Warning: SPOILERS For Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3

Anson Mount portrays arguably the best Captain of Star Trek‘s modern era in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, but Anson has also delivered three amazing performances besides Captain Christopher Pike.

Star Trek: Discovery season 2’s introduction of Anson Mount as Captain Pike may have been the most impactful casting in Star Trek on Paramount+’s history. Pike immediately modernized the first-ever Captain of the Enterprise, originated by Jeffrey Hunter in Star Trek‘s original pilot, “The Cage.”

Anson’s combination of authority, compassion, and intelligence as Captain Pike wowed Star Trek fans, who clamored for Paramount+ to create a Starship Enterprise-set spinoff for Mount to headline as Captain Pike. The result was Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

Since Star Trek: Strange New Worlds began, Anson Mount has never failed to instill Captain Pike with the most admirable qualities, which reflects Pike’s legend as one of the greatest Starfleet Captains.

However, throughout Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Anson has stretched his acting chops by playing entirely different characters who are alternate versions of Captain Pike or new personas with Pike’s face. Mount’s performances go beyond his splendid work as Captain Pike.

Sir Armand Rauth

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1, Episode 8 – “The Elysian Kingdom”

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 1, episode 8, “The Elysian Kingdom,” was one of the first instances of Strange New Worlds exploring a new genre, in this case, a child’s fantasy novel, “The Elysian Kingdom,” written by Benny Russell.

When the powerful intelligence later named Debra transforms the crew of the USS Enterprise into characters in “The Elysian Kingdom,” Anson Mount left Captain Pike behind to play Armand Rauth, the cowardly chancellor of King Ridley, played by Dr. Joseph M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun).

Along with the rest of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ cast, Mount surprisingly cut loose in “The Elysian Kingdom,” relishing playing Armand Rauth as a treacherous fop who betrayed King Ridley to his rival, the evil Queen Neve (Celia Rose Gooding).

Anson is a scream playing Armand Rauth as the farthest cry from Captain Pike. “The Elysian Kingdom” also set the stage for Strange New Worlds to freely break its format and delve into other genres, which comprised most of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3.

T.K. Bellows

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3, Episode 4 – “A Space Adventure Hour”

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3’s holodeck episode sent Lieutenant La’an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) into a virtual late-1960s Hollywood to solve a murder mystery as private eye Amelia Moon.

The crew of the USS Enterprise became the suspects in La’an’s holodeck fantasy, portraying various actors, producers, and agents who may have murdered the dead studio executive. But Anson Mount’s performance was a low-key standout.

In “A Space Adventure Hour,” Mount played Captain Pike and doubled in the holodeck as T.K. Bellows, the executive producer, writer, and creator of the Star Trek-like sci-fi series The Last Frontier.

Anson and director Jonathan Frakes loosely based T.K. Bellows on the late Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, with Mount mimicking Gene’s voice and mannerisms while adding his own flourishes of sadness, desperation, and a hint of alcoholism.

T.K. Bellows didn’t turn out to be the murderer, but that didn’t stop him from alarmingly pulling a gun on La’an and Spock, who turned out to be both a hologram and the killer Amelia Moon was looking for.

Even with Paul Wesley swaggering as his William Shatner-inspired leading man, Maxwell Saint, Anson Mount’s understated and bizarre portrayal of T.K. Bellows in “A Space Adventure Hour” is mesmerizing to fixate on.

Vulcan Captain Pike

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3, Episode 8 – “Four-and-a-Half Vulcans”

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3’s “Four-and-a-Half Vulcans” dives headlong into farce as several members of the USS Enterprise crew are genetically altered into full-blooded versions of the half-human Lieutenant Spock’s (Ethan Peck) Vulcan race.

The most oddball of the Starship Enterprise’s four new Vulcans was Captain Pike, who sprouted hair that was improbably taller than his usual coif, along with pointed ears.

Even more strangely, and hilariously, Vulcan Captain Pike was loud, barking his not-always-logical orders several decibels above Chris’ usual soft-spoken tone.

Vulcan Captain Pike still kept his promise to his girlfriend, Captain Marie Batel (Melanie Scrofano), to cook dinner for her Vulcan boss, Vice Admiral Pasalk (Graeme Somerville), while complaining about how Vulcans find the stench of humans intolerable.

Perhaps Anson Mount’s biggest knee-slapper as Vulcan Captain Pike was his reciting Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ “Space, the final frontier…” opening credits narration in his loud and nasally Vulcan voice.

Somehow, Anson Mount’s alternate characters keep topping themselves in absurdity while letting Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ leading man find new ways to stretch his considerable talents.

We can only wonder what Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 and 5 will ask Anson to play next.

Release Date

May 5, 2022

Network

Paramount+

Showrunner

Henry Alonso Myers, Akiva Goldsman

Directors

Dan Liu, Amanda Row, Maja Vrvilo, Akiva Goldsman, Dermott Downs, Eduardo Sánchez, Jeffrey W. Byrd, Jonathan Frakes, Jordan Canning, Leslie Hope, Valerie Weiss, Sydney Freeland, Christopher J. Byrne, Rachel Leiterman

Writers

Onitra Johnson