Warning: SPOILERS for the finale of the first season of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” — “The Quality of Mercy”
The 1st season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds was arguably the best inaugural installment of any Star Trek series, and its only mistake was that Lieutenant Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia) and Nurse Kristin Chapel (Jess Bush) didn’t cover their own episodes. The finale of the first season of the series “Strange New Worlds” focuses on Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and answers one of the central questions of the season: can and should Pike change his fate so that in 7 years he will never be seriously injured by delta rays in an accident? Having traveled back in time to the year 2266 and lived his own catastrophic version of the episode “Balance of Horror” in the TV series “Star Trek: The Original Series”, Pike realized that he should not interfere with his fate for the sake of the galaxy.
“Strange New Worlds” brilliantly restored the classic formula of Star Trek episodes, but changed it by serializing the lives of the crew of the USS Enterprise so that they grow, learn and change as the series progresses. Thanks to this, Strange New Worlds seemed fresh and modern, but at the same time remained a stylish return to the true spirit of Star Trek. “Strange New Worlds” not only explores Captain Pike, but also tells the hitherto unknown backstory of Lieutenant Commander Number One, also known as Lieutenant Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romayne), who is a genetically modified Illyrian, and the story of Cadet Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding). ). In addition, Spock’s (Ethan Peck) relationship with his fiancee T’Pring (Gia Sandhu) has brought a lot of romance and comedy. “Strange New Worlds” also delved into the traumatic lives of Lieutenant Laan Nunien Singh (Christina Chong) and the troubled Dr. Joseph M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun), whose young daughter was dying of an incurable disease.
Related: Scotty should be in the second season of “Strange New Worlds,” right?
All this time, Lieutenant Ortegas and Nurse Chapel were waiting for their own stories to be told, which did not happen during the 10-episode season of Strange New Worlds. However, it is still a testament to the talent and charisma of Melissa Navia and Jess Bush that Erica and Kristin have become fan favorites, despite the fact that they missed important episodes for each of them. Erica’s sarcastic remarks with Captain Pike and her mischievous good-natured nature have brought levity to even the darkest crisis faced by the starship Enterprise, and she is arguably the best starship helmsman since Mr. Sulu (George Takei). Meanwhile, Chapel’s deepening relationship with Spock, for whom she has unrequited feelings, not only sheds light on how Chapel’s elderly nurse, played by Majel Barrett in TOS, treats Leonard Nimoy’s Vulcan, but Christina Bush is also a fully formed, intelligent, caring friend who has her own agency and maybe secrets.
How can “Strange New Worlds” with Erica and Nurse Chapel improve in the second season?
Telling the backstory of Lieutenant Ortegas and Nurse Chapel should be a top priority in the second season of Strange New Worlds. So far, almost nothing is known about Erica, except that she is a restless prankster, but Ortegas is obviously a special person, since she has risen to the position of helmsman. Enterprise, the flagship of Starfleet. Ease, comfort and trust reign between Erica and Captain Pike, and the story of their camaraderie begs to be told. As for Nurse Chapel, she distinguished herself as the third party of the love triangle with Spock and T’Pring, but there are clearly provocative levels in Kristina and, perhaps, also some gloominess that will only enrich her character and the series. .
Ortegas and Chapel go on vacation together at Starbase 1 in the fifth episode of Strange New Worlds, “Spock Amok”—a tantalizing tease of episodes that are still waiting for both characters. Clearly, Erica and Kristin’s friendship with their teammates and with each other shows that they are both among the best people the Enterprise crew can serve with. Ortegas also demonstrated that she is even more than one of Starfleet’s best pilots, and Chapel’s introduction in the premiere of Strange New Worlds revealed that she helped develop surgical technology to transform human DNA into aliens. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds can get even better in the second season by telling the intriguing backstories of Lieutenant Ortegas and Nurse Chapel.
