Prior to this year, even longtime Star Trek fans might hesitate before explaining who Roger Korby is and why he matters. And, before Strange New Worlds Season 3, no Trekkie would have thought of Korby as being a handsome, likable adventurer with an Irish accent. Now, the robot-obsessed mad scientist Korby (Michael Strong) in the 1966 episode “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” seems like a far cry from Cillian O’Sullivan’s younger, hotter Korby in Strange New Worlds. In fact, it’s possible that, thanks to numerous appearances this season, O’Sullivan’s SNW Korby might end up eclipsing the TOS Korby in the overall canonical fan memory.
In Strange New Worlds, Season 3, Episode 5, “Through the Lens of Time,” Korby, Chapel (Jess Bush), and Spock (Ethan Peck) embark on a dangerous away mission among strange alien ruins. It’s all a bit of table setting for the rest of the season, but it also finally gives us a chance to get to know the new Korby. And the thing is, he’s really likable and equally charming. So, how do we get from this guy to the crazed Korby of TOS? Inverse caught up with Cillian O’Sullivan to unpack his deep Trek fandom, his love of Chief O’Brien, and how he’s forging a strange, new path for the character.
