I've never been a big Star Trek fan.
Growing up, there was the classic Star Trek vs Star Wars battle. I, of course,
was team Star Wars, still am. But as I aged, I started to appreciate Star Trek
more. I learned how this future was supposed to be one of hope, and one to
aspire too. And that every episode, and every alien race they encountered, was
a metaphor for a portion of the human experience. In recent years I've enjoyed
the Kelvin films, even though I know some long-term Trekkies don't. I, however,
couldn't get into Star Trek: Discovery, and I was disappointed with Picard after
the season 1 finale. But Strange New Worlds looked intriguing
to me being that it was based on the original failed Star Trek pilot episode.
After learning the plot of this series, I actually went and watched sed pilot
that didn't see its way to TV screens till years later, after Star Trek was
considered a success.
Having done my research before the series started, I knew the fates of Pike, Spock, and Uhura, but the series still had enough new characters that keep me guessing what their fates would be since they were not on Kirk's Enterprise crew. The character I took too most was Captain Pike. The man whose hair kept getting bigger every episode, according to my wife, and the rest of the internet. Anson Mount's portrayal of charm, wit, and compassion make him ideal to lead this cast into the unknown. Even though the series is more episodic than serialized, each character still had a through line in the season. Pike's was the knowledge of knowing his own fate, and whether he would accept it, or possibly change it. His Number 1, played by Rebecca Romjin, has her own secret, and that comes to a head in the season finale, and sets up the drama for season 2.
Probably the most known character in the Star Trek franchise is Spock. In this
series he is played by Ethan Peck, and we all knew he was going to immediately
be compared to not only Leonard Nimoy, but Zachary Quinto as well. I thought
Peck did a fine job as the mixed-race Vulcan. In this season Spock struggled
with his commitment to his finance and his duty to Starfleet. Spock's
friendship with Kirk is legendary, and the foundation of that is laid with
Pike, and maybe a bit too much in my eyes. It seems that in Star Trek mythology
Spock doesn't warm up to humans that much till Kirk, Bones, and the rest of the
original series crew. He and Pike just seem too cozy for he and Kirk to then
later become besties. It also seems too obvious Spock's growing relationship
with Nurse Chapel will be the undoing of his engagement. However, seeing how I
am enthralled with the character of Nurse Chapel, I can't say I blame him.
The other new character I really like is the pilot, Erica Ortegas. Even though
she hasn't had much in regards of her own storyline she's involved with the
other members of the crew, and she gives some of the best one-liners of the
series. Security Officer, Lieutenant Singh is someone the season focused on
quite a bit, but to be honest I wish they focused more on Dr. M'Benga more and
the quandary with his daughter's health. I felt that storyline was not only
wrapped up too soon, but it was also my least favorite episode of the season.
Rounding out this season's cast was Celia Rose Gooding as Cadet Uhura, who is
still trying to decide if she even wants to be a Starfleet officer, which is far
from the character we get Nichelle Nichols playing in the original series. But
I did enjoy her interactions with the other crew members and was both impressed
and saddened by Engineer Hemmer's valiant sacrifice before parting words of
wisdom to the cadet.
Again, some long time Star Trek fans don't like how Canon is being played with,
no episode more showing of this than the crew's encounter with the Gorn that
seemed more like the film Aliens than Star Trek.
To this I say, Star Trek was a dying franchise until 2009. It has been revitalized
and is now reaching a whole new audience. As a life-long comic book reader I
can sympathize though. Canon is often overlooked or washed away in hopes of
attracting new readers. But in an "adapt or die" society the helmsmen
behind Star Trek are hoping to keep this ship flying because there is something
special about this franchise that has lasted over 60 years. It is the hope of a
better tomorrow, which we often don't get in TV and films these days.
I think that is why I have been drawn to Star Trek more as I've gotten older.
My outlook on the world's future gets bleaker, but Star Trek reminds me of the possibility of what it
could be. Season 1 of Strange New Worlds was a season I kept up with every week
but didn't love every episode. The characters are solid, and the finale I
believe finished its freshman year strong. Some Trekkies have complained that
it isn't quality stories like Star Trek used to tell, but my rebuttal to that
is this. My number one priority in media is caring about the characters, and Strange New Worlds does that enough for me to boldly go where I've never gone before: watch an entire season of a Star Trek show.
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