Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Has An Episode Exploring Number One's Backstory
When we last saw Rebecca Romijn's Number One, Captain Pike's trusty second-in-command in "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," the character was being hauled off by officials for failing to disclose she is Ilyrian. Romijn is a key part of the new Enterprise crew, so it was a relief when the first trailer for "Strange New Worlds" season 2 showed her right back where she belonged: on the starship that will one day be captained by James Kirk himself.
The trailer for the new season is delightful, with hints of the show's signature humor and chemistry and a great speech by Number One herself about the beauty of the Enterprise's diverse, galaxy-spanning crew and their unique journeys. It should come as little surprise, then, that season 2 of the show is set to explore Number One's journey in greater detail, with an episode focused on her backstory. Series co-showrunner Akiva Goldsman confirmed as much in the latest issue of SFX, which features a cover story on the show's second season.
Number One has history, but also a future thanks to The Original Series
"For me, one of the episodes that I'm most proud of is an exploration of that in this season," Akiva Goldsman told SFX when asked about Number One's background. So far, we know that the character born Una Chin-Riley is Ilyrian, a member of a species that can genetically engineer themselves to match the qualities of other life forms. Captain Pike (Anson Mount) found out her status last season but decided to keep it from Starfleet. When they ended up nabbing her anyway, he ended the season vowing to help her get back to the Enterprise.
As Goldsman pointed out, it's not exactly a spoiler that the character at some point does make her way back to her crew. "We all know that Number One is on Pike's Enterprise for 'The Cage', right?" he said. In case you're not up on classic "Star Trek" lore, "The Cage" was the original pilot episode of "Star Trek: The Original Series," which featured both Pike and Number One. Footage from it was later repurposed for "The Menagerie," an episode set a few years after "Strange New Worlds" that features a disabled Captain Pike, plus a scene where Number One (then played by Nurse Chapel actor Majel Barrett) goes face to face with aliens called Talosians.
Season 2 is set to have a few character-focused episodes
Number One has to be back on the Enterprise to meet the timeline Gene Roddenberry set up over a half-century ago. To that end, Akiva Goldsman acknowledged that "you can be sure that at a certain point, either in the first episode, or in the third season or whatever, she would be returned to her rank and role, because we know that's where she ends up."
Goldsman was tight-lipped on the details about how and when Number One will return, but said definitively that "Number One remains Number One, in job as well as title." If the character ends up standing trial to explain her decision to deceive Starfleet about her background, that seems to me like a great time for the show to explore her storyline and explain exactly how she ended up so far from home, passing as human on a ship full of up-and-coming heroes.
Number One isn't the only character set to be the focal point of a specific season 2 episode: Jess Bush told /Film last summer that she's "really excited" to further explore Nurse Chapel's backstory, and the new season is set to give pilot Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia) her time in the spotlight as well.
"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" returns on June 15, 2023 on Paramount+.