It’s a safe bet not to expect Lt. James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) to date Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush) in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2. The young Kirk will join the season 2 cast, which was set up by Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) meeting an alternate future Captain Kirk in Strange New Worlds season 1’s finale. But the events of Star Trek’s Prime timeline are markedly different from what occurs in the Kelvin timeline of J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek movies, especially when it comes to Kirk’s love life.
In Star Trek Into Darkness, Dr. Carol Marcus (Alice Eve) joined the USS Enterprise incognito to stop her father, Admiral Alexander Marcus’ (Peter Weller), plot to launch torpedoes that contained the cyrogenically frozen followers of Khan Noonien Singh (Benedict Cumberbatch) at the Klingon homeworld. En route to opening one of the torpedoes, Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) followed Carol into a shuttlecraft, where she admitted Jim is “much cleverer” than his reputation suggests. Carol confirmed Kirk’s reputation by bringing up her friend, Nurse Christine Chapel, hinting that Kirk and Chapel once dated… but Kirk doesn’t even remember her.
Kirk & Nurse Chapel Dating In Star Trek Into Darkness Won’t Happen In Strange New Worlds
Lt. Kirk and Nurse Chapel will no doubt meet aboard the Starship Enterprise in Strange New Worlds season 2, but it’s unlikely they will have any type of romantic entanglement. According to Star Trek canon, Chapel (Majel Barrett) is infatuated with Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and the beginnings of the will-they/won’t-they intrigue between Christine and Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck) have already been established in Strange New Worlds season 1. Further, leaked set photos from Strange New Worlds season 2 hint that Kirk may have a tryst with Lt. La’an Noonien Singh (Christina Chong), who became Kirk’s First Officer on the USS Farragut in Strange New Worlds season 1 finale’s now-aborted future timeline.
Speaking of the USS Farragut, Strange New Worlds‘ Nurse Chapel actually served on that starship prior to joining the Enterprise, so it’s quite possible she already knows of Kirk (and his reputation). Thus, there’s a good chance Christine will stay away from any romantic entanglements with the cocksure young Lieutenant Kirk. Plus, Star Trek Into Darkness established that even in an alternate reality, there are no sparks between Kirk and Chapel, so it’s likely this will hold in the Prime timeline as well. This is not to say Lt. Kirk wouldn’t proposition Nurse Chapel if given the chance, but Christine ultimately only has eyes for Spock.
Will Strange New Worlds Set Up Kirk’s Wrath Of Khan Love Story?
Because Strange New Worlds is set in Star Trek’s Prime timeline, and Paul Wesley’s Lt. Kirk is destined to become the iconic Captain Kirk portrayed by William Shatner, the prequel series could introduce the young Carol Marcus to set up her love story with Kirk. Carol and Kirk have a son, David Marcus (Merritt Butrick), who is a young man in his 20s in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, which happens in 2285. As Strange New Worlds season 2 is set around 2260, bringing in Carol Marcus may be something the show plans on doing as the time David will be conceived by Kirk and Carol is drawing near.
If Carol Marcus does appear in Strange New Worlds, the series will no doubt have learned from the folly and backlash of Star Trek Into Darkness and not gratuitously have Carol strip her underwear. The Prime timeline’s young Carol also likely won’t be British like Alice Eve’s Kelvin Carol since Bibi Besch’s Dr. Marcus spoke with an American accent. Whether the Prime timeline’s Carol Marcus is also friends with Nurse Christine Chapel if she appears in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will be something for Lt. Kirk and audiences to discover.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 premieres in 2023 on Paramount+.
