Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1 is out on Blu-Ray and DVD right now, and it won't be too much longer before we'll be able to watch Season 2 with our Paramount+ subscriptions. Season 2 has been hyped to be even better than the much-acclaimed first season, and it's partly because fans will get more information about the beloved Captain Pike and his Enterprise crew. We know how the story ends for Uhura and many other characters, but how does someone like actress Melissa Navia cope with the unknown of what will become of her Erica Ortegas?
I had a chance to speak to Melissa Navia to celebrate the release of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds on physical media, and we talked about the questions that fans have regarding Erica Ortegas' future in Starfleet. I asked Navia if she found herself asking questions about where Ortegas' story was going when she received scripts for Season 2, and the actress confirmed as much, while also noting she's used the show's story as a way to cope with it:
I do, yeah. Something that I find that is just so wonderful about Strange New Worlds is that Captain Pike knows his future. He knows how much his life is going to change, and what do you do with that knowledge knowing that…Both in my career and my personal life, Star Trek just keeps putting things into place like puzzle pieces. Where it’s like that’s ok not to know what’s going to happen and to know that all sorts of things are going to happen, but you really have to live in the present, or you will not be able to function.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has a mix of actors playing legacy characters with defined futures in Star Trek going forward, but Erica Ortegas is not one of them. Melissa Navia is obviously curious about what's going to happen to her character in the long term, but as she confirmed to CinemaBlend, she's used Pike's story as a way to help her cope with the unknown that comes with her role.
Melissa Navia added that while she's curious about what will become of Erica Ortegas in Strange New Worlds, she also enjoys the mystery. Navia spoke about how she likes the fact that fans are still wondering, and how her character has influenced the franchise so far:
I love it that Ortegas is not on the Enterprise [when Kirk is there]. Everyone is really like, ‘What happens?’ Does she go off to do something else? Is she no longer with us in this realm? All of that is possible, but to me, it makes it more exciting to see the next script and to put my everything into that episode and what happens there. What happens in the future? What she has done in Season 1 and 2 have made an impact and will continue to make an impact. So, really I’ve been processing that.
We don't know much about what to expect from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2, though we do know a few things to look out for. Paul Wesley will return as Captain Kirk, and there's a pretty wild crossover planned with the animated series Lower Decks. We've also heard from Melissa Navia in a previous conversation that the upcoming season is even better than Season 1, which sets a pretty high bar. We'll have to wait and see if the series can live up to the challenge, though hopefully not for too much longer given that it's on the schedule for upcoming Star Trek shows.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1 is available to purchase right now on DVD and Blu-Ray, and Season 2 will stream on Paramount+ at some point in 2023. Stay tuned as we get closer to the end of Picard for more updates on when it may arrive and some potential footage of the much-anticipated new season. With First Contact Day not too far off on Wednesday, April 5th, I wouldn't be shocked if we have a trailer in the next couple of weeks.
