Pelia

Commander Pelia was a female Lanthanite Starfleet officer who lived on Earth from the 6th century BC through at least the 23rd century. She served as an instructor at Starfleet Academy before being assigned to Operational Support Services as chief fleet inspector, and later transferring to the USS Enterprise as chief engineer. While otherwise indistinguishable from a Human, Nyota Uhura was able to identify her species by her accent.

Quick Answers

Who is the actress that plays Commander Pelia in Strange New Worlds? toggle section
Actress Carol Kane plays the role of Commander Pelia in the second season of Strange New Worlds. Pelia, a Lanthanite Starfleet officer, has a history of serving as a Starfleet Academy instructor and chief fleet inspector before her transfer to the USS Enterprise.
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What distinguishes Commander Pelia as a Lanthanite in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds? toggle section
Commander Pelia, portrayed by Carol Kane in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, is a Lanthanite, a species with an extremely long lifespan. She lived on Earth from the 6th century BC to at least the 23rd century. Pelia served as an instructor at Starfleet Academy, a chief fleet inspector, and later as the Chief engineer on the USS Enterprise. Her Lanthanite heritage, which is almost indistinguishable from humans, was identified by Uhura through her accent and was first revealed to Amanda Grayson.
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What was Commander Pelia's role at Starfleet Academy before joining the USS Enterprise? toggle section
Before joining the USS Enterprise, Commander Pelia, a Lanthanite, held the position of an instructor at Starfleet Academy. Following this, she served as the chief fleet inspector for Operational Support Services.
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How is Commander Pelia able to live through the entirety of human history? toggle section
Commander Pelia, identified in Strange New Worlds as a Lanthanite, possesses an extraordinarily long life span, allowing her to exist from the time of Pythagoras to the farthest reaches of explored space. Her Lanthanite species is known for their near-immortal longevity.
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Early life

Pelia claimed to have lived through the entirety of Human history. She further claimed to have been a contemporary of Pythagoras, and that she knew Cary Grant. (SNW: "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow", "Those Old Scientists")

During the 21st century, Pelia ran an antique and curio shop in Vermont called The Archeology Department. In 2022, she was visited by La'An Noonien-Singh and James T. Kirk, who had time traveled from two alternate versions of 2259. They were seeking a way to detect a cold fusion reactor in Toronto; Pelia gave them a 1980s divers' wristwatch containing phosphor that glowed in the presence of tritium, a by-product of the reactor.

When the New World Economy ended the use of currency on Earth in the 22nd century, Pelia still resided in Vermont, living in a bunker in case the "no money, socialist utopia thing turned out to be a fad." (SNW: "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow")

She was friends with Amanda Grayson, who was one of the first Humans that she revealed her Lanthanite heritage to. (SNW: "The Broken Circle")

Starfleet career

Instructor at Starfleet Academy

Pelia served as an instructor at Starfleet Academy for a time teaching numerous Starfleet cadets. She considered Montgomery Scott one of her best students, but gave him some of her worst grades. She also gave Una Chin-Riley middling grades for what she considered 'sloppy' work, something that Una bore a grudge over for some time. (SNW: "The Broken Circle", "Hegemony")

Service aboard the USS Enterprise

Pelia and a team of inspectors were conducting system inspections and upgrades aboard Enterprise when a surreptitious distress call was received from La'An Noonien-Singh. Recognizing an urgent need to assist, acting captain Spock devised a plan with his remaining senior officers to steal the Enterprise from Starbase 1 by faking an imminent warp core breach. However, Pelia saw through the subterfuge immediately, as she continued to teach on this subject at Starfleet Academy. She nonetheless allowed Spock to proceed, assuming that as a Vulcan, he had sound reasons for doing so.

Having uncovered and averted the threat of a continued Federation-Klingon War, Pelia confided in Spock over bloodwine that her true motivation for assisting the crew was out of boredom, that her current teaching position was no longer challenging or interesting enough. She observed that the Enterprise appeared to be in very short supply of monotony, and volunteered her services to fill the vacant chief engineer's position. (SNW: "The Broken Circle")

She was dealing with a dilithium shortage and wasn't able to visit with Amanda Grayson when she boarded the Enterprise. According to Pike, she seemed awfully enthusiastic about purchasing dilithium. (SNW: "Charades")

After Ensigns Brad Boimler and Beckett Mariner got stuck in 2259, Pelia gave Boimler advice on his predicament. (SNW: "Those Old Scientists")

It was at Pelia's suggestion that Nyota Uhura elected to transmit a piece of music into a subspace fold, which inadvertently created a quantum uncertainty field that compelled the crew to break into song during periods of heightened emotional stress. (SNW: "Subspace Rhapsody")

When the Gorn attacked Parnassus Beta, Pelia was reunited with Lieutenant junior grade Montgomery Scott, one of her former students, who was the only survivor of the destruction of the USS Stardiver. Pelia expressed frustration with Scott's lack of recording his work on his transponder and humorously frightened him to get it done, effectively cloaking the Enterprise from the Gorn. Later, the two managed to turn the Enterprise into an X-class coronal mass ejection to send the Gorn into a long hibernation cycle and then rescued the Parnassus colonists and landing party using transporter codes stolen by La'An. During this time, Pelia revealed that she pushed Scott so much because she recognized his potential, but also that he was too afraid to take risks. (SNW: "Hegemony", "Hegemony, Part II")

Pelia later sent Scott in her stead to a senior officers' meeting because she hated attending them. (SNW: "Shuttle to Kenfori")

Personal life

Pelia and The Monet Family

Pelia next to one of her possessions

Pelia was a self-described "packrat", who owned artifacts from throughout Human history. One of these was The Concert from the Louvre, which she insisted was a fake. Another was The Monet Family in Their Garden at Argenteuil. (SNW: "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow")

Appendices

Appearances

Background information

Pelia was played by Carol Kane.

External link

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