It's almost near. Finally the reintroduction of one Trek's most enigmatic characters, Number One. She is my all time favorite Trek character and she only appears in one episode--or two if you count the Menagerie. For the most part, I'm happy with how Discovery has handled Pike. You could see why he was a legendary Captain and why Spock would have unwavering loyalty to him. But I'm worried about how will they depict Number one. I hope they keep her intended characterization.
What we saw of her in "The Cage" is broad enough that they can stick to it and still add to what's almost a blank slate. We didn't see much of it in "The Cage" but she's a mathematician and highly analytical. Qualities that would both come in handy while, for instance, giving Pike repair estimates on the Enterprise, giving an assessment of the current situation, or making an assessment.
I'm going with yes they will get her right. The character was originally played by Majel Barrett, mother to all things Trek, and because of this alone I see them treating this character with reverence., and doing their best to honor her and her work on all the Trek shows she appeared on. Really looking forward to it actually.
There's not much to get wrong here. Whatever they do with her, she will have more to do than ever before
They will most assuredly not create a character that somehow magically lines up with a barely fleshed out character from a pilot episode that went on to be expanded on in conflicting novels and comic books. It will be the classic dilemma of "Straw Trek": it will not meet the expectations of people who've had a half-century to connect the dots in their heads. What they have to work with isn't much more than an archetype, so they will easily be able to not contradict screen canon, since there's not much there. Expect disappointment if you go in to watching a TV show with a checklist.
They better not turn the secrecy of Number One's name into some terrible running joke the way they did to Kelvin Timeline Uhura in the 2009 film.
Wait till we see her name is Commander Una Dos Tres, named just to mess with the Spanish translations of the show. :P It didn't work well at all in the 2009 film, and wasn't even funny either. We're supposed to believe Kirk is capable of hacking the Kobayashi Maru, but isn't even able to hack or view a possibly public Starfleet directory of student names? We can look up practically any student on a college's website right here in the 21st century!
I loved that, it was really cute. I was actually annoyed when she introduced herself as "Nyota Uhura" to Krall in Beyond. I was like, that first name is only for special people!
I hope they just give Number One a normal, human name (with absolutely no stupid wordplay involving the actual number one) and be done with it. Everybody knows "Number One" is a common term for a ship's XO, so it should end there. Oh, and BTW, I'm hoping for Morgan Primus.
Since Paramount/CBS has been selling us material featuring the character for fifty years, I imagine some folks will be irked if she's changed from what they've been sold.
But what of Prime?! While the books aren't canon, novelist are supposed to keep within how characters are portrayed on screen. If she is a 180, then it will even be a 180 from how she appeared in "The Cage". The books are officially sanctioned products.
Number One was barely portrayed in "The Cage". She was given nothing in the way of character development. So however DSC decides to handle her, it won't deviate from anything we've been told about her - because we haven't been told ANYTHING about her. "Blank slate" really is an accurate description of Number One.