The Most Overlooked Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Character Is Finally Getting Their Time In The Spotlight – SlashFilm

Safety alert! This text accommodates spoilers for season 3, episode 3 of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.” 

There are an entire bunch of wonderful legacy characters on “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” starting from Ethan Peck’s tackle the half-human, half-Vulcan Spock to Jess Bush’s bubbly however good Nurse Chapel, and that may make it slightly tough for the characters who’re new to the franchise. It is a disgrace, too, as a result of one of many highest characters in “Strange New Worlds” can be essentially the most missed: Melissa Navia’s Lieutenant Erica Ortegas. The helmsman of the united statesS. Enterprise is a cool, assured pilot who can do superb issues, and sadly she’s largely taken a (metaphorical) backseat to the remainder of the crew on the subject of screentime and storylines. 

Whereas season 2 gave Ortegas followers extra of the fabulous flier, it actually wasn’t sufficient. Fortunately the present’s writers and producers listened, as a result of season 3 lastly offers Ortegas an opportunity to actually shine. In episode 3, “Shuttle to Kenfori,” Ortegas should overcome her fears and up to date trauma in an effort to obtain the close to-inconceivable and shield the lives of the complete crew of the Enterprise whereas making an attempt a daring rescue. It is an important little arc for Ortegas, with hopefully extra to return within the closing two seasons. 

After being captured by the Gorn on the finish of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” season 2, Ortegas and several other different crew members needed to attempt to survive and combat their approach out within the brutal season 3 premiere, “Hegemony, Half II.” That is fairly traumatic stuff, even for somebody who fought within the Federation-Klingon Warfare. So, it is not all that stunning when she’s slightly extra brash than standard throughout a workers assembly, and Lieutenant Commander Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) even says as a lot when Lieutenant La’an Noonien-Singh factors out that Ortegas was borderline insubordinate. Whereas Una is content material to take Lieutenant Spock’s recommendation and slowly strategy the planet the place Captain Pike (Anson Mount) and Physician M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) are in want of rescue so they do not trigger an incident with a close-by Klingon ship, Ortegas is nervous that their overabundance of warning will get the captain and physician killed. 

She challenges Una once more on the bridge, asking her why she’s so nervous about offending the Klingons, and it is a clear second of insubordination. The Klingons resolve the difficulty for her, nevertheless, by noticing the sluggish-transferring Enterprise and elevating their shields, forcing Una’s hand. Meaning Ortegas will get an opportunity to make use of her (admittedly considerably reckless) plan, and he or she will get an actual second to shine that feels excellent for the puckish pilot. 

Whereas being argumentative along with her superiors is not precisely typical of Ortegas, there are a few nice little character moments peppered all through the episode even earlier than she will get her shot at glory. In the course of the workers assembly, when Una asks her if she has ever really completed the maneuver she proposes, Ortegas replies shortly, “no, however I may.” It is pure pilot cockiness and it is excellent, as a result of her confidence in her personal abilities as a pilot are what get her by way of essentially the most anxious moments within the episode. Identical to she managed to beat her grievous wounds in “Hegemony, Half II” in an effort to assist everybody escape, she manages to beat her recollections of these moments in an effort to manuever the ship in unimaginable methods.

The large heroic second comes when Ortegas, with an help from Lieutenant Junior Grade Montgomery Scott (Martin Quinn), warps into planetary orbit and flies alongside with out hitting the thicker planetary environment slightly below and ripping the ship aside, permitting Scotty to beam the captain and physician out of hazard. As enjoyable as that’s, seeing Ortegas kiss her fist after which pound the console twice earlier than telling a fellow crewmate that “it is a ritual” and listening to her pal Lieutenant Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) praise her flying earlier than telling her to by no means do this once more felt like even greater moments as a result of they confirmed a lot of Ortegas’s character. Hopefully we get to see much more of her in the remainder of the season and within the closing two seasons, as a result of she’s effectively on her solution to becoming a member of the ranks of all-time nice “Star Trek” characters.