With Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck) and Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush) still caught in an impossible love triangle, the sickbay of Captain Christopher Pike’s (Anson Mount) USS Enterprise is going to be full of drama on Strange New Worlds season 3. Since Dr. M’Benga can be a somewhat closed-off character, he will need someone to talk to in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3. I think that bringing back this one character from Strange New Worlds season 1 would be the perfect opportunity for Dr. M’Benga to open up.
Rukiya M'Benga Should Return In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3
Rukiya Is The Best Person For The Doctor To Talk To
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 should bring back Dr. M'Benga's daughter, Rukiya (Sage Arrindell & Makambe Simamba). In Strange New Worlds season 1, Rukiya suffered from a fatal disease and Dr. M'Benga secretly kept her in transporter stasis while he searched for a cure. Ultimately, however, Rukiya joined a non-corporeal entity named Debra, allowing her consciousness to live on even if her body could not. While this was the best outcome Rukiya could have hoped for, her new destiny has left Dr. M'Benga alone on the Enterprise.
In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, that loneliness was readily apparent. Dr. M'Benga repeatedly had to use his combat experience from Star Trek: Discovery's Klingon War in Strange New Worlds season 2. It is clear that most of Dr. M'Benga's feelings about the war are unresolved, simmering beneath the surface. Dr. M'Benga killing Ambassador Dak'Rah is something that the former Starfleet assassin does not talk about, even covering up his actions from Captain Pike.
Bringing back Rukiya would give Dr. M'Benga someone to talk to, and it would make him less alone in the universe. Rukiya's transformation into an incorporeal being allowed her to experience time differently, growing from a child to an adult in a matter of moments. If Dr. M'Benga has the opportunity to speak to his adult daughter, it will give him a chance to open up in a way that is otherwise impossible in Strange New Worlds. That is exactly the sort of story that I want to see in Strange New Worlds season 3.
Bringing Back Rukiya Would Bring Strange New Worlds Closer To Star Trek: The Original Series
We Already Know Dr. M'Benga Won't Be Chief Medical Officer Forever
One of the biggest looming questions in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is what will happen to Dr. M'Benga. Star Trek: The Original Series is the inevitable future of Strange New Worlds, and Dr. M'Benga is not the Chief Medical Officer of the USS Enterprise under Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner). By 2265, Dr. Mark Piper (Paul Fix) had taken over as the Enterprise's Chief Medical Officer under Captain Kirk, and Dr. M'Benga became a general Enterprise physician under CMO Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (DeForest Kelley).
Even if I don't want to see Dr. McCoy in Strange New Worlds, at some point, Dr. M'Benga will have to step down from his current position. The obvious thing to do would be have Dr. M’Benga face disciplinary action for killing Dak’Rah, but it would be more unexpected and more interesting if Dr. M’Benga’s step-down was voluntary. Spending some time with Rukiya would give Dr. M'Benga the perfect excuse to take a step back from the Enterprise, making room for the eventual future story of Star Trek.
Ultimately, Strange New Worlds is all about telling the story of the Enterprise leading up to Star Trek: The Original Series. While I hope that Strange New Worlds takes its time and keeps telling new, original, stories, bringing back Rukiya would give Dr. M'Benga an elegant excuse to take a step back from sickbay. So, when Star Trek: Strange New Worlds releases on Paramount+ in July, I will be keeping my eyes peeled for Rukiya M'Benga.
