Screen Rant has the absolute pleasure of presenting an exclusive sneak peek from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' upcoming episode "The Serene Squall," which will be available to stream June 16 through Paramount+. As the newest entry since writer-producer Alex Kurtzman was tasked with rebranding the long-running franchise since for a new audience, Star New Worlds often finds itself reintroducing familiar elements and characters through a new lens.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds centers on the voyages of the USS Enterprise in the year 2259, while it is under the command of Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness). In addition to Pike, it follows the lives of several characters from The Original Series, including Number One (Rebecca Romijn), T'Pring (Gia Sandhu), and Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), But perhaps the cast member who has been most explored is Lieutenant Spock, played by Ethan Peck.
Tomorrow's new episode, "The Serene Squall," will add another important character to Spock's story. Dr. Aspen is a unique nonbinary character, played by Jesse James Keitel, who is currently lighting up the screen in the new Queer As Folk reboot. A former Starfleet counselor and current humanitarian worker, Dr. Aspen forms a bond with Spock and even offers some much needed advice. In the exclusive clip from this week's Strange New Worlds, they are seen discussing the difference between Vulcan and human - and the unnecessary need of every species to put things into boxes. Check out the full clip below:
Click here to watch the video.
Dr. Aspen wisely suggests that boxes and labels can be limiting, and that Spock may indeed be shorting his own potential by not acknowledging both sides of his heritage. Though not much is known about Keitel's character yet, it's exciting to see the Star Trek universe bring in another nonbinary character after Star Trek: Discovery welcomed Adira (Blu Del Barrio) in 2020. Whether this new friendship will affect Spock's outlook and character arc in the long run will certainly be something to watch out for.
"The Serene Squall" takes place over the course of a dangerous humanitarian mission, in which the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise stumbles into a harrowing game of leverage with the quadrant’s deadliest space pirate. The Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode was written by Beau DeMayo (who also wrote episode 4, "Memento Mori") and Sarah Tarkoff (who wrote episode 2, "Children of the Comet"). It was directed by trans filmmaker Sydney Freeland, who has also worked on Peacock's Rutherford Falls.
To learn more about Strange New Worlds, check out our interview with Gia Sandhu, who plays Spock's fiancée T'Pring:
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 1, episode 7 will be available to stream on June 16 through Paramount+.
Source: Paramount+
Screen Rant has an exclusive clip from this week's Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, which introduces Jesse James Keitel as Dr. Aspen.Tatiana Hullender