star trek james t kirk love interest

Captain Kirk’s Colorful Romantic History Exploring His Most Memorable Love Interests

C aptain James T. Kirk, portrayed by William Shatner, captivated audiences with his adventurous spirit and charming demeanor throughout his tenure on Star Trek: The Original Series. Renowned as a ladies’ man, Kirk’s romantic escapades with a myriad of characters, both human and alien, remain a defining aspect of his character. From fleeting encounters to poignant relationships, Kirk’s love life was as dynamic as the galaxies he explored.

Captain James T. Kirk, portrayed by William Shatner, remains one of the most iconic characters in television history, known not only for his daring exploits in space but also for his romantic escapades. Throughout the original Star Trek series and beyond, Kirk encountered a myriad of love interests, each adding depth to his character and the stories they inhabited.

Kirk’s Charm and Charisma

From the very beginning of Star Trek: The Original Series, Captain Kirk’s charisma and charm were evident, making him irresistible to many women he encountered. Whether human or alien, Kirk’s approach to romance was often bold and adventurous, reflecting his adventurous spirit in exploring the cosmos.

Romantic Encounters and Relationships

Kirk’s romantic history is as diverse as the galaxies he explored. Characters like Eve McHuron, Helen Noel, and Lenore Karidian represent just a few of the women who crossed paths with the charismatic captain. Each encounter brought its own set of challenges and complexities, showcasing Kirk’s ability to navigate both the dangers of space and matters of the heart.

Notable Romances

Among Kirk’s most notable romances is his ill-fated relationship with Sister Edith Keeler in the episode “The City on the Edge of Forever.” Their connection transcended time itself but ultimately ended in tragedy, highlighting the sacrifices Kirk often made in the line of duty.

Similarly, Kirk’s encounters with characters like Janice Lester and Rayna Kapec showcased the complexities of love and desire, sometimes leading to betrayal or heartbreak. However, Kirk’s capacity for forgiveness and understanding remained unwavering, even in the face of adversity.

Legacy and Impact

Captain Kirk’s romantic escapades continue to captivate audiences, demonstrating the enduring appeal of his character and the timeless themes explored in Star Trek. As the franchise evolves with new series and films, Kirk’s legacy as a romantic hero endures, inspiring new generations of fans.

How many romantic interests did Captain Kirk have?

Captain Kirk encountered numerous romantic interests throughout “Star Trek: The Original Series” and beyond, with each interaction contributing to his character development.

Were all of Captain Kirk’s relationships romantic?

While many of Kirk’s interactions were romantic in nature, some, like his professional collaborations, friendships, and familial connections, explored different facets of his character beyond romance.

Which romantic interest had the most significant impact on Captain Kirk?

Each romantic interest in Captain Kirk’s life contributed uniquely to his character arc, with relationships like those with Edith Keeler and Carol Marcus holding particular significance in the series and films.

• Search Please fill out this field.
• Newsletters
• Sweepstakes

Star Trek: The most important moments in Captain Kirk's life

Entertainment Geekly: A talk with David A. Goodman, author of 'The Autobiography of James T. Kirk'

It’s been almost half a century since the first appearance of James Tiberius Kirk, the first Star Trek captain and ( in my humble opinion ) still the finest onscreen expression of the franchise’s brash utopian idealism. Played memorably across the decades by William Shatner, Kirk aged onscreen from a bold risk-taking Captain to an older, faintly melancholic Admiral. Along the way, he had a series of intergalactic adventures that boggle the mind — even moreso today, when we’ve become adjusted to a more grounded form of science-fiction adventure.

“Kirk meets Lincoln and has a fistfight with Genghis Khan, in one episode! In another episode, he’s on a planet of the Nazis! On another episode, he meets the Greek God Apollo!” That’s David A. Goodman, a TV writer with a long Trek history as both fan and creator. The longtime Family Guy producer worked on Star Trek: Enterprise and, more importantly, wrote “Where No Fan Has Gone Before,” the Futurama episode that lavishly parodied the original Trek series with meticulous shirt-ripping detail.

Goodman’s encyclopedic knowledge of Trek led him to write the faux-historic Star Trek Federation: The First 150 Years . His new project shifts from macro to (relatively) micro. The Autobiography of James T. Kirk is a first-person perspective on Captain Kirk’s life, with the legendary starship commander narrating his own life story. (The foreword is “written” by Dr. McCoy.)

Of course, attempting to wrangle all the far-flung bits of Trek lore into a genuine chronological retelling of Kirk’s life wasn’t easy. (That’s not to mention the rebooted Trek series with Chris Pine as Kirk — an “alternate universe” that Autobiography sidesteps.) “I was in a box created by other writers,” Goodman laughs. “In at least two of the movies, you find out he got promoted to admiral, and the arc is him finding his way back to being a captain.” In narrative context, it doesn’t make much sense. But, as Goodman points out, “In the context of life, it’s like: ‘Boy, this guy keeps doing the same thing over again.’ We get in ruts. We do the same stupid things over and over again.”

When it came to writing the book, Goodman focused on a few key moments from Kirk’s onscreen life as entryways into Kirk’s psychology:

‘The City on the Edge of Forever’

“A very famous episode , where he goes back to the 1930s and falls in love with Edith Keeler. He has to let her die in order to let history be saved — a wonderful hero’s story. But you start thinking about that realistically, that would be really traumatic! That lasts a long time. That might be what keeps him from getting seriously involved with a woman ever again.”

‘The Ultimate Computer,’ ‘Where No Man Has Gone Before,’ and ‘Shore Leave’

“There’s a scene where a commodore refers to Kirk as ‘Captain Dunsail’ [pronounced ‘dunsel’ and explained as a Starfleet Academy insult]. It said something to me about how Roddenberry or the writers viewed the Academy life: They were kind of bullies. They were hazing lowerclassmen. That was something that, on examining, I had to face the truth of it. Kirk, too, as you examine him and his past, every description of him as a young man in the original series was that he was a nerd. Gary Mitchell, his best friend from the Academy, says he was ‘stack of books with legs.’ He had this bully, Finnegan, who gave him a hard time all the way through school. Kirk, as a character, is a nerd’s wish fulfillment: He used to be a nerd, and now he’s getting laid, kicking ass, flying the fastest spaceship. He’s a different person now than he was then.”

‘The Omega Glory’

“Kirk literally reads the preamble to the United States Constitution. It’s not a favorite episode among the fans, but that whole scene connects Kirk to our era. He had this reverence for America. Here’s this guy in the future, and the American government — which no longer exists in Kirk’s future! — is still this great important thing.”

Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan

“We found out that he had this son, David. If you do the math, as many other geeks besides myself have done, that kid was alive when Kirk was captain of the Enterprise during the original series. So that means Kirk is an absent father. In Star Trek 2 , it’s clear the mom didn’t want him around. And as fans, we like the fact that he’s married to the ship. But when you think about him as a human being, that’s kind of tragic: How does a guy choose his career over home life?”

———————————————

The Autobiography of James T. Kirk by David Goodman is available now. If you want to tell me why Kirk isn’t the best captain, you’re wrong, but you can email me at darren_franich@ew.com, and I’ll respond in next week’s edition of the Geekly Mailbag.

Related Articles

Star Trek Episodes That Will Make You Love James T. Kirk

"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," the new hit series on Paramount+, revisits the five year mission of the USS Enterprise as commanded by Captain Christopher Pike, played by the absolutely lovable Anson Mount. Pike has endeared himself to fans by being the space dad of our dreams, a sweetheart who leads the Enterprise family by consensus and is always ready to support his crew with a kind ear and a bowl of pasta mama. So, when his successor, James T. Kirk, makes a surprise guest appearance on the first season finale, "A Quality of Mercy," Kirk comes across a bit cold and stiff by comparison.

While new Kirk actor Paul Wesley may not have made a strong impression with his version of the character just yet, there are plenty of episodes of "Star Trek: The Original Series" that can serve as a great introduction to space sci-fi's most famous captain. While certainly a product of the time in which he was created, Jim Kirk as originally portrayed by William Shatner is a remarkable and textured leading man, as capable of warmth and compassion as Pike but also burdened with the expectations of stern, authoritative 1960s masculinity. With Pike now existing as a reimagined, refurbished midcentury man, Kirk becomes all the more fascinating by comparison.

Here's a selection of standout episodes that demonstrate what made James T. Kirk such a beloved and memorable character, and why he's still some Trekkies' favorite captain of the Enterprise.

Where No Man Has Gone Before

"Strange New Worlds" picks up the adventures of Captain Pike, Number One, and Lt. Spock, all originally created for the first Star Trek pilot in 1965. When this pilot was rejected and Pike actor Jeffrey Hunter declined to return for a second attempt, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry retooled the series around a new character, Captain James T. Kirk, portrayed by Canadian actor William Shatner. While this might be surprising to fans of "Strange New Worlds," Shatner's Kirk is actually a warmer, softer character than Hunter's Pike. The second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before," introduces Kirk not only as a brave Starfleet Captain but as a caring friend, and presents him with a dilemma that pits these obligations against each other.

When we first meet James Kirk, he's not on giving orders on the bridge of the Enterprise, but invested in a friendly three-dimensional chess game against his first officer, Mr. Spock. As the story unfolds, Kirk confronts a challenge to another of his close friendships, when a mysterious space phenomenon endows his mentee Gary Mitchell with godlike powers and an arrogance to match. With Mitchell growing more powerful and more dangerous by the hour, can Kirk find a way to save both the Enterprise and his friend? If not, does he have the strength to do what's necessary?

While the triumvirate of "The Original Series" wouldn't be complete until the addition of Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy in the series proper, "Where No Man Has Gone Before" is also a first taste at the famous dynamic between Kirk and Spock, a constant push and pull between instinct and logic that would define both characters for decades to come.

The Corbomite Maneuver

All Starfleet captains, regardless of which series they're from, share certain noble characteristics. They're fearless, curious, and compassionate people, the finest examples of humanity even if they're not actually human themselves. Starfleet may prize truthfulness as its highest value, but there are times when scrupulous honesty can put a Captain or their crew at a disadvantage, and this is where James T. Kirk has the edge. When Kirk can't win the day by playing the rules, he's got no qualms against bending, breaking, or outright changing them to achieve victory.

In "The Corbomite Maneuver," the Enterprise is confronted by a massive alien craft whose captain, Balok, threatens to destroy them for accidentally intruding on his territory. Kirk faces an opponent who refuses to negotiate and has him both outmaneuvered and outgunned. He knows he can't beat Balok at his own game, but rather than admit defeat, he decides to try and bluff his way to victory, turning this from an interstellar chess match into poker. Kirk may not be holding the winning hand, but he doesn't need it so long as he has the confidence and cunning to convince his opponent otherwise.

Kirk shows off this talent for talking his way out of trouble numerous times throughout the series, but no episode better encapsulates his unique daring and charisma than "The Corbomite Maneuver," making it the most essential Kirk episode in all of Star Trek.

Balance of Terror

To fans of "Strange New Worlds," the classic 1966 episode "Balance of Terror" should be instantly familiar. This is the story to which Captain Pike is catapulted through time in the first season finale, "A Quality of Mercy." Here, the USS Enterprise is called to respond to an crisis on an old Earth border outpost, which has been destroyed in a sneak attack by their ancient enemy, the Romulan Empire . Just like in "A Quality of Mercy," the Enterprise must race to catch the cloaked Romulan vessel before it escapes into its home territory, but with Kirk in the captain's chair, the rest of the story plays out a bit differently.

"Balance of Terror" is a great submarine story in space that highlights the senselessness of military conflict, but it's also a great showcase for Jim Kirk as both a commander and as a human being. In times of overwhelming pressure, the crew of the Enterprise looks to their captain for stability and certainty, and it's Kirk's job to give it to them. Of course, deep down, he's as vulnerable and imperfect as everyone else, but he hides his self-doubt from his subordinates in order to protect both his image and their confidence.

The episode's true stroke of genius is when the perspective shifts to show us that the commander of the Romulan vessel is coping with that same stress. While Kirk may be more aggressive than Pike, he's still capable of seeing himself in his opponent. "Balance of Terror" challenges its audience to do the same, and recognize that one's true enemy is rarely the person across from them but the circumstances that put them at odds in the first place.

Though all of Star Trek's captains have seen their share of battle, none are as famous for throwing down as James T. Kirk. Like all good Starfleet officers, his goal is coexistence, not conquest, but he's also the last guy you'd want to challenge to a space battle or an old-fashioned fistfight. Kirk is unrelenting in any contest, armed with a sharp wit, a stiff punch, and a flagrant disregard for his own wardrobe.

Kirk finds himself locked in a number of life-and-death struggles throughout "The Original Series," and the most famous is his duel with the unnamed Gorn captain in the first season episode "Arena." After chasing his warship from the scene of a massacre at a Federation outpost, Kirk is trapped with his reptilian foe on the surface of a barren desert planet. Kirk has no weapons and no hope of defeating the Gorn hand-to-hand, and must use his intelligence and local resources to construct a means of victory. (This episode was released 20 years before the movie "Predator.") Of course, the Gorn of "The Original Series" isn't nearly as cool or scary than the reimagined version confronted by Pike's crew in "Strange New Worlds," but the campy aliens portrayed by stunt actors in rubber suits is part of the charm of classic Trek.

"Arena" may have the setup of a bloody action movie, but this is still Star Trek, and the episode's final message is one of peace and mercy. Kirk is a warrior, no question, but like all Starfleet heroes, he knows war is only ever a last resort.

A Taste of Armageddon

Not all of Jim Kirk's habits have aged terribly well, and one of them is nearly inseparable from the basic structure of "Star Trek." In the classic "Trek" formula, the alien cultures encountered by the Enterprise crew represent contemporary issues faced by the viewing audience, while Kirk and company represent an evolved future humanity that has already grown beyond them. Therefore, it's part of Kirk's narrative purpose to show up on some alien's doorstep and try to explain to them why their society is somehow broken. This often comes across as distastefully self-righteous, especially when he takes the job one step further and unilaterally upends an entire civilization so that they have no choice but to change their ways. No individual has the right to tell millions of people how to live their lives. However, Kirk's one-man revolutions are occasionally very cathartic as a power fantasy for viewers.

Nowhere is that more true than in "A Taste of Armageddon," in which Kirk and the Enterprise are declared as casualties in a simulated war between the planets Eminiar VII and Vendikar. The two worlds have been at war for centuries, so long that it's become a routine part of life. Rather than seek an end to their conflict, they've merely made it as convenient as possible, determining the death tolls of virtual bombings by computer and then ordering the citizens who have been "killed" to report to suicide booths. Kirk refuses to surrender his crew and decides to put a stop to this sanitized bloodbath once and for all, forcing Eminiar VII and Vendikar to choose between crafting a real peace or waging a real war.

Kirk may overstretch his authority, but he's never content to allow evil to triumph through his inaction.

The City on the Edge of Forever

If you mainly know Jim Kirk through cultural osmosis (or from the J.J. Abrams reboot), then you're likely aware of his reputation as a horndog. While it's true that Kirk has a lot of one-episode love interests over the course of the show's three seasons, the perception that he's led by his hormones has been greatly exaggerated through decades of parody and imitation. His behavior towards women doesn't always hold up terribly well through a modern lens — just as plenty of "romantic" storylines from the past can read as subtly or overtly predatory — but his fast and brief entanglements are a product of the show's format, not the character's intentions.

Jim Kirk might never find a partner who he loves more than the Enterprise (unless you count Spock), but there's one woman in particular who truly steals his heart. In the acclaimed episode "The City on the Edge of Forever," Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are thrown back in time to the early 1930s, where Jim meets a visionary social worker named Edith Keeler. Jim falls deeply in love with Edith for her generosity and brilliance, but destiny has other plans for both of them.

The romance with Edith allows us a glimpse at the quiet and tender side of Jim Kirk, the part of him that might have been satisfied living a more normal life away from the grave responsibilities of command. But, it's those very same responsibilities that keep Jim and Edith apart, as their respective roles in the future make their continued relationship impossible.

Mr. Spock may have gone on to feature in many stories without Captain Kirk — alongside the likes of Jean-Luc Picard, Michael Burnham, and Christopher Pike — but it's still very hard to imagine Captain Kirk without Mr. Spock. On "The Original Series," Kirk, Spock, and McCoy essentially act as three parts of a single character, with Spock representing pure logic, McCoy representing raw emotion, and Kirk representing the reason necessary to reconcile the two. The friendship between them is the beating heart of the show, and Kirk's loyalty to Spock is one of his most endearing characteristics as well as the source of his most shining moments.

In "Amok Time," Spock is struck by pon farr, the irresistible urge to return home to Vulcan to mate with his estranged wife, T'Pring. Since pon farr can be fatal if not satisfied, Kirk violates direct orders from Starfleet to rush Spock back to Vulcan. The situation gets more complicated when T'Pring announces that she's selected a new mate: Kirk. This twist leads the friends into mortal ritual combat, during which Kirk must find a way to save both himself and his friend, whose condition has driven him mad beyond reason.

Kirk may not let most of his crew as close to his heart as Christopher Pike does on "Strange New Worlds," but he'll still go to any lengths to protect them, and that goes double for Spock. Their bond is unbreakable by time or death, and is part of what makes them two of the greatest television characters of all time.

The Trouble with Tribbles

There's no denying that Jim Kirk is arrogant and self-important, and that this can be an obstacle to enjoying him as a character. So, it's no surprise that one of the most famous and beloved episodes of "Star Trek: The Original Series" shows Kirk being knocked down a peg and thrust into a truly embarrassing situation. In "The Trouble with Tribbles," the Enterprise is assigned to protect a crate full of grain bound for a disputed planet, a task for which Kirk believes he is utterly overqualified. The mission becomes further complicated when both the Enterprise and the nearby space station become infested with adorable, rapidly-multiplying critters called Tribbles. Add in a dust-up with the Klingons and the incessant complaining of an agricultural bureaucrat, and you're looking at James T. Kirk's most agonizing and humiliating workweek ever.

"The Trouble with Tribbles" is the first attempt to twist "Star Trek" into the shape of a workplace comedy, a genre in which many subsequent series have dabbled since. (The animated "Star Trek: Lower Decks" is basically "The Trouble with Tribbles: The Series.") Here, Kirk is a put-upon middle manager presiding over a fiasco that's outside his interests and beyond his control. Rarely have Kirk and company been more relatable than here, far from the high stakes and moral dilemmas of most episodes. It sucks, but they're trying their best to enjoy themselves at work.

It helps that William Shatner and the entire cast are in rare form in this episode, clearly relishing the chance to show off their versatility as comic actors. The success of "The Trouble with Tribbles" would assure that the franchise would afford them more such opportunities in the future, to varying degrees of success.

A Piece of the Action

If "The Trouble with Tribbles" is a story in which Captain Kirk is forced to take a silly situation seriously, "A Piece of the Action" lets Kirk — not just William Shatner, but Kirk himself — dive headfirst into the silliness. In this episode, the Enterprise makes contact with an alien planet and discovers that, thanks to the accidental influence of an Earth ship a century prior, its society has modeled itself into a caricature of 1920s Gangland Chicago. The people of Sigma Iotia II wear pinstripe suits, carry Tommy guns, and speak in the cartoonish slang of early James Cagney talkies.

Where Kirk spends "The Trouble with Tribbles" under the tiresome supervision of Federation bureaucrats, "A Piece of the Action" lets him tackle this bizarre scenario as he pleases, and he chooses to simply go with it. By the end of the episode, Kirk is dressed up in a period outfit and doing a funny voice, and he's got Spock doing it, too. While his strategy for repairing the cultural contamination of Sigma Iotia II once again sees him overreaching his authority by light years, it's undeniably fun to watch him confront an absurd problem by equally absurd means.

Moreover, "A Piece of the Action" represents a quality of the original "Star Trek" that so many of its descendants have struggled to recapture: It lets you have fun with the characters. "Star Trek" is and should be serious business a lot of the time, but ending the occasional episode on a punchline and a freeze frame can be a breath of fresh air that brings the audience a little closer to the characters.

Return to Tomorrow

If you're familiar with "Return to Tomorrow," you might find it a surprising inclusion on a list of episodes about Captain Kirk. After all, Jim spends much of the hour possessed by the spirit of another life-form, the ancient alien Sargon. In this story, Kirk, Spock, and astro-biologist Lt. Commander Ann Mulhall agree to allow three non-corporeal beings to inhabit their bodies while they construct their new, permanent robot forms. The plan goes awry, of course, putting all three officers' lives in jeopardy and leaving Jim Kirk's mind trapped in a glowing plastic sphere for a solid twenty minutes.

However, it's what Kirk does in the first half of the episode that solidifies it as one of his best, as he delivers a passionate speech about the value of embracing danger for the sake of discovery. Lending a helping hand to three stranded immortals has a value beyond simple decency, as the androids that Sargon plans to create represent a massive scientific breakthrough for the Federation. Kirk argues that this is exactly the sort of danger that he and all of Starfleet exists to face.

"Risk is our business," Kirk concludes. "That's what this starship is all about. That's why we're aboard her."

In the space of 100 seconds, Captain Kirk succinctly summarizes the spirit of adventure and curiosity that drives all of "Star Trek," a rousing call to action who all who are willing to take a chance on a better tomorrow.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

While his 79 episodes of "Star Trek: The Original Series" allowed audiences to explore multiple facets of Captain James T. Kirk, the conventions of 1960s television made it impossible for him to demonstrate any real growth. Kirk is always the same man at the beginning of every episode of "Star Trek," no matter what happened the week before. It wasn't until the feature film series, which began a decade after the TV show was canceled, that Kirk was afforded the luxury of deconstruction and evolution.

1982's "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" finds a now Admiral Kirk suffering from a mid-life crisis. "The Wrath of Khan" takes each criticism one might have of Kirk on "The Original Series" and turns them into a new challenge. Because he's routinely cheated death, he doesn't know how to face it. Because he's married to his work, he's never met his son. And because he rides off into the sunset after each adventure without ever looking back, he's left a huge mess in his wake. When Khan, the antagonist from a classic episode that Kirk has all but forgotten, comes looking for revenge, Kirk must face the dire consequences of his arrogance.

Even 40 years later, "Wrath of Khan" remains the single essential film in the entire Star Trek franchise, not only for being a rousing adventure in its own right, but for humanizing one of television's most legendary characters better than any story before or since.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

After three more sober installments of the feature film series, "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" was the first to deliberately engage in the light-hearted fun of the classic show's comedy episodes. The story sends Kirk, Spock, and company to the contemporary setting of 1984 San Francisco to retrieve a pair of humpback whales and bring them forward to save the future. In contrast to the rest of the films in the franchise, "The Voyage Home" has no deliberate violence, only an urgent mission of peace and a lot of silly, fish-out-of-water comedy.

William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy spend much of the film as a vaudeville-style double act, with Kirk trying to fake his way though the modern world and Spock making zero effort to blend in. This is Shatner and Nimoy at their most adorable and entertaining, playing off of each other with an ease that can only be achieved with years of experience working together. Shatner also enjoys terrific chemistry with Catherine Hicks as marine biologist Dr. Gillian Taylor, portraying Kirk at his sweetest and most charming.

If "Wrath of Khan" is the film that deconstructs James T. Kirk, then "The Voyage Home" is the film that puts him back together, restoring the sense of joy and adventure that has made him a beloved icon for over 50 years.

• Entertainment
• How Kirk and Spock’s Relationship Held <i>Star Trek</i> Together

How Kirk and Spock’s Relationship Held Star Trek Together

Excerpted from TIME’s Star Trek: Inside the Most Influential Science-Fiction Series Ever . Available at retailers and at Amazon.com .

Leonard Nimoy and I certainly didn’t start our journey as close friends. Rather, like the other members of our cast, we were colleagues, feeling each other out, learning our professional strengths and weaknesses and trying to bring our A game to the show. The friendships that developed initially were in the scripts: the relationship between Kirk and Spock held the show together. The two of us were onscreen in almost every scene. Leonard described the relationship between these two characters as a “great sense of brotherhood. Spock was tremendously loyal and had a great appreciation for the talent and the leadership abilities of Kirk. He was totally devoted to seeing to it that whatever Kirk needed to be done got done.”

Conversely, Kirk relied on Spock unfailingly for his advice, knowing it would never be encumbered by any thoughts of personal gain or tempered by emotional constraints. But he also depended on him to share the burdens of command. With the exception of Dee Kelley’s McCoy, Kirk had to maintain the distance of command from the rest of the crew. That can be a lonely place if there is no outlet, and Spock provided that outlet for Kirk.

The first week we were on the air, there was one bag of mail. People were writing that they loved the show and asked for autographed pictures. That was encouraging. The second week we got three bags of mail. That was interesting. And then the deluge started, and in fact, it still hasn’t ended. We had not the slightest idea what we were creating; we were always fighting to stay on the air one more season, one more week.

What was surprising to me was that rather than Capt. James T. Kirk, the character who received the most attention, and the most fan mail, was Mr. Spock. This was long before Leonard and I became friends, and honestly, I hadn’t expected it, and I was not especially thrilled about it. I was being paid the largest salary, I was out front for the publicity, I had the most lines, my character’s fate carried the story line, my character got the girl and saved the ship. The natural flow of events should have been that Kirk would receive the most attention, not some alien with strange-looking ears.

But the spectacular performance Leonard gave occupied all that attention in the beginning. Mr. Spock fan clubs were formed. Newspapers and magazines ran features on this extraordinary new character. Gene Roddenberry, the show’s creator, got a memo from the network suggesting that Spock be featured in every story. My future was on the line, and that line seemed to be getting shaky. And so, for a few weeks, I was quite jealous. It bothered me so much that I went to Gene Roddenberry’s office to discuss it with him. Gene was the voice of good reason in this case. “Don’t be afraid of having other popular and talented people around you,” he said. “They can only enhance your performance. The more you work with these people, the better the show is going to be.” In other words, the more popular Spock became, the better it was for everyone, including me, and I settled down to that lovely fact.

Spock evolved as Leonard explored all the possibilities of the character. It was a considerably more complex task than usual because there were no recognizable hallmarks. This was a brand-new character in American culture; he was carving out the path. There was no traditional right or wrong; the audience would tell him what was true. So Leonard took great care to protect Spock. He explained to me once, “No one else is going to provide that consistency and continuity. If the writers gave me the line ‘Let’s make hay under the Vulcan moon,’ it was up to me to remind them that three episodes earlier Spock had mentioned that Vulcan had no moons.”

Most of the hallmarks that became associated with Spock, in particular the Vulcan neck pinch and the Vulcan salute, were entirely Leonard’s creation. In one of our first episodes, Kirk’s personality was split into good and evil, and evil Kirk was about to kill good Kirk. In the script, Spock was supposed to sneak up behind evil Kirk and knock him out by hitting him over the head with the butt of his phaser. Leonard wasn’t comfortable with that; brawling, banging someone in the head somehow seemed below Spock’s evolved personality. It was too 20th-century. So he suggested to the director that Spock had a special capability that allowed him to put enemies out of action with little physical exertion. The director was open to the concept.

Leonard and I sat down, and he told me what he had in mind: he would pinch my trapezius muscle, and I would collapse in a heap. I have no idea where that concept came from, but I was a professional actor; I knew how to fall down. Of course, it fit Spock perfectly: an advanced civilization would know where the vital nerves are located and have the physical strength to take advantage of that knowledge to incapacitate their enemy. We did the scene: Spock came up behind evil Kirk and pinched his trapezius, I dropped to the floor, and the Vulcan nerve pinch was born. For those people counting at home, fans of the show saw the Vulcan nerve pinch being used 34 different times. I wonder how many kids since then have had to suffer through the real pain of a Vulcan neck pinch.

The Vulcan salute has become recognized literally throughout the world. In this salute, the right hand is held up with the pinkie and ring finger touching but separated from the middle finger and forefinger, which also are touching, in a modified V-for-victory salute. It was created for the first episode of our second season, by which time Leonard had a strong understanding of Spock. In this episode, “Amok Time,” Spock has to return to Vulcan to fulfill a marriage betrothal that was arranged when he was a child. If he doesn’t return, he will die. This episode was written by the great science-fiction writer Theodore Sturgeon. This is the first time we have seen Spock on Vulcan, among the people of his race. In the script, he is greeted by the woman who is to conduct the marriage ceremony. Leonard suggested to the director that there needed to be some type of Vulcan greeting that would be appropriate. It would be the Vulcan version of a handshake, a kiss, a nod or bow, or a military salute. When the director agreed, Leonard had to create it. It was not an especially easy thing to envision. It needed to be unlike any traditional greeting, but it couldn’t be at all comical. As he often did, Leonard drew on his own life to find it.

There is a gesture he had first seen when he was 8 years old, when he went with his grandfather, father and brother to an Orthodox synagogue, and he had never forgotten it. In Jewish Orthodox tradition, during the benediction, the Shechinah, which very roughly means the feminine counterpart to God, enters the sanctuary to bless the congregation. The Shechinah is so powerful that simply looking at it could cause serious or even fatal injury. So worshipers use this gesture, in which their fingers form the shape of the Hebrew letter shin to hide their eyes. The gesture always intrigued him. “I didn’t know what it meant for a long time,” he said. “But it seemed magical to me, and I learned how to do it.” Not only did he use it as the basis for the traditional Vulcan greeting in the episode, many years later he published a controversial book of naked glamorous women wearing religious symbols, titled Shekhina. The gesture immediately caught on. Fans of the show started greeting him with it on the street—without realizing they were blessing each other.

Several of Spock’s phrases also have become part of the general culture, but none of them are as widely known as the four words said when giving the Vulcan salute that have come to have such deep meaning: “Live long and prosper.” They were written by Theodore Sturgeon for the same episode and are now known by the abbreviation LLAP—which was the way Leonard ended all his own tweets.

Spock eventually became a lasting archetype for an unemotional person. Even decades later, when New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd wanted to make the point that President Obama was dispassionate and distant, she referred to him as Spock. Spock’s lack of emotion became a central theme of the show. In fact, a lot of the humor in the show came from the constant sparring between the very human Bones McCoy and Spock. In one episode, for example, Spock comments, “He reminds me of someone I knew in my youth.” To which the surprised Bones responds, “Why, Spock, I didn’t know you had one.”

It is difficult for people who aren’t actors to appreciate the talent it took to create a character that has become a part of American cultural history, the enigmatic Jay Gatsby of the 23rd century, destined to be played and interpreted by other actors. In less capable hands, it could have been a very one-dimensional role, but Leonard was able to create a dynamic inner life for Spock.

It resonated with audiences. Kids began wearing Spock ears, and Leonard received piles and piles of fan mail, far more than any of the other cast members. When he was out in public, people would greet him with a raised hand or wish him, “Live long and prosper.” On a different level, I experienced the same thing. People began addressing me as “Captain” or “Kirk.” That was a new experience for me. I’d had professional success, I’d played a role in some major movies, people recognized me, but I had never before been called by my character’s name. It was odd, and in some ways, it made me uncomfortable. I’m not quite sure why, but it did. I wondered, What is that all about? It’s crazy. So often I didn’t acknowledge it, or I disparaged it.

Perhaps the strangest thing was that eventually Leonard became somewhat ambivalent about his relationship with Spock. Spock made Leonard’s career. In each of the three years the show was on the air, Leonard was nominated for an Emmy for best supporting actor. TV Guide named Spock one of the 50 greatest characters in TV history. Leonard became well known and in demand because of the original series. But the new fear, replacing “I will never work again,” was that he was so strongly identified as Spock that he could never escape him.

For someone who proudly described himself as a character actor, being so strongly typecast he could not play other roles was a terrifying possibility. His first autobiography, published in 1975, was titled I Am Not Spock. The title, he explained, came from a meeting in an airport in which a woman introduced him to her daughter as Spock—although the child was never convinced. It also came from the publisher’s desire to profit from the popularity of Spock as well as create a little controversy. It was not, Leonard always insisted, meant to be a statement about his feelings about Spock, and he said if he ever had the opportunity to portray any fictional character, without hesitation he would choose Spock. And several years later, when he did write a second autobiography, it was titled I Am Spock. He had come full circle.

Adapted from Leonard , by Willam Shatner with David Fisher. Copyright 2016 by the authors and reprinted by permission of Thomas Dunne Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press, LLC.

More Must-Reads From TIME

• The 100 Most Influential People of 2024
• Coco Gauff Is Playing for Herself Now
• Scenes From Pro-Palestinian Encampments Across U.S. Universities
• 6 Compliments That Land Every Time
• If You're Dating Right Now , You're Brave: Column
• The AI That Could Heal a Divided Internet
• Fallout Is a Brilliant Model for the Future of Video Game Adaptations
• Want Weekly Recs on What to Watch, Read, and More? Sign Up for Worth Your Time

Contact us at [email protected]

• View history

In 2293 , upon being pulled into an extra-dimensional realm known as "the Nexus ," Kirk experienced a reality in which he was given a chance to change history, and chose to propose marriage to Antonia instead of leaving her. Later, he relived the day on which he initially met Antonia. Although these experiences initially led Kirk to choose to remain in the Nexus, seeing it as his opportunity to correct the mistakes of his past, he ultimately chose to leave upon realizing that the events he was experiencing were not, in fact, real, but rather an elaborate illusion. ( Star Trek Generations )

Stunt actress Lynn Salvatori as Antonia

External link [ ]

• Antonia Salvatori at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works

• More to Explore
• Series & Movies

Published Jun 14, 2022

Strange New Worlds 101: Romance

Love is one of the most powerful forces in the galaxy, after all

StarTrek.com

Spoilers for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode six to follow!

Welcome back to Strange New Worlds 101! We’re over halfway through the series now, and the show keeps getting better and better. This most recent episode, "Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach," followed the “ Spock Amok ” with a heartrending tale about sacrifice, focused on Pike as not only a captain but as a person beyond the uniform and rank — giving insight into Pike’s personal life a little better.

A Starfleet captain engaging in some romance isn’t unheard of. From Edith Keeler to Carol Marcus, even Captain James T. Kirk fell in love a few times throughout his Starfleet career. However, he never settled down with anyone except his loyal First Officer and crew. In The Next Generation , Picard tended to be more intellectual than romantic, but he still harbored feelings for Dr. Beverly Crusher. In his latest series, Star Trek: Picard , Jean-Luc’s personal feelings were the center of the second season, ultimately ending with him opening his heart to close friend Laris.

Deep Space Nine’s Benjamin Sisko mourned his wife for the first three seasons of Deep Space Nine and didn’t have time for romance (and with all the trouble Gul Dukat and Kai Winn were causing, who would?). But once being introduced to Kasidy Yates, Sisko opened his heart again and eventually wed Kasidy in the show’s final season. On the other hand, Janeway tended to keep her romances to her holonovels. Though she and Chakotay orbited each other throughout the early seasons of the show.

Jonathan Archer had a few romantic interests both prior to and during the show, but romance was never key to his journey as a captain on Star Trek: Enterprise . In the newer series, Star Trek: Discovery 's Captain Michael Burnham has had two key romantic relationships: one with Ash Tyler and the other with Cleveland “Book” Booker. On the Cerritos , Lower Decks ’ Captain Carol Freeman is happily married to an Admiral.

Needless to say, there’s room in the world for a captain to find love, even if only for an episode. Captain Pike is no exception. “Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach” features Pike reuniting with an old flame, Alora. The pair had previously met on Pike’s first mission to her world, where he saved her life. This time, Alora invites him to stay on her homeworld, which will help him avoid his preordained fate. However, after Pike sees the cost of her society’s peace, he cannot stay with her. The relationship ends on a tragic note, as many of the one-off episodes featuring a character romancing a series regular tend to.

Star Trek Power Couples Who Make Us Believe in Love

But Alora is not Pike’s only chance at love. There’s also a character we saw in the pilot, “Strange New Worlds,” who seems to have a piece of Pike’s heart. Captain Batel encouraged Pike to return to Starfleet, saying she hoped he wouldn’t be here when she returned from her latest mission. In the one scene we saw of them, they had a sweet bond, and hopefully Batel will make more of an appearance throughout the show.

And then there’s Vina. Vina is perhaps the great love of Pike’s life, and we’ve known her since the original pilot of The Original Series . In “The Cage,” as well as the two part episode “The Menagerie” in TOS that featured footage from “The Cage,” Pike meets fellow prisoner Vina after he is captured by the Talosians. After they escape, Vina chooses to remain behind on Talos IV. In the Star Trek: Discovery episode “If Memory Serves,” Pike returns to Talos IV and is reunited with his love in a way. The Talosians project Vina’s image onto the Discovery to speak to Pike, ending with her disappearing again.

Michael Gibson/CBS ©2018 CBS Interactive, Inc.

“The Menagerie Part 2” already reveals how Pike and Vina’s love story will end. After Spock steals the Enterprise during Kirk’s captaincy to deliver Pike to Talos IV, Pike is beamed to the surface where, through the mental powers of the Talosians, he is able to see Vina again and the pair are reunited.

Pike’s romances are just as star-crossed and dramatic as his predecessors. What’s your favorite romance featuring a captain? Let us know on social and in the meantime catch up on the latest episode recap here !

Get Updates By Email

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Latin America, Brazil, South Korea, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. In addition, the series airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave in Canada and on SkyShowtime in the Nordics, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and Central and Eastern Europe. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

• April 25, 2024 | Prep Begins For ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Season 3 Finale; Cast And Directors Share BTS Images
• April 25, 2024 | Jonathan Frakes Sees Opportunities With Streaming Star Trek Movies, Weighs In On “Filler Episodes”
• April 25, 2024 | Recap/Review: ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Reflects On Its Choices In “Mirrors”
• April 24, 2024 | Coffee Table Book On The ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Makeup Artistry Of Glenn Hetrick Coming In September
• April 24, 2024 | ‘William Shatner: You Can Call Me Bill’ Documentary Arrives On VOD On Friday

Terry Matalas Explains The “Return” Of James T. Kirk On ‘Star Trek: Picard’

| April 1, 2023 | By: Anthony Pascale 217 comments so far

One of the items stored at Daystrom Station in the Star Trek: Picard episode “The Bounty” has fans buzzing and speculating. Now showrunner Terry Matalas explains why they included the body of James T. Kirk in the collection and what it could mean for the future.

Kirk’s body is ready for a “return”… but not on Picard

Last weekend, Terry Matalas beamed in remotely to a panel held at GalaxyCon hosted by the Inglorious Treksperts, which they released as their latest podcast episode . The discussion covered each of the individual films from the Star Trek franchise and when they were talking about Star Trek: Generations and the death of James T. Kirk, Matalas chimed in with how this inspired him to update Kirk’s story:

Look, it’s not how I would have sent Kirk off, clearly, because I just put his body in Daystrom.

After teaming up to help Jean-Luc Picard, James T. Kirk was killed by Soran in Generations . Kirk’s body was buried by Picard on Veridian III under a pile of rocks. That was the last known location of Kirk’s body—until “The Bounty.”

Picard at Kirk’s grave in Generations

Since seeing Kirk’s body in Daystrom Station, many fans thought it was foreshadowing his potential return later on in the season. When you look very closely at the display of Kirk’s body, there was a mention of something called “Project Phoenix,” which some interpreted as a clue. When pressed by Altman to explain why they added Kirk to the story, Matalas dashed any hopes of seeing Kirk on the show:

Look, Kirk is dead. We figured, “Is his body really just under a pile of rocks on that planet?” We’re not committed… we’re not saying he is resurrected.

Kirk’s body stored at Daystrom in “The Bounty”

Matalas did say he feels bringing Kirk’s body back to Daystrom could set up a story of Kirk’s return in a future Star Trek :

Is it a tip of the hat to The Return , which is a wonderful book I recommend to all of you? Maybe. We just leave it open that someday some brilliant writer could do something. That could be an animated thing. That could be anything. It’s just to keep, as my friend Spock is fond of saying, “There are always possibilities.” That was the idea behind that.

Matalas mentioned The Return , a 1996 Star Trek novel written by William Shatner with Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens. The story picks up after Generations when the Romulans and Borg retrieve Kirk’s body from Veridian III and resurrect him using Borg technology and the Guardian of Forever. They want to use Kirk as a weapon to take on Jean-Luc Picard, but Spock eventually breaks Kirk from his brainwashing and the character lives on and has a number of new adventures through a series of novels over the next decade, ending with 2006’s Captain’s Glory .

Cover for The Return

Shatner weighs in

All the buzz about the body showing up on Picard has caught the attention of the original Kirk himself. Today on Twitter, he posted about it, referencing “Project Phoenix” with the question “Where is Kirk?” He took how Kirk was buried under rocks on Veridian III only to be found behind a panel on Daystrom Station to create a Rock, Paper, Scissors joke, turning it into “Rock, Panel, Station.”

I guess we know where the disappearing @StarTrek Captain went! It's like the old game of Rock, Paper, Scissors but it's now Rock, Panel, Station! #ProjectPhoenix ?😳🤔 #WhereisKirk ? 🤷🏼😝👇🏻 I guess it's all an @AprilFools 😵‍💫 Have a wonderful weekend! pic.twitter.com/KMpN1nXRBz — William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) April 1, 2023

It looks like fans can stand down for now when it comes to expecting the return of James T. Kirk for this season of Picard . But Matalas and his team have set things up for a future Star Trek show or movie to find a way for Kirk’s return.

Keep up with news about the  Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com

Related Articles

Documentary , Shatner

‘William Shatner: You Can Call Me Bill’ Documentary Arrives On VOD On Friday

Collectibles , Star Trek: Picard , TOS

Star Trek Coffees Launching In May With Several Blends

Books , Review , Star Trek: Picard , VOY

Review: Action-Packed ‘Star Trek: Picard: Firewall’ Reveals Seven’s Compelling Quest For Identity

All Access Star Trek Podcast , Celebrity , Discovery , Documentary , Section 31 , Shatner , Strange New Worlds

Podcast: All Access Digs Into Star Trek Business News And Reflects On The New William Shatner Documentary

Pretty weird choice. I don’t have any feelings about it per se, but it’s definitely weird.

I recall Matalas saying before the series debuted, that part of his impetus for the story was to “correct” the mistakes of the TNG movies. Many have long felt that Kirk’s death was a huge mistake, so this does fix that in multiple ways.

Personally, I’m so relieved to hear they’re not bringing him back in this season, and I hope nobody ever does. Well, not anytime soon, that is.

I remember something along those lines being said.

I’ve seen on Reddit a couple threads where people theorize Kirk will show up in the finale aboard the E-D.

Yes, but it seems here he is debunking that.

“We just leave it open that someday some brilliant writer could do something.”

Brilliant writer… Wouldn’t surprise me that he’s talking about himself here…

Very well could be, but I believe him when he says he dropped it in there for future use by anyone.

That would be so out of left field for him to just show up. If they do, why not put him back aboard the Enterprise-A? It is apparently sitting there in the museum.

But the issue is clear, why bring Kirk back at all? He isn’t relevant anymore. And in a real world issue, Shatner is in his 90’s. Even with age changing CGI he wouldn’t be the same dude. His voice sounds different and he has an incredibly different body type.

Nothing was fixed or corrected. He still died on Veridian III. Matalas just moved his body to a storage locker for the “oohs and aahs”. I’m not relieved.

Relax, pal. Kirk’s appearance in the S31 stations means he wasn’t buried, and there’s potential for him to return. That’s all. I don’t like it either, but I get what he’s trying to do.

…it’s not the ‘ohhs & aahs” – it’s as Matalas has previously stated that it’s for the same reason that the ‘Enterprise D’ Saucer Section was recovered from the surface of Veridian III – to avoid contamination of the planet. By extension, it is a requirement of the Prime Directive that the Federation and therefore Starfleet do nothing to interfere with the natural development of alien civilisations by protecting unprepared civilisations / planetary systems from the introduction of advanced technology, knowledge (such as strange dead human bodies!) and ultimately foreign alien values before they are ready. In other words ‘make a mess on another planet; you clean it up’!

Sure, but did we really need it? I’m with Trell in that it’s really an unnecessary bit. It was there to make people go ooh and ahh, not actually inform the story or move the plot.

“Ah yeah…’ Ooh ,  ah ,’  that’s how it always starts . But then later, there’s running and screaming.”

Excellent reasoning!

I agree I think this was just a big clue for die hard fans that if Kirk is off Veridian III, the Enterprise is as well. We know from deleted scenes and images that the saucer is at the fleet museum, but in reality they have never confirmed this on screen. I think this is proof it is in Docking Bay 12.

I think this was just a big clue that the Enterprise D is in the Docking Bay 12. Clearly they grabbed the saucer from Veridian III so they wouldn’t mess with the development of the inhabitants of Veridian IV. So you would also need to pick up the dead extra terrestrial buried on a hill under rocks.

Since Picard’s corpse is a plot device for the story, perhaps the call-out to Kirk’s corpse is an attempt to make the former’s “not so implausible”?

Regardless, I’m not a fan of either, mind you. I personally find it ghoulish and disrespectful.

Ghoulish activity is normal for Section 31, however. So, that makes it easier for me to understand.

Oh, I agree. It is definitely ghoulish.

I was more confused than charmed by the whole Daystrom Star Trek Experience (coming soon to Orlando). Like the name suggests, Daystrom was supposed to focus on AI, right? But now it’s also storage for dead heroes and tribble monsters. Okey-doke.

Might need a little more oversight there, especially with what happens to captured shapeshifters.

Daystrom, in past series, had additional research than just AI.

It seemed for a while that characters kept referencing the Daystrom Institute weekly.

I see. I mostly remember it being used in reference to AI and robotics. It was still odd to see it being used as, presumably, a sort of Section 31 black site. And populated by no one for some reason.

Anyway, as for Kirk, I don’t know, it doesn’t seem like something you casually drop in as a reference. That was too big a distraction for me. Ditto with Genesis; do the Changelings not know what that thing can do? Why not steal it?

What was even more irritating about that reveal was how they had Raffi look directly at the display of Kirk’s vault and not have her even make a curious expression about it. like “umm why is this here?”

He should have left it alone if he didn’t plan on using it in any way for the season.

New Jersey: Why is there a watermelon there?

Reno: I’ll tell you later.

Wow, had to read that twice to make sure I didn’t write that post!

I really wish I hadn’t read the tie-in novel before seeing BUCKAROO — the novel had a lot of depth and more humor and the film felt seriously truncated to me as a result. And I reread the book a couple years back before rewatching the movie, and had the exact same experience! No matter where you go … (tho for shapeshifters, it would be ‘no matter where you goo … ‘)

I was wondering who, if anyone, would pick up on it.

Matalas has explained that the NCC-1975 is there as a nod to the original design of the 1960’s Enterprise (Constitution Class) ship. First up; the original Enterprise was completely refitted to the version seen in ‘The Motion Picture’ which was later blown up – so it didn’t exist – thus couldn’t be put on display at the museum. Also, canonically, under Kurtzman era Trek that version of the Constitution Class Starship no longer exists due to the redesigned model in Strange New Worlds. Matalas & crew placed the ‘New Jersey’ in as a nod to the original design created by Roddenberry – without contradicting Kurtzman era canon. Nifty ehh?

Matalas has made clear that the section of Daystrom Station we are exposed to is the centrally located and completely isolated “Vault” – not populated by scientists or Starfleet personal – instead protected the AI system which is Data / Lore / Soong / Lal / B4. Matalas has also explained the rest of the massive station (with all the different lit up windows) are teaming with Federation and Starfleet personal – that is, it is an active research station. Agreed; he could have made it clearer in the episode.

Daystrom Station is not necessarily affiliated with the Daystrom Institute, of course.

For example, Carnegie Mellon University has nothing to do with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, other than a common benefactor back in the day.

Or the Institute might run the station, but as a separate division that is walled off from the academic institution, much as the way the University of California operated Los Alamos National Laboratory until 2006 (and resumed doing so as part of a joint venture in 2018).

Seems like this Daystrom station is Trek’s own version of Area 51. Yes, I do find it a bit odd, too. But overall the show is OK so I just chalk it up as cheap fan service they really didn’t need to do.

As references to dead characters go, I think Hugh’s body would’ve made more sense. He was a former drone, which would catch Daystrom’s interest, and he meant more to the TNG crew than Kirk. I mean Picard was the only one who worked with Kirk and he wasn’t on the station to see it.

Why just Hugh’s body? Thousands of ex-Borg drones were inside the captured / deactivated Borg Cube Ship and many were blown out into space from the Borg Cube. Hugh was one of thousands of available ex-Borgs. James T. Kirk’s body is significant AND there was only 1 Kirk!!!

There’s only one Hugh, too. Him finding his individuality was the entire point of the character.

And yes, Kirk is significant and that’s the problem. It’s such a huge revelation it distracts from the story.

Agreed: there was only one Hugh – however there were, according to Picard Season 1, thousands of similarly recovered, now individuals, x-Borgs … ALL now individuals & recovered from the Collective. Ergo, Hugh in the view of Starfleet & Federation is NOT unique. And ‘yes’ Hugh is important to us as an audience – pity Akiva Goldsman & Chabon didn’t consider that when he was killed off!

I think the first drone on record to break the Borg spell, so to speak, would be significant, and his brain might be worthy of study.

Agreed. Putting the image of Kirk’s innards there did prove to be too big a distraction.

The producers have confirmed Daystrom is Starfleet’s Area 51.

I also wonder why that’s a problem for some fans like ML. It’s a perfectly logical facility to exist in the Trek universe.

Everything is a problem for fans like ML.

I mean, that’s true. Biggest troll on this site.

Really? I never said it was a problem.

Hence, you are proved wrong.

Care to respond with more falsehoods?

Ah. Then there you go. I haven’t read anything like that so it would seem in this instance their intent clearly translated to screen.

…as much as I love the Kirk character, I’m glad they’re not bringing him back on PIC. Admittedly, the Nerd in me would love it, but this should be about Picard and the TNG crew. Just that little scene in E6 was enough to give me chills, though. And it is nice to know he’s not still lying on that random planet under a pile of rocks. They brought him back home, and hopefully he had a proper grand state funeral, befitting his legendary status.

I remember The Return although I’ve never read it. But the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of a two hour Star Trek TV movie event with a role fit for a 90+ year old actor. Not an action adventure movie but a more thoughtfully paced drama about Kirk as a man out of time. Who is he without Spock and without Bones? What value does he have as a cold warrior during a time of extended peace with the Klingons. And give him a better death — alone.

Very nicely said. Done well, with the right writers, that could be a great story. Those themes are actually touched on a bit in The Return.

What you described would be wonderful.

I’d rather see it be used to bring Pine into the 25th century Prime Timeline. No Shatner please. Considering he’s publicly trashed current shows, they may not even be interested in working with him.

I agree — that ship has sailed, and I don’t want to see it

Well, I’ll counter with my own preference: no Pine, please. Aside from some welcome hints at growth in BEYOND, his Kirk is just awful.

Totally agree, best Kirk in Trek history.

“Hints” is underselling it a bit.

He was fantastic in all three films. Pine is a highlight of the reboot.

Pine is great as Kirk. Remember, he only can use with the writers him. In other words, please don’t shoot the messenger

I respectfully disagree. I’m a big fan of Pine’s Kirk. I thought he was just wonderful.

While that sounds like an amazing concept… I feel like the odds of it being well done (especially if Secret Hideout is involved at all) are fairly slim.

Yup, same concern here.

Yes, you didn’t feel the need to slip in a shot at Secret Hideout the way he does in almost every single post he makes. Sometimes I wonder if Kurtzman is his ex-husband or something.

I know we hardcore fans can get rather caustic in conversation as to what we think Trek should be. I take no pleasure in trashing the powers-that-be. I had no faith whatsoever in SH as DSC was evolving, but I really like PRO, SNW and PIC (s3). So I think Kurtzman & Co. are doing better.

Same. I feel Discovery and first two seasons of Picard is mostly trash but also love PIC S3, PRO, LDS and SNW. Proof we’re not all out to hate Kurtzman. Just his bad shows. 😉

I don’t think any Trek is trash, outside of maybe TNG Season 1. I haven’t liked Discovery, but I can acknowledge it’s good in ways beyond the things I like.

That’s cool. We can agree to disagree. I still think Discovery is mostly trash.

You see, but here’s the thing, he inherited discovery from Fuller, And for the first two seasons of Picard Patrick Stewart had a lot of power given his contract, and so we got these way too introspective shows focused on his character.

So the part of the franchise you don’t like are the parts that Kurtzman was least responsible for. And what you like a lot, we’ll that’s all Kurtzman at the helm.

Um we’re ignoring each other. Just a friendly reminder. But take it easy. 👍

My apologies – I was not paying attention.

And that’s fair. But I don’t see a lot of quality from SH. Star Trek Discovery was gawdawful. LDX has failed at everything it tries. Prodigy had a good start but has become more mediocre and SNW spits all over the universe they are supposed to be in. Only this S3 of Picard has been consistently above average. There has been so much swill produced by SH that one decent season just isn’t enough to make me think they have learned any lessons or turned any corners. But we are stuck with them at the moment so the best we can hope for as they move forward is that we get really lucky and they stumble into more decent storytelling at the level of at least S3 or Picard.

I guess I’m just not as cynical as you but I feel these days they are doing more right than wrong. Prodigy is currently my favorite out of the new shows and yes loving Picard S3 as well even with some flaws, so we seem to agree on that. But unlike you I think LDS and SNW are great shows as well. I completely accept why you don’t like them of course but they are really fun shows for me and also really captures the spirit of Star Trek.

And although I can completely understand why you don’t like LDS (and you were generally very excited about it at least), I still think you’re letting the canon issues with SNW influence you a bit too much. But it’s your right to feel that way. But here is a question, if they told you SNW existed in a different timeline or universe, would you like the show more?

If the answer is no, then fair enough.

You are correct that a major issue with SNW is the canon violations. And even though many feel this might be a small I find the use of the Gorn to be a MAJOR issue. On par with your issue with the Kelpian yell. Next is completely altering the Chapel character to the point where I just have to think this is a completely different character whose name happens to be Chapel. And #1 was amazingly underused and when they did do something with her I felt it completely undermined her. Making her a disguised alien was just plain dumb because it felt like they thought that there couldn’t possible be a woman who acts like #1 did. So they made her alien.

It might be easier to take if they said ALL of the SH stuff was their own SH universe apart from the prime. But even if that was the case I would still find SNW to be fairly mediocre. That might be a function of the short seasons. I feel like if there were more episodes that chances for more than one good one would improve. I’ve seen a couple more STC episodes and even though one wasn’t all that great I still feel that overall those shows are much better than anything SH has done. So it can be done and for a lot less money, too.

It’s certainly fair to be skeptical of a creative team that hasn’t produced work you like, but some fans just hate everything, trash everything, take personal pot shots literally every chance they get, and yet continue to keep watching, seemingly just so they can continue to be mad and express their grievances.

He just said he liked PRO, SNW and PIC season 3. So he’s not trashing everything. In fact he seems to be a fan of most of it.

Danpaine is one of the most respected members here and well liked. It’s not his fault some people don’t want to hear his opinion because they disagree with it…or even comprehend it.

…Thanks, Tiger. This thread became quite adversarial. Unnecessary, imo.

Unfortunately there are people here who are thin skinned and don’t want to hear opposing opinions of ANY kind. Unfortunately for them they don’t run this site. ;)

Keep speaking your man and speak it often. Most of us love hearing your views and those other people just have to suck it per usual. ;)

Agreed 100% about Discovery. Judging by the lack of people caring the show even got cancelled and it’s still the lowest rated Trek show, I don’t think many will argue with it. ;)

Lol, yeah that dude just keep repeating this over and over and over. I wish I was in a bar with him where I could playfully shake his shoulders and say, “dude we get it now OK, we heard you the first 270 times, move on” lol

That’s actually the issue in a pitch I made to TNG several months before JFK came out called JTK, in which we find that Kirk was fake-assassinated on the eve of the 24th century and actually put on ice as an emergency save-the-day-device for the Federation, which then did such a good job covering their tracks that soon nobody was around who remembered he was tucked away … till Data solved all the coverups and conspiracies and found him and thawed him. The second part of the story was Kirk on the -D, seriously not connecting with the time and place, and it needed more work than the first half, to say the least.

Biggest prob for me is that I was utterly intimidated putting words in Kirk’s mouth, something that was never an issue with the TNG folk. I could write Picard/Guinan exchanges that absolutely read like the actors were saying the words, but Kirk … that was tough, which is why I only did it as a premise/treatment, not a story outline or spec script. (plus I knew they were still not doing TOS regular characters at that point, so it would have been extremely unlikely, but it would have been a great tie-in with JFK.)

I thought Marshak and Culbreath did a great job of making Kirk sound like Shatner/Kirk in their PHOENIX novels and especially in THE PROMETHEUS DESIGN. (had to sneak PHOENIX into this thread somehow.)

I’d love to see a two hour episode or mini-series that gives Kirk a better send-off. I don’t need them to ‘fix’ every botched death from Star Trek history, but the original star of Star Trek deserved better. Plus, he’s freaking 92 and still acting!? And arguably more well-known than ever.

So semi-red herring, semi-future plot base.

I’m cool with it

I would love to see Shatner return to the role one last time as Nimoy got to for Spock in the 09 film. Shatner is iconic in the role.

It seems a rather pointless and overboard fan service in that episode if nothing was to become of it. I mean, Kirk’s body being in Daystrom was a rather big deal and to add the medical scanner sound along with “Project Phoenix” to the display was a very large distraction that didn’t need to be there.

I realize that for some fans, Kirk is no big deal now and probably shrugged about it as no more important than the other curiosities stored in Daystrom, but for me it was much more than that and I would have preferred not to have seen it at all honestly. This choice was no better than leaving him under a pile of rocks on Veridian III.

Just an unnecessary distraction.

I view it as the same as showing Spocks torpedo tube on Gensis at the end of TWOK…at that time it wasn’t known that there would be a ST3, it was just a “possibility”.

I guess the placement of such future possibilities are important.

But that was the last shot in the movie, not just a throwaway in mid-story. This is the equivalent of the throwaway in LAST CRUSADE about the ark of the covenant, not like the end of RAIDERS where you see the warehouse. So it feels more like a gag than a moment (and I assume that is intentional, because they could have emphasized it differently or even cut the reveal so it happened at some other time.

It probably wouldn’t have bothered me as much if say, 1) I had any real attachment to Kirk as a character and 2) if the rest of the episode and series hadn’t already been littered with similar teases and easter eggs.

I guess if Matalas claims Kirk’s body is there then I guess it should be accepted that it is. But on screen there is still nothing to suggest his body was actually there. We never saw a body. Only some computer image. So any writer can still canonically do whatever they want with the body.

They should bring Kirk back to life as a woman. That would be awesome.

And call her Janice Lester.

Don’t give them any ideas, with Hollywood being what it is, they would probably do it.

What’s wrong with having a female Kirk?

Nice try, but I’m not going anywhere near that one.

Pretty sure on-screen canon doesn’t work that way. But if you want to play some game where “oh, everything on the Daystrom station was fake!” and concoct some nonsense to invalidate it, sure, technically that can be done. But at that point you can just do gymnastics to recon everything, and nothing matters.

He just enjoys making up little fantasies in his head, that way when he’s wrong he can be mad about it.

How do you figure? I never suggested even remotely that “everything on Daystrom station was fake”. Let alone the autopsy scans of Kirk. In fact there is no reason to suspect that medical data is fake in any way. I only said there was no evidence his body was actually there. In fact watching the scene I never once concluded his body was actually there. Showing some skeletal scans is not the same thing at all. If they really wanted to suggest his body was there they should have gone through some sort of morgue-like room with obvious holding drawers labeled as James T. Kirk. Have other names there as well to sell the concept.

Your assumption was quite the leap of logic.

Equally, the “Kirk” being preserved there could be the android Kirk from “What Are Little Girls Made Of?”

That is true too.

I actually forgot what became of that android… Anything that might preclude it still existing over a century later?

Matalas is the same guy who gave is the 💩 that is Picard S1 & S2. Frankly, S3 would have been crap too without the TNG crew. Is anyone surprised he teases Kirk and then leaves everyone with blue balls?

Michael Chabon was showrunner for Season 1. Akiva Goldsman was co-show runner for Season 2 with Terry Matalas.

Terry Matalas then left production of Season 2 to focus on Season 3 and Akiva Goldsman continued finishing out Season 2

If you’re going to rant, at least be correct.

He had nothing to do with S1 and minimal involvement in S2. Relax.

I love folks who talk shit confidently and it’s absolutely wrong. You have a bright future as an AI chatbot.

They didn’t even hire Matalas until season 2. And with season 2, he had zip to do with developing the story, that was all Goldsman. He wrote the first two episodes and just help produce the other episodes until he left in episode 5 to prep for season 3.

As someone who enjoyed The Return , I appreciate Matalas’ comments on why we saw Kirk’s remains in Daystrom Station. When Generations ended, it felt somehow wrong to me to leave Kirk’s remains on Veridian III. Given how shady we know Section 31 can be, it seems obvious they would go recover the remains of Starfleet’s most iconic captain.

Agreed. I read The Return too, back when it came out. Though not a fan of Trek lit per se, it did provide a nice cap to Generations, though not canon. I like the fact they went and retrieved his body as well.

That’s the one where a DEFIANT-class ship decloaks inside the open space of a Romulan warbird, between the nacelles and behind the head, then it does a spin while firing. So totally cool, just like the ramming scene in FEDERATION. Those folks really knew how to deliver space battle scenes that were both credible and totally exciting.

I’ll admit to being embarrassed that I know this, but it wasn’t firing. It did the rotation because weapons were offline.

So does it just tear the ship apart from within from the movement? Geez, now I gotta go find a copy.

I’d figure the Ferengi would go dig him up to sell off his ‘hair’ and such, sort of like the way they were going to similar things to John Wayne in THE SHOOTIST.

To John Wayne: “Is that your real hair?” John Wayne: “It’s not mine, but it’s real.”

I never read the book. But I, too, felt it was amazingly wrong to leave Kirk’s body on that planet. Not just as it was not a good way to honor James T. Kirk but leaving an alien body on a planet right next to one with a developing population kinda feels like the wrong move.

I never for one instant thought that Starfleet would leave Kirk’s body behind on that planet. They would have scoured that star system for every trace of Federation presence.

Agreed. I’m pretty sure there are a dozen amendments under the Prime Directive about not contaminating planets with dead aliens and so on.

They wanted a moment for the movie but it would’ve made much more sense to do it on Earth.

Veridian III was uninhabited (at that time), but Data did note that the Veridian system contained another planet home to a pre-industrial (or was it pre-warp, one of the two?) society.

Maybe the next animated series can be about a crew who warps around cleaning up Starfleet’s Prime Directive messes lol?

But it’s still contaminating a foreign planet. I just can’t imagine it would be OK to just leave people and hardware anywhere they want.

But it seems like if anyone would abide by this it would be Picard, so maybe it is OK?

And that means they would likely eventually travel to their neighboring planet and perhaps find 200 year old alien remains.

So, no. Can’t imagine that being allowed.

I love it! Can’t wait to bring him back! It makes sense for the Section 31 Series!

Gotta get those legacy characters. Fans want nothing else.

Kirk is dead. Even if Starfleet retrieved the corpse after a few days from a shallow grave on a hot,.dry planet, it was definitely a closed casket funeral. Shatner is 92. If something were greenlit today, it would take a year, year and a half before principal photography began.

JL Picard is a stud. On a hot, dry planet, he dug a dead Kirk out from under the wreckage of a collapsed bridge. He drug the 250+ pound body to the top of that rock, then hauled hundreds of pounds of rocks up there to cover him up. Respect.

While I agree with you, I expect they could pull the Nexus out of their large box of lame plot devices and somehow resurrect him — they rejuvenate his Daystrom body and get sort of his katra from the Nexus.

But I don’t want to see 92 year old shatner in the role — unless they spend a ton of money to convincingly de-age him and make him look more fit like we would expect the elder Kirk character in Trek to be.

The reason Generations remains firmly in place at the bottom of my Trek movie list is the Nexus. Just an absolutely horrible plot device.

Maybe it’s me, but I’ve yet to see de-aging that doesn’t look off. They’d just be animating Shatner at that point. It just won’t work.

It’s not on my bottom of the list of Trek movies but your issue is a credible one. The mistake is giving the characters control of time like they did. So many many problems. For one thing, when fighting Soran when it looked like they could lose, just let the Nexus envelop them again and go back and try again. Or Picard could go back to the E and just grab Soran in 10-Forward. Or better yet, go back further and keep his brother’s family from burning to death. There were just so many many other ways to more effectively fix this. And he could just bring Kirk back with him. Alive. Or perhaps Kirk could just go back to his time. They needed to come up with reasons why this was a one shot, succeed or die, kind of situation.

It’s not just the characters – Data discovers what it is, quickly, and that it blows through the galaxy every forty years or so, apparently unguarded. The Nexus is a known entity, and not top secret. In essence, it turns Generations into a sci-fi version of Groundhog Day. At some point you’d think that the Federations Temporal Police Department would figure out that a lot of their temporal violations would go away if they’d just blow the g-d thing up. Or, maybe not….

There is that too. It would seem plausible this phenomena would be known about for at least 80 years if not longer. And just talking to the survivors would reveal what they think it is. But I suppose they just let it be because it didn’t present a danger and supposedly every attempt to enter if using a ship has failed.

You hit the nail on the head. That’s what so many people have asked Ron Moore about the Nexus. He admitted that it’s an immense plot hole.

Moore has owned up to a number of mistakes he made in Generations. Including the kitchen scene with Kirk & Picard.

But ultimately I think a lot of fans were expecting Kirk to be in a lot more of the picture. That they would meet up and have an adventure together. Irritating each other at first and learning they each had their own ways of getting things done that worked. Instead Kirk was merely bookended.

It was definitely not one of RDM’s better efforts…..

Ronald Moore admitted, if I recall correctly, that the Nexus is a plothole you could drive a semi through.

GEN is just a really really weak story. Both Moore and Brannon Braga admit that they blew it, and a good chunk of the blame involves Rick Berman’s plot requirements. This is all out there in interviews. Moore and Braga had terrible requirements and were pressed for time but wrote their script. Berman wanted Nimoy to direct and gave him the script. Nimoy said, rightly, again according to Moore, that the script wasn’t good at all. Berman said pre-production was already in place and the script couldn’t be changed, so Nimoy, who was angry that he wasn’t brought in earlier to work with the writers on a film that would’ve involved Kirk, Spock, and maybe McCoy and the rest of the crew, walked away from the film and we got GEN as it is.

It’s a dissapointing film. The chemistry between Picard and Kirk is just great and Stewart and Shatner apparently had a really great time together and the Ent-D’s passing and Data’s emotion chip silliness is fun, but the Nexus is just such an immense plot hole, the theme of time passing is overwrought and the death of Kirk was pretty weak and badly done, as both Moore and Braga have admitted. It’s just a dissapointment. There was so much potential for a great film for the first TNG film and, thanks to Berman and/or Paramount, they completely dropped the ball.

It was my understanding that Kelly was keen on doing it but was just too ill. I did hear that Nimoy was asked about directing but he passed for some of the reasons you mentioned. Also he didn’t wish to appear as Spock because he didn’t think Spock had enough to do.

I don’t know about Kelly. It may have been illness but he also said something to the effect that if Nimoy wasn’t going to be in GEN, then he didn’t feel like he should be in it either. In any case, Spock and Bones were supposed to be in the GEN in the beginning but Nimoy rightly didn’t like the part, saying it didn’t need Spock, so not only did Berman lose Nimoy as a director but he lost the inclusion of Spock in GEN. The whole thing was incredibly botched by Berman and he stills tries to spin it as a good movie in interviews after messed it up right from its inception.

Well, they have the genesis device. Here you go. Somehow recreate the regeneration effect like they did with Spock’s body on ST III. Kirk’s dead body is rejuvenated as a baby, then a child, and then they extract him from the newly formed planet as an adult, played by Paul Wesley.

Of course, the rejuvenated body has no memories. There is no “katra.”

Or, you pop back into the Nexus, and suggest to Kirk that he might want to stay off that bridge over there. Oh, and here are the winning numbers for the Federation Super Lotto. Pick up a ticket for me, too. :-)

LOL! Y’know, I never thought about that, the effort Picard obviously put into burying Kirk.

Good for him! Picard’s awesome!

I like what the dude has done with this season of Picard, but he’s getting way too cute with the fan service. This is like the huge weakness of lower decks where they try to force fit in all of these canon connections just to be cute, and in most cases they come across awkward and not holistic to the story.

On this one, I feel like Alec Kurtzman should have stepped in and just said no

My thought is he doesn’t know the franchise well enough to know.

This why you never allow fan boys to make trek shows.

I might normally agree, except that, on balance, Matalas’ season of Picard has proved wildly popular among diehard fans and the wider audience.

Could be a number of reasons for this. Perhaps Kurtzman thinks fan service works. And there is reason for him to think that. Perhaps he doesn’t have the control of the show to allow him to step in like that? Maybe he decided on a “hands off” policy with S3 of Picard? I’m sure there are more…

A nice nod to William Shatner’s book The Return, but if he were to be used in other series then Discovery is the best bet since its final season will be next year and in the 32nd Century.

Perhaps some solution like Prodigy or Lower Decks. Yes, Voice over Original Actor, but animated Avatar. If it’s CGI or Hand drawn that’s time will tell

Ship’s Computer Voice? It’s already done…. *whistles* HCS Voice Packs

Remember it is April 1st. It is STUPID April fools’ joke.

Obviously, you didn’t read the article.

It doesn’t state that the character will return; it just addresses the Easter egg from a week-and-a-half old episode, and… if anything, nullifies any further speculation.

Is Kirk being revived to be the Chancellor of Starfleet Academy in the 32nd century?

If anything, he could be revived and become a cadet.

For a YA show, what possible rationale is there to reanimate a thousand year old corpse to run Starfleet Academy? No. Not happening.

If they’re going to revive him, I honestly wouldn’t mind it being a 14 year old version of Kirk. At least it would be something new that we haven’t seen. Write some story like where he’s cloned by a villain for some nefarious purpose, and once foiled, leaves us with a young Kirk who now just wants to live his life.

Kirk will be a talking head in a jar

……for the win! Kirk Headroom.

I would love that.

Starfleet removed the corpse just like the removed the saucer section: to prevent future cultural contamination when the species the next planet over comes a-callin’ in their pre-warp space program.

That’s a good point. Though, the man deserves a big state funeral, not being kept in the freezerino.

Kirk was already declared dead 80 years before. No one would care.

Look, kiddo, take a mental note here and remember that this edgelord stuff you do here with people isn’t going to work on me. Just move along and bother someone else from now on, okay? Thanks.

Did I hurt your feelings?

Very much agreed.

Could be, perhaps some clean up to prevent that from happen. But this do not explain his place inside Daystrom or Section 31 “toys”

The E-D would be a helluva monolith for pre-warp folk to discover.

At which point Kirk would have been interred with honors either at the Academy or in the town of his birth, not tucked away in a storage locker somewhere. Starfleet would have salvaged whatever was left of the E-D that was functional, and recycled the rest. What we saw in E6 was just fan service run amuck. It’s already not holding up well when the showrunner is having to walk s**t back.

Great Easter egg, terrible idea for a story.

It’s not even a good easter egg. Is Dr. McCoy tucked away in another storage locker on Daystrom because the Yonadian’s cursed him with long life?

“ a 1996 Star Trek novel written by William Shatner with Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens ”

Here, I’ll fix that for you…

“a 1996 Star Trek novel written by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, with William Shatner’s name on the cover”

Look, we all know these celebrity books, even the autobiographies, are never written by them. Sometimes the name of the real author is on the cover, sometimes there’s a subtle, or not-so-subtle, thank you in the introduction or afterword, and sometimes it isn’t mentioned at all. And this is true of talk-show hosts, of politicians, you name it. At best they talk into a recorder for a while and the job of the author is to put that into written words. Sometimes they don’t even do that.

Who among the Trek cast actually wrote their own books? I think every TOS lead except for Kelley wrote at least one autobiography or memoir. Among them…Nimoy probably wrote his two memoirs, and Chekov his TMP book. Beyond that…not much. Maybe Grace Lee Whitney’s was her own work, but I see she had a co-author as well. And Shatner’s written almost a *dozen* memoirs. :-)

And that’s no knock on them.

Koenig even wrote an episode of TAS. “The Infinite Vulcan”.

I think that was part of making up to him that he wasn’t in the cast.

What other cast members wrote? Nimoy and Shatner are all I can think of.

Is this real news? It is April Fool’s Day…

Obviously, you didn’t read the article either.

Again: It doesn’t state that the character will return; it just addresses the Easter egg from a week-and-a-half old episode, and… if anything, nullifies any further speculation.

I saw it as Matalas debunking the speculation Kirk’s return in the finale. He’s been good at doing this sort of thing. Not to be a party-pooper, but because he rightly recognizes that when fans get whipped into a frenzy over a fan theory that he knows isn’t true, it only creates false expectations, and potentially, massive disappointment.

Remember when Marvel fans got all hyped up that Mephisto was going to appear in WandaVision, and they were convinced it was going to be Al Pacino? Or when they thought that Evan Peters’ appearance meant they’d introduce other Fox X-Men characters? Marvel should have come out immediately and dispelled those theories, because all it ended up doing was disappointing people, and there was a huge section of the fandom that wound up angry that their own little fantasies weren’t true.

Yeah, exactly!

Berman blocked The Return from being made back in the mid 1990s according to Shatner himself the Star Trek producer aka Berman did not want it to be made… Would have been an expensive project as Shatner + Nimoy + FX budget alone would have been $30-40M before they hired anyone else!!

Even if that’s true, I don’t think Paramount would’ve approved it anyway. It sounds like they were ready to wash their hands of Shatner once Generations was made. And to be more frank, I think TFF put such a sour taste in everyone’s mouths, no one was going to give Shatner any creative clout with Star Trek after that; certainly not another movie.

It’s dated 1April….

And once again: Obviously, you didn’t read the article either.

No matter the date, the article doesn’t state that the character will return; it just addresses the Easter egg from a week-and-a-half old episode, and… if anything, it nullifies any further speculation.

Sheesh, you guys… 🙄

Gotta love Terry Matalas! Finally – some decent Star Trek (even if only Season 3 of an ending series; Picard) based on Roddenberry’s principle’s of human understanding, intelligence and wonder!! Sadly, now we face more drivel, pathetic drama, romantic trysts, rivalries and teen angst in Disco’s continuation of ‘Starfleet Academy” where good science-fiction goes to die! (I know this may trigger a couple of kids here who believe that Disco era Trek is the penultimate expression of Trek – which I have no doubt it actually is for them – just wish we lived in a Trek Universe that catered for both the puerile & the intelligent!)

Consider me triggered…

…to agree with you! 😉

Aww did somebody put too much salt in your soup? I can’t fathom why anyone is upset about “Academy.” It’s a show for teens.

Are you just mad because they also made something designed to appeal to a different group? Not everything has to be for you.

Not to get political here, but this is very much a right wing conservative mindset: when something caters to a minority group, for example, it’s inherently a bad idea, or even downright evil, because it’s for someone other than you, and that should not stand!

Relax. Let them make a show for teens, you’ll still get your old angry white man Trek on the Picard spin-off.

If there is any HOPE of doing some kind of resuscitation of Kirk, the body would have to have been recovered EXTREMELY quickly after the whole Veridian III fiasco. Otherwise, I’d have a very hard time buying it. I hope any future writer understands this.

Okay, let’s chalk this up as a half baked April Fool’s joke, and E6 going way too overboard on the fan service.

I used to think Kirk’s Return in the Return was ridiculous. Then i saw them kill off Picard and make him a robot. There is no holy writ on canon, these people do whatever they want.

Pine is the only one who could carry it but he’s younger than when Kirk died. The return was a great novel and I feel some part of that plot has something to do with this season 3.

Shouldn’t a regenerated Kirk be at peak age?

Exactly! Perfect for Paul Wesley!

I’d prefer Chris Pine to play Kirk Prime. I can’t believe i’m in agreement with Tarantino on that.

Bring Shatner back. I don’t care how old he is. They keep dragging Spiner back so why not ShatKirk.

Because Spiner is cool, humble, and fun to work with.

You have clearly not met Brent Spiner on an off day, lets just say he’s not very pleasant

Those are his off days. I’ve never seen anyone in the cast have anything bad to say about working with him. He doesn’t demand to be the center of attention, he doesn’t hog the spotlight in a show, and he doesn’t publicly trash the franchise.

He’s also a member of the TNG cast, so that’s why they brought him back. When they do a TOS reunion, maybe they’ll bring Shatner. Maybe. I’d be happy with an episode that’s just Takei and Koenig having tea together.

If they wanted a cool cameo to close out Picard, it’d be neat to see very elderly SF officers Sulu and Chekov.

So MAKE this TV movie.

Well if they are going to bring back Shatner’s Kirk they had better hurry up and come up with something. Shatner is 92 years old and although fantastic for his age he won’t be like that forever!

My thoughts exactly. Let’s hope it gets stuck in development for like…idk… four or five years.

I’m fortunate to have a friend who works on the production who confirmed a few days ago that it was just an Easter Egg (unless of course he was misdirecting me too, but I doubt it.). And of course, now that Malalas has confirmed the Easter Egg status that seems to be the case. But it’s more than an Easter Egg, of course, it’s a seed, waiting for some other production team to plant or not. I think it’s an interesting seed – and one that doesn’t need to go in the direction we all suppose, with Shatner coming back to play Kirk (as fun as that might be). This is Science Fiction. Which means that anything is possible. If the tech exists to bring back someone who has died – then who’s to say that the technology doesn’t exist to bring them back younger, rejuvenated, etc.? The nice thing about science fiction is that anything that makes a good story (and I’m not here to debate whether it would be a good story or not) is possible.

I agree. It’s definitely more than an Easter Egg. If Kirk’s body is there, with the name “Project Phoenix,” then that’s a seed for another story and, imo, it’s one that they should take advantage of in some way, especially since they’ve already recast Kirk for the second time with a new actor, Paul Wesley, in Strange New Worlds.

Definitely seems ripe to be picked up in the future. Perhaps one of those platforms Kurtzman was talking about. Either a character based mini series or movie. Just give Shatner a story credit even if is only loosely based on The Return and hopefully he would be happy to take a small role. Then explore some of the elements of Section 31 relating to Project Phoenix etc. Could even include Genesis 2. That one scene planted some seeds they could pursue if they choose.

And they’ve already got a perfect new actor to play the cloned Kirk, in Paul Wesley. Well-timed!

Not Wesley.

It’s not the looks. It’s the performance.

He lacks the charisma, intensity, energy that makes both Shatner and Pine seem to take up more space than reality.

I believe Ed Speleers could really deliver Kirk. Wesley just does not.

lol You’ve seen him in half an episode, kneejerker.

All I needed to see was the teaser on WNMHGB to know Shatner ‘had it.’ This guy doesn’t.

lol ok, bud. You do you. I for one am rational and open-minded and willing to give him a shot in the role.

I’ll give Wesley a shot too. It’s fair.

I only saw Wesley biefly on youtube from scenes from his appearance in that SNW episode. Based on that, I agree with you. Pine was just wonderful as Kirk. Wesley may look more like Shatner, but I thought his performance, again, from the very little I’ve seen, was pretty flat.

That said, I don’t think they’d get Pine to play Kirk in a series, especially with Wesley already cast and in SNW season 2. I hope he comes across better than the bit I saw.

Having read those above mentions series of books and Kirk & Picard together and so forth, They are well written and would make a nice series/movie. Coming from the generation that watched TOS in first run, I would love to see JTK come back. Its what I grew up with and hold dear to this day.

Maybe Jack will turn out to be a Reman/Kirk/Picard ala Shinzon combo clone implanted into Beverly (unseen on screen) sometime just after ST:Nemesis in some long game plan of revenge against the Federation by Romulans. Who knows? Maybe Romulan spies stole some Kirk DNA from Daystrom long ago to do it. Ha!

What a bunch of hogwash. If they wanted to bring back William Shatner they would’ve done it a long time ago. I think there’s some sort of vendetta against him. That man is the one and only Captain Kirk. Every other actor pales in comparison.

I hope they have rights to the Shat’s image and voice so they can cook him up in a computer like Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader in recent Star Wars iterations. Nimoy would be another one you’d hope they’d rights to. There’s a couple five-year missions (post-TMP, post-TFF) we never got to see. But I don’t see it recast.

There were any number of ways to bring him back, into his own time. Coming back into the future wouldn’t be the best for the character. A return years ago would have written itself — no way Spock would have accepted that demise. He would have chased that “nexus” “round perdition’s flame” or something like that.

I was hoping for Shatner. Whenever my hopes are seemingly dashed, I remember that they outright lied that Cumberbatch wasn’t Khan. (Although they fooled no one.)

I love the Abrams movie, but, yeah, that was a complete fail wrt Khan. He didn’t look Indian at all. Of course, if he did, it would have been even easier to guess that he was Khan.

Was hoping he was Gary Mitchell, but i knew he was Khan.

Understand why he did it, especially as someone who didn’t like Picard left him on some desolate planet, but I wish there was just a line saying Kirk was returned to Earth, given a state funeral where he was buried in his hometown of Iowa and left it at that.

Showing that Kirk’s remains were being stored in Daystrom Station for experimentation didn’t bother me as much as when they revealed it. Once they showed that easter egg, I spent the rest of the episode wondering why Kirk’s body was there.

It was like… “Oh Moriarty! But why is Kirk’s body there? Oh it’s Data in a synth body… But what is Project Phoenix and why do they have Kirk’s body? The changelings took Picard’s frozen corpse! But is Kirk alive? I thought I heard a medical scanner too.” The placement was such a distracting choice.

I don’t know how the season is ending, but I would have placed a big easter egg like that at the end of the last episode of the season like a Marvel style end credits scene. Maybe showing a couple of Section 31 agents taking inventory of the vault and end with the reveal of Kirk’s storage locker. I would have liked that better personally.

But yeah, I understand why he did it too.

I understand why he did it. What I don’t understand is why someone in editing didn’t realize that it was stupid, and cut it out.

“Is it a tip of the hat to  The Return , which is a wonderful book I recommend to all of you? Maybe. We just leave it open that someday some brilliant writer could do something. That could be an animated thing. That could be anything. It’s just to keep, as my friend Spock is fond of saying: “There are always possibilities.” That was the idea behind that.”

I can live with this. Like a lot of ST fans, including Generations writers Ronald Moore and Brannon Braga, Matsalas didn’t like Kirk’s end in the film either. Bringing back Kirk, probably played by a younger actor isn’t going to happen on Picard, nor should it. It’s obviously a big deal if it happens at all and it will take careful thought and a great idea for a story. If they don’t have that, which they didn’t have for Generations (Moore and Braga have admitted that), they shouldn’t do it.

They shouldn’t wait on this though. It would be great to get Shatner involved (possibly) and he is over 90. I’m sure he would do it, especially if it was a really good idea.

i would love an adult cartoon telling stories in time periods with character whose actors are too old to play them at the appropriate age….ie i’d love to see riker on the titan as a CGI animated show.

still holding out hope the face is shatner/kirk. but thinking its gul dukat

How can you be a Star Trek fan and not be a fan of Shatners Kirk? He is a golden character played by the best actor ever to appear on the show! There would be no Star Trek today without William Shatner.

The thought had occurred to me when I was watching The Bounty, was that the reason Kirk’s body was at Daystrom Station was because at one point scientists wanted to/were studying the effects of the Nexus on a human body for various reasons including suspension of aging.

“Kirk’s body was buried by Picard on Veridian III under a pile of rocks.”

I wasn’t really a TOS fan when I watched Generations, although I enjoyed the TOS films. When Kirk died I felt it was inevitable. As I have grown older and rewatch the shows and films, I agree it was not the correct choice to kill him in that fashion. However, Generations had so many third act problems I can’t really see any of it going well.

I do know that characters that are dead should stay dead, this isn’t a comic book franchise. Bringing Spock back in the manner they did was cool, and bringing Yar back the way they did was also really cool.

But when they killed Picard and downloaded him into the gollum, I thought it was a stretch, so bringing back an old, retired Captain thirty years after his death, and over a hundred years after his prime (remember he should have died in the beginning of the 24th Century not the end of it, thank you Nexus). It really makes no sense why they would resurrect him. It would be like resurrecting Dwight D Eisenhower.

First comment here. I thought season 1 of DSC was an abomination. S2 is the only one I rewatch, mostly because of Pike and his crew, but also because the second season show runners realized how absurd S1 was and tried to fix everything. Becoming a starship captain after committing mutiny–laughable.

I watch Lower Decks and sometimes laugh out loud by generally don’t enjoy it. I once told my spouse that the problem with the show would be revealed if a character like Boimler was ever done live action. All the yelling and screaming and running away would be absurd. Now, apparently, they are doing Boimler live on a SNW crossover. Wash my mouth out with soap.

Prodigy is a fun show for what it is. It has respect for the source material and timeline, something the original creators of DSC didn’t seem to care about.

Picard season one: loved it. Season 2: you could fly a starship through all the plotholes, but the end with Q and Picard was fab. It was just so painful and ridiculous getting there. Season three: excellent. Great writing and respect for timeline and source material.

Strange New Worlds: As good as it’s probably going to get in the Kurtzman era, which is very good. I kind of pretend all the Kurtzman stuff takes place in the Kelvin timeline, which obviously much of it couldn’t, but it’s the only way I can shut off my “WTF” switch and enjoy it. And I do enjoy SNW a lot.

Will wait and see on the Beverly Hills 90210 Starfleet Academy Show.

So the only things I rewatch from this entire mess are DSC S2, PIC S1 and S3, and SNW S1.

All that being said, things could be worse. A lot of people love DSC and LD, and I say good for them. There’s something for everybody. I just want a show respectful to the timeline and source material, with credible writing and characters. SNW is my favorite. LLAP.

A countdown of all of Pavel Chekov’s love interests on Star Trek: The Original Series

By lillyan ratcliffe | may 12, 2023.

Pavel Chekov had quite a bit of romance during Star Trek’s original run.

Star Trek: The Original Series often gets criticized for how many one-episode romances Captain Kirk had.  Yet, did Pavel Chekov, who didn’t join the crew until the second season, have almost as many romances as his captain?  Was the Russian answer to Davy Jones less prone to falling for aliens than Kirk, looking for love with his fellow crew members?

Pavel Chekov was known for saying “X was invented in Russia” and using his charm on several women throughout his two seasons on The Enterprise.  However, it is interesting to note that Pavel Chekov did not always follow the same romantic path Kirk did.

Kirk often used romance to achieve a goal with female aliens or female Starfleet officers.  Pavel Chekov often seemed to be genuinely interested in the women he had romances with.  Was Pavel Chekov more interested in romance for romance’s sake than Kirk?  Were his romances more focused on finding a long-term partner?

Looking at Pavel Chekov’s love interests across Star Trek

Pavel chekov romance in star trek: the original series (n/a in the animated series).

Pavel Chekov was introduced in season two of TOS when more romantic plotlines were introduced to the series overall.  The first four episodes he appears in, “Catspaw”, “Friday’s Child”, “Who Mourns for Adonais?”, and “Amok Time” are more focused on establishing Pavel Chekov as a character as the romances in these episodes do not involve him.

The first episode to feature a Pavel Chekov love interest “The Apple” immediately has him in a relationship with the Yeoman of the Episode, Martha Landon.  What makes this unique is that dialogue implies this relationship is known to most of the away party.  Kirk even chastises them for wanting to sneak off.  Compare this to most of the other relationships seen in the series where it is love at first sight or the relationship seems to be fairly new.  Pavel Chekov and Martha Landon appear to have been in a relationship prior to the episode and are very attracted to each other.

Pavel Chekov is not involved in another romantic plotline until “The Gamesters Of Triskelion”  where his drill thrall expresses romantic interest in him.  Pavel Chekov does not return these, however, although it is not clear if he doesn’t like how forward she is or if he does not find her attractive.  This is also unique as many romantic plotlines in TOS are mutual.  Does this point to Chekov having a type or being more interested in long-term relationships?

“Spectre of the Gun” finds Pavel Chekov being mistaken for Billy Clanton and kissed by Sylvia, ‘Billy’s girlfriend’ who is really an energy being.  Even though he protests at first Pavel Chekov does seem to fall for her later in the episode.   Most of the following episodes do not involve Pavel Chekov in a romantic role of any kind.  As the canonical newbie, Pavel Chekov often ends up as the character who gets hurt the most, whether that means having an alien take over his memories, being part of the landing party who gets injured, turned into a side character who comments about something, and so on.

One of Pavel Chekov’s most well-known love interests is Irina Galliulin from “The Way to Eden”.  They drifted apart during their time at Starfleet Academy as Irina Galliulin considered Pavel Chekov too rigid and he considered her too free-spirited.  When the Enterprise takes aboard Dr. Sevrin’s acolytes, including Irina Galliulin, their past lets her manipulate him to learn about the Enterprise’s systems so that Servin can hijack a craft to seek the Eden planet his followers have been looking for.  Although Pavel Chekov is hurt by this betrayal, they have a final scene where they mourn their lost relationship, opening up the opportunity that they might reconcile after the failed attempt to find Eden has left Irina Galliulin to find a new goal in life.

Pavel Chekov was not part of the crew during The Animated Series.   While the in-universe reason was he was transferred, could Pavel Chekov also have found romance on another ship? TAS had much less romance than TOS so even if Chekov had been part of the crew, he might never have a romantic plotline.

Pavel Chekov was a father (almost twice!)

It is interesting to note that Demora Sulu was originally Demora Chekov in the Star Trek Generations script.  While there is no clear story about why she was changed from Chekov’s daughter to Sulu’s (as the change from Chekov to Sulu occurred before casting), she is close to Chekov, possibly indicating he introduced her parents to each other or is her “Uncle Pavel”.

Pavel Chekov did become a father offscreen sometime following the five-year mission as his son Anton is the President of the United Federation of Planets in the Picard finale “The Last Generation” .  Audiences do not see him, but he is identified by name.  Sadly, the audience does not get to learn more about Anton – has he gone to politics after a Starfleet career?  Did he serve alongside Demora, taking the Sulu and Chekov friendship into the next generation?  A different President of the United Federations of Planets was seen during TNG so Anton could have been a politician who had yet to run for president or he could have been in a different field entirely.

What remains true for Pavel Chekov from his original appearance to his son Anton’s introduction decades later is that he was not a romantic in the same way Kirk was.  Pavel Chekov’s relationships tended to be less about instant attraction and more about seeking a long-term romantic relationship.  He does have more relationships than Sulu, but do others match him?

Pavel Chekov Love Interests : 4 on-screen (1 mutual; 1 with a one-sided crush; 1 energy being; 1 past relationship) 1 off-screen (implied)

Next. Hikaru Sulu Love Interests in ST:TOS. dark

NCIS May Have Set Parker Up With A New Love Interest, But I’m Annoyed By How The New Episode Wasted A Star Trek Actor

Talk about mixed feelings.

Warning: SPOILERS for the NCIS episode “Heartless” are ahead!

Gary Cole’s Alden Parker was introduced early in NCIS Season 19 as an FBI agent on who briefly worked with and then was ordered to apprehend Leroy Jethro Gibbs, but then he took Gibbs’ spot as team leader following Mark Harmon’s departure . Although viewers have met both Parker’s ex-wife Vivian Kolchak and former flame Joy Sullivan Aaronson, the show hasn’t really explored any current romances with him, but the latest NCIS episode to premiere on the 2024 TV schedule , titled “Heartless,” may have finally given a love interest. But before we get into that, I want to talk about how annoyed I am at how this episode wasted a Star Trek actor.

At the beginning of this episode, actor Tim Russ appears as Commander Eric Harper, a heart surgeon stationed at Navy Medical Center Portsmouth. Russ is arguably best known for playing Tuvok in Star Trek: Voyager , and he reprised the role last year for a couple Star Trek: Picard episodes. So when I saw Russ early on, I assumed that he’d have a prominent role in “Heartless,” but after the scene where he’s testing medical students on a simulation with his partner, Dr. Clara Logan, Harper is kidnapped by unknown assailants, and minutes later, Parker and the team are tasked with investigating his murder.

Now, considering this episode’s storyline, I understand why Eric Harper was killed. We go on to learn that he was kidnapped to perform a complicated surgery on Carlos Sevina, a.k.a. El Viento, head of the Cali Cartel who Leon Vance had been determined to apprehend following a failed raid with the DEA that ended with two NCIS agents being killed. Unfortunately, it’s also revealed that Harper had a tremor in his hands, forcing him to give up surgery and dedicate himself to teaching full time. But Savina had his men didn’t know this, and when Harper screwed up during the procedure, they killed him

My problem is that if NCIS wanted to use Tim Russ, because there wasn’t another role he could have performed during the entire episode, the show simply should have saved him for another episode where he could have had a meaningful presence for the entire story, rather than only receive a few minutes of screen time. Meanwhile, Eric Harper could have easily been played by a lesser-known actor. And yes, I am aware that Russ previously appeared in the NCIS episode “ Jeopardy ” from 2006, but even so, he should have been given more to do this time around. Even pushing aside his time in the Star Trek franchise, just last year, I saw him play an important supporting role in Poker Face , and his other notable credits include Samantha Who? and iCarly . He deserved to a meaty guest role, not just the murder victim.

NCIS' Gary Cole Totally Gets What Makes Parker Tick, But Reveals What They Definitely Don't Have In Common

The NCIS Franchise's 1,000th Episode Featured Some Solid Cameos, But I'm Really Impressed By How It Connected To The Main Show's First Episode

So with gripe of mine that out of the way, the love interest now potentially on the table for Alden Parker is none other than Dr. Clara Logan. To make a long story short, the same men who kidnapped Eric Harper and then killed him later kidnap Clara, as they need her to do the surgery that Harper messed up on. Parker was already visiting Clara, so he pretended to be a fellow doctor and convinced Savina’s men that they need him to complete the surgery. Needless to say this is a recipe for disaster, because in addition to not being a trained medical professional, Parker has a fear of needles and was suffering from a stiff neck this episode. Fortunately, Torres, Knight and McGee manage to find Parker and Clara before the ruse is discovered, and after the latter removed Savina’s tumor, he was moved to a medical center and placed under arrest.

Clara was at the same medical center being treated for a distal radius fracture she suffered during her ordeal, so Parker went to check on her. Calling him “one hell of an agent” and thankful for the role he played in helping keep her alive, she insisted that Parker called her Clara rather than Dr. Logan, and when he said she was also welcome to call him by his first name, she said she liked saying “Alden.” The way she said “Thank you” before Parker left was also tinged with emotion.

CINEMABLEND NEWSLETTER

Your Daily Blend of Entertainment News

Now to be clear, there hasn’t been any announcement that Christina Kirk, who plays Dr. Logan will return to NCIS later this season or in the recently-announced Season 22. So it’s entirely possible the NCIS writers just wanted to give Parker and Clara a nice moment together before the episode ended. However, if they’re looking to give Gary Cole’s character a romance subplot, and considering that Kirk has had multi-episode stints on shows like A to Z , Powerless and Goliath , I wouldn’t be surprised if Clara’s brought back as someone Parker begins dating or even becomes his girlfriend. We’ll just have to wait and see!

There are now just two episode left in NCIS Season 21, but as mentioned, Season 22 is on the way, so you can count on CinemaBlend continuing to cover the popular CBS show for the foreseeable future. If you’d like to revisit any past episodes, it can be streamed with a Paramount+ subscription .

Connoisseur of Marvel, DC, Star Wars, John Wick, MonsterVerse and Doctor Who lore, Adam is a Senior Content Producer at CinemaBlend. He started working for the site back in late 2014 writing exclusively comic book movie and TV-related articles, and along with branching out into other genres, he also made the jump to editing. Along with his writing and editing duties, as well as interviewing creative talent from time to time, he also oversees the assignment of movie-related features. He graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in Journalism, and he’s been sourced numerous times on Wikipedia. He's aware he looks like Harry Potter and Clark Kent.

Young Sheldon Revealed How He Picked His Future College, And The Story Was Far More Entertaining Than I Expected

I Have No Idea What's Going On With These Wild Costumes Rihanna Is Wearing, But I Can't Stop Watching The Video

‘P. Diddy’s On The Bottom Of The List Of People I Wanted To Meet, Especially After Finally Meeting Him.’ That Time Conor McGregor Got Real About Running Into Sean Combs

Most Popular

• 2 I Have No Idea What's Going On With These Wild Costumes Rihanna Is Wearing, But I Can't Stop Watching The Video
• 3 Deadpool And Wolverine Director Says No 'Prior Research' Is Necessary To Enjoy The Marvel Movie. I'm Skeptical About That Claim
• 4 Fallout's Ella Purnell Shares How She'd Like Lucy To Change In Season 2, And I’m On Board With All Of It
• 5 Tracker's Justin Hartley Welcomes Jensen Ackles As Colter's Brother, And I'm Flashing Back to Supernatural

• The Inventory

Love Is Always the Answer on Star Trek: Discovery

"mirrors" sits our heroes and villains alike down in a surprising setting, to come to a conclusion discovery has come to many times before..

We’ve said this many times before, and will no doubt say it a least a few times before as it nears its final end this season: Star Trek: Discovery is not a subtle show . It never has been, but ever since it really found its confidence and understood where its strengths were, it has never shied away from yelling them loudly in the audience’s faces.

Related Content

Sometimes this works in Discovery ’s favor, like it did in last week’s stunningly tight time-twisting adventure—the show firing on all cylinders to play with a format it knows it’s really good at, and using it to do the character reflection it’s also really good at. Sometimes, it means you get an episode like this week’s “Mirrors,” a perfectly perfunctory episode that ties together three different stories—that needed to be told at this point in the season , so you might as well shove them all into the blender and get it out at once—under a familiar dramatic message: Discovery loves Love. It loves romantic love, it loves the love between friends, it loves the bonds love creates to help people change and grow. You, the protagonist: have love! You, the villains of the arc: have love! You, the background support crew: have some love, too!

You know what else this season of Discovery also loves, apparently? Set re-use. After the premiere gave us some clever re-dresses of Discovery hallways and rooms to become the Romulan science ship that kickstarted this whole race-for-progenitor-tech off in the first place, and last week cleverly used the time-hopping conceit to dress and re-dress Discovery again for different eras of the show, this week Michael and Book take themselves on an inadvertent crossover with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , but not like Lower Decks did. More so that they’re simply just on the Enterprise sets instead! After discovering that Moll and L’ak are hiding out with the next clue in the pocket of extradimensional space—safeguarded by a rapidly opening and closing wormhole entrance—Michael races into action to find them, leaving Commander Rayner in charge back on Discovery and dragging Book along with her, where they discover that the duo, and the clue they seek, is hiding out in the damaged, abandoned remnants of the ISS Enterprise : the Mirror Universe version of the iconic ship.

Alas, Discovery really doesn’t do much to interrogate its own history with Trek ’s famous alt-reality; at this point in continuity, Discovery has previously told us, it’s now truly separated from the prime reality, having interdimensionally drifted to the point there’s not been crossover for centuries. Discovery also doesn’t even really explore what it means that the most iconic version of Starfleet’s flagship, twisted into its Terran Imperial form, is now just hanging around, not just as ancient 23rd century technology but filled with materials not of this reality. Sure, at the end of the episode it’s how everyone escaped the destabilizing extradimensional pocket, and Michael taps Owosekun and Detmer to go drag it back to Starfleet for preservation. But really, the ISS Enterprise is here for set dressing: it is the arena in which “Mirrors” dumps its boatload of backstory to fill us in on what’s driving Moll and L’ak.

That is, at least, the interesting thing about “Mirrors”—while it is unsurprising that it turns out Moll and L’ak’s story is about two people cast aside by their societies and former families who find strength and love in their connection, the show does at least give some interesting twists to it all. It turns out L’ak is in fact a member of the classic Trek species the Breen, and cast-out royalty at that, giving an interesting bite to the idea floated last week that it could be them who they ultimately sell the Progenitor tech to should they get their hands on it. It’s also necessary at this point in the season, half-way through, that, well, we actually get motivations for our villains beyond them just getting the thing our heroes want: L’ak has a Breen blood bounty on his head for betraying his people to be with Moll, and all they want is just the opportunity to be free and together and live a life that they define.

It’s interesting! It’s well done! It’s a nice twist for the villains to not just be antagonists for antagonism’s sake! But the show does have to get this all out by slamming the proverbial brakes on its adventure—which happened last week already, but happened last week to give us a really smart use of a classic Star Trek storytelling structure to tell a story that Discovery could only tell knowing it was coming into its final journey, to look back on how far it had changed. Here, the brakes are slammed on to dump a bunch of flashbacks to one specific Breen hangar while our characters hang out on the dimly lit Strange New Worlds backlot. And it’s what we get in the other threads of “Mirrors” too—as we see Michael and Book reflect on their own past together, while Book tries (and regularly fails) to connect with Moll over their shared connection to Booker the Fourth, and as, back on Discovery , we see Rayner try to bring together everything he’s learned about working with this crew to help pull its captain back out from the breach when things start going sideways.

Alone, these are all interesting and necessary kernels of ideas, but mushed together into one story to once again smash over our heads that Connection, Understanding, and Love For Each Other Are Good undermines those ideas a little, and renders them clunkily explored in their own ways. Moll and L’ak largely escape this unscathed as “Mirrors” gives most of itself to their backstory. But that in and of itself feels clunky because it means the thread with Michael and Book half-heartedly acknowledging each other just in case they die feels like an addendum rather than a satisfying point in their shared arc. It means back on Discovery, with barely any time to spare for Rayner’s first big command test without Burnham, we go from knowing absolutely nothing about his Kelleran culture to us and everyone on the ship knowing about five or six different allegedly important parts of its cultural tapestry that it turns out are fundamental to understanding Rayner as a person too. (Admittedly, this is also a Star Trek classic— Trek loves pointing at a single member of a species and tying their entire sociopolitical or theological systems to our understanding of their character.)

Ultimately, it just leaves “Mirrors” as a series of interesting parts that, as a whole, are simply fine. At the end of the day, everyone gets out the extradimensional pocket fine, Mol and L’ak get to half-heartedly escape, and the quest can continue. It’s just now we all know all these characters just want love in the end , and perhaps, most likely—because this is Discovery and it’s what it loves to do most—in the end, the vast majority of them will get it. Necessary stage setting perhaps for this season, but after such an incredible way to center those ideas in the legacy of the show last season, all this feels a bit more like a bump in Discovery ’s road.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel , Star Wars , and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV , and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who .

Advertisement

Screen Rant

Star trek: discovery’s burnham fight makes michael even more like kirk.

Captain Burnham fought herself in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, which is an experience Captain James T. Kirk is very familiar with in Star Trek: TOS.

WARNING: Contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 4, "Face the Strange."

• Captain Burnham's encounter with her past self in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 4 mirrors Kirk's battle with his doppelganger.
• Burnham's growth on Discovery highlights similarities to Kirk's brash, action-oriented command style from Star Trek: The Original Series.
• In Discovery season 5, Burnham's quest for a powerful treasure brings her closer to the spirit of exploration shared by Kirk in Star Trek.

Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) already has a lot in common with Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), but fighting herself in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 4 makes her even more like the Captain of the Enterprise. In its fifth and final season, Star Trek: Discovery follows Captain Burnham and the crew of the USS Discovery as they set out in search of a powerful treasure that could reveal secrets about the creation of all humanoid life. With numerous references to Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , Discovery season 5 feels more connected to Star Trek's long, rich history.

Captain Michael Burnham has come a long way in Star Trek: Discovery , and no scene illustrates this better than one in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 4 , "Face the Strange." Written by Sean Cochran and directed by Lee Rose, "Face the Strange" finds Burnham and her First Officer, Commander Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie), jumping through the USS Discovery's past and possible future . As they work with Commander Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) to stop the time jumping, Michael and Rayner end up on Discovery during the show's first season, and Michael has a run-in with her past self, Specialist Michael Burnham.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Returning Cast & New Character Guide

Burnham fighting herself in star trek: discovery makes michael more like kirk, burnham is not the first starfleet captain to fight herself..

In Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 4, Captain Burnam tries to alter events in the past as little as possible, but that becomes more difficult when she accidentally encounters her past self. By this point in the time jumps, Burnham, Rayner, and Stamets have figured out a possible solution, and if they can execute it before the next jump, any changes they make in the past will be erased. Although Captain Burnham tries to convince her younger self to trust her, the Michael Burnham of Star Trek: Discovery season 1 was a very different person. Specialist Burnham cannot see a world where she would ever become Captain of Discovery.

The Michael Burnham of Star Trek: Discovery season 1 Captain Burnham encountered was just weeks removed from her prison sentence as Starfleet's first mutineer.

The two Michael Burnhams are evenly matched in their subsequent fistfight until Captain Burnham takes down her younger self with a Vulcan nerve pinch . This fistfight feels reminiscent of a similar fight Captain Kirk had with his doppelganger. In Star Trek: The Original Series season 1, episode 5, "The Enemy Within," a transporter accident splits Kirk into two individuals. One embodies all of the negative traits of Kirk, while the other has the more positive aspects. The two Kirks end up in a fistfight and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) disables the "evil" Kirk with a Vulcan nerve pinch.

Captain Kirk also brawls with a lookalike in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, when a Chameloid named Martia (Iman) mimics his appearance.

How Star Trek: Discovery’s Captain Burnham Echoes Captain Kirk

Michael burnham has more in common with james t. kirk than you might think..

William Shatner's James T. Kirk, of course, achieved fame as the Captain of the USS Enterprise on Star Trek: The Original Series , with his brash, action-oriented command style. Much like Kirk, Michael is also unafraid to take risks and doesn't hesitate to charge headfirst into dangerous situations if any of her friends are in danger. Both Captains are intelligent and compassionate, and they inspire loyalty in those who follow their commands. In stark contrast to Captains like Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Rayner when he commanded the USS Anteres, Burnham and Kirk have a more relaxed relationship with their crew.

While other members of the USS Discovery's crew have borrowed the spotlight throughout the show's four seasons so far, Discovery has always been Michael's story.

Unlike the Star Trek shows that came before it, Star Trek: Discovery has a clear main character in Michael Burnham. While other members of the USS Discovery's crew have borrowed the spotlight throughout the show, Discovery has always been Michael's story. "Face the Strange" not only adds another similarity between Burnham and Kirk, but also demonstrates how far Michael has come since the earliest days of Star Trek: Discovery . Captain Michael Burnham is one of Star Trek's greatest new characters, and she has a lot in common with Star Trek's first great Captain, James T. Kirk.

New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery stream Thursdays on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Discovery