Anson Mount is the third actor to play Captain Christopher Pike in the Star Trek franchise (not including the Kelvin timeline), and he, as well as the creators of the new Star Trek shows he’s appeared in, have given the character a whole new lease on life. Pike has a convoluted history in the franchise, mostly because his story has often been told out of sequence, but the lead of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds isn’t bogged down by his history, as much as he is informed by it.
Who Is Christopher Pike?
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Pike is the captain of the Federation flagship, the Enterprise, which had been intentionally kept out of the Federation-Klingon War. In the second season of Star Trek: Discovery, Pike was sent to captain Discovery, which had been at the forefront of the war. Star Trek has a history of captains being replaced by terrible leaders— case in point, Edward Jellico’s (Ronny Cox) brief reign as the Enterprise-D’s authoritarian and micromanaging captain — so, would Pike join the list? From the moment Mount’s version of Captain Pike was introduced on Star Trek: Discovery, he subverted the tropes that came with being yet another straight white man in the captain’s chair. Pike leaves his ego (if he even has one) in the transporter bay and makes it a point to defer to Discovery’s experienced crew in all matters regarding the war, the ship, and their mission at hand, which is to track down the mysterious Red Signals. Trust and loyalty are paramount to Pike, and he tries to channel them both ways. When he’s stuck in a shuttle with mysterious Section 31 member Ash Tyler (Shazad Latif), the two almost come to blows because neither trusts the other, but they also see through one another’s façade—Ash is hurting from his own convoluted history of being a Klingon and a murderer, while Pike feels an immense amount of guilt for sitting out a deadly war. But Pike doesn’t channel his guilt into anger or bravado; instead, he uses it to help those he meets and cares about.
Pike has his own mission aboard Discovery, to prove the innocence of his friend and colleague Spock (Ethan Peck), brother of Discovery’s Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), and Pike plays a significant role in guiding Michael to mend her relationship with her estranged brother. Pike finds himself aboard one of the most tumultuous ships in Starfleet — Discovery’s crew has undergone so much trauma and betrayal, that they are on edge all the time. Add to that, the appearance of the notorious Section 31, the universe-ending artificial intelligence Control, and Pike’s knowledge of his own future, and one could hardly fault Pike if he shrouded himself in machismo. But he doesn’t.
A Different Kind of Male Role Model
Pike is less intense than most other Starfleet captains, especially the previous leader of Discovery, the duplicitous Captain Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs). He has a laid-back personality like that of the original series’ James T. Kirk (William Shatner), while emulating some of the renaissance man qualities of Jean-Luc Picard (Sir Patrick Stewart). Pike has a smile at the ready, which puts his new crew at ease. He is also a keen listener — he deserves several awards for patiently sitting through Ensign Sylvia Tilly’s (Mary Wiseman) ramblings — and extremely respectful of the people, cultures, and backgrounds he encounters. When Discovery arrives at a planet called New Eden, Pike doesn’t scoff at the outdated religious practices of the inhabitants but leverages his theological knowledge of Earth’s old religions (taught to him by his father) to gain their trust. Even though he’s the captain, Pike never acts superior to the Discovery crew, because, in many ways, they’re almost as experienced, if not more, than him. Pike’s understanding of Discovery’s unique situation allows him to build a strong rapport with the crew, so much so that Pike’s successor, Captain Saru (Doug Jones), remarks on how effortless Pike made it look. Jellico could learn a thing or two from Pike.
The most obvious marker that Pike doesn’t embody the regular tropes of masculinity is how content he is with Number One, Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn), captaining the Enterprise in his stead. When she appears on Star Trek: Discovery for the first time, Pike is relieved to see a familiar face but doesn’t immediately interrogate her about how she’s been leading the crew. We see more of Pike’s laissez-faire attitude to being a Starfleet captain — he never bristles at Number One ribbing him because they’re close friends.
Of course, the most significant part of Pike’s character arc is his future. Star Trek viewers already knew Pike’s fate when he first appeared on Star Trek: Discovery, and it’s made all that much worse when Pike himself becomes privy to his disturbing future. Pike’s guilt over the Klingon War pushes him to work outside his comfort zone, may be to his own detriment. In “Through the Valley of Shadows,” Pike is offered a choice: take a time crystal from Boreth and seal his own fate or leave the future of the universe in jeopardy. Strong moral cores run deep in Starfleet officers, especially captains, and Pike joins the long list of Star Trek heroes who make sacrifices for the betterment of the Federation. The major difference is just how devastating his sacrifice is. Pike learns that he is horribly disfigured and disabled in his future, and knows the exact circumstances of his death. It’s a trauma that continues to haunt him throughout the rest of the season. There’s a stark change in Pike’s vivacious personality after the incident on Boreth, but he doesn’t allow it to stop him from leading Discovery to the best of his abilities. Despite the immense sacrifice Pike makes for Discovery, his parting speech to them focuses on his love for them as his friends and family.
Any fears that the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds writers would retcon this aspect of the character is put to rest from the premiere onwards. This shouldn’t really come as a surprise to anyone who watched Pike’s appearance in Star Trek: Short Treks episode, "Ask Not." In the episode, Pike has supposedly mutinied against Starfleet and threatens to open fire on invading aliens. He tries to convince a young cadet, Thira Sidhu (Amrit Kaur), to help him, but she refuses, even after he tells Sidhu that her husband is in danger. The entire episode is a test of Sidhu’s conviction to Starfleet principles (she passes), but the writers remembered that Pike has a strong moral core. He apologizes to Sidhu for making her believe her husband was in danger, and he also gives her an explanation for why they put her through this ordeal. It’s this generous empathy that makes Pike stand out in a roster of male characters in pop culture and even some of those in Star Trek.
A Refreshing Take on Masculinity
Pike’s uniquely rounded personality is evident in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds as well. When he first appears, Pike is a shattered man, but he’s also much more open about his struggles with his friends on the Enterprise. It’s genuinely surprising that Pike has told both Spock and Number One, his closest companions on the Enterprise, about what he saw on Boreth and how it’s affected him because most male characters in pop culture tend to bottle up their emotions. Even Picard, who had a counselor among his senior staff, kept a lot of his inner turmoil to himself, which he then had to contend with later in life (as we see unfolding in Star Trek: Picard Season 2). Pike wears his emotions on his sleeve, but not his anger as much as his hope, sorrow, and happiness. In the fourth episode, when the Enterprise suffers heavy losses for the first time on the show, Pike visibly reacts to the death of crew members, and later, reacts similarly when two of his senior staff cheat death. He doesn’t see emotion as a weakness and this humanizes his character further.
While dealing with his trauma, Pike is called to take over the Enterprise once again. In the premiere episode, “Strange New Worlds,” Pike’s first mission back, he has to rescue Number One and an away team from a pre-warp civilization in the midst of a civil war. Realizing that the Enterprise has already altered the course of the planet’s history, he decides to reveal himself to the aliens, not to arm them with weapons to fight, but with the knowledge to save themselves. Pike establishes himself as a leader who believes in the power of hope over fisticuffs, which is particularly relevant in the era that New Trek is created.
One of Pike’s superpowers is his ability to deal with and acknowledge the numerous personalities around him. The crew of Discovery has their eccentricities, but Pike also held his own against Section 31’s domineering staff. Aboard the Enterprise, Pike is surrounded by several new crew members, from a green-behind-the-gills cadet, Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), to the tortured and intense La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong). In the first few episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, we see him trying to navigate these personalities and gain both their understanding and trust. In the fourth episode, “Memento Mori,” the Enterprise crew are virtually at death's door while being chased by the murderous Gorn. They suffer heavy losses, but more than that, the encounter opens old wounds for La’an, who has a history with the Gorn. Pike, after the Enterprise escapes in one piece, tries to celebrate their victory, but he soon notices that he’s not getting through to La’an ,who asks him how they’ll survive the next encounter with the Gorn. Instead of insisting she forget about that and celebrate with him instead, he changes tack and says next time, the ship will not be caught off-guard. Pike understands people because of his high emotional intelligence and empathy, and that’s what makes him such a likable captain — and character.
Pike is a refreshing addition to the canon of Star Trek captains because of the way he’s written. The New Trek writers are molding him to redefine the concept of masculinity, but he’s also a continuation of his predecessors. Mount appears to be enjoying playing this character, and it’s nice to see that he’s not afraid to step back and let the other, newer characters take the spotlight from time to time. The next step for Pike would be to seek professional help to deal with his trauma, but it’s still early days on the show, so perhaps that is in the cards.