Why Star Trek: The Original Series fans will love Captain Christopher Pike

Captain Christopher Pike helms the Enterprise on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds left space dock today, offering a brand new version of a Star Trek series that, in a lot of ways, resembles Star Trek: The Original Series. But it’s also invariably different. One thing, though, that fans of The Original Series will be able to see right away are the similarities between Captain Pike and Captain James T. Kirk.

Played by Anson Mount, Captain Pike is the leader of the Enterprise in this series set several years before Kirk’s Enterprise takes off. But in the first episode of Strange New Worlds, we could have been watching Kirk making the decisions as Pike’s calls were almost spot on with what would have transpired with Kirk at the helm.

Captain Pike carried a heavy load after learning his fate in season two of Discovery, and he was forced to return to his position as captain despite having the horrifying knowledge of his future. He wasn’t sure he was ready, but the mission—save Number One and her two-person crew—was paramount. So he resumed his position. And that’s where Pike began to resemble the Kirk we got to know over fifty-five years ago.

Warning: This section contains spoilers from the first episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

Captain Christopher Pike is the type of captain Starfleet needs on every ship.

Pike puts his own demons aside to focus on the mission and even did so with gentle humor and kindness. He welcomed the new members of his crew and even gave a hearty hug to Dr. M’Benga. He talked openly with Spock about what he’d learned about his future, risked his life to protect a planet that wasn’t ready for warp capabilities much less the bomb they were building, and offered a commission to Lt. Noonien Singh despite her having withheld vital information from him which could have affected the mission.

In just one far-too-short episode, Strange New Worlds introduced (or re-introduced if you saw him on Discovery) a man of honor, integrity, and discipline, one who isn’t afraid to break the rules when lives are at risk. Now, who does that sound like?