Friday afternoon brings the penultimate Star Trek: Strange New Worlds characters promo from Paramount+ with a closer look at “Number One.”
Number One
Rebecca Romijn stepped into the role of the USS Enterprise’s first officer Una or just “Number One,” for the second season of Discovery, along with Captain Pike (Anson Mount) and Spock (Ethan Peck). The role of course was originated by Majel Barrett Roddenberry in the first Star Trek pilot “The Cage.” Number One returns for Strange New Worlds, now fully named as Commander Una Chin-Riley, and she is the subject of the new social media character promo.
As far as First Officers go, Una is Number One. #StarTrek #StrangeNewWorlds premieres May 5 on @ParamountPlus! pic.twitter.com/n8Hpk3lPjz
— Star Trek on Paramount+ (@StarTrekOnPPlus) April 1, 2022
NOTE: this Instagram version should be viewable to all
More character promos
This Strange New Worlds promo follows Tuesday’s videos for Cadet Uhura and Security Chief La’an , Wednesday’s videos for Lt. Ortegas and Hemmer, and Thursday’s M’Benga and Chapel. Earlier today they posted one for Spock. We have done an analysis of the first two promos already, and we will be doing the same for the others soon.
Coming in May
The series debuts on May 5th. Paramount+ has provided the following synopsis:
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is based on the years Captain Christopher Pike manned the helm of the U.S.S. Enterprise. The series will feature fan favorites from season two of Star Trek: Discovery, Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike, Rebecca Romijn as Number One and Ethan Peck as Science Officer Spock. The series will follow Captain Pike, Science Officer Spock and Number One in the years before Captain Kirk boarded the U.S.S. Enterprise, as they explore new worlds around the galaxy.
And in case you missed it, here is the teaser trailer…
Find more news and analysis for Strange New Worlds.
Love that, visually, she’s truest to the STYLE of the original! Look at all that hair! 🖖😁
I agree. She vibes TOS more so than any character to date. She’s in a blank state (at last as far as I can remember). Lots of potential in that character.
This looks very cool! I love it that Rebecca Romijn is a huge Star Trek fan; she knows exactly what it means that she’s taking the role originated by Majel Barrett in the first pilot. Looks like they’ve dropped the old idea that Number One controlled her emotions very strictly, though, and I’m glad, since that’s really Spock’s territory now.
I read (and write, under another name) fan fiction. I recently read a story that talks about Spock’s first year on the Enterprise under Pike. The breakout star of the story was Number One, who was basically a badass goddess. I won’t post a link here, but if you’re interested, search for “Kaleidoscope” by Kianspo; I adored the story.
Hi Corylea,
I just finished reading that.
An excellent character study of the 3 leads …. and a really great showcase for the manner in which could Spock grow and evolve into the person we know.
Though there are two areas I take issue with, I have to say it would be great if SNW reflected a similar approach in helping the audience learn of Spock’s growth trajectory: from ensign to Lt and from Lt to #1. Also showing his growth from one who approaches life as something to be coldly studied from a distance (thanks to home issues and yet-to-be-resolved Michael issues) to one who learns to approach life as a series of fascinating experiences that require full 1st person engagement and immersion. And I know SNW will do the same in terms of giving the audience deep 3 dimensionality in terms of #1, showing her humanity and her excellence as a mentor and teacher and executive and friend. Night exercises aside.
Thank you for recommending this story! I wish TG47 were around to read this as well.
I wonder if they will ever mention Michael at all. I bet only in passing.
You know, as I read that fanfic that Corylea suggested, I came away thinking that this shows a genius way to justify the creation of Michael. The problems that Spock had as a child… a child of 2 worlds who felt alone and at the fringes in both… distant from his father… finding it difficult to grasp the coldness of logic taken to extreme, the concept and logic of emotions, and the illogic of human relations…. I get him. But when this writer shows Spock going through those scenes as an ensign trying to make sense of it, then throwing in a related scene of heartbreak between him and Michael it seems to make Spock’s childhood pain more relatable, more accessible. She should have been his island in the storm. But she became the tsunami during the storm. Then you can better understand his issues when he has his encounter with his guidance officer at the academy in this fanfic.
If they reference Michael, it will be as “she who must not be named”. But I can see many creative ways to use her to show the nuance in Spock’s development. Positively informing some things while breaking down harmful walls she helped cause in other areas. Sons and fathers will always have issues. But having positive growth after hurtful sibling relations, and then using those learnings to find a good path in your new personal and professional relationships …. That would be some good storytelling. And a good example of Spock experiencing a personal SNW.
I’m glad you enjoyed the story! I especially loved it when Number One listed all the reasons why Spock was being promoted to lieutenant. :-)
There were 2 fav passages for me. That definitely was one … if you are going to have favorites, have your shizz together in documented and footnoted form to justify it!
She really is awesome!
Thanks again for suggesting it! Got anything else you want us to read? Let me know.
I posted two suggestions for you, but Trek Movie suppressed it, I guess because I tried to give you a link. So here are those same suggestions without a link; sorry that you’ll have to google these.
“The Tiger” by Pat Foley takes place during Spock’s years as a cadet at Starfleet Academy. We know from Kirk’s interactions with Finnegan in “Shore Leave” that there was hazing at the Academy. In “The Tiger,” Spock stops the hazing that’s near him in the beginning, then goes on to stop Finnegan’s hazing of Kirk at the request of Captain Pike. Fulfilling Pike’s request makes Spock face some parts of himself that he will need as a Starfleet officer but hadn’t previously been comfortable with, and the whole thing ends up being good for Spock AND Kirk AND Pike. Really nicely done.
I’ve written a story were McCoy is cured of his anti-Vulcan prejudice by being temporarily assigned to an all-Vulcan ship. It’s called “Physician, Heal Thyself” and is posted under the name WeirdLittleStories.
I hope you’ll enjoy these! The majority of TOS fan fiction is Kirk/Spock romance, but not all of it is, and neither of these is.
The LOOK of this new show is very encouraging to me. Finally, a new iteration of Star Trek with the feel, or vibe if you will, of The Original Series.
This show just looks incredible! And I really loved Number One in Discovery, it’s no question she’s going to be a fun character. So far, every character video shown I have liked. I guess they are saving Pike for last!
And it really looks like this will be focused on exploration in a big way. We haven’t had that in live action since Enterprise that just about going to a new place because it was there. I don’t think that show will be as free of course but it will still just be cool just to visit new civilizations again! And on the original Enterprise at that!
She was the biggest reason you knew a spinoff was planned. You don’t cast a name actress of her stature for two or three scenes.
She was definitely a great pick! I still want a crossover with her and Picard to double geek out but yeah I know that ship has sailed. ;)
I mean… let’s net overstate this. She’s great, yes, but it’s not like she was ever an A-list actor. Actors of her caliber have been hired for small roles all the time.
You’re the one overstating it by implying I called her an “A-List” actress. I stand by what I said. You don’t include Number One at all, nor cast a well-known, established, actor to appear in two scenes, unless they were setting up for a possible spinoff.
Could they have anyway? Sure. But it was a big red flag that they had their eye on something bigger. That and the fact that they built the bridge as a standing set, for what amounted to a cameo.
Frankly, i’m not even sure why you responded to my comment just to disagree with an innocuous opinion.
Yeah, this definitely looks like the show will truly pay homage to TOS! P+ is really smart marketing the show’s character’s with these 30 second promos. This way, SNW can hit the ground running without “wasting time” with too many backstories – something the show will not be able to do when there are only 10 shows per season.
Boldly voyaging to strange new worlds and new civilizations on the Enterprise… seems like a recipe for success to me. May 5th can’t come soon enough!
Btw, I really must emphasize how pleased I am that the show will not be serielized. Picard is struggling with trying to cram too much into each episode in a failing attempt to progress the story – the result is kind of a mishmash of good and weak storylines and mediocre episodes outnumbering good ones. At least with episodic tv, you can toss a weak storyline into the trashcan one week and live for another day the very next episode.
Sadly I have to admit Picard is losing me once again in second season as well. I’m not giving up yet and we still have half a season to go. But I honestly think Star Trek just works best as episodic fare. Serialization worked well on DS9 and ENT but they also had a lot more episodes per season and not every one of them were geared to the main story. Discovery and Picard works mostly so-so for me thus far and Discovery is in it’s fourth season now. I don’t think I’m ever going to really like Discovery like the other shows because of this, but will keep watching of course.
So I’m excited to get back to the standalone adventures of Trek and it’s what most old fans like anyway.
Ok sorry…. THIS IS THE BEST TREK I’VE SEEN SINCE STAR TREK VI!!!!!
Looks fun!!!!
Ok sorry? No apologies: you may be correct!
I’m not a big fan of VI, so I would go back to IV. But I get what you mean.
I thought comic book writer John Byrne was the first to name her Una…
No. John Byrne never called her Una. That name comes from Greg Cox’s novels. Byrne had a running gag in his comics of coming very close to having someone say her name, only for them to always be interrupted. He even gave Number One her own miniseries without ever saying her name!
It’s sad that the novels/comics/misc ephemeral “contributions” to the mythos are now canon.
Many of the novels and comics are better than the TV shows. Your comment is ridiculous.
Aren’t our comments all? Discussing a tv show as seriously as if it really matters in the grand scheme of things?
I’d take the majority of the DC comics around the times of the original motion pictures over many of the on screen shows that would follow. It’s too bad Peter David was never hired for the movies or tv shows.
I loved some of David’s work, but I somehow feel his style would not have translated well to the screen.
God, I love her. Seriously, she is awesome.
She’s a beautiful woman and fine actress, but IMHO…she’s no Majel.
And that’s a good thing. Majel had all the onscreen presence of a sickbay bed.
OUCH!
In your humble opinion?
Anything but humble. He has the opinions of a soggy, sloppy, half-digested cookie.
Well, dear, we only saw her as that character in one episode (The Cage). And that’s how the character was written. I recall Majel having an abundance of presence as Lwaxana.
Last name Reilly? Kevin’s older sister?
No. Last name Chin-Riley.
Not a complaint because this looks really good, but one question… Why since the start of the JJ movies do phasers not have beams? That was always a staple of all treks.
Yeah that bugs me as well. But here we are.
Yep. That.
That’s a great point, actually. THAT would really feel like Star Trek – we don’t “shoot” we “beam you”