. There is significant bias towards the belief systems of the founding members of the Federation , and this may be impeding other cultures’ development.

Captain Pike and Spock have a new perspective on the Illyrian people towards the end of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , season 1, episode 3, “Ghosts of Illyria,” one that aligns more closely with that of Chin-Riley. Pike and Spock are protected from an ion storm by the remains of the Illyrians on the Hetemit IX colony, people who have been reduced to energy spirits. The Illyrians would have survived the storm if they had not reversed their own genetic modifications, a “good-faith gesture” that would have permitted them entry to the Federation. The Federation has never been perfect , but this episode puts its shortcomings in a new light, especially for Pike and Chin-Riley. Pike dispels some of the prejudices he learned, and Chin-Riley is left to wonder whether Pike would have shown the same kindness to her if she wasn’t the ‘ideal’ Illyrian.

The Illyrians are first presented as some of the many victims of a war, caught in the crossfire between Starfleet and the Xindi. After almost a century, it’s clear that Starfleet (and the Federation) is still jumping the gun when it comes to dealing with Illyrians, indulging biases before extending the arm of diplomacy. Captain Pike and his crew are the ideal group to rally for the rights of the Illyrians within the Federation, but they may have a fight on their hands. Chin-Riley is arrested for her deception in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , season 1, episode 10, “A Quality of Mercy,” and it doesn’t look like she will be receiving a lot of sympathy for hiding her identity.

The Federation has shunned the Illyrian people for their way of life for up to a century, but modern Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is allowing its characters to analyze the reason. Star Trek has always welcomed conversations on ethics , philosophy, politics and more, and there will surely be more on the topic of Illyrian rights. Chin-Riley believes they have a place in the Federation. She states:

“My people were never motivated by domination. Illyrians seek collaboration with nature. By bioengineering our bodies, we adapt to naturally-existing habitats […] we modify ourselves. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

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Game rant's ultimate sci-fi guide, how strange new worlds handles continuity within the franchise.

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‘Star Trek’ Illyrians, explained

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds viewers were shocked to discover that the First Officer of the Enterprise, Una Chin-Riley (a character first introduced all the way back in the original Star Trek pilot as “ Number One “), was in fact a member of an alien species, the Illyrians . But just who are these unusual people?

While the Illyrians and their fate is explained in Strange New Worlds ’ “Ghosts of Illyria,” many viewers may not know that Illyrians have shown up in Star Trek previously — namely in Enterprise . In the third season episode “Damage,” Enterprise captain Jonathan Archer encountered an Illyrian ship after his own ship was badly damaged during their desperate voyage to the Xindi homeworld. The Illyrians proved to be amiable and friendly, and were more than willing to help repair the Enterprise, but could not afford to give Archer a much-needed replacement warp coil.

With Earth’s fate resting entirely on the Enterprise’s success in reaching the Xindi, Archer made the agonizing decision to take the Illyrian’s warp coil by force, leaving them stranded in a hostile region of deep space, three years away from their home. While Archer did beam over enough supplies to last them the journey, the Illyrian crew’s fate appeared uncertain.

23rd Century

Strange New Worlds takes place around a century after Enterprise . In “Ghosts of Illyria,” we learn that the Illyrians were particularly affected by the Federation’s harsh ban on genetic engineering, as they were proponents of the idea that instead of terraforming a planet to meet their needs, they should instead alter themselves to adapt to new planets. Many thus had genetic augmentations, meaning they could not join Starfleet. Chin-Riley joined Starfleet by passing herself off as a human, hoping that her true species would not be detected.

This changed when the Enterprise reached the Illyrian colony of Hetemit IX , and found it seemingly devoid of life. While Captain Christopher Pike and his science officer Spock were trapped in the colony, Chin-Riley’s genetic augmentations allowed her to save the Enterprise by resisting a disease that threatened to consume the rest of the crew. Pike and Spock, meanwhile, learned that the Illyrian colonists had become non-corporeal from the same disease that affected the Enterprise, and now existed as electromagnetic “ghosts” trapped inside the planet’s atmosphere. These “ghosts” formed a protective barrier around Pike and Spock, saving them from a deadly storm. With Chin-Riley’s true species revealed, Pike made the decision to keep her as his First Officer — and to hide the truth from Starfleet.

With season two of Strange New Worlds on the way this June, we can expect more of Una and perhaps more glimpses into the story of the Illyrians.

'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds': Why Are Illyrians Banned From the Federation?

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Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2. It didn't take long in the second season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds to return to a flashpoint surrounding the identity of one of its most prominent characters . Specifically, viewers were shown in the first season's episode " Ghosts of Illyria " that Una Chin-Riley ( Rebecca Romijn ), the USS Enterprise's First Officer, is an Illyrian. Genetically engineered before her birth, Una's heritage was concealed, so she could join Starfleet despite an ongoing ban on species and individuals who practiced genetic manipulation. Unfortunately, her Illyrian identity was revealed early on in Strange New Worlds , and this revelation came to a head in the Season 2 episode "Ad Astra per Aspera," culminating in a court-martial for "Number One" .

But what's the Federation's major malfunction with genetic alterations? Strange New Worlds certainly touched on things, but newer Trek fans who may not be familiar with earlier iterations like Star Trek: The Original Series or the events that predated it chronologically in Star Trek: Enterprise may be left in the dark a bit. Although the United Federation of Planets is often portrayed as a beacon of egalitarianism, diplomacy, and acceptance, it has taken drastic measures during many points in its history to preserve its sense of security.

RELATED: 'Star Trek: Strange New World' Season 2's Showrunners on Setting the Tone for the 'Lower Decks' Crossover

The Augments and the Eugenics Wars

In the 20th century of Star Trek 's canon timeline, advancements in DNA sequencing allowed humankind to begin creating genetically-enhanced individuals. Anything ordinary humans could do, these "Augments" could do better; improved strength and speed, resistance to energy weapons, a doubled lifespan on average, and they could even destroy various infections and diseases in their body's ecosystem. Their mental sturdiness even helped them resist the effects of the Vulcans' nerve pinches and mind melds later on in their history. This is to say nothing of their genius intellect, rounding out a full package of genetic gifts. Unfortunately, as Mr. Spock ( Leonard Nimoy ) once remarked in The Original Series , superior ability breeds superior ambition, and it wasn't long before the Augments took up arms against the rest of humanity.

In 1992, Augments banded together and laid claim to over 40 countries across the globe, exploding into a four-year conflict that took tens of millions of lives in the process. The planet was plunged into a Dark Age, with much of the historical documentation during the time period being lost or fragmented. Scientists who had taken part in the genetic projects resulting in the Augments hadn't accounted for their personalities, which often veered toward an air of superiority and entitlement. Non-augmented humans were killed or subjugated to slavery by the "supermen", with Augment conquerors like Khan Noonien Singh ( Ricardo Montalban ) seizing absolute power of over a quarter of the planet. Khan's ambitions led other would-be Augment despots to rule their territories with an iron fist. Although Khan was believed to be a more "gentle" authoritarian who did not engage in conflict until infringed upon, the other Augment dictators were often much less merciful. Regardless, non-augmented humans had their freedoms severely constricted and were treated as inferior by their overlords across the board.

The wars raged on for four long years, with historians stating that the conflicts consisted of humanity rising up against the Augments while many Augment warlords also engaged in bloodied disputes with each other. The face of Earth was met with bombing campaigns that took the lives of over 30 million people, but the struggle eventually began to favor humanity. Augment leaders were deposed, and Khan himself was the last overlord to fall in 1996. Humanity's sporadic governments eventually sentenced Khan and over 80 of his retainers to death, which likely delighted a human race that desired revenge.

The only problem was that Khan and his followers had managed to flee prosecution, slipping aboard an early space vessel known as the SS Botany Bay. Earth's governments kept news of the missing Augments under wraps to avoid public panic, but Khan and his followers would resurface in the 23rd Century after Captain James T. Kirk ( William Shatner / Paul Wesley ) had assumed command of the USS Enterprise from Captain Christopher Pike ( Jeffrey Hunter / Anson Mount ) after the latter's promotion to Fleet Captain .

Obviously, the days of Jim Kirk's captaincy aboard the Enterprise passes Strange New Worlds ' events in the Trek timeline, but Earth had additional run-ins with genetically-altered beings well before the 23rd Century that steeled their resolve to enact the Federation's encompassing ban on genetic engineering.

Augments, Illyrians, and the Enterprise NX-01

In the 22nd Century, Earth's disparate governments had come together under the banner of United Earth after making First Contact with the Vulcan species in 2063. The unitary government made huge strides in technology and set its eyes on the stars above. This resulted in the NX Project, ultimately leading to the launch of the Enterprise NX-01 in 2151, the first United Earth space vessel capable of reaching Warp 5 speeds. The crew of Enterprise, led by Captain Jonathan Archer ( Scott Bakula ), began to explore planets and systems well beyond the reach of Earth and its closest stars, leading to encounters with various interstellar species along the way. In 2154, Enterprise and her crew would encounter another band of Augments. These superhumans were fostered by geneticist Dr. Arik Soong ( Brent Spiner ), who had stolen their embryos from Cold Station 12 and raised them in the Trialas System before he was arrested for his crimes in 2144.

However, a young Augment named Malik ( Alec Newman ) and his "brother" Saul ( Fernando Chien ) departed Trialas IV with many of their comrades and commandeered a Klingon Bird-of-Prey, causing a diplomatic disaster that drew United Earth to the brink of war with the Klingon Empire. Enterprise was dispatched to the lawless Borderland to apprehend the Augments, and Arik Soong was brought on board to (hopefully) navigate the situation without resorting to violence. However, Soong had other plans and managed to escape Enterprise and rejoin his "children", assisting in their plan to free even more Augment embryos from Cold Station 12.

After a damaged Enterprise underwent repairs, it pursued the Augments to the station. Having successfully secured the embryos and several deadly biological agents, Soong intended to break off from United Earth and flee with his Augments for good. The pathogens would be used as "insurance" to ensure their escape. However, a rift grew between Soong and Malik over how to treat the staff aboard the space station, leading Malik to rise up against his "father". Enterprise and Captain Archer arrive and the Augments threaten to breach containment and release all the biological agents aboard, killing the station's staff and the Enterprise's away team. Thanks to the quick application of Enterprise's phase cannons by Commander T'Pol ( Jolene Blalock ), the away team and all surviving station personnel are beamed back to the ship as the pathogens are vented into space.

Soong and the Augments take the Bird-of-Prey into Klingon space, where they assume that Enterprise won't follow. Malik and Soong continue to spar over authority, with the former suggesting that the secured biotoxins should be fired on the Klingon world of Qu'Vat to instigate a war between Earth and the Klingons to ensure that the Augments are left alone. Soong detests the idea, considering it mass murder, ultimately leading to Malik staging a mutiny and Soong ejecting from the Bird-of-Prey via an escape pod.

Soong is retrieved and brought back aboard Enterprise, joining the crew in stopping the Augments despite suspicions surrounding his loyalties. Fortunately, Captain Archer's faith in the geneticist pays off when the team evades a boarding attempt by a Klingon battlecruiser and catches up to the Augments, ultimately disabling the Bird-of-Prey. Malik overloads the ship's Dilithium matrix, presumptively killing him and the other Augments aboard in the explosion. Soong is taken into custody and Enterprise prepares to return him to Earth when Malik reveals he had beamed aboard Enterprise and attacks, but Archer manages to kill the bloodthirsty Augment with a particle rifle. Soong is returned to incarceration on Earth, realizing his work on perfecting humans is foolhardy, and begins his plans to create a perfected artificial life form instead.

Enterprise encountered more genetically-altered species in 2154, albeit not of the human variety. After a battle that devastated the ship near Azati Prime, an Illyrian vessel was spotted disabled by an anomaly field. The Illyrians proved to be helpful to Enterprise by assisting with repairs. Although Archer and the crew were grateful, they needed to return to Earth as quickly as possible to stave off a threat by the Xindi. Enterprise requested to trade for the Illyrians' warp coil, but the latter refused since it would heavily lengthen their journey home. Feeling the urgency of the Xindi bearing down on Earth, Archer managed to board the ship with several MACO troopers and steal the warp coil, allowing Enterprise to return home. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for the Illyrians, now stranded in space with a three-year journey on their hands.

Later on in 2154, the Klingon Empire devised a way to create their own Augments due to the assumption that Earth would eventually use Augments aboard their starships. Despite the Vulcans telling the Klingons that humanity had discarded any desire to use genetic manipulation, the Empire seized what was left of the Augment embryos from Malik's destroyed Bird-of-Prey and attempted to splice their DNA with Klingon hosts. This resulted in the affected Klingons taking on more human-like characteristics, losing their iconic cranial ridges, but gaining immense strength and intelligence. Unfortunately, an unexpected side effect arose in the form of neural degeneration, which killed the modified Klingons when their neural pathways broke down. Even worse, one Augmented Klingon was carrying the Levodian Flu virus, which caused the Augment manipulations to spread across the Klingon Empire and infect countless individuals.

The good news is that thanks to the work of Enterprise's Dr. Phlox ( John Billingsley ), the first stage of the Augment virus was reversed. This left the infected Klingons with no boosts to their strength and intelligence, and their human-like appearance was also irreversible for the time being. However, the Klingons would avoid death via the breakdown of their neural networks. Generations of the warlike race would continue to carry human-esque traits in some populations, though they began to phase out in the latter portions of the 23rd century.

The Federation's Bans and Stigma Towards Augmentation

Fast-forward to 2259, and the United Federation of Planets had clearly seen enough danger from multiple Augment-related crises to institute a ban. Genetically-altered beings, regardless of species, were prohibited from joining Starfleet. Furthermore, species that practiced genetic manipulation were also denied membership in the Federation. The term "Augment" transitioned to a pejorative word used to denigrate any species or individual who was genetically engineered in any capacity. The distaste also dogged the descendants of the Augments who participated in the Eugenics Wars, leading to enmity toward the likes of Lieutenant La'an Noonien-Signh ( Christina Chong ), the USS Enterprise's Chief of Security during Strange New Worlds . Despite both Una and La'an being model Starfleet officers worthy to serve aboard the Federation's flagship, the scars of the Eugenics Wars and United Earth's early conflicts with augmented species unfairly falls on their shoulders.

The laws against genetic engineering remained a part of the Federation and Starfleet well into the 24th century. However, certain exceptions were made along the way, particularly in the case of Una herself and Dal R'El ( Brett Gray ), a multi-species Augment hybrid who was permitted to join Starfleet in 2384 after then- Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway ( Kate Mulgrew ) remarked that he was a living example of Starfleet's ideals. Pain remains for many genetically-engineered species and individuals, but there are signs that their rights are making inroads after centuries of conflict and suspicion. The tides of progress appear to roll along slowly, even for an organization like the Federation that prides itself on inclusivity and acceptance of differences.

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• 1 History and specifics
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History and specifics [ ]

Illyrians were known to practice selective breeding of a type that bordered on genetic engineering . ( TOS novel : Child of Two Worlds )

By the 23rd century they used actual genetic augmentations to enhance their capabilities and to adapt to new environments as an alternative to terraforming . ( SNW episode : " Ghosts of Illyria ")

Their government was a meritocracy, with aptitude testing used to select its officials. Illyrian citizens highly valued excellence, both mentally and physically. ( TOS novel : Child of Two Worlds )

Set in the 14th century , the backstory of the Boralian fantasy holonovel The Skull and the Sword involved Illyrian, Thracian and Thuringian soldiers at the Battle of Greystone Dales . ( Last Unicorn RPG module : Holodeck Adventures )

In 2154 , the Earth Starfleet vessel Enterprise encountered an Illyrian starship in the Delphic Expanse . Captain Jonathan Archer hoped to trade with its crew for a warp coil , but the Illyrians couldn't spare one. Desperate to stop the Xindi threat to Earth , Archer took their coil anyway, stranding them with food and some trellium in compensation. ( ENT episode : " Damage ", ENT - Rise of the Federation novel : Uncertain Logic )

In 2255 , Saru was familiar with Illyrians and described them generally as vegetarian, pacifist and non-predatory. ( DSC novel : Desperate Hours )

Number One claimed to be a Human raised on Illyria and became known for her Illyrian mental conditioning. ( TOS novel : Vulcan's Glory , DSC novel : Desperate Hours )

In reality, Una was an Illyrian who outwardly appeared Human and hid her real origin due to the Federation ban on genetic augmentations. Several other Illyrians also appeared as humans.( SNW episode : " Ghosts of Illyria "; SNW - The Illyrian Enigma comics : " Issue 1 ", " Issue 2 ")

Biology [ ]

Illyrians were avid practitioners of genetic engineering; they believed in adapting their bodies to the new planets they settled, rather than changing the planet to suit themselves. As a result, Illyrians varied widely in appearance as well as in capabilities. Some Illyrians were externally indistinguishable from Humans. ( SNW episode : " Ghosts of Illyria ")

Other Illyrians exhibited differing traits such as cranial ridges. ( ENT episode : " Damage ")

Besides the cranial difference, ther traits include webbed hands, pointed ears, and differently structured eyes.

Some Illyrians, like Una Chin-Riley, were also modified with enhanced strength and an immune system that could literally burn out infectious agents from the body rather than rely on antibodies. ( SNW episode : " Ghosts of Illyria ")

Notable Illyrians [ ]

• Ivan Ketoul
• Neera Ketoul

Appendices [ ]

Appearances and references [ ], appearance [ ].

• ENT episode : " Damage "
• Short Treks episode : " Q&A "
• Short Treks episode : " Ask Not "
• TOS episode : " The Cage "
• DSC episode : " An Obol for Charon "
• DSC episode : " Such Sweet Sorrow "
• SNW episode : " Strange New Worlds "
• SNW episode : " Children of the Comet "
• SNW episode : " Ghosts of Illyria "
• SNW episode : " Memento Mori "
• SNW episode : " Spock Amok "
• SNW episode : " Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach "
• SNW episode : " The Serene Squall "
• SNW novel : The High Country
• SNW episode : " The Elysian Kingdom "
• SNW episode : " All Those Who Wander "
• SNW episode : " A Quality of Mercy "
• SNW episode : " The Broken Circle "
• SNW episode : " Ad Astra Per Aspera "

References [ ]

• TOS novel : Vulcan's Glory
• TOS novel : The Children of Kings
• Last Unicorn RPG module : Holodeck Adventures
• TOS - Starfleet Academy novel : The Assassination Game
• ENT - Rise of the Federation novel : Uncertain Logic
• TOS - Legacies novel : Captain to Captain
• TOS novel : Child of Two Worlds
• DSC novel : Desperate Hours
• SNW - The Illyrian Enigma comics : " Issue 1 ", " Issue 2 "

External link [ ]

• Illyrian article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .
• 1 Ferengi Rules of Acquisition
• 2 USS Voyager (NCC-74656-A)
• 3 Lamarr class

Is Number One an alien? Strange New Worlds writer explains Illyrian canon

Illyrians have a long, and odd history with Star Trek canon. Here's what it all means.

Number One has a secret. In episode 3 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds — “Ghost of Illyria” — Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) reveals that she’s a member of a genetically modified group called the Illyrians. While this information is a shock to Captain Pike and the crew, hardcore Trek fans have known since 1989. But which Illyrians are we talking about? Inverse checked in with Bill Wolkoff, who co-wrote “Ghosts of Illyria” alongside Akela Cooper, for all the details about Number One, the new Illyrians, and the other Illyrians who appeared back in 2004. Spoilers ahead.

Dr. M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) and Number One (Rebecca Romijn) in “Ghosts of Illyria.”

Is Number One an alien?

Although Una’s Discovery appearance suggested she was human, what we learn in “Ghosts of Illyria” is that she’s been hiding the fact she’s genetically modified, and a secret member of the Illyrians. But what is an Illyrian?

“Una is not human,” Bill Wolkoff tells Inverse. “ She just looks human. Illyrians are an alien species. In Una’s case, she’s an Illyrian who passes as a human... She’s forced to hide that part of her identity, a part of herself.”

In the episode, we learn there are several different Illyrian colonies scattered throughout the galaxy, which makes the exact colony that Una is from still a mystery. Will that mystery be solved? Speaking to Wil Wheaton on the official Star Trek after-show, The Ready Room , Rebecca Romjin said that this storyline will continue to “play out in a pretty intense way.”

“Here’s what we know,” Wolkoff says. “After she glowed, Una researched records of Illyrian genetic modifications related to disease control, specifically files relating to the ‘original settlement’ on the Vaultera Nebula. She later told Captain Pike she is from an Illyrian colony far away. Take from that what you will.”

Majel Barrett as Number One in the first Star Trek pilot episode, “The Cage.”

The origin of Illyrians

In 2017 — before Una was confirmed for Discovery Season 2 — the character was described as being an Illyrian in the first-ever tie-in Discovery novel, Desperate Hours by David Mack. But this wasn’t the first time Number One had been classified as part of the elusive Trek species. As Wolkoff confirms, the inspiration comes from even deeper Trek lore.

“ Vulcan’s Glory is the novel we talked about,” Wolkoff says. This 1989 book, which details Spock’s first mission with Captain Pike and Una, was written by one of the most influential writers on The Original Series , “the great D.C. Fontana.”

The late D.C. Fontana, a classic Star Trek writer of episodes like “This Side of Paradise.” She also wrote the 1989 novel Vulcan’s Glory , in which Number One was dubbed an Illyrian.

The notion that Illyrians are “an alien species that genetically modifies themselves,” wasn’t wholly invented by the Strange New Worlds writing team either. The 2015 Greg Cox novel Child of Two Worlds suggested that the Illyrians practiced selective breeding, which could be interpreted as genetic engineering. “It puts them at odds with Starfleet, an institution with anti-genetic alteration laws that dates back to the Eugenics Wars,” Wolkoff explains. “We thought that was a rich place to draw from to tell her big story.”

The “other” Illyrians

Although “Ghosts of Illyria” finally reconciles Una’s backstory with Star Trek books of the past, a species called Illyrians did appear in a 2004 episode of the prequel series Enterprise. “ Damage” was set in 2154, putting it 105 years before the events of Strange New Worlds . The Illyrians in “Damage” are neither human-looking like Una, nor are they the genetically modified fire ghosts who save Pike and Spock in “Ghosts of Illyria.”

Casey Biggs as an Illyrian captain in the 2004 Enterprise episode “Damage.”

So what’s the deal? Are the Illyrians in Enterprise — the people with bumpy foreheads — the same Illyrians from Strange New Worlds ? The short answer is yes. Here’s how Wolkoff says it all works:

“I think that’s consistent with what happened in the episode. There is another scene where Una researched potential Illyrian modifications, and on the viewscreen we caught a glimpse of what some of those look like. I saw one Illyrian with webbed hands and feet, another with spiky eyebrows… I’d certainly believe Illyrians could have bumpy foreheads too! And if Una had researched long enough, she might have found a file on those Illyrians.”

So there you have it. An Illyrian can look like Rebecca Romijn. An Illyrian can have webbed hands. An Illyrian can turn into a fire ghost or have a bumpy forehead. As Una tells La’an, the Illyrians genetically modify themselves to adapt to the environments of specific planets. Which means the next time a Trek alien seems to be perfect for their planet, it’s possible it could be an Illyrian.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds airs new episodes on Paramount+ on Thursdays.

This article was originally published on May 24, 2022

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Recap/Review: ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Illuminates Secrets In “Ghosts Of Illyria”

| May 19, 2022 | By: Anthony Pascale 161 comments so far

“Ghosts of Illyria”

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1, Episode 3 – Debuted Thursday, May 19, 2022 Written by: Akela Cooper & Bill Wolkoff Directed by Leslie Hope

Another strong outing from the new series takes familiar franchise elements and puts them together in a fresh way with a Star Trek-ian message to boot.

WARNING: Spoilers below!

“We have an emerging situation here.”

In a classic setup, Enterprise is researching a colony abandoned by Illyrians, “outcasts” who use forbidden genetic modifications. With an ion storm about to fry the planet, Pike orders Number One back to the ship while he goes to find Spock. Only through the self-avowed genius of Hemmer’s transporter backup boost does the landing party make it back, leaving Spock and Pike stuck in the colony library to wait out the storm. Things are just as dire on the ship as it soon becomes clear there is something off about the members of the landing party; they’re all now dangerously attracted to light, hurting themselves just to get as close as possible to light sources. It’s happening to all the landing party members except Una, who seems to be able to shake it off after her skin glows—something she fails to mention to a perplexed Dr. M’Benga. Curious.

In command, Number One looks to Hemmer, but he has no answers. The chief engineer asserts the transporters couldn’t let anything dangerous through, but he will do a Level 5 Sarcastic Diagnostic if she really wants. She starts her own research into Illryians and their genetic modifications for possible answers. Her friend La’an drops by to remind us her last name is Noonien Singh and that the teasing she got as a kid about being descended from an Augment was the worst thing that ever happened… until her family was used by the Gorn as egg sacks. But that teasing was really mean and she hates Illyrians and anyone else with genetic modifications because of it. Before La’an’s backstory can get any more tragic, she succumbs to the light-obsession thing—but wait a minute, she wasn’t on the landing party! The mystery disease is spreading and nobody knows how, so Number One orders a full lockdown. It’s March 2020 on the USS Enterprise.

“I don’t like feeling helpless.”

Back on Hetemit IX, a restless Pike frets as Spock continues his research. While he fails to reduce his captain’s frustration, the Vulcan is making progress, working out that the colonists wanted to join the Federation and they were attempting to “de-engineer” their genetic modifications to get into the club. That may be “fascinating,” but the storm outside is getting closer and a lot scarier, revealing spooky floating creatures that Spock figures out are related to the mysterious light disease, and they really want to get into the library. But it turns out these are nice screaming plasma creatures who protect Pike and Spock from the lethal storm, then leave without even saying goodbye. Spock, of course, has a theory: The creatures are the former colonists who merged with the ion storm after succumbing to the light disease. To prove him right, one last journal presents itself with a record of their initiative to renounce genetic engineering. “Even in death they wanted us to be aware of who they really were.”

With his sickbay bursting due to the light pandemic, M’Benga bristles at Hemmer who is passive-aggressively doing that diagnostic, and the doctor surreptitiously denies the Aenar access to the medical transporter. Una’s quest for answers leads her to Uhura’s quarters, noting the infection-free cadet likes to sleep in the dark. The “insidious” disease is carried on light waves! M’Benga and Number One agree: They have to turn off the lights on the ship—after  sedating the “light addicts.” Una’s research also reveals something familiar about how Illyrians sparkle when fighting off disease, but she is distracted by Hemmer, who is conducting a “miracle” by transporting part of the planet’s boiling mantle; he just wants to feel the radiance on his skin. That is one light-crazy genius. She stuns him and carries the unconscious engineer to sickbay like he weighs nothing. There, Una reveals what you have probably figured out: she’s an Illyrian. Unfazed, M’Benga and Chapel inform her they can’t create a cure from her blood because her genetically modified immunity works too fast, leaving behind no antibodies to use for an antidote. And if that wasn’t bad enough, M’Benga is now infected and has to be put under. Oh, and the warp core is melting down. Una is just having the worst day ever.

“You are an example to them and to all of us.”

Seemingly the lone functional member of the crew, Number One works her way through the dark to engineering, only to confront La’an who wants to one-up Hemmer in the light-crazy Olympics by dropping the warp reactor’s containment field. Her protégé has some choice words (between punches) now that she has learned the truth, even calling Una a “monster” and an “abomination.” Words hurt, La’an. The raving security chief put up a good fight but was no match for the modified Una, and gets pinned as the compartment is irradiated. But the Illyrian’s sparkling immune system kicked in to do something unexpected—and also protect La’an—so with the help of Nurse Chapel, they’re able to technobabble a cure, and voila, crazy light pandemic over. Back in her right mind, La’an buries the Augment hatchet with Una over some comfort strawberries before Number One heads to face the music with the captain, back from the planet.

Una comes clean, telling Pike who she really is. She knows the rules and surrenders herself. But the captain rejects her resignation and calls her the “best first officer in the fleet.” He is willing to take the heat because her actions and those nice plasma creatures showed him that maybe Starfleet and the Federation have Illyrians all wrong. Una can stay. Her next task is to get those transporter biofilters fixed so this doesn’t happen again, leading her straight to Dr. M’Benga. Something he is hiding in his medical transporter prevented a critical upgrade, leading to the light infection getting through. Turns out he has a huge secret too: His daughter is being held in the pattern buffer to keep her in a kind of stasis as he searches the stars for a cure to her space leukemia. Now it is his turn to surrender and her turn to reject a resignation, with a bonus tech fix to his transporter buffer situation. As the good doctor brings young Rukiya back for a quick storytime before returning her to the buffer, Number One ponders the moral of her day’s story. Has she finally been accepted for who she is, or did she get off the hook merely because she saved the day? Big questions for another day.

The secrets we keep

In an episode about revealing secrets, Strange New Worlds shows it has tapped into the secret sauce of Star Trek… delivering a focused sci-fi adventure with action, character stakes, and a message. Using a setup akin to other medical mystery episodes like “The Naked Time,” this episode gives us our closest look inside Una Chin-Riley, with Rebecca Romijn showing off her range as she mixes character drama with action. Even though the show continues to stay true to the standalone format, a number of elements from just the two previous episodes pay off here, especially with the relationship between Number One and La’an. And this episode reveals more than just secrets and backstory, but a much-needed understanding of Una and what motivates her, almost sixty years after the character was introduced in “The Cage.”

And in good Star Trek tradition, this medical plot and character nicely tie into the franchise themes of inclusion and the fight against prejudice. The twist here is shining a light on the Federation’s stereotypes against the genetically modified, with the revelation that Illyrians like Una (and the colonists) aren’t anything like the Augments of the past who inspired the prejudice. And there is a clear message relatable to many, with Number One wondering when will it just be enough to be herself, and not have to prove herself to be “one of the good ones.” Speaking of allegories, while there may not be a message, the writers seem to at least have been informed by the COVID-19 pandemic, infusing this medical mystery with now-familiar terminologies like lockdowns and contact tracing.

Other characters had their moments in the light in this episode, including the gruff Hemmer, with Bruce Horak delivering a fun performance that feels familiar to fans of characters like DS9’s Odo. Babs Olusanmokun was also a standout, showing us M’Benga’s heart as he struggled to find a cure. However, adding the daughter in the transporter storyline here feels like one secret too many for an episode that already fit together nicely, creating a sort of unnecessary double ending to the otherwise well-paced episode.

And with so much focus on the various character dynamics, the plot got a bit short-chained. It would have been nice to learn a bit more about the mystery of the colony, and are they just going to leave those plasma creatures to their fate? And while the show tries to stick to the science, solutions continue to feel rushed, hand-wavy and even deus ex machina.

Final thoughts

While some issues remain here or there, this new series continues to impress, something most Trek shows struggle to do during their first seasons. Let’s hope Pike and the gang can keep up the good work.

Random bits

• This is the first Star Trek directing credit for Leslie Hope, who began her career as an actress and for the last decade has worked both behind and in front of the camera.
• Hope appeared in an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in 1998, playing Kira Meru , mother of Kira Nerys.
• This is the first Star Trek writing credit for co-executive producer Akela Cooper, who has previously worked almost exclusively on genre projects including The 100 , American Horror Story , and Luke Cage .
• This is also the first Star Trek writing credit for supervising producer Bill Wolkoff, who has also primarily worked on genre projects including Star Wars: Rebels and Once Upon a Time .
• Stardate: 1224.3.
• Illyrians were previously encountered once on screen in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode “Damage,” although in that they had prominent forehead ridges.
• Like with her name being Una, Number One’s connection to Illyrians and their history of genetic modification comes from Star Trek novels , including ones pre-dating that Enterprise episode.
• Spock indicated he does not have a carotid artery in the same location as humans.
• Ion storms are a staple of Star Trek going back to TOS, causing all sorts of problems. It was an ion storm combined with a transporter that caused a landing party led by Kirk to jump into the Mirror Universe .
• The scenes on Hetemit IX were shot at the Ontario Place waterfront entertainment venue in Toronto.
• M’Benga mentions the common cold. Later, Dr. McCoy would note how 23rd-century medicine was still searching for a cure, something still not accomplished by the TNG era of the 24 th century.
• M’Benga refers to the Enterprise as the “flagship” of Starfleet.
• The USS Enterprise sickbay was shown to have an extra second level that can be opened up for emergencies.
• M’Benga says someone can be kept in a transporter pattern buffer with “no limit” as long as they are periodically materialized. In a few decades, Montgomery Scott will store himself in a transporter buffer by locking it into a continuous diagnostic, being revived 75 years later in the TNG episode “ Relics .”
• In addition to an old ship navigational sextant , Pike’s desk includes a replica of the bronze statue “ Trooper of the Plains ” by early 20th-century artist Frederic Remington .
• Una deleting her final personal log feels like an homage to Sisko doing the same at the end of DS9’s “ In the Pale Moonlight .”
• This is the first time seeing the Enterprise’s landing party jackets. While Enterprise landing party jackets were seen in the original pilot “The Cage,” they were not used for Star Trek: The Original Series .
• The landing party outfit also includes gloves, which seems like a no-brainer, although it didn’t keep Ensign Lance from getting infected.
• Amazingly Lance (Daniel Gravelle) appears to have survived and not befallen the fate of many “red shirts,” indicating this may be a trope Strange New Worlds won’t be indulging.

More to come

Every Friday, the TrekMovie.com All Access Star Trek Podcast  covers the latest news in the Star Trek Universe and discusses the latest episode. The podcast is available on Apple Podcasts ,  Spotify ,  Pocket Casts ,  Stitcher and is part of the TrekMovie Podcast Network.

New episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds debut on Thursdays exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., Latin America, Australia and the Nordics. The series airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave in Canada. In New Zealand, it is available on TVNZ , and in India on  Voot Select .  Strange New Worlds  will arrive via Paramount+ in select countries in Europe when the service launches later this year, starting with the UK and Ireland in June.

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A pretty good episode it was a nice Una episode imo.

I liked the scenes between Una and Doctor M’Benga i found the ending to be a sad but also sweet. I also liked getting a bit more of La’an’s backstory she really does remind me of Michael Burnham. (i love how strong the female characters are in the new Trek shows) Una bringing up Khan was neat i suspect we will get more call outs to him.

Overall i enjoyed the episode but i do find it the weakest episode of the season so far as i didn’t find it as strong as the first episode. Still it was a pretty good episode.

SNW wouldn’t be my favorite of the new Trek shows but it’s still a damn fine Trek show. Looking forward to seeing the next episode.

I thought it was the weakest of the three so far by far.

I thought the premiere was the weakest, and was still a great episode.

I found the end as it relates to Pike and Una a bit emotional. I really think that’s all because of Mount and Romijn. Their chemistry is great and helps we have a little of their history in these characters from Disco. I love that he sticks up for her, but it also feels justified in a great way. What I didn’t like was the Khan namedrop. For no other reason than by the time Kirk encounters him, they had to research to figure out who he was. Everyone here seems to be ‘oh yeah… that guy. He was bad like Hitler’. Just annoys me they couldn’t make L’aan just an augment not connected to Khan. But I’m really liking the character and the actress that plays her. So far, this show is making me overlook all the things I despised in Disco and Picard. Now that’s success.

I agree. Should have just made her a descendant of an augment than wasn’t Khan and refrain from name-dropping Khan

The Kahn name drop happened right after La’an was criticizing Illyrians to Una. It was pretty obvious to me that Una brought up Khan to make La’an uncomfortable and shift the focus away from La’an making Una uncomfortable. It’s not the most enlightened redirect, but it makes sense given everything Una has to tolerate and the plot of what’s going on.

She doesn’t cry enough to be like Burnham.

I think anything Trek is awesome. They’re staying in canon but still exploring the character’s backstory.

LOL, canon got tossed overboard a long time ago.

What canon has been dropped?

This quite a different spin on the alien outsider trope (though it has sort of been done with Bashir being augmented on DS9 but that spent relatively little time on the stigma).

Normally the alien crew member is mostly open and tolerated on the crew – but this time they’re dealing not only with the sense of being an outsider *and* being stigmatised and wondering whether people really accept you for who you str.

As someone with multiple neurodivergent conditions who has to face that in real life (do people I know *really* accept me or would some of them treat me very differently if they knew) and how do they see me in terms of whether my cognitive differences are useful (like Una saving the day) or make things more difficult.

So I really appreciate seeing Star Trek take on this issue with the same kind of allegorical storytelling that has offered so much in the past.

Great insight! This is when Star Trek does social commentary best and when it’s something everyone can relate to (without it being ‘political’) even if it doesn’t affect them personally, but as it does you unfortunately.

Hmm. That one was weaker. Technobabble and a lot of running and punching towards a rushed explanation/solution. And please, does everyone have to have a secret?

How is that different than TNG?

We’re used to the backstory of Troi, Worf, Riker, Crusher etc, but we did get episodes revealing their painful histories in the early seasons.

The Cage set up that Number One had a difference without revealing why. The Short Trek Q&A revealed that she “hides her weird.”

So this is probably the character that most needed a backstory episode early on.

The Barclay premiere “Hollow Pursuits” comes to mind. Bizarre malfunction aboard the ship, it endangers the crew, and there’s a rushed explanation at the end. But honestly, they are both excellent episodes with clever solutions, and moments of high tension.

Excellent stuff from SNW, i’m loving this show. No, it’s not perfect, but outside of a season or two of The Wire, no show is.

Did The Cage set up that #1 had a difference?

Yes, she was supposed to be mathematically brilliant and emotionally cool.

Yes but I thought it was referencing a REAL difference. Something that only being native to another world could explain.

Hi, I see you’re scraping the barrel for complaints. I can help with some better ones if you want.

I mean, if you actually want a valid complaint, I could toss in that the “virus aboard the ship” is completely overdone and even tiresome to some degree.

For me, the episode worked wonderfully. I like that SNW isn’t trying to completely reinvent Trek right out of the gate. At least for now they seem happy to focus on the classic Trek formula, and practice with some great execution. So far, the show is basically “Trek’s Greatest Hits” with a modern twist, better production, etc.

Maybe eventually they’ll do something new and fresh, but frankly if we get 70-100 episodes like this weeks, i’d be perfectly happy. Certainly not an award-winner, but it’s well-written, well-acted, engaging science fiction. That’s what Trek is all about.

And please, your complaints — technobabble, rushed explanation and solution — are a feature of just about every episode of Trek from 1966-2005! Some of the best episodes of TOS and TNG are remarkably similar to this one, even ones without a virus.

Give me a break!

The dense explanations are one of the things that adds value when rewatching.

Back when TNG was in first run, my my friends and I expected it to take 3 watches to drain all the detail in the verbal debriefs of off-screen events and technobabble explanations.

Yes. To an extent I am in agreement here.

I really liked this one. Pike sticking up for his crew really clicks for me, and his rationale feels right. I dig it. Also… they aren’t always dealing with his impending demise every episode, and that’s a good thing. It’s there and I hope we see it occasionally, but not all the time. Feels like something that should be dealt with down the road.

Looks like Number One is similar to the character “Two” from Dark Matter series

Except that the foundations for this version of Number One were laid down in a series of novels years ago.

I’m loving this show so far, but have to say that the fate of the Illyrians irked me because they were so supportive and wanting to be members of the Federation that they fundamentally tried to get rid of what makes their species unique. It’s sad they’re the black sheep of the Federation.

I kept imaging a scene like this…

– Office of President Jonathan Archer –

Aide: The Illyrians want to join the Federation.

Archer: *Remembers what he did to the Illyrians in the Expanse* No they can’t join.

Aide: Why? Their genetic engineering…

Archer: Genetic Engineering is illegal!

Aide: Isn’t your Denobulan Doctor genetically…

Archer: Quiet you!

I had no idea they were previously dealt with in the franchise. I’ll look them up.

Archer stole equipment from one of their ships following a Xindi attack.

The episode was called Damage. Archer was forced to steal a warp coil from an Illyrian ship, leaving the Illyrians stranded light years from anywhere. One of the better episodes IMHO.

The way they lit the scene where Archer asked Phlox if he had ever done something intentionally unethical I found to be very well done.

They could have sent another ship to find and rescue them after the whole Xindi saga . . .

I don’t think they were really the same species – the writers of Enterprise probably just lifted the name because they liked it (or thought of it separately).

They’ve probably decided to ignore any worries about continuity because there’s good material about Number One and her versions of the Ilyrians. Fair enough (and if you really want to it’s incredibly easy to imagine that the Enterprise Ilyrians were the same species, particularly with the genetic modification).

Exactly. Given that the Iryllians modified themselves to fit in the environments of the planets they colonized and eschewed terraforming, modifying bumpy foreheads would not be out of line.

I also want to say. I was really concerned they were going to tell us Number One had some Vulcan back in her heritage. I’m glad that turned out to be false.

So… you’re glad that your imaginary fear was just imaginary? Yeah, got it…

I did not want them to address her stoicism that was similar to Spock in the original pilot and glimpsed again on Disco, to be because she was Vulcan. They hinted toward some mystery about her and her heritage in the lead up to SNW.. and then we saw what appeared to be straighter eyebrows.. so yeah.. I didn’t want them to take that route, as was RUMORED by some back when we got the first production stills. Jeez.

Roddenbury said he gave spock number one’s logical stoicism, then married the woman because the network didn’t let him keep both characters and he couldn’t do it the other way around.

I’m only focusing on aspect of the story here but want to just say finally, FINALLY, this show has done something I been begging to hear someone just SAY IT and that transporters are a god damn life line to cure long term diseases!

Every since Scotty got beamed back to reality 75 years later on the U.S.S. Jenolan, I was like, ‘wait, did they just find a way to extend life to every dying person in the universe? Are they really going to just skip over tha-Ok, they’re now talking about the Dyson Sphere and Scotty wants to check out engineering and hounding Geordi about it, so I guess we moved on?’ (sad face)

I have brought this up SO many times including here a few times!

Every damn episode someone is dying or sick, ‘THROW THEM IN THE TRANSPORTER BUFFER UNTIL YOU FIND A CURE YOU #@$# MORONS!!!!!!” Finally M’Benga is the first doctor to just do what should be the biggest life saving device in the Federation. Congrats doc and hope you find that cure for your daughter. She’s a cutie!

Oh and my guess with Una’s secret came down to three guesses: Augment, Section 31 agent or a Klingon (last one because Discovery…sadly). It was nice one of them turned out right! I read later though that was in one of the novels where genetic enhancements were a thing where she came from.

Overall like the episode. The show is really feeling like comfort food Star Trek like how watching an episode of TNG and VOY feels for me!

I think when it comes to tech solutions to indefinitely keep people alive, i’d like to think that their superior ethics of the future simply dictate “let them die with dignity rather than try to keep them alive in the potentially vain, never-ending hope that they’ll find a cure.”

Honestly, I can live with this stuff. It’s just fun sci-fi, at the end of the day.

I don’t have Paramount +, but “Star Trek comfort food” would be a pretty fair description of the SNW pilot I watched on YouTube (as well as the vast majority of VOY and ENT produced during their runs). That doesn’t strike me as much of a recommendation, though. I hope the series gets better as it goes, if that’s the case.

Well as long as they do other things as well, it’s fine IMO. I think after the criticism of how dark and heavy both DIS and PIC felt, they tried very hard to go the opposite route which I think what a lot of fans wanted in the beginning. Again, Lower Decks seems to bare that out as more fans seems to like that show way more than those two. SNW is obviously a more serious show and it will probably get more serious in time. You can’t listen to La’An’s back story and think she’s going to be the fun one lol. So far, a lot of their back stories are actually a bit dark so it will probably go a weightier direction in time. But we know the first five episodes were all described as mostly light and fun. Next weeks looks a bit more serious though, at least based on the clip shown.

That’s always bugged me too. We’ve seen transporters used for inter-universe travel, cloning, de-aging, and storage, but they always seem to default back to ‘it just moves things around a planet or to/from orbit’ once the episode ends.

The Salvation Sequence by Peter F. Hamilton does a good job of establishing spin offs from this sort of tech. The portals in books are used for all kinds of things like dropping them into stars to harvest heat and plasma for generating electricity or use as fusion rockets for unmanned probes.

Yeah the transporter is probably the most profound technological invention in the galaxy and yet people treat it simply as a transportation device ignoring its vast medical and scientific implications. We have literally seen it used to transport to a parallel universe in Mirror Mirror. Has anyone ever tried to research that further? NOPE!!! I know the writers probably don’t want to go down that path but they have basically created these issues over the years.

I never heard of this author until now but will look him up! That sounds like a fantastic way to use them too.

I would think there would have to be some sort of dedicated transporter made just to store people in that case. Pretty sure the excuse against it is limited space in a Star Ship’s buffer.

But I’ve also thought the transporter could also turn your aging clock back, too. No one seems to use it for that, either.

Yeah of course. I’m saying they would develop specific transporter technology for this kind of thing. If Scotty was able to exist in it for 75 years without re materializing once, it probably could keep people in stasis for 100+ years no problem. Someone has to actually spend more than a month of research to find out though. ;)

Of course we have seen the transporter do all kinds of crazy science to de-aging as you said to creating clones which most people accepted that’s all the transporter is doing anyway. But I can understand why the Federation doesn’t want to touch some of these questionable topics. But I see nothing wrong with keeping people in storage to find a viable cure and you don’t have to stay in it for 50 years or anything.

That’s just a fancy way of cryogenic freezing.

Yes but a more economical and probably safer way as well. It’s much easier to keep a thousand bodies in transport buffers than it is in a room somewhere.

Sort of though to me it raises ethical issues since as far I can see when she’s in the buffer it’s like being under general anaesthetic, she’s effectively dead (no consciousness) until she materialises again and there’s no guarantee a cure will ever come long. Obviously with the anaesthetic example there’s a clear plan and you are expected to regain consciousness once surgery is done.

In the meantime she’s missing the chance to be part of the lives of her dad and any other relatives or friends whilst they age.

It will be interesting to see if any of the other characters make a point about this.

I don’t necessarily agree with how M’Benga is handling it, it’s just a desperate father with super advanced technology at his fingertips to keep her alive for now. But I agree there are definitely some ethical issues at play here.

It even bothered me how Number One didn’t even question it (but she’s having her own ethical issues to deal with at the moment so who is she to judge ;)). I’m mainly talking about if someone is about to die and you can prolong their life for a few days, weeks or even a few months. But to keep someone in stasis for years is a wider conversation for sure. There would have to be real policies and debate with that of course.

But once again this is Star Trek at it’s best. It’s setting up both moral and even philosophical questions of what he’s doing. How far do you go with it? What if a cure is never found? Do you effectively keep her a little girl for the next 20 years? In many ways it’s no different than the euthanasia debate today and keeping someone on a machine with no hope of ever improving versus just coping with the inevitable and letting them go.

Hopefully they will go somewhere interesting with it. But I have a feeling it’ll be wrapped up pretty easily by the end of the season.

Yup agree, comfort food but with a philosophical edge. Good stories always make one question themselves and this transporter buffer quandry is a doozie. Btw, one would think they would have some form of suspended animation technology in the 23rd century or a form of hibernation for medical purposes, but the transporter buffer does the trick.

Agreed! Star Trek is famous for its philosophical discussions or debates, but it’s even better when its directly pointed at the Federation itself as this episode did with the over genetic engineering issue and now hinting at the quandary M’Benga put himself in with the transporter. It looks like both will at least be brought up again in the season and I’m really hoping we get a real debate on both of them like the old days.

And yeah you would think there would be something like suspended animation by this era but it’s never even been discussed, at least that I can think of from the top of my head.

I don’t know if I should call this uninspired or a little too inspired by better DS9 and Voyager Episodes. But hey … if you’re gonna recycle old stories, at least do some good ones.

Other than that pretty solid if nothing special but easily beats all of the other P+ Trek shows.

We just started, but it is feeling like pretty standard episodes like you got in the old shows. And that’s a good thing. But I will admit, if this show started right after Voyager and was the next show like Enterprise was, so far it would be fine, but a bit ho-hum after years of these type of stories which Enterprise got criticized for.

BUT I understand that’s the point as well, to capture the feeling of those episodes because it’s what people have wanted again after not getting it for nearly 20 years. I’m not trying to be a hard-to-please fan or knock it. I am definitely enjoying the show and yes far beyond Picard and Discovery for me at the moment. But it’s not trying to reinvent the wheel either and that is probably a very good thing for a lot of fans right now. I think many just want to have comfort food Star Trek again.

And so happy we are doing weird trippy Star Trek again!

I think there will still be some kind of climax of these serial threads by episode 10 and apart from DS9 we didn’t really have that in the earlier shows. There were some amazing cliffhangers but they were almost always two-parters that ramped up in the first 45 minutes, not over a season.

I think we will get some sort of climax in episode 10 as well. It’s obviously (thank Kahless) not as serialized as DIS and PIC but it probably have some character arcs resolved by then.

My feeling is that their first handful of episodes (including at least the next two) are a case of “let’s practice the fundamentals”. Well-worn tropes and archetypal Trek stories used as practice on getting it right, before trying to reinvent the wheel.

Yeah. I could forgive even a whole season of this if it helps the writers to learn the ropes. It was the same with the Orville in the beginning.

And let’s be honest here: Star Trek hasn’t got the best track record, when it comes to first seasons anyway 😅

If we look back to the first seasons of TNG, DS9 and Voyager, all three had a number of trope and “character discovery” episodes.

SNW is off to a very strong start, so I’m comfortable seeing the writers start with a “what does this kind of Trek story mean in this context with these characters?” approach rather than starting with an ambitious new high concept and failing to execute it coherently.

I loved this episode. I realized that the horrendous disappointment that was Picard had me nervous about watching almost as if I was having to prepare myself. This 3rd episode cured me of that and I’m truly loving this show. Grateful it exists. (I wonder if the team behind Picard know how much they really messed up and how they just made amateur TV that was cringe-worthy and hard to watch?)

Considering a large portion of the audience enjoyed Picard (including myself) I think you need to just move on from your hatred and let other people enjoy it, while you enjoy SNW. Be an adult.

Considering a large portion of the audience disliked Picard (including myself) I think people need to be able to compare and contrast shows without being scolded. Luke is expressing a sentiment shared by many of us. Let’s be adults and allow open discourse.

Agreed. I did not entirely share his assessment but I did not respond by telling him he shouldn’t throw his opinion out there. We are all doing that. That is what makes the boards interesting and fun.

Yes. Good point. As you stated, many did enjoy Picard while I found it to be amateur-level, poorly constructed and rambling mediocre TV at best. But your point makes sense in that within any population there is an average, and 50% of people are below that threshold. Glad you enjoyed it.

What is this fixation some people have on the idea that if you express a negative opinion about a show (or movie, etc.), it means you are actively trying to prevent other people from enjoying it? The fact that, for example, I myself think “Picard” is complete swamp butt doesn’t mean I think that’s the only possible opinion on it. I assume that anyone who disagrees with me is adult enough to have their own opinion without becoming overly bothered by the fact that some random dude they’ll never meet doesn’t agree.

I’ve thought about that a lot over the years and I think it’s because, deep down, we see it as a criticism of our taste. If I say I liked something, and you say it’s trash, it feels like a proxy criticism against me .

Personally, I go the other way: if I disliked something, and you enjoyed it, I’m honestly thrilled for you. Not everything ‘clicks’ for everyone. Problems I consider insurmountable you can push aside, or not even notice. You had a good time. I didn’t. I’m envious! ;)

Like, I know a lot of folks really enjoyed the ‘punk on the bus’ gag from Picard ‘s S2, whereas I groaned, thought it was distracting, and felt it didn’t really jive with the logic of the story (though later I’d find out that was the least of my concerns).

But folks loved it. I’d never dare suggest anyone was ‘wrong’ for that. And clearly they had a great time behind the scenes making it happen. So where’s the harm, ultimately?

When I do complain, though, I at least try to explain exactly why something didn’t work for me. There needs to be a productive conversation. Just firing “the show sucked” into a forum is useless. And if folks are clearly having a good time, I’ll save my criticism for another time/place. It’s not a contest. There’s no scales needing to be balanced. 😉

I’m a little surprised at how much negativity Picard is getting. I’m no fan myself and I think the season wasn’t that good but I went into it thinking it was going to be complete and utter crap. Episode 2 was essentially what I was expecting. But as it wound down I didn’t find it to be the huge pile of crap I thought it would be. I feel like while it came up short a little bit it was a valiant effort. Certainly the best effort of any nu-Trek show not named Prodigy. So the continued negative press some are heaping on it continues to elude me.

I don’t see how it’s a question when it’s been pointed out the issues over and over again for 6-8 weeks straight. You and others have a different opinion which is fine, it is all subjective. But many of us have made it very clear why we thought it sucked. And it sucked bad for me. It’s now the worst season of Star Trek for me.

And I will say there is a fierce hatred about it because how amazing the first episode started out as. That one episode basically took every complaint of season one of the show and look like it was going in a different direction only to nose dive again a few episodes later and never recovered. I don’t know if I want to watch the first two seasons of Picard ever again.

Well, the show only ended 3 weeks ago. 8 weeks ago the complaint was the show seemed to be spinning its wheels not really getting anywhere. I found that to be a legit complaint, too. It seemed the biggest complaints came with the last two or 3 episodes. Sure there were things in there that just didn’t get wrapped up at all, as many who were fans of 12 Monkeys claimed would be. But to me the main theme was JLP himself and why he builds walls around himself. Which is a subject that to me is a good subject to dive into. Sure, the explanation was weak but it wasn’t super outrageous. It was difficult to find what exactly the issue people had. The weak explanation? The fact that they examined that aspect of his character to begin with? How they wrapped up the Q relationship? As you said, this is subjective but I don’t think this really warrants Star Trek Discovery level scorn. But I guess that’s just me.

I actually agree with you about Picard and facing his demons and being the emphasis of the story. But the way they went about it was so badly executed and nonsensical it just killed any real substance it was trying to bring. I mean Q is the perfect example. They made it sound like in the end it was a way for Picard to understand why experiencing grief in life can make a person stronger once they let go of it. A great message and a very ‘Q’ thing to do. Again, I love it when we have introspection Q as he was here.

But then, what exactly did we see him actually DO that helped Picard break down those walls? The guy was sneaking around trying to stop the Europa mission. What on earth did that have to do with Picard’s family?? Are people suggested Q was hoping Soong hit Picard with his Tesla to get that ball rolling? He had nothing to do with any of that. It would’ve been a GREAT twist for example if he was Tallinn all along (who was the person actually helping Picard deal with his trauma) and that could’ve been a great ‘ah’ moment. I think that would’ve been an amazing reveal.

But instead we got the nonsensical story line we got. I’m not saying they didn’t try to do something with depth, it just felt flat with all the other useless plots happening.

Ensign Lance will probably still get killed at some point. They are just doing the right thing and letting him be around for more than 5 minutes so his death has some weight, rather than just cannon fodder

In the Mirror Universe there’s an entire replicator dedicated explicitly for creating disposable ensigns. It’s the same guy every time. And his pattern is updated so he remembers every moment.

I enjoyed the episode overall, except for the Khan stuff. I wish they would drop the Khan stuff.

Yeah, it doesn’t make sense to condemn descendants of a bad person from 250 years ago. Why should they still be related to such a distant ancestor? Aaaand wouldn’t the descendants live incognito? And especially: Why should they keep his name? Wouldn’t the lineage die out or fade away?

Well, if you run your DNA, there’s a chance (in fact, some would say a surprisingly high chance) that you’re related to Genghis Khan:

From Smithsonian: “In 2003 a groundbreaking historical genetics paper reported results which indicated that a substantial proportion of men in the world are direct line descendants of Genghis Khan. By direct line, I mean that they carry Y chromosomes which seem to have come down from an individual who lived approximately 1,000 years ago. As Y chromosomes are only passed from father to son, that would mean that the Y is a record of one’s patrilineage. 

Genghis Khan died ~750 years ago, so assuming 25 years per generation, you get about 30 men between the present and that period. In more quantitative terms, ~10% of the men who reside within the borders of the Mongol Empire as it was at the death of Genghis Khan may carry his Y chromosome, and so ~0.5% of men in the world, about 16 million individuals alive today, do so.”

So maybe 250 years isn’t such a stretch.

Yeah… Still not a fan of that. Not really sure what they can do with that little bit of her DNA except so far waste a few minutes of screen time.

Same. But I’m willing to see where they go with it. Crazy we now have two augments on the ship though lol.

So, I’m thinking how Worf always was the one two demonstrate how strong an enemy was by fighting with them. In Voyager, B’lana Torres and Tuvok had that role, and later Seven as well.

In this show, we have two female augments who are presumably stronger than Spock. Having Una put Hemmer into a fireman’s carry with absolute ease gives one a good sense of what she’s been covering up.

It’s a good choice, and will enable Una and La’an to take leadership roles in physically challenging situations.

I think it a horrible creative choice and if you want to go to the representative/social aspect is it a bad thing that a human female is logical and reigns in her feelings more than others? Sure, that generally goes against the norm but it just shows there are all kinds of people out there. Why does she have to be an alien to have those traits?

Ok, what’s up with transporter Chief Kyle? In the original series, he was played by John Winston who was Caucasian – with blond hair and blue eyes. He was also in the film Star Trek 2 as Commander Kyle on the Reliant. In SNW Kyle is played by Andre Dae Kim who is East Asian with brown hair and eyes. Recasting is great and we’ve seen people with different eye color playing characters… like Pine’s Kirk or Disco’s Amanda. But this casting bugs me from a continuity standpoint like when they introduced the Trill with bumpy foreheads on TNG and then showed them with spots on DS9 and after. My head cannon… this is “Kyle” but not the same person from TOS and ST2, this is maybe his husband with the same last name or his brother. My vote is that this is his husband and that Kyle from the TOS and ST2 will be revealed later. Bonus points for this actually being a young Sulu who took his husband’s name, but they get divorced and he changes it back to Sulu. A nice little switch. Also, why the choice to have Hemmer’s antenna not move like in Enterprise? That was a great addition to create an alien feel.

I suspect it’s far less complicated than that. Just another Transporter Chief who happens to be named Kyle.

“But this casting bugs me from a continuity standpoint”

This is the continuity hill you’re willing to die on..?

LOL! I have stood on many continuity hills!

He could be a different character.

It’s easier to think of the whole show as a reboot of The Original Series. It makes the most sense that way.

It’s actually easier to think of every Secret Hideout show (expect perhaps Picard) as a reboot or set in an alternate universe.

I’ve signed on for that line of thought. The result is it’s basically made the show harmless to that annoying part of me that cares about canon. So much easier.

I prefer one of two things… It’s either some great coincidence that the ship would have two different people with the same last name manning the transporter. Or nu-Trek changes canon so often that it’s a mistake to cling to any established thing from Trek’s past.

I was fine changing the Trills. Nobody would want Terry Ferrell’s face covered.

‘continuity’?

Every time I think Strange New Worlds can’t get better, it warps to the next frontier. This story was deeply personal to me, and I’d like to explain why. At its heart, this is a story of how bigotry can force people to hide who they are, and how fear of the unknown can lead to overreactions that can hurt the most vulnerable. 

As I’ve written on these forums before, I was born with a very rare genetic disorder, one that is extremely painful with a short life expectancy. Few survive childhood, and I’m currently fighting for my life in my 20s. Star Trek’s firm belief in Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations, in that anyone, regardless of who they are or what their bodies are like, can reach for the stars with dignity and equality, is what made me a Trekkie for life. But Star Trek has always had a catch, one that’s always felt aimed at me. Genetic manipulation is banned by the Federation as a result of the Eugenics Wars. And genetic manipulation can be a powerful force for good — it’s the only way people with my condition will ever be cured one day. I remember in Enterprise Archer’s father died a painful death that could’ve been avoided if there wasn’t a ban on genetic manipulation. 

In this episode, Enterprise is exploring a seemingly empty Illyrian colony that is being hit by an ion storm. Most of the landing party is able to beam back to the ship (yay Hemmer, who I absolutely adore), with the exception of Pike and Spock. Members of the crew start falling sick with some kind of disease that makes them attracted to light. What follows is a captivating sci-fi mystery and a character study of Una. We learn there’s something very different about Una, something that she’s hiding. 

Also, can we take a moment to appreciate Hemmer here? He heroically saves the landing party, calls himself a genius, and then when he’s sick, performs a “miracle” by beaming up a chunk of the planet’s mantle? The dude is so EXTRA, and I am HERE for it!

Anyway, long story short, Una saves the ship. But I want to take a moment to examine what happens between La’an and Una. As Una tries to stop La’an from breaching the warp core, La’an lashes out at her, feeling betrayed that she has had to face lifelong discrimination as a descendant of Khan while Una has hidden her identity. But it turns out, La’an and Una are more similar than they appear. Spock and Pike have discovered that the Illyrians on the planet were trying to undo their genetic modifications so they could overcome the Federation’s bigotry and join. But that choice doomed them all as they became little more than ghosts in the storm, who even in death save Pike and Spock. 

Una tries to resign her commission, which Pike refuses to accept. As he says, the Federation’s bigotry doomed an entire colony, and Pike is ready to fight with Starfleet over their ban. But more heartbreak is to come. The virus came on board through M’Benga’s medical transporter, in which he is keeping his terminally ill daughter in stasis (so that’s where Scotty got the idea!) so he can find a cure, which hit a little close to home for me. 

The ban on genetic modification in Trek was long overdue for a thorough reexamination, and this episode excels. While it made sense in the 60s, as genetic therapies come closer to becoming reality (although likely too late for me), it doesn’t fit anymore, and SNW understands that. After nearly 60 years, SNW has moved the franchise towards making IDIC a reality and reevaluating old bigotries woven in its DNA.

Thank you for sharing your story, and this perspective!

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I now appreciate and understand this episode better.

I would kill for Babs Olusanmokun’s cheekbones.

Looks good on HIM (and Sophia Loren), but someone would need to explain to me what’s the big thing about cheekbones…

Different strokes, mate.

Did the light virus change Una’s eyebrows? This episode they were suddenly more Romulan-like to highlight she’s an alien.

It was an okay episode, but what ruined it for me was the horrible mumbled dialogue from Dr M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun). He sounded like he half-whispered his lines with a mouth full of gravel. I shouldn’t have to replay certain scenes simply to hear what should have been clear the first time. I blame the director of this episode. An actor can have a natural performing style, but tell them the words must be enunciated clearly for the audience to hear and understand. Have clear diction from every actor or keep shooting the scene until you get it.

Hey TFS 66! I have the same problem trying to decipher Burnham and Booker. They speak with soft voices (and Burnham speaks too damn fast – relax!) and with Booker’s accent, makes it even more difficult. As you say, this should be the director’s responsibility, the actors act the way they act. They need to be, huh, directed…

Do you have an older television?

Newer shows, including the Trek shows don’t seem to downscale well to older devices. I understand that the producers are looking to the future, but it’s a significant issue just now.

As I have mentioned previously, we have members of our household with hearing loss.

One of our teens made the case that we needed a new smart television to get better sound and visual quality. So, we got a new generation OLED television recently.

It’s made a huge difference even for the family members who use hearing aids. For those of us who hear through the air rather than Bluetooth into hearing aids, we use a feature that raises the dialogue volume vs background and that makes all the difference.

Interesting. This would explain why some posters here complain about the Burnham whispering while others claim she isn’t… Personally I’m using a second generation iPad (maybe 8 years old?)… I leave the good stuff for my wife :)

I will say since I upgraded I hear them better too.

TF47, I really appreciate the suggestion, but I’m not sure that’s it. Every other program I watch is fine. I guess some actors believe in the Marlon Brando kind of acting where you talk into your armpit. :-)

Sorry, I meant TG47.

No worries.

It’s really only the newest streaming shows that are an issue.

The smart televisions that came out within the last two years are significantly different.

The other thing is that the actor has a gentle Nigerian accent with a slightly different lilt and rhythm.

When we don’t hear something completely, we tend to fill in unconsciously.

When the speech patterns are not the ones we are used to and anticipate, this interpolation doesn’t work . If we are unfamiliar with this process, we may register it as a fault of the speaker instead of our hearing.

I, too, am having issues with how the actors’ dialogue is being mixed in the master audio track. I had to stop the show and back up a few times to decipher what was beings said (primarily with the M’Benga and Spock characters). The mix is so muddy at times that it really distracts from immersing oneself in the storyline. I have noticed this in all of the episodes, but it is most prominent in scenes shot in sickbay.

That’s a pretty lousy reason to motivate us to watch all the episodes again! :-)

You’re 100% correct, he was hard to understand. They should’ve done some ADR (recording in a booth after the shoot) to solve. It’s skimpy that they didn’t and is the show runner’s ultimate responsibility. Btw, also skimpy how they didn’t fix Una picking up and carrying Hemmer. Come on, the budget for this show must be astronomical. They should fix this stuff.

I agree, FemmeP. The scene with Una picking up and carrying Hemmer was amateur hour. It should have been seamless.

I can see Una being Star Trek’s own Wonder Woman.

She actually would make a great Wonder Woman.

I enjoyed this ep. Naked Time 3.0. I thought Pike’s anxiety on the planet was a little over done. He knows he can’t die. We know he can’t die. Seems he forgot Spock’s advice in the first ep to use that knowledge to be the captain aka be strong.

I also thought it was odd that La’an didn’t carry over some of the genetic mutation from Khan. Felt like she would have been able to handle Una pretty easily regardless of “the disease”.

Weakest of the three ep’s only because we’ve seen this ep 3 times already.

1. Naked Time 2. Naked Now 3. Genesis

There’s a bit of ambiguity as to what it all actually means and I don’t think he’s entirely sure.

Maybe he *can* die but he has to survive long enough to be around to save the cadets because noone else will.

Incidentally I don’t really like the way his future traumatic injuries are framed as “death”. It’s incredibly ableist and demeaning to people who have severe physical disabilities. Having a disability should not be seen as like being dead (though obviously others are entitled to feel differently about their own experiences). I’m also not suggesting for a minute that what Pike is facing isn’t horrible.

A perfectly good episode, nothing that necessarily kept me on the edge of my seat, but solid. Some good character moments. I’m a big fan of the supernatural, so the hinting at that here was fun, though predictable. That was a cool little adventure Pike and Spock had on the surface, too.

So I guess we’re going to hear about Khan quite a bit, which isn’t a surprise given La’an’s character. Thus far, I guess this is a way to give legacy fans some of his backstory(?) This particular one has no desire for such, but whatever. It’s not a deal-breaker. The elephant in the room, though – why is talking about Khan so blase’ so soon before the time of TOS, but in Space Seed they had to look him up? Or is it just Una who knows so much about him because of her connection to La’an?

That is some comprehensive back-story on No. 1 and M’Benga, and M’Benga’s is pretty heartbreaking. As a father I totally relate. Very good storytelling here. Thoughtful episode.

Well, I’m enjoying this show one heck of a lot more than everything live-action we’ve seen so far from these showrunners, so Cheers! Looking forward to next week!

Really happy you are enjoying it Danpaine! :)

Yeah the show definitely have some big canon head scratchers but I’m willing to wait it out and see what they come up with because it’s fun so far. That’s what I always said about Discovery, people wouldn’t be so hard on the canon issues if they simply liked the show more. But to be fair, DIS had some DEEP canon issues lol, which SNW went out of it’s way to avoid, mostly its visual canon. But yes it seems to be making a few new ones too.

But I think SNW is going to be the best live action show of the new stuff by a mile. It is doing mostly the right things and it is bringing me back to classic Star Trek I haven’t felt since Voyager. I’m still going to hold off to calling it great or anything but I can’t see how it will turn into an utter disaster the way DIS and PIC did for me by the end of some of those seasons either.

SNW is becoming good comfort food Star Trek and I’m totally OK with that! It doesn’t have to be on the level of DS9, just a fun adventure story every week if that what the show will focus on since that’s what TOS did most of the time. And it probably will get heavier later on.

Lot of liars and psychopaths on the rebooted Starship Enterprise.

LOL, never thought of it that way, but Discovery had worse liars and psychopaths. Captain Lorca who was really from the Mirror Universe and used the ship to get back to the MU to stage a coup (Trump would be so proud). Tyler who was a Klingon spy all along (but didn’t lie about it since he didn’t even know he was a Klingon). And of course Burnham who attempted a mutiny on her old ship. And then add in MU Georgiou later who was pretending to be PU Georgiou, AKA Space Hitler so she could plant a bomb on Kronos to cause genocide and end the war (Seriously the real Hitler has nothing on her).

The Enterprise has nothing on that gang of con artists, criminals and all around dubious people. ;)

Exactly. Starship officers in TOS are squeaky clean, and if they’re not, they are usually introduced to karma before the final credits roll. In SNW, we have a captain who, unless the visions are resolved, will eventually be (or should be) declared unfit for command (we’ve already seen him hesitate to give commands on the bridge as he mentally relives his disfigurement vision, but luckily it wasn’t during a space battle). Now we have a first officer who falsified her resume to get a job and a physician who has violated his sacred medical oath (do no harm) based on a purely selfish reason. I attribute these questionable developments to Hollywood’s preoccupation with providing a backstory for every bloody character in a fantasy/sci-fi show or movie. Who cares unless it moves the story forward? Case in point: not much (if anything) was revealed about McCoy’s background on screen in TOS, but I learned enough about his personality and quirks over the course of the series to both revel in his reactions to unfamiliar situations and to respect him as a professional. No one had to tell me in one fell swoop that McCoy fancied himself an old country doctor, or has misgivings about technology, or liked the ladies. For me, that was the joy of the show, discovering just enough about the characters over time to actually LIKE them and not have their backstory get in the way of the story. SNW writers are really painting themselves into a corner very early in the show with some of these contrived character revelations. Just my $.02.

The third episode was a huge improvement. I loved that we got to learn more about the backstories of several character as opposed to focusing on just one.

Decent enough story to wrap an episode around. But I don’t think it was structured very well. My takeaway is that too many of the crew have dark secrets. Honestly I think it was a mistake to make #1 an Illyrian. Would have been better had an Illyrian just somehow merged with her instead. Or something like that. I get the there they are trying to make some kind of point about generalizing an entire people. But that point felt out of place because they never really established that the Illyrians were being stereotyped or anything like that. So that “moral” at the end felt like it came out of left field.

I am still choosing to see these small issues as things that can be overcome. There is a decent show in here. I think it really wants to come out. Unlike Star Trek Discovery this show has hope.

Two things…..when Pike and Spock are stuck in that building on the planet, it’s Ontario Place here in Toronto. It’s this domed “futuristic” structure built back in 1971. Hell, I was there in 1977 to see K.C. and the Sunshine Band perform live. Second….the scene when Una is in her quarters (looking in the mirror). How many of you caught all the items sitting on the cabinet to her right? Very reminiscent of the set decoration used in TOS. Cool.

Yeah, I laughed out loud when they beamed down to Ontario Place! Just like when they used Nathan Phillips Square as an alien landscape on TNG.

As long as they don’t beam down on the canadian forest… They could run into some random Stargate-Team…which vitits planet ABC123XYZ. ;-)

Concerning the “Damage” (ENT)-Illyrians connection: Just rewatched it and couldn’t find it, either mentioned or in graphics and credits. Where did this come from? The original script?

Anthony Pascale, your review made me laugh out loud several times. Nice job!

A third winner, in my book. Some nice touches in this one, including original sound effects and the classic intercom panel.

Yes! Caught the classic panel too, on the transporter console. Nice!

There are too many logical holes in this series. They made first contact with the pah-wraiths, uh, fire creatures, and they just jet off without trying to communicate with them? Not very Starfleet.

Perhaps we’ll see a follow up episode down the line.

Voyager did that occasionally and it worked very well.

As a Long time Watcher of everything Star Trek. I find SNW to be the best of the new Treks easily and almost up there with The older ones. Discovery has had it’s ups and downs. Moslty down but I watch it for fun. But %95 of the Eps I would not watch again. Picard season 1 and 2 are the same. SNW so far has me wanting to watch the first 3 Eps again as they are really well done. Love Anson Munt’s Pike and the rest of the Crew. I hope this trend continues as it could be a really Great Star Trek Show,.

There’s a lot of duality in this crew:

– There are two genetically modified characters (Una, La’an) – There are two Kenyans (Uhura, M’Benga) – There are two characters with dark secrets (Una, M’Benga) – There are two precognitives (Pike, Hemmer) – There are two “outsiders” (Spock, Hemmer)

Just wanted to point out that while La’an is descended from Augments, she doesn’t seem to be augmented herself. For one, she easily lost that fight with Una, and 2 she wouldn’t be able to serve in Starfleet if she were.

Una said that La’an had thrown a hard punch, and she seemed to be feeling it even if she stopped it.

So far, to me anyway, Spock doesn’t seem at all an ‘outsider’ on this show. He appears to get along pretty chummy with everyone so far. Not sure what happened later in TOS to make him ‘turtle’ and get so serious, just because he got a little older(?) – not sure we’ll get an explanation for that.

I’m thinking it may be because Spock is such a familiar character by now that the writers have transferred his “outsider” traits to other characters in this show.

One complaint about episode 3: an ion storm should not be confused with a meteorological storm. Showing an ion storm that looks like a massive rainstorm or hurricane (rain and wind came through the broken library window while Spock and Pike were sheltering from the “ion storm “ ) is just plain lazy writing and extremely poor science fiction.

Wind, thunder and lightning is exactly the way the ion storm was portrayed on the Halkan homeworld in “Mirror, Mirror.” So this isn’t something new.

I don’t have much to add other than I’m enjoying this series so far, particularly the smaller stakes they’re dealing with. Just a relief watching stories that aren’t of ‘galactic import.’

Episode 3 was the weakest so far this season. The light traveling virus was solved too conveniently and without much dramatic tension. Overall, the episode felt like several story ideas that would have been far more compelling on their own but were instead clumsily stiched together, and the episode suffered for it. Number One’s reveal of her true identity would have landed with more impact if it came later in the season, when we have spent more time with the character. Didn’t care for the rather awkward reference of Khan. However, the doctor’s predicament with his mortally ill daughter is a fantastic sci-fi concept. But it should have been the sole emphasis of an episode, so that moral dilemma could really be given the depth it deserves. As others have said, I hope they pay off that storyline later in the season. It would be awesome to have a court trial like episode in the vein of “the measure of a man.” Imagine Pike having to defend his doctor’s (and friend’s) right to preserve his daughter’s life in the transporter against some cranky admiral.

I am actually suprised by the amount of average opinions on this episode as I personally thought it was the best of the season so far. It was entertaining, had a classical Trek element, lots of secrets being revealed and huge character moments that will not be reset in the next episode. (Although I want to see the Starfleet bigwigs reactions to hearing the news about Una and Mbenga, maybe this is why Mbenga will not be the chief medical officer during Kirks time and why we don’t really see Una any further.) Another reason I enjoyed the episode was that I am a person who is genetically deficient of vitamin D and this becomes a problem in my life. (The irony being I live in a sunny country) and seeing how the virus kind of caused this extensive vitamin D insufficiency hit really close to home.

Also I forgot to mention that we got so much more of Hemmer and how “evil genius” he may end up being. I think Hemmer is gonna be the coolest character. I literally LOLed when he tried to beam up a planet core, of course he would, he is Hemmer.

I agree alphantrion. I’m surprised by the negativity on this one. It had a strong allegorical point to make and did it well.

Perhaps it’s just me, but it seems as though some of the same people who complained that the link to current political situations was “too on the nose” in the premiere are the ones who are finding this one insufficiently impactful with its more subtle approach.

I’m still feeling that Hemmer could be a breakout character of this show.

The attitude is wonderful and Bruce Horak’s timing is perfect.

Unfortunately, even though season two is in production, in a recent interview with CBC News in Canada, Bruce Horak was not able to confirm he will continue on into season two. I k ow that they have NDAs but that’s unsettling.

Please TrekMovie could you work your intelligence magic on that question?

Well, Scotty was eventually going to come on board the Enterprise anyway, but I’d be sad if we end up totally losing Bruce Horak and the Hemmer character.

I’ve been hoping to have Scott come on boat as second to Hemmer.

Having the “I’m a genius” Hemmer for a boss would go a long way towards explaining Scotty’s determination to underpromise so he can overdeliver as a miracle worker.

That is not a character trait of Scotty’s. It was a joke he made to Kirk one time. I can’t think of any time where he actually under promised. “I’ve got to have 30 minutes.”

I’ve said for quite some time that the TOS character that makes the most sense to show up under Pike would be Scott. Not as chief, of course. But as perhaps one of his better staff members. It also makes sense as it cements why Scotty was so attached to this particular ship. At this point with Uhura, Chapel and Kirk coming throwing Scotty into this mix I now would find to be overkill. Even though having a Lt. Scott show up just to hand Hemmer a tool or something would be cool….

Anyone notice the daedalus class and nx ship pictures in the office where #1 conducted her research (captains office, ready room) ?

Best live action (Lower Decks still has them pipped) episode of Star Trek so far by the Kurtzman era peeps. It actually felt like Star Trek! Crazy, I know.

I feel like a broken record, but I’m loving the consistency of this show so far. Each episode has been a strong ensemble character story backed up by an interesting if familiar Star Trek sci-fi plot to frame it all. This show just looks so phenomenal, this has to be the best looking show on TV right now, incredible sets, VFX, sound design, and use of the AR wall. Massive improvement over Disco, and certainly Picard. Shout out to Chief Kyle, an unexpected character standout IMO.

I have some small problems with the series, mostly with sets and VFX, but holy sh** i don’t care because the show is just so good and a ton of fun.

Good episode and definitely the most “Star Trek” feeling of the three shown so far. I know some people are put off by the reliance on CG effects but I did like the visuals of the ion storm over the planet. I also appreciated the way the show was able to address themes of preconception and even bigotry more subtly and not smack me over the head with a message.

As to nitpicks, I guess everyone on this crew has to have some secret or hangup. We can now add Dr. M’Benga hiding his child in a transport buffer (shades of Scotty from TNG Relics there) and No. 1 being an Illyrian (I wonder what other abilities she has that we don’t know about). While I think Babs Olusanmokun makes for a very likable medical officer, I continue to find him hard to understand at times, especially when he is having conversations with other characters. La’an also continues to be a one note walking trope; I really hope she can lighten up and/or move past being serially uptight and glum and bring some more facets to her character.

Still, this is head and shoulders above the dreck the other shows have fed us and, again, I’m so happy with the episodic format.

While this episode didn’t repeat the main story structure problem of the last, my general diagnosis is that the current balance between episodic and serialized storytelling is serving neither.

In both Comet and Illyria, the character arcs get in the way of the story of the week, and the story of the week gets in the way of the character arcs. If anything, the show inclines me to go back and watch classic TNG and TOS to finish scratching my weekly Trek itch.

Also, while I love the idea of Una picking up Hemmer from the transporter pad. My god did they screw up the execution. Romaine was obviously replaced by a stunt double when picking him up. And then the obviously stuffed dummy (maybe just the legs) carried over her shoulder while walking down the hall was just abysmal production. Totally took me out of the story.

And, I’m pretty sure that Una being an Illyrian breaks canon in that the Thalosians in The Cage were trying to breed humans and gave Pike a choice of mates that included her. This doesn’t make sense if she’s not human. I’m sticking with the show despite it stumbling here out of the gate creatively. TNG arguably took until season 3 to really find its stride.

Here’s hoping for more improvement to come!

Yeah… The dummy she had over her shoulder was the worst….

Good point about hoping to mate Pike with #1 or Colt. It is certainly reasonable to think they were both indeed human specimens. I knew there was more to her not being human that was a bad idea beyond just the creative mistake.

It seems that Secret Hideout just can’t restrain themselves when it comes to changing things up. They often go too far nearly every single time. Someone should tell them that often times less is more.

What strikes me about this episode is that it creates the feeling of being in an actual work environment, not just actors posing in front of decoration. Also an environment where people have layers and their own stories, and their own relations and existing rapport with each other. “I’m arming us with knowledge” was a neat line. Bit like “she blinded me with science” :-D.

On Twitter, someone working on the show confirmed there was two paintings seen in Pike’s ready room. One is the NX-01 and the other is the USS Essex. They confirmed this easter egg was meant as a reference to the entities that posed as the crew of Essex. At first, I thought the energy beings in this episode were going to turn out like the beings in “Power Play”

Meh. So instead of being an interesting human with an enigmatic past, Number One is an alien with magical superpowers. It is disappointing and lazy writing to me. Just to double down, they have the doctor keep his dying child in the transporter. (Isn’t story time inching her a few minutes closer to death?) And of course, of course, OF COURSE, they are going to beat to the death that La’an is a descendant of Khan. Oh, and did you know that she is a descendant of Khan? And by the way, she is descended from Khan. One fun fact: Khan is her ancestor! Watch for her to scream ‘Khaaan!’ at some point. I liked her character when first introduced. I feel like they are messing it up. Don’t. My enjoyment of this new series took a major hit this week. And, I am kind of tired of the takes on ‘The Naked Time’. I like Hemmer but one of his major scenes is him altered by the light seeking ‘virus’. Smells like how they introduced Hawkeye in ‘The Avengers’. One thing I did like was a chance to see Pike and Spock together, facing a dangerous situation. That, for the most part, was well done. I am still getting used (starting to get used) to Ethan Peck’s take on Spock, and I think he is too. That is to say he is getting more comfortable with it and finding his way to be Spock. Since this is episodic, maybe next week will be better. And it’s not like it is Picard bad. Yet.

Good episode. It’s so nice to be back to mission of the week episodes. The only problem I have is that the mystery was solved so easily and off screen. Very hand wavey. I’d have liked the “daughter in the buffer” reveal to have been before the solving of the infection or saved for another episode. Like the review I didn’t care for the “double ending”

Looks like it’s becoming a little more clear how Dr M’Benga can be chief medical officer now and not be five years later. If this comes out, someone outside the immediate crew of the Enterprise may not be happy about what happened. If could lead to him being replaced with Dr Piper once Pike and Una can no longer protect him.

Oh, and a friendly note to the author – they were having an ‘epidemic’, not a ‘pandemic’.

Piper was there during “The Cage” which has already happened in SNW continuity. Still your point is a good one and I was wondering why M’Benga is still on the ship in a subordinate role later in TOS when McCoy is chief medical officer. Maybe he is demoted?

Good episode. In my opinion, SNW is true Star Trek, unlike the other Kurtzman shows. One point, however, and I haven’t seen anyone mention it yet. Number One is not human, but is an alien, an Illyrian, but no one can tell? Don’t they have medical exams in the 23rd Century?

I wonder if M’Benga’s story to his daughter at the end of the episode about a power that if fallen into the wrong hands would lead to a ‘terrible long lasting dark age across the land’ is foreshadowing some coming threat.

I hope not. Enough with dystopian Trek.

Den of Geek

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Episode 3 Review – Ghosts of Illyria

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode 3 is the best episode of the series yet, full of everything that makes the franchise special.

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The following contains Star Trek: Strange New Worlds spoilers.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Episode 3

Three episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds down; three episodes that have essentially hit it out of the park. I’m afraid I’m going to start sounding like a broken record here fairly quickly but this show is simply delightful from start to finish, and its character work is as deft and entertaining as its standalone adventures are fun to watch. 

This week’s installment finds the Enterprise crew investigating the site of an abandoned Illyrian colony, as part of a research attempt to find out what happened to them before they all vanished. Illyrians have a fraught history with the Federation, thanks to their history of genetically altering themselves in ways the organization forbids in the wake of the Eugenics Wars, and little is known about them. (Or what became of this particular group of colonists.)

The planet is frequently swept by ion storms, which renders extensive trips to the surface impossible and can be potentially life-threatening to organic life forms. That this is obviously where Pike and Spock get trapped should be a no-brainer to anyone who is even at least passingly familiar with this franchise, but what is a pleasant surprise is that because of this, they’re actually absent from the bulk of the episode, allowing us to spend most of our time with the main Enterprise crew we’re least familiar with (Una, M’Benga, Chapel, and La’an). 

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Though Spock definitely still gets the line of the episode with “I am arming us with knowledge” as he responds to an attack from an unknown and seemingly deadly energy creature by…calmly continuing to read a scroll. Goodness, but Ethan Peck is a gem .

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Episode 2 Review – Children of the Comet

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Episode 2 Easter Eggs and Reference Guide

“Ghosts of Illyria” is a perfect example of how this incarnation of Star Trek is more than capable of telling rich, character-focused stories right alongside close-ended adventures of the week. The fight against a virus that causes those infected to crave light so badly they will do literally anything to get more of it, from ripping out electrical fixtures to trying to open the warp core in order to bask in its radioactive glow is the primary problem for the Enterprise crew to solve, but it’s only about maybe the third most exciting thing going on this show this week. (Though, admittedly, it does provide us with some excellent horror-tinged moments along the way.)

Where last week’s installment was largely a Uhura-focused episode , “Ghosts of Illyria” is probably best categorized as a story about Number One, though it touches on many larger themes and topics. She’s the character that gets the opening and closing voiceovers, and it’s the secrets she’s been keeping that provide the hour’s most dramatic revelations. Given that we knew comparatively little about the Enterprise’s female first officer prior to this series, the idea that Strange New Worlds would be particularly eager to flesh out her character makes a lot of sense. I’m not sure that any of us expected that she would be revealed as an alien essentially passing for human just so she could serve in Starfleet, but given her ridiculous work ethic and desire to prove herself it makes a bizarre kind of sense. (And it certainly explains how she’s so good at so many things.)

Though Illyrians have appeared in the Star Trek universe previously, they haven’t been the focus of an especially huge story. The idea that they’ve been forbidden Federation membership because of their interest in genetic modifications makes a ton of sense given the fact that Strange New Worlds isn’t that far removed, timeline-wise, from the Eugenics Wars and the defeat of Khan and his Augments . And the sentiment isn’t something that I think Federation and/or Starfleet are necessarily super proud of—Pike certainly isn’t, it would seem—but the lingering distrust of the race is very real and apparently quite widespread. 

Una gets plenty of opportunities to be a complete badass this week though, from offering up her most closely guarded secret, her literal blood, and the rest of her career to try and save her crewmates. Not to mention stunning Hemmer and carrying him back to sickbay and then physically fighting La’an, before either of them can do something stupid like open the warp core or transport a piece of Hetmet-9’s core onto the ship. But perhaps the most heartrending moment of the hour comes after Number One confesses her years’ worth of lies to Pike, who predictably doesn’t care even the slightest bit and essentially promises to protect her if and when Starfleet eventually finds out. 

Her almost giddy relief is such that one has to wonder if Una has ever truly had anyone accept her for herself before, or tell her that she has worth for precisely what and who she is. Sure, she doesn’t quite trust it, and her understandable angst about how Pike—or the rest of the Enterprise crew—might have reacted had she not also essentially been the outer space version of a model minority is something that I desperately hope this series gets a chance to address again at a later point. (And it’s a subplot that’s certainly worth thinking about and looking at more closely.) But truly, I just adore her and Pike’s friendship, with its firm trust, obvious love, and utter lack of sexual tension, and I hope that more shows take a lesson from this, is what I’m saying.

Number One isn’t the only main member of the Strange New Worlds crew dealing with long-held secrets and emotional damage though. Surprise, Dr. M’Benga is responsible for the medical transporter malfunction that allowed the virus onto the ship in the first place, basically because he didn’t allow anyone to do basic security updates on it when the ship was in space dock. Why? Well, he’s hiding his dying young daughter in the transporter’s pattern buffer, essentially holding her in stasis in order to keep her disease from advancing while he searches for a cure amongst the stars. And then there’s La’an, who’s feeling some kind of way about the secrets Una’s been keeping about her identity, 

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But after essentially facing years’ worth of persecution and abuse herself simply for being so obviously connected to the most famous Augment of all, her hatred of those who genetically altered themselves is certainly understandable (if not entirely fair). And though it seems as though the two women have essentially patched things up by the end of the hour, I doubt this is the last time we’ll hear about her past—both with Una and otherwise. I’m very much looking forward to the inevitable La’an episode, is what I’m saying. But for the moment, I’m content to just enjoy this ride. 

Lacy Baugher

Lacy Baugher is a digital producer by day, but a television enthusiast pretty much all the time. Her writing has been featured in Paste Magazine, Collider,…

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The storm ramps up before the full landing party can be recovered, leaving Captain Pike (Anson Mount) and Spock (Ethan Peck) on the planet’s surface as Una (Rebecca Romijn) takes command in the captain’s absence. While Pike and Spock run for cover, a new crisis emerges on the Enterprise : those who beamed back to the ship fall victim to an overwhelming addiction to light, first driving poor Ensign Lance (Daniel Gravelle) to smash his head through a wall lighting panel in desperation.

Even Una seems to fall victim to the mysterious ailment for a short time, until an energetic glow beings to shine from her body — seemingly curing the officer, but we’ll get back to that later — but putting her on edge as she’s called to sickbay for examination. Cleared for duty by Dr. M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun), Una begins researching classified Illyrian science until La’an (Christina Chong) arrives  and the pair discuss the security chief’s childhood issues about her ancestral relationship to Khan Noonien Singh.

The light addition soon begins to spread quickly around the ship, as La’an’s mild rant against Illyrian bioengineering trails off as the lieutenant begins to jam her face into a nearby desk lamp; it’s a slightly-unnerving moment that only science fiction can pull off successfully.

While things start to unravel up in orbit, Pike and Spock have found shelter in the abandoned colony’s library. Spock’s consultation of the records shows that these Illyrians wanted to join the Federation but were unfortunately wiped out as they tried to “de-engineer” themselves to get around the ban on genetic modification. As fascinating as this is, Pike and Spock are a little more distracted by the wailing light beasts that appear to be emerging from the storm in their direction.

Marooning Spock and Pike together was a fun B-plot, especially as we get to see them begin to get on each other’s nerves a little as they batten down the hatches. Stellar as it was on Discovery, Mount and Peck’s chemistry only gets better with every episode of Strange New Worlds, and it excels here as the pair banter over their fate — and that of the colonists.

Back on the Enterprise , Una does some detective work after Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) finds her bunkmates huddled around a holographic star — and finds that the virus spreads through light waves. After that incident and the results of Nurse Chapel’s (Jess Bush) contact-tracing report, M’Benga initiates a full lockdown. (Deja vu, anyone?)

Number One is, however, still holding back — throughout the episode, we can constantly tell she’s hiding something, and the hints we see of her researching Illyrian healing augmentation matching the strange body magic that healed her gives us a fair idea of what the twist might be before it comes.

Rebecca Romijn, however, makes us earn that twist, and we get a clear sense of her internal conflict and fear without a single word being uttered on the subject. Even her apprehension at the short term solution — shutting off all the lights — seems to be qualified by whatever she is holding back. Romjin sells it all beautifully.

Meanwhile, Pike and Spock have barricaded themselves into prevent the light monsters from getting to them. Spock’s attempt to “arm himself with knowledge” is futile, however, when the light beasts break through the doors… and proceed to protect him and Pike from being injured by the ion storm. It’s an unexpected swerve, perhaps leaning on the benevolent energy beings we have seen in prior shows (such as the Companion ).

But with Hemmer succumbing to the virus and M’Benga soon after, Una reveals the reason she managed to survive unscathed: she’s an Illyrian herself, engineered to resist any infection. Her heritage, which should prevent her from serving in Starfleet at all, may now hold the key to saving the day. This confirmation of a long-standing ‘beta canon’ backstory for Una, if in a slightly different form to its appearance in Vulcan’s Glory , is a very nice addition to the narrative.

It doesn’t appear to be much help, though, as her augmented immune system cannot help the crew. We do, however, get a nice little speech from Doctor M’Benga about the pointlessness of bigotry, before Una must run off the solve the last, big crisis:  La’an has escaped, and nearly creates a warp core breach while chasing that light-addicted high.

Is it a bit nuts to go straight to the warp core when a desk lamp could do instead? Yes. Is it fitting with the usual absurdity of strange viruses in Star Trek ? Also yes! At the very least, it does give us a great fight scene, backdropped by the surging warp drive and enhanced by La’an’s rather vicious reactions to Una’s genetic heritage.

Her close contact with La’an requires Una’s body to once again flare up and fight off infection, but this time that healing effect spills over to the security chief — a secondary healing process that finally gives Chapel something to use in creating a shipwide cure, giving the nurse another opportunity to show off her genetic skillset (following the alien disguises she created back in the season premiere).

Number One’s augmented genes have saved the ship, even if they have done damage to her relationship with La’an. Their make-up conversation in the still-unnamed ship’s dining hall is brief and blunt, revealing a little more about the security chief’s past, and how she was bullied for her ancestry. We also get some sense of how difficult Una’s past has been, and the difficulties of hiding her past from authorities, and from her friends.

She knows why the Illyrians have a different ethical code — how their justifications can be understood to be benevolent, and at odds with the supremacist agenda of Khan and his Augments —  but she is still afraid of how Federation society views her. I think it works, really; we know the danger augments are from both the Original Series and in Enterprise , but pointing out their flaws may be unique. As we saw in Deep Space Nine , the UFP’s fear of them blinds them to even more dangerous acts of bigotry.

This point about conviction and belief is hammered home by Spock’s conclusion about the Illyrian colonists, whose own good-faith act likely led to their own demise. They were doomed by their principles and chose to pass on with their integrity intact, and this self-belief in the face of a hopeless situation — something that is very clearly becoming a consistent theme in Strange New Worlds — rings home to Captain Pike.

With her true heritage revealed, Una attempts to surrender herself to Starfleet’s judgment. Pike’s refusal to accept her resignation is a good scene, if a bit by the numbers; to him, Una is the exception, as much a counter to Starfleet’s idea of Illyrians as the colonists were — and that is worth protecting her from regulations.

Even though her position is safe aboard the Enterprise , this view doesn’t sit well with Una she’s deeply uncomfortable with her heroism being the thing that saves her; in a strong callout of the politics of the model minority belief; Una longs for the day when she doesn’t have to worry about being thought of as “one of the good ones” and Illyrians can simply just be accepted for who they are.

Considering the (possible) allegory between Illyrian affliction and Sinophobic reactions to the spread of COVID-19, an active call out of exceptionalism like this was refreshing, even if it felt a little tacked on right at the end of the episode. On the other hand, it does point towards Una’s heritage and its conflict with Starfleet regulations and Federation bigotries becoming an ongoing plot point in the future.

But Una’s place in Starfleet isn’t the only open question the episode leaves us with, as we learn that M’Benga’s medical transporter systems allowed the ‘light virus’ to get aboard the ship in the first place. It seems that the good doctor wouldn’t allow anyone to modify its systems during the last visit to Spacedock… because he’s keeping his daughter in transporter stasis within its pattern buffer!

Clearly the beginning of a long-term story, this certainly gives us all a deeper insight into the extreme efforts M’Benga is willing to employ to save his family, but let’s hope that — beyond the ethical and moral quandaries that emerge from freezing a kid in a transporter — the writers don’t forget there’s a kid in there the next time there’s a shipwide disaster.

CAMP NONSENSE OF THE WEEK

This week’s award must go to the Light Virus itself, just for the classic Trek weirdness of people sticking their faces and hands into light fittings, holographic suns, planetary mantle and, um, an impending warp core breach.

OBSERVATION LOUNGE

• This episode takes begins on Stardate 1224.3.  
• Ontario Place serves as the real-life filming location for the abandoned Illyrian colony.
• In a sly nod to the universe-crossing mishap in “Mirror, Mirror,” transporter chief Kyle worries “If we try to transport [through an ion storm], who knows what we’d get back!”  
• An Illyrian scroll archive prop was showcased at the  Strange New Worlds exhibit at the Mission Chicago convention.

• Una’s manicure features dark blue nail polish with a silver inverted V design.  
• Una’s quarters are decorated in a minimalist style, with a few tasteful decorations and a highly-organized vanity shelf in her bedroom.  
• Una’s species, the genetically-engineered Illyrians , originated in classic Star Trek tie-in novels including  Vulcan’s Glory ,   Child of Two Worlds , and the  Discovery novel  Desperate Hours.  
• Illyrians were first encountered on-screen in “Damage,” where the crew of the Illyrian vessel in that episode looked quite different. It’s possible this might later be explained away as a genetic difference — or it’s possible the Enterprise -era species just has a similar-sounding name.

• La’an spits the derogatory term “Augment” at Una after learning Number One is an Illyrian (the same slur used against her as a child thanks to her Khan heritage); this term for genetically-engineer beings came into use in the Enterprise three-part Arik Soong storyline.  
• La’an continues to use her nickname for Una (“Chief”); we’ll likely learn more about their backstory in a future episode.  
• It’s clear that La’an’s heritage as a descendent of Khan isn’t a secret; how that will play into Spock’s future encounter with the genetic superman in “Space Seed” remains to be seen.  
• The Federation’s ban on genetic engineering extends well beyond Earth, it seems, as Illyrians are forbidden to join the Federation due to their society’s use of gene modification science.

• Uhura shares her quarters with two other low-ranking crewmates, but her bunk features a privacy shutter so she can sleep undisturbed… something the ensigns aboard the USS Cerritos would surely envy!  
• In “Dr. Bashir, I Presume,” Chief O’Brien tells Dr. Bashir that he doesn’t “think there’s been a case dealing with [a genetically-engineered Starfleet officer] in a hundred years.” That episode takes place 114 years after “Ghosts of Illyria.”  
• M’Benga holds his hand scanner seemingly backwards while examining both Una and La’an in sickbay (with the rotating internal mechanism pointed towards himself). The “reverse” end of the scanner features a lighting element, so it’s possible this end of the scanner has a different function from the rotating side.  
• M’Benga’s blood sample hypospray is similar in design to the one used to screen for Changeling infiltrators in Deep Space Nine .

• M’Benga describes a cultural aversion to mixing “human and Vulcan blood,” an idea which first (chronologically speaking) came to a head in the Star Trek: Enterprise “Demons” / “Terra Prime” two-parter.  
• Normally closed off, M’Benga’s sickbay has a second-story auxiliary level, available to expand capacity in emergency situations.  
• The transporter-buffer stasis process is apparently safe for long-term use, as long as the subject is occasionally rematerialized — perhaps explaining why poor Matt Franklin never made it out of the Jenolan’s buffers in “Relics.”  
• M’Benga’s daughter, Rukiya (Sage Arrindell) is being held in transporter stasis to slow the progression of a disease called “cygnokemia.”

I honestly wanted a bit more from “Ghosts of Illyria.” The introduction of the Illyrians themselves — both through the legacy of the colonists, and Una’s heritage — was a great addition to the Star Trek universe, with the questions it raises about medical bigotry and longstanding societal fear, and I just wish that they hadn’t felt tacked on to the end of the episode and had been weaved deeper into the narrative.

While we got some taste of La’an’s anti-Augment, it would have hit home harder had those preconceptions about Illyrians been more thoroughly laced within the narrative. On the other hand, this neat, fun, and exciting medical mystery will serve — hopefully — as a jump-off point to explore both Una and M’Benga’s characters in the future.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds returns with “Memento Mori” on Thursday, May 26 on Paramount+ in the United States, Australia, Latin America, and the Nordics, as well as on CTV Sci Fi Channel in Canada.

The series will arrive to the UK and Ireland on Paramount+ on June 22; additional international distribution has not yet been announced.

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Why Illyrians Like Una Are Banned From Starfleet In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

This article contains  spoilers for season 2, episode 2 of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds."

Season 1 of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" ended with the arrest of Commander Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn), better known as Number One to Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), and the season 2 premiere didn't address her imprisonment. Thankfully, episode 2 of the second season, "Ad Astra Per Aspera," focuses entirely on the trial of the Enterprise's first officer, charged with lying to the Federation about her identity, as she is an Illyrian and any genetically modified being is banned from being in Starfleet. But why are genetically engineered or modified people banned from serving in Starfleet, anyway?

It all goes back to the Eugenics Wars and World War III , events that nearly led to humanity's destruction. More than two centuries before the events of "Strange New Worlds," Earth was overrun with genetically-engineered dictators, the most powerful of whom was Khan Noonien Singh. That name probably sounds familiar to most "Trek" fans, because he's the villain of the original series episode "Space Seed" and the film "Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan," where he's played by Ricardo Montalbán. Khan is the baddest genetically-modified villain of them all, but he's not the only one, and that caused some bad blood with the Federation. You might say that Starfleet doesn't approve of GMOs, if they're sentient, and genetic modification is a big part of Illyrian culture, so Starfleet's not so keen on them. But since Una was genetically enhanced as a child, is it really fair to ban her from Starfleet as an adult?

A bogus ban based in fear

In season 1 of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," Una's mysterious past is revealed and her Illyrian heritage is unfortunately discovered by the Federation, but in "Ad Astra Per Aspera," we learn more about her personal history. She and her family could "pass" as human (which is a metaphor too big to get into here), and when people discovered that they were Illyrian, they were discriminated against. People in the Federation simply could not separate their ideas about genetically-enhanced individuals from their hatred of Khan and his kind. Look, just because people are in the fairly progressive Federation doesn't mean they're free of prejudice — even James T. Kirk had his own issues with the Klingons .

Illyrians are a semi-nomadic humanoid species that augment their physiology in order to adapt to the planets they live on; instead of colonizing planets or forcing them to bend to their will, they adjust accordingly. That's honestly pretty commendable, but the Federation's fears over what's happened with augmented individuals in the past means that they're just not willing to bend. In fact, genetically modified people are still banned from serving in Starfleet well into the future. Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" also came under investigation because his parents had him augmented as a child, decades after Una's trial.

Una's future in the Federation

During Una's trial, her qualifications as a Starfleet officer are used to help remind those in control of her fate of just how vital she is to the crew of the Enterprise. It takes the combined efforts of Una, Captain Pike, and Una's court defender (Yetide Bedeki) to convince Starfleet that Una is not only so much more than just a genetically-engineered person, she's also never going to be a threat to the thing she loves most. It's important to note that one of Una's closest friends on the Enterprise is La'an Noonien Singh (Christina Chong), who herself is descended from Khan and has dealt with all of the discrimination that comes with her heritage. The Federation may be somewhat enlightened, but unfortunately they still have some work to do when it comes to their holdovers and hang-ups from the 20th and 21st centuries.

How Una's time in Starfleet goes from here onward will be interesting to see. New episodes of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" premiere Thursdays on Paramount+.

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Ghosts of Illyria

• Episode aired May 19, 2022

Una must confront a secret she's been hiding when a contagion ravages the ship, incapacitating the rest of the crew. Una must confront a secret she's been hiding when a contagion ravages the ship, incapacitating the rest of the crew. Una must confront a secret she's been hiding when a contagion ravages the ship, incapacitating the rest of the crew.

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• Captain Christopher Pike

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Did you know

• Trivia Dr. M'Benga does the same thing with his daughter that Chief Montgomery Scott did in Relics (1992) : preserve a life in the transporter buffer.
• Goofs Una orders a complete and total ship-wide blackout, yet numerous running lights are seen in both the staff room and corridors. If they intend to completely starve the infected crewmen of illumination and prevent the light virus from traveling on light waves, they're failing at that objective.

Captain Christopher Pike : There are sick people on my ship, and we're stuck down here? I don't like feeling helpless.

Spock : Pacing relentlessly back and forth will not change the situation.

[thunder crashes]

Captain Christopher Pike : [sarcastically as he looks out the window at the approaching ion storm] This place is fun. They should sell tickets.

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• May 18, 2022
• May 19, 2022 (United States)
• United States
• Official Site
• Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• CBS Television Studios
• Roddenberry Entertainment
• Secret Hideout
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

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• Runtime 46 minutes
• Dolby Atmos

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Illyrian starship

In 2154 , the badly-damaged NX-class Starfleet vessel Enterprise encountered a damaged Illyrian starship in the Delphic Expanse . The Illyrian starship was damaged by the spatial distortions of the Expanse while studying a red giant . The distortions caused damage to the ship's engines and life support .

Captain Jonathan Archer asked the Illyrian ship's captain for his warp coil in exchange for food and supplies. The captain refused, as the loss of their warp coil would leave them with a three year journey to their homeworld – a journey for which his ship was not equipped. As Enterprise required the warp coil in order to continue their mission to find and destroy the Xindi weapon before it destroyed Earth , Archer was forced to take an away team aboard the Illyrian starship and steal the coil.

Aboard the Illyrian ship, the Enterprise crewmembers encountered a force field surrounding the warp coil. It was only after T'Pol had Enterprise 's phase cannons disable the ship's power junction that was supplying power to the force field, that the force field was eliminated, allowing the away team to remove the coil.

Before leaving the Illyrian ship, Archer had Enterprise beam food, supplies, and three containers of trellium to the Illyrians' cargo hold to assist them in their three-year journey back to their homeworld. ( ENT : " Damage ")

• 1 Daniels (Crewman)

Scotty Nailed It In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3, Says Melissa Navia

• Martin Quinn shines as Scotty in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3, capturing the essence of the iconic character beautifully.
• Melissa Navia praises Quinn's portrayal, highlighting his fantastic performance and confirming his presence in season 3.
• Martin Quinn is the first Scotland-born actor to play Scotty in Star Trek.

Melissa Navia says Martin Quinn "nailed it" as Scotty in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3. Scotty's debut in Strange New Worlds season 2's finale was a shock, and Quinn instantly embodied the easy charm of the younger Scotty, evoking the performance of the late James Doohan as Lt. Commander Montgomery Scott in Star Trek: The Original Series . After beaming aboard the Starship Enterprise, Strange New Worlds season 3 has confirmed Scotty's continued presence.

Strange New Pod hosted a panel at Trek Long Island with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds actors Melissa Navia and Yetide Badaki, who played Neera Ketoul in Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 2, "Ad Astra Per Aspera". When asked by a fan about which classic Star Trek character she would like to see in Strange New Worlds in the future, Navia deftly avoided divulging spoilers by highlighting how "fantastic" Martin Quinn is as Scotty. Read her quote below, and watch Strange New Pod 's panel in the link above.

I think I would just answer that question by saying how fantastic Martin Quinn is as Scotty. I just think they just nailed it with him, and we got to work with him. That I can say, right? Everybody knows that hes with us now in season 3.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 - Everything We Know

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 ended with an epic cliffhanger and here's everything known about when it will be resolved in season 3.

Scotty Makes Star Trek History In Strange New Worlds

But will scotty become chief engineer.

Martin Quinn makes Star Trek history as the first Scotland-born actor to play Montgomery Scott because James Doohan was Canadian and Simon Pegg, who played Scotty in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies, was born in England. The young Lieutenant Scott joins Strange New Worlds as the sole survivor of a Gorn attack, and he meets Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and the crew of the USS Enterprise on Parnassus Beta. But Scotty, showing his brilliance as an engineer, may have the technological key to help the Starship Enterprise defeat the Gorn.

Several members of Captain Pike's USS Enterprise crew were kidnapped by the Gorn in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ' season 2 cliffhanger.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ' debut of Scotty included the intriguing twist that he was an engineering student of Commander Pelia (Carol Kane) at Starfleet Academy. Pelia replaced the late Lt. Hemmer as the USS Enterprise's Chief Engineer, a position Scotty is destined for, although it remains to be seen if Scotty will nab that promotion during Strange New Worlds. While Martin Quinn's Scotty only got to interact with a handful of Strange New Worlds characters in season 2's finale, Melissa Navia encouragingly indicates that her character, Lt. Erica Ortegas, and others aboard the Starship Enterprise will get to play opposite Scotty in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3.

Source: Strange New Pod

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Cast Bruce Horak, Celia Rose Gooding, Jess Bush, Melissa Navia, Ethan Peck, Babs Olusanmokun, Rebecca Romijn, Paul Wesley, Christina Chong, Anson Mount

Streaming Service(s) Paramount+

Franchise(s) Star Trek

Writers Bill Wolkoff, Akiva Goldsman, Henry Alonso Myers

Directors Amanda Row, Valerie Weiss, Jonathan Frakes, Chris Fisher

Showrunner Akiva Goldsman, Henry Alonso Myers

Where To Watch Paramount+

Why Wasn't Admiral Janeway in Star Trek: Picard?

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Picard showrunner terry matalas wanted admiral janeway in picard season 3, admiral janeway is already appearing in star trek: prodigy, did star trek: picard suffer because admiral janeway didn't appear, could star trek make a janeway series like the one centered on picard.

The third wave of Star Trek series have tried to strike a balance between telling new stories with new characters and honoring the legacy figures from the universe originally created by Gene Roddenberry. Star Trek: Picard brought back characters from both Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager , but Admiral Kathryn Janeway never appeared. She was mentioned a number of times, and the character appears in the animated series Star Trek: Prodigy . Still, while Picard producers wanted to bring Kate Mulgrew back as Janeway, a combination of real-world factors prevented it. Outside of her cameo appearance in Star Trek: Nemesis , Admiral Janeway and then-Captain Picard didn't have an established relationship.

Of all the past characters from Star Trek 's second wave to appear in Picard , Janeway wasn't originally one fans expected. However, the inclusion of Jeri Ryan's Seven of Nine in all three seasons of Picard made it seem like only a matter of time before Seven's first captain showed up. Yet, it never happened. Instead, Janeway is mentioned a few times by characters in passing, establishing only that she's still alive and has a continued relationship with her former crew. Simply put, Janeway only gets mentioned because both time and budgetary limitations meant a cameo appearance wasn't possible. There is also the fact that Janeway was appearing on Star Trek: Prodigy , which was airing its first season when Picard Season 3 was filming. There was likely a sense that using Janeway in the 25th Century story in Picard might undercut the 24th Century adventure in Prodigy .

Star Trek: Picard Showrunner Joins Remake of 1980s Sci-Fi Film

Terry Matalas' next project will reimagine a sci-fi classic from 1985.

A veteran of the second-wave series, Terry Matalas helmed Picard Season 3 as both showrunner and fan. In the final episodes, Starfleet gathers all its ships near Earth to celebrate Frontier Day, the launch of the first warp-five ship as seen in Star Trek: Enterprise . Not only was Janeway considered for a cameo, but so was Garrett Wang's Harry Kim and other Star Trek legacy characters from other series.

"I would have had as many as we could get. I would have made that Star Trek Avengers: Endgame . I would have made Frontier Day with many ships… I would have Kira [Nerys from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ] there, even if all you get is a bridge shot. But all of that is very expensive. We were already way too ambitious," Matalas said via TrekMovie.com . In the same interview, he revealed Paramount was skeptical the show could pull off what was scripted based on the budget and schedule.

One of the best moments in Picard Season 3 is when Tim Russ's Tuvok denies Seven of Nine's resignation because she is being promoted to captain. Matalas originally wanted Admiral Janeway there to do it. They "couldn't afford Kate even if we wanted," he said, adding that making that scene Janeway's Picard debut could've made the scene more about her than Seven's journey from Starfleet outcast to captain of the USS Enterprise-G.

Why Wesley Crusher Left Star Trek, and Why He Came Back

Wil Wheaton's Wesley Crusher disappeared from Star Trek: The Next Generation, but he came back for select episodes, movies, and Picard. Here's why.

While Star Trek: Picard offered fans a sequel story to Voyager for Seven of Nine, the universe's animated series for all ages does that, too. Star Trek: Prodigy is essentially a Voyager sequel , especially in Season 2, because the characters are traveling on the USS Voyager-A. Janeway appears both as a holographic training program on the (now destroyed) USS Protostar, and the very human Vice Admiral Janeway is also a regular character. In fact, that Prodigy introduced the next ship to bear the name "Voyager" helps explain why some of Picard 's returns didn't happen.

The inclusion of Harry Kim would've promoted Star Trek 's "forever ensign" to the captain of the USS Voyager-B, according to Matalas. Had this happened, it would've stepped on the toes of Prodigy 's toes by putting an expiration date on their new hero ship. Also, if Prodigy wanted to bring in Kim's character, they would be pigeon-holed into ensuring he ended up where Picard 's storytellers put him. While the mere mention of Janeway means she survives whatever Prodigy throws at her, that's really all fans know.

Janeway is alive and still a high-ranking admiral in Starfleet, but beyond that, anything is possible. She could be in the 25th Century version of one of those Christopher Pike life support units. While it would've warmed the hearts of all Star Trek fans to see Janeway and Seven (as well as Kate Mulgrew and Ryan) on screen together again, it limited what Prodigy could do with the character. Prodigy's showrunners want seven seasons of adventures (and then feature films). Keeping Janeway out of Picard gives them maximum freedom to tell their story and imperil Vice Admiral Janeway .

Every Episode of Star Trek: Picard Season 2, Ranked

Star Trek: Picard Season 2 was a varied and emotionally heavy season, and here's how critics and fans ranked each episode in the time-travel saga.

On one hand, the lack of any appearance by Admiral Janeway feels like how Supergirl Season 1 treated Superman . The storytellers want to ensure audiences understand the character is around and has a close, important relationship with characters in the show. However, because the actor couldn't appear, that has to be done through dialogue exclusively. It has the unfortunate side effect of making Janeway feel distant or even uncaring. After all, Tuvok was kidnapped by Changelings, and Seven of Nine was on-the-run with her supposed friend and fellow admiral, Jean-Luc Picard.

Just as it stretched suspension of disbelief that Superman didn't fly over to help his cousin, Janeway was notable for her absence. However, a Star Trek captain who led a series is a powerful figure in the mythology of this universe. Matalas is correct that if Admiral Janeway showed up to promote Seven of Nine, her presence would've overtaken the scene . Just by nature, viewers would be more focused on the return of the beloved Voyager captain than the series regular who just helped save Earth from the Borg. Tuvok doesn't dominate the moment, in large part because he is unemotional. It allows all the feeling in that scene to come from Seven of Nine.

Their shared history on Voyager is nonetheless relevant, and it's still meaningful her promotion comes from a member of that family. Yet, Tuvok and Seven were peers on the ship, despite Seven holding no actual rank. The dynamic between Seven and Janeway was too big for just one scene. Even if Mulgrew was able to deliver a performance that kept Seven's experience in the spotlight, it simply wouldn't be enough to do justice to that reunion. A reunion could still happen in Prodigy , or it could happen if Star Trek: Legacy ever happens at Paramount . Picard wasn't the right venue for it, at least not if the Janeway appearance was a cameo.

'Keep Being Noisy': Picard Star Provides Star Trek: Legacy Update

Star Trek: Picard's Ed Speleers shares how fans can help get Paramount to greenlight the proposed sequel spinoff series, Star Trek: Legacy.

Despite shows like Star Trek: Discovery , Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: Lower Decks ending, the universe still spins on. Starfleet Academy is the next series coming to Paramount+, and Strange New Worlds is still going, too. If Prodigy does well for Netflix, the streamer could order a third season of the show (or more). In fact, for those who want a Janeway series, Star Trek: Prodigy is a must-watch show. Vice Admiral Janeway is a central figure in Season 2, and her guidance is crucial to shaping the new cast of characters into bona fide Star Trek heroes. However, when it comes to this universe, fans should learn to never say "never."

There were apparently already talks for a Janeway spinoff series , according to Kate Mulgrew . As Paramount deals with economic realities, there is a limit on how many ongoing projects the studio can support. Yet, given the success of Picard , it is not inconceivable that a series centered on Admiral Kathryn Janeway could happen in the future. However, with a mini- Voyager reunion already happening on Prodigy , a live action series might not be what fans expect. After all, despite the near-universal praise for Picard Season 3, its first two seasons were less warmly received as actor Patrick Stewart wanted to do something new. Mulgrew might similarly want a live-action return to look forward for the character rather than backwards .

Still, Star Trek: Prodigy is an excellent series to tide Janeway fans over, because the character appears (in one form or another) in every single episode. Robert Beltran reprised his role as Chakotay for Season 1, and he returns along with Robert Picardo's holographic Doctor in Season 2 . While the target audience for Prodigy is younger viewers and their families, the story serves all Star Trek fans, especially those who want more Kathryn Janeway.

Star Trek: Picard streams on Paramount+, while Star Trek: Prodigy Seasons 1 and 2 stream in their entirety on Netflix as of July 1, 2024.

Star Trek: Picard

Retired Admiral Jean-Luc Picard is drawn back into action when a mysterious young woman seeks his help, triggering a journey that leads him to confront the ghosts of his past. As he assembles a new crew to uncover the truth behind a dangerous conspiracy, Picard navigates a galaxy that has changed significantly since his days aboard the Enterprise.

What ultimately happened to the USS Discovery in the 'Star Trek: Discovery' series finale?

Strangely, the Star Trek: Discovery ship's far-future fate was revealed in 2018 'Short Trek' episode 'Calypso'.

What happens to Discovery at the end of season 5?

How is the uss discovery sentient.

• What happens next?
• What is Zora's final mission?

Over five seasons of "Star Trek: Discoverywe got to know Michael Burnham and the crew of the USS Discovery, but the show's final scene is reserved for its eponymous starship. In the series finale " Life, Itself ", self-aware computer Zora fires up the spore drive for the final time to embark on one last mission. 

We still have no idea why she's given a top-secret Red Directive to wait indefinitely at these particular coordinates, but a 2018 " Short Trek " episode "Calypso" has already revealed the next stage of her journey. Here's what's in store for Zora and Discovery a millennium down the line — watch out for spoilers. (And if you need a refresher on all things Trek, check out our Star Trek streaming guide for how to watch nearly every series on Paramount Plus .)

Paramount+ Essential (ads): $5.99 /mo Paramount+ with SHOWTIME (no ads): $11.99 /mo

Catch up on the adventures of Michael Burnham and the crew of the Discovery on Paramount+. As the home of Star Trek, signing up means you'll also get access to an enormous library of other Star Trek shows and movies.

Several decades after the Discovery crew tracked down the Progenitor technology — long enough for Admiral Michael Burnham and Cleveland Booker to see their son, Leto, rise to the rank of Starfleet captain — the ship is assigned one final mission.

Burnham arrives on the bridge to give the ship's sentient computer, Zora (voiced by Annabelle Wallis), her briefing. "I'm going to bring you to a set of coordinates in deep space," explains the admiral. "Then me and your crew will leave. After that, you wait."

"For what?" Zora asks, but she doesn't get a definitive answer. 

"This is a Red Directive; we both know how transparent those are," replies Burnham, referring to the beyond-classified instructions that have become the mysterious Dr. Kovich's stock-in-trade. "I did hear a word in passing," the admiral adds. "'Craft'. I'm not sure if that's a person or a vessel or…"

That word will prove to be important, but as Burnham correctly predicts, she'll be long gone when Zora finds out what it means.

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After this emotional farewell, Discovery is waved off by an armada of Starfleet vessels and a few bars of Alexander Courage's iconic " Star Trek " theme. Then, Zora fires up the spore drive and jumps away to her mystery destination. 

Related: Star Trek: Discovery is at an end: Here are 5 things season 5 needed to fix

Starships often come to feel like characters in their own right, but never has this been as true as it is for Discovery.

Zora is much more than some glorified Siri or Alexa substitute, thanks to Discovery's 23rd century computer merging with hundreds of thousands of years of data collected by an ancient alien Sphere. Discovery was protecting this precious information when it jumped forward to 3189. 

The newly created super-computer gradually develops sentience, emotions and a personality, and decides to name herself Zora (which means "dawn" in several Alpha Quadrant languages). She's eventually recognized as a lifeform in her own right, and awarded the rank of Specialist by Starfleet.

What happens next? And what does it have to do with 'craft'?

Not a lot. For around 1,000 years, Zora sits and waits at the designated coordinates, getting some "alone time" inside some kind of interstellar storm cloud. Then she runs into an escape pod with a sole occupant — a man who calls himself Craft. 

This "reluctant" soldier (played by Aldis Hodge) hails from Alcor IV, and has spent the last decade at war with the V'draysh, which — based on comments from criminal boss Zareh in " Discovery" season 3 — appears to be a Pidgin word for the Federation. (This may explain why the enemy vessel Craft has commandeered contains an extensive collection of Earth cartoons from "the long ago".)

During their time together, Zora introduces Craft to tacos, the concept of Tuesday, and her favorite movie, 1957 Audrey Hepburn/Fred Astaire rom-com "Funny Face." She falls in love with the visitor, but he ultimately departs in the hope of finding his wife and son. She refuses to give him a lift home in Discovery, however, reasoning that she has to maintain position to complete her mission.

All this was revealed in 2018 "Short Trek" episode "Calypso", though back then — before season 2 had aired — we had no idea that Discovery would depart for the 32nd century, that the Sphere data would help Discovery's computer evolve into Zora, or that Burnham (then a science officer) would be promoted to captain. These days "Calypso" makes a lot more sense. 

So what exactly is Zora's final mission?

Beyond waiting for a long, long time, that remains unclear. But, seeing as her mission has top secret Red Directive status, it's pretty much certain that Dr Kovich — now revealed to be Temporal Agent Daniels of " Star Trek: Enterprise " fame — has a plan for Zora, and that her bumping into Craft is no accident. 

But whoever she encounters next, it's sure to have major ramifications for the galaxy — and perhaps beyond. Burnham promised a "new beginning" for Zora when she eventually comes back. Who knows what that might mean…

All five seasons of 'Star Trek: Discovery' and the 'Calypso' 'Short Trek' are now available to stream on Paramount Plus. To find out where to stream every other Star Trek movie and show, check out our Star Trek streaming guide .

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

Richard's love affair with outer space started when he saw the original "Star Wars" on TV aged four, and he spent much of the ’90s watching "Star Trek”, "Babylon 5” and “The X-Files" with his mum. After studying physics at university, he became a journalist, swapped science fact for science fiction, and hit the jackpot when he joined the team at SFX, the UK's biggest sci-fi and fantasy magazine. He liked it so much he stayed there for 12 years, four of them as editor. 

He's since gone freelance and passes his time writing about "Star Wars", "Star Trek" and superheroes for the likes of SFX, Total Film, TechRadar and GamesRadar+. He has met five Doctors, two Starfleet captains and one Luke Skywalker, and once sat in the cockpit of "Red Dwarf"'s Starbug.  

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Uhura is getting “closer and closer” to nichelle nichols in star trek: strange new worlds season 3.

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 - Everything We Know

Strange new worlds’ crossover started a great real life star trek friendship, scotty “nailed it” in star trek: strange new worlds season 3, says melissa navia.

• Uhura on Strange New Worlds season 3 keeps evolving into the confident Lieutenant Uhura from Star Trek: The Original Series.
• Celia Rose Gooding, who plays Uhura, is excited for her character's journey in season 3 to mirror Nichelle Nichols' Uhura.
• Gooding discusses Uhura's growth from a Cadet to a confident officer on Strange New Worlds in an Awards Radar interview.

Celia Rose Gooding says Ensign Nyota Uhura in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 is getting "closer and closer" to the Lieutenant Uhura played by Nichelle Nichols in Star Trek: The Original Series. Gooding is one of several Strange New Worlds characters rising to the challenge of playing a younger version of a Star Trek i con. Audiences get to witness the evolution Uhura undergoes on S trange New Worlds , with each step bringing her closer to the legendary Communications Officer in Star Trek: The Original Series .

Awards Radar interviewed Celia Rose Gooding about Star Trek: Strange New World s, where the Grammy Award-winning actor broke down how Uhura has grown from an uncertain Starfleet Cadet to a confident officer in Strange New Worlds ' first two seasons. Gooding then hinted at how Uhura continues on the path to becoming the Lieutenant Uhura portrayed by Nichelle Nichols in Strange New Worlds season 3. Read Celia's quote below and listen to her Awards Radar interview in the link above.

I think in season three, she’s just continuing to expand on taking space and really ownership over her responsibilities and her contributions to the Enterprise crew. And so we’re just continuing to see her expand and expand and expand, and I’m really excited about her journey in season three. That’s just been the word of the day... She’s just taking up space, really owning her title and her role, and her confidence is really blossoming and blooming. I think, as the seasons go on, I’m trying to get closer and closer to a recognizable version of Uhura, really trying to emulate Nichelle Nichols’ Uhura. And I think season three, we’re just getting closer and closer and closer, so it’s very exciting for me.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 has wrapped filming and is expected to premiere in 2025 on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 ended with an epic cliffhanger and here's everything known about when it will be resolved in season 3.

Uhura's Evolution Is One Of The Best Parts Of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Strange new worlds gives uhura the emphasis nichelle nichols never got in star trek: tos.

One of the pleasures of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is seeing Uhura's evolution. Strange New Worlds is providing Uhura with the emphasis, backstory, and character depth that Star Trek: The Original Series never afforded Nichelle Nichols' Lt. Uhura. Nichols had to be content with being a supporting player with minimal character development , but her presence in Star Trek nonetheless served as an inspiration for generations of African Americans, as Nichols herself was told by Dr. Martin Luther King .

Uhura's first name "Nyota" was made canon in J.J. Abrams ' Star Trek (2009), when Uhura was portrayed by Zoe Saldana.

Since Celia Rose Gooding is portraying the same character as Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is delivering Nyota Uhura's complete story as it progresses. Starting as a Cadet unsure if she wanted to remain in Starfleet, Uhura gained a mentor in the late Lt. Hemmer (Bruce Horak), who helped Nyota grow beyond her confidence issues. Strange New Worlds ' season 2 saw Ensign Uhura accept her crucial role on the Starship Enterprise, even giving her a whole song about it in Star Trek' s first-ever musical episode . Where Uhura goes next will surely be one of the most fascinating aspects of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3.

Source: Awards Radar

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

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Published Jun 20, 2024

The Official Trailer and Key Art for Season 2 of Animated Series Star Trek: Prodigy Is Here

Season 2 will premiere with all 20 episodes on July 1 exclusively on Netflix in the U.S. and select countries around the world.

StarTrek.com

CBS Studios debuted the official trailer and key art for the second season of the original animated kids' series, Star Trek: Prodigy . The hit series will premiere all 20 episodes on Monday, July 1 on Netflix in select countries around the world. Season 1 episodes of the series are currently available on Netflix.

In Season 2, these six young outcasts who make up the Prodigy crew are assigned a new mission aboard the U.S.S. Voyager -A to rescue Captain Chakotay and bring peace to Gwyn's home world. However, when their plan goes astray, it creates a time paradox that jeopardizes both their future and past.

The Star Trek: Prodigy voice cast includes Kate Mulgrew (Kathryn Janeway), Brett Gray (Dal), Ella Purnell (Gwyn), Rylee Alazraqui (Rok-Tahk), Angus Imrie (Zero), Jason Mantzoukas (Jankom Pog), Dee Bradley Baker (Murf), John Noble (The Diviner), and Jimmi Simpson (Drednok).

Season 2 recurring voice cast members include Robert Beltran (Captain Chakotay), Robert Picardo (The Doctor), Jason Alexander (Dr. Noum), Daveed Diggs (Commander Tysess), Jameela Jamil (Ensign Asencia), Ronny Cox (Admiral Jellico), and Michaela Dietz (Maj’el).

Developed by Emmy Award winners Kevin and Dan Hageman ( Trollhunters and Ninjago ), along with Alex Kurtzman and his team at Secret Hideout, the CG-animated series Star Trek: Prodigy is the first Star Trek series aimed at younger audiences and follows a motley crew of young aliens who must figure out how to work together while navigating a greater galaxy, in search of a better future.

"We deeply appreciate our fans who have stood by us and our passionate crew who made this all possible. The work speaks for itself, but it's the heart that will endure," said co-showrunners Kevin and Dan Hageman about the Season 2 release.

Star Trek: Prodigy received a 2023 TCA Award nomination for "Outstanding Achievement in Family Programming" along with a 2022 Children's and Family Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Animated Series, and production designer, Alessandro Taini, won the award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation.

Star Trek: Prodigy is from CBS' Eye Animation Productions, CBS Studios' animation arm; Nickelodeon Animation; Secret Hideout; and Roddenberry Entertainment. Alex Kurtzman, Heather Kadin, Aaron Baiers, Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth serve as executive producers, alongside co-showrunners Kevin and Dan Hageman. Ben Hibon directs, executive produces and serves as the creative lead of the animated series. Aaron Waltke and Patrick Krebs also currently serve as co-executive producers. Star Trek: Prodigy is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

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Star Trek: Prodigy will stream on Netflix globally (excluding Canada, Nordics, CEE, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Russia, Belarus and Mainland China) and Season 1 is currently available on SkyShowtime in the Nordics, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and Central and Eastern Europe with Season 2 coming soon. Season two has launched in France on France Televisions channels and Okoo.