]Even before Strange New Worlds introduced it’s new crew, the return of Captain Pike and his Number One in Discovery’s second season had already given a new lease of life to the abandoned original crew of the Starship Enterprise. Now leading their own show and diving into two characters who’d barely had a chance to shine, the show has taken the opportunity to dive further into both underdeveloped characters and unexplored background of the original Star Trek era.
Continuing the trend, the show has given a new lease of life for original series character Christine Chapel, offering a more rounded history alongside a young Lieutenant Spock, and delved into a lot more. Particularly with the Second Season bringing Lieutenant James T Kirk to watch him grow into his future command and even ended on them bumping into a young Lieutenant Scott as the sole survivor of a destroyed ship.
Bones.
Often overshadowed by the history of Kirk and Spock, a young McCoy could be an interesting addition now that we’ve seen Spock and Kirk’s first mission together. The Kelvin Timeline movies delved into their meeting and friendship in it’s self contained alternate reality, but as we explore the origins of “Spirk” and how James T learns to be a leader ahead of taking over Pike’s command, it seems obvious that at some stage we’ll need to meet the other half of Kirk’s conscience at some stage soon. And it’d be a fitting addition now we have Scotty having made an appearance…
Emony Dax
It’s a bit of a cheat as Emony was clearly not in The Original Series, but when Jadzia Dax and Sisko were back in time and loitering on the bridge, the third Dax host did come up. Emony was living as an Olympic Gymnast in the mid 23rd century where she’d met Dr Leonard McCoy while judging a competition. Alluding to there being more to the story, Strange New Worlds could explore a young Dax and McCoy. Well, as long as they figure out a reason to have a gymnast on the Enterprise, and if they bring in McCoy and of course if they can figure out if the Trill’s are hiding their symbiotic nature or not at this stage….
Harry Mudd
A big fan favourite from the original era, Harry Mudd has already seen a return to the screen with Rainn Wilson cast in the role for Discovery’s first season. Last seen pulling off a successful con and evading Starfleet in Short Treks, Harry Mudd is still out there and would blend in quite well if he turned up to annoy Captain Pike and crew.
Janice Rand
Back in the original series, Nurse Chapel didn’t really have much character outside of her role whereas now we’re seeing a lot more background. Similarly, the short time Janice Rand was on screen she was a blank canvas waiting for some character to come through. Rand’s place initially was just a love interest for Kirk before things changed and she was written out after thirteen episodes.
https://youtu.be/lGLmwljq9dg?si=yKnErJfrlts8i4-f
Marla McGivers
Let’s face it. No matter whjp’s in charge, producers of Star Trek seem to love Khan. The singular Space Seed episode from 1967 would spawn a movie sequel that became the holy grail of Star Trek films and subsequently find Khan referenced absolutely everywhere. From Deep Space Nine regarding Bashir’s secret augmentation, to Khan’s legacy and ties with the Soong Family in Enterprise and even now in Strange New Worlds where the security officer, La’an, in one of his ancestors.
Even between Picard and Strange New Worlds we’ve already seen the origins of Khan between Adam Soong moving into genetics and La’an travelling back in time d comforting him as a child. So if you look back at everyone who ever appeared in the original series and handed producer – any producer – the list, you know full well they’d slam their fist on the table and pick “The Khan one!”
McGivers was the ships historian when Kirk found Khan and his crew in a lost sleeper ship. During the time Khan was on board, she fell head over heels for him to the point of breaking protocol an d betraying her crew. Despite helping Kirk re-take the ship in the end, she chose Exile with Khan over as court martial only to die a few months later due to a catastrophic accident that spurned the Wrath of Khan sequel.
The background of McGivers was explored in some non canon “beta” works, with stories about her upbringing as an orphan to almost killing off her career by having a fling with an Academy instructor, right down to her death on Certi Alpha V. On screen she might not be the most interesting character to delve into, but with her historical knowledge and fascination with Khan, bringing her to close proximity with La’an and the baggage she carries form her family history could make for some great character building for Lt Noonien-Singh.
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It’s Not Easy Being Green Blooded: ‘Level Five Transporter Accident’, Strange New Worlds S4E05
Spock's going through a bit of a personal crisis and Scotty's become madly competitive with an old Academy rival. These two separate threads collide in the weirdest way when Spock finds himself as the only person who can control the ship as Scotty's transporter antics turn everyone into puppets... Writers: Henry Alonso Myers & Dana HorganDirector: Jordan Canning Spock's not quite feeling himself and he hasn't quite been himself since the Griffin Incident. And things are getting worse. Leaning heavily towards logic over his exploration of his human side, and in the wake of La'an deciding their relationship had reached it's 'natural conclusion', he's spiraling. Well, as much as a Vulcan would allow themselves to. Desperately trying to balance himself, he's leaning into logic and reaching out to his scorned ex-fiancee for help in re-establishing his Vulcan side.While thats happening, Scotty's on a […]
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It's been a stressful few months for the Enterprise crew and they want, well, demand, shore leave. Choosing a tech-free planet with natural psychedelics in the atmosphere, the command crew take a shuttle down, take in all the wonders the world provides. And then it all goes a bit wonky... Writers: Skylar Ojeda & Dana Horgan Director: Meera Menon Aside from orbiting a star who's radiation gives an altered perspective of light, Mat'aar XII is a world occupied by Klingon overlords. Having taken control of the population, and implemented strict monitoring and restrictions on movement, the Klingon's rule with fear, torture and by creating division. Like any good occupiers, they've given cushy jobs to some locals including their top Lieutenant, Navatte, a local who proudly wears her silver Klingon armband and interrogates anyone who oppose the Empire. Or so […]
[Departmental] Introducing General Board
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Welcoming Our New Fleet Development Officer
To quote Heraclitus, the only constant in life is change. Quadrant 2 has been through many changes before and with the recent appointment of a new Admiralty Board, we're looking ahead with more changes to the fleet structure. With Piers Drinkall joining the board alongside David Shires, there were some discussions about what to do with Piers' Fleet Development role and after some serious thinking, a decision was made. After aiding in Piers' efforts within the Command Training Program, and being a solid right hand on the USS Sovereign, we're pleased to welcome Karl Drinkall to the Fleet Development position. Karl is a sharp mind with a lot to give to the fleet and a clear grasp of our aims and goals in the coming months and years. With his dedication and string mindset, it was an easy decision to […]
[Retro Review] Errand of Mercy
Relations between the Federation and the Klingons are in tatters and the prospect of an all out war casts a shadow over the region. To help prepare for the worst, Kirk and the Enterprise are sent to Organia, a planet populated by inherent pushovers right on the border between Federation and Klingon space. With the prospect of the Klingons getting a foothold that would help their war efforts, Kirk's job is to negotiate a protection order, getting the Organians on their side before the Klingons annexe the planet as a launching pad for conflict. Problem is, the Organians are hardcore pacifists and their native tech is limited. They don't want to be part of any war, and they don't want to change their values to resist. Which becomes a bit of a problem when the Klingons arrive ready to occupy the […]
Dude, Where’s Your Shuttle? Human Best Friend; Strange New Worlds S4E03
It's been a stressful few months for the Enterprise crew and they want, well, demand, shore leave. Choosing a tech-free planet with natural psychedelics in the atmosphere, the command crew take a shuttle down, take in all the wonders the world provides. And then it all goes a bit wonky... Writers: Kathryn LynDirector: Yana Gorskaya Engineers and pilots hate each other. It's the rules. Scotty and Ortegas have been following those rules to the letter, with the bickering pair opening with a dual monologue highlighting how irritating they are to each other between Scotty setting up alerts and alarms to keep the engines in check, and Ortegas duct tapping over the console to get rid of them so she can push the limits freely.While they're constantly irritating each other, the rest of the Alpha shift command team are exhausted. Months […]
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