Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - Season 2
PARAMOUNTStar Trek is a fascinating franchise all around. It has endured the tests of time since the 1960's and has, for the most part, done an admirable job of pushing the boundaries of science fiction. Gripping storylines, iconic characters and moments, and a willingness to stretch the limitless of potential of representation on television has kept Star Trek in the conversation for this long. Star Trek : Strange New Worlds is no different from the multitudes of previous shows within the canon in this regard. It is the strongest of the current Paramount+ lineup within the franchise, with Discovery being a solid, if heavily flawed, backup.
This season keeps the excellent pace Star Trek is known for by allowing the mythology heavy episodes to be surrounded by genuinely fun, or gripping, standalone character episodes. This is something that is so important to the life of a franchise show and Strange New Worlds does some amazing things with it. This season alone features the jump from excellent character pieces such as Ad Astra Per Aspera, which follows Commander Una (Rebecca Romijn) as she faces a court martial due to the uncovering of her actual identity, all the way to Subspace Rhapsody, the penultimate episode of the season, as well as the first Star Trek Musical. The episode featured beautiful character moments, original music, and some standout performances from the main cast.
The show is carried squarely on the shoulders of the main crew, most of which are recast from the Star Trek: The Original Series, and their talents for bringing these beloved characters back to the silver screen should not be ignored. Anson Mount as Christopher Pike is truly inspired casting as he carries a genuinely fantastic level of charisma needed for an Enterprise captain. By allowing Mount to do what he can emphatically do well, and not underutilize this like other pieces of media, such as The Inhumans, we can see the Enterprise come to life with personality from each individual. This stands true for even the smallest of parts, as well as the obvious main crew. A favorite of audiences seems to be Ethan Peck as Spock, one of the more iconic characters from series past, as well as the most often referenced character of the series. His transitions between being a self controlled Vulcan, as well as being half-human, are magnificently done as his range of emotion is unmatched by most in his vicinity.
This season has also had the unruly task of taking a more ridiculous enemy from TOS and turning them into a genuinely threatening enemy of the crew. This would be the Gorn, a lizard-like species of murderous creatures, one that had originally appeared as a man in a rubber suit wrestling with crew members, and turned them into a smart, conniving, and untouchable enemy. They were often spoken about throughout the season with minimal appearances before taking a front and center approach in the finale where they brought the story to an unnerving and volatile conclusion. This season has had an overall stronger arc stretching throughout it with impossible to beat character progression, and a genuine love for its source material.
In this show's favor is it's unapologetic dive into what fans love so dearly about this series. With so many more recent interpretations of the Star Trek franchise going more towards an action heavy approach, as opposed to the beloved philosophical approach of The Next Generation and The Original Series, certains sects of the fan base seemed to be taking a dislike to what their beloved franchise had become. A lot of this is more than likely due to a desire to appeal to fans of other sci-fi franchises, such as Star Wars, and in doing so they erased pieces of what made this so special. A lot of this can be seen in the J.J. Abrams helmed Star Trek (2009) which was absolutely more influenced by different pieces of media than just the original series. Strange New Worlds unapologetically goes more in the philosophical route, while also retaining the big budget spectacle that these newer franchise entries are known for.
Strange New Worlds is quite possibly the best piece of Star Trek media to drop in decades. It has so much heart, and love, for what makes this franchise so special to so many people – and it does all of this without breaking a sweat. Even the weakest of episodes has no issues with having several beautiful character beats within its otherwise forgettable narrative. This is absolutely one to watch out for, as it could be the defining Star Trek show for this generation of fans.