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,

The J.J. Abrams-directed "Star Trek" film depicted a young Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) who initially hated each others' guts, but grew into being friends during a trial by fire. "Strange New Worlds" has been much more subtle in showing the beginnings of this legendary bond.

Strange New Worlds involves a lot of time travel, so this isn’t actually the first time the show has put some variation of Kirk in the captain’s chair. Wesley’s version of Kirk was introduced in the season 1 finale as the aggressive commander of the USS Farragut,