“The needs of the many…”
J.J. Abrams paid homage to this classic scene from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) in his 2013 Star Trek Into Darkness film. Heck, even Starfleet Academy’s Nus Braka (Paul Giamatti) tipped his cap to Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Captain Spock’s (Leonard Nimoy) final moments together before the latter’s death in TWOK. However, Strange New Worlds just pulled off a creative nod to the franchise’s most impactful moment.
During Strange New Worlds season 4’s fifth episode, “Level-Five Transporter Accident,” Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) finds himself being thrown out of the USS Enterprise’s airlock after being transformed into a puppet! At first, the Orion’s captain (Rachael Harris) threatens this action so that Spock will give her the command codes to take over the Enterprise.
However, before Pike is thrown into the chamber, he commands Spock not to comply. Pike then shares one final moment with his science officer before facing the cruel, cold fate in space that seemingly awaits.
And, in a clear tribute to Kirk and Spock’s final scene in The Wrath of Khan, Pike places his tiny puppet hand against the glass separating him from Spock, who too places his hand against the glass before spreading his fingers to make the Vulcan salute.
“The needs of the many…” Pike says, and then the Orion captain suddenly purges the chamber and launches him into space! So, how and why did Strange New Worlds executive producer and co-showrunner Akiva Goldsman come up with this creative homage to The Wrath of Khan? Well, it was quite by accident, as he revealed in an interview (per TV Insider). Goldsman said:
“Honestly, that was literally me on the day going, ‘Wait, wait, what if we… ?' It has no deeper meaning than that, which doesn’t mean that now it won’t have a deeper meaning than that. But it seemed in a world of utter delight, impossibly delightful. So, we did it.”
I loved the nod to The Wrath of Khan, but Pike was never in any danger. You see, everyone turning into puppets was simply part of Spock’s dream: another homage but this time to the classic television series Dallas. Plus, during Spock’s illogical nightmare, the puppets could talk and breathe in space, and they didn’t freeze either.
Did you appreciate the homage to The Wrath of Khan? Share your comments with us on the matter and about Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ puppet episode overall via the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages.
Live long and prosper, Trekkies!
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