As Star Trek: Strange New Worlds kicks off its second season, expect a bit of a changeup in its episodic structure and how Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) does his captaining on the USS Enterprise. By that we mean, he’s pretty scarce in the first three episodes.
Structuralists might huff, “illogical,” but the prequel series to Star Trek: The Original Series was an unqualified hit its freshman season, and that bought executive producers Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers the opportunity to break some norms. They’ve done it by opening the season with character-centric episodes, particularly shining a spotlight on Spock (Ethan Peck), Dr. M'Benga (Babs Olusanmokun), Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush), Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) and La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong).
“We wanted to give everybody room, right?” Goldsman tells IGN.
He says after watching the ensemble gel so well in the first season, they invested in the idea that Strange New Worlds is a show where the narrative focus can shift from episode to episode.
Alonso Myers continues, “We really tried to take some time to think about how to give everyone an emotional storyline. And that's really about trying to give gifts to our actors. They're incredibly talented actors, so we really wanted to give them each a chance to play something.”
Goldsman agrees, saying, “We have these extraordinary actors, so it's just a way of widening the breadth. And Anson was an extraordinary supporter, and obviously, is deeply in the rest of the season.”
For his part, Mount says the change in focus was “great and very necessary.”
In the Strange New Worlds season premiere, “The Broken Circle,” Mount says Pike is on a mission to get legal help for his Number One, which then dovetails into Episode 2, “Ad Astra Per Aspera,” where Una’s defense of her actions to the Federation plays out dramatically.
Captain Pike (Anson Mount) is pretty scarce in the first three episodes.
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“In order for Pike to have an investment in Una, it can't be an easy thing to do. So it kind of gave us space to do a summer camp episode with [‘The Broken Circle’], which is like Mom and Dad are away, so what kind of high jinks are the kids going to get into? Oh, they are going to steal the car,” Mount deadpans. “The only thing that was missing for me was there just wasn't room for a scene at the top of Episode 2 where I'm having a drink with Spock and it's just me saying, ‘You what?’
“And then I was very happy to be a backbencher in Episode 2 because it has to be all about Una's journey. But to really have eyes on it, they did it in a way where Pike was invested as well. So yeah, I loved that.”
“Ad Astra Per Aspera” in particular reveals why Una’s personal commitment to Starfleet runs so deep. “It was fantastic just getting that opportunity to sink my teeth into that,” Romijn says. “And it just shows the deep level of trust between Pike and Una that she really relies on him. She's done hiding and living her lie, and she wants her crew to know who she really is.”
As Mount implies above, Spock gets to open the season with a huge leadership role that he immediately jeopardizes to help his crew. Peck says he really got to live Spock’s experience by taking the lead in the season opener.
“I think being able to dive into these perspectives of these characters and their inner worlds is really a wonderful way to develop relationships with the audience,” Peck says. “You can really get to know these characters, but you're still on the Enterprise and it's still about a team of people working together to achieve a common goal. So yeah, I think it's a really wonderful approach.”
Two of those imperiled crew members in the premiere happen to be Chapel and M’Benga, who get to reveal more about their lives before the Enterprise. Olusanmokun says he opened the script and was delighted by how much he was being asked to contribute. “In Episode 1 of Season 2, it's like we got thrown into this new place, and we had to go back to skills that the audience did not know we had,” he explains. “So for me to be able to reveal something new about M’Benga is a lovely thing. And it also tells me that the writers and producers are ready to dig deeper into all the characters.”
Alonso Myers agrees and says it only strengthens what makes this Trek series unique. “The result is that it doesn't end up feeling like the show belongs to one person and everyone else is just kind of hanging around,” he articulates. “Anson is a great leader and also a great person who lets everyone step in front of them. He's not insecure about that. He knows this is a place for everyone. And when you take that approach, you just get better work from everyone because everyone gets a chance to be who they are. Not to overthink it, but we were trying to make each [episode] a chance for everyone to play.”
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 debuts on Paramount Plus today.
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