The Star Trek franchise has reintroduced a legion of fan favorite characters over the past few years, in movie reboots, prequel series and parallel timeline animated shows. Many of these characters are household names on their third or fourth iteration. But some, like the lesser known brother of Star Trek icon James T. Kirk, are practically brand new. George ‘Sam’ Kirk had a brief cameo as a dead body in Star Trek: The Original Series, but in the recently released Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, he’s given a new lease on life.
Sam Kirk had his origins in Star Trek: The Original Serie s, season 1, episode 29, “Operation — Annihilate!”, in which he was played by William Shatner in an unforgettable mustache. In 2009, the character appeared in the deleted scenes of J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek, deep in the throes of a teenage crisis. It’s undeniable, then, that his role as a healthy science officer in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is his most distinguished one to date, and perhaps the only one that does him justice. In this series, Sam Kirk is given new purpose, allowing him to grow beyond the reputation of his surname alone.
In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, the Enterprise voyages under the command of Christopher Pike, not James Kirk. Still, the bridge crew is familiar all the same. Spock, Uhura, Christine Chapel, and Doctor M’Benga are present, and Pike himself is an old name from very early in the original TV series. Even security chief La’an has a connection to Khan Noonien-Singh, a classic Star Trek villain. Sam Kirk is brought in by Pike as a xenoanthropologist. He's an enthusiastic recruit for the flagship of Starfleet, and an obvious hint that Captain Kirk is lurking somewhere down the timeline – in the season finale, in fact.
Yet Sam isn’t just a discount legend. By the events of Star Trek: The Original Series, Sam had become a civilian research biologist, a footnote on a colonized planet far away from his brother’s adventures. On Pike’s ship in Strange New Worlds, he’s a part of the action, often raising the stakes on a crew mission that involves infant Gorn or a comet-sized demigod.
There are certain story roles to be filled on a Federation spaceship. In this case, they include repressed aliens, traumatized fighters, wide-eyed cadets, and precognitive captains. Sam Kirk is none of these; rather, he is instead the classic everyman, best described as a redshirt who survives away missions – despite the universe’s best efforts. In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 1, episode 2, “Children of the Comet,” Sam acts as the ticking time-bomb of the plot, his injuries due to misapplied curiosity encouraging Uhura to rise to the problem at hand. Later in the season, he has some banter with Uhura and La’an, and then returns in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, season 1, episode 9, “All Those Who Wander,” to have a bit of a meltdown in a situation that recalls John Carpenter’s The Thing. In this show, Sam is not a traditional hero, but he’s almost certainly the person whom the audience will relate to the most.
Throughout the series, Sam displays many of the classic characteristics of a Starfleet officer, but he doesn’t exhibit the ambition that his brother is known for. He’s disturbed by Spock’s apparent lack of emotions after they witness the death of a crewmate, but doesn’t escalate the resulting confrontation beyond raised voices. He may have Kirk’s name, but his character isn’t under pressure to be the pride of Starfleet, or the foil to Spock’s logic. The show makes it clear that he has his own job to do, and his own identity to build, no matter what guest star he encounters.
Sam and Jim had a brief meeting in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, season 1, episode 10, “A Quality of Mercy,” in an alternate timeline that was eventually erased by Pike. The brothers’ relationship in season 2 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will be explored in more depth, but from the glimpse audiences have already caught, they seem to be on good terms. In season 1, Sam describes Jim as “a pain in the ass,” but also “smart”, and “highly skilled.” He engages in some good-natured ribbing, but there’s an undercurrent of competitiveness as well.
Evidently, there is some tension in addition to affection in the Kirk family, and it could add some much-needed expansion for Sam’s character. They share a father in George Kirk, first portrayed in Star Trek (2009) by a Hemsworth, so there is considerable history to discuss. Spock has plenty of family drama showcased throughout the franchise – why not Captain Kirk too?
In this show, Sam Kirk has the potential to be more than an afterthought for both Star Trek fans and the original Captain Kirk. Just like Captain Pike, the character is on a trajectory with a definite end, but that doesn’t mean his arc can’t be impactful. When Dan Jeannotte’s Sam Kirk finally hangs up the science blues and heads off to get infected with flying parasites, the audience should be affected. There’s time to make him an integral part of the Enterprise crew, and consequently, a beloved tragedy.