Even probably the most informal of Trekkies know that the fandom just about holds franchise canon to the very best of requirements. After over 50 years of “Star Trek,” that is a heck of quite a lot of trivia to maintain observe of. Fortunately, few properties are higher geared up to deal with such intense scrutiny, and “Unusual New Worlds,” particularly, has quite a lot of enjoyable coloring in between the traces of established historical past. The prequel collection is presently ramping up for its third season (which /Movie’s Jacob Corridor reviewed right here), and, as you’ll be able to think about, there are a lot extra cases of taking part in quick and unfastened with the “guidelines” of the world at this level within the timeline. It is no spoiler to say there are holodeck hijinks and much more setup for “Star Trek: The Unique Collection” to come back, however what about these pesky questions surrounding the alien antagonists often called the Gorn?
When “Unusual New Worlds” first reintroduced the Gorn again in season 1, the well-known villains from “The Unique Collection” got fairly the makeover for audiences lately. Gone was the sluggish, janky, man-in-a-suit silliness that William Shatner’s James T. Kirk needed to cope with, changed by fearsome lizards created with visible results and clearly meant to take a web page out of the Xenomorph playbook. To say that these modifications had been controversial could be an understatement, however there was all the time a way behind the strategy.
That information comes straight from showrunner Akiva Goldsman, who not too long ago indicated that he thought the collection was the proper alternative to take one of the vital beloved elements of the unique present and add a completely refreshing twist to our conception of the property. To listen to him inform it, this goes far past merely modernizing the Gorn — he needed so as to add a singular thematic taste to “Star Trek” and its typical strategy to good versus evil.
Unusual New Worlds provides new layers to the Gorn
All through three seasons of “Unusual New Worlds,” the Gorn have definitely claimed their fair proportion of victims: the Aenar Starfleet officer Hemmer (Bruce Horak), the household of La’an (Christina Chong), and the final peace of thoughts of just about anybody unlucky sufficient to cross paths with them. For many who assumed the historical past of the Gorn had been set in stone many years in the past, nicely, suppose once more! Viewers will do not forget that season 2 ended on a cliffhanger associated to the Gorn Hegemony, leaving us determined to see how this storyline could also be resolved. Showrunner Akiva Goldsman addressed this very subject a number of weeks in the past following the season 3 premiere of “Unusual New Worlds” in New York Metropolis.
Throughout a particular Q&A after the screening of the Gorn-centric debut episode, which /Movie attended, Goldsman was requested in regards to the option to retcon the Gorn and, within the course of, upend a sure “Trek” custom relationship again to its earliest days:
“What I liked in regards to the Gorn was the concept it was a chance to retcon one thing into ‘Worlds.’ What we do in ‘Star Trek,’ I believe, is we begin by seeing the ‘different.’ And sometimes we finish by participating our empathy and understanding frequent floor. That is nice. And it does not imply that there is not actual evil on the planet. What we needed to do with the Gorn was to create a monster. And a monster that, not less than at first, appeared evil.”
Straddling the road between seeing the nice in all beings versus the abject “evil” of a species just like the Gorn is only one of some ways “Unusual New Worlds” has added a brand new taste to “Star Trek.” The collection could also be ending with its fifth and last season, however there are nonetheless loads of episodes left to maintain us on our toes. Season 3 premieres on Paramount+ July 17, 2025.
