Star Trek: Discovery’s second season has been delving into some very interesting plots, especially when it comes to Commander Saru. After last week’s breathtaking episode, Doug Jones spoke about what to expect from the Kelpian Starfleet officer now that so much has happened to him personally.
James Whitbrook and I have been discussing our concern for Saru ever since his fear ganglia fell out. What does a man without fear look like? Other than an TrekMovie.com reported on Jones’ thoughts on those big Saru changed from a recent appearance on The Ready Room podcast.
It’s like when you turn 18 but you are still living at your parent’s house. This is kind of like what Saru feels like now: “I can vote, I can smoke, I can do porn! I am old enough for all those things.” But he is still living under his parent’s rules. So, there is some tension there. Is this going to make him do a complete 180 and change personality altogether? You don’t know. I think of it like I think of me personally. When I was 18 I was a much different person than I am now at 58. I think Saru is going through the same kind of change. It is the same person with the same morals, the same ideals, but with a new found freedom. He is testing that freedom, I think. He has freedom from fear.
Me right now: “Don’t think about Saru doing porn. Don’t think about Saru doing porn. Don’t think about Saru doing porn.” TOO LATE.
But I digress. While Jones may not know exactly what lies ahead—he’s previously said he doesn’t like being told too much of his character arc ahead of time — he seems to think that while Saru may be a tad more likely to question his superior officers, he’s not going to rip their faces off or anything.
“I still think Saru is still a gentleman. I don’t think he will ever turn vicious,” he said. “I think he will need to keep his newfound instincts in check….The immediate change you will see in him; he will not make decisions based on fear anymore. He will make his decisions on ‘why not? Let’s give it a try.’ He’s got more of that coming out.”
Star Trek: Discovery is currently streaming on Netflix, and we’ll also get to see Jones in a small role on FX’s upcoming What We Do in the Shadows series.