Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is arguably the best entry point to the franchise since 2017. It follows the adventures of Captain Pike, Spock and the crew of the starship Company as they explore the galaxy, years before the travels of James T. Kirk and his company. It premieres on Paramount+ on May 5.
if you are new Star Trek, I recommend that you know as little as possible about this series. That is because Strange New Worlds shares the same premise as Star Trek: The Original Series: The crew of the Company discover strange new worlds. In theory you can jump in and discover Star Trek Universe fresh. This allows you to enjoy the show without the baggage of 55 years of backstory. But if I can’t talk you out of going in blindly (or if you just need a refresher), I’ve put together some episodes and movies for you to watch based on what we’ve seen of the main characters of Strange New WorldsI
Star Trek: Discovery Season two
If you want the direct context of Strange New Worldsyou have to look at the second season of Star Trek: Discovery† Because even though Strange New Worlds shares the same premise as the original seriesit is technically a spin-off of DiscoveryI
In the first episode of the second season, Captain Pike takes command of the Discovery after the Company is suffering from a critical system failure. The season follows Pike and the Discovery crew as they investigate seven red signals mysteriously appearing across the galaxy.
If you don’t have time to watch the entire 14-episode season, check out the highlights that delve deeper into the characters in Strange New Worlds† These episodes contain “BrotherILight and shadowsIIf the memory servesIThrough the Valley of Shadows,” and “What a sweet sadnessI
Christopher Pike: Captain of the Company
in classic Star TrekChristopher Pike commanded the spaceship Company a decade before James T. Kirk. His adventures remained largely unknown until he appeared in Discovery season two. The only glimpse of Captain Pike seen in classic Star Trek is depicted in the franchise’s first two-part story:The menagerie parts I & II† These two episodes reuse footage from the series’ original failed pilot, “The Cage,” starring Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Pike.
While you can watch “The Cage” as a standalone episode, it’s not part of The original series† Gene Roddenberry and company made many changes to the series before the second pilot “Where No Man Has Been Yet” received an order. So I recommend sticking with “The Menagerie” to understand the events of “The Cage” in their intended context. But you can go back later and check out “The Cage” if you feel like you can’t get enough of Jeffrey Hunter’s Captain Pike.
In addition, Captain Pike appears in Kelvin Timeline movies Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness† In these films, Bruce Greenwood portrays Pike as the mentor of young James Kirk who has yet to join Starfleet.
Una: First Officer
Una is the name that Star Trek Universe gave the classic Star Trek character known as Number One, played by Majel Barrett in ‘The Menagerie’. She is Pike’s first officer on the… Company† And like Pike, we knew nothing about her outside of her appearances in those episodes until Discovery season two, when Rebecca Romijn took on the role.
Outside “The Menagerie” and Discovery season two, Una appears in two episodes of Star Trek: Short TreksI “Q&A” and “do not ask† Both are good introductions to Romijn’s view of the character.
Spock: Science Officer
Of all the characters in Star Trek, Spock’s life and times are described in great detail. From his assignment on the Company’s historic five-year mission in The original series until his death, rebirth and further adventures in the Film series 1979-1991by his later pursuits as depicted in Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes”Unification Parts I & IIII and his eventual fate in the Kelvin Timeline trilogy – especially in Star Trek (2009).
Of course, almost all episodes mentioned in this article will feature Spock in one way or another. However, if you want the classic Spock from the period of Strange New Worlds, I recommend three episodes that capture the essence of the character. ITravel to Babylon”, which first introduces Spock’s family. IAmok Time”, where we gain a deeper understanding of Vulcan culture. And “The Galileo seven”, where Spock’s command skills are first put to the test.
Uhura: language expert
In The original seriesNichelle Nicols made the role of Lieutenant Uhura as the communications officer of the Company under Captain Kirk. In Strange New WorldsUhura joins the crew as a cadet, played by Celia Rose Gooding.
While the character features prominently in The original series and the movie series, there were never Uhura-centric stories until Star Trek: The Animated Series episode: “The Lorelei Signal†When the male crew members are aging fast, forcing Uhura to take command CompanyI
M’Benga: Chief Medical Officer
Doctor M’Benga appeared twice in The original series, played by Booker Bradshaw. M’Benga’s role on the Company would assume the duties of Chief Medical Officer in the absence of Dr. McCoy. But he’s also an expert on Vulcan physiology, making him very helpful in treating an injured Spock in the episode “A little private war† He also appears in the episode “That which surviveswhere he tends to a mortally wounded crew member.
Chapel: Nurse
Fans of The original series recognize Christine Chapel as Dr. McCoy in the Company infirmary. Majel Barrett took on the role after her role as Number One was scrapped following the failure of ‘The Cage’. Chapel appeared in 25 episodes of the first series and nine episodes of The animated series† And she became a chief medical officer of the… Company in Star Trek: The Motion Picture and had a cameo in Star Trek IV: The Voyage HomeI
As the series explores her character in the stories she appears in, the most chapel-centric is “What are little girls made of?† In this episode, her long-lost fiancé, Roger Korby, is discovered alive on a remote planet. When the Company When the crew tries to rescue him, he kidnaps both Chapel and Captain Kirk to show them the secret he protected while he was missing.
Hemmer: Engineer
Hemmer is one of the completely original characters on Strange New Worlds† He is an Aenar, and that’s all we know. Classic lovers Star Trek recognize Aenars as eerily similar to Andorians. But even super fans can be forgiven for not remembering what Aenars is (I had to look it up myself). They are a subspecies of Andorians portrayed in a three-part storyline in the fourth season of Star Trek: Enterprise† Specific the episodes: “Babel OneIUnited,” and “the Aenar† Some non-canonical works imply that Commander Thelin of The animated series episode “back in the days” can be considered as Aenar.
La’an Noonian-Singh: Head of Security
Probably the most curious of the new characters introduced in Strange New Worlds is La’an Noonien-Singh. Mainly because of the eerily similar name she shares Star Trek supervillain Khan Noonien Singh (note the hyphen added to La’an’s last name). The connection between the characters is not clear, but I suspect they will be during the first season. So it’s worth refreshing Kahn’s character in The original series episode “Space Seedas well as the 1982 film Star Trek: The Revenge of Kahnand the Kelvin Timeline movie Star Trek Into DarknessI
Side note (and Kahn spoilers): “Space Seed” notes that Khan Noonien Singh was a superhuman tyrant created by genetic engineering during Earth’s Eugenics Wars in the 1990s, after which humanity banned genetic experimentation. Star Trek: Enterprise continues this storyline with a three-episode arc. In “border areaICold station 12,” and “the additives,Arik Soong (ancestor of Noonian Soong, creator of Data) illegally continues the experiment that gave rise to Kahn, hoping to prove that such efforts don’t always lead to disaster. The events of this story may contain some clues as to how a Noonien Singh ended up in 23rd century Starfleet before Kahn was introduced in “Space Seed.” And if they don’t, they could very well take advantage of what’s currently happening in Star Trek: Picard season two, but for different reasons.
Ortegas: Pilot
The last original character in the main cast of Strange New Worlds is Ortegas. And unfortunately I have to report that I have almost nothing to tell you about this character. In the trailers, she is portrayed as a top pilot fresh out of Starfleet Academy. No further information is available.
But there are two stories about it The next generation that have to do with her character type. In “the first duty,Pilot Nick Locarno and Wesley Crusher are involved in a tragic training accident that kills a fellow Starfleet cadet. And “Lower decksexplores the lives of newly appointed Starfleet officers as they advance their early careers on the Company†In addition, the comedy series Star Trek: Lower Decks (name inspired by the episode) focuses on new faces serving on the starship CerritosI
Episode/Movie List
Star Trek: The Original Series
- Where No One Has Been Before (season 1, episode 3)
- What are little girls made of? (1×7)
- The menagerie parts I & II (1×11,12)
- The Galileo Seven (1×16)
- Amok time (2×1)
- Journey to Babylon (2×10)
- A Little Private War (2×19)
- That which survives (3×17)
Star Trek: The Animated Series
- Formerly (1×2)
- The Lorelei signal (1×4)
Star Trek: The Next Generation
- Unification Parts I & II (5×7.8)
- The first shift (5×19)
- Lower decks (7×15)
Star Trek: Enterprise
- Borderland (4×4)
- Cold station 12 (4×5)
- The Augments (4×6)
- Babylon One (4×12)
- United (4×13)
- The Aenar (4×14)
Star Trek: Discovery
- Brother (2×1)
- Light and Shadows (2×7)
- Serves as memory (2×8)
- Through the Valley of Shadows (2×12)
- Such a sweet sadness (2×13,14)
Star Trek: Short Treks
- Question and answer (2×1)
- Don’t ask (2×3)
Movies
- Star Trek: The Motion Picture
- Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn
- Star Trek III: The Quest for Spock
- Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
- Star Trek (2009)
- Star Trek Into Darkness