(Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for Star Trek: Strange New world Season 2 premiere “The Broken Circle.”)
Healers become fighters in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 premieres and shows that they are a great team on and off Businessin and out of the infirmary.
Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush) and Dr. M’Benga (Babs Olasunmokun) are among those who leave Business to help La’an (Christina Chong) after receiving a distress call; Spock (Ethan Peck), as Acting Captain, with Pike (Anson Mount) on the ship, trying to help Una (Rebecca Romijn) goes against orders. And in the course of dealing with some Klingons who want to restart the war (peace is not good for business, primarily for profit), Chapel and M’Benga end up having to fight their way out of trouble.
“It was so much fun,” Bush enthuses to StrippedPixel. “It was the most fun ever. I think by the end of the episode, Babs and I were both like, “We need a massage. We need a vacation. (We were) just like kids in a candy store, rolling around.”
Olasunmokun agrees, adding: “a lot of stunt rehearsals and all that, that’s how it happens. And yes, we had a lot of fun. We had a lot of fun. I kicked a lot of ass, I threw a lot of people around.”
Michael Gibson/Paramount+
The history these two share makes them such a great team. “We’ve been through a lot together and have been each other’s safety for a long time,” notes Bush. “And so we really understand what the other person needs without having to say it on an emotional level — and then also in terms of action.”
And we will learn more about this history, reveals Olasunmokun. “You’ll find out the circumstances under which they met,” he says. “Some of these will be answered, but where they came from, the origin of their history is quite interesting.”
As Spock goes against Admiral April (Adrian Holmes) order to help La’an, he is, as Commodore Tafune says, easily released. That’s because, April tells him, it’s kept them from having to defend two fronts at once, even if they don’t know it. If a war happens, they will need every officer they can get. The map in front of them then shows a Gorn attack ship.
So how much of the season is about that threat versus standalone adventures? “The only thing I can say for sure is that you will see the Gorn again,” teases executive producer Henry Alonso Myers.
The premiere was also introduced Carol Kaneto Pelia, who inspects Business when their unauthorized mission begins and tags along. As it turns out, she’s Lanthanite, who offers to fill the Chief Engineer void (after Hemmer’s death last season) and remarks that the worst thing about living forever is boredom—which she knows she won’t have with this crew.
Kane knew “very little” about Pelia when he joined the series. “When they first asked me to come on board, it was like I hadn’t read anything,” she says. “But I was just delighted. And then, the more I learned about this backstory, the happier I was. They explained to me – which makes total emotional sense to me, Carol – that I was asked to be on the ship, it eased my boredom because I’m with all these people and I have to deal with the crises that come up.”
Considering how many people she’s met along the way, what does Pelia think of this crew? “I want them to fall in line. I know better,” Kane says with a laugh. “I mean I like them, but I clearly know more.”
Star Trek: Strange New WorldsThursday, Paramount+