Co-showrunner Akiva Goldsman said Star Trek: Strange New Worlds once developed an episode in which Pelia, played by Carol Kane, would have died, but the idea was abandoned. The decision matters because permanent deaths of principal characters are relatively uncommon in Star Trek, and it suggests the producers value Pelia’s continued role as the series approaches its conclusion.

Goldsman revealed the unused story during a Television Critics Association virtual panel for the fourth season. It would have involved Pelia seeing her returned daughter, with a Sixth Sense-style twist that nobody else could see her; Strange New Worlds is airing season four on Paramount+ and has already filmed its fifth, final season.