Star Trek: Strange New World's Strange Sophomore Season

I always start off talking Star Trek by saying I don't consider myself a Trekkie. I like Star Trek, but if I'm watching something ST it's a movie with Chris Pine or the Next Generation crew, or a TV show that Jack Quaid has been on.  Strange New Worlds just finished its second season on Paramount+. The Discovery spin-off came out with a great freshman season.  We saw some characters we already knew on this Enterprise crew before James T Kirk becomes its Captain, and we met new characters not from the original series as well.  What keeps me coming back to watch this series is its characters.  Any great movie or TV show has characters you care about and get invested in.  Pike is cool, and relatable to me.  Spock is awkward and funny.  Uhura is innocent and smiley.  I like going back onto the Enterprise and hanging out with its crew.  The other reason I like Strange New Worlds is its production. They've updated ideas from the 1966 to 2022. I try to watch each episode on my big 4k TV, with all the lights off, and in total darkness, because each episode is movie quality.

I think a lot of long-time Trekkies were in an uproar when a musical episode was announced at San Diego Comic Con, the same day they announced the Star Trek: Lower Decks crossover episode was dropping on Paramount+ in a few hours. With animated crossovers, musicals, and an episode where Spock becomes full human, but still has to pretend to be Vulcan, I can see how some Star Trek fans could see these things as gimmicky and be turned off by them.  But I believe that some people take their fandom too serious.  I'm a big Star Wars fan, but I know I will not like everything Star Wars. I understand Star Trek is a franchise that is filled with metaphors about humanity, and our own modern problems being twisted into a sci-fi context.  I get it. But sometimes, it's good to just have some fun and be silly.  We had those serious episodes like the season finale, and then the episode before it, everyone was singing.  While I'll probably skip Subspace Rhapsody in future rewatches, I'm ok that it was made, and it put a smile on my face as I watched it.

One of the things I enjoyed about season 2 was the growth of the characters.  We got more into the history of Dr. M'Benga and his issues with Klingons.  Nurse Chapel and La'an had some great character moments in this season as well.  Plus, Erica Ortega finally got to go on an away mission, and might not come back from it.  We'll see. We also got what some might call fan-service cameos.  James T. Kirk was in this season so much, people thought he was a crew member. But in the 4 episodes Paul Wesley played him in the series, the true Kirk has only been in 2 out of 20 episodes. I also loved seeing James interact with Sam, and their relationship is something I want to see more of.  In the season 2 finale we got a young Scottie, which means we've met four out of the seven TOS crew members in SNG. I can see how it might be a little too cheeky and shrinks this universe, but again, it's fantasy. Just try to enjoy it for what it is. 

I mentioned above the modernization of original Star Trek concepts like the better special effects and cooler looking props and sets, and also aliens.  We were teased the Gorn last season as almost xenomorph type creatures that were similar to those in Alien.  It's a far distinction from the rubber reptile suit we saw in the 60's. But in the season finale we got a better understanding of how these beings can seem so formidable.  The Gorn start as little creatures, gestating in a warm body, then become these four-legged predators.  In Hegemony, we finally see an adult Gorn, which instantly made me think of Slithe from Thundercats and how badly I want a movie of that childhood cartoon.   The Gorn seem to have mastered space-travel, but up to this episode, we've only seen them as wild beasts. This adult Gorn I think has given us still only a fraction of the true threat they cause to the Enterprise and the Federation.  I see them as the opposite of the Borg.  Instead of being merciless opponents who are very "robotic", the Gorn seem to be primal, but still intelligent at a mature age.  Their more vicious nature I think will set them apart from other Star Trek villains like the Klingons, the Borg, and the Romulans. 

Overall, I enjoyed this second season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds because of its variety.  It has serious episodes, and silly episodes.  It had drama, action, and comedy.  And I'm a fan when I can get all three of those things in one show.  As to when we will get the next season, I don't know due to the continuing writers and actors strikes going on. But until then, I will enjoy discussing with people their thoughts on this season, and what choice they think Captain Pike will make, knowing his own fate is set, but his decision will affect everyone else's fate.

Strange New Worlds Boldly Goes To A New Past

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.