In its inaugural season, Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) on a new five-year mission of galactic exploration. But the show has won over generations of Trekkers by delivering the purest and most satisfying Star Trek TV experience the franchise has seen in many years.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds holds the distinction of being the first new Star Trek show on Paramount+ that the fanbase actually clamored for. When Mount debuted as Captain Pike in bridge of the Starship Enterprise. All three Trek icons were so popular that Star Trek's producers couldn't help but agree that they deserved their own spinoff. Since the series that became Star Trek: Strange New Worlds was essentially a continuation of the original failed Star Trek pilot, "The Cage," the joke was that Strange New Worlds' 56-year wait was the longest pilot-to-series pick-up in TV history. But the show turned out to be worth the wait.
The fact that Strange New Worlds is yet another prequel series - slotting in the timeline immediately after Star Trek: Discovery seasons 1 and 2, no less - should have been an issue, yet it isn't. Instead, Strange New Worlds breathed new life into the classic 23rd-century era of Star Trek, nimbly setting the stage for the events of James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley), creating new excitement for what's to come in season 2. Here's why Strange New Worlds did what no new Star Trek series since the 1990s has done before: win over the majority of the Star Trek audience.
Strange New Worlds Brought Back The Star Trek That's Been Missing
Strange New Worlds trades heavily on nostalgia for Star Trek: The Original Series but this isn't a knock against it. Rather, Strange New Worlds powerfully evokes classic Star Trek from the Starfleet crew's colorful updates of the TOS uniforms to the Starship Enterprise itself. The emotional reaction Strange New Worlds' opening credits sequence elicits, beginning with Captain Pike reciting Star Trek's core mission statement, "Space... the final frontier...", to the stirring theme composed by Jeff Russo, instantly tells viewers that they are watching Star Trek. Crucially, Star Trek: Picard is, but, instead, Strange New Worlds re-embraces what Star Trek looks, sounds, and feels like. Strange New Worlds succeeds because it presents itself as Star Trek: The Original Series if it were produced in 2022 and not 1966.
Perhaps most importantly, Strange New Worlds restores the optimism Star Trek holds dearly at heart. Star Trek: Discovery is about the virtues of Starfleet enduring and rising above apocalyptic circumstances while Picard explores why Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) still matters in a galaxy growing increasingly darker, but Strange New Worlds brings back the hopeful "New Frontier" outlook of The Original Series. is about the Starship Enterprise exploring the galaxy and meeting new lifeforms and new civilizations, which is a basic Star Trek tenet that had remained dormant for far too long. Strange New Worlds reassures us that the future is still bright if we work together to overcome the challenges that lie ahead, and that theme permeates every episode.
Strange New Worlds Proved Episodic TV Still Works
In the current TV climate where serialized shows dominate the marketplace, Strange New Worlds returning to Star Trek's classic episodic format seemed risky, but it was a risk that handsomely paid off. Star Trek: Discovery and Picard embraced serialization to bring Star Trek in line with the most popular modern TV format, but Star Trek: The Next Generation: that the audience never knows what each episode's story will be.
Strange New Worlds has triumphantly embraced all genres of storytelling. The show gracefully bounds from vintage Star Trek "alien problem of the week" episodes to intense, action-packed nail-biters like the Enterprise fighting the Gorn in "Memento Mori" and "All Those Who Wander" to introducing compelling new adversaries like Captain Angel (Jesse James Keitel) and resurrecting legacy icons like Sybok in "The Serene Squall." Star Trek: Lower Decks could take the concept of Trek comedy to new heights, and it's all made possible by Strange New Worlds redefining live-action episodic Star Trek.
Strange New Worlds' Cast Is Lightning In A Bottle
Every Star Trek series boasts a stellar cast, but Strange New Worlds showcases a particularly exceptional group of actors with no weak links among the cast or the characters. Anson Mount continues to redefine Pike's charm and integrity as he cements himself as one of the all-time great Star Trek Captains. Ethan Peck proves he's a worthy successor to Leonard Nimoy as Spock, while he and Gia Sandhu's T'Pring explore their doomed relationship in surprisingly sexy, electric, and compelling ways. Celia Rose Gooding winningly portrays Nyota Uhura as younger, uncertain, but full of boundless potential. Meanwhile, two legacy icons originated by Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, Number One and Nurse Christine Chapel, receive intriguing new facets thanks to the soulful performances by Rebecca Romijn and Jess Bush, respectively. Babs Olusanmokun creates depth and comion as Dr. M'Benga while Strange New Worlds' newest inventions, Christina Chong as La'an Noonien Singh and Melissa Navia as Lt. Erica Ortegas, are standouts who instantly became two of the best new characters in Star Trek.
Remarkably, every character in Strange New Worlds is a fan favorite, and each crew member has agency, a unique point of view, and rich inner life. Perhaps Strange New Worlds' most unexpected success story is Bruce Horak's Hemmer, a character who was always intended to die but whose wisdom and touching relationship with Cadet Uhura made the Aenar engineer instantly beloved. Watching Strange New Worlds, it's easy to believe, as La'an does, that "This crew can do anything." Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' deserved popularity speaks to how starved the Trekker audience was for a show that was truly Star Trek to its core, and Strange New Worlds is also a series that new audiences can discover that will instill a love of Star Trek in them as well.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1 is available to stream on Paramount+. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 premieres in 2023 on Paramount+.