Star Trek: Strange New Worlds debuts new episodes every Thursday on Paramount+ in the UK, US, Australia, Latin America, Brazil, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
Synopsis
In series two of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise, under the command of Captain Christopher Pike, confronts increasingly dangerous stakes, explores uncharted territories, and encounters new life and civilisations. The crew will also embark on personal journeys that will continue to test their resolve and redefine their destinies.
Review
There’s no avoiding it. 2023 has been a HUGE year for Star Trek. We kicked off the year with the award worthy final season of Star Trek: Picard and now it’s time for the return of Strange New Worlds. Easily the best reviewed (before Terry Matalas had his way with Picard) and warmly received of the live-action contemporary Trek series.
This week the series returns for its second season, often a stumbling block for many critically and fan-acclaimed series. I’ve had the immense pleasure of checking out the first six episodes of season 2 and I’m very happy to report its business as usual aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise.
It’s worth noting that season 2 was around half-way through production when the first season of Strange New Worlds debuted in North America. Us Brits were, of course, a few months behind waiting for the launch of Paramount+. So this batch of new episodes was written and produced before the production team had even an inkling as to what the general public would this of their sassy take on the pre-Kirk days on NCC-1701. In interviews promoting the second season the cast and crew have talked about “bigger swings” and pushing even harder with season 2. Whilst that is sometimes the case, not all of these first six episode are pushing the Trek envelope.
Season premiere “The Broken Circle” drops us back in with a high-octane adventure that really scales up the action. The Klingons are back and looking much more like a hybrid of their TOS-TNG days. With forces manipulating both the Federation and the Klingons back towards war the crew of the Entprise – sans Captain Pike (Anson Mount) who is off saving Una (Rebecca Romijn) – must catch up with Lt. La’an Noonien-Singh to save the day. “The Broken Circle” puts Spock (Ethan Peck) in the Captain’s chair and poses some meta-questions about taking command. It also puts a wonderfully bright spotlights on Dr. M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) and Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush).
It’s the perfect signifier for what to expect from season 2. Not tonally. But certainly in its approach to Strange New Worlds exquisite ensemble cast. Across the six episodes the senior staff of the U.S.S. Enterprise are all given moments to shine. There’s no denying the star power of Mount, Romijn and Peck. But what’s amazing as a fan of the ensemble is to see Christina Chong (La’an), Melissa Navia (Ensign Ortegas) and the aforementioned Jess Bush having a lot more to do. But hands down the MVP of these six episodes is Celia Rose Gooding as Nyota Uhura. The character takes a central focus in the horror-tinged 6th episode, “Lost In Translation”. The episode picks up the pieces of Uhura’s relationship with Hemmer (Bruce Horak) from season 1 and delights in thrilling the audience with a tease of her future relationships aboard the Enterprise.
New to the ensemble for season 2 is Carol Kane as the off-beat and quirky new engineer, Pelia. She has a mysterious past, almost a mysterious as her accent, which ties in to the time-travelling, Toront-based third episode, “Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow”. Kane appears to be recurring character in season 2 and thus far we haven’t spent enough time to get fully aquatinted with her. But in the grand old tradition of the quirk, Neelix-style character, she’s one that I know fans will grow to love the more we spend time with her.
Part of the joy of Strange New Worlds season one was its playful approach to genre. Season 2 is charmingly more of the same. There’s courtroom drama (episode two, “Ad Astra per Aspera”) that digs right to heart of Trek’s approach to tackling the everyday human condition. There’s the classic abandoned crewman takes over and becomes ruler of his own planet in episode four “Among the Lotus Eaters”. The series also dips its toe back in to sitcom territory, very much in the vein of “Spock Amok”, for another Spock-centric tale, “Charades”. That one certainly tests the boundaries of the Spock character and also Peck’s portrayal but I’m glad to say that it’s an early highlight for me in season 2.
As every reviewer will no doubt point out, the screeners for season 2 do NOT include the hotly anticipated crossover with Star Trek: Lower Decks. That will come in episode seven and it’s going to be a long wait to see it.
The production value on Strange New Worlds remain outstanding. Once again the series makes use of AR wall technology to immerse the cast in its alien landscapes. Whether aboard another vessel or beaming down to a planet, the set design and overall production design is stellar, awards worth material. Every environment is rich with small details. Whilst the Enterprise itself remains a warm and comforting environment for the crew to inhabit. A lot of time is spent in the Ten Forward style lounge and it offers some great opportunities to really soften the sometimes sharp edges of a Starfleet vessel.
Visual effects also remain top notch. Scenes set in the cold of space are richly coloured and never short of dynamic. At times the ship models do betray their computer-generated roots but never to the detriment of enjoying an episode.
Verdict
Strange New Worlds seeks to impress with an incredibly solid run of episodes to kick off season 2. A stronger focus on the ensemble cast has opened the show up to even more possibilities and is even more enjoyable because of it.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
