Anson Mount talks about the relationship between Pike and Spock

In a recent interview actor Anson Mount discusses how his character looks at his relationship with Spock as well as the original Captain Pike, the late Jeffrey Hunter.

We are officially five episodes into the second season of Star Trek: Discovery and so far fans have learned a couple things.

First, despite the fact the reviews have been beyond solid, the haters just won’t go away. Thankfully they are becoming more and more the minority and being drowned out by the fans of the show, but these folks really need to get a life. Second, Sylvia Tilly is still awesome. Period. And third, adding Anson Mount to the show as Captain Christopher Pike was a stroke of genius.

Mount’s Pike has unequivocally become the breakout star of Season 2 with calls already starting for him and Rebecca Romijn’s Number One to be given a spinoff show. And it doesn’t hurt that Mount seems to be having a blast in the role and it’s shows in the finished product on the screen.

In a recent interview with Collider Mount talked about a number of subjects as they relate to Pike and Star Trek, not the least of which was the Pike/Spock relationship and how the two regard each other.

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"If Pike has one magic power, it’s his ability to turn the bridge into a bigger brain, and you can only do that from a place of egoless-ness, which is the thing I love the most about Christopher Pike. It’s fascinating because Ethan told me that he thinks that Spock looks at Pike as a big brother type, and that he values the friendship, and I said, “Wow, I’m not sure Pike knows that. I think Spock probably keeps that bottled up.” And he said, “Oh, absolutely! Absolutely, he keeps it bottled up.” I think that Spock is maybe Pike’s most valuable resource because of his ability to look at things so coldly. He is dependable, in his ability to give a different viewpoint, every time, and he is unafraid to do so because he considers it part of his job. So, I think that Pike really tries to cultivate the friendship, and he thinks that Spock is confused by the concept of friendship, but he’s really not."

In addition, Mount also reflected on meeting Chris Hunter, the oldest son of the late Jeffery Hunter who famously played the original Captain Pike. After Mount was cast in the role back in April of last year Hunter came out and praised the casting. Mount talks about how much that unexpectedly meant to him.

"He (Chris Hunter) put something out on social media, and I was very grateful for that. Then, CBS told me that he was coming to Comic-Con, and they arranged it so that we could meet. It meant a tremendous amount, and I could see that it meant a lot to him, to have an actor in the role that he trusted and felt his father would trust. There couldn’t be a bigger compliment than that. Being told, “You’re taking over a piece of work that the man I loved couldn’t finish, and I believe in you,” was a tremendous compliment. I hope that I’m doing him justice."

Showrunner Alex Kurtzman has struck gold with the combination of Mount, Romijn and Ethan Peck taking over a trio of iconic Star Trek roles and making them their own. That needs to be rewarded with a show of their own.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 streams Thursdays on CBS All Access.