Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

[Jeff of Earth-J]

I am very much looking forward to this show, despite the fact that it spun off from my least favorite show of the franchise (DIS I mean, not TOS). When DIS premiered, I was prepared to accept enhanced special effects and redesigned sets, but I was not prepared to accept the blatant violations of canon for which the series became known (the "spore drive," the Klingons, the backstory and the tech in general), yet the show runners continue to insist that DIS is set in classic continuity rather than a rebooted continuity of its own. [I don't understand; no one insists that the 2004 Battlestar Galactica is part of the same continuity as the 1978 original (which it just as obviously is not), and everyone is fine with it.] My plan is to approach SNW with the same optimism I had for DIS and hope it doesn't reference its mother show too much.

1. Strange New Worlds - p1

2. Children of the Comet - p1

3. Ghosts of Illyria - p1

4. Memento Mori - p1

5. Spock Amok - p1

6. Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach - p2

7. The Serene Squall - p2

8. The Elysian Kingdom - p2

9. All Those Who Wander - p2

10. A Quality of Mercy - p2

[Jeff of Earth-J]

LIFT US WHERE SUFFERING CANNOT REACH: Enterprise encounters a highly advanced race (their maxim is "Science, Service, Sacrifice"), but their scientific advancement comes with a price. This is a very deep, philosophical plot involving ethics and scruples which I would not do justice if I tried to describe it further. I will say the aliens are highly advanced and could cure M'Benga's daughter, but are prevented by their own version of the "Prime Directive." (M'Benga does manage to finagle a method of treatment, not a cure per se, from them by the end of the episode.) I used to always complain the TNG didn't have as many fistfights as TOS and that Picard didn't score as often as Kirk. Neither of those deficits is a problem on SNW. 

At this point in her career, Ensign Uhura hasn't yet settled on a specialty (although she is a linguistics expert), and this episode finds her training as a security officer with La'al. La'al's training regimen consists of (at least) seven lessons, which Uhura encounters sequentially while on the job. This is an artificial construct which pays off when she gets to lesson seven which Pike vaguely warned her about earlier. 

The wordy title evokes "For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky," but this episode bears similarities to several TOS and TNG episodes in which Enterprise encounters an alien race with unfathomable customs. Yesterday I chose "Spock Amok" as my favorite so far, but it's difficult to compare the two, they're so different; both seem like "Star Trek" done right, a phenomenon I haven't experienced in far too long of a time. 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

THE SERENE SQUALL: The Enterprise is hijacked (plausibly) by pirates, Orions and others. (Serene Squall is the pirates' ship.) The story is set against the backdrop of a love triangle involving Christine Chapel, Mr. Spock and T'Pring. (There is also a third woman involved.) The relationship between Spock and Chapel is playing out just as I anticipated, but I didn't expect to see so much of T'Pring: three episodes (so far) out of ten. Spock and chapel share an intimate (if initially feigned) kiss, which  just may have served to transfer Chapel's interest from Ortegas to Spock. I'm reluctant to reveal anything else about the plot because there are so many fun little twists it should be experienced, not described.

No, I've got to reveal one or two other details. First, we learn more about T'Pring's job. She works at a facility which rehabilitates Vulcan criminals, which explains why she was assigned to apprehend the criminal in "Spock Amok." Second, the hijacking of the Enterprise was a ploy to kidnap Spock and use him as a bargaining chip to free a particular political prisoner: Spock's half-brother Sybok. 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

THE ELYSIAN KINGDOM: In true '60s fashion, the Enterprise is transformed into a fantasy setting (complete with forests and castles), with each of the crew being given a role from a children's story to play. The only ones to retain their own personalities are Dr. M'Benga (whose first name is revealed to be Joseph, BTW) and Hemmer. The sub-plot regarding M'Benga's terminally ill daughter is resolved. 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

ALL THOSE WHO WANDER: This episode is, quite obviously, SNW's version of Aliens. Uhura and another cadet are winding up their last semester serving aboard a starship. By now, she has rotated through almost every department. It will soonbe time for her to decide upon a specialty or if, indeed, she wishes to stay in Starfleet at all. They have set up a situation in which Pike leads an away team to a crashed ship while the Enterprise takes of to complete a routine mission. The landing party consists of Pike, Spock, Chief Engineer Hemmer, Nurse Chapel, Lt. La'an, the newly-promoted Lt. Duke, Uhura and her fellow cadet Chia. They discover the ship abandoned, but soon discover their slaughtered bodies outside.

Checking the logs, they learn that the Peregrine had recently picked up three castaways: a human girl (let's call her "Newt"), an Orion, and an alien of unknown species. The log states that the Orion was infested with Gorn eggs. the crew lured them into the inhospitable climate outside the crash site, but the Gorn did not succumb to the cold until they had slaughtered the rest of the crew. La'an (whose brother was slaughtered by the Gorn, I think I mentioned) immediately becomes suspicious of the two remaining survivors, and with good reason. Four baby Gorn suddenly burst out through its body, exactly as in the "Alien" movies, except that each host can incubate multiple Gorn and, as soon as they emerge, they begin fighting each other to establish dominance. 

One is killed immediately. So is cadet Chia. (Lt. Duke isn't much longer for this world, either.) "Newt" runs to her hidey hole. Hemmer is sprayed with an acidic secretion designed to blind him (a wasted effort in his case, although the spray does sting), but La'an appears and prevents him from being killed. Chapel is trapped in sick bay (much in the same way Ripley was in Aliens). Spock must give in to a state of rage in order escape the Gorn attacking him. They have a plan to defeat the one remaining, Alpha, Gorn, but a series regular is killed in the process (evoking Spock's final moments in The Wrath of Khan). The Gorn in this episode (perhaps not fully grown) are about the size of dogs. they chase the crew like velociraptors from Jurassic Park.

Back on the ship, during the service for the three crew members who were killed during the encounter, Chapel notices that Spock is shaking. When he suddenly departs the service, she follows and finds him in a rage. He cannot control himself due to the rage he tapped earlier and warns her to leave. Instead, she draws him to her and calms him down. The episode ends with Uhura taking a last look at the bridge, staring at the communications station.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

A QUALITY OF MERCY: I had had a whole slew of comments in mind to summarize the first season of SNW I've been saving for now, but instead I'm just going to summarize the episode. It was SO GOOD! (I may come back what I was going to say at a later date. 

The underlying story this season has been Captain Pike coming to terms with the foreknowledge of his future. Meeting one of the future cadets (at this point just a boy) who will be killed in the accident that cripples him serves at catalyst for Pike to change the future. He sits down to write letters to all the cadets from his vision. Suddenly, a visitor appears: his future self! But it is not the disfigured, wheelchair-bound Pike of his vision; it is a fit and healthy version of himself from the future, wearing a burgundy movie-era uniform.

This Pike has travelled to the past via a time crystal (this is a thing from Discovery; don't worry about it) in order to convince Pike not to write the letters. He tells him that, yes, he does manage to save all the cadets and, yes, he avoids being crippled and disfigured himself, but his actions now lead to an even worse future. The next thing Pike knows, he finds himself seven years in the future. Fans immediately recognize he is in the TOS episode "Balance of Terror" except he, not Kirk, is in command of the Enterprise. 

From this point, things proceed very much along the lines of the original episode, with some modifications. (Ortegas plays the role originally played by Stiles, for example.) Pike is surprised to find Spock as his Number One. (In this reality, he later learns, Una Chin-Riley has been in a penal colony for the past seven years when her history as a genetic "augment" was discovered.) Pike confides in Spock, who is prepared to relieve him of command until Pike suggests a mind meld.

In the original timeline, Kirk avoided a war with the Romulans by destroying their prototype vessel. In this timeline, because Pike avoided the accident which crippled him, he remained in command of the Enterprise. (This is a slight revision of the timeline as I understand it... maybe... but I accept it.) Another Federation vessel shows up on the scene: the USS Farragut commended by Captain James T. Kirk. The two ships begin to "shadow" the cloaked Romulan vessel (just as in the original), but something changes. An act of recklessness causes Kirk to lose his ship, but he and his crew are safely beamed aboard Enterprise. 

Pike and Kirk have different command styles but, as ranking officer, Pike decides to go with diplomacy rather than aggression. His plan comes so close to succeeding, but ultimately the skirmish leads to a war which is still raging in future-Pike's day. I'm not going to tell you how it comes out, but I will say that when Pike is returned to his proper time, Federation officials arrive to arrest Number One for being a genetic augment. We know she has been in a penal colony for seven years in the alternate timeline, but we can guess Pike will have something to say about it in season two. 

TNG, DS9, VOY and ENT are their own thing; the movies are their own thing; now SNW is its own thing, and I don't care if they never make an episode of DIS or PIC ever again. 

[Captain Comics]

I saw your note about this thread not getting much attention, and one of your guesses as to why applies to me: I watched the show in real time, and thought I wouldn't remember the show well enough to contribute. But your posts are so thorough, they do spark some reactions I had at the time, if not actual knowledge. Might as well dive in!

Pike's temporary first officer, Lt. La'an Noonien-Singh, is the sole survivor of an attack by a newly-encountered species known as the Gorn.

My immediate reaction to this was to hope we'd never see the Gorn. Because it was specifically stated in the original series that no one had seen a Gorn prior to "Arena," and I wanted that piece of my childhood to continue in this quasi-reboot. Turns out the crew does see some adolescent Gorns later in the season, but when it happened, I found I didn't really care that much as it was a pretty good story that would have been damaged if they had gone to extraordinary attempts to keep the Gorn off camera. Turns out letting go is freeing!

Admiral (not Commodore) Robert April is now Black (contradicting only TAS): Shrug

Dr. M'Benga is much more African the TOS's "TV Negro.": Shrug

An Asian transporter chief is named Kyle: Still shrug, but I'd like to note for the record that TOS had a transporter chief Kyle, at least early on. It was this guy:

Regarding some of the other crew (notably Dr. M'Benga, Nurse Chapel and Cadet Uhura), their being on the Enterprise at this time doesn't match my "head canon" but I'm not going to say to much about it because this is so obviously a reboot.

I agree with all of this. I do have some additions, if I may:

Some of it may change to line up with what we "know" by the time we get to, um, 1966. We all remember M'Benga when he was in "The Galileo Seven" and looked like this:

He's on the Enterprise in that episode, just not CMO (which is, of course, McCoy). On Strange New Worlds his storyline (with the dying daughter) seems to be wrapping up, so maybe he decides he doesn't want the CMO responsibilities any more and asks to work elsewhere in the medical department. Or maybe he's re-assigned as a demotion for lying about his daughter all this time. Anyway, he could step aside in favor of Boyce or Piper by the time we get to Kirk's arrival.

I also did a double take when Sam Kirk was introduced. I remember Kirk referencing him in "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" (the one with Lurch), and then we saw him exactly once as a dead guy in "Operation: Annihilate!":

Yes, that's Shatner with a fake mustache.

Note that he is in civilian clothes. And Kirk called him a "researcher." I didn't know he was in Starfleet at all, much less an action-hero landing-party type. And coincidentally on the Enterprise? Oh bridge, you are too far!

But as you say: Reboot. And I did like how Sam describes Kirk, with more than a hint of jealousy. That plot seed may blossom at some point, especially since James Tiberius seemed to impress Pike.

Continuity-wise, this episode establishes that America's Second Civil War led to the Genetics Wars which morphed in turn to World War III. (Picard season two already established that the Genetics Wars took place in the 21st century, not "the 1990s" per "Space Seed".) 

One of these days I'm going to launch a thread about all the things that are supposed to have happened by now in famous works of fiction that, obviously, have not. Second Civil War/Eugenics Wars/World War III would be among them. I write it off to the many, many time-travel stories in the Trek canon, whereby history was subtly changed and the Eugenics Wars shifted to the 21st or 22nd centuries.

Say, I hear Enterprise had some timey-wimey stuff, although I didn't watch all of it. Did that show mention World War III?

Back when DIS was first announced, THIS is what I hoped it would be.

I don't remember what I wanted, but I do wish it was better. It was good enough when it was the only new Trek there was, but SNW leaves it in the dust.

I must say, it's refreshing to see an episodic Star Trek once again. I have grown quite tired of short, single-story "seasons". I also found TNG difficult to take seriously because there was rarely a single threat to occupy the crew for the entire episode. There were always "B" and "C" plots (such as "Data learns to pick his nose") to pad out the plot. 

LOL. I think I missed that episode.

It was titled "Where Nose Goblins Have Gone Before" and it turns out Data's nose is full of nanoboogers that achieve sentience and decide to take over the galaxy, one nose at a time. Picard talks them down and they are settled on a planet covered in mucosa.

Erica Ortegas: Non-binary helmsman, the latest in a long line of Star Trek women with unfortunate haircuts.

La'an Noonien-Singh: Security officer, descended from Khan; if not for Ortegas, La'an would have the worst hair.

Jeff of Earth-J Johnson is right!

If I was creating a show like that now, I'd set it in "Legion of Super-Heroes" time, and be real vague about how we got there.

But then we'd have Sleep-With-Anything Boy instead of Captain Kirk and Logic Lad instead of Spock!

I think this is the identity/origin that will stick. For ever after she will be the Illyrian Una Chin-Riley.

I bet you're right. I kinda miss the no-nonsense No. 1 of "The Cage," but I guess that was too Spock-like. Or Spock Lite. I do wonder about the surname -- it's an oddly specific Chinese-Irish hyphenate, so they may have named her after someone behind the scenes.

This episode is most like "Balance of Terror" ...

Funny you should mention that episode ...

As I recall, Kirk's crew didn't know what a Gorn looked like until Kirk met one face-to-face.

See above.

Hemmer is an Aener, BTW, a sort of sub-species of Andorian introduced on ENT.

Since I didn't watch all of Enterprise, I didn't know this. But I looked up Aenar when it was mentioned on the show and learned something new.

In my mind, there's no question that these various new shows are set in similar but different timelines from the original series. Heck, Next Generation wasn't always perfectly consistent with the original series. Of course, to be fair, the original series wasn't a;ways perfectly consistent with itself!

I'm on the same page with y'all. I yield to no man for my undying love of original Star Trek and all it inspired in me, but asking today's audiences and F/X crews to defer to a 50-year-old TV show with a tiny budget would be entertainment malpractice. But Strange New Worlds is so much in the same spirit as TOS that it hardly matters what tech they use.

There is no doubt that Captain Kirk not only never encountered the Gorn before, but had never even heard of them. In his logs he refers to his opponent as "the creature the Metrons called a Gorn" and also "a creature apparently called a Gorn." It may be argued that La'an's personal experience may not be common knowledge among the peoples of the Federation, but it seems unlikely a starship Captain would be unaware of so dangerous a race a decade or two after that attack. 

What's that you say? La la la can't hear you.

They attempt a Vulcan soul-sharing ritual, but something goes wrong and their katras switch bodies.

It's Freaky Friday! You say it's funny throughout and God yes, it is. But we also were impressed with the actors playing T'Pring and Spock, who were able to capture each other's mannerisms so well. I read an interview with Gia Sandhu  (T'Pring) who said she had never watched original Star Trek (Unghhh -- give me a second) but watched "Amok Time" to learn the mannerisms of Arlene Martel (T'Pring in TOS)! That's some dedication there.

I used to always complain the TNG didn't have as many fistfights as TOS and that Picard didn't score as often as Kirk. Neither of those deficits is a problem on SNW.

This. Or something very much like this. The generation that followed me loves Star Trek: The Next Generation like I love Star Trek. And, obviously, as a Silver Age fan who has met a lot of Bronze Age (and later) fans, I objectively get that and support it. That's what makes horse races! But subjectively, I always found TNG too talky, too low stakes, too reluctant to engage in actual drama or action ... too boring. YMMV.

Both seem like "Star Trek" done right, a phenomenon I haven't experienced in far too long of a time. 

I have said this already, but ... God, yes.

The Enterprise is hijacked (plausibly) by pirates, Orions and others. (Serene Squall is the pirates' ship.)

Is this the one where we discover that Starfleet has an official code name for the "trick the bad guys into fighting each other" strategem, complete with Number One's eye-rolling boredom at using the same ol', same ol' to get out of a jam? I may have laughed until I cried. It's like when Star Trek: Lower Decks established that what happened to Gary Mitchell in "Where No Man Has Gone Before" has become so commonplace that it has a name and is considered a medical condition, or when Peanut Hamper is locked in a vault completely filled with -- and named for -- AIs that attain sentience and try to take over the galaxy.

The hijacking of the Enterprise was a ploy to kidnap Spock and use him as a bargaining chip to free a particular political prisoner: Spock's half-brother Sybok. 

When it was mentioned that the prisoner was a sort-of sibling of Spock, I said aloud "Not another one!" I was thinking of Michael Burnham and Sybok, who were both added retroactively, and a third heretofore unknown Spock sibling would snap my suspension of disbelief faster than a garter belt in a cheap whorehouse. So when they said Sybok I was all like "Oh, that's a horse of a different color!" Well done, SNW.

This episode is, quite obviously, SNW's version of Aliens.

Which is why I, and probably half the known universe, expected a chestburster scene from the get-go. I didn't mind the sort-of Spoiler, though, because the suspense was great!

Also, although it was highly derivative of Alien, it was so well done that it was like watching Alien again for the first time. Hey, if you're gonna steal, they say, steal from the best -- to which I'd add and do it well. 

One is killed immediately. So is cadet Chia. (Lt. Duke isn't much longer for this world, either.)

My wife and I pegged Lt. Duke as a Redshirt immediately on his introduction. I was surprised someone else preceded him is all.

Chapel notices that Spock is shaking. When he suddenly departs the service, she follows and finds him in a rage. He cannot control himself due to the rage he tapped earlier and warns her to leave. Instead, she draws him to her and calms him down.

I didn't care for Chapel, but in this episode she started become plausible and grow on me. It forced me to re-examine why I didn't like her, and realized it was for exactly no objective reason at all. I discovered I was just carrying a grudge from original Star Trek, where I found Chapel a poor match for Spock (too old, too nepotism-y). Once I realized the root of my irrational dislike of the original Chapel, I overcame the carryover.

He finds himself seven years in the future. Fans immediately recognize he is in the TOS episode "Balance of Terror" except he, not Kirk, is in command of the Enterprise.

They gave us a taste of this earlier, and now we find they can't resist just doing a re-do good and proper. And I'm glad they did!

We know she has been in a penal colony for seven years in the alternate timeline, but we can guess Pike will have something to say about it in season two.

One wonders why he didn't do anything about it in the Romulan War timeline. But yes, if he gets her out, which he will because she's second or third in the credits, he negates the timeline (or creates a new one) that results in the Romulan War. Yay, for original "Balance of Terror" decisions and outcomes! Boo, because this returns us to the timeline where Pike gets maimed! Ooh, the suspense!

"Balance of Terror" may be my favorite episode. Just crackling dialogue throughout.

STILES: Once back, they'll report that we saw their weapons and ran!

SULU: And if they could report they destroyed us?

TNG, DS9, VOY and ENT are their own thing; the movies are their own thing; now SNW is its own thing, and I don't care if they never make an episode of DIS or PIC ever again. 

Agreed.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

"...one of your guesses as to why [no one is commenting] applies to me"

Streaming is still a very strange way to watch TV for me. We re-upped P+ for Picard, then decided to watch Discovery S4 and SNW S1 while we had it rather than waiting for the DVDs. Even though intelectually I knew some people much have watched it some time ago, it was new to me and I wanted to discuss it now.

"...it was specifically stated in the original series that no one had seen a Gorn prior to 'Arena'"

Similarly, early on there was a mention of the Romulans, but in a later episode it was clarified no one had seen them for 100 years.

"Shrug (x3)"

Just to clarify, I pointed those things out to celebrate the diversity of the reboot, not to complain.

Regarding M'Benga, he was in two episodes of TOS ("A Private Little War" and "That Which Survives"); his specialty was Vulcan medicine. The backstory I created for him in my head is pretty similar yours, but I think Boyce is gone by this point. (Discovery established that the events we know from "The Cage" have already happened.)

"I also did a double take when Sam Kirk was introduced."

I agree completely with your assessment of Sam Kirk.

"One of these days I'm going to launch a thread..."

I once plotted (but never wrote) a fan fact which traced the Eugenics Wars timeline back to "The City on the Edge of Forever," specifically the bum who vaporized himself with the phaser McCoy left behind.

"I hear Enterprise had some timey-wimey stuff, although I didn't watch all of it."

Yes, ENT had some timey-wimey stuff and yes, it mentioned WWIII. I know that ENT wasn't to your liking and I understand why. I didn't particularly care for the first three seasons myself, but ENT is one of Tracy's favorite Treks. I have urged you in the past, and now do so again, to skip the first three seasons and take a look at the fourth. It's what ENT should have been all along, but it was "too little too late" to save the series from premature cancellation.

I kinda miss the no-nonsense No. 1 of 'The Cage'"

In Marvel/Paramount's late '90s The Early Voyages comic book, Number One's name was Eurydice Robbins. John Byrne later traced her entire history, from cadet to commodore, at IDW, but cleverly avoided mentioning her given name. There is one particular paperback (written by PAD, I think) in which her name was given IIRC, but I'll have to look it up. Speaking of "women with unfortunate hair" in Star Trek, I do not number Una Chin-Riley among them. She has a different hairstyle in every episode! In one, she even sported "The Rand."

"Strange New Worlds is so much in the same spirit as TOS that it hardly matters what tech they use."

Obviously, had today's SFX existed in the '60s, Gene Roddenberry certainly would have used it.

"But we also were impressed with the actors playing T'Pring and Spock, who were able to capture each other's mannerisms so well."

Enthusiastically agreed!

"Is this the one where we discover that Starfleet has an official code name for the 'trick the bad guys into fighting each other' stratagem...?"

I took that to have been a reference to a specific adventure shared by Pike and Number One.

"I found Chapel a poor match for Spock"

I loved the new Nurse Chapel from her very first scene! She and Uhura are the "most improved characters" from TOS.

"One wonders why he didn't do anything about it in the Romulan War timeline."

I wondered that, too, but I suspect we'll find out in S2.

"...this returns us to the timeline where Pike gets maimed!"

I don't think it'll turn out that way. An underlying theme of Star Trek has always been freedom of choice, and we have already been shown that Pike's "destiny" can be changed. (He just needs to find a way to change it which won't lead to galactic destruction is all.)

"'Balance of Terror' may be my favorite episode."

Tracy has commented that the opening theme music is her favorite of all the series. (Our least favorite is the ENT theme,  with sappy lyrics. We either mute it or FF through.) The thing I really, really, really liked about the pseudo "Amok  Time" and "B. of T." episodes of SNW was that they included new arrangements of the music from the original TOS episodes. Goosebumps!

the other thing I had in mind to say about the series overall was the characterization through pairings. For example, Una and La'an had similar backgrounds and played well off each other; Spock and Chapel (obviously); perhaps the best example is Hemmer and Uhura, the grizzled vet and the fresh-faced cadet. For Pike, I think he plays well against Ortegas. She has kind of a smart-aleck attitude and he probably lets her get away with a lot more than he should, but I think he sees his younger self in her. 

The launch date of S2 has yet to be announced, but DIS S5 is in early 2023 and SNW will likely follow pretty closely after that. 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

"In Marvel/Paramount's late '90s The Early Voyages comic book, Number One's name was Eurydice Robbins. John Byrne later traced her entire history, from cadet to commodore, at IDW, but cleverly avoided mentioning her given name. There is one particular paperback (written by PAD, I think) in which her name was given IIRC, but I'll have to look it up."

The first one which caught my eye was The Rift (#57, 1991) by PAD, but it is not the one I was thinking of. [I didn't remember the title (or the correct author as it turns out) but I did remember the cover.] The Rift does feature Pike's Enterprise, though, so I flipped through it to see if PAD had established a name for Number One and found the following passage in which Dr. Boyce asks Captain Pike why he doesn't address her by name and receives the following exchange.

"Because I can't pronounce her name."

"What? Why it's..." His voice trailed off and he frowned. He'd seen it written in records but never tried to say it out loud before. the woman hadn't engaged in small talk on the occasions of her physicals--simple nods had sufficed. He tried to frame the syllables. "Son of a gun."

It didn't take me too much longer to find the book I was thinking of: Vulcan's Glory (#44, 1989) by D.C. Fontana. It tells the story of "Spock's first mission aboard the Enterprise," and if anyone has the chops to establish Number One's name (other than Gene roddenberry) it's Dorothy Fontana. D.C. actually didn't give #1 a name, but she did establish the following backstory.

"Some officers have had a difficult time dealing with the fact that she is a genetically perfect being. On her planet, Ilyria, excellence is the only criterion that is accepted. She is technically designated as being the best of her breed for the year she was born."

"I see. She therefore would receive the appellation 'Number One' even if she were not the executive officer."

Huh!

An exhaustive five-minute search of the internet reveals that the name "Una" was first used in the 2016 50th anniversary novel series Star Trek: Legacies, possibly in tribute to Star Trek author Una McCormack (and of course "Una" also means "one"). The hyphenated surname "Chin-Riley" was first used on Discovery, which raises the question is she somehow related to Kevin Riley ("The Naked Time" and "The conscience of the King")?