Star Trek Strange New Worlds

From familiar planets to Enterprise captains, to the complicated history of Star Trek, here's how Strange New Worlds episode 1 dives deep into the ...

This is a slight retcon that Star Trek canon has been grappling with since TOS. In “Space Seed,” Spock mentioned that the Eugenics Wars were fought in the 1990s and that it was the last of your “so-called World Wars.” However, in TNG, WWIII and “the Eugenics Wars” were posited as separate events. April tells Pike and the crew that General Order 1 will now be called “the Prime Directive.” Pike scoffs at this saying the term will “never stick.” This of course is an inside joke. Number One refers to “zero point,” saying it’s “where we and the crew of Discovery opened up a wormhole to the future. Pike seems to roll the concepts of “the Second Civil War,” “the Eugenics Wars” and WWIII, all into one time period. As Spock shows Pike and La’an a map of “worlds in this sector with warp,” he uses his hands, casually, to point at the screen, and change what’s being displayed without touching it. What once sounded like a “mistake” now is part of the real-deal sound. Pike did two five-year missions, but not back-to-back, and we know that because there’s some non-five-year-mission action in there during the Klingon War and Discovery season 2 (in fact, right now, canon puts “The Cage” in 2254, which would be close to the end of Pike’s first five-year-mission.) Here’s a funny thing: Of all the points in the Star Trek chronology, the exact years of The Original Series have a tiny bit of wiggle room. Spock mentions to Pike that it’s been about “three months” since the events of Discovery season 2, which could imply this is still 2258, or maybe a bit later. Spock mentions the Klingon Moon Boreth, which is where Pike had his future vision in Discovery. Boreth was first introduced in a TNG episode called “Rightful Heir.” At that time, time crystals were not discussed, and Worf was seeking spiritual enlightenment. Throughout the episode, Pike and Number One both mention events that are “classified.” As Una makes clear toward the end of the episode, they’re talking about the ending of Star Trek: Discovery season 2, in which crews of both Enterprise and Discovery fought the evil AI known as Control, and Discovery opened a time portal wormhole to the future. Well, in Star Trek: Picard season 2, we learn Rick and Morty exist in the Trek timeline, which suggests that Star Trek: Lower Decks creator Mike McMahan also exists in the backstory of Trek, somehow.

"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" breaks new ground among the more recent "Trek" shows by going back to the old ways of the franchise.

to be associated with that is kind of confusing and strange, but at the same time, it’s been the most incredible journey. Interestingly, both Peck and Mount have been living with these characters since 2019 when they first appeared on “Discovery” Season 2. At multiple points in “Strange New Worlds,” that knowledge causes him considerable stress. And that, in a strange backdoor way, is tied up in his identity.” “The show is episodic but the characters have memory,” as Mount puts it. We wanted to reinvigorate that sense of excitement.”

Star Trek Strange New Worlds Review: This one is a pleasant, watchable series that has its heart in the right place and works best when it doesn't take ...

But it’s that very enjoyable genericness that makes it unable to transcend passive viewing, rather than the kind of show you’d actively return to week after week. “Anyone wanna tell me how a comet can put up a forcefield?” The more imaginative second episode follows a bunch of religious space monks sworn to protect a comet that’s on a collision course with a neighbouring planet. A race-against-time episode that involves our heroes saving the day by literally singing to a comet. The first episode, for example, is essentially Rescue Mission Impossible with the crew trying to go undercover to save one of their own who’s imprisoned on a planet consumed by civil war. Thankfully creators Alex Kurtzman, Akiva Goldsman and Jenny Lumet ensure Strange New Worlds is accessible to newcomers and invite us to strap in, sit back and just go along for the intergalactic ride of funky space adventures on the fancy spaceship. There’s Una “Number One” Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn), a young Spock (Ethan Peck, grandson of Gregory Peck, as the gentlest, least interesting Spock yet), young Cadet Ahura (an endearing Celia Rose Gooding), and security officer La'an Noonien-Singh (a joyless, permanently sulking Christina Chong) among others.