Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – The Broken Circle Review

There’s something almost soothing about watching an episode of Strange New Worlds. The episodic nature of the series is a lovely throwback to an earlier time of television writing – where the main antagonist of an episode is dispatched in a timely fashion, even if threads of an overall, serialized season arc continue tying episode to episode as we see those puzzle pieces slot into place. The cast has such an insanely incredible chemistry with one another that the starship Enterprise really does feel like a family rather than a workplace. And we know enough about the legacy characters presented to us that we don’t have to worry too greatly about their fates when they are placed in danger – although the non-legacy folks do always set off a little alarm in the back of my mind when we see them in trouble as who knows how long we might get to spend with them (and I adore them all, so losing any of this great cast would be a true shame). It’s not nostalgia – I have never been particularly attached to The Original Series, personally – but it’s something adjacent to that feeling. But whatever it is, I’m so happy to see this crew back on our screens once more.

“The Broken Circle” was an excellent season premiere in that it accomplished everything one such episode needs to do: reintroduce us to just where our cast of characters were at the close of the season, inform us as to where they are now, and lay out key pieces of the season-long arc that will play out in the background of our various episodic adventures. As it stands, Una remains in prison, awaiting her court martial for lying about her genetically enhanced background while applying to Starfleet. Pike has headed off to find the perfect legal representation for her – making him unavailable for the adventure of the week, thereby allowing Spock to try and save the day whilst wrestling with his ever-emerging emotions. La’An has completed her personal mission, but in the process has discovered an attempt to reignite the Klingon-Federation War, leading to everyone coming to the rescue. Oh, and the Gorn are in the process of mounting an all-out war against the Federation, which doesn’t sound like it will be fun for anyone. The chessboard has been set for the season-long arc (that would be the Gorn) and we got a banger of an episode that allowed the spotlight to shine on Spock and M’Benga (always a lovely opportunity to learn more about the good doctor).

Despite watching the first three seasons of Discovery, I will admit that I had more or less forgotten about the Klingon-Federation War at this stage of the game, so it was nice to be reminded that such a massive event is still being felt in various aftershocks throughout the Federation. And it was great to see that the series wasn’t about to restart that particular conflict just for the sake of having some additional threat hanging over the heads of our heroes while they head out on their mission*. A quick check-in to remind us that the Klingon-Federation relationship remains strained (and to show another batch of updated Klingon make-up) was more than enough to get the point across – and allow us a look at how PTSD can continue to impact individuals long after the events in question occurred. In fact, I suspect PTSD will be a recurring theme throughout this season, here with M’Benga forced to confront the fact that he hasn’t been able to fully work through the suffering and violence he saw – and participated in – during the war, and down the line with La’An when she is inevitably forced to once again come face-to-face with the Gorn. PTSD and the psychological impact of war, violence, and suffering experienced at such intense and close quarters is a subject that is often presented on episodic series as a Very Special Episode, only to be placed back in the drawer and never spoken of again. The strength of a series like Strange New Worlds is that we learn key pieces of information about characters slowly, over time, and that information not only makes the character a richer person for us to watch, but it also becomes part of the continued fabric of the series and is not forgotten and tossed aside. It’s true character development.

*I also appreciated the reminder that the Enterprise wasn’t part of the Klingon-Federation war so those characters who were stationed on board didn’t actually fight in it. While most of the crew we know now weren’t on board at that time, it’s a nice reminder that someone like Pike can’t necessarily relate to what someone like M’Benga endured during that time – even if Pike desperately wanted to be out there, on the front lines, fighting.

In terms of minor quibbles I had with the episode, there were a couple moments I didn’t love. I’m still on the fence regarding the Spock-Chapel will-they/won’t-they situation. (Yes, Ethan Peck and Jess Bush have incredible chemistry, but do we really need to have a crew romance, especially as a means to have Spock fully confront his emotions and the expectations of his Vulcan friends and family back home? I’m not mad about the possibility of the series going there, but I’m just not particularly excited at the prospect’s lack of originality.) I also wasn’t thrilled with how easily Spock was let off the hook by the Admiral. Sure, we now know there are bigger fish to fry for the brass, but it felt a touch too flippant for someone in that position to react in such a manner to such a massive breach of protocol that could have backfired and started another war. If there’s one note I could provide for all the recent live action Trek series it’s that there’s a thin line between promoting a more chill overall series vibe and providing a lack of consequences for serious actions – this felt like it veered into the latter. I would have liked to see some consequences or at least a true dressing down. This is the flagship of Starfleet and it needs to be held to a higher standard – especially when something as massive as a fragile peace between the Federation and the Klingons hangs in the balance. Starfleet is a military organization, which can be lost when the focus is on exploration, so it needs to act like one when something like this breach goes down.

But, all-in-all, it was a delightful return of our Strange New Worlds friends. I truly love this series – it captures so much of what makes Star Trek so enjoyable while also making sure to provide impactful moments of character development, moral quandaries, and complex interpersonal relationships that are much more indicative of modern television storytelling. I’m so excited to see just where the series takes us this season and what fun (and potential tragedy) awaits us.