And La’An “is in a great place where she can open her heart to [SPOILER] again.”
WARNING! The following contains SPOILERS from "Once La'An a Time."
For those Star Trek fans who only glimpse the title, “Once La’An a Time” is exactly what it sounds like: a Strange New Worlds episode focused on the USS Enterprise’s chief security officer. And, as the show returns to The Elysian Kingdom, which was introduced in SNW season 1, the medieval Mirror encounter leads to La’An Noonien Singh finally coming to terms with her emotional confusion that also presents a real chance for happiness and romance with James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) at long last.
Christina Chong, who portrays La’An on Strange New Worlds, opened up about how her character feels at the end of the episode, regarding the possibility of happiness and with Kirk, by saying in an interview with TV Insider: “Very hopeful. Very hopeful."
Chong continued by saying:
"And you think when you’ve gone through that experience of falling for somebody in ‘Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow’ and then it not happening and then thinking, because it wasn’t real, and then thinking, oh my God, this could happen in real life and then it couldn’t.”
In the Strange New Worlds season 2 episode, “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow,” La’An develops deep feelings for a version of James T. Kirk, who sadly dies while aiding the Enterprise’s security officer in a tragic time-traveling mission to the past.
The strong attraction and bond, which La’An and Kirk shared, leads to the former reaching out to the latter, even though they had never met in Strange New Worlds' regular timeline. Since then, La’An has shared a fiery chemistry with Kirk. However, nothing has come of it until now, and, obviously, her romance with Mr. Spock (Ethan Peck) didn’t end how she’d hoped. Chong continued by saying in the same sit-down:
“She’s been disappointed twice. So, the third time, if she’s going in a third time and is ready, open to trying a third time, it’s got to be something real and a hope for a real connection and love […] She now is in a great place where she can open her heart to Kirk again […] She was like, ‘Okay, I need to see if this can also be real life and not just fantasy.’”
La'An reaches this epiphany after she encounters her shadow character's (Princess Thalia) true love, Prince Dashing, who is also played by Kirk actor Paul Wesley, on the medieval Mirror ship. Without spoiling the episode too much more, La'An realizes throughout the story that she also deserves to be happy in her real life, which leads to her eventually reaching out to Kirk and opening up to him.
One of my favorite scenes from Strange New Worlds season 4’s ninth episode is at the end when La’An lets her hair down both figuratively and literally, as she joins Kirk for a drink and they dance to tie up the story arc perfectly. Now, did you enjoy La’An finally opening her heart to James in “Once La’An a Time?”
Share your thoughts and comments with us on the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages. And Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4’s ninth episode is now streaming on Paramount+.
Live long and prosper, Trekkies!
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