Why Dr. Chivers From Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Looks So Familiar

In "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" Season 4, Episode 7, "Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass," Captain Pike (Anson Mount) wakes up in sickbay with a comically large bandage on his head. He notices that the lighting is hazy and finds that Dr. M'Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) and Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush) are speaking in a strange, halting fashion. He can even hear musical cues in his head. Pike realizes pretty quickly that reality has somehow warped and that life aboard the USS Enterprise has come to resemble a soap opera. 

This is nothing unusual for Pike. Earlier in Season 4, he and his crew were transformed into puppets in an episode with the perfect director for the occasion, no less. Likewise, "Strange New Worlds" Season 1 saw Pike and Co. turn into fairy tale characters at one point. So, when he hears the music playing in his head, he doesn't hesitate to ask, "Are we in a musical again?" Zany, reality-bending genre shifts are de rigueur for Pike by now.

As such, Pike is ordered to see the Enterprise's counselor, Dr. Chivers, a character who hasn't appeared on "Strange New Worlds" prior to this episode. When Dr. Chivers enters her office, soap opera fans the world over might wiggle in delight, as she is played by none other than Deidre Hall, the Emmy-nominated star of "Days of Our Lives." Hall, of course, began playing the role of Dr. Marlena Evans way back in 1976 and has continued to play the part, on and off, up until the present. By now, she's been in over 5,000 episodes of the celebrated soap, which is a remarkable feat no matter how you choose to look at it.

As Dr. Chivers, Diedre Hall gets to wear a special kind of uniform that looks like a fusion between a Starfleet tunic and a modern-day professional suit with a collar. It's very classy. She begins to analyze Pike, pointing out that he has some emotional baggage he needs to unpack. It's thereafter revealed that everyone on the Enterprise is being manipulated by the trickster god-like entity Trelane (Rhys Darby), who loves soap operas and feels he can study humans' emotions by putting them through soap opera dramas.

The soap opera-ification of "Strange New Worlds" might initially elicit titters or complaints that the show is continuing with its overall whimsical genre experimentation. Yet, "Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass" has something to say about soap operas that is ultimately very positive. While soaps are known for their silly plotting, ridiculous dialogue, and melodramatic acting, they still deal with large and very real human emotions. Indeed, by the end of this episode, Pike has not only survived a whole lot of absurd plot contrivances, he finds himself needing to face a strange, ineffable, real-life loss that he never quite acknowledged.

Hall's presence invites this kind of analysis. The actor, after all, likely thinks very highly of soaps, as "Day of Our Lives" has provided steady work for her for 50 years. Not to mention, her character, Dr. Evans, has endured some of the wildest storylines the show has ever mustered, the most infamous of which has to be when she was possessed by a demon. Dr. Evans has also survived plane crashes, had her comatose body used to host genetically engineered children, and been brainwashed to become a serial killer.

Deidre Hall's legacy extends well beyond "Days of Our Lives," too. Prior to that show, she appeared on "The Young and the Restless" before later starring in the NBC series "Our House." She's also been in TV movies with dramatic titles like "Woman on the Edge" and "A Reason to Live," and she played Electra Woman in "Electra Woman and Dyna Girl" (a mostly forgotten superhero show that still holds up well). The point being, Hall is soap opera royalty, so her co-starring in "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" is like getting the pope's blessing. 

But, again, soap operas are a world unto themselves. They're daily TV dramas with devoted fanbases that tend to stay in their own insular circles. It's like the "One Piece" franchise in the sense that those familiar with the property adore it, but you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone outside of the hardcore fans who could tell you a damn thing about it. Moreover, they both have an unthinkably huge volume of installments, extended dramatic storylines, and a self-contained ethos unto themselves. Non-fans tend to make fun of soaps for their melodrama and staginess, but they must be doing something right if they can persist for decades the way "Days of Our Lives," "Guiding Light," and "General Hospital" all have.

And you know what else has a whole lot in common with soap operas? Superhero comic books. When it comes to decades-long stories about characters experiencing a constant stream of bizarre personal dramas (relationship heartbreaks, clones, possessions, wartime trauma, etc.), the X-Men comics stand right next to "Days of Our Lives."

You can stream "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" on Paramount+.