Rebecca Romijn hints at the implications of a major Una twist in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode 3, “Ghosts of Illyria.” Strange New Worlds is the latest in a long line of Star Trek series, and serves as a follow-up to Star Trek: Discovery season 2 which introduced audiences to new versions of Captain Pike, Number One, and Spock. Unlike other modern Star Trek series, Strange New Worlds has embraced the classic format of episodic science-fiction stories, and has been universally praised by fans and critics alike.
The series has so far chosen to explore the backstory of a different character with each episode. It was revealed in Strange New Words episode 3 that Commander Una Chin-Riley, Captain Pike’s first officer, is not actually human. Instead, the character is an Illyrian, a humanoid race which uses genetic modification to enhance their biology. Strange New Worlds makes it clear that Illyrians aren’t allowed to Starfleet because of their genetic modifications, meaning that Una Chin-Riley’s role as Pike's first officer is against the rules. However, at the end of the episode, Captain Pike made it clear that Commander Chin-Riley’s revelation didn’t change his perspective of her, stating that he would defend her if the consequences of her rule-breaking emerged.
Now, in an interview with The Ready Room (via Digital Spy), Romijn says the impact of her character’s choices will be explored further down the line. The actor explains that the reveal will continue to play out in “a pretty intense way,” before sharing her belief that it’s added an interesting layer to the character. Romijn also its the contradiction between Commander Chin-Riley’s deception and her appearance as the “perfect first officer” was a part of the character that made her excited to carry the role forward. Check out Romijn’s full comments below:
It was such an interesting layer to add to this character who seems to be the most fastidious, meticulous, perfect first officer. And I believe that she hides this horrible deep secret by being as perfect as you can possibly be in the workplace... The layer of being an Illyrian and having to hide this shameful, shameful secret just felt like - oh, I just couldn’t wait. I was so excited when they first floated the idea to me. And you're going to see that play out in a pretty intense way.
The intense fallout Romijn hints at could end up being the reason why Commander Chin-Riley isn’t the first officer of Pike’s USS Enterprise in The Original Series episode “The Menagerie.” That story set several years after the events currently being depicted in Strange New Worlds, and if Starfleet does discover the truth about Commander Chin-Riley, it could either see her demoted, moved to a less senior position aboard another ship, or kicked out of Starfleet entirely. Audiences will undoubtedly be eager to see how Captain Pike reacts to any reprimanding of the character, after he pledged to stick up for her at the end of Strange New Worlds episode 3.
Exactly when the fallout of Commander Chin-Riley’s reveal will come into play is still unclear, but for now, fans of the new show will have their sights set on the continued development of the character aboard Pike’s USS Enterprise, and her adventures as she travels through space. They will also be beginning to get a greater sense of how the character compares to previous Star Trek first officers like Spock, Commander Riker, Kira Nerys, and Saru. Whatever the consequences are for the character, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has established that Commander Chin-Riley deserves to be counted among that group as one of Starfleet’s best.
Source: The Ready Room (via Digital Spy)