Number One Has 3 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Romances But Only One True Love

Published Sep 22, 2026, 10:00 AM EDT

John Orquiola is a New & Classic TV Editor, Senior Writer, and Interviewer with a special focus on Star Trek. John has over 5,000 published articles at SR, and he has interviewed the biggest names in Star Trek on the red carpet and VIP events, among other beloved shows, movies, and franchises.

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4, episode 9 - "Once La'an a Time"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 introduced a pair of alternate reality love interests for Commander Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn), but we already met her one true love (or, at least, true lust) in season 3. Directed by Sydney Freeland and written by Onitra Johnson, "Once La'an a Time" returns to the Kingdom of Elysian, home to fairy tale doppelgängers of the USS Enterprise crew.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 has expanded Number One's role, giving the First Officer more to do, such as leading landing party missions. It's icing on the cake, as Strange New Worlds has filled in Una's backstory, since little was known about Number One since she was introduced in Star Trek's original pilot, "The Cage," where she was played by Majel Barrett-Roddenberry.

Thanks to Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, audiences now know that Una Chin-Riley is an Illyrian, a genetically engineered race. Number One was arrested by Starfleet for violating the United Federation of Planets' laws against genetic augmentation, but she won her court-martial. In the 24th century, Una is legendary as Starfleet's finest First Officer, and she's the literal poster girl for recruitment.

Una’s 2 Romances In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Alternate Realities Explained

Image via Paramount+

When it comes to romance, however, Commander Una Chin-Riley has not been given one of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' 'love stories in space.' Comparatively, Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) had a love interest for three seasons, while Lieutenant Spock (Ethan Peck) had three girlfriends in four seasons.

Una is luckier in love in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4's genre-bending alternate realities. When Trelane (Rhys Darby) turned the USS Enterprise into a soap opera for a school project, he pushed several tropes, including Una being romantically attracted to Dr. Joseph M'Benga (Babs Olusanmokun), who suffers from "space madness."

In the Kingdom of Elysian, Una's fantasy counterpart is Z'ymira the Huntress. "Once Upon a Time" revealed that Z'ymira has a love interest in Sir Adya, the fairy tale doppelgänger of Lieutenant Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia). Adya and Z'myria are rebels fighting against the evil reign of Queen Neve (Celia Rose Gooding).

Of course, neither of those love interests actually count for Una. While Number One, along with the rest of the Enterprise crew, retains the memories of their soap opera melodrama, Una didn't set foot on the Elysian Kingdom in "Once Upon a Time" and doesn't know about Z'ymira and Adya. The only way Una could find out is if Lt. La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) told her, which may have happened since they're best friends.

Doug Is Una’s One True Love In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Image via Paramount+

Una Chin-Riley's one and only (thus far) canonical love interest was introduced in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3's "Four-and-a-Half Vulcans." Una has an uncontrollable mutual romantic attraction to Doug (Patton Oswalt), a Vulcan spiritualist and expert in katras. Doug and Una have shared a torrid on-again/off-again relationship for many years.

Oswalt told Conan O'Brien on his Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend podcast that "I’m doing some more episodes" of Strange New Worlds.

Doug's sole appearance was in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3, but Oswalt told Conan O'Brien on his Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend podcast that "I’m doing some more episodes" of Strange New Worlds. However, Doug never appeared in Strange New Worlds season 4. If Patton is right, this means that Doug will reappear in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' fifth and final season.

Number One's canonical destiny is one of the questions Strange New Worlds season 5 will answer, and perhaps Doug's introduction hints towards Una's future. Maybe Una and Doug will succumb to their burning desire and run away together. It's one of several possibilities to answer where Commander Chin-Riley goes when she leaves the USS Enterprise after James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) becomes Captain.

Perhaps Una Chin-Riley and Doug are endgame in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 5. Hopefully, Patton Oswalt is right about returning as Doug, and Una's future involves romantic happiness with her Vulcan paramour, regardless of whether Number One remains in Starfleet.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 is streaming on Paramount+

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  Captain Christopher Pike

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  Spock