With a cliffhanger ending that came all too soon, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 left us with plenty of questions. For this week’s Trek Tuesday, we’ve got five questions we need answered in Strange New Worlds season 3. Did we include your biggest burning question?
Here Today, Gorn Tomorrow?
The first question is perhaps the most obvious. What fate awaits the many Starfleet officers imperiled by the Gorn at the conclusion of “Hegemony“? First up is Marie Batel (Melanie Scrofano). She’s been impregnated by the Gorn, a fatal proposition. In “All Those Who Wander,” such impregnation killed Hemmer (Bruce Horak). However, Batel is placed in suspended animation by Christine Chapel (Jess Bush), who will hopefully find a solution before time runs out.
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Meanwhile, three other USS Enterprise crewmembers were beamed up by the Gorn. These include Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia), La’An Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) and Joseph M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun). M’Benga appears in multiple episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series, suggesting his survival (he is “the Butcher of J’Gal,” after all). But what of our beloved La’An and Ortegas, neither of which has a known canonical fate?
Chapel’s the X?
In the show-stopping musical episode, “Subspace Rhapsody,” Chapel seemingly breaks up with Spock (Ethan Peck). This is emphasized by their interaction after the episode’s grand finale, “We Are One.” As Spock gives Chapel the cold shoulder, the foundation of their relationship in TOS seems to have been laid.
However, in “Hegemony,” the peril in which they find themselves apparently leads Spock to reassess their relationship status. So, what’s the deal with Chapel and Spock’s relationship status? Will they continue to be in a relationship, or will Chapel leave for Corby’s and break Spock’s Vulcan heart once more?
Two Brothers?
Both Spock and his character foil, James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley), have complicated relationships with their respective brothers. In Strange New Worlds season 2, the complex nature of the relationship between James and his brother Sam Kirk (Dan Jeannotte) was tentatively explored. Meanwhile, the tense relationship between Spock and his estranged half-brother Sybok was teased in season 1’s “The Serene Squall.”
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As we know from Star Trek: The Final Frontier, Sybok is an unconventional Vulcan. He has fully embraced his emotions, making his demeanor quite different from his brother’s during The Final Frontier. But how will Spock and Sybok’s relationship be complicated by Spock’s emotional journey in Strange New Worlds season 2? How might the relationship between the Kirk brothers affect and intersect with the relationship between Spock and Sybok, especially since the existence of Spock’s brother is news to Kirk in The Final Frontier?
Strange New Formats?
In Strange New Worlds season 2, the series boldly went into some brand-new formats. This included a full-on comedy episode, “Those Old Scientists,” also a crossover with the animated Star Trek: Lower Decks. There was also the musical episode “Subspace Rhapsody.” Other episodes were perhaps more subtle but equally experimental, like “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” or “Under the Cloak of War.”
These experiments yielded excellent results. So, the question becomes: What new narrative experiments will Strange New Worlds season 3 undertake? Where do you go when you’ve already done a musical and a partially-animated crossover? Is it possible to find an excuse to do another musical episode? What do you do next when you’ve proved there’s nothing your show can’t do?
What About [So-and-So]?
One of the great things about the episode format of Strange New Worlds is the variety of characters who are introduced. But this is also a double-edged sword because we want to see more of these compelling characters. For example, we need more of Captain Angel (Jesse James Keitel), introduced in season 1 but missed in season 2. And while Hemmer’s ghost appeared in “Lost in Translation” and Horak appeared as a Klingon-Pop Star in “Subspace Rhapsody,” will he play a third role in Strange New Worlds season 3?
RELATED: Read all of our Strange New Worlds recaps here!
On top of the great characters introduced by Strange New Worlds, there are also characters from Star Trek: Discovery season 1 and season 2 who have the potential to reappear. These include legacy characters like Harry Mudd (Rainn Wilson) and new characters like L’Rell (Mary Chieffo). Maybe Strange New Worlds season 3 could be expanded beyond 10 episodes to fit all the potential “boldly going” that the show has the potential to achieve.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds seasons 1 and 2 are now available for streaming on Paramount+.
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