[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 finale “New Life and New Civilizations.”]
As Star Trek fans know, Kirk (Paul Wesley), once he’s captain of the Enterprise, and Spock (Ethan Peck), its science officer, will one day have an iconic bond, but on Strange New Worlds, which takes place while Pike (Anson Mount) is still at the helm, that friendship is in its very early days. But the Season 3 finale takes it to another level when Kirk must agree to a Vulcan mind meld for mission success.
Kirk comes to the Enterprise‘s aid — repaying them for their help earlier this season — when the crew once again deals with the Vezda. In order to open a portal through which the Vezda had taken M’Benga (and not destroy a planet), both ships need to fire at the same target at the same time, meaning the pilots have to be operating in tandem. (Wesley says that he did see footage of Peck’s movements to replicate them.) It doesn’t require fancy flying but rather two people who are quickly comfortable sharing a consciousness, and Spock explains he’s learned that Kirk is willing to do things others aren’t. Kirk agrees, warns him not to judge certain things he sees, and suggests he calls him Jim.
That mind meld is something that requires a great deal of trust, but it was an easy decision for both characters, Ethan Peck and Paul Wesley tell TV Insider.
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For Spock, “I think it was just the most logical thing to do,” Peck says. “Sometimes there’s this really great sentiment of falling platonically in love, and that’s how I described their first meeting between the two of them. It’s just something unspoken, and it’s just something instinctual. That could be a further expression of Spock’s humanism, trusting his gut about certain people, and he’s got a good gut feeling about Kirk.”
Kirk, meanwhile, isn’t thinking too much about what it means for himself, Wesley explains: “One of the religions, so to speak, of Kirk is that he always puts the crew and the ship above himself. So I don’t think for one minute does he ever value his own privacy over the mission. For him, that’s everything.”
And while there may have been things Kirk wishes Spock doesn’t now know, “it’s more of a comedic thing,” says Wesley. “They now share this deep connection, and it’s just more symbolic of their deep connection on the series and in TOS [played by William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy] that we all know. We all know the Kirk and Spock bond is the most important bond and most important relationship in TOS, I think, or in Star Trek, period.”
That mind meld also allows Kirk to learn about Spock and La’an’s (Christina Chong) casual relationship that developed in Season 3. And while the strongest bond that Kirk has formed with La’an came as part of an alternate timeline in Season 2’s “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow,” and this Kirk is in a relationship (with Carol) and has a baby, there is something about his connection with the security officer.
“He doesn’t have that deep history,” Wesley says. “It’s not like he’s a single man. He’s not in a position to dictate who should be with who. But I do think that there’s a part of him that’s somehow deeply connected to La’an and he doesn’t quite understand why.”
Speaking of Kirk’s relationship with Carol, “we do learn a little more in Season 4,” Wesley, who’s returning as a special guest star, teases. (The series has been renewed through its fifth and final season.) “I think he deeply, deeply, deeply cares for his son, but he can’t spend time with him because he’s away and he’s focused on his mission and his career, and he’s deeply conflicted about it. I think that’s a huge problem in his life.”
But Kirk does have family around him right now: his brother, Sam (Dan Jeannotte). The last time we see the two in the finale, they’re having a drink together. “We know that they’re each other’s closest family because their parents are essentially out of the picture. Sibling relationships are very complicated, and I think that we know what happens tragically to Sam eventually. And I think that the writers are doing a really good job creating a rapport between me and Sam because we all know that one day he won’t be there,” says Wesley. “I love working with Dan, and I think he’s such an easy guy to work with. He’s very funny. He’s got a great sort of charisma, and there’s a playfulness that we have with one another on screen. I think it’s like this brotherly sort of competitiveness, but yet done with a twinkle and a bit of love.”
As Strange New Worlds heads into Season 4, Spock is still exploring his human half, as he has said Starfleet has allowed him to do. “He’s unsure [of that part of himself],” Peck admits. “There’s not a lot of certainty there. He’s beginning to see that it’s important. I think he still does feel shame about it, about being emotional, about being human, and I’m not sure that that will ever change, but I think he will eventually find the value in it. And that’s a lesson that began during his time with Michael Burnham [Sonequa Martin-Green] on the Discovery.”
Looking ahead, Wesley’s hoping to work more with Chong, but adds, “This is a prequel to TOS, and so I also understand that there’s a place for Kirk; this is really the story of the crew on the Enterprise prior to Kirk. And so Kirk is there because we all know eventually Kirk will take the helm, but I also am very conscious of the fact that he can’t overstay his welcome because he has to be sort of one of those things that, when he’s there, you’re excited to see him without him being shoved in your face in every episode.”
What did you think of the Spock and Kirk mind meld? What are you hoping to see going forward on Strange New Worlds? Let us know in the comments section below.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Season 4, TBA, Paramount+