We're less than a month out from the return of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Ahead of reuniting with the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise, the creatives behind the hit series reminded us where we left off, how it connects to legacy of Star Trek, and hint at where we're heading!
During the world premiere at Tribeca Festival, executive producers Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers, along with some of the cast, engaged in a conversation led by moderator Eric Deggans.
Honoring Star Trek's Two-Parters
At the end of the Season 2 finale, "Hegemony," the U.S.S. Enterprise is faced with four enemy ships, including a Gorn Destroyer, outside of Federation space. The Gorn have taken hundreds of survivors from the colony Parnassus Beta along with crew members from the Enterprise's landing party. Unfortunately for Captain Pike, the Enterprise had just received a priority message from Starfleet — the crew is to stand down and immediately withdraw, before the words "To Be Continued..." appeared on-screen.
"Having grown up loving Trek," shared Myers, "nothing made me happier than something like 'The Best of Both Worlds' Part I and II. It's Part I and II that I love where, at the end, do you discover there's going be another part."
"The part I was really excited to do because it was always my favorite thing to do," Myers continued, "was when they show the second part, and they start with the 'Previously on,' and then say, 'Now the conclusion….' There is nothing, as a Star Trek fan, there's nothing I like more. We were not going to be a doing a bunch of episodes that you have to watch all of to follow. This was, we set up the story, and we finish the story.”
Expanding the Gorn Lore
"Hegemony, Part II"
For both Myers and Goldsman, their fascination with the Gorn began in childhood. On showing how formidable of the foe is on Strange New Worlds, "What I loved about the Gorn was that it was an opportunity to retcon something into a real monster," stated Goldsman.
"What we do in Star Trek and, you'll see, we only do it with the Gorn, is that we start by seeing the other. And often, we end by engaging our empathy and understanding common ground. That's great, and it doesn't mean that there isn't real evil in the world. And so, what we wanted to do with the Gorn is give you a monster that at least at first seemed irredeemable."
Christine Dinh (she/her) is the managing editor for StarTrek.com. She’s traded the Multiverse for helming this Federation Starship.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., the U.K., Latin America, Australia, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Japan. The series is also available on Paramount+ in Canada. It streams on SkyShowtime in the Nordics, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and Central and Eastern Europe. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.
