Everything You Need To Remember To Watch Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2

On June 15, the second season of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" will commence on Paramount+, and Trekkies couldn't be more excited. The Paramount+ era of "Star Trek" has been a pretty rocky time for old-world "Star Trek" fans, as many of the newer shows have been, well, less than stellar. "Star Trek: Discovery" has been, at the very best, a mixed bag, and the first two seasons of "Star Trek: Picard" were pretty abysmal. Curiously, the animated series "Star Trek: Prodigy," which is perfectly decent, is often considered a "lesser" series. 

In 2020, however, "Star Trek: Lower Decks" debuted, followed in 2022 by the start of the "Discovery" spin-off, "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds." Between those two shows — not to mention a pretty darn good third season of "Picard" — one could safely say that "Trek" was good again. "Strange New Worlds" in particular captured a very particular "Star Trek" operational ethos, staying on board a Starfleet vessel and getting to know the crew through weekly stand-alone episodes. The episodic nature of the show, not to mention its breezy, jocular tone, made "Strange New Worlds" an instant hit with fans. It may have the strongest first season of any "Star Trek" series to date.

Most modern TV, to state the obvious, banks on season- and series-long story arcs that might take years to resolve. The only extended arc on "Strange New Worlds" is — following a tradition established by '90s "Star Trek" shows — a season-end, two-part cliffhanger. When we last left the Enterprise crew at the end of the first season of "Strange New Worlds," there were several outsized, dramatic events that have yet to be resolved. 

Notably, three characters will have new dramas to face once season 2 begins.

The most dramatic event at the end of the first season of "Strange New Worlds" was the arrest of Commander Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn). It seems that Chin-Riley was not a human as she initially claimed, but an Illyrian, a species that regularly engaged in genetic manipulation of its populace. Chin-Riley lied and said she was human on her application to Starfleet Academy and didn't disclose her genetic enhancements. It should be remembered that, in the future of "Star Trek," Earth once fought a devastating and decades-long series of wars surrounding eugenics. The evil Khan, for instance, was a genetically enhanced tyrant during said wars. As such, genetic enhancements have been stringently banned by the Federation. 

Una Chin-Riley, not incidentally, did reveal the truth of her identity to Captain Pike (Anson Mount), who elected to keep her secret and keep her on board the Enterprise. Having been apprehended, Chin-Riley will likely have to stand trial in the second season of "Strange New Worlds," and she may very well end up in prison. It's likely Pike will face consequences as well.  

The character of Una Chin-Riley was, as Trekkies recall, introduced in the original pilot for "Star Trek," where she was played by Majel Barrett. It wouldn't be until her reintroduction on "Discovery" decades later that her canonical fate would be revealed. There's nothing in "Star Trek" lore that says Una Chin-Riley didn't go to prison for a time, so it's entirely likely the fate of the character is genuinely at stake. 

Although I hope not. I like the character. 

In the first season episode "All Those Who Wander" (June 30, 2022) — perhaps better nicknamed the "Ridley Scott's Alien episode" — the Enterprise crew beamed down to the site of a crashed ship looking for survivors. They found only a few people alive, including a young girl named Oriana (Emma Ho) whose family members were all dead. It seems that the crashed starship was infested with the Gorn, a reptilian species that reproduces by laying eggs inside the bodies of others. The baby Gorns are ferocious and hungry and quick-moving, and can also impregnate people with further eggs in an instant. One of the main characters of "Strange New Worlds" died on the mission. 

Lieutenant La'an Noonien Singh (Christina Chong) is the security chief of the Enterprise, and she was the one who rescued Oriana from her desperate situation. La'an learns, upon bringing Oriana back to the Federation starship, that her parents might still be alive somewhere. At the end of "All Those Who Wander," La'an asked for a leave of absence from Captain Pike so that she may spend however long it takes to find them. La'an does not appear in the season's final episode (except as an alternate timeline version of herself) as a result. 

At the beginning of season 2, it seems that locating La'an and where Oriana might be will be of paramount importance. Is La'an still reachable? What did she find out about Oriana? And will she rejoin the Enterprise crew if she is located? 

The version of Spock (Ethan Peck) seen on "Strange New Worlds" is a markedly less mature character than audiences might see in the original "Star Trek" series. This Spock is a little more whimsical and a lot less in control of his emotions. Indeed, during "All Those Who Wander," Spock found himself flying into a rage over the attacking Gorn, screaming in anger. This event, it is explained, strained something inside Spock's brain, making him even less capable of controlling himself. Come the second season, it seems this will be a Spock who will not be able to keep from occasionally laughing, crying, or yelling. 

This emotional wrinkle will also, no doubt, lead to complications for Spock's relationship with Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush), who has admitted to being in love with Spock. This is already complicated as he is engaged to marry T'Pring (Gia Sandhu). With fewer emotional barriers and Nurse Chapel's passions undiminished, there is every reason to believe the two will, at the very least, have a very serious discussion about their romantic future. 

We know from the original "Star Trek" that their relationship will never come to be ... or that it did and they never talked about it. If it's going to happen at all, it's going to happen in season 2. 

Thanks to the trailer for the second season of "Strange New Worlds," audiences know that the Klingons will also be involved. Perhaps infamously, the Klingons were drastically redesigned for "Star Trek: Discovery." They had no hair, their heads were elongated, and their skin was either solid black or solid white. They also, curiously, had extra nostrils. It seems that the Klingons in the second season of "Strange New Worlds" will look a lot more as they did in the 1990s, with long hair, beards, and a pirate-like demeanor. 

The Klingon War was a major plot point of the first season of "Discovery," and it was resolved when the Federation placed a bomb in the center of the Klingon homeworld and threatened to blow up their planet if they didn't cease hostilities. Not exactly a diplomatic — or even moral — solution, but it's what the U.S.S. Discovery did. "Strange New Worlds" takes place at the end of that war after thousands of lives were lost and tensions are running high. One might begin to immediately postulate the relationship between the Federation and the Klingon Empire at the time in their history as being less than rosy. Surely there must be resentment and pain, and any peace agreement will likely be unsteady. 

We will have to see if post-war malaise will be a major part of "Strange New Worlds."

The second season of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" premieres on Thursday, June 15, 2023.