The casting of Carol Kane as a new engineer in Star Trek: Discovery season 2. Carol Kane's extensive career in comedies like The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Scrooged makes her an ideal casting choice for the Enterprise's new engineer, following in the footsteps of comedian Tig Notaro, who played Discovery's engineer Jett Reno. Kane's Pelia will replace Hemmer (Bruce Horak), the acerbic Enterprise engineer who sacrificed himself during a terrifying encounter with the Gorn in Strange New Worlds season 1, episode 9, "Those Who Wander".
While Scotty in Strange New Worlds season 2, Kane's new character is actually a smart casting decision on a number of levels. Firstly, the addition of another iconic Star Trek: The Original Series character would run the risk of distracting from the character arcs of Strange New Worlds' newer characters. Secondly, the casting of a comedy actress like Carol Kane as a Starfleet engineer will help to sell some of Star Trek's technobabble to the audience.
Why Star Trek Now Has Funny Engineers
While Simon Pegg as the Kelvin Timeline's Scotty.
It makes sense to cast comedians and comedy actors in these roles, given their talents. Some of the best comedy is when ludicrous situations are played completely straight, and actors like Carol Kane have proved their considerable talents in this field. Her role as landlady Lillian in Kimmy Schmidt was notable for how she sold Lillian's extensive eccentricities as if they were the standard quirks of an everyday character. That skill will be invaluable in selling Star Trek's infamously complex technobabble, and Kane will know just how far to push the ridiculousness of the sci-fi situations the Enterprise crew will find themselves in.
Will Carol Kane's Pelia Stay In Strange New Worlds?
Carol Kane has been confirmed for season 2 of Strange New Worlds, but it's unclear if she'll stay beyond that. Given that Strange New Worlds is the most popular Star Trek show, a season 3 commission is surely a foregone conclusion, but Pelia's time on the Enterprise is obviously limited. As the show is a prequel to TOS, viewers know that Montgomery Scott will eventually take his place in engineering. The knowledge of the incoming TOS crew adds a degree of dramatic tension to the stories of Strange New Worlds' new characters.
While it's unlikely that Star Trek will kill off another Enterprise engineer, something else may take Pelia away from the iconic starship. It might be that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will have a rotation of Enterprise engineers before eventually settling on Scotty, as teased by the Strange New Worlds Scotty setup in the season 1 finale. If that's the direction that the show is taking, then it should follow the tradition of funny engineers established by James Doohan's original portrayal, and continue to build on the genius casting of Tig Notaro in Star Trek: Discovery.