In season 1 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, we witnessed the tragic death of Lieutenant Hemmer, the Enterprise’s chief engineer. However, there’s a big silver lining: in the season 2 premiere, we meet his replacement, Pelia.
At the beginning of the episode, Spock receives a distress call from La’an, who’s been on a leave of absence for several months while she tries to reunite a Gorn attack survivor with her parents. Starfleet denies Spock’s request to go and help, though, so Spock hatches a scheme to steal the Enterprise. Spock and the rest of the bridge crew fake a a mechanical problem as a cover story, but then Pelia, who’s helping out with maintenance, calls them out on their ruse. Instead of turning them in, though, she helps them steal the ship.
Uhura figures out that Pelia belongs to a race of exceptionally long-lived beings, many of whom lived undetected among humans on Earth for centuries. At the end of the episode, Pelia confesses to Spock that the worst thing about her longevity is the boredom—and to stave it off, she’s decided to leave her post at Starfleet Academy and join the Enterprise as its new chief engineer.
Pelia is an instantly likable character—warm, sly, and smart enough to instantly see through Spock’s plan. But the best thing about Pelia? She’s played by the inimitable Carole Kane.
You may recognize Kane as Lillian, the frenetic landlady in The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Or maybe you saw her play Bianca in Los Espookys, or heard her voice the Menopause Banshee in Big Mouth. If you’re a fan of classic film, you might know her as Valerie in The Princess Bride (“I’m not a vitch, I’m yer vife!” plays in my head pretty much constantly, for no real reason other than I love her). I won’t lie—as a curly-haired Jewish woman, I can’t help but feel a strong affinity for her. Carole Kane’s voice, look, and acting style is unmistakable, and it’s a lot of fun to see her taking on a role in one of my favorite franchises.
Unfortunately, Pelia isn’t a main cast member, so she doesn’t appear in every episode of season 2. Still, I’m glad she’s on the show. We need more female engineers, we need more Jewish actresses onscreen, and we all need much, much more Carole Kane in our lives.
(featured image: Paramount+)
