Strange New Worlds switched ships to show us James T. Kirk’s first time in command of a starship. The episode is called “The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail,” and it creates a situation where not only does Commander Kirk become a Captain,

Like James Bond and Han Solo, James Tiberius Kirk has always had main character energy. Nobody would have called it that back in the 1960s, of course, but the man who shares a name with a Roman emperor (those guys weren't shrinking violets either) tends to be the biggest presence on any starship bridge.

Strange New Worlds unfolds, Paul Wesley reflects on what it means to play a young Kirk—and why Star Trek’s optimism still matters.