After 57 Years, Star Trek Finally Made Captain Kirk's Forgotten Talent Mean Something

One of Captain James T. Kirk's skills finally mattered in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds after 57 years. William Shatner originated Captain Kirk. In Star Trek's Prime timeline, Paul Wesley plays the younger version of Shatner's Captain, Lieutenant James T. Kirk, on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, a prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series. Chris Pine also played Captain Kirk in the alternate Kelvin timeline of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies. But for the first time, Strange New Worlds applied a Kirk skill first glimpsed when the Captain of the Enterprise was introduced.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 3, "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" introduced another alternate reality version of Captain Kirk played by Paul Wesley. When time-traveling Romulans alter Star Trek's Prime timeline, Lieutenant La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) and Captain Kirk team up to set time right. Kirk and La'an time-travel to 21st-century Toronto, where the two space heroes are immediately faced with harsh realities like Canada's bitter cold and the need for food and shelter. Luckily, Captain Kirk has the skills to save his and La'an's lives.

Captain Kirk’s Skill At Chess Finally Mattered In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

The Captain's Gambit saved Kirk and La'an

In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 3, "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow," Captain Kirk's skill at chess earns him and La'an Noonien-Singh enough money for food and a hotel room as they investigate the temporal attack on 21st-century Toronto. James hustles several people at outdoor chess, which he says is "for idiots" compared to the three-dimensional chess Kirk mastered in the 23rd century. Kirk's prowess at chess is the only "marketable 21st-century skill" he and La'an have, and 'the Captain's Gambit' is the key to how they were able to survive in the past.

When Captain James T. Kirk is first introduced in Star Trek: The Original Series' second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before," he's playing three-dimensional chess with Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy). Spock and Kirk's interplay is established in this early Star Trek scene, showing that the Captain of the USS Enterprise and his Vulcan Science Officer are well-matched intellectually. However, Captain Kirk's skill at chess doesn't significantly factor again throughout the rest of Star Trek: The Original Series' TV episodes or movies, until Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2.

Chess Shows How Intelligent Captain Kirk Really Is

Kirk's braininess is also part of his character.

After nearly 60 years of Star Trek, Captain Kirk has become an indelible part of pop culture, but he's not always recognized for his keen intelligence. William Shatner's unique acting style is often what people know about Captain Kirk, as well as Jim's reputation as a womanizer and a risk-taker. These traits were particularly highlighted by Chris Pine's Captain Kirk in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies. But while Kirk does like to go where angels fear to tread, and Jim has a way with the opposite sex, the Captain of the Enterprise is also extremely smart.

It's also part of Star Trek canon that the young James T. Kirk was "a stack of books with legs" when he was both a student and an instructor at Starfleet Academy. The bright and learned Kirk is Paul Wesley who embodies on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Wesley's Captain Kirk isn't always crazy about rules when they hinder his ambitions, but Kirk also has to know the rules backward and forward in order to break them. Captain Kirk being a whiz at chess was part of his character from the beginning, and it took 57 years for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds to finally make his skills count.