The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few … until they don’t. “Star Trek” has always wrestled with this moral quandary, dating back to Leonard Nimoy’s first appearance as Spock in “The Original Series.” Yet, even Gene Roddenberry himself couldn’t have anticipated just how prescient this debate would become as the franchise continually grew and expanded over the long decades. Practically every series has been made up of an ensemble of characters, all of whom are rich and layered enough to demand entire episodes and arcs revolving around themselves. Of course, this was a much easier proposition in a previous era of syndicated television, when networks routinely ordered seasons amounting to upwards of 20 episodes each. Nowadays, at a time when streaming mandates and soaring budgets result in far less runway to tell the same space-bound stories, well, viewers are robbed of the ability to truly get to know each and every individual stationed on each starship bridge.
“Strange New Worlds” may yet prove to be the exception, however. The long-awaited premiere of season 3 has finally creeped up on the horizon and, by the looks of it, fans can safely anticipate a greater focus on the Starfleet officers who’ve been otherwise kept to the margins. That includes one Erica Ortegas, portrayed by Melissa Navia. /Film recently had the chance to sit in on a roundtable interview with the cast of “Strange New Worlds,” where we asked the actor about the notion of pushing the show’s creative team for a bigger share of the spotlight — particularly when it comes to the steady, coolheaded helmsman of the USS Enterprise. As Navia put it:
“Yeah. I mean, I know for my part I didn’t [push for more screen time] in particular, because I knew since season 1 our showrunners and our writers have been saying, ‘We want to write more Ortegas into the show.’ But when you have 10 episodes and you have this amazing ensemble cast, and you have legacy characters and new characters, the fact that we get as much out of all of them as we have gotten is a testament to the writers and what they’re able to pack into these mini-movies that you guys get.”
Positive fan response helped convince the Strange New Worlds writers to give Ortegas more material in season 3
Real-world, practical concerns always end up factoring into the decisions made on big-budget productions, oftentimes to an extent that fans aren’t privy to. With “Strange New Worlds,” co-showrunner Henry Alonso Myers once named this very topic as a “regret” he had during season 1, even singling out the character of Erica Ortegas by name as one character he wanted to make room for moving forward. Fortunately, she went on to receive more of a focus in the sophomore season and, judging by what we’ve seen of season 3, there should be even more to come. Actor Melissa Navia went on to pinpoint one specific factor that ended up providing even more motivation for the show’s cast and crew: the fans. Trekkies have a habit of gravitating towards each and every character in any given series or film, no matter how major or minor they may be, and Ortegas ended up at the top of many a fan’s wishlist. As Navia explained:
“But for Ortegas, after season 1, seeing the big fan response, that was so beautiful and heartwarming and everything you could ask for as an actor. And again, our showrunners are like, ‘We know what the fans want, we’re going to give it to them.’ And then season 2, I was very excited with all the screen time she got, but the fans were not excited [laughs]. They were excited, but they were like, ‘Not enough!’ And I’m like, ‘Ah!’
“So, season 3, it’s a progression. And I’d love to see — I love our writers, I think they’re all rock stars. I’d like to see where they see Ortegas going, and then I’ll have my input as well. But a lot of this is them kind of doing what they do best, and I do what I do on my side of things.”
Even as “Strange New Worlds” begins to map out its final few seasons, there’s still plenty of room left to give Ortegas, Doctor M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun), La’an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong), and even newcomers like Cillian O’Sullivan’s Roger Korby the screen time they deserve.
The “Strange New Worlds” season 3 premiere is now streaming on Paramount+.
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