Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Director Axelle Carolyn Speaks Out After Backlash to Dark X-Files Replacement Episode: "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." (CBR)
CBR:
By John Dodge
"Speaking to TrekMovie, Carolyn opened up about the divided reactions to the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode "The Griffin Incident." While the episode introduced an unsettling mystery regarding the true fate of the USS Griffin and marked the debut of the secretive Division 12, which seems to be Starfleet's answer to the X-Files Division, it didn't leave viewers with much in the way of answers when it came to the most obvious questions at the heart of "The Griffin Incident."
"I understand the criticism about the answers not being given at the end, like the scientific explanation," Carolyn stated. "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’s going on."
They continued, "But I don't think that it’s 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're not saying, 'Hey, this is not going to have a scientific explanation.' Of course, it's going to have a scientific explanation. They're just saying, within the scope of our investigation right now, we can't solve it."
Carolyn went on to note that, while this may not fall within the traditional Star Trek framework, that doesn't necessarily diminish the overall experience. "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." ..."
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Posted Aug 10, 2026, 4:12 PM UTC