Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Strange New Worlds Review

Early on in the series premiere of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, there’s a name drop that is meant to peak the audience’s interest: Captain Pike (the excellent Anson Mount) has requested a Lieutenant Kirk to join the crew compliment. Any Trek fan worth their salt is aware that Pike was the captain of the Enterprise before James T. Kirk got his chance in the chair, so the question immediately becomes “Is this another instance where Kirk will supplant Pike right off the bat?” Once our adventure of the week is concluded, it becomes clear that this isn’t the James Kirk we were expecting, but George Samuel Kirk, Jim’s big brother who was revealed to be dead in his one appearance in The Original Series. So, a fun bait and switch that primes the audience for what’s to come down the road in the series.*

*Paul Wesley has been cast as James Kirk for season two of the show, which is currently in production, so we will be getting to meet the future captain of The Enterprise sooner rather than later, but I appreciate that the show wants to give Mount – and the rest of the non-TOS characters – a chance to gel with audiences on their own before releasing the Pandora’s Box that comes with bringing such an iconic character back to the screen. The series is already contending with a new Spock (who wasn’t too warmly received in his appearance on Discovery) and a new Uhura (who has been pretty darn perfect thus far, thanks to Celia Rose Gooding’s sunny but strong portrayal), so why burden the series more than necessary this early?

For those who may not be up to snuff on their Star Trek: Discovery history, Pike, his Number One (Rebecca Romijn, showing more personality here than she did in her Discovery tenure), and Spock (Ethan Peck, who is much more commanding this time around) appeared during the close of the second season of the series – right before the ship jumped hundreds of years into the future. During their appearance, Pike was shown his future – wherein he becomes horrifically scarred and eventually dies from his injuries. Oh, and all of this was classified because it came about thanks to a rogue computer program that threatened the Federation and was being commanded by rogue Section 31 members. Yeah, not the sharpest storyline. But it was responsible for getting Mount in the role of Pike, a role in which he absolutely thrived. Perhaps the best part of Discovery’s second season (well, outside of Michelle Yeoh’s continued excellence) was seeing Pike’s swagger, humanity, and screen ready persona. It begged the powers that be to create a series for him. And here we are.

Now, unlike the other current live action Trek shows on Paramount+, Strange New Worlds is approaching their narrative in a more traditional manner. Rather than a long, serialized story, the series is going to consist of an episodic structure, with The Enterprise going from planet to planet each week (with the occasional two-parter likely tossed in), solving issues both galactic and personal, in the span of an episode. For fans who have chaffed at the serialized structure of other Trek series, this is likely a relief. And for those who love a good serialized show, well, this might be a nice reminder that when it comes to dramas, episodic-based series still have kernels of serialization baked into them. Case in point: We have the ticking time bomb of Pike’s impending death. Sure, it’s about ten years away (by his own calculations), but it’s a fixed point in the time of the series. Hell, we also have the known futures of the Original Series crew as well. That knowledge can only enhance the time we spend with these characters in this series.

So, what makes Strange New Worlds work as well as it does? Well, the clear answer is Mount. Without someone of his caliber in the role of Pike, the series wouldn’t have been made, let alone be as successful as it appears thus far. Like so many of the great Trek captains of the past, Pike has a traumatic flashpoint baked into his character (for comparison, Picard had the death of his mother, Janeway the death of her father and fiancé while she watched, and Sisko the death of his wife at Wolf 359). That moment in time, whether the character wants to acknowledge it or not, colors their actions throughout their series. And I suspect it will also be the case for Pike. While I don’t think the show will keep showing us flashes of his death (that would become exhausting rather quickly and overshadow the entire series), having it become something that informs his future actions (will he be more rash than he should be at times because he thinks he’s going to live until that moment?) would be a smart move on the part of the series.

The other great thing the show has going for it? A flexible premise. Rather than locking us into a season long narrative arc before we get to know these characters (and yes, even though we “know” some of them, we don’t know who they are at this point in time), we get to see how they work together, interact with alien races, and fit within the structure of an exploratory Starfleet mission. Knowing where the journey ultimately ends for some of the characters shouldn’t lessen the excitement at getting to see them in the here and now. And, as someone who was never super into The Original Series, I’m intrigued to see how these characters (and those we have yet to really meet) develop into the ones from that landmark television show. Either way, this should be a heck of a ride.