WARP FIVE: Patton Oswalt Compares Star Trek to Today's Greek Mythology

Welcome to Warp Five, StarTrek.com's five question post-mortem with your favorite featured talent from the latest Star Trek episodes.

In ' "," the U.S.S. Enterprise takes on a mission that requires several of the crew to become Vulcan as to not violate the Prime Directive with the pre-warp Tezaarians whose planet is facing a cataclysmic meltdown event. However, new problems arise when it's time for the crew to change back into humans. With time of the essence, and the likelihood that they permanently remain Vulcan, Spock and Una call upon a katra expert, who shares an intense past with the ship's first officer, to help their crewmates reconnect with their human katra.

StarTrek.com had the opportunity to talk with Patton Oswalt on his Vulcan turn as Doug, playing alongside Rebecca Romijn and Ethan Peck, and Star Trek's everlasting appeal.

Making First Contact

The comedian and actor Patton Oswalt has long been a champion of geek interests and its acceptance in mainstream pop culture.

What was Oswalt's relationship with Star Trek? "I was born in 1969 so it was always a thing that was in the background on TV," states Oswalt. "I never sat down and watched the entire from start to finish. Some people did, but it just wasn't a big part of my life."

"I remember really, really loving the movies and certain episodes of ," continues Oswalt. "There was 'The Best of Both Worlds' and other episodes that really just had amazing writing and directing. So there's been that [level of awareness], but it wasn't a realm that I completely was into from the get go."

Star Trek's Enduring Legacy

With its approaching 60th anniversary, he understands why Star Trek continues to have its place cemented in culture, likening it to other stories that have endured centuries.

"I read this really interesting theory from this woman that studies Greek myths and epic poems like the Iliad and the Odyssey," explains Oswalt. "She says that this is our new Greek myths. The old Greek myths were about heroes that went to the edge of the known map, then went beyond that known map, fought monsters and brought back magical items and new technology."

"Basically, Star Trek is about heroes who go to the edge of the known universe, fight monsters, and bring back new devices, new technology, new magic," Oswalt adds. "Star Trek's just continuing that same storytelling need that makes it timeless."

Strange New Worlds wasn't Oswalt's mark in the Star Trek universe. Last year, Patton and his co-collaborator Jordan Blum wrote the short story "I Know You Were Tribble When You Walked In," with art by Leonard Kirk, in STAR TREK #500, a milestone comic issue that collected short stories through fan-favorite areas of the beloved franchise, for IDW Publishing.

Oswalt and Blum's story added new lore to Tribbles and connected to the Original Series classic "The Trouble with Tribbles" and crossover episode, "Trials and Tribble-ations."

"I love that any really good realm or good piece of work," states Oswalt, "allows for room for interpretation. They spark imagination in other people. That's just another sign of Star Trek's greatness that people keep getting inspired by the smallest details and stories. It's very telling that Star Trek can do that."

Portraying the Vulcan Doug

In "Four-and-a-Half Vulcans," we learn that Doug, an artist and katra expert, comes from an eclectic Vulcan family that were drawn to human names and humanity.

"Everything was there in the script," reveals Oswalt. "In true Star Trek fashion, they're going to leave it all open to interpretation. 'What was their background? How did they meet? How did they sustain this relationship?' I'm going to leave that up to the viewers. It's more fun that way."

Speaking on how it felt embodying Doug, in full prosthetics and wardrobe, for the first time, he shares, "It was incredible. I'm in the chair. I'm doing what Leonard Nimoy has done, what Kirstie Alley did. What all these greats did. It's almost like it's part of the Hollywood process, and they really have it down to a science. I thought it was going to take hours. They're actually very, very good at getting Vulcan ears on very quickly. Now, it's not like it was in the '60s and '70s."

The comedian ensured he didn't take any liberties with Doug. "I didn't want to ad-lib," Oswalt states. "They wrote my character very precisely. He's a Vulcan; he's not going to ad-lib things or have emotional reactions to anything. I love that part of it. This is someone who very boldly states what he thinks and feels, and I was happy to stick to that."

Doug's Radical Acceptance of Spock

In "Four-and-a-Half Vulcans," after Pike, Uhura, La'An, and Chapel are turned Vulcan, Spock endured bullying similar to the ones he experienced in childhood, as he revealed in the previous episode "," for being only half Vulcan. Upon meeting Doug, he's astonished by Doug's full acceptance, and even fascination, of him.

"It was interested where Spock realizes and comes to terms with and accepts the fact that he's an outsider no matter where he is," reflects Oswalt. "He's an outsider among all these humans and different species. Then, when his crew turn Vulcan, he's an outsider among them as well because he's half-Vulcan, half-human. What he ends up embracing is his uniqueness."

"The unspoken thing about Doug is Doug loves the fact that Spock's so unique," says Oswalt. "That's what you really want in a friend, someone that actually likes the fact that you are different than everything else."

"It must be fascinating to a deeply logical species to see that this other species, that has so much illogic and emotion and disaster, has made such amazing leaps in technology and exploration," Oswalt observes about the Vulcan-Human dynamic.

Doug's Irresistible Chemistry

Una Chin-Riley explains to Spock that she was reluctant to call upon her ex Doug for help as their relationship's issue was that there was too much chemistry between the pair, eliciting an uncharacteristic side of generally locked-in persona. In fact, while talking to her close confidant La'An, she reveals that she once, in her days as a lieutenant, stole a shuttle to rendezvous with Doug, skinny-dipping in the Skaideion System's hot springs and drinking wine in the moonlight.

Oswalt was excited for his character's shared past with Rebecca Romijn's Una. "It felt great," reflects Oswalt on the experience. "Rebecca's fantastic. She and her husband [Jerry O'Connell] are both really great. I'm fans of them both. She just played this [other side of her character] so perfectly. It was a natural fit."