Kirk 2.0: Capt. Pike of new ‘Star Trek’ a welcome new icon
IWhen the Starship Enterprise first whooshed across American television screens on Sept. 8, 1966, William Shatner’s James T. Kirk was the smart leader sitting in the captain’s chair. He was stouthearted, eloquent, curious, fair. Kennedylike, even. He was a principled explorer committed to spreading New Frontier values to the 23rd-century stars.
And yet: Kirk could also be something of an interstellar Don Draper — brooding, arrogant, a top-down manager who earned his privilege but also often presumed it. Despite being progressive for his era, he could be condescending to anyone but his top righthand men — and sometimes creepily appreciative of the women he encountered.
But Kirk had actually been preceded as captain of the Enterprise by Christopher Pike — a stoic, vague figure played by Jeffrey Hunter in a rejected 1964 “Trek” pilot who made only a fleeting appearance in the original series, mainly so the pilot footage could be recycled. The character reappeared in two recent movie reboots, portrayed ably by Bruce Greenwood, but was never a foundational fixture of “Star Trek” lore.
Until now.
“Trek” aficionados were thrilled this month to learn that Pike (now played by Anson Mount), his first officer “Number One”(Rebecca Romijn) and the still-evolving, pre-Kirk version of Spock(Ethan Peck) would be following up their season-long stints on “Star Trek: Discovery” with a brand-new show. Called “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” it is set in the decade before Kirk takes command.
And as played today by Mount, Captain Pike — now framed through a creative lens that has captured 54 years of captaining by Kirks, Picards, Siskos, Janeways and Archers — may be the finest, most intuitive leader that the “Star Trek” universe has ever produced.
“Both within the show’s world and our own, Captain Pike is a breath of fresh air,” Jessie Earl, whose Trekfocused “Jessie Gender” YouTube videos explore social and political issues, said in an episode about Pike last year.
“Pike’s lack of ego makes him a perfect model of leadership worth aspiring to,” Earl said. “Pike represents what `Star Trek’has always been about: showing us what we could be if we strove to actively pursue and cultivate the best parts of ourselves.”
It’s not accidental that Pike is the son of a father who taught science AND comparative religion — an embodiment of the empiricism-faith equation that “Star Trek”and its captains have always espoused. In many ways, in fact — even more so than Chris Pine in the movie reboots — Pike functions as James T. Kirk 2.0.
Both are utterly principled and committed to their missions. But where Kirk could be arrogant, Pike is steadfast. Where Kirk was expansive and welcomed attention, Pike is wary of it — but seamlessly claims center stage when needed. Most of all, where Kirk was deeply committed to his responsibility to ship and crew — crippled by it, even — Mount’s Pike adds the view of himself as a humble servantleader who derives his sense of command not only from the success of his mission but directly from the successes of his crew.
This is very much in line with how the captains who came after Kirk evolved the notion of command in “Star Trek” through changing t i m es.
Jean-Luc Picard — in the 1987-94 “Next Generation” series and movies, and in this year’s “Star Trek: Picard” — reframed the captaincy as both more cerebral and less dogmatic. Benjamin Sisko from “Deep Space Nine” was effectively sharing authority with an alien race in whose backyard his space station sat. ---AP
Across
1 Doings
5 Movie “King”
9 Baby’s “ball”
13 Italian money
14 Location
15 Swiss-like cheese 16 Level
17 Florida City
19 Candy brand
20 Rival
22 Education (abbr.) 23 Compass point 25 Dorothy’s home (abbr.) 26 Shedding off of an outer coat
29 Scotsman
30 Leather worker’s tool 31 Western state
32 Watch chain
35 Island territory of the U.S.A.
38 Entice
40 City in Nebraska 41 American sign language 43 Basketball association 44 Roman three
45 Quit
46 Vanish
48 Siblings
49 Spots
50 Tack
52 0.0254 mm
54 Institution (abbr.) 55 Extending out 59 Mississippi (abbr.) 61 Teaspoon (abbr.) 62 Delaware (abbr.)
63 Zilch
64 Parlay
66 Bread leavening
69 Cab
70 Bed or bath ending 71 Decorative needle case
72 Soon
73 Duos
74 ‘Plasma’ variant 75 Indent
n the beginning, in the “Star Trek” universe, there was only Captain Kirk. At least to the general public.
1 Anti-inflammatory drug
2 __ center
3 Force up a tree
4 __ Francisco
5 Male sheep
6 The Ram
7 Very soft metal
8 Short for Pamela
9 Cap
10 Flurry
11 Disobey
12 Prophet
18 Ancient Indian 21 Compass point 24 Chocolate Hills place 27 Thanksgiving vegetable
28 Peaked
29 One’s place
31 Not rural
32 Mild
33 American state 34 Negros Or. city 35 Joyful
36 Old
37 An expression 39 Unsuitable
42 Adjusts space between characters
47 Flightless bird 48 Bacon-lettuce-tomato sandwich
51 See
53 Possessive pronoun 54 Objects
55 The Son
56 Void
57 Former U.S. president
58 Shine
59 Marketplace
60 Frozen rain 62 Information
65 Also
67 Snakelike fish 68 Dickens’ Tiny __ 69 Little bit