The "First Lady of Star Trek" is everywhere in Strange New Worlds

Majel Barrett Roddenberry made a lasting impact on Star Trek. One of the most visible ways she did so was through her numerous roles across various iterations of the franchise. Although Barrett's personal contributions ended after the posthumous release of 2009's Star Trek film, the legacies of many of her roles have been carried on in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

So far, Strange New Worlds has brought back three of Barrett's roles: Number One (Rebecca Romijn), Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush) and the voice of the Enterprise computer (Alex Kapp). Although it may seem odd to include the voice of the computer on that list, that is actually the "character" Barrett portrayed the most, and Alex Kapp manages to keep the same general "sound."

Given that Strange New Worlds is a prequel to the original Star Trek from 1966, it is no surprise that the Majel Barrett characters featured are her roles from TOS. Definitely Barrett's most famous TOS role is as Nurse Christine Chapel, who is brought to life in Strange New Worlds by Jess Bush.

Bush's portrayal of Nurse Chapel is certainly different from Barrett's. The SNW Chapel is also a more major character, however, and some of the potential "inconsistencies" actually make sense. Chapel's medical research, for instance, not only sets up her time with Roger Korby, but could also explain her decision to earn an MD sometime prior to the events of Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

A character who is more of a "blank slate" for Strange New Worlds is definitely Number One/Una Chin-Riley. Although Number One was technically Barrett's first role in Star Trek, it was in the first pilot, "The Cage," so her performance was not seen at all until being presented in clips in "The Menagerie," and then several decades later when "The Cage" was finally aired.

In her short time as the character, Barrett plays Number One as a dispassionate, logical character—traits that were later shifted to Leonard Nimoy's Mr. Spock. While Rebecca Romijn certainly keeps the cool-headed intelligence that Barrett brought to the character, she is also a bit warmer and more likely to express emotion, perhaps so as not to tread on Ethan Peck's portrayal as Spock.

While there are certainly nits to pick on how how these characters are portrayed in Strange New Worlds, the inconsistencies with the Original Series are arguably rooted more in the fact that we're seeing more of these characters than we did before. I would say that is a good thing.

TOS was focused almost entirely on Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. The other characters were present, but often for little more than support. Strange New Worlds has offered a chance to delve deeper into these other characters. The narrative danger is by delving so deep as to make a character like Chapel unrecognizable from how she appears in the Original Series.

This is the trouble with prequels—and something that Strange New Worlds also faces for characters like Spock, Uhura, Kirk, and now even Scotty. If they really want to introduce these characters, they need to somehow show us something new about them and also ensure that their whole arc ends with a pre-existing characterization.

That said, I admit that I wouldn't mind seeing some other Majel Barrett characters appear in Strange New Worlds. For instance, makeup and effects technology is such now that it could be cool to see a live-action incarnation of M'Ress, the Caitian communications officer who shared a post with Uhura in Star Trek: The Animated Series.

Also, Betazoid lifespans have not necessarily been firmly established, so it might be reasonable to see a young Lwaxana Troi (before she would have married Deanna's father), perhaps with other Betazoids. This could also allow for interesting comparisons between Betazoid and Vulcan telepathy, given Spock's presence on the show.

Those last two ideas are purely speculation, of course. As it is, it's cool that Strange New Worlds has brought back as many of the "First Lady of Star Trek's" roles as it has. I hope that the writers and actors involved continue to do so faithfully and in ways that enhance the characters, rather than detract from them.