Yes, We're Proposing A Goofy Theory That Connects Star Trek: Strange New Worlds And The Classic Sitcom Taxi, Hear Us Out
This post contains spoilers for the season 2 premiere of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds."
The U.S.S. Enterprise has a new face in "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" season 2, but the actor who plays her is pretty familiar to film and TV fans. Carol Kane has starred in everything from "The Princess Bride" to "The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," but one of her earliest roles seems to have found its way into the DNA of her "Star Trek" character, Chief Engineer Pelia.
At the end of the first season, Chief Engineer Hemmer (Bruce Horak) died heroically while fighting the Gorn, and now Pelia is going to step into his shoes. The mysterious Pelia is a Lanthanite, a member of an alien species new to "Star Trek" lore that seems to bear some similarities with the El-Aurians. (The most well-known El-Aurian is Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) from "Star Trek: The Next Generation.") Both appear to look just like humans and are extremely long-lived, though whether or not the Lanthanites have psychic abilities is yet to be seen. If Pelia's actions in the premiere are any indication, they just might be. She's either psychic or incredibly observant, because she's on the ball. In the season 2 premiere of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," we get to learn a little bit about her, and she reminds me of Simka Dahblitz-Gravas, Kane's character from the 1980's sitcom series, "Taxi."
Here's the thing: Pelia actually could be Simka, canonically, through the magic of her long-lived species and some fun network history.
Sweet, silly Simka
Commander Pelia is a force to be reckoned with. When Spock (Ethan Peck) and the rest of the deck crew create a fake coolant leak in the warp core to get everyone to evacuate the Enterprise so they can steal it, Pelia almost immediately knows what's up. In a heavy accent that sounds vaguely eastern European, she tells Spock that she figured out their plan and is totally fine with it, helping them steal the ship and admonishing, "if you're going to steal the ship, do it correctly." Her accent sounds almost identical to the one she used as Simka on "Taxi," and there are some shared personality traits, too. Pelia has a sense of mischief about her, asking Spock if he has a good reason to steal the ship with a smile and a sparkle in her eyes, and Simka is similarly mischievous, always willing to go along with her husband Latka's (Andy Kaufman) antics.
Not only that, but there are several instances on "Taxi" where it seems like Simka has psychic abilities or is preternaturally observant. In one episode, she plays matchmaker to all of her friends and manages to find the perfect partner for each of them, and in another she knows that Latka has been unfaithful the very moment she lays eyes on him. She also speaks several languages, and we discover in the premiere that Pelia speaks Klingon. The two share a lot of similarities (and a face and voice), and it's possible that they are in fact the same person!
A different kind of ancient alien
So how could Commander Pelia, a Starfleet officer in the 23rd century, and Simka Dahblitz-Gravas, an immigrant housewife in the 20th century, be the same person? It turns out that like the El-Aurians, Lanthanites are extremely long-lived. In fact, Pelia tells Spock that she can live "almost forever," which mirrors Guinan saying that El-Aurians only age "if they want to." The El-Aurians are the "listeners" of the galaxy, so maybe Lanthanites are the watchers? Either way, they share one other similarity: they hid out on Earth before humans made First Contact with Vulcans, pretending to be humans themselves. In fact, Spock says that the Lanthanites managed to hide out among humans until well into the 22nd century, and Pelia reveals that she was one of the first to "come out" as a Lanthanite. She also seems to have known Spock's human mother, and has clearly spent some time on Earth.
Pelia is theoretically old enough to have lived in New York in 1980, where she could have lived under the assumed name of Simka. Simka and Latka's country name is never mentioned, and it's entirely possible that they are all Lanthanites hiding out under a fairly flimsy cover story. That or it's one of the many eastern bloc countries that has changed names so many times that it's hard to explain. Either way, it's 100% canonically possible that Pelia lived in New York in 1980, as Simka. Besides, both "Taxi" and "Star Trek" are owned by CBS and Paramount! Whether it ever gets confirmed or not, in my heart, Simka lives well into the 23rd century and enjoys Klingon blood wine. Qapla', thank you very much!
New episodes of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" premiere Thursdays on Paramount+.