The nature of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is, from a continuity perspective, a bit tricky. While not every episode features a potentially fatal dilemma, many episodes do present a sufficient amount of danger to make you wonder if every single crew member will make it out alive. In The Original Series, “red shirt” crewmembers often perished to let the audience know the danger was real. In Strange New Worlds, two red-shirted regulars, La’an (Christina Chong) and Ortegas (Melissa Navia), are in a unique position. Neither are legacy characters, meaning they’re not protected by their future canon status.
“When Season 3 came along, I didn't realize there was so much concern about Ortegas’ fate,” Melissa Navia tells Inverse. “I mean, I should have realized that, right? Some fans were going to revolt if Ortegas didn’t make it.”
