I think I’ve only ever seen the first three-to-five episodes of what is now dubbed as Star Trek: The Original Series. Oh and, “Space Seed”, of course. That one, because back in 2009 either before or after me and my dad saw J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek film, he wanted to show me some of the original films. Although we skipped The Motion Picture, before we started with The Wrath of Khan, my dad wanted me to see Khan’s first appearance in the franchise. I had already knew who Ricardo Montalbán was because I grew up with the Spy Kids movies, where he played the titular spy kids’ grand father in the second and third movies. Anyway, I digress. Up to this point, I has seen only a few episodes of TOS, one episode of Next Generation, The Wrath of Khan through The Undiscovered Country, and Star Trek from 2009, Star Trek Into Darkness, and Star Trek Beyond.
One of the podcasts I follow occasionally mentions how great the newer Paramount+ Trek shows are. Those shows being Star Trek: Discovery, Picard, Prodigy and now, Strange New Worlds. The latter, which is a spin-off of Discovery, recently ended their first season. For me, I typically like to watch new weekly shows shortly after they end so I can go at my own pace as opposed to having to wait for the following episode to be available, which I am sure can be relatable to some this new streaming age. After liking what I heard the co-host say on this podcast, mainly how if you haven’t seen Discovery but you’ve seen TOS or the original movies, you know all you need to know, I decided to finally gave it a shot. Even though again, I’ve only seen the a small amount of the original, and a majority of the movies, and know random things here and there about the franchise. All that being said, I am pleased to say I picked things up in the pilot very quickly without having to look up what happened in it’s sister show.
Without giving too much away, the basic plot is that Captain Pike (Anson Mount) is called back to the USS Enterprise for a new mission. Although reluctant because of prior trauma, he agrees. Throughout the episode you meet younger version of legacy characters, like Spock, Uhura, and Number One, which is cool to see. Meanwhile, Pike is facing his own inner battle which, minor spoiler, he seem to comes to a bit of terms with by the end of the episode. This and a speech in give at the episode’s climax, resonated with me a moment where I felt I needed to hear it. It may not actually be related to the problems I’m facing, and it definitely won’t solve any of them, it gave me a moment of hope. That’s what Star Trek as a franchise, of what I’ve seen of it, feels like to me when I watch it. Amid all the drama and action, good and bad, it’s overall ethos in any given episode or movie feels like your watching a moment of hope.
Even though it’s a TV show, it looks and feels like it could be shown in theaters with the aspect ratio to boot. The sets and effects look like they had a good budget to work with. The show is well cast, too. Anson Mount is so likable as Pike, and Ethan Peck does a great job as Spock. I enjoy seeing these new interpretations of the young versions of these classic characters, learning new things about them that we didn’t know before. Especially Pike, cause we know little about him from the original series. Even though part of the show is foreshadowing Pike’s future as depicted in TOS, this show proves that there is so much more to the character.
Throughout watching the episode, I was about 95% engaged in it with little time spent on my phone, which for me is a good thing. I don’t typically watch one hour scripted dramas of any kind. The fact that I made it though, liked it and want to watch more, is a big win. The episode itself, was fun, engaging, and serious without being boring. For most anyone is a causal fan of the Star Trek franchise and has Paramount+, the pilot is worth your time.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is streaming now on Paramount+.
