Guest stars Rachael Harris and Joe Lo Truglio recently shared details about their roles in a puppet-themed episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. During an interview with ScreenRant, the actors described how they explored adult-oriented themes that were ultimately edited out to maintain a family-friendly tone for Paramount Plus viewers.
The Matriarchal Legacy of the Orion Species
The Orion gender hierarchy has been a recurring theme in the Star Trek franhcise for several decades. While the species first appeared in the original series pilot, "The Cage," as a slave girl, later series like Star Trek: Enterprise and the animated Star Trek: Lower Decks established them as a matriarchal society. In this specific episode, Harris's character, Captain Ch'Rol, leads a band of green-skinned marauders, reinforcing this long-standing lore through a comedic lens.
This portrayal of a female-led society serves as a way for the franchise to tackle progressive social issues through science fiction. By placing men in subordinate roles, the show uses the Orion culture to explore role reversal, a concept that Harris noted was both challenging and exhilarating to embody during her performance.
R-rated power plays between Ch'Rol and Ejachi
During filming, Rachael Harris and Joe Lo Truglio experimented with much more provocative material than what appeared on screen. As reported by ScreenRant, the duo explored a dominatrix-submissive power play between Harris’s Captain Ch'Rol and Truglio’s henchman, Ejachi. Although the directors allowed them to test risqué lines and gestures to sharpen their comedic timing, these adult-oriented improvisations were ultimately trimmed to ensure the episode remained suitable for all ages.
The resulting episode maintains a whimsical tone, reminiscent of a crossover between Star Trek and The Muppets. Even with the more intense improvisations left on the cutting room floor, the subtext of the power dynamic remains visible, particularly in scenes where characters like Lieutenant Spock, played by Ethan Peck, interact with the Orion pirates.
The comedic pedigree of Harris and Truglio
The chemistry between the two guest stars is bolstered by their established comedic backgrounds in major television hits.. Rachael Harris, known for her work in Lucifer, and Joe Lo Truglio, a veteran of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, utilized their improvisational skills to navigate the complex social dynamics of the Orion pirates. This professional rapport helped ground the puppet-based performances, making the encounter between the plush Enterprise crew and the pirate duo both entertaining and thought-provoking.
Will Paramount Plus ever release the unrated cuts?
While the actors provided a colorful account of their time on set, the reporting only offers the perspective of Harris and Truglio. It remains unclear if any of the R-rated improvisations involving the Orion pirates will ever be released as a "director's cut" on Paramount Plus. Additionally , the source does not specify if the more provocative gestrues were entirely deleted or simply softened to fit the whimsical tone of the puppet format.
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