How Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 Embraces Its Tricky Canon Growth
The cast of Strange New Worlds teases the new frontiers of Season 3.
The Star Trek universe has been pushing boundaries for nearly 60 years, introducing strange new worlds, earthly utopias, and wild alien species to science fiction. And as Strange New Worlds enters its third season, the cast is fully aware how fan expectations sometimes bump up against the show’s strange, new canon. To unpack how the crew of the Enterprise is feeling about arcs of their various characters, Inverse caught up with some of the cast to get their takes on the state of the Final Frontier as Strange New Worlds Season 3 kicks things into warp drive. No spoilers ahead.
For all its capacity for novelty, it's notable that, until now, the franchise has never cast an actual Scotsman to play Scotty, one of its most iconic characters. That irony is not lost one bit on Martin Quinn, the third actor to take on the role of Montgomery Scott in the third season of Strange New Worlds.
“I keep saying this, but it’s daunting because the fans have such an idea of Scotty in their head,” Quinn tells Inverse.
Whether it’s the original Scotty, played by James Doohan in the original Star Trek, or Simon Pegg, who took over the role in J.J. Abrams’ 2009 reboot, everyone has a favorite. While Quinn does have something of an edge as a native Scot, he confesses to feeling out of place — even in a series where characters switch bodies and spontaneously burst into song.
“It’s nice because in a way I’ve brought my own accent to it, trying to bring myself to it,” he continues. “But at the same time... sometimes I get a bit of impostor syndrome whenever I’m speaking in my own accent. It breaks the magic sometimes for me. But it also keeps it grounded and real, so I don’t know... It’s messing with my mind.”
Quinn admits to feeling “imposter syndrome” about taking over the Scotty mantle.
Quinn’s Scotty was introduced at the end of Strange New Worlds Season 2, and though his role was brief, it did pitch the series into a new era. From a metatextual perspective, his presence brings Strange New Worlds back down to Earth: it’s not always easy to remember that the show is a prequel, and one with a looming expiration date, at that. With Scotty joining the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise in Season 3, Strange New Worlds gets closer to the end of its five-year mission and the beginning of the original series. Though rumors have swirled about a reboot of the OG Star Trek with the relevant members of the Strange New Worlds cast, Quinn and his co-stars aren’t likely to take the next three seasons for granted.
“It is sort of bittersweet,” says Rebecca Romijn. “I think we’re really grateful to get to complete our five-year mission, which was what the intention was from the get-go.”
Romijn is especially grateful to have so much time with Una Chin-Riley, an auxiliary character from the original series. “It’s such an honor to really get to flesh out this character and find out who she is on a really deep level,” she adds. “She’s a character that was created 60 years ago by Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, and there wasn’t that much to go off of: she only had about 13 minutes of screen time. We really didn’t know who she was, and I feel like I’ve been honored with this great task of really exploring her.”
Season 3 will continue that growth for Una, and for the Starfleet officers under her charge. As initial trailers have teased, this season will boast “more romance” than its predecessors — but also surprising turns for characters like Lt. Ortegas (Melissa Navia) and Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding).
Season 3 will take some characters to darker places: “We’re all going through so much.”
“We spent the first two seasons with [Uhura] trying to figure out where her place is,” Gooding says. “By the time we get to Season 3, we see her very sure of herself in a way that allows her to be a bit more playful.”
Per Gooding, this new version of Uhura is a lot closer to the version fans recognize from the original series: “She’s moving from a place of curiosity instead of a place of avoidance... We still have a ways to go, [but] definitely growing and coming into her own in a really exciting way.”
Ortegas, meanwhile, will be grappling with some unresolved trauma — a common theme in the show — after her brush with the Gorn in the Season 3 premiere. “We’re definitely going to see sides to her that we haven’t seen before,” Navia says. “We’re all going through so much, yet we’re still showing up to work.”
“Somehow,” Gooding adds wryly.
The finish line may be in sight, but the adventures are far from over for the Enterprise crew.
