Simon Pegg Is ‘Star Trek’s’ Secret MVP

The new Star Trek film franchise is packed with stars, in every definition of the word. There’s one star, though, that shines just a wee bit brighter than all the others–and he doesn’t sport severe bangs and pointy ears or have impossibly blue eyes (seriously, Chris Pine, wow).  The secret weapon of J.J. Abrams’ rebooted Star Trek universe… is Simon Pegg. While the new Trek cast blends together well, Pegg’s Montgomery “Scotty” Scott is the ingredient that gives this concoction its kick. He’s the MVP of a cast filled with very valuable performers. Star Trek Beyond–also co-written by Pegg–has beamed aboard streaming services like Hulu and Amazon Prime, and you need to check it out if you don’t believe my Scotty hype.

When you think of classic Trek, the ’60s series or the original film franchise, odds are the faces of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy appear. Kirk and Spock, along with DeForest Kelley’s Bones, formed the backbone of Trek for its first few decades. That trio’s cool, collected, and cantankerous personalities sparked on screens big and small. Scotty, played with a rugged yet jovial charm by James Doohan, was there too, but he rarely stole focus (his best moment comes in 1986’s The Voyage Home). Director J.J. Abrams recalibrated the core Trek trio into a quartet with his 2009 relaunch and 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness; he put Scotty, played with vim and vigor by Pegg, in a leading role.

Pegg doesn’t pop up until minute 83 of Star Trek, and things really come alive when he finally shows up. He misses the crew being assembled, two attacks from evil Romulan Nero, and the destruction of Vulcan. Scotty’s a total outsider, left abandoned on a remote Starfleet installation with very little to eat and one silent buddy (Deep Roy’s Keenser). When a dejected Kirk (Pine) and time travel refugee Spock (Nimoy) stumbles into Scotty’s installation, all he wants… is a sandwich.

Scotty’s not great because he wants more than just a bean to eat; Scotty’s great because this new iteration of the series turned him into the audience surrogate character. And Pegg is great because he takes what could be a thankless, exposition-filled role and injects it with a beautiful, fussy energy. Pegg’s Scotty is all eye rolls, smirks, and waving arms as he navigates truly outrageous circumstances. While Spock (Zachary Quinto) grieves for Vulcan, Kirk stresses about keeping his crew safe, and Bones (Karl Urban) wonders which outer space threat will kill him first, Scotty, unburdened by dramatic weight, gets to worry about what we worry about: plans, food, safety, and our ride. Basically, he does exactly what I (and probably you) would do if they were dropped in the middle of a battle with a time-traveling villain or a hella aggressive Benedict Cumberbatch: I’d joke and scream about the terrifyingly high stakes too! This isn’t just done for jokes, though. When Starfleet loads up the Enterprise with 72 mysterious missiles in Into Darkness, ones that puzzle the crap out of Scotty’s instruments, he stands his ground and refuses to bring them on the ship. Scotty’s not cranky because he’s annoyed, he’s cranky because he cares. He cares a lot. And he’s strong enough to torpedo his career if he believes it will save lives.

Scotty isn’t just a worrywart, like when he scolds Kirk for submerging the Enterprise under an alien ocean. He’s a great character because he also gets to be a hero in every one of these movies. No, he’s not the flashy hero with the phasers and fist fights (that’s the domain of Captain James Tiberius Perfect Hair). Just like he’s an everyman in panicked situations, he’s an everyman in the way he saves the day. He uses his brains and engineering skills to pull off incredible stunts. He beams three people from two targets onto one platform (a feat he called “pretty good”), he went on a daring solo spy mission aboard the USS Vengeance that saved the entire Enterprise, and he came up with Beyond’s “Sabotage” plan. Without Scotty, Kirk and Co. die in every movie. The great thing is, none of these moments strain the character’s credibility; Pegg pays him as an exasperated genius, and all of those saves are right in line with who Scotty is.

And then there’s the running.

Not since Baywatch has running been so crucial to a story.

Maybe running doesn’t make sense in a time when people can hail each other on teeny combadges or beam around existence. Maybe running is a low-budget way of amping up tension. Maybe it’s just fun to watch, and that’s all we need to think about when we see characters barrel down the Enterprise’s forever curved corridors. And of all the runners in Star Trek, no one runs like Scotty.

This goes back to that everyman bit: Scotty isn’t fit. He’s not ripped. He doesn’t fight often (a well-placed headbutt in Into Darkness aside). When he runs down that crazy big hangar in Into Darkness, you can hear him huffing along. He’s explicitly not an action star like Kirk, and Pegg plays him that way. Scotty does all the action stuff, heart-rate be damned, and it only makes him more admirable.

That brings me to Star Trek Beyond, Pegg’s third outing as Scotty. The film, which I won’t totally spoil just in case you’re gonna catch it for the first time now that it’s streaming, pairs Pegg up Sofia Boutella’s alien scavenger/warrior Jaylah. Their dynamic is unique and it works because of who Scotty is, and who he’s been built up to be. Jaylah’s already stoic and cold, so she wouldn’t have clicked with Spock. Kirk would have hit on her way too much, and Bones would have probably just stomped off and left her alone. Chekov (Anton Yelchin) is affable like Scotty, but doesn’t command as much respect. Maybe Sulu (John Cho) or Uhura (Zoe Saldana) would have worked okay with her, but they’re nowhere near as charming. This pairing just highlights what’s special about Scotty: he’s a little goofy and always in over his head, but he’s also confident, steadfast, and resourceful.

Kirk’s the hero we want to be, but Scotty’s the hero we can be. And that’s why Simon Pegg’s Star Trek’s now not-so-secret MVP.

Where to stream Star Trek Beyond