After 3 Years, Star Trek Is Finally Delivering The Perfect Story For This Strange New Worlds Hero

After three years, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is finally delivering a story worthy of Melissa Navia's Lieutenant Erica Ortegas. Unlike the legacy characters in the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds cast, Lieutenant Ortegas is a brand-new character, so fans are still learning about her. When Ortegas didn't get a spotlight episode in Strange New Worlds' first season, we hoped that we'd see an Ortegas-centric entry in season 2.

While that didn't happen either, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is setting up a brilliant character arc for Lieutenant Ortegas in season 3. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3, episode 3, "Shuttle to Kenfori", directed by Dan Liu and written by Onitra Johnson and Bill Wolkoff, shows exactly how being kidnapped by the Gorn at the end of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 is affecting not just Ortegas, but the whole Enterprise crew.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Ortegas Story Was Worth The 3-Year Wait

Ortegas' Story Needed Time To Build Over Strange New Worlds' First 2 Seasons

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Erica Ortegas story was worth the three-year wait. In Strange New Worlds season 3's premiere, "Hegemony, Part II", Ortegas is alive, but not well. Erica is missing parts of a hand, gets stabbed through the abdomen, and nearly bleeds out while piloting a Gorn shuttle to safety. Ortegas heals up after returning to the Enterprise, but only physically.

There are a few more hints that Ortegas isn't okay in Strange New Worlds season 3, episode 2, "Wedding Bell Blues", but none more telling than Erica's constant training with a punching bag. Ortegas' rage-fueled workout is capped by the image of a Gorn in the gym window: a reflection of the imaginary enemy in Erica's mind.

Lieutenant Ortegas' story comes to a head in "Shuttle to Kenfori", in which Navia's performance makes it clear that Ortegas' trauma informs her every move. Ortegas covers up the fear that she's still damaged by going out of her way to show off her fancy flying, as if to prove that she's better than fine. While discussing how to rescue Dr. Joseph M'Benga (Babs Olasunmokun) and Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), Erica is on-edge, itching to do more than crawl towards Kenfori for six hours.

Ortegas can't hide her trauma anymore when Commander Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) spots Erica's deliberate mistake. It's telling that Ortegas is willing to risk M'Benga and Pike's safety by foregoing cautious orders in favor of a quick, but risky, plan warping into Kenfori's troposphere. This isn't about them; it's about Erica trying to avoid the pain of being captured again. If Ortegas flies fast enough, maybe she can outrun her demons—right?

What Ortegas’ Gorn Trauma Means For Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Ortegas' Strange New Worlds Story Would Spotlight Veterans' Mental Health Issues

Based on the first three episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3, I can see why Ortegas didn't get a full episode in earlier seasons. We're getting Ortegas' story doled out in a steady drip throughout Strange New Worlds' third season. That flow is turned up from season 2, which was laced with Ortegas' backstory as a Starfleet veteran, with hints at Erica's psychological scars and anti-Klingon sentiments.

Ortegas doesn't appear in Star Trek: The Original Series, so we don't know where Ortegas' story is going. But I hope we see Lieutenant Ortegas retiring—not dying—before the end of Strange New Worlds, based on PTSD after the trauma of the Klingon War and her Gorn capture. Going from masking fear with bravado to admitting she needs help would be a fantastic character arc for Ortegas, and a win for Star Trek portraying robust mental health treatment in the future.

That said, I still hope that the promise of Erica Ortegas' spotlight episode in Strange New Worlds season 3 is legit. Lieutenant Ortegas is a standout character in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and Melissa Navia clearly has the chops to carry an entire episode that brings Ortegas' struggles to the forefront.