Sydney Freeland Interview: Star Trek Strange New Worlds
Warning: This Interview Contains SPOILERS forStar Trek: Strange New Worlds Episode 7 — «The Serene Squall»
Director Sydney Freeland just helmed one of the best episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 1. «The Serene Squall» introduces a major new villain, Captain Angel (Jesse James Keitel), who forms a personal connection to Spock (Ethan Peck) before they hijack the USS Enterprise.
Among several major bombshells, the episode reveals that Captain Angel is married to Sybok, which reintroduces Spock's Vulcan half-brother into Star Trek canon.
Related: Strange New Worlds Just Set Up Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Screen Rant had the pleasure of chatting with Sydney Freeland about working with Jesse James Keitel to introduce Captain Angel and their alias, Dr. Aspen, who are the first nonbinary characters in Strange New Worlds. She also shared how directing Star Trek compares to her current project, Marvel Studios' Echo, and what it was like to have cast member Jess Bush, who plays Nurse Christine Chapel, shadowing her as a director on set.
Screen Rant: Were you a Star Trek fan before you got tapped to direct this episode?
Sydney Freeland: I certainly saw the Star Trek movies growing up. I wouldn't say I was a diehard Trekkie, though. I definitely was a sci-fi fan and appreciated the films.
As not a diehard fan but having some familiarity, what was the learning curve like to work on Star Trek?
Sydney Freeland: That's the part that was actually really great. In order to prepare, I went back and started with The Original Series. Watching a lot of those episodes with fresh eyes for the first time, for the '60s, so much of what they were doing was ahead of its time. It's resonant now and holds up so well. The themes, the
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