“I got to have a little bit of fun and make him different.”
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds warp-speeds away from the horror vibes of season 4’s second episode, “The Griffin Incident” and downshifts into the hilarious Hangover homage presented in the show’s latest installment, “Human Best Friend.” The title comes from a conversation James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) and Mr. Spock (Ethan Peck) are having while both are inebriated by the psychedelic atmosphere they’re taking shore leave on.
And, yes, despite Spock originally believing he was hallucinating and creating an image of Kirk, which he conversed with throughout the must-see episode, the future captain of the USS Enterprise was, in fact, real. So, Wesley had a lot of fun portraying Kirk in a different way. Wesley said in an interview with TV Insider: “Yeah, then I kind of had the challenge of like [...] I am actually, you know, there, I’m not a ghost. And so like how do I play that?”
Back to the title of Strange New Worlds' third episode, Spock tells “imaginary Kirk” earlier in the episode that he’s never had a “human best friend ” before, referring to his growing bond with who we know will eventually become one of the Vulcan’s closest confidants. Wesley continued discussing how he pulled off making it seem like Kirk wasn’t really there by saying in the same sit-down:
“But then also kind of like maybe there’s this wink to the audience that like something’s a little different about Kirk, and so maybe he really is in Ethan... or in Spock’s imagination. And so, I got to have a little bit of fun and make him different, but not wholly different.”
It’s not until near the end of “Human Best Friend” that Spock discovers Kirk is real and not a figment of his imagination. While Spock and Kirk save Scotty (Martin Quinn) and Lt. Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia) from a bomb, by using the Enterprise’s transporter, it’s only then that fans are let in on the revelation.
Once they materialize, Scotty and Ortegas can both see Kirk, much to Spock’s horror and chagrin. Throughout the episode, he was so vulnerable with Kirk and shared so many personal things with him, and I thought this was a brilliant way to establish the beginnings of a Casablanca-like friendship which will span the course of their respective lifetimes.
Did you love how Star Trek’s homage to The Hangover brought Kirk and Spock even closer together, too? Share your thoughts and comments with us on the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages.
Live long and prosper, Trekkies!
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