LSD Admission: Commander Pelia from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Twist
Third season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds reveals Commander Pelia, the mysterious Lanthanite engineer on the USS Enterprise, to have experimented with LSD. This apparently out-of-place disclosure is a deft homage to a Star Trek Iv: The Voyage Home comic moment featuring Admiral James T. Kirk.
Context: Pelia's Different Physiology
Played by Carol Kane, Commander Pelia joins the Enterprise crew in season 2 to cover the vacuum left by the sad death of Lt. Hemmer, the beloved engineer. Being a Lanthanite, a species renowned for their extraordinarily long lifespans, Pelia has a different physiology than others. This is seen in the season 3 clip when the Enterprise crew comes upon a Vulcan transformation device but Pelia is unaffected. In this setting, Pelia casually brings up her past LSD experiences, saying that her Lanthanite nature kept her from getting the expected results, much as it kept her from turning becoming a Vulcan.
Pelia's Discovery and Its Consequences
A Star Trek character confessing to drug usage deviates greatly from the usual picture of the morally pure Starfleet officer. Although Pelia's comment seems startling, her remarks are set in comedy. Although heard by Dr. M'Benga, Lt. Spock, and Captain Pike, Pelia's casual confession does not seem to cause any questions or problems. This implies that the authors are choosing to treat the topic lightly as they understand the possible controversy.
The LSD Callback: An Honor to Star Trek IV
The mention of LSD by Commander Pelia is a clear reference to a funny scenario in Star Trek Iv: The Voyage Home, in which William Shatner's Admiral Kirk tries to explain Spock's odd behavior to a human researcher. In a famous Star Trek moment, Kirk playfully adds that Spock "did a little too much LDS," trying to hide his alien nature by stating he participated in the 1960s' free speech movement. This humorous mistake—Kirk misspells "LSD—becomes a memorable phrase in the movie, highlighting Star Trek's sporadic inclination for including drug-related humor.
A link between eras: the humor of LSD in Star Trek
Even if Pelia's statement is startling, it also connects several Star Trek eras. Living for millennia, Pelia has seen the shifting cultural scene of Earth, including the counterculture era of 1960s LSD was a common drug in. This relationship confirms Pelia's identity as a multifarious person with a rich background and a different viewpoint on the world even more The decision of the writers to include this element of comedy emphasizes the continuing impact of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and its position within the Star Trek canon.
