Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Episode 2 - "Children of the Comet"
Lt. Sam Kirk (Dan Jeannotte) just beamed aboard the Starship Enterprise but Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode 2 already hinted at his eventual death in Star Trek: The Original Series. In Strange New Worlds, Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and the Starship Enterprise embark on a new five-year mission of galactic exploration. Sam Kirk joined Pike's crew at the end of Strange New Worlds' premiere but episode 2, "Children of the Comet," winked at the future demise of Captain Kirk's (Paul Wesley) older brother.
Sam Kirk being part of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds was a big surprise, especially since his reveal toyed with the audience expecting to see James T. Kirk after Paul Wesley's season 2 casting was announced prior. Sam (full name George Samuel Kirk) comes aboard the USS Enterprise as a xenobiologist assigned to Life Sciences, which makes Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck) Kirk's boss in another fascinating twist. Of course, Sam Kirk is a Star Trek legacy character, although, in his only canonical appearance in Star Trek: The Original Series, Sam was already dead. Played by William Shatner wearing a mustache, Sam Kirk was killed by flying alien parasites in the TOS episode, "Operation - Annihilate!" Captain Kirk found his big brother's corpse in a memorable scene, which Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode 2 homaged.
In Strange New Worlds, Sam joins a landing party on a mysterious rogue comet that's on a trajectory to collide with the planet Persephone III. Sam is almost immediately injured and knocked unconscious by an energy discharge from the comet, which is actually an ancient arbiter of life being guarded by "space monks" called the Shepherds. Cared for by Lt. La'an Noonien Singh (Christina Chong), Spock, and Cadet Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), Sam spends the rest of the episode knocked out and he isn't seen again after the landing party beams back aboard the Enterprise. Amusingly, the sight of Sam taken out of commission and lying unconscious on the ground harkens to Jim Kirk finding his corpse in Star Trek: The Original Series, which will happen about 8 years later in the Star Trek timeline. This had to be intentional on behalf of Strange New Worlds' producers, who are well aware that Sam Kirk is canonically doomed.
Sam's presence in Strange New Worlds seems to be one big cosmic joke. Excepting his surname, the most notable thing about Sam is his mustache, which Pike, his old friend, has quipped about twice already. Lt. Kirk is supposed to be "the best of the best" - hence being assigned to the Enterprise, the flagship of Starfleet - but Sam was completely ineffectual when he and the landing party beamed onto the comet. Sam was quickly taken out of commission and became a liability, although this enabled Cadet Uhura to rise to the occasion and solve some of the mysteries of the comet. But thus far, Lt. Sam Kirk's main accomplishment in Strange New Worlds is being immediately knocked unconscious on their first away mission.
The most interesting aspect of Sam Kirk being on Strange New Worlds' Enterprise is his parallel to Captain Pike. Both Star Trek legacy characters are destined to die (which is how Pike refers to his fate of being deformed by delta rays and condemned to a wheelchair) within roughly a year from each other. Pike will be paralyzed in 2266 while Sam will be dead sometime in 2267. Presumably, Sam will recover from his incident on the comet and continue to serve out his tenure aboard the Enterprise. But Sam Kirk certainly seems prone to calamity, and it'll be interesting if the terrible things that happen to his big brother aboard the Enterprise will affect how James T. Kirk regards the starship and its Captain when he joins Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds streams Thursdays on Paramount+.