***This review may contain minor spoilers***
Watch the SPOILER review on YouTube
“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” returns Trek to a simpler time, while keeping the quality of the modern interpretation of the franchise. However, the lack of any major subplot to thread the episodic structure together causes this first season to lose out of any sense of urgency.
Essentially a spin-off of both “Star Trek: Discovery” and the original “Star Trek” pilot, we get a glimpse of what might have been if we got a chance to see those characters on adventures of their own. Stories range from standard sci-fi to silly to scary. While each episode has its own standalone tale, the individual characters have arcs of their own sprinkled throughout the season.
Captain Pike is a fantastic character, and Anson Mount is charming in every scene he’s in. His struggle with his mortality is one of the stronger arcs in the season, even if it’s only touched on sporadically. The rest of the characters are fine enough, but most don’t work as strongly as Pike. Ortegas’ character is never more than a good pilot with a buzz-cut, Hemmer is a decent character but is only in maybe half of the episodes, and Una really doesn’t have much to do most of the season. Ethan Peck continues make Spock his own, and has some pretty strong storylines tied to his love life, especially with Nurse Chapel, who is reimagined here as a much more assertive and engaging character compared to the original series version. (And we find out more backstory on Uhura in the first episode than we do in all the rest of her classic appearances.)
They show looks great, combining the sleek, modern look of the franchise with elements of the classic era. However, they take quite a few liberties with the ships, tech and uniforms where they don’t quite look the way they should based on when the series takes place. (Not to mention changing races of C-list legacy characters.) Continuity is also given the fast and loose treatment. While sometimes this enhances the original character’s stories, sometimes it pretty much rewrites their histories.
In its first season, “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” brings the franchise back to its fun, less-complicated roots. The episodic nature works but having a serialized story running in the background could’ve set the stage for a finale that was more meaningful for the entire crew. The characters are all likable, but some get fleshed-out, while others are practically still strangers by the finale.
**** out of *****