This week, Paramount+ released an audio log on their Star Trek Logs on Instagram account, the first one from President Rillak of Star Trek: Discovery.
A Personal Presidential Log
Rillak’s “President’s Log: Supplemental” (voiced by Chelah Horsdal, who joined Discovery in season four) has her talking about the events of the mid-season finale “…But to Connect” and the galactic council she put together. She reflects on how shortly after becoming President of the Federation, she is doing “multi-Quadrant negotiations about the fate of our galaxy,” acknowledging it is “a lot.”
She then turns personal (and political):
I wish Earth were with us, though.
I keep thinking of my mother decorating our home with intricate art of the Pacific Ocean.
How she dreamed of diving into the waves, sinking her toes into the sand one day.
Never got the chance. But some day, I’ll do that for her, with Earth in the Federation again.
You can listen to the full log below…
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A hint on Earth’s return
The Star Trek logs often telegraph upcoming storylines, so it’s possible bringing Earth back into the Federation is something we’ll see in season four. Bringing Earth back into the fold would be a big step, which Rillak also mentioned in “…But to Connect,” both for political reasons and due to her personal connection being part human (and part Bajoran and part Cardassian). In last week’s episode, Phumzile Sitole returned to play (now General) Ndoye of the United Earth Defense Force, and she revealed that Earth had united with Titan following new elections, showing they were coming out of their isolation.
Rillak and Ndoye in “…But to Connect”
And there might be a clue in the latest trailer for the second half of the season. There are a couple of shots where Ndoye can be seen back at Federation HQ along with President Rillak and President T’Rina of Ni’Var.
Ndoye (on the far left) back at Federation HQ
Star Trek: Discovery will return on February 10.
Keep up with the Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com.
Chelah Horsdal is a great actress. I love her performance. And I miss Disco already!
Definitely another Chelah Horsdal fan here.
I really like President Rillack and yes the actress is great!
I am a little confused in terms of direction of the character because in the first episode they made her seem a bit more dubious who may do questionable things in the future; especially how her and Burnham butted heads. Now she comes off pretty transparent and even handed and her and Burnham now have a very trusting relationship. But maybe some of that will show up again later.
I really like Rillak — and Horsdal’s portrayal of her too. I think she and Burnham were initially very wary of each other because Burnham categorically distrusted politicians (though Vance hinted that Rillak could be a force for good), while Rillak had the impression that Burnham (having read her file) had a messiah complex that could have fatal results. Now they seem to be coming to respect each other despite their concerns. We’ll see how it goes.
I keep getting BSG Laura Roslin vibes. Same initials, LR, seems intentional?
Build the wall, build the wall.