PUT A SPOCK IN IT
IT’S A CASE OF “DO RED LIGHTS SPELL DANGER?” IN STAR TREK: DISCOVERY SEASON TWO AS BURNHAM’S BROTHER ROCKS UP. IAN BERRIMAN QUIZZES THE CAST
Stardate: 6 OctOber 2018. SFX is backstage at Madison square Garden. Moments ago, cast members and producers of Star Trek:
Discovery left the stage with the cheers of New York comic con attendees ringing in their ears. Now they’ve gathered in a catering room to explain how, after a debut season boasting breathtaking twists and turns, Star Trek’s newest iteration can shock and surprise all over again.
Like the first run, season two will tell an ongoing story, focused on seven signals spread right across the galaxy and their connection to a mysterious winged figure dubbed the red angel. in discovery’s command chair: christopher Pike, James t Kirk’s predecessor as enterprise captain. He’s played by anson Mount, previously superhero patriarch black bolt in Inhumans.
“they wanted somebody very much the opposite of [Jason isaacs’s] Lorca,” Mount says of his more collaborative captain, before explaining how he drew on real life. “i’ve operated as a lead in a tV show before. When you go to acting school, the one thing they don’t teach you is that one day you’ll be on set and everybody’s going to turn and look at you, and you’ve got to have answers! i was thrown into the deep end of the pool of leadership in that job, and that helped me formulate this character.”
Pike isn’t the only iconic figure joining the series. season two finally introduces his science officer and Michael burnham’s foster brother, spock. ethan Peck (grandson of Gregory) is the man sporting the pointy ears – and a rugged beard. When he recorded his audition tape, he had no idea he was playing a Vulcan.
“the character on the page that i got would appear to be someone
who’d never felt emotions, and was trying to make intellectual sense of them,” Peck tells SFX. “it seemed to me like an existential crisis. i’m 32, and we all go through that around this age, so that was kinda recent in my life repertoire!”
since Discovery is set a decade before the original series, there’s room to characterise this spock a little differently. so is he not quite cooked yet?
“that’s a nice way of putting it,” Peck replies. “i think that you have to have somewhere to go with him. Leonard Nimoy is inimitable, and Zachary Quinto played an alternate universe spock. so he’s written very differently, and slowly but surely he’ll become who we’ve come to love and adore.”
is this a spock still struggling with emotional control, then?
“Yeah, he hasn’t experienced that,” Peck says. “He basically has a trauma and he’s forced to deal with his two halves of logic and emotion – very externally.”
in terms of preparation, Peck says he found 1966’s “the Menagerie” particularly helpful.
“it’s such a beautiful two-parter,” he says. “it’s quintessential spock because it’s so dignified, and so emotionally driven but logically executed – and it’s all about spock and Pike’s relationship. that showed me there’s great respect and admiration there.”
vULcaN matterS
Of course, the spock relationship fans really want to know about is his one with his adoptive sister. Why didn’t he mention her before? it must, we suggest to sonequa Martin-Green, be a difficult relationship.
“Yes, it is a difficult relationship, i can tell you that,” she answers, displaying a talent for straight-batting on a par with Geoffrey boycott. “it’s a difficult, complicated relationship, and we dig into it very deeply.”
the redemption arc that defined burnham’s first season isn’t over either, she tells us.
“there was certainly some professional redemption,” Martin-Green notes. “a lot of the people on the ship stopped looking at me like they wanted to kill me! but what’s most important is burnham forgives herself. i carry a tremendous amount of guilt and shame. that’s a foundation in my heart, because of my parents being murdered. so it’s going to be important that i forgive myself and realise that while it’s not about me denying my emotions because of my logic training, it’s also not about denying my logic so i can fulfil my emotions.”
What else can we look forward to? Well, a further trip to the Kelpien Lieutenant saru’s homeworld Kamanar – already visited in one of four “short treks” yet to officially make their way to the UK – should reveal more about his “prey species”.
“it’s kind of a vacation destination,” doug Jones jokes. “Just think, ‘Where would a bunch of supermodel aliens live?’ but even though it looks idyllic, there’s something dastardly going on with our predator species.”
and discovery’s doctor Hugh culber is still a presence – despite being killed in episode 1.10, in one of the more controversial twists. actor Wilson cruz insists the storyline will pay off.
“Once you get through this season you’ll see there’s a reason why he had to die the way he did, when he did,” he teases. “this story will connect all those dots, and where he ends up will be a good explanation as to why.”
More generally, we’re promised a slight shift of tone.
“season one was darker because you’re at war,” executive producer Heather Kadin notes. “Now we’ve closed that chapter and can lighten it up a little, and live with characters and explore their relationships more. Now they’ve had so much time together, you get to have more emotional scenes that you didn’t have as much time for last season – and you hadn’t earned.”
Fellow exec alex Kurtzman sings from the same hymn sheet.
“Last year they were coming together as a bridge crew family; this year they really are a bridge crew family. so we keep building on that, and much of the plot is going to end up testing what it means to choose your family.”
something else he says, meanwhile, makes us wonder if section 31 has plans to Make the Federation Great again by building a wall...
“One theme is, ‘What happens when we give up some of our freedoms to protect our borders?’”, Kurtzman reveals. “What does that mean for us as people?”
We can almost see the furious trump tweets now: “More Fake News from the failing Star
Trek: Discovery. Lots of people are saying ratings are so bad. sad!”
Star Trek: Discovery season two starts streaming on Netflix in the UK on 18 January.