10 Times When Star Trek Re-Cast Its Actors
3. Number One
Majel Barrett was the Queen of Star Trek. She appeared in The Original Series, The Animated Series, Films, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise and the 2009 film. Her first role on the show was that of Number One, the first officer to Captain Pike.
She portrayed many of the qualities that would be later found in Spock. The Cage was a product of its time, while still being futuristic. Pike comments at one point that he can't get used to a woman on the bridge of a star-ship, to which Number One gives him a stare of condemnation. He apologises.
The producers hated it. They demanded that both Number One and Satanic fellow with the pointed ears had to go. The Satanic fellow did alright but it would be another fifty years before Number One returned.
In Star Trek Discovery's second season, the role was taken over by Rebecca Romijn. She retained the coolness that Barrett's character had but this one came with a new confidence that had been lacking in the original pilot. Her relationship with Pike was different. She was a hardened character, battle ready but very much in command.
Comparing the two characters is difficult in a way because the original had so little screen time, yet Barrett herself has been in so much of Trek. It comes down to taste. Discovery delivered a belter of a second season. The Cage is a curio, essential for Trek purists but not essential to understand the show as a whole. The original Number One may just be in second place to Discovery's Una.