{"id":846717,"date":"2026-08-05T07:48:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T07:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/846717\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T07:48:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T07:48:10","slug":"star-trek-strange-new-worlds-director-explains-the-mystery-of-the-griffin-incident-exclusive-trekmovie-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/846717\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Star Trek: Strange New Worlds\u2019 Director Explains The Mystery Of \u201cThe Griffin Incident\u201d [EXCLUSIVE] \u2013 TrekMovie.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week\u2019s episode of Strange New Worlds took things into a spooky direction with the horror-themed episode\u00a0\u201cThe Griffin Incident<\/a>.\u201d The episode was directed by Axelle Carolyn who has an extensive background in directing horror and show spoke to the hosts of TrekMovie\u2019s All Access Star Trek podcast after the episode dropped, giving us some insight into the making of this latest genre swing.<\/p>\n

The mystery of the Griffin<\/p>\n

One surprise for \u201cThe Griffin Incident\u201d was hope the mystery behind the USS Griffin was left somewhat vague, with enigmatic \u201cDivision 12\u201d (essentially Starfleet\u2019s X-Files division) left to sort out the haunted ghost ship. Speaking to TrekMovie, Axelle Carolyn explained why this mystery was by design:<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand the criticism about the answers not being given at the end, like the scientific explanation\u2026 That was also something we discussed, and I felt like I understand that one of the tenets of Star Trek is we can explore the universe, and science would always bring us home and help us understand what\u2019s going on. But I don\u2019t think that it\u2019s saying that by the 23rd century, two humans and a half Vulcan will be able to solve every mystery within the space of 50 minutes, and I really like that there are things that are still mysterious, and they\u2019re not saying, \u2018Hey, this is a this is not going to have a scientific explanation.\u2019 Of course, it\u2019s going to have a scientific explanation. They\u2019re just saying, within the scope of our investigation right now, we can\u2019t solve it.\u201d \u2026 I can see how it\u2019s it breaks the mold of a lot of Star Trek episodes, but every once in a while, just thinking there are mysteries that are bigger than us and things that are not quite explained yet, I kind of find that good.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Christina Chong as La\u2019an Noonien-Singh in season 4, episode 2, of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds streaming on Paramount+, 2026. Photo Credit: Jan Thijs\/Paramount+<\/p>\n

While the mystery wasn\u2019t fully laid out for the audience, the director had answers in mind as she helmed the episode. For example, she talks about how the ship itself is changing people\u2019s perceptions as she discusses the scene in the sickbay when Spock uses logic to stop hallucinating, noting \u201cThere\u2019s the Griffin that the ship wants you to see, and then there\u2019s the Griffin in the in the shape that it actually is, which is what is revealed when [Spock] wakes up.\u201d<\/p>\n

When pressed on this point, Carolyn gave a more detailed explaination of the mystery of the USS Griffin:<\/p>\n

\u201cI took it as: it\u2019s ghosts. It\u2019s not ghosts because it\u2019s Star Trek, and it has to have an explanation. And even if the explanation is there are ghosts, but this is what it is. There\u2019s got to be something. But I just took it as \u2013 for me personally to make it work and to kind of work the the technicalities of making it what it should be \u2013 I shot it like a ghost ship.\u201d<\/p>\n

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(L-R): Ethan Peck as Spock and Gia Sandhu as T\u2019Pring in season 4, episode 2, of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds streaming on Paramount+, 2026. Photo Credit: Jan Thijs\/Paramount+<\/p>\n

The director acknowledged that this episode paid homage to horror classics, and she drew a specific parallel to explain the mystery:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of like The Shining. They\u2019re trying to overtake La\u2019an and make her want to stay and kill everybody around her. And and then it just becomes an exercise in horror on the one hand, on tension building and and building scares.\u201d<\/p>\n

But she also notes how what was haunting Kirk, Spock, and La\u2019an was mostly about providing insight into each character:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn character development and seeing those three people confront the things that they\u2019re most scared of, and where it\u2019s going to lead them. And then there were moments that were really fun to discuss. There\u2019s logic moments we got away with, because we could go with just \u2018Well, it\u2019s in their minds.\u2019 But there\u2019s also things about the characters, like when Pike shows up or when Sam shows up. Pike definitely does not behave the way that he usually would, but moments that reveal the way that Spock looks at him, or the way that one of the fears that Spock would have is to see Pike loses s\u2013t, and I thought that was really interesting. We explore his Vulcan side a lot, but there\u2019s clearly a big side of him that\u2019s also \u2018What if I become someone who works on the ship of a captain who\u2019s completely lost his mind?\u2019 And that was kind of fun, and that gave Anson a lot of freedom to play with the character to try to make it way larger than life and and way more playful because that\u2019s just a figment of Spock\u2019s imagination. And in the same way you could have Sam point out James\u2019s weaknesses because that\u2019s what James knows is his weakness. You can\u2019t save everybody. That\u2019s that\u2019s one of his biggest fears.\u201d<\/p>\n

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(L-R): Anson Mount as Captain Pike, Dan Jeannotte as Sam Kirk, and Paul Wesley as James T. Kirk in season 4, episode 2, of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds streaming on Paramount+, 2026. Photo Credit: Jan Thijs\/Paramount+<\/p>\n

A bloody ghost ship in Star Trek was a dream.<\/p>\n

Directing for Star Trek was a dream come true for Axelle Carolyn, telling the TrekMovie podcasters how much she enjoyed blending her love of Trek and horror together:<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been a Star Trek fan since I was a teenager, and let me tell you, I would have loved to see an episode like \u201cThe Griffin Incident.\u201d It\u2019s it\u2019s always been my dream. If you\u2019d ask me when I was 18, as a horror fan and a Star Trek fan, what I would have liked to see, I would have said Spock and Kirk on a ghost ship. And when I got the call to make this, it was like I cannot believe this. This is 30 years of dreaming of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

While it is hard to quantify these things, \u201cThe Griffin Incident,\u201d may have been the goriest episode of Star Trek. The director talked about how these elements were calibrated:<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery effect was discussed, so we knew how much we could show and how far we could. And I think [co-showrunner] Akiva [Goldsman] and I were both seen as very bloodthirsty because we would have meetings about how to cut Pike\u2019s fingers, and we would laugh through the entire thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Behind the scenes with director Axelle Carolyn (Photo: Axelle Carolyn\/IG)<\/p>\n

Axelle talked about how her first love for Star Trek came with the 1996 film Star Trek: First Contact, which certainly had some horror themes, with the Borg invading the USS Enterpirse-E like a horde of zombies. The director talked about how she hoped that her episode can bring in more horror fans to the franchise:<\/p>\n

\u201cAs much as you can have gateway horror, like maybe this will take some Trekkies towards horror. But I would really like it if horror fans came to Star Trek, because it can work as a standalone episode for people who haven\u2019t necessarily seen all of Strange New Worldsor are not familiar with Star Trek. Generally, I would love it if they heard there\u2019s a scary episode and you should watch it and you can watch it on your own and then that makes them excited about Star Trek, just like I had with FirstContact. You know, just like that was my gateway.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Director Axelle Carolyn, actress Christina Chong, writer Robbie Thompson, and background actors do the \u201cThriller\u201d zombie dance on set of \u201cThe Griffin Incident\u201d (Photo: Paramount)<\/p>\n

Listen to full interview<\/p>\n

Our entire interview with Axelle was released as a special supplemental episode, which you can listen to below. And for more behind the scenes, follow Axelle on Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Keep up with everything to do with the Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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