Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1 (2022)
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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1 Review
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is a science fiction television series created by Akiva Goldsmith and starring Anson Mount and Ethan Peck among others. Its first season premiered on Paramount+ in 2022.
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“An endless war, by definition, can never be won“
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After the disaster that was ‘Discovery’, this franchise returns once again with Strange New Worlds, a series that is so old-fashioned in its approach and so charmingly retro and lighthearted that it undeniably works, especially in this era of darker, nihilistic shows. It’s a breath of freshly familiar air so to speak. The clear influences stem from ‘The Original Series’ and especially ‘The Next Generation’, most closely aligning with the latter in terms of character dynamics and its fun rump exterior.
But this is a new show, so the effects are significantly better than they ever were before, thus enabling the series to venture into adventure SF storytelling in certain plot-heavy and mythology-building installments. But we also got some lighter, more comedic episodes that were too goofy for my taste, but undeniably charming regardless. The score and directing are terrific as is the acting from everybody involved, especially Peck, who is fantastic as Spock and absolutely perfectly cast.
This version of Spock is more human than his any previous incarnation and this exploration of his half-human side was wonderful to witness. Captain Pike is also terrific. He is so reminiscent of older captains on the Enterprise that it’s almost uncanny, but his got his own differing personality, charm and humor that helped him be more unique. He’s a lot of fun overall.
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Nurse Chapel is overly modern in comparison to all of these other characters, but still interesting enough. La’an and Una both got their moments to shine and I loved their infectious dynamic while Erica Ortega is overly cocky, but definitely an amusing character. There are too many female in comparison to the male members on this crew, but at least most of them were well written, except for Uhura of course.
I found her highly unlikable in her arrogant and obnoxious behavior. Whenever she was on screen, I was not having a good time. But everybody else was great and the team dynamic was just phenomenal. Hemmer needed more to do, but he was very interesting as this new species while doctor M’Benga got the most emotional arc of the entire season.
The first of the ten episodes is aptly titled Strange New Worlds. It’s the most political episode of the season and I wished that more episodes were like this as I miss the complex nature of ‘Deep Space Nine’. The origin story of the creation of the Prime Directive rule was superbly told while the overall plot scenario, though somewhat contrived, was intriguingly dark and complicated. Children of the Comet is solid and it features some greatly poetic imagery, but it focuses extensively on Uhura, so that’s why I did not enjoy it more.
Ghosts of Illyria tackles the Number One character in an important manner and she is great here. However, the racial implications and problems that arise in the episode seem too antiquated for a future society. Memento Mori for the first time introduces us to the Gorn, a ferociously war-hungry alien species. We do not get to see them in flesh here, but the cat and mouse game that the two ships play was wonderfully realized and it’s among the most purely entertaining episodes of this season.
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Spock Amok is a bit too irreverent and goofy for its own sake, but it’s still a fun little story involving Spock and his girlfriend switching bodies and getting to know each other more. The Vulcans have never felt more human than in this iteration of the franchise. Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach is one of those episodes about an overly primitive civilization and a death sacrifice, but it’s different from most others in its hopelessly dark, brutal ending that I did not expect.
The Serene Squall and The Elysian Kingdom are the two worst episodes of this season. Both are too silly to be taken seriously. The former is a space pirate episode that in and of itself is a ridiculous concept while the latter is your typical story where the crew imagine a world due to some outside influence, and of course it had to be a Medieval kingdom. It’s a ridiculous episode that was admittedly elevated by its emotionally powerful third act concerning M’Benga and his daughter in peril.
All Those Who Wander is fantastic. It’s an ‘Alien’-inspired installment that finally lets us see the Gorn and they are these canine reptilian creatures who are gross and extremely dangerous. It’s absolutely implausible that these animals could ever drive a ship, let alone attack any one, but in the context of this particular episode they prove to be formidable enemies. It’s a terrific horror storyline.
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A Quality of Mercy brings back the Romulans and in this timeline they are in constant war with the Federation. They attack the Enterprise and it is up to Pike to negotiate peace. The episode ends on a strong cliffhanger while the rest of it is a great parable on the foolishness of war and the inescapable hands of destiny. It’s by far the best-written and most sophisticated episode of the season.
Overall, the first season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has its overly silly and goofy episodes, but most of the installments are so well written and quite sophisticated and/or adventurous. The highlight is the crew dynamic and excellent characterization as well as dialogue. It’s such a great return to form for this struggling franchise.
Worst Episodes: The Serene Squall and The Elysian Kingdom.
Best Episodes: Memento Mori, All Those Who Wander and A Quality of Mercy.
