'Strange New Worlds' drops first Season 2 clip, adds Carol Kane as new engineer

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds won't be back for its second season until next year, but thanks to yesterday's celebration of Star Trek Day, we finally have our first look at what's next for Captain Pike and his crew. 

As part of the celebration, Paramount dropped the first extended clip from the upcoming new season of the series, which documents the early adventures of the Enterprise under Pike's (Anson Mount) command and features early appearances from Spock (Ethan Peck), Uhura (Cynthia Rose Gooding), and even a young James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley), alongside a cast of new characters who have their own roles to play in the saga of the ship. 

One of those characters, helmsman Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia), takes center stage in the new Season 2 clip, something that fans as well as Navia are excited about. "I know in Season 1, everyone was like, 'Where was our Ortegas episode?' That was my question as well," Navia joked on stage during the Strange New Worlds session on Star Trek Day, attended by SYFY WIRE. "I was right there with you." 

It looks like the writers noticed as well, and the show's second season will feature an Ortegas-centric episode. We got to see some of it in the clip, which features the crew preparing for a shuttle launch down to a planet with an especially volatile atmosphere. For Ortegas, it's a chance to show off her flying skills in ways the often smooth-cruising Enterprise doesn't usually allow, but there are at least a couple of wrinkles in the plan, as well as a few clever disguises for the crew.

Check out the clip below:

Unfortunately, that's the only taste of the new season we get for now, but it's not the only Strange New Worlds news out of Star Trek Day. Paramount also revealed that Oscar nominee Carol Kane (Scrooged, The Princess Bride) will be joining the cast for Season 2 as another member of the Enterprise crew.

Here's the official description of her role, which sounds like the perfect Carol Kane character: "Highly educated and intelligent, this engineer suffers no fools. Pelia solves problems calmly and brusquely, thanks to her many years of experience."

You can check out the first look photo of Pelia above, and get ready to see her butt heads with Pike in the new season. 

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds returns next year to Paramount+. 

Looking for some more sci-fi in the meantime? Check out shows like Resident Alien, Brave New World, Project Blue Book, Eureka, Heroes, Intergalactic, and more streaming now on Peacock.