Star Trek Introduces An Enterprise Rivalry That Took 60 Years To Happen

Warning: SPOILERS For Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4, Episode 1 - "Valles Marineris"A rivalry flares up on the Starship Enterprise in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4, and it's a first for the 60-year-old Star Trek franchise. Directed by Chris Fisher and written by Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 sends the USS Enterprise 65 million years into the past.

The jaw-dropping bombshells and retcons in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4's premiere include the Starship Enterprise captured by a Martian vessel. During Earth's Cretaceous era, Mars was a civilized world at war with the Dol'drm, an insect species that lived in the heretofore unknown fifth planet in the Sol system between Earth and Mars.

Meanwhile, Lt. Commander Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) led a landing party consisting of Lieutenant La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) and Lieutenant Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia). On prehistoric Earth, the Starfleet officers encountered dinosaurs and discovered a Dol'drm ship that crash-landed, killing its occupants, which now makes the arachnids the first known aliens on Earth.

Scotty & Ortegas' Feud Is A Star Trek First

As Star Trek canon is retconned in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4's premiere, tensions are brewing on the USS Enterprise: Lt. Erica Ortegas and Lt. Montgomery "Scotty" Scott (Martin Quinn) are feuding. This marks the first time in 60 years that the Starship Enterprise's helmsman and engineer are at loggerheads, with genuine hard feelings.

Speaking to ScreenRant at Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4's press junket, Martin Quinn explains that their "egos" are why Scotty and Ortegas aren't getting along:

Martin Quinn: "I suppose [a rivalry] probably should have been expected. These are two characters with egos in different kinds of ways, and of course, they were going to butt heads at some point. Now that I think of it. I'm surprised, actually, before now, it hasn't come to a head.”

Erica's beef with Scotty is due to his criticism of her flying. Ortegas is naturally infuriated that Scotty installed a warning beacon with incessant beeping to her console. For Scotty's part, he's understandably concerned about the wear and tear on the Enterprise, as someone who constantly has to repair damage to the ship.

In terms of their roles on the starship, it's logical for a helmsman and an engineer to be at odds. Interestingly, it took six decades and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds to delve into this. Comparatively, on Star Trek: Voyager, the USS Voyager's helmsman, Lt. Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill), and the Chief Engineer, Lt. B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson), fell in love and got married.

Meanwhile, Ortegas' best friend, Ensign Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), also unexpectedly encounters an unfriendly crew member. Uhura hoped to mentor the Enterprise's new Starfleet Academy cadet, A'Sha (Bianca Nugara), but the Vulcan was cold and rude to the Communications Officer.

Star Trek Has Always Had Starfleet Rivalries

Starfleet Officers gained a reputation for harmonious co-working due to Gene Roddenberry banning interpersonal conflict in Star Trek: The Next Generation. However, TNG's writers and producers found ways around Roddenberry's "our people always along" edict. One of TNG's best Starfleet rivalries was Commander Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Commander Elizabeth Shelby (Elizabeth Dennehy).

Riker also wasn't pleased when Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn) began dating his Imzadi, Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 7. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's motley collection of aliens and Star Trek: Voyager merging Starfleet with the Maquis were other ways Star Trek producers worked around Roddenberry's 'no-conflicts' rule.

In the 23rd century of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: The Original Series, Starfleet isn't quite as Utopian. There were plenty of flare-ups among the USS Enterprise's personnel on Captain James T. Kirk's (William Shatner) USS Enterprise. Star Trek: Enterprise's 22nd century also saw plenty of mistrust toward Subcommander T'Pol (Jolene Blalock) and Vulcans in early episodes.

Lieutenant Erica Ortegas and Scotty openly not getting along in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is fascinating, especially in how it pairs up Melissa Navia and Martin Quinn, who haven't really interacted before. When Erica and Scotty argue, it's up to viewers to decide who's right: the pilot or the engineer.