Star Trek Changed TOS’ Most Hilarious Running Joke

Star Trek: The Original Series is famous for killing off red shirts, but Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has changed this with its own trope in its prequel era. Directed by Andi Armaganian and written by Onitra Johnson and Davy Perez, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3, episode 5, "Through the Lens of Time," brings a USS Enterprise landing party to an ancient temple on Vadia Nine.

Regularly killing off red shirts - named for the Stararfleet uniform color worn by USS Enterprise security officers - has been a hilarious Star Trek: The Original Series trope for decades. Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) often beams onto an alien planet accompanied by red shirts, who are swiftly and violently dispatched. It's one of Star Trek's oldest and most celebrated running jokes.

However, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has made a subtle adjustment to TOS' red shirt trope, so that a different kind of disaster awaits a certain type of USS Enterprise officer when they beam onto a strange new world.

Strange New Worlds Changed Star Trek: The Original Series' Red Shirt Running Joke

Landing Party Missions Are Now Worth Avoiding

Instead of killing off red shirts, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has made joining your first landing party mission its running joke, because they have turned out to be tragic. In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, Lt. Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia) yearned to leave the Enterprise for her first away mission. When she finally got her wish, Ortegas was abducted by the Gorn and nearly died trying to escape.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3, episode 5, sent a giddy Ensign Dana Gamble (Chris Myers) on his first landing party mission to Vadia Nine. Moments after entering the M'Kroon's ancient temple, Gamble is blinded by an artifact. Upon beaming back to the Starship Enterprise, it quickly becomes clear Gamble was possessed by a malevolent entity called the Vezda.

Tragically, Ensign Gamble was killed by the Vezda's takeover of his body. Although Dana's mentor, Dr. Joseph M'Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) refused to believe it, Gamble and his memories were just a shell the Vezda used to attempt to take over the Enterprise and manipulate its crew. Strange New Worlds has quickly made first landing party missions something to avoid,

Why First Landing Party Missions Have Become Star Trek’s New Red Shirt Trope

Strange New Worlds Does Still Kill Red Shirts

As a prequel, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has enjoyed evoking and planting seeds for Star Trek: The Original Series without walking in lockstep with the future voyages of Captain Kirk's Starship Enterprise. Killing red shirts is synonymous with Star Trek: The Original Series, and that trope is still to come after Kirk takes over the Enterprise from Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount).

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds hasn't made a big deal about how terrible first landing party missions seem to be, but the evidence has always been there. Lt. Sam Kirk (Dan Jeannotte) was quickly injured in his first away mission in Strange New Worlds episode 2, "Children of the Comet." Ensign Zac Nguyen (David Huynh) went insane after Captain Pike accidently left him behind on an away mission to Rigel IV.

To be fair to Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, red shirt security officers have also died in the prequel. The Vezda killed red shirts as it tried to hijack the Enterprise. But overall, it appears safer to be a red shirt than to beam down on your first landing party mission in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.