Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Gives Fans That Ortegas Content They've Been Craving
This article contains spoilers for season 2, episode 4 of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds."
"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" features quite a few new versions of old characters, like the updated Captain Pike (Anson Mount), Spock (Ethan Peck), and Number One (Rebecca Romijn) that were introduced on "Star Trek: Discovery," along with a new Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush), Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), and Dr. M'Benga (Babs Olusanmokun). That's not a full crew, however, which means that the team behind "Strange New Worlds" had to come up with some completely new characters. It's a tall order given the love for the legacy characters, but with Lieutenant Erica Ortegas, played by Melissa Navia, they've created an excellent "Star Trek" character that holds her own alongside the greats. The only problem is that in season 1, Ortegas was given short shrift as one of the only characters that didn't get their own adventure, instead relegated to piloting the ship or serving in some background capacity. This isn't too uncommon for ship's pilots, who tend to get sent on away missions less frequently than the other bridge crew, but Ortegas quickly became a fan favorite and we wanted to see her do more, dagnabbit!
In season 2, episode 4, "Among the Lotus Eaters," Ortegas finally gets a chance to really shine. Initially it looks like she's going to be sidelined with piloting duties again and the landing party will get to have all of the fun, but in the end she gets to save the day and have some really fun moments along the way. Hopefully, this is just a taste of more great Ortegas stories to come, because her part of "Among the Lotus Eaters" is pure joy.
Spock knows; Ortegas feels
"Strange New Worlds" has made much of Spock's half-human, half-Vulcan nature, but he is usually still the most logical person aboard the Enterprise at any given time. He operates according to logic and the scientific method, but when space debris causes both the landing party and the crew of the Enterprise to suffer from acute amnesia, logic doesn't apply. The only things that anyone can remember are the "deeply known things," like how to walk, talk, and do basic tasks. Everyone forgets who they are while in the midst of the debris, and the ship needs a skilled pilot to steer it to safety, but no one seems to know how. Ortegas, terrified, asks the ship to take her home and gets back to her quarters, where she realizes she can ask the ship about her identity.
Chanting the mantra "I'm Erica Ortegas. I fly the ship," she goes back to the bridge and sits down at her seat, letting instinct take over. Some knowledge is so ingrained in us that it becomes "deeply known," and I guess piloting the Enterprise is a lot like riding a bike in that way. Ortegas manages to save the day by flying them to safety, even cutting a hole in one rock and zooming through in a move she calls "threading the needle." Ortegas not only gets a chance to show off her piloting skills, but she gets to show us what an inventive, curious, and funny member of Starfleet she really is. Spock and Ortegas work great together in the episode because they are so very different — he strives to live according to facts, while she survives by following her gut. Combined, they are the best of the Enterprise.
The perfect plucky pilot
It's fantastic to see Ortegas finally getting to show off her badass pilot skills, but it's even better getting to see her react to all of the zaniness in the episode. Navia's delivery of Ortegas' discovery that she is the only one who can save the day is amazing. She's so relatable as she questions the computer and herself, saying and asking "I fly the ship?" in different tones until the computer reassures her enough times that it actually grates her nerves. She gets to the bridge and knows in her bones that she can fly the ship. Spock only knows that he believes in her, another deeply known thing like the friendship between La'an (Christina Chong), Pike, and M'Benga, which saves La'an's life on the away mission.
Many of the characters on the Enterprise are admirable and inspirational, but they can be a little difficult to relate to on a personal, human basis. They're the best of the best of Starfleet, the top people in their fields, and they're all heroic in big, grand ways. Some of the younger officers like Uhura are easier to identify with because they're still learning the ropes, but Ortegas feels the most truly, deeply human of them all. That's meant that she's often used as a sort of audience stand-in or the glue that holds the crew together, but thankfully the folks behind "Strange New Worlds" have realized she is capable of so much more.
We love Ortegas and we want more!
In an interview with /Film's Vanessa Armstrong, Melissa Navia hinted that Ortegas will get more time to shine in season 2, and that we'll even get a bit more information about her past, particularly her military background. Most of the crew of the Enterprise served in the Klingon war to some degree and Ortegas has mentioned that she lost people in combat, so we might get to learn more about what happened. Often the pilots on "Star Trek" shows don't get the same chance for character development as the rest of their bridge counterparts, but Ortegas is already more than holding her own with Sulu (George Takei), Ro Laren (Michelle Forbes), and even Chekov (Walter Koenig). Here's hoping that she gets even more screen time and becomes the most developed "Star Trek" helmsman yet!
"Star Trek," for me, has always been enjoyable because it's a chance to spend time with the crew each episode, to hang out with the coolest people in outer space, and go on grand adventures that are able to be solved in less than an hour. That means it's especially important that the crew are all lovable (or fun to hate), and Lieutenant Erica Ortegas is one seriously lovable crew member. Whether she's poking fun at Vulcan stoicism or giving a eulogy for a fallen comrade, Ortegas is all heart, and the Enterprise wouldn't be the same without her.
New episodes of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" premiere Thursdays on Paramount+.