Star Trek: Short Treks Featurette Goes Inside Spock’s First Day

Star Trek: Short Treks made a surprising return on Saturday with the unannounced debut of the new episode “Q&A.” The episode chronicles Spock’s first day aboard the Enterprise, highlighting his first meeting with the ship’s first officer, Number One. Ethan Peck and Rebecca Romijn both returned to reprise their respective roles as those characters, which they played in the second season of Star Trek: Discovery. A new featurette released by CBS All Access, seen above, has the two stars going in-depth on what the new episode of Star Trek: Short Treks is about, what it means for their characters, and how filming Short Treks differs from working on Discovery.

“Being back on the Enterprise for Short Treks was really surreal and coming back to the Enterprise in the way that we did was really fun too, because it’s Spock’s very first day on the Enterprise, and that felt like such an honor to play that moment in his life,” Peck says. “Spock’s come straight from Starfleet Academy. He’s just beamed aboard. And greeting him there is Number One, played by Rebecca Romijn. And then she’s challenging him right away. This episode really sets them up in a great way because Spock will learn so much from her, and I think her from him, in a sort of like a master and apprentice sort of way.”

Romijn says, “It’s a beautiful glimpse into this early relationship and I think what happens on the turbolift is a real meeting of the minds and the audience gets to discover how alike number one and Spock actually are. They’re both very inquisitive. They both have vast knowledge.

As far as the production process, Peck and Romijn both appreciated the intimate nature of the short film. “My favorite part of filming Short Treks was the intimacy of it,” Romjin says. “It was like shooting a one-act play and it felt really fun and satisfying.”

“It’s totally self-contained,” Peck says. “There’s not a serial, overarching story. These moments aren’t tied to anything else, so you can really be moment-to-moment in the present with the character right in front of you.”

Peck ends the featurette by reflecting on what coming aboard Enterprise means for Spock. “This is a guy who always felt like an outsider that is finally on a ship with people who have probably themselves felt like outsiders,” he says. “Starfleet is, what’s wonderful about it is that it’s a place for people who feel strange and different to go and feel welcome, to feel celebrated and to use their uniqueness to the advantage of the entire team of Starfleet.”

What did you think of “Q&A”? Let us know in the comments. The episode is available to stream now on CBS All Access. A new installment of Star Trek: Short Treks, “The Trouble with Edward,” premieres on Thursday, October 10th. You can watch the episode’s trailer here.